The Dead World
By: Stephanie Erickson
Copyright © 2016 Stephanie Erickson
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof.
This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13: 978-1-944793-06-7
For the finish.
It’s never easy to get there,
But when I do,
It’s gonna be sweet.
Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
Calm
1
2
3
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Stephanie’s Books
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1.
January 2023
“And that’s how I’m going to cure cancer.” He sat back, crossed his ankle over his knee, and folded his arms across his chest, watching Ashby with a smug expression.
Bennett Ashby eyed his best friend with a raised eyebrow as he took a bite of his cafeteria-style mystery meat. “Is that so?”
Christian Mendelsohn leaned forward, the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up, and his brown hair falling down into his face. He brushed it away impatiently, and it immediately fell forward again. “Ashby, come on. You have to admit that this is exciting. We’re on the verge of a breakthrough here.”
“It is exciting,” he said, trying to muster all the enthusiasm he could. After all, he and Mendelsohn had been friends since high school. Judy had almost torn them apart, but by some miracle that went against the natural order of things, they’d stayed friends even after she’d made her choice. Good friends no less. And Mendelsohn’s success was important to him. He just wished they weren’t competing for the same thing, again.
Chewing his lunch, he tried to come up with something supportive, encouraging. But everything he wanted to say was selfish. Well, my work is making strides too. NASA called me about the nanobots. They’re interested. So, instead, he stayed silent.
His friend eyed him from across the table. “Ashby. You could work with me on this, you know. We could crack this together.”
It wasn’t the first time Mendelsohn had made such an offer. But Ashby was an engineer. His work with the nanobots was where his heart was. Medicine was Mendelsohn’s field. And yet, Ashby found himself thrust into the medical field alongside his best friend, learning as he went along. They took two totally different approaches, competing to be the first to find a cure for cancer.
Mendelsohn’s concept was brilliant. Elegant. And less destructive than Ashby’s. That made him nervous. DNA editing was a brand-new concept. Mendelsohn planned to change the DNA of whatever cancer the patient had, and in doing so, force it to exterminate itself. The beautiful thing about it was that it had such far-reaching implications. Not just cancer could be helped by this. Mental illnesses like Alzheimer’s and ALS, as well as deadly diseases like MS and cystic fibrosis. The man had a grade-A miracle on his hands. And, once again, Ashby was just a bystander watching him claim his prize.
Well, that wasn’t really fair, Ashby thought as he shoveled some mashed potatoes into his mouth so he wouldn’t have to talk. Everyone had thought Judy loved Mendelsohn. It was obvious. But for some reason that was still beyond Ashby, she’d picked him. He thought it was because she’d gotten pregnant, and his job was more stable at the time. He was secure. The two men were both budding scientists, but Mendelsohn had still been searching for a position at the university back then.
Now, eighteen years later, their daughter was ready to start college, and Ashby hoped Judy didn’t regret her decision. He didn’t. He loved them both with every fiber of his being. He never questioned Ashley’s parentage, and Judy had never offered.
It didn’t matter. He’d gotten the girl. And now, it looked like Mendelsohn was going to get a different kind of prize. He was closer to the cure than Ashby, and the jealousy tasted bitter to him.
“Mendi, how come you never date?” The question came from left field, and Ashby knew it would catch his friend off guard. It wasn’t something they talked about. It was something Judy pressured him about with an oddly knowing smile when he was over for dinner. But not something they discussed man to man.
“What? What does that have to do with nanobots and DNA?”
Ashby shrugged. “It doesn’t. I just thought we needed a new topic for once.”
“I fell in love with my work, Ashby. I don’t need anything more than that.” But something about his friend’s tone seemed off. Like he was lying for some reason. Before he could put his finger on it, Mendelsohn changed the subject.
“So how’s the world of tiny robots?” Mendelsohn stabbed at his salad a little too aggressively in Ashby’s opinion. What was he hiding?
“Oh, well, not as exciting as the world of DNA editing, that’s for sure. Although, I did get a call from NASA. They’re very interested.”
Mendelsohn’s fork fell from his hand. He reached across the table, taking Ashby’s hand. Mystery meat flying through the air, Mendelsohn shook Ashby’s hand and clapped him on the shoulder across the table.
“That’s great man! NASA.” He sank back into his seat with a dazed look on his face. “It’s everything you’d ever dreamed of. Congratulations.” It was so sincere it almost brought the mystery meat back up for Ashby. How could Mendi be so genuinely excited? Wasn’t he at least a little jealous? No, of course not. He had his own advances to focus on. Ashby wasn’t a threat to him.
Ashby bristled at the thought. Why not? He was every bit as smart, and had just as many opportunities as Mendelsohn.
He must’ve been scowling into his food, because Mendelsohn said something about it. “What’s wrong, Ben? Didn’t they offer you enough money?”
“What?” He looked up at his friend, who had genuine concern on his face. “No, it’s not that. It’s nothing. It’s great news actually.” He worked hard to change his tone—to mean it. Because it was great news. It was just overshadowed by his friend who was about to be the savior of the world.
“Just because they don’t use the bots to cure cancer doesn’t mean they’re a flop, man.” He leaned toward Ashby, trying to get him to make eye contact. “You’ll still have everything you wanted. A nicer house and that car you’ve had your eye on. You’ll be set.” He sat back in his chair, looking wistful again. “NASA. That’s really great, man.”
Ashby sighed. Mendelsohn made a good argument, and the smile that made its way across Ashby’s face was proof. “Thanks,” he said, and meant it.
Back in the lab, he thought about Mendelsohn’s offer to work together. He wasn’t one to ride on someone else’s coattails. As he peered down at his tiny creation through the super-powered microscope, he knew he wanted his own success. And the little beast before him was his ticket.
Just as he was working
on reconnecting some circuitry within the bot’s delicate legs, his assistant interrupted him.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Ashby.” It startled him so badly that he destroyed the bot.
“Damn it.” It would take hours to repair, if he could salvage it at all.
“Another one of the rats died.”
Ashby bit back a second curse. Silently, he rose and followed the small girl across the lab. She was young and enthusiastic. Just what he needed. But she was also emotional, which wasn’t helpful in a scientific atmosphere.
As they approached the deceased rat, Ashby knew what killed it before he even looked at it. He also knew the girl was near tears. It was the same song and dance every time.
He put a hand on her shoulder. “You shouldn’t get so attached to them.”
“It’s hard not to. They have little personalities. Likes and dislikes. I get to know them, taking care of them like this.” Her voice was thick with unshed tears.
Ashby didn’t respond. Instead, he looked down at the rat lying on its side, eyes bulging. He hated that. Why didn’t they ever close their eyes? Almost as if they never died peacefully. He did that to them. Stole that from them.
Sighing, he patted her on the shoulder. “All right, prep it for necropsy.”
He knew what it would show though. The necropsy was just procedure. He’d seen it in all the other rats. The bots weren’t just targeting the cancer cells. They were targeting everything. Literally eating the poor rats alive.
Sighing heavily, he went to the phone at his desk. He hated having to call his friend, but he needed his expertise.
His friend answered after one ring. “Mendi here.”
“Want to help with a necropsy?”
“Be right there.”
By the time the rat was ready to go, Mendi was at Ashby’s side. “What happened?”
“Same thing as always.” Ashby said, the despair palpable in his voice.
“Let’s just see before we get too devastated. Fellow could have died of old age. You never know.”
Ashby raised an eyebrow at his friend, and he chuckled.
“Keep a happy thought, man.”
“You have to admit, it’s hard to do with your subject dead on the table in front of you.”
“Touché.”
Ashby checked the surroundings to make sure all necessary equipment was out of range, and then turned on the EMP wand. He waved it over the poor rat, destroying another of his precious monsters.
Then, they got to work. It didn’t take long to see that Ashby’s assumptions were correct. The poor rat’s innards were completely destroyed.
“Jesus, Ashby. You can’t unleash this on people,” Mendi said from behind his medical mask.
“I know,” he said through gritted teeth.
They only explored for a few more minutes. What was the point? There was nothing left of the little beast. The robot had consumed everything. Ashby was surprised the rat had lived as long as he had with such minimal organ function.
Ashby sat on the metal stool behind him and took off his gloves, tossing them on the table as he went. He pulled down his mask and turned to his assistant. “Clean this up, would you?”
The girl nodded. Although her face was covered with a mask, he could tell she was frowning, still struggling to hold back her emotions. He couldn’t say he blamed her. He didn’t enjoy reducing the rats to that. He wanted a success as much as she did.
Mendi took off his gloves and mask, and then went to the small cabinet across the room, the one just above Ashby’s desk. He poured two plastic cups of scotch and came back.
Silently, Ashby took the cup and drank. It was a tradition, scotch for failures, champagne for successes. They’d already cracked a bottle for Mendi, when he first successfully edited a strain of cancer’s DNA and watched as it destroyed itself. Ashby’s champagne was still in the small fridge just under his desk. And Mendi had a fresh bottle in his fridge reserved for human trials.
“I have something for you,” Mendi said, putting his cup down on the table behind them. He reached into his lab coat and pulled out a brown, leather-bound book.
Ashby put his own drink down and took the book. “What’s this? The secrets of nano engineering?”
“No. It’s blank. To…write your thoughts.”
Ashby puzzled at it. He knew Mendi did that sort of thing, but Ashby wasn’t the introspective type. He didn’t brood over his thoughts. He had Mendi for that. And Judy for that matter.
“It’s for things you don’t want to say out loud to me. It might help to get them out. Maybe get you to a solution to this.” He’d picked up his glass by then and gestured toward the now-empty table in front of them.
This. The dead rats. NASA. If Ashby couldn’t get the bots to listen, he couldn’t very well unleash them on anything expensive that NASA might want them for.
Ashby nodded at his friend and set the journal aside. They sat in silence while they drained their glasses. Even after they were empty, they sat staring into the plastic cups, as if they would find the answer to the problem there.
Then, Mendi stood up so abruptly it nearly knocked Ashby off his stool.
“Ashby! What type of cancer do these rats have?”
“I just gave them lung cancer. Thought I’d start with a big one.”
He nodded. “It doesn’t matter the type.”
“Then why did you ask?” Ashby demanded, getting frustrated with the questioning.
“No, that’s not what I meant. The specific type doesn’t matter. But that there is a type does.”
“Not following you, Mendi.”
By this point, Mendi was pacing around, anxiously brushing his hair out of his face. Ashby didn’t understand how the man wasn’t bald the way he roughly pushed his hair back so frequently. But it definitely kept growing. He self-consciously scratched his own head, avoiding the new and growing bald spot on the back.
“What if you taught the bots what to target? Like a bloodhound. Give them the scent of the cancer they need to eliminate.” His eyes were wild, and Ashby knew he was on to something.
Ashby sprang from his chair and went to his microscope, where the bot with a broken leg was waiting for him.
“How do I teach a robot what to eat?” Ashby asked into the microscope.
Mendi clapped his friend on the back, smiling wide. “You’re about to find out.”
2.
Approximate year, 2346
Mason sat on the floor of The Dead Room, mesmerized by their savior’s accounting of how the world came crashing down, and how it was he who set it all in motion. Days ago, Mason had been a fugitive on the run. Now, he suddenly he found himself second in command, sitting on the floor of a secret room deep inside the island, holding information that singlehandedly dismantled everything he thought was true about his world. And once he’d read the entire journal, he wasn’t sure he wanted that information.
The book Mason’s best friend had given her life for fell into his lap, and his eyes went to it. The words scrawled on the first page screamed at him, refusing to be denied.
I am Bennett Ashby. And I am not the savior.
No, he certainly wasn’t. In fact, that Christian Mendelsohn person was probably closer to being a savior than Ashby ever was. But, of course, they’d never know now. Not after what Ashby did to him.
“I don’t believe it,” Elder Mattli said, startling Mason into a standing position.
He grasped the open book in one hand. “When did you come in?” Mason demanded more harshly than he meant.
“When the timer ran out. I was worried you’d been consumed by the nanobots, and I wouldn’t find much left of you. Imagine my surprise to find you sitting here reading.” The old man shrugged. “You were so absorbed that you didn’t even notice me sit down next to you and start reading. And soon, I knew why. Ashby’s a fraud.”
It sounded harsh to Mason’s ears, and he winced. “Now, now, that’s a bit harsh don’t you think?”
Matt
li’s expression hardened. “No. I don’t think so. He betrayed us all.” The hurt in his voice was more than palpable.
“No. You’re taking this too personally. And frankly, you owe your existence to him. Such as it is, anyway,” Mason argued.
“That’s not true. If he hadn’t…well, if he’d acted more honorably, we’d all be living happily together on the mainland.” He sounded like a spoiled child, and Mason couldn’t help but laugh.
“It’s not overly productive to debate that at the moment. What we need to do is use this book to take back the mainland.”
3.
February, 2023
A breakthrough. It came shortly after Mendi gave Ashby that journal. Maybe it helped, maybe it didn’t. Either way, he was meticulously recording everything in it.
His rats were surviving. Not only were they surviving, but they also were thriving. Feverishly, he documented the rats’ conditions, collected data, wrote in the journal Mendi gave him, and waited. He needed to be sure.
Then the scans came through. With shaking hands, he dialed his friend.
“Mendi.”
“You have to see this,” Ashby said. Mendi hung up, and Ashby slowly lowered the phone, staring at the scan across the wall.
Mendi burst through the double doors to Ashby’s lab and rushed to his side, his hair as disheveled as Ashby felt.
Ashby gestured silently to the scans he stood in front of, and Mendi stepped closer, examining them.
An excruciating silence stretched out between them as Ashby waited for his friend to confirm or deny his breakthrough.
“You’ve done it,” he whispered, nose to nose with the scans. “My God. You’ve done it.”
He raced over to the cages, searching frantically for the subject. Ashby struggled to catch up.
Pointing to the patient, Ashby said, “This one here.”
The rat was happily chewing on some berries, and it had a half-empty water bottle.
The Dead World (The Dead Room Trilogy Book 2) Page 1