... For A Better Tomorrow

Remembering that time the plain wrapped box had shown up in the post, I thought it was odd, considering there was no return address printed on the label, only the distinctive curls of a double helix. I was a bit on edge, having heard some alarming things on the newsfeed of the time about terrorist attacks, containers of white powder most of the time. I considered the alternatives: Toss it into the trash, turn it in to the authorities for testing or even suiting up in protective gear before opening the box. I had to chuckle at the latter, envisioning myself in a hazmat suit, wearing a gas mask and elbow-high rubber gloves, using the kitchen tongs to gingerly remove the brown paper and open the box.

I eventually set aside my fears and thought screw it, it might be something good for all I know. I sat down at the eating table, placed the box in front of me. Didn't blow up. Good thing, that. No dangerous looking powder. Check. In fact, the contents looked more like a science kit of sorts: A plastic tube, a tweezer, a tiny baggie and a booklet. Inside the booklet was a single card stock, laminated, with illustrations.

Opening the booklet, it began with a Congratulations! You have been selected to participate in our groundbreaking genetics program! introduction. Already, I was expecting a sales pitch, and tried to skip ahead to find out how much this would cost me. Oddly enough, that never happened. Every indication the booklet gave was that my involvement would be free of charge. I went back and read it more carefully. The authors of the kit made a generic explanation of the purpose, stating that I would submit a saliva sample and a few hairs with follicles intact, and they would provide me with a comprehensive breakdown of my genetic heritage, including the latest information of the origin of my 'haplogroup'. It all sounded so scientific and fascinating, but I was still a bit skeptical. Got to the fine print and it assured me that my DNA will be secured and unavailable to any third party without my written consent. Okay, then.

I looked over the laminated card, and it all seemed simple enough. I had a bit of trouble making enough spit to fill the tube, and I had pulled a couple dozen hairs with the tweezers before I was satisfied I had gathered enough viable follicles for their purposes. Packed everything in an enclosed packet, that had a code for an address that I couldn't understand. I took the trouble to drop it at the post to ensure it would be sent on its way properly. For a few days, I re-read the booklet, pondered what experiments might be performed with my DNA and eventually forgot all about it. Nothing shocking or bizarre was found in the packet, and it was almost anticlimactic. After reading all the material they sent, I put everything back into the envelope and filed it away. The experience was soon forgotten, and I went on with my life.

Twenty years passed with no contact with the enigmatic helix people, then one day a post man came to me with a large envelope requiring my approval. I noticed that same double helix logo printed on the front, and I reluctantly accepted it with a thumbprint on his pad. I sat down at the eating table and sliced the flap open. Inside was another letter, this one inviting me to tour their facility! And unlike the previous correspondence, they gave me a name: Science and Genetics Enterprises. Cute. Also found was a travel voucher. Huh. It seemed they were anxious for me to visit them, although I couldn't imagine why. What the heck, it was a free trip.

The John-E-Cab pulled up in front of the nondescript steel and concrete building, appearing as a thousand other tech firms would, i.e.: no personality. I stepped out and approached the front entrance, noticing a small pad with no features next to the frame. I thought it must have been for scanning thumbs. No doorbell? No doorman. But the moment I stepped up to the door, it slide open on its own. I hesitated, feeling a strange sense of foreboding, but finally walked in.

The lobby was sparse, with only a woman standing behind a counter and a short hallway leading to another door. The woman looked up, her face brightening at the sight of my arrival. She quickly came around and extended a slender hand to shake mine. She seemed to be familiar with me, which I found disconcerting. She gushed, "How wonderful to finally meet you, Matthew. Dr. Goshen is expecting you..." She had already taken my arm and started guiding me towards that one door. I found her to be personable and a bit too forward for my taste, but a lovely woman nonetheless. She seemed eager to fill me in with the amazing advances SAGE had made in genomics, and it made my head swim as we reached the door. It, of course, gave way to us and we strolled like a walk in the park down featureless hallways.

At the end of the hall, we paused in front of a blank wall. The woman waved her hand and the wall slid silently aside, revealing a room. She offered for me to enter. As I passed by, she looked at me with her head cocked and a wistful expression. "He has your eyes..." I stopped abruptly, turning to her. "What did you say?" Before she could answer, a deep voice came for behind me.

"Ahhhh, Matthew! At last, after all these years! It is a pleasure to meet you!" The voice came from an elderly gentleman in a white smock. He extended a hand. "Doctor Goshen, primary researcher at this facility. Welcome to the future, as it were." I accepted his gnarled hand and gave a perfunctory shake. He guided me into a totally blank room. It was a stark white in color, no furniture, no light switches, even the source of illumination was hidden. I turned to find the woman had gone. As well as the doorway. The wall was totally blank. I didn't like it.

"What is with this place, anyways?"

"We are on the cutting edge of the study of human genomics. We have been developing strategies for protecting the human race from extinction, and your kind donation of DNA has been the very breakthrough we needed!"

I was surprised at the revelation, but now intrigued at the notion that I may have saved the human race. I looked around me at the blankness, spreading my arms in questioning. "So, where is all this achievement?"

"Ah! Cut right to it, indeed! Allow me to show you something that promises to change forever our place in the world..." he declared as he stepped over to a spot across from our entry. A wave of his hand and the wall formed a square slit near the floor and a container slid out into the room. It was about three meters in length, one meter wide and one tall. All white until it completed the maneuver. Then the top face dissolved into a transparent facing, and I found there was a body inside. A human body. A young, male human about eighteen years of age. And it appeared to be the eighteen year old version of...

"ME? What... what..." I stammered. I felt anger quickly filling my head. "What the hell have you done???" I looked down at the body, seemingly in deep sleep and unfortunately for my modesty, totally nude.

Dr. Goshen spoke in calm tones, to reassure me and assuage my anger.

"Now, now... There is a perfectly logical explanation for this. You see, we were not only mapping out the human genome, we were also attempting to perfect a method to "grow" a human from a subject's cells. We were particularly concerned with the possibility of genetic drift, the tendency for the chromosomes to degrade in quality, as in a second generation, third generation copy and so on containing errors in the sequence. Hence, down the line the offspring begins to express mutations subtle and gross."

He walked over to the glass topped container, waving his hands as he spoke of qualities they looked for, and found, in my own DNA. He waved at the "me" in the container, and explained that I was particularly "clean", with few "impurities", and this minimized the multiplying of errors in the sequencing. He seemed quite proud to tell me of this, while I had a completely different reaction, one of betrayal and revulsion.

I finally had enough. I blurted out, "So what are you going to do with..." I waved at the body, "This thing???"

Goshen stopped mid-sentence, rubbed his forehead and sighed. "To be blunt, he is your replacement."

I felt dizzy, out of adrenaline from my anger or from an impending fainting spell, I wasn't sure. I spun around, speechless except for mewing sounds I had never made before. Goshen's demeanor had gone from genial and downright friendly to cold and calculating.

"This was an early and spectacular success in our program, and his upbringing has been exacting and thorough. He is the first in many models of sapient clones that will replace an out of control population. Your sacrifice will be remembered as the moment we saved the planet by eliminating the brutal, barely civilized masses with these carefully programmed clones. They are, of course, sterile and their hormones regulated so they will not attempt coitus. Their lifespans will exceed ours and with limitless supplies of DNA, will be replenished at regular intervals. We will be able to maintain a stable population for many millenia, even perhaps for millions of years. It is, after all, for a better tomorrow."

I knew then I had to get out somehow. Fight or flight took over my body, and I look about the blank room for some way to escape. Where was that opening we came in? I panicked, and in one swift maneuver I lunged at Goshen, punched him square in the nose, dropping him to the floor. He was out instantly. I staggered along the wall, waving my hands, searching for that spot on the wall that would open the door. I realized I needed the good doctor's hand for the task. I stopped, caught my breath and thought. The container with the other me is over there and it was across from where we came in. I think. I then drug Goshen over to the wall opposite the box and lifted his hand to wave at the wall. It was a pain to move him around but I was full of adrenaline. A few waves here and there and finally success.

The doorway appeared in front of me and I could see all the way back down the hallway to the door to the lobby. Goshen moaned at that moment, regaining consciousness. I picked him up and put him in a half-nelson and started down the hallway. I could see my way out, and I was determined to go find the authorities to come shut this hellish place down one way or another.

*

Two faceless figures in the dark of a distant room watched the subject dragging the 'doctor' along a hallway on a monitor. They seemed approving of what they saw. One said to the other, "This one shows initiative and has a strong sense of survival. It's too bad bad we will have to eliminate him in favor of his clone." The other nodded in the near-dark. "Yes, we should approve the addition of Matt 2.0 to the list of finalists to send to the planet we identified as viable for human habitation. Has the Council chosen a name for the planet yet?" The first replied, "Yes, I forgot to tell you, they named it 'Earth'"