Counting Up To Infinity

by Allen Fleishman

  Dr. Brown made a quick phone call. He spoke to someone and explained the situation. After listening a few minutes, there was a muted, but intense conversation. Dr. Brown then completely removed the foil tent, from the boy’s chest and head, and the oxygen tube. Over the space of the next 10 minutes, the temperature decreased 2 degrees Celsius. Roderick knew the temperature was now 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Malcolm’s breathing was even more labored. Another doctor appeared, an older man, after a brief discussion among the three doctors in the hallway, Malcolm was placed on a mechanical ventilator. Roderick noticed that the monitor now read Oxygen 27%. In the space of a few minutes, Malcolm’s temperature rose to 41.8 Celsius; Rod calculated it to be 107 Fahrenheit. The doctors lowered the oxygen to 18%; the temperature went down 2 degrees again. More ice was added, all over the boy.

  Roderick and Virginia were allowed to sit on one side of the boy, taking turns holding Malcolm’s hand and talking to him. Malcolm mumbled incoherently but didn’t appear to be in pain.

  The temperature continued to rise, but more slowly. Around noon, Malcolm’s temperature reached 109 degrees Fahrenheit. Doctor Brown brought Roderick and Virginia into the hallway.

  “Your son’s temperature is above the critical level. At this temperature, his brain cannot survive. The nerve cells die. Although I have to admit, I’m surprised that his EEGs are still very stable. We tried to give your son some oxygen, but that only made his temperature worse. I’m sorry to say, but the time is very close. They only thing I can say is this is the way he wanted to die. I’m sorry. We’re doing everything we can think of. He doesn’t seem to be in any pain.”

  Roderick thought over of his son’s life. He was heartbroken, but finally it will be over. He felt relief in sight. Relief? Roderick felt intense anger with himself for thinking these thoughts. He was livid. Slowly, his self-loathing abated. Finally, “I see that doctor. Do everything you can.”

  Virginia squeezed Rod’s hand. She was quietly weeping.

  Doctor Brown cleared his throat. “I have a difficult question for you. If his heart stops beating should we attempt to revive him?”

  Virginia and Roderick went to a corner and talked. Both were openly crying. They returned to Dr. Brown. Roderick looked to the floor, avoiding Brown’s eye, and in a quiet broken voice said, “Twice.”

  The doctor left. Virginia and Roderick stayed in the hall holding each other and cried.

  ***

  At 7:35 PM that night Malcolm’s heart stopped the first time. The crash cart that had been just outside the room was able to restart it. Malcolm’s temperature was 112 degrees Fahrenheit.

  ***

  At 10:15 PM, Malcolm’s heart stopped the second time. He was revived again.

  At 12:30 AM on Thursday he was pronounced dead. His temperature was 113.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

  Year 21.6 A Quiet Day

  “But Dad, Malcolm isn’t dead,” Joshua’s voice had a plaintive quality to it. “He can’t be dead.”

  Sidney turned to his son. “I’m sorry Josh, but he stopped breathing, his heart stopped and his EEG is flat. The only unusual thing is that his temperature is still very high. The cells are obviously burning themselves out. I’m sorry; he’s dead. We’ll learn more about what happened by the autopsy.”

  “No Dad. You can’t. He’s not dead. I know it, he’s not dead.”

  Sidney bent down onto one knee, so to be eye to eye with his son. He spoke slowly, “Josh. As a doctor, I realize I’m ignorant about various things. There are few absolute truths in medicine, but one of them is that when the heart stops pumping, breathing stopped, and the EEG is flat, then the patient is dead. Malcolm Coombs is dead. We’ll learn more about why after we do the autopsy. We can then try to see whether the virus killed him, or the DNA was at fault, or if he was just too weak to take the procedure. You have to remember that Malcolm was a very sick man. He was dying. You offered some meaning to his death. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “But Dad, you don’t understand. He’s not dead. I know it.”

  Sidney was beginning to lose patience with the boy. “Josh, why would you say that?”

  “I just know it.”

  “And how?” Sidney’s voice was clearly sarcastic.

  “I can’t say, I just know.” Joshua’s voice was plaintive.

  Sidney slowly counted to five, to control his anger, then lovingly and slowly said, “Josh, people die. Everyone dies. In time, I will die, your mom will die, and you will die. That’s just the nature of life. All people die. This is Malcolm’s time.”

  “But he’s NOT DEAD.”

  “NO BUTS. This is final.” Sidney left the room.

  ***

  “Ma, perhaps the DNA snipper program doesn’t work. Instead of doing a full autopsy on Malcolm, could you just do some needle biopsies? I’ll send you a list of where to biopsy. I think Malcolm’s mom and dad would like to bury the entire body.”

  Janet looked at her son, “OK Josh. Perhaps that would be the best. They’ve been through a lot anyway. I’ll speak to your dad, but I think he’ll agree to that.”

  ***

  Joshua was getting upset, Malcolm had not awoken yet. Perhaps he had gotten things wrong. Perhaps he didn’t understand things. Perhaps Malcolm was just the first stepping-stone. Maybe Malcolm died. Joshua studied the same section of code three hundred twenty three times.

  Joshua apologized to his parents and said, “I’m sorry I behaved so poorly last week. Perhaps I was too involved in this DNA project. However, as I was partially responsible, I’d like to pay my respects to Malcolm and his family. May I attend the wake and funeral?” Joshua knew that his parents were talking to each other. Joshua resisted the urge to try to read their lips when they sub-vocalized. He waited.

  Janet finally said, “Your dad and I don’t totally agree. We’re not sure if you’re old enough to understand death yet.”

  Joshua stood there quietly, “I understand. However, the only way for me to grow up, to understand the circle of life, is to see it, in a real way, rather than the stilted ways from movies and TV programs. I’m going to need to face my own limited mortality as well. Could you and Dad discuss it?”

  Later that night Janet said he could attend. Janet cautioned that if he was feeling overwhelmed, he would leave.

  David had coached him well.

  ***

  Joshua spent the next two days practicing in the mirror ‘Slight of Hand’, the ability of stage magicians to ‘palm’ cards and coins, to hide them in plain sight.

  ***

  Janet allowed the boy to view the body. Janet and Joshua walked solemnly to the open casket. “So he really is dead, ma?” Janet looked to the side for a second. At that moment, Joshua put a company phone unit in Malcolm’s casket. The miniature, flesh colored and transparent, earphone had been hidden in Joshua’s small hand.

  ***

  His parents allowed Joshua to attend the funeral the next day. They stayed as the coffin was lowered. A number of Malcolm’s LPH friends attended. They were seeing a preview of their own funerals. At the end of the service, Joshua was introduced to Roderick and Virginia, who were stoic throughout the entire service. Joshua introduced himself as the son of Drs. Ryan. He shook their hands.

  Joshua went to his parents, “May I also throw a handful of dirt onto the grave?”

  Sidney smiled, “Sure Josh.”

  Joshua had his hands in his pocket as he approached the grave. Surreptitiously, he removed an amplifier for the phone and put it into the soil on the grave. Josh had given it a rock-like shell appearance. He walked away and listened.

  ***

  David was stretched out on his chair with his legs on his empty glass desk, it was seven o’clock at night and most people had left the building. He was organizing electrical grid optimization when Joshua appeared at his door. David thought that Josh had been unusually quie
t during these last three weeks, since the funeral. Hell, everyone was quiet. This was a major failure for the kid. Joshua stood in the doorway looking concerned. Before David could speak, Joshua spoke.

  Joshua: David, if I have a secret and it was very important, very, very important, if I told you, would you promise not to tell anyone?

  David: It depends on what the secret was.

  Joshua waited.

  David: I mean, if you were going to hurt yourself, and the only alternative was to tell your parents, I would tell them without hesitation. If I could prevent you hurting yourself, and still keep the secret, I would. Unless I felt you might hurt yourself or other people in the future and it was preventable.

  Joshua: OK, fair enough. Have you ever tried to read the human genome?

  David: Read it? No, I never studied it. I’ve never been interested in DNA.

  Joshua: Could you convert the four DNA protein letters into ASCII, try Adenine as 1, Cytosine as 2, Guanine as 3, and Thiamine as 4. Look at Plate 3L75 starting at location 183. Translate it from ancient Irish Brogue.

  David: Huh? … Holy cow. A hidden code in the human genome and it has your name in it. It points to a section in the code that has an encryption in it, your encryption. How did you find it?

  Joshua: I noticed that some of the coding at various places looked ‘odd’, like they were doing things in an awkward way, which is saying a lot for chaotic DNA. So, I started to play around. This section was hidden better.

  David: Anyone else know?

  Joshua: I don’t know. But that new section, I randomly generated a one-hundred digit key and used that to decrypt that section. The first key I tried worked. The key was made for me and me alone.

  David: Give me the key.

  Joshua: Am I or other people in danger? If I tell you, will you give me your word not to tell anyone, unless I give you permission to?

  David: Josh. This is big. Very big.

  Joshua: Am I or other people in danger? If I tell you, will you give me your word not to tell anyone, unless I give you permission to?

  David: OK Mister lawyer, OK. I never should have told you about Personality 35A. I give you my word not to tell anyone unless you give me permission to.

  Joshua gave David the code.

  Joshua: The first three books explain how to cut the genes and what each section of the insertions and deletions do. Look at the forth paragraph of book 4.

  David: I’m already with you, little buddy. “And special thanks to the first surviving new man – Malcolm Coombs.” But he died?

  Joshua: Did you notice where it says that “This must be kept secret until God speaks” and it was signed ComHead 2026.

  David: Yeah

  Joshua: I wasn’t sure if it meant me or both of us. I couldn’t tell Mom or Dad.

  David: I see that. If I were reading this, I would have told the Ins. I think you did right. But Malcolm died.

  Joshua: No David, he just woke up.

  David: WHAT?

  Joshua: I put a phone in his pocket at the wake. I heard him and he’s scared. He’s terrified and it’s all dark. I told him help is on the way. I’ll transmit his conversation to you.

  David: I’m going to get the car. Let’s go, I’ll fly us directly to Roderick Coombs’ house. He’s probably there now. I’ll have our parents join us there. I’ll call Roderick on the way.

  ***

  David drove out of the garage after picking up 2 shovels, pulled onto a side road and lifted straight up. He activated the fiber optic stealth mode and drove using radar, just above the tree-tops. The new car was a prototype car with specially made balanced propellers. They rode in relative silence as David reviewed the many genetic modifications that his ‘brother’ had made/will be making. David hadn’t bothered to change out of the sweatshirt which said, ‘A Quiet Day’.

  David broke the silence, “No wonder you were so quiet about the changes you made, this is big. Really big. I agree we have to keep it secret. Malcolm may have been human, but he’s more radically different than we are.”

  “Yeah. I know.”

  David said, “I spoke to Roderick, Malcolm’s dad, and told him that something urgent came up we need to exhume Malcolm’s body. He initially said let the dead remain dead. I then told him neither of us wants that. He didn’t understand. We’re going to pick him up right now.”

  They arrived at the Coombs’ home two hours later. David turned the stealth mode off and retracted the propeller for the last 20 seconds.

  ***

  Roderick Coombs heard the crunch of gravel on the driveway and the low hum of a motor. He had gotten this strange call from someone he never heard of, and was told it was a matter of life or death. He had no tolerance for fools or silly tricksters. Roderick turned the porch lights on and saw a black car. It was similar to the cheapest car that C H Ford Motors was now producing. It didn’t have the sleek lines of their more expensive models. However, it was a new car. He might be wrong, but it looked slightly bigger too. And there were fins coming out from the rear of the car. Only most fins were angled so they went from the front to the back. These looked like they came from the trunk sloping forward.

  “Ginny, stay here, I’m going to get rid of these assholes.” Roderick stepped onto the porch. David walked up to Roderick. Roderick noticed a small boy sitting in the front seat, with a worried expression. He may have seen this kid before. Roderick stood there with his legs apart and his hands on his hips, staring angrily at this young man.

  David stretched out his hand. Roderick ignored it. After a few seconds, David smiled then said, “My name is David Klein, I work with Organic Biotechnologies. I have no better way of saying this, due to the emergency, but … your son is alive. Could you talk to him, please?” David held the phone, but Roderick put his hands across his chest.

  In a very angry voice, Roderick Coombs said, “What kind of bullshit is this? My son died almost three weeks ago. I buried him.”

  “He’s awake and buried in the coffin. He’s terrified, … scared shitless. Ask him any question, but talk to him.” David held the phone out.

  Roderick’s curiosity won out and grabbed the phone. “Well, WHO IS THIS?”

  “Daddy it’s me, Mal.”

  “WHO IS THIS?”

  “Daddy, don’t yell at me, I ain’t done nothing wrong. Where am I?”

  “This David person says you’re in your coffin …”

  Roderick heard a familiar person cry. He hadn’t heard it for years, but he recognized it.

  “ I’m in a coffin Daddy? Please get me out? I’m scared. Why am I here? Did the drug make me sick?”

  Although the voice was much stronger and full of terror, Roderick recognized his son’s voice.

  Joshua got into the back seat of the car and they took off directly to the cemetery. They rose 30 feet in the air, unfurled the propeller and took off at top speed.

  “My son has risen from the dead?”

  David paused, “It’s a long story, but he never actually died. Our DNA geneticist was even better than I … we could have possibly imagined. He rebuilt your son’s genes totally from the ground up. My best guess is that you’ll find you son to be healthier than you are. Much healthier.”

  “That’s impossible, David is it? Is this some type of scam? I’m only a poor unemployed black man, I don’t have any money.”

  David spoke slowly, “Talk to your son, you should recognize where we are. We’re leaving Route 63 now. You should know where we’re headed. Tell him we’re on the way and should be there in two minutes. Keep him calm.”

  The car moved at over 500 mph through the dark night sky.

  Roderick asked, “How did you get a car like this, boy?”

  David smiled, “It’s a prototype, but Charlie Haines and I are like that.” David lifted his intertwined fingers.

  “How did you know that Mal was a
live?”

  “The geneticist completely believed that Malcolm was alive. He dropped a phone into the coffin on the day of the wake. He’s been listening, day and night, in case Malcolm woke up.”

  “What will we see when he comes out of the grave? Will he be human? A vampire?”

  “Mr. Coombs, Malcolm will be your son. He’s even more confused than you or I. He needs you right now. Just keep him calm. We’re here now. Just talk to him. Ask him when he can hear us.”

  All three exited the car. At first, Joshua picked up a shovel and helped David dig. After a few moments, Roderick took the shovel and told Joshua to talk while he dug.

  Fortunately, the dirt was still loose and the digging went fast. Malcolm heard the shovels, and then he heard his father calling to him. When there was only a few inches of dirt between them, Malcolm was able to open the lid and he stood up.

  “Daddy, what happened? Why was I buried?” He started to whimper.

  Roderick jumped down into the coffin to where Malcolm was standing. Malcolm’s burial suit and face were smudged from the soil. Hesitantly Roderick touched the boy, and then tightly hugged him. “It’s a very, very strange story. I’m not sure I believe it myself, but, but you died, boy. The doctors were completely positive you died. But you’re all right now. Look you can stand. You haven’t been able to stand in years. You’re standing.” In a questioning voice, Rod turned to David and said, “How can he stand? Nerves don’t grow back.”

  David ignored the question but put his hand out, “Let me help you up, sir.” He faced Joshua and quietly reiterated the question. Roderick was hoisted up by David. David then helped Malcolm up too. They walked back to the car. Malcolm had a very jerky gate, Roderick and David supported him.

  Roderick again asked, “How?”

  David then said, “I’m not too sure myself. I was in the dark about all of this until 7 o’clock tonight myself. But I think that the DNA machine actually made it so Malcolm’s nerves could grow back, as well as correcting his LPH Deficiency.”