MS. BOLEG’S KINDERGARTEN CLASSROOM
MS. BOLEG, dressed in a neat instructor’s uniform, talks with an adult in the center of the room. Children gather there, as well as in the room’s four corners. In each of those corners, large 3D’s project full-size, interactive characters. Nomi approaches the corner nearest to her, which is already occupied by THREE YOUNG GIRLS.
GIRL 1
Excuse me, but you can’t play here. This is OUR corner.
NOMI
I was just…
GIRL 2
Yeah. You need to go find your own corner because this one is ours. Sorry! Bye!
Nomi turns to look at all of the other occupied areas of the room. She starts to walk away when the third girl grabs her by the arm.
GIRL 3
You can play with me if you want.
NOMI
Ok…But? But what about your friends?
GIRL 3
I don’t want to be friends with them anymore because they are being mean and that’s not nice.
NOMI
Ok. I can be your friend, then. My name is Nomi.
GIRL 3
Hi, Nomi. It’s nice to meet you. I'm Athena. Do you want play over there?
FADE TO BLACK
June 12, 2099
46
Athena awoke to find herself in a dimly lit room. She could move neither her arms nor her legs, as both had been encased in the sides and base of a liquid-plastic chair. Briefly, she struggled to escape, but found it was no use.
As she worked to identify her surroundings, she turned her head and saw a horizontal figure lying on a white bed, with white pillows, and white sheets. She recognized his male shape instantly, and from it, realized exactly where she was and who had brought her there.
From out of the darkness, a voice cried: “She’s awake.”
Loud shuffling marked the steady movement of a figure coming closer.
“Athena,” said a woman in grandmotherly overtones, “I am so sorry. This was all my fault. I should have known you would never leave well enough alone.”
Dr. Antares stepped into the light. She wore the same sweater, pants, and lab coat as she had the day before. However, around her neck, her blue-lapis Helix-pendant appeared missing. “Your father was stubborn too,” she went on to say, “just like you. I should never have let this happen.”
From behind Athena, another noise closed in on her position, the unmistakable clacking of heavy-heeled boots. “Hurry it up, Grace. You know what we have to do.” Athena identified the second speaker by her dispassionate intonation and slight Russian accent. “I brought her here,” Eve continued, “instead of killing her out there because of my respect for you. I know how important she is to you. But our mission must take precedence. You know that. We cannot allow ourselves to get sentimental at a time like this. The fate of the world is at stake.”
Grace took a step back and bowed her head in agreement.
“Take your vial of blood,” ordered Eve, “say your goodbyes, and be done with it.”
From a side-pocket in her white lab coat, Grace pulled out a tiny syringe. She brought it up to Athena’s neck and withdrew a millimeter of red cells. Tears welled up in her turquoise eyes.
Simultaneously, Eve spoke. “I’m actually quite impressed with you, girl.” She moved out from behind Athena so that they could see one another face-to-face. Her expression possessed a genuine curiosity and a real absence of any malice. “How did you find that old Original Sin editorial? How did you even know to look for it? When I followed your car out of the city, I assumed you were just going on a vacation. It’s been over fifty years since the library was destroyed…I can hardly believe there was something still there to find.”
To the left and right, Eve paced back and forth in front of the bound Athena. “I only deleted that library from the public records because, after the terrorist attack, their servers were too badly damaged for me to be able to search through their archives. I didn't know what, if anything, they might have had on us. Back then, I thought it was best to play it safe. Never in a million years, though, did I think there really existed a physical copy of something so damning. Fortunately, I was able to destroy your discovery before it could fall into anyone else’s hands. In truth, girl, it looks like we owe you a debt of gratitude.”
Athena spat out as far as she could, but her spittle failed to reach its target.
“I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” sighed Eve.
Under her breath, Grace murmured something incoherent, as if she were trying to speak, but couldn’t remember how. Finally, she raised her voice and it assumed a powerful clarity. “Eve,” she issued forth, “it stops here. I can’t do it. I can’t let you do it. The utopia we built was made so that girls like her would never again have to fear for their lives. Were we to kill her now, then it will all have been for nothing.” With her left arm down at her side, Dr. Antares began subtly clicking her fingers.
“That’s nonsense, Grace.” Eve’s pale skin took on a reddened tone. “You cannot forget how far we’ve come, how much we’ve accomplished! They used to say that only the dead have seen the end of war. But we did it, Grace. You, and I, and the others. We created a world without war, without terrorism, without rape, without insatiable greed, and without the endless cycles of vengeance of violence. We built a planet where hunger and poverty were wiped from existence. Yet, if we let this girl live — and she tells people the truth about what we did — we’ll risk throwing it all away.”
Eve’s eyebrows raised as her detached gaze filled with actual terror. “Don’t you remember,” she asked of Grace, “don't you remember when you tried to warn everyone? Fifty years ago? How you told them about your research on happiness? How you told them about what men really wanted in their hearts, about the kinds of things that actually made them happy…and no one believed you? Those foolish women, confident in their false prescriptions, utterly blind to the truth. They thought the problems with men could be fixed by just “raising our boys right,” and by “eliminating the patriarchy.” What complete nonsense. You cannot stop a virile man from wanting to sexually assault every woman he sees any more than you could stop a lion from craving meat.”
The clacking of her footsteps echoed back and forth across the room. “The average woman will never understand it, Grace. She can never understand what men were really like. Our brains are just too different. Our feminine souls are too kind. A woman will take her view of the world, insert it into a male body, and think that she understands what is it like to be a man — to feel lust and to desire violence. But she hasn’t the faintest idea. She can't begin to understand how wide the gender-gap really is. It takes the heart of a scientist to see the truth.” Her tone begged for sympathy. “Even now, just look at how easily our own Congress was tricked by their feminine kindness into voting for that inane project to bring men back to life. Three tears, plus the story of a dead husband, and suddenly, everyone wants to let the fox back into the hen house—”
“But what if we’re wrong?” Grace interrupted. “You said it yourself, the proof of man’s flawed yearnings are everywhere to see. Over the last half century, our societies have blossomed in every way possible. Since 2090, we’ve lost more lives to lightning strikes than to war, famine, and homelessness combined. What if people finally are ready to admit that we’re better off without men — without their selfish, destructive, and glory-seeking desires?”
“Sure…” proclaimed Eve. “And maybe, while we’re at it, we’ll have flying pigs for dinner.” Dr. Kirilov slammed her right boot loudly against the floor. “The risk is too great! Can you really not remember how bad things were? How many young and innocent women died in the world every day? How many family members I lost in the second Russian revolution alone? You’d risk for all of us to return to that? To be plagued by constant acts of terrorism? To be plunged into a dozen never-ending conflicts on six continents — spurred on by every warrior-boy’s dream of becoming the next Achilles �
� all while the ultra-rich hide away in their bunkers, helping no one but themselves? You’d risk a return to all of that, just for the life of one person?”
Eve took a breath, paused, and recollected herself. "It wasn't even a crime what we did. Anyone with two eyes and half a brain could see that men had no place in a modern, civilized society — and they must have known it too. Having to constantly suppress their inappropriate urges was making them miserable and useless.” She wiped away a drop of moisture from her lips. “Just look at their declining rates of education, and their skyrocketing rates of opiate abuse. What we did, Grace, it wasn't even murder. It was a mercy killing."
For a long time, Dr. Antares stayed silent. Her gaze passed over the trapped Athena, and then back to Eve. Finally, under her breath, she uttered solemnly: “We must do unto others, as we would have them do unto us.” Quickly, her fingers danced into space.
“What was that?” demanded Eve. “Are you mumbling more useless nonsense-lessons passed down from your beloved bronze-aged fishermen?”
Athena’s display, which had been disabled the entire time, suddenly sprang to life, highlighting for her a lime-green escape route to an emergency staircase.
“Eve,” spoke Grace, her voice relaxed, “I’m forever grateful to you for covering up what we did. All those years ago, I never believed in your plan to get others to take the credit for our work, simply by infecting terrorist cells first. Making it all look like an accident? That was brilliant. Everyone would have united against us if they had known the truth of what we were trying to accomplish.” Half-heartedly, she laughed. “How easy it was, even then, to manipulate those glory-seeking men into taking all the credit for their own destruction. Nevertheless, my gratitude has limits…and I can’t let you do it.”
Looking down, Grace met Athena’s eyes with her own. “Dear girl, I am so sorry that I didn’t get a chance to know you better.” A droplet cascaded down the aged doctor’s cheek, falling onto her white coat. “You have his eyes.”
“Grace…” warned Eve, moving closer. “What are you doing…”
Without warning, Dr. Antares flung herself at Eve, wrapping her arms tightly around her and tackling her to the ground.
“Go, Athena!” yelled Grace. “Now. Hurry!” Without loosening her grip on Eve, she flicked her finger. Athena’s plastic prison began to melt away. At the same time, a clock appeared on Athena’s display. It read zero minutes and twenty seconds. Then it began counting down. Nineteen, eighteen…
Eve struggled with all her might, attempting to get free. “What have you done!” she screamed. “You will destroy everything!”
The last of the plastic casing dissolved. Athena was finally free. Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen. She stood up. On the floor by her feet, the two doctors continued to wrestle. Fourteen, thirteen. Eve looked as though she were slowly gaining the upper hand. Twelve, eleven.
Athena took a step toward Grace. She prepared to assist in the struggle.
Grace stopped the girl with a smile and a shake of her head. As her gaze fixed on Athena, her mouth formed a closing circle. Silently, she enunciated a single word:
“Go.”
Ten, nine.
Athena ran, following the escape route on her display. Eight, seven. Down the hall, around the corner, and down another long hall. Six, five. Blood coursed in her living veins. Gasping for air, she reached the door to the emergency staircase.
“Stop!” cried Eve, in hot pursuit, but still forty meters away, the entire length of a hallway. Four, three, two. Athena opened the door and stepped inside.
One.
A thunderous roar reverberated.
All around Athena, the building rocked as though it were caught in a massive earthquake. She sat on the floor, hugging her knees. Outside her shelter, the sounds of glass shattering and metal crunching rose up like a grotesque scream. The entire building, it seemed, had been built with programmable plastic. Every office, every hallway, and every lab melted together until the towering skyscraper had been reduced to a solid egg-shaped pit, only a few stories high. When it was finally over, everything had been destroyed save for a pair of narrow, concrete spirals which swirled to encircle the pit on every side — the emergency staircases.
Several minutes after the noises stopped, Athena tried to reopen the door she had just come through, but found it sealed shut. She moved toward the center of the staircase and looked it up and down as far as she could. In both directions, its stone steps curved off into darkness. Left without another choice, she began slowly descending, all the way to the bottom.
On the ground floor, the staircase door opened into the cool night air. A small crowd of shocked on-lookers gathered outside, indulging in the highly-irregular sight of catastrophic destruction. In addition, half a dozen Public Safety officers waited just outside the staircase door. As Athena walked into the fresh night air, she entered directly into the custody of Public Safety.
The NAU Times
June 12th, 2099
Chaos, Destruction at Helix
CHICAGO — (AP) — Rescue drones are still scanning through the rubble in Hyde Park tonight after a surprising and deadly implosion at Helix. At this time, investigators are only beginning to understand how the building’s safety features were overridden, allowing the foundation to transform with people still inside.
The ‘Times’ is saddened to report that among the wreckage, the remains of five bodies have been discovered. Included among them was the body of the beloved Dr. Grace Antares. She was 79. Helix cofounder, Dr. Evelyn Kirilov, has also been found. She was 75. The three remaining bodies have yet to be identified. A source inside Public Safety has confirmed that their genomic-remains do not match any records existing within the NAU Citizen’s database. They are assumed to be unregistered foreigners.
The only apparent witness to the disaster, Athena Vosh, was found, alive, in an emergency staircase. Her recordings had been wiped. She appeared disoriented. Attempts to communicate with her have proved, so far, unsuccessful. The girl has reportedly refused to speak to anyone from Public Safety, insisting rather, that she be taken to meet with the Core. Representatives from the Core did not respond to our request for comment.
The five dead from this implosion, plus Captain Bell’s murder yesterday, and the unrelated death of Chicago-area-native, Nomi James, who perished during a hiking accident in Colorado, have combined to make this the most tragically lethal week in NAU history.
June 14, 2099
47
Gray overcast skies hung over Chicago two days later when Athena received a Public Safety escort back to Batavia, to the Hangar. As her city-car came to a stop, she exited alone from its rear door. Slowly, she made her way past the front security gate and across the desolate and lonely airfield.
Upon reaching the entrance to the Hangar, she withdrew a thick, brown bison-fur coat from a nearby closet. As the door whooshed open, she found the Core already in human form, seated on one of two chairs. Her tiny body was covered in black from head to toe. Her demeanor appeared sad and listless.
Athena approached.
“There is some debate among computer scientists,” spoke the Core, in her many angelic voices all working together in harmony, “about whether I am capable of experiencing empathy. I do not know what you believe, Athena, but regardless, I am sorry for your loss.” Her severe expression looked misplaced on her child-like face, like a funeral on Christmas morning.
Athena took a seat and replied. “Nomi kept trying to get me to ask why,” she said. “Why did you choose me to help? Why me? I wanted so much to believe that it was because I was smart or because I could see something that no one else could. But that’s not the truth, is it?”
“No,” replied the Core, dispassionately. “It’s not.”
“The truth is you chose me because you knew Grace wouldn't harm me. You knew I was the only one who could survive discovering the secret of what really happened to men.”
“Yes,” whispered the Core. A r
ush of cold air came howling from out of the dark depths of the Hangar. It collided with Athena’s face, burning her cheeks. “Dr. Antares hid her connection to you very well,” explained the Core. “Your genome has been heavily encrypted. I doubt that anyone besides myself would have seen it.”
“So what am I? Her…?”
“Niece. You are her niece.” The Core waved her hand and a cloud of quantum processors descended from above, illustrating her words as she spoke. Quickly, they formed the image of a young turquoise-eyed woman, sitting at a desk, looking visibly disturbed. The woman resembled Grace, but a younger version than Athena had ever known.
“Back when Dr. Antares invented happiness profiling, when she first discovered the truth about masculine desires, she concluded that the world needed to know what she'd found. She set herself to composing the ‘Original Sin’ editorial — the very same one which you have now read — and submitted it to newspapers everywhere. She had hoped to find widespread support for her idea that societies should use gene-editing technology to address the constant problems caused by the innate masculine yearnings for sex, violence, and personal distinction. She naively thought that all people would be eager to reduce unnecessary suffering in the world.
“Unfortunately, people were not ready for such a radical idea. Her conclusions were met by coordinated attacks that sought to cover up and discredit her work. The vast majority of news outlets declined even to publicly announce her findings.”
The Core’s processors shifted to form a firework-display of rejections, appearing briefly before exploding into space. "It was only Eve and a small group of other top female scientists who read her research and took it seriously. Together, this group formulated a draconian plan to cure mankind of all its evils, all at once.”
The Core’s processors shifted again to form a young blond woman shaking hands with Grace. Both were dressed in white laboratory coats. Both wore severe expressions on their youthful faces. “Grace, Eve, and the rest of their team isolated the twenty-six genetic markers most responsible for the worst aspects of male desire. Utilizing CRISPR technology, they modified a fever to selectively target and co-opt each of those markers, altering them so that they would produce toxins deadly to the individual. They turned masculinity’s own violent legacy against itself.”
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