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Death No More
Noah grabbed a large chunk
off the half-eaten Snickers bar and shoved it in his
mouth.
He
pushed his gold wire-rimmed glasses back up on his nose as he swallowed and
stared at the monitor.
“What am I missing?” he
muttered to himself and sat forward, resting his head on the base of his palm
and biting his lower lip.
“It’s got to be right in
front of me.”
Noah scooted out of his
chair and paced around his apartment. He took off his glasses and chewed on the
end of the rims. He stopped and cocked his head.
“No, that’s not
it.”
He
threw his glasses aside and collapsed onto his couch, letting his head lie back,
staring up at the ceiling. He ran his hands through his dark brown hair a couple
times.
“Wait a second.” He jumped
up and went back to the computer. He typed in an equation.
“That’s it! Jesus Christ,
that’s it!”
He
saved his work and burned it onto a CD. He looked at his watch and saw it was
already 8 a.m. He had been up for 48 hours, but there was no time for rest
now.
He
threw on his jacket and headed out the door. He wanted to go faster than his
feet could take him and tripped on the steps several
times.
He
tried just walking briskly up the sidewalk, but eventually resorted to a steady
jog.
When he rounded the corner,
he saw the protesters had already gathered in front of the
building.
“Don’t play God,” they were
chanting.
Noah stopped for a second
and took a deep breath. He pushed the CD deep into his jacket pocket and held it
close to his body before entering the mass of people.
At
first they took no notice of him, but as soon as he began to ascend the cement
stairs, they were on him.
“Do you realize you’ll burn
in hell for working on this project?” a woman screamed in Noah’s
face.
“God doesn’t like it when
humans try to mess with his divine plan,” a man yelled.
Once he reached the top
step, Noah turned to the crowd and gave a graceful bow before going into the
building.
This infuriated the
protestors and they began screaming louder.
“Why do you insist upon
angering them? If you ignore them they’ll go away eventually,” said Christy,
another scientist on the project who had just arrived before Noah. She had her
jacket flung over her arm and was looking at Noah with her typical disapproving
eyes.
“Believe me, Christians
never go away,” Noah said while walking with Christy down the long wide hallway
to the lab.
“You look
awful.”
“I
haven’t slept in two days.”
“Then what are you doing
here?”
Noah remained silent, but
held up the CD for Christy and smiled.
“No. You didn’t?” Christy
said, her eyes growing wide.
Noah slowly moved his head
up and down.
“Pop it in and take look,”
he said, handing the CD to Christy.
Christy loaded up the
equation Noah had just looked at on his own screen a few minutes ago. She nodded
her head as if checking it out for herself then turned to Noah,
smiling.
“Oh my God. You did
it.”
“Death can be a thing of
the past. I want to go before the committee ASAP so we can start
testing.”
“What’s this about going to
the committee?” Bill, the third scientist on the team, asked as he walked in
munching on a doughnut.
“Noah figured it out. It’s
all right here,” said Christy pushing her chair back from the desk and pointing
to the screen. Bill leaned over and studied the screen, dropping doughnut crumbs
on the keyboard, which Christy methodically brushed off.
“Wow. You did do it and not
a minute too soon. The local religious groups have been putting a lot of
pressure on them to shut us down,” said Bill.
Noah moved his hand in a
dismissive wave and sat down.
“You shouldn’t be so quick
to brush them off. Believe it or not, the majority of people in this country do
still believe in God.”
“Those people are
stupid.”
“That may be the case, but
you’ll probably have a hard time convincing the committee of that. Remember, it
is the community’s money they’re giving to us.”
“I
know, but how can anyone deny using this science. It’s going to completely
change everything. Forever.”
Bill shook his head in
agreement. “I’ll set it up as soon as I can. You should go home and get some
rest. You’ll want to have a clear head when you go before the
committee.”
Noah got up and patted Bill
on the back before heading back out the door.
The protestors swarmed
around him, but he managed to duck and push his way through them and walked as
quickly as he could back to his apartment. He was beginning to feel extremely
tired and even stumbled a couple times while walking.
When he finally made it up
to his apartment, he collapsed on his bed and let sleep overtake
him.
But the shrill ring of his
phone awoke him at no more than an hour later.
Noah slapped his hand
around on his nightstand before finding the receiver.
“Noah, it’s Bill. The
committee wants to see you in an hour. Can you be ready?”
“Yeah,” said Noah, rubbing
his eyes and looking at the clock.
“Good. See you
then.”
Noah hung up the phone and
threw off the covers. He needed a shower to wake him up. He walked slowly to the
bathroom door and was just about to enter when the phone rang again. Probably
Bill reminding him to wear a tie.
Noah picked up the
phone.
“Look Bill, I’m not a
child, I know that I need to dress up.”
“Noah?” The voice sounded
unfamiliar.
“Noah
Tyler?”
“Yes?”
“Do not move forward with
your little science project.”
“Who is
this?”
“The wrath of God will be
upon you. You’ve been warned.”
The line went dead and Noah
replaced the receiver.
“Stupid Christians,” he
said, heading back to the bathroom.
The hot water pouring over
his body not only cleared Noah’s head, but helped him begin to plan what he was
going to say to the committee. He even started gesturing to no one as he worked
out every word.
After drying off and
dressing in his best suit, Noah headed out the door. He walked with an air of
confidence that kept even the most aggressive protesters in front of the
building at bay. He simply ignored them as he ascended the cement staircase and
entered the building.
When Noah entered the
conference room, the committee was already seated at the long table – nine very
old and stuffy looking scientists seated no more than a foot apart. They were
all studying manila folders opened in front of them. Noah thought the setup was
a bit absurd. By the looks of things you would have thought he was a prisoner up
for parole, not a scientist asking to move forward with
testing.
Josephine Grant, the
chairperson, eyed him critically as always through her glasses that were so
small they barely covered her eyes as he sat down in the lone chair facing the
committee.
“Well, Mr. Tyler. We’ve
been informed that you’ve found the solution to your
problem.”
“Yes, Ms. Grant. The data
you have in front of you shows that there is in fact a way to transfer a
person’s consciousness into another brain.”
“Mr. Tyler, I assume you’re
here to request the permission to move forward with
testing?”
“Yes ma’am. This is such an
exciting discovery, possibly the most exciting discovery ever made. I think we
should move forward as quickly as possible.”
Tom Gibson, another
committee member who always gave Noah the hardest time, leaned forward and
cleared his throat. He took off his glasses and looked at Noah with big bulging
eyes.
“Mr. Tyler, do you have any
idea of the amount of opposition we’re receiving from the
public?”
“Yes, sir, I
do.”
“But you don’t
care?”
“Excuse me if I sound rude,
but most of the opposition is based on religious beliefs that date back to
medieval times. We’re all scientists here. We know
better.”
“So, Mr. Tyler, you’re
saying we should disregard the public that has provided the funding for a
project that some are even saying has turned out grossly different than what was
originally intended?”
“Not disregard, but not
stop moving forward either. The majority of the public is ignorant about a lot
of things, but most of all, this.”
“But Mr. Tyler,” Tom said
raising his voice. “That attitude is just what has made the public so mad. They
think you think of yourself as a god and your arrogance has given us all a bad
reputation.”
Noah was losing his
patience and jumped out of his chair. “Don’t you understand? If my experiment
succeeds, we are talking about an end to natural death. When your body begins to
give out, we could move your consciousness – your thoughts, your feelings, your
memories – everything that makes up who you are into another brain and then into
another body. We are talking about immortality.”
Several committee members
shifted in their chairs. Noah couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or
nervousness.
“And where would all these
new bodies and brains come from?” asked Tom Gibson.
“We’ve already been growing
bodies without brains in the labs and been growing brains without consciousness
for years. Now we can put those to use. We’ve been able to successfully
transplant brains, but a brain transplant has held no point for anyone because
you lose who you are… until now.”
“Mr. Tyler, if we allow you
to start testing there is going to be a public outrage,” said Josephine Grant,
shaking her head from side to side.
“Then let me be the test
subject,” said Noah, spreading his arms open in a motion of
offering.
The committee stared at him
and then looked at each other.
“Then you’re not taking any
risks. It’s just a crazy, arrogant scientist who thinks he’s God in control of
his own destiny,” Noah said and smiled.
The committee looked at
each other with some members lifting their eyebrows and shrugging their
shoulders. Others whispered to one another.
Josephine Grant sighed and
leaned forward once again.
“Okay, Mr. Tyler. Go ahead
and conduct the experiment on yourself. If you’re successful, we’ll meet again
to discuss what to do next. If you’re unsuccessful,… I guess this is goodbye.
Good luck.”
Noah nodded and thanked the
committee before heading out the door.
Bill and Christy were
waiting right outside. Christy was pacing and biting her
nails.
“Well?” Christy
asked.
“We have authorization to
proceed,” Noah said, bowing.
“Oh my God. You’re kidding.
I don’t believe they gave us the okay,” said Christy.
“So who’s going to be the
first test subject?” Bill asked.
“You’re looking at him,”
said Noah, smiling.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Noah, are you sure about
this?”
“My life is nothing if I
don’t use it to advance science. And I want to do this as soon as
possible.”
“You know it’ll take a few
months to get all the machinery built and to set up a medical team to do the
brain transplant.”
“I
know, I know, but let’s get moving right away.”
“We’ll get started. You go
home and sleep … for about two
days,” Bill said, patting Noah on the back.
The next five months went
by almost like a dream for Noah. He was coherent everyday as he oversaw the
process becoming a physical reality, but it all seemed surreal to him until all
the equipment was finally in place. Everything seemed to be going so smoothly.
Even the protesters and the phone threats had no effect on Noah. He was focused
entirely on bringing immortality to the human race.
It
was a rainy Tuesday night as he sat alone in his apartment looking out the
window and smoking a cigarette. He hadn’t picked one up in years for fear it
would kill him, but what did that matter now? Tomorrow he would have a new body
with fresh, healthy lungs. He watched a single drop of rain make a streak down
the window and then traced its path with his finger. He was amazed at how calm
he was, but wondered if he would miss this body that held so many memories.
Maybe once the practice of transferring consciousness became widespread people
would keep their old bodies for sentimental value like they did now with old
high school letterman jackets.
He
squashed the cigarette in an ash tray and took a deep breath before heading to
bed.
The next morning the
protestors were gathered in full-steam again, but he managed to slip by them
almost unnoticed and made it to the door. But before going in, he turned and
motioned to the crowd to be quiet.
“I
only have one thing to say,” he said. “When death becomes a thing of the past,
there will be no need for religion.”
Noah ignored the uproar and
cries of blasphemy and entered the building.
He
headed straight to the lab where the preparations were almost
complete.
“Is the body up to your
liking?” Christy asked turning around a large tank.
Noah looked inside at the
body, which was about his height, but more muscular and with lighter-colored
hair. It was submerged in a red-jelly like substance that provided oxygen and
nutrients in order for it to survive and was hooked up to numerous electrical
devices that forced the muscles to contract and develop.
“Works for me,” he said
smiling. He turned and saw the brain sitting in a separate tank, submerged in
the same substance.
“We’re all ready to go,”
said Bill, coming up behind him.
“Then let’s get moving,”
said Noah as he lay down on the surgical table. He watched as they removed the
body from the tank and hooked it up to various machines and heart monitors. Then
Christy rolled the machine next to Noah. She placed sensors all over his head
and proceeded to place another set of sensors in all the same places on the
brain.
“Now, you know there’s
going to be a couple of hours where you’ll be fully conscious, but won’t have a
body – won’t be able to see, hear, or feel anything,” she
said.
“I
know. I plan to see how many times I can recite the periodic
table.”
Christy laughed. “Okay,
here it goes.”
She pressed a single key on
the machine and Noah’s body shuddered. Almost immediately the blinking
confirmation appeared on the screen.
The medical team checked
Noah’s body, but it just lay there completely unconscious.
“Well, it looks like that
part worked,” said Christy as she hit a second key and waited for the second
confirmation saying the energy taken from Noah’s brain had been transferred into
the new brain. Bill stood over her shoulder. They were both holding their
breath, though they weren’t conscious of it. Then the second confirmation
came.
Christy turned to the
doctors and gave the ok.
One doctor moved forward
towards the brain, getting ready to pick it up, but instead pulled a gun and
shot Christy square in the forehead, before turning to face the rest of the
room.
“What is this?!” Bill
screamed. The doctor shot him too.
“The wrath of God,” the
doctor said in a monotone voice with a smile on his face then went on to shoot
the other two doctors before walking over to the brain. He bent down next to it,
as if examining it.
“You have no idea what’s
going on, but you will figure it out soon enough. You tried to live forever, and
now you’ll live in darkness and silence until this brain
dies.
The man carefully placed
the brain back into the red jelly substance in the tank and placed the tank in a
large case. He walked out of the building with the case under his arm and no one
questioned it.
By
that time Noah had recited the periodic table four times and started the
fifth.
“Hydrogen, Helium,
Lithium…”
Nicole Tanner is a professional graphic designer and journalist, but more than anything
she is an aspiring writer. Another of her short stories
appeared in the February 2002 issue of the print publication Futures.
Email Nicole Tanner
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