Story #32 - Imperfect Copy

Imperfect Copy

“They’re monsters.” Dr. Jack Mnado’s voice was hard.

Jates Lamond had to agree with the word use, though he doubted he and Mnado has the same definition in mind. Mnado meant that his creations were hideous freaks, slices of nature that should not exist. He was thinking more in terms of the word’s root meaning – miracle.

Pulling the shade-screen closed, Jates stepped away from the incubation chamber and moved for his small oak desk, Mnado trailing along behind, head shaking. Seating himself, he waited for the older man to sit as well and then simply let the silence wash over them both, scanning the lab with a sense of satisfaction.

If Mnado wanted to say something further, the iron-haired supervisor would do so soon enough. For the moment, Jates was content to survey his steel and sterile kingdom, a small fiefdom he had been able to carve out at the University thanks to exceptional research skills, an ability to stay under the bureaucratic radar and just a touch of madness that made a good scientist great.

Well – more than a touch, perhaps.

When he looked back to the man opposite him, he could see the expected, the predicted. He could see the concerns Jack had harbored all along, finally coming to the surface. There was a hint of betrayal there and if he wasn’t mistaken…envy?

“Do you know why I hired you, Jates?” There was no anger in the other man’s voice, just a sense of resignation.

He shrugged. There were any number of reasons; he was one of the best in his field, constantly pushing the envelope of what was possible, but he was also known for an ability to generate profitable and stable research for a school, keeping funding lines secured and drawing in precocious undergrads.

“I hired you because I knew you’d doing something like this if you were left alone long enough,” Mnado said quietly, “but I’d hoped it wouldn’t be exactly this.”

He bristled, but fought it down. Jack wasn’t questioning the work itself, just what he perceived to be the moral issues surrounding it. That was the job of a good supervisor – to check up on what was being done around them, to be the sober second thought.

Still – couldn’t the other man see? Couldn’t he understand?

It hadn’t really been that difficult once he put his mind to it. Genetic techniques were advanced enough that he’d been able to make a human hybrid easily enough. His Hybans, as he’d come to call them, would have all of the intelligence of a human being without the pesky need to conquer or kill. He’d seen their future for years, long before he had the technology to create them. They would be educators, scholars like him but with an increased life span, greater mental capacity and a voracious desire for knowledge. They might not look like much, writhing around under the incubator light, but within a month they’d be alert enough to start moving.

If Jack would let them.

Jates didn’t see any point in responding; his defense was in his work, not his word, and he knew Jack well enough to know the man had already made a decision.

“Keep me informed,” Jack said, rising, “I won’t have this go south on my watch.”

***

Twenty-eight days.

Even Jates had been surprised by their progress and now, watching the strongest of the first batch at work, gave himself a mental pat on the back.

Prime had been the most adventuresome of the group and six days ago Jates had lifted him from the rapidly shrinking incubator space and set him to work in the lab. His thin, grayish body resembled that of a human but lacked the identifying features that marked out one primate from another. No hair marred his form and his large, multi-faceted eyes bore no color, but had the ability to see in far more detail than his creator. Each Hyban was distinct but identifying them purely based on physical characteristics was impossible.

Looking down at his own flabby form, Jates felt a surge of satisfaction. Getting rid of jealously and ambition among the test group had been one of his main objectives. Time would tell how Hybans chose to interact with one another.

Prime couldn’t speak – yet – but could understand simple commands. Jates had created them with a stealer aural capacity and only a half-day of explanation had been required for Prime to comprehend what he was required to do in the lab. With absolute sincerity, Jates could say that this single, month old creation was better than all of the lab assistants he’d ever been given.

He’d have to call Jack in once Prime was working on his own studies – two weeks more and Jates was certain he could get the Hyban up to speed on biology and dissection.

He smiled. He hadn’t enjoyed his work this much in years.

***

Prime and Duo were more like a force of nature than simple scientists, but they devoured knowledge as though it were the only thing keeping them alive. They required little in the way of other sustenance – he’d created them to run on the equivalent of a one-thousand calorie meal a week – and they seemed content to hunch over their experiments, muttering in a dialect only they understood.

They’d made a mess of the lab but could clean it up just as quickly when they were through with their day. It was hard to tell when they were going to stop – one of them would look at the other, something odd would pass between them and they would drop to the tiled floor, snoring lightly.

Both of his creations had proven exceptionally bright in all aspects of basic science but Primo especially was fascinated by internal biology. He had easily devoured every text in the lab and those from the library that Jates had brought, and the University was beginning to wonder at the number of specimens he was ordering for dissection.

He glanced up from his next requisition form to find them both snoring quietly. The others would be ready soon and he could get Jack back in here for another visit. The man had been suitably impressed with what he’d seen the week before, and that was merely the beginning.

Yawning, Jates realized it was long after midnight. He could go home, but that would mean treading across the lab and running the risk of waking Duo and Prime. No, he decided, his chair was comfortable enough – he would go home when there wasn’t so much to do.

…

It was the cold metal under his head that woke him.

He was still in the lab, that much was certain, but his perspective had changed from the night before. He moved to rise, but…couldn’t.

A sound to his left caught his attention and his eyes followed, finding the lank form of Primo standing by his head, small cloth in one gray hand.

He was in the lab, sure enough – strapped to a work bench.

Glancing down he saw Duo at his midsection, a shining steel scalpel in her hand.

“No!” He said it sharply enough that both brought their eyes to his face. “Let me go. Now.”

An indistinct bit of chatter passed between them and then Primo spoke, haltingly. “Need. Knowing. Study…incomplete.”

Jates shook his head. There was no malice in this, but no morality either. He’d assumed their drive for knowledge would be his protection; their lack of human drives an easy fix for the violence that plagued his species.

“Thank you,” Prime said, and there was a simple sincerity in his voice.

Jates Lamond struggled but it was no use; the cloth covered his mouth, its sickly sweet scent pulling him under, down into the abyss.

Knowledge came with a price.


- D