“Well, it looks like the Pheres software results, but much more complicated. There are sequences here I’ve never seen before,” he looked at Saraceni like a baby bird waiting for its worm, but it wasn’t feeding time yet. Saraceni reassured his pupil, but wanted the class to begin their thinking process while he was running the test.
“Please just explain the basics of what you do know and then I’ll bat clean up,” Saraceni urged. Part of Molior’s development process was about developing confidence in their own ability to analyze and execute. While they should look to him for guidance, if they became overly dependent, it could hamper their ultimate mission performance. “Kyle, let’s start with your test and just work our way down the right side of the room.” David stood up and held up the multicolored chart so the class could see.
“Okay, so this is similar to a DNA program we use back in my lab called Pheres. These colored blocks within the circle represent individual DNA code and then…” he switched charts to show a block presentation in place or a circular presentation, but the same color scheme, “…this one is a different representation of the same information, but the longer, rectangles make it easier to see matching sequences. For example, here is a sequence: green, orange, purple, red, yellow. Um, the key is different on this than what I’m used to, so I can’t identify the code, but, see here’s a matching sequence.”
“So, what’s a ‘matching sequence’, like if they match, does that mean you’re in the same family or you have the same hair color or what?” Kyle asked. By now he had returned and Jack was being tested.
“Well, Kyle,” David switched back to the circular chart, “genes are grouped here according to function, so items that do similar things are grouped together, like this section might govern the way you look and the adjacent section might govern disease states, so depending where you find a matching sequence would tell you what kind of similarity the match meant between two subjects.”
Jack returned to his seat with his printout of results and Juliet took her place at the platform.
“But what if you matched in some gene that wasn’t identified yet? I mean, they don’t know what they all do, right? Aren’t they still figuring out what some of them do?” Kyle asked
“Right,” David confirmed, “Actually, that’s much of my life’s work, figuring out what genes go to what functions or diseases. Actually, only about 5% of our DNA is even functional and only about a fifth of that does any protein-coding, so there really is just a bunch of unknown mixed in there as well, which most think is nonfunctional.”
“So matching the unknown junk is a waste of time, and you match the stuff that counts?” Kyle affirmed his understanding.
“We focus on sequencing the known, but also look for hidden clues to the unknown. It’s as much luck as science, though,” David responded.
“So, what’s the rest of it?” Jack Reedson piped up for the first time, “I have a hard time believing it’s just there for no reason. Wasn’t there a time when we didn’t know the function of any of it-we probably thought it was all there for no reason.”
“Well, there’s a debate about that right now among my colleagues. See, DNA wraps around partner proteins to form chromatin, and by looking at the chemical groups on the chromatin, the cells can tell which sections of DNA should be transcribed. So, scientists noticed that the transcribed ones have a chemical mark on them, but then they noticed many more of these chemical marks than there were protein-coding genes, so people started arguing that they must be marking something else, something other than proteins. So, it was suggested that they’re a type of RNA, you know how there’s messenger RNA, but there are also functional RNAs and then we recently found a new class called microRNAs, and the non-coding or linc RNAs. Well, lincRNAs have always been thought to be an exception, an anomaly, but some of us think they’re actually critical components and do perform a specific function. We just don’t know what it is yet,” David explained.
“Sorry I asked,” Jack whispered to Kyle with a raised eyebrow. Kyle smiled, but they both were actually interested.
“So, you think they have a function? I mean personally?” Juliet asked.
“Yes,” David admitted.
“Why?” she inquired.
“Because it’s consistent across all mammals. Usually genes that aren’t needed fall by the wayside. But these are there, and in large numbers-there’s like 1600 of these in the genome, and similar in all animals. That suggests to me they serve a vital function because of the consistency,” he confessed.
Gabriel, the last of Molior to test on Platform 2, stepped down from the platform and received his printout from Saraceni, who was now turning his attention back to the class. He was pleased they had gotten as far as they did and impressed that David had advanced to this level of understanding.
“Mr. Running Wolf,” Saraceni began to take back the reigns of the class, “don’t they call that the DNAs dark matter?”
“Yes,” David answered, sliding his large frame back into his seat at the table, somewhat grateful to return the class’s attention to their teacher.
“So, just to relate this back to what we were discussing yesterday, amongst all the matter and space within the universe, there also exists dark matter out in space. Our geneticist friends are likening these items of unknown function to a similar phenomenon that exists beyond the cellular level. Mr. Aquila, can you briefly describe dark matter in the universe just so we can all stay on the same page? ”
Alexander began, but Saraceni cut him off, “I’m sorry, Alexander, but since you were so helpful yesterday explaining quantum information processing, I was hoping the junior Mr. Aquila could assist us today. Gabriel?” Saraceni watched Gabriel intently. This recruit had been quieter than expected and uncharacteristically so for his personality. The leadership paradigm for this team was relying on his charismatic personality and personal leadership style to encourage and motivate the others later during their mission. If he didn’t start establishing his role as a lead figure now, the mission could suffer. Saraceni would nudge him out if his shell.
“Dark matter is really an unknown entity in astronomy, but it’s hypothesized matter that’s not visible, doesn’t emit or reflect electromagnetic radiation the way regular matter does, but its’ existence is presumed from the gravitational effects we do see on visible matter like galaxies and stars.” Gabriel recited it rote. He’d been tested on this many times in college and had it memorized verbatim.
“Good enough for now. Just trying to keep our concepts fresh so we don’t have to revisit later,” Saraceni said, switching topics. “So-now that you have your results from the Platform 2 genetic testing, you have an assignment to complete with them.”
“Mine is shorter than everyone else’s,” George observed, concerned that he was missing some portions of his printout.
“So is mine,” Kyle added.
“Yes, yours are shorter. A section has been removed to….preserve the intent of this exercise.” Saraceni was again careful with his words. George and Kyle’s sequences were so dense that they would make the exercise too long, so Saraceni had held them back. “It will not alter today’s exercise and I will provide them to you on a later training day so you will have a complete report.”
“Sounds like they’re just trying to make it challenging or something,” Jane said to George next to her and he didn’t pursue.
“Your assignment is to identify all sequences that you have in common with each other, then count up the colors of the matching sequences, arrange them in descending order from the color of the greatest amount of concordance to the color of the least amount of concordance. Everyone with me so far?” The class nodded and murmured agreement, so he continued, “Once you are that far, Wood here will escort you outside to a training area and you will proceed through the course following the colored markers that correspond to your matching sequences. “
Wood stood up in the back and nodded to the class, acknowledging his participation.<
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“He will also hand out the gear you will need. You will be given fifteen minutes following Part I of the exercise to change into your athletic clothing before he escorts you outside for Part II,” Saraceni concluded.
“I thought we couldn’t go outside?” Jane asked, concerned.
“In controlled circumstances, you can. The area is controlled for this exercise,” Saraceni responded.
“Controlled-how can they keep germs from being in the air at large?” Juliet asked Gabriel, supposedly sidebar, but Saraceni did hear.
“You were each given additional supplements at breakfast this morning. They were for this purpose,” Saraceni informed. Juliet looked down, realizing she had overstepped her bounds. Saraceni turned to leave, but turned back abruptly, “and…there will be a reward if you reach the end of the assignment correctly and within the time limit,” he added. With that, he left, and the class knew that but for Wood escorting them outside, they were on their own.
“So, what’s the best way to approach matching up our sequences?” Chandra asked David.
“I always just match them one at a time, line by line. It’s the most foolproof, but that will take forever with ten of us to examine,” he answered. They all began standing in a huddled group and holding their sheets side by side. It would be hard to look at all the pages lined up visually, and the potential for error or missed identical sequences would be great.
“We should call bingo,” Gabriel announced.
“Bingo?” Enam looked at him as if he were crazy.
“Yeah. One person reads out theirs in order and if we find a matching sequence, we each mark it off on our sheets. Then, the next person calls off only their sequences that didn’t match. Then we continue with each of us and it should get progressively shorter for each person, rather than taking the full amount of time times ten. It’s the shortest path that still covers every permutation without potential for a miss,” he explained.
“Sounds reasonable to me,” his father supported, “Can anyone think of a better way?” They all glanced around and no one came forth, so the consensus became solidified. Since it was his idea, Gabriel began and Molior intently marked their sheets accordingly. They went around the room, one by one, calling the remaining unmarked sequences, until they had moved all the way around the room from the back left table where Gabriel sat, to the second and last table on the right, where his father sat. To be sure they did not follow sequences that only a few of the classmates had in common, they went through each sequence and the class raised their hand if they had it marked. They highlighted only the ones where all ten of them raised their hands, which were greater in number than expected. David Running Wolf was instantly concerned.
“The odds of us having this much in common at random are astronomical,” he informed the class, some of who already shared in this assessment.
“So a bus of genetically aligned freaks crashed?” Jane added with slight sarcasm. “Sounds like we were all drawn to the location, or the project or something, but by what?”
“It is strange,” Enam agreed, “but we’d better figure out why we are so similar later. We’re on a deadline.” Wood agreed with Enam’s gentle reminder and noted the time, advising the class they had fifteen minutes to change and return before the clock would start again. They were slightly ahead of pace on the time the project team had estimated behind the scenes and he hoped they could close out the day with a success. It would certainly improve morale throughout all the quadrants if word got out that the class was performing on task so far.
Wood escorted the athletically-outfitted team outside and they relished in the experience of fresh air and sunshine. They walked quickly, but took in all that was around them, appreciating the nature in stark contrast to their sleek and modern, but bland, accommodations. Wood led the class down a sidewalk that ended and turned into a dirt path, down a small hill between towering pine trees. Flowers were splayed out at the base of the trees like sprinkles on top of ice cream. Jack Reedson breathed in the fresh scent of pine and flowers, tipping his head back slightly, jutting the chin of his chiseled jaw upward. The handsome actor was clearly the outdoor type and felt like he was coming home to be entering the wilderness. The sky looked like a painting, colors more alive than he had ever remembered seeing. ‘Too much time in LA’ he chided himself.
“Is it me or does the refraction here seem like we’re at a very high altitude?” Alexander asked Enam as they walked.
“It does have that clearer look to it, but the air seems heavier than high altitude, at least as heavy as sea level, if not slightly more dense. It seems so easy to breathe-we can’t be at a high elevation,” Enam responded.
“We were in the mountains. Maybe they didn’t take us far,” Gabriel added. Twenty marching sneakered feet sang in unison for another 100 yards and the group came to a halt.
“This is the beginning of your exercise range. Please follow the colored markers as fast as you can based on the matching DNA sequences that you found,” Wood said. “Good luck,” he spoke more directly to Juliet than the others, but did include the whole team. She looked down at her feet and then back up at Wood briefly, watching his square shoulders walk the path back toward the grouping of buildings they had just left. She flicked her head around quickly, her red ponytail hitting the side of her face with a thwap only she could hear.
“We could make a run for it,” Juliet suggested as soon as he was out of earshot.
“And go where?” Jane responded. Her deferential demeanor made her the least inclined for survival skills.
“Away from here,” Juliet countered, “I’m tired of playing guinea pig.”
“What about the immunity mixture they gave us. I’m sure it doesn’t last indefinitely,” Alexander said.
“And if those are just scare tactics to keep us here?” Juliet challenged.
“And if they’re not?” George jumped in, surprising everyone since he had been avoiding confrontation. The countenance of his smaller frame was not challenging in any way and he shoved his hands in the pockets of his shorts.
“Look, I believe they have done some medical work on us. I had a long scar that is now gone and…I have noticed some other changes as well. We don’t have time to stand here arguing, we’re on a deadline. I, for one, am not eager to find out if that deadline relates to how long our bodies can last out here.” Enam authoritatively retrieved the group sequencing results that David had been carrying and, reading them, began in the direction of the first color marker, “Whoever is coming with me, let’s go. Anyone else, good luck,” and he walked away without looking back.
David was the first to follow him, followed by Gabriel, Alexander and George. After a moment’s pause, Jack, Jane and Chandra quickly followed suit. Chandra pulled a hat from her backpack with a ladylike maneuver and shielded herself from the intense sun as all proper southern girls had been taught to do. She loved her perfect cocoa skin and did not want it marred by sun damage. Juliet and Kyle remained at the crossroads of the paths and silently communicated their doubt to one another.
“If you want to go, we could try it together,” Juliet offered, suddenly feeling the weight of responsibility as if she were a big sister. This would be easier if someone older than sixteen were the one to stay behind. Then, she’d have no sense of personal accountability for swaying the decision. True, he was very smart and sixteen is certainly a capable age, but not quite as independent as if he’d been say, twenty.
“Do you think we could make it?” he asked, looking at the rugged terrain around them that stretched as far as they could see. There were no towns or roads visible nearby, just dense forest and rocky, rolling hills. The rest of Molior were getting almost out of earshot at this point, half of them around the bend already and out of sight. Juliet looked at them grow smaller as they left and saw Chandra and Jack, the last in the gaggle, glance back over their shoulders at them.
“I mean, I know I could get us out of here if it were just the terrain we we
re dealing with, the survival aspect of it, but I really don’t know on the medical angle. If they’re right, we may not last out here.” Kyle weighed her words in his mind and thought of the pros and cons of the decision. He cracked his knuckles three times and pushed his chin-length hair once again back from his face.
“It seems too big a risk,” he concluded with an even stare. “I mean, if we’re wrong, we die, but if we’re right, we get out of here a few weeks ahead of when they say.”
“If they’re being truthful,” Juliet also weighed. ”If not, we may be prisoners and may not get a chance like this again.” That actually solidified Kyle’s position.
“If they were really concerned about keeping us prisoner, they wouldn’t let us out here unsupervised. Besides, I like what we’re learning here and Saraceni said we’ll be able to help people when we’re finished.” He began to walk backward in the direction the rest of the group had gone, facing her, but picking up his pace as the distance grew. ”Come on!” He turned and faced forward, beginning a light jog to catch up.
Juliet sighed and took four even, heavy steps at a measured pace before increasing to a jog to catch up with him, an easy task for her. He hadn’t convinced her entirely, but he’d raised enough doubt that she didn’t have the conviction to proceed alone. If only Gabriel or David had stayed, she thought. Looks like the sixteen-year-old didn’t need her to be responsible for him after all. He took responsibility for them both. They caught up with the remainder of the group just as they completed the first leg and made the turn to the second. They knew they had been in Part II for seventeen minutes now, but didn’t know what finish time was considered success, so they just pushed at maximum pace. Alexander and Jane were out of breath already. After three and a half hours of following the twists and turns of markers through the woods, they realized knowing the full length of their journey would have been better to pace themselves. How long could they continue at maximum pace before some of them started hitting the wall and could not continue?
The Cupel Recruits Page 9