by Owen Grant
When Alan arrived at the address that the doctor texted him to see him alone in casual clothes sitting on a bench. He was sipping a coffee waiting patiently. When Alan arrived, Dr. Watson looked up and nodded.
“Go ahead and sit down. We have a lot to talk about.”
Alan didn't respond. He merely sat down as he was told.
“If you want to go buy yourself a coffee, I can wait.”
“No, I'm good,” Alan said. “I'd rather get to talking.'
“To the point. I like that.”
“I figure the quicker we finish this, the better.”
Dr. Watson nodded. “I agree. Well, I called you. I suppose I'll start. I hear that you are saying a lot of worrisome things.”
“Like what?”
“Like the fact that you told Michelle that you were told I was interested in selling the drug for profit.”
Alan instantly regretted believing that. He regretted repeating it even more. “It was a simple question.”
Dr. Watson made sure to look Alan in the eyes. “Do you think that I could be trying to sell the drug for profit?”
“No. Of course not.” Dr. Watson was older and normally very gentle-looking, but Alan was intimidated.
“Good. So I assume that you won't be asking anymore questions.”
“Of course not.”
“And I assume that you are going to stop trying to contact Baxter. And Michelle, too.”
“I didn't want to stop talking to Michelle.”
“Well, she doesn't want to talk to you anymore. I suggest that you let it go.” That hit Alan hard. Everything he had done was to get closer to Michelle and to help Michelle. He thought that there was something genuine developing between the two of them. It just didn't seem fair. He was the one that got the operation shut down, though. This was clearly a repercussion of that.
“That's fine,” Alan lied. “I guess that we will just go our separate ways.”
“No. You don't guess. You will go your separate way. I will not hear from you or see you again. Baxter will not hear from you or see you again. Michelle will not hear from you or see you again.” Alan couldn't help but feel threatened. What was going to happen if he did try to get in contact with Michelle?
“Ok. I will disappear.”
“That's more like it.”
“It was a pleasure.”
“I wish I could say the same.”
Dr. Watson simply left after that. Alan tried to convince himself that this was the best possible scenario anyway. Dr. Watson was a lot scarier than Alan could have ever imagined. He also didn't mind the money he got for the little work that he did. Everything happened so fast. It felt like Alan aged ten years in less than a month. In some way, he probably came out of the experience better. Braver. He was certainly less confident in his hacking skills than he had originally been, but he also learned to be much more discerning about mysterious job offers. Alan was learning to come to terms with his little adventure and go on with his life. This lasted for exactly one night where Alan was able to sleep comfortably.
Chivalry
Alan heard his phone ring in the morning but choose to ignore it and stay in bed. He was currently unemployed. He figured that he may as well enjoy time off by sleeping in. He wasn't exactly motivated to get up anyway. When he finally did get up, he continued to ignore his phone. Instead, he played video games for a couple hours. He didn't even look at his phone until well into the afternoon.
When Alan finally did look at his phone, he saw that he had been quite popular that day. One interesting thing that he noticed was an e-mail from the CEO Baxter Pharmaceutical.
Apparently, it was in response to the e-mail that he had sent to every e-mail in the company that he could find the day before while he was on hold. The CEO's name was Michael Daly. He said that he needed to know more about the people who had taken the drug and their unique side effects. He also seemed to be familiar with the name Dr. Watson. Alan was sure that the name-drop caused Mr. Daly to respond to Alan's e-mail. Mr. Daly had even invited Alan to join him for lunch to go over some of the details together in person. Alan wasn't sure whether to answer the e-mail or not. Dr. Watson had been completely clear about his wishes. The doctor had not been clear on the punishment, though. What else could the doctor possibly do? What else could Baxter possibly do to the doctor's operation?
There were a couple missed phone calls even more important than the e-mail from Baxter Pharmaceutical, though. There were three missed phone calls from Michelle. Alan didn't think twice. He immediately called Michelle as quickly as possible.
“I’m coming over,” she said quickly and hung up.
About twenty minutes later, there was a knock on the door; it was Michelle. When Alan opened the door, she walked in and abruptly slapped him. “That's for everything you've done to fuck this up,” she said. She then pushed him against a wall and kissed him. “That's because I miss you.”
“I've missed you too!” Alan said, trying to lean in for another kiss. She immediately turned away, though.
“You were right,” Michelle said. “You were right about living life. We should go back to the zoo today.”
Alan giggled at her enthusiasm. “I do have a quick meeting that I was going to try to make today.”
“What meeting?”
“I was going to meet up with the CEO of Baxter. I e-mailed them the other day. I got a response.”
“Oh, honey,” Michelle said. “Don't go to that. Didn't Dr. Watson tell you not to have any more contact with them?”
“He also told me not to have any more contact with you, either. Clearly, I'm not listening to that.”
“I'm just saying. I think that it's going to be very difficult for you to get away with a meeting without Dr. Watson finding out.”
“What? Are you going to tell him? Like you told him what I said about him possibly selling the drugs for profit?”
Michelle looked hurt. “I had to. I didn't have a choice. The phone was wired. He heard.”
“So you can create intricate messages for each other, and you can call people for him to hear? But me? Nothing? Why didn't you warn me about any of this earlier?”
“What are you talking about? You don't realize that he owns me? I have to do what he says.”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise I'm completely out of options. Baxter isn't exactly going to help me. And, to be honest, I'm worried about what Dr. Watson would do if I crossed him.”
Alan saw how desperate the poor girl was. What was she thinking, though? Sticking with Dr. Watson was not going to help. Especially if he was such a bad person. Alan realized that he absolutely had to go talk to Mr. Daly.
Alan kissed Michelle on the forehead and grabbed his phone. “I'm e-mailing Baxter now. I can't leave this up to Watson. I don't trust him.”
“Don't! Seriously don't do it! You have no idea how mad Dr. Watson will be.”
“At this point, I don't care. If I have an opportunity to learn more and possibly help you, I'm going to take it.” Alan felt chivalrous writing his e-mail to Mr. Daly. It simply had to be done. And Mr. Daly was quick to respond. They would meet that night.
A Meeting With Baxter
This time when Alan made his way to the Baxter office the old woman at the counter let him in after one simple knock on the office's locked door. Alan wanted to say something smug but held his tongue.
“Can you please point me in the direction of Mr. Daly's room?” The woman pointed down a dark hallway. The only light was coming from a single office at the end of the hallway. His walk to the office was a long one. He had practiced what he would say the entire way to the office, but he suddenly couldn't even speak. He paused and took a breath before knocking on the office door.
“In here!” a voice said. Alan jumped. The voice wasn't coming from inside the lit up office. It was coming from a dark room a couple door before it.
After the initial surprise, Alan lost his fear. He walked into the office to
see a short, skinny man in his forties with glasses behind a desk. The room was unnecessarily dark, and he didn't seem to be doing anything at all.
“I'm glad you could meet me, Alan. I think we have a lot to talk about. Sit down.”
“Yeah, well, from my understanding, most people don't want to talk.”
“Are you talking about Dr. Watson?”
“He's one of the people that aren't talking very much.”
“Is that why you broke into our network?”
“What makes you think that was me?”
“An educated guess, I suppose. So why did you work for a man who wouldn't tell you anything? Money?”
The answer wasn't money. Alan made money at his previous job. Good money. Sure, Dr. Watson paid better, but Alan also had to take into consideration how much money he would spend finding a new job after this was offer. He did think about that. He always planned things out. His previous job didn't have the excitement that Dr. Watson offered. It didn't have It didn't have the glamour that Dr. Watson offered. It also didn't have Michelle. “I can assure you. It wasn't the money.”
“Well, when you contacted us, I was ready to ignore it like any other trivial complaint. Until you mentioned some keywords: Wynelta and Dr. Watson.”
“I was hoping that would grab some attention.”
“Are you sure that was wise?”
“I was desperate. I am desperate.”
Mr. Daly sat at his desk with the light of the laptop making his grim facial expression glow. “You have no idea what you did,” Mr. Daly said.
“What did I do?”
“Let me tell you the history behind me and Dr. Watson,” Mr. Daly. “But first, I have to tell you, I'm not going to withhold anything. Are you sure that you're ready?”
“I'm definitely ready.” Alan realized that he had not yet mentioned Michelle during this encounter.
“By now you realize the effects of the drug.”
“Vaguely.”
“Well, to clarify- the drug hinders the aging process in some people and greatly increases the aging process in other people. We're still in the process of determining the implications of staying young. Does it really last forever or just take longer? Does it rejuvenate dead cells? Etc... We are pretty certain of the implications of someone aging quickly.”
“What determines whether someone will age quickly or more slowly?”
“We have some very strong evidence that the results depend on the person using the drug. It's actually fascinating. We have done more studies in mice since learning how truly powerful this drug is. We've ruled out gender and current age as factors. We've also ruled out the amount of the drug as a factor. Genetics aren't a factor, either. We tested the drug on the children of one mouse who reacted by aging rapidly. All four of the children had different results. Similar studies have confirmed this.”
“I don't get it. So what is the cause?”
“We have determined that it's essentially based on the person using the drug. It's not based on anything in the person's DNA or outside factors. It's internal. It's based on a person's personality. It's based on a person's soul.”
“So how do we prevent people from these negative effects?”
“We can't. The drug simply enhances what is already inside of a person.”
“And how do we know which people will experience which effect?” Michelle was always vivacious and lively. Alan would have never chosen her for someone who would have an old soul.
“We can't. It's actually quite unpredictable. That's why it needs to be kept in secure hands- away from the public. That's why Dr. Watson is so dangerous. He's trying to stabilize it and manipulate it to his advantage. However, he will be hurting a number of people along the way. A LOT of people. This drug, if in the wrong hands, can be used for a number of nefarious tasks, too.”
“And what makes you think that Dr. Watson is hurting people or that we would use the drug in a bad way?”
“Because the good doctor has stolen the drug from our company. He has given it to trusting employees to use them as guinea pigs. Worst of all, the doctor has already killed one person involved in his operation. Just to watch what happens to them.”
“He killed somebody?”
“The person's name was Jackson Wilde. The poor kid was used as a test subject because he trusted Dr. Watson. As the company responsible for the drug, we paid a settlement to the man. He died shortly after. We let Dr. Watson go as soon as we learned about what happened. This was some time ago. We're not trying to hide anything from the public. We just know how dangerous the drug can be. Even Mr. Larson, who got benefits from the drug, has experienced significant problems.” Alan couldn't believe what Dr. Watson was willing to let happen.
“Everything on the drug is classified. Trust me, I tried to look up everything that I could.”
“Can you imagine what would happen if this drug got out? People would think that they've found a solution to eternal life. People today want to be young. They won't hear the facts that 72% of the people tested received a negative effect. And the people who have experienced the positive effect aren't necessarily going to have the best quality of life, People don't care, though. They would rather take a 72% change of greatly reducing their time here just for the 28% chance that they will look young.”
“What could Dr. Watson possibly be doing with this drug?”
“He's trying to market it and sell it. Pure and Simple. And he's willing to hurt a lot of people along the way. What will happen when the drug is on the market is beyond comprehension.”
Alan stayed in silence for a moment. “I can't believe this is happening.”
“I hope now you understand, and I hope that you have the answers that you've been looking for. It's a devastating reality that will affect a lot of people. We have to stop it.”
“We?”
“Well, I'm assuming that you still have contact with Dr. Watson. We destroyed his lab, so that delays him for a bit. However, Dr. Watson has substantial knowledge on the drug, and, sure, we destroyed what samples we found. That doesn't prevent from him from recreating it, though. We're sure that he will.”
“What can I do?”
“We need to stop him somehow.”
“Aren't there legal methods that you can take? He stole the drug from your company, correct?”
“Not really. He stole knowledge of the drug. He could make the claim that he discovered the drug on his own. He'll simply change the recipe a bit but continue to use the main ingredient. If we do that, we'll have way more power over the drug with more legitimate access to resources. It will be a nightmare for everyone.”
“What do you want me to do?” Alan asked. If what Mr. Daly was saying was correct, he needed to do what he could to stop him. And help Michelle enjoy the rest of her life.
“I wish it wouldn't have come to this, but we need to end Mr. Watson's life. Without him, the operation will fall apart. Quickly. All we have to do is get him to take a dose of his own medication.”
“And what am I supposed to do? Just hand him a cup of coffee with the drug in it? You don't think he'll be suspicious? And you forget that I'm the reason that the project was discovered. He's not exactly buddy-buddy with me right now.”
“You're going to have to figure out how to administer it to him. Maybe someone else can help you? But if you think that he's suspicious of you, can you imagine how much he would trust me?”
“Won't he still have some time to get the drug on the market?”
“Not nearly enough time. Plus, getting the drug on the market is about money. Money means nothing to someone who is about to die.”
“I can do it. I'll need you to give me some of the drug.”
Mr. Daly looked at him. “Now, I am only going to give you one. You will need to use it wisely. And I'm trusting you. Any problems, and you will not be happy with the consequences.”
Mr. Daly went into his desk drawer and pulled out a tiny envelope. “Remember, use it wisely.”
Alan nodded and shook the man's hand before heading toward the door. Before walking out of the room, he turned back. “And what if he's one of the people who get a positive effect from the drug?”
“I will take my 72% chance.”
Confrontation
Alan knew he was going to need help. He called Michelle immediately. “Meet me at the bar down the street from my apartment as soon as possible,” he said.
When she got there, she walked slowly. Alan got up to give her a hug and when she touched him, he could see just how wrinkled her hands had become. They had once been so beautiful, feminine, and young. He couldn't believe what was happening to her. She was also having a hard time hiding the gray. At this point, she tried to embrace it and straighten it and wear young clothes to make the look as stylish as possible. It wasn't working. She started to look more like fifty-years-old than thirty.
“So what's going on? How was your meeting” she asked.
“It was, um, ok. I learned a lot.”
“Good.”
“You know; I'm really starting to understand Dr. Watson.” Alan tested the waters to determine what she would say. Was she wearing a wire again?
“You don't have to do that this time,” Michelle laughed.
“So, I'm pretty sure that good 'ole Dr. Watson is a killer,” Alan said.
“And who did he kill?”
“A test subject. And he will continue to do it until he stabilizes the drug.”
“Yeah, I'm starting to realize that. Look at me.”
“Well, you took the drug on your own.”