by David Harp
Chapter 28
Daniel’s Decision
The University of Florida would be Dan’s home in less than a month. His grades were excellent, but his academic achievements were ordinary compared to his four best friends. That is why it was such a shock when Claude Gautier showed up at his house and offered the equivalent of a full scholarship to the ORION Institute.
“Why me?” Dan asked. “I’m a good student, but you gave me the impression only the smartest people in the world are recruited to the Institute.”
“We recruit anyone who has something special to offer. You’re very talented with computers and we want people who can help us get our message out.”
“I’m no Steve Jobs.” Dan replied.
“You have something even more valuable to offer, your DNA.”
“What?” Dan started to laugh. “I’m no Nina Nizhoni either. In case you haven’t noticed, Haley and I are very different.”
“We’ve noticed,” Claude said with a laugh. “The problem is the Nina Nizhoni including Haley are a separate species capable of interbreeding with Homo sapiens, and they did. They spread their genes to nearly every person on the planet.”
Dan knew Haley was different, but even after her transformation he found it difficult to believe she was another species. It took a minute to catch his breath.
“What is special about my DNA?” he asked.
“We traced your family lineage back through South Africa before your visit to the Institute. We suspected you might have pure unaltered Homo sapiens DNA. I hope it doesn’t upset you to know we tested a sample and it confirmed your Genome is untainted.”
“But I thought the whole idea was the superiority of Nina Nizhoni DNA.” Dan said.
Claude appeared to be annoyed by Dan’s comment.
“First off, there is no such thing as superior DNA. We can create machines which outperform humans in every endeavor. Does that mean machines are more important than humans? No, of course not. Machines are only important because they assist humans who have the unique ability to enjoy and appreciate life. The Nina Nizhoni learned the hard way when they started tampering with genetics.”
“I still don’t understand why my DNA is important.”
“The Nina Nizhoni encountered a large number of unintended side effects. They didn’t establish a reference point, so they had nothing to refer to when things went wrong. It was a fatal mistake. Your DNA can be used as a baseline to identify differences between the two species. We want to map your DNA down to the molecular structure of the amino acids. When things go wrong and they will, it will provide a template to start over. Your DNA will provide directions when we get lost.”
“So why don’t you avoid the problem altogether? Don’t tinker with people’s DNA. Why play God?” Dan asked.
“When people realize they can prevent birth defects and avoid hereditary diseases by adjusting a few genes, there will be no way to stop them.”
Dan explained his existing University of Florida enrollment to Claude and the many reasons why it was too late to change. Claude said ORION would cover the costs and take care of the paperwork.
The decision to attend ORION was easy for Dan. He might miss some enjoyment of life at a major university, but college was expensive. His father was willing to pay the difference beyond the financial assistance, but it would dig deep into Mr. Naidoo’s retirement savings.
A month ago when they were leaving the Institute, Claude said he was looking forward to seeing Dan in September. He was right. Dan wondered how he knew and then he wondered if his friends were having a similar experience.