The Janus Legacy

by Lisa von Biela

  “But I made the dinner reservations weeks ago. Becker’s Beach Club is really hard to get into on a Saturday.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I was really looking forward to trying them out, too.”

  “Can’t you move it to next weekend?”

  Amanda weighed her response, and decided she didn’t want to rock the boat with Rick for no good reason. “An old girlfriend is having some…health issues. She needs a little moral support.”

  “Well, all right. If you really can’t get out of it. I’ll reschedule and let you know.”

  “Thanks, bye.”

  She rose from the couch and went into her bedroom to pack. Just a weekend’s worth of things. Nothing more.

  Amanda stopped at a nearby gas station to fill her tank and get something to drink before setting off on the couple-hour drive from Rochester to Minnetonka.

  She got back into the car, set the soda in the cup holder, then opened her Forester’s sunroof to let in that crisp fall air. She took a deep breath and savored it. At least the scenery along the drive would be pretty this time of year, with the fall colors close to peak. She left the radio off so she could think while she drove, and pulled out of the gas station.

  As she eased onto northbound US-52, Amanda started to have second thoughts about agreeing to go up to Jeremy’s. She had no intention of getting back with him, and hoped her visit wouldn’t encourage him to think along those lines.

  But what about the ethical dilemma he had described to her? Could she be exposing herself to any professional repercussions just trying to help him figure out what to do? As far as she knew, this situation was totally uncharted territory in the field of regenerative medicine. And it was certainly way out of her league. All her subjects were incontrovertibly lab animals, and her use of them was, she believed, not controversial. Oh, sometimes she got some flak for her use of primates, but at least that was nothing new.

  But a human clone?

  She decided to set aside her worries for now and settled back in her seat. She inhaled the fresh fall air and began to enjoy the easy drive and the scarlet-tinged leaves in the roadside trees. Soon enough she would arrive at I-494 and have to battle Minneapolis metro traffic.

  CHAPTER 16

  Jeremy finished putting away the groceries he’d gotten in preparation for Amanda’s visit. He hoped she’d agree to just stay in for the weekend so they could talk through this thing freely without fear of being overheard in a restaurant.

  The doorbell rang. Jeremy hurried to the front door and opened it.

  Amanda stood there, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, a gym bag in one hand and her purse over her shoulder. Her short dark hair rippled slightly in the breeze. “Hi. I, uh, just parked in front of the garage, if that’s OK.”

  “Yeah, come in.” Jeremy stepped back to let her in and reached for her bag. He suddenly felt awkward in her presence, even though he had invited her. It had been months since she had broken things off, and here he was asking her to help him make an incredibly personal and difficult decision.

  “No, it’s all right. It’s pretty light.” Amanda moved away from him and glanced around. “So this is the house, eh?”

  Her body language was not lost on Jeremy. “Yeah. I pretty much hate it, especially now, after what I’ve found out about Ivan’s doings. It was convenient to have a place to move into right away, though. I’ll probably just sell it, take the money and buy something else.”

  “It is a bit…ostentatious, I suppose.” Amanda took a brief tour of the lower level, poking her head into the rooms as she went. She made her way back to the bottom of the stairs. “Which room will be mine? I’ll set my stuff in there so it’s out of the way.”

  Jeremy led her upstairs. “There are several to choose from, actually. The one at the end was Ivan’s. I’ve left it as it was. Can’t stand it. The next one over is mine, and these others—”

  “I’ll take this one.” Amanda selected the one farthest from Jeremy’s and stepped inside to drop off her bag and take a quick look around.

  “I got some wine and cheese. If you like, we can have that in the living room, relax a bit, and talk.”

  “Sounds all right. I’ll be down in a minute.”

  Jeremy went to the kitchen to retrieve the prepared plate of cheese and crackers and little snacks that he’d purchased at Lund’s. It was a bit of a cheat, but he figured things would be awkward enough without trying to demonstrate any particular culinary expertise. He opened a bottle of Chardonnay, grabbed a couple of glasses, and went into the living room to set everything out for them.

  Amanda walked in moments later. Judging from her choice of clothing and lack of makeup, Jeremy guessed she was trying not to look attractive, given the circumstances. It wasn’t working. She looked every bit as beautiful as he recalled, perhaps even more so. She sat down on the couch, separating herself from him by an entire cushion’s width. He tried to set aside their personal discomfort with each other, as he had something far more pressing than their prior relationship to discuss. He poured them both some wine.

  “So, where to begin?” He lifted his glass and sighed.

  “Jeremy, I did some quick research after you called, and unless someone else has also managed to do this under wraps, it looks like Ivan did what had been considered impossible.” She took a sip of her wine. “And of course in doing so, he did put you pretty much in the position you surmise—totally unsupported by any sort of ethical precedent.”

  “I just can’t wrap my head around it—that clone.” He set his glass down, and twisted his hands in his lap as he spoke. “What is he? Who is he? And what are my obligations to him?”

  “I can’t figure that out, either. Given that he already exists, I don’t see how you can risk raising the issue with an outside ethicist and getting a formal opinion.” Amanda frowned and stared down for a few moments, then looked at Jeremy. “You know, I think it’s all or nothing. You either keep him in the lab indefinitely and keep this whole thing quiet—or you get him out of that lab and somehow prepare him to live independently. But then the whole project goes public and you’ll have to deal with God knows what sort of fallout. And who knows how he would be received in the outside world anyway.”

  Jeremy shifted in his seat as the implications sunk in. “I bet it’d bring the company down.”

  “True enough. And if you let him out, then I suppose you would have to treat him as a vulnerable adult. How would that work? Who would be the guardian—you? You say he physically appears to be a grown adult, but has only existed for a couple of years. His mental development can’t possibly be normal. What sort of life would he have anyway?”

  Jeremy stood and began to pace the room like a trapped animal. His hands balled into fists at his sides. “I can’t believe this! What am I supposed to do? If I keep quiet, I’m sentencing a human being to life as a lab animal. If I take him out of the lab, I have no idea what it would mean for him to exist in the outside world, no idea if he would ever be capable of self-sufficiency. I don’t know what he thinks, if he thinks, nothing.” Jeremy stopped pacing. “And of course, it would destroy SomaGene to admit we even did such a thing.”

  “Maybe you don’t know enough to even try to make this decision now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you just said you don’t know if he thinks. You don’t really know if he is sentient. I don’t think you know enough about him and how he is or is not functioning to be able to guess at what he really is.”

  Jeremy returned to the couch and sat down heavily. “You’re right,” he said softly.

  Amanda gathered momentum. “So maybe you start by testing his cognitive function, see what you’re really dealing with. Give yourself a little time to do that before you make a decision.”

  “That sounds—” Jeremy moaned and clutched his stomach as a searing pain shot through him.

  “What is it?” Amanda jumped up.

  “Fucking Crohn’s. It’s getting active again. Gim
me a minute.” Jeremy curled into a fetal position on the couch, trying to ride out the wave of pain.

  “I thought you’d told me the meds had been keeping it in check.” Amanda crouched down next to him.

  “It had been pretty quiet the last few months, but the stress from this damned situation seems to have kicked it into high gear again.” Jeremy groaned.

  “Can I do anything?”

  “No, just give me a minute. It’s starting to taper some.” Jeremy let out a long breath. “OK, it’s a bit better now.” He slowly sat up.

  “When did you last get evaluated?”

  “I went in for a full workup at Mayo right before I moved up here. Barium, sigmoidoscope, the whole thing. They found a section—a few inches—that is pretty compromised. They said as long as the meds keep things at bay, to stay on them. But they said it was likely that section would eventually constrict or develop a fistula, and that would mean surgery.” Jeremy gasped as another, briefer, wave of pain struck him. “Problem is, I’ve been trying to keep the meds to the minimum possible dose because the side effects have been getting worse over time. And surgery isn’t even a permanent solution—the problem would return at some point, just in a different section.”

  Amanda stood, walked over to a window and gazed out before she spoke. “You know, Jeremy, you have another decision you need to make.”

  The worst of the pain over, Jeremy sat up straighter. “What are you getting at?”

  Amanda turned toward him. “I’m not saying I’m comfortable with this, mind you, but remember why he exists in the first place. Ivan made him for you. To try to cure you. If it worked, maybe SomaGene could try to come up with a less ethically challenged way to achieve the same result. What a breakthrough that would be—think of it.”

  “Well, I didn’t ask him to do this!”

  “Jeremy, that doesn’t matter anymore. It’s done. The only question concerns what you are going to do now. You need to separate your resentment of Ivan from what’s presented here. Your disease has progressed, and the meds aren’t working as well as they used to. You could be pushing away a cure.”

  Jeremy bowed his head, exhausted. “Maybe you’re right. I just can’t think about this anymore now. I’m really sorry—I just want to go to bed right now. I got groceries. You can make whatever you want for yourself—the kitchen has about anything you could imagine. Sorry.”

  Without another word, Jeremy made his way up the stairs to his room. He flopped down onto his bed without changing clothes, and tried to sleep. Tangled thoughts raced through his mind and refused to let him rest. Thoughts of his moral duty, his own dire medical dilemma…and of Amanda and how much he really still wanted her.

  CHAPTER 17

  “I think you need to see him.” Jeremy and Amanda, each nursing a hot cup of coffee, sat at the little table in the glass-enclosed breakfast nook the next morning.

  She gazed through the glass at the tree-lined back yard as she warmed her hands on the mug. “I don’t know. I was thinking of heading back home a little later today.” She’d reflected on the situation last night after Jeremy had abruptly gone to bed. The last thing she wanted was to get any deeper into Jeremy’s ethical snake pit—let alone reopen anything concerning their relationship. She thought she’d given all the advice she was capable of in their discussion last night, and saw no need to prolong her visit just to go over the same ground.

  “You made a good point about evaluating his cognitive function before making a decision, but I think if you saw him, too, it might bring something else to mind that could help.”

  Amanda waved her hand as if to ward off Jeremy’s words. “Look, I understand the gravity of this, believe me, and that’s all the more reason I don’t want to get further involved, see?” She took a sip of her coffee and set the cup down hard.

  “All right, Amanda. I understand. Just this one last thing. Come see him for a few minutes. The campus is a really short drive from here, and it should be empty on the weekend. Just this, please?”

  Amanda weighed it in her mind. She was curious to see the clone—as a scientist, of course—but that had to be it. She would not let Jeremy draw her in further. “All right. Then I’m heading home.”

  Jeremy opened the main door and ushered Amanda inside the SomaGene facility. She stopped, astonished, when she saw the inside of the atrium. “I’ve never seen anything like this. All the surfaces float?”

  “Yes, the outside skin of the building draws in solar power to assist. Special electromagnets are used to suspend various surfaces throughout the facility, like here in reception, in the surgical suites, and in the cultivation room. Also, the air is very aggressively filtered. The idea is to keep the surroundings so clean that we can use the absolute minimum of antibiotics and anti-rejection meds in our procedures. Results in much better surgical outcomes, and helps avoid creating more resistant organisms.”

  “This is truly impressive. I thought Mayo was advanced. They have nothing on this.”

  “I can show you the cultivation room if you’re interested. I’d like to take you to see him first, though. Then you can decide if you want to stay longer—or not—to tour the rest of the place.”

  Renewing her resolve to stay as uninvolved as possible, Amanda replied, “Yes, of course, thank you.”

  They walked in silence as Jeremy led her to the door to the Subject’s enclosure. “All right, this is it.” He paused to look her in the eye. “You ready?”

  “Yes.” Amanda did her best to look nonchalant, but she felt a burst of adrenaline as she realized she was about to view something that had never been done—that she knew of.

  Jeremy opened the door and silently motioned her to follow him in. He paused in front of the Subject’s enclosure.

  Amanda stepped inside, riveted by the sight of the Subject. He stood at the front of his barred enclosure, staring at them both with a look of what appeared to be innocent wonder. Clad in something resembling a hospital gown, he certainly did appear to be a young adult version of Ivan. Amanda moved closer. “Does he speak?”

  “Glen and Tim say he’s not verbal. They’ve fed and cared for him all this time, but they don’t know what he might understand.”

  “Hello.” Amanda looked into the Subject’s eyes and wondered what, if anything, he was thinking. He continued to gaze back at her with a seemingly trusting look. Or was she seeing what she expected to see?

  It would be so incredible to run tests on him. Had the brain developed at an accelerated rate along with the body due to the nutrient and hormone regimen? Did it only lack education and training to make the Subject a fully functional adult? Or was more required to develop cognitive function—was experience needed along with the physical cell development? Was the brain even of adult size within the cranium? Her scientist’s mind nearly ran wild before she brought it up short. To involve herself in any meaningful way would likely expose her to an ethics probe and end her career.

  Amanda drew back. “All right. I’ve seen him. I’d like to go now.”

  The Not White Coats shut the door, leaving him alone in his sparse and silent enclosure. He gazed at the door for several minutes afterwards, then reached out from between the bars with one hand. He had wanted to do that while they were there, but had been afraid.

  The White Coats were always nice. They brought him food. He did not know what to think of the Not White Coats. They did not bring him food. They did not stay very long. They made few sounds before leaving. Were they nice, too, or not?

  One of the White Coats would often sit with him, making sounds for him. The other White Coat often brought food, but never stayed very long. Sometimes they both came, and they made sounds to each other. He wondered what those sounds meant, wondered if he could make them, too.

  CHAPTER 18

  Jeremy heard footsteps on the stairs as he was putting some dishes into the dishwasher. He stepped out of the kitchen to the foyer in time to see Amanda coming down the stairs. She had her gym bag and purse slu
ng over her right shoulder, and looked ready to leave.

  Jeremy slumped a little with disappointment. He’d hoped she’d at least stay the whole weekend. They hadn’t come up with anything approaching a neat and tidy solution to his dilemma, though he wasn’t sure they ever could no matter how much time and effort they put into it. Even so, just having her around to talk to comforted him and made him feel less alone in facing it.

  He admitted to himself he wanted to rekindle their relationship, even in the midst of all this turmoil and the resurgence of his Crohn’s. She’d broken things off, not him, and he missed her terribly to this day. He’d had no interest in dating other women because he could still think of no one else he’d rather be with.

  “Do you really need to leave so soon?” He hoped he didn’t sound like he was pleading with her to stay.

  “Yeah. I have a busy week coming up, and want to have some time to relax at home before the end of the weekend.” Amanda did not make eye contact.

  Jeremy could tell she had no intention of entertaining any further discussion, so he suppressed what he really wanted to say. “Well, it was good to see you again. Thanks for coming up. I really appreciate it.” He reluctantly opened the door for her.

  “You’re welcome. Take care, Jeremy.” Amanda gave him a quick glance, then turned and headed for her car.

  Jeremy lingered at the door and watched her as she drove off without waving or looking back. He slowly shut the door, then leaned against it, suddenly feeling empty, hopeless, and terribly alone. The house already seemed cold and cavernous without her there.

  He trudged back to the kitchen to finish loading the dishwasher. He mindlessly placed dishes in the racks and silverware in the little plastic corrals as he thought about the week ahead of him. After their last encounter, he dreaded having to face Glen and Tim again on Monday. He considered their working relationship irreparably damaged because of their secrecy, yet he knew he needed them on so many levels. How he was going to get past his anger with them to keep the relationship functional going forward, he had no idea right now.