SHORT STORY: GENETSCISM

Genetscism

Professor A3639 droned on and on about the importance of faith. "What is the importance of faith?" she asked, and in unison the students replied, "Because science will never fail you."
"What is the meaning of life?"
"To gain, obtain, and retain knowledge."
After the daily prayer, the announcement from Alpha came on from the individual chips that were programmed into each student and professor. "Welcome, students, to a glorious first day at Number Four, year 5003. As you know, there are 2 new moons in this school year in which you will be learning biochemistry and our national religion, Genetscism." Rolling her eyes S1387 silently mouthed the words as Alpha made the di-moonly announcement. She knew all the words by heart for she had been at Number Four for four new moons instead of the regular two. She was considered a Celeron, slower and less advanced than the others. The system in her head buzzed, "S1387, report to the lab at once!" Groaning inwardly, S1387 walked to the transport chamber that would take her to the lab. She already knew why she was being summoned. An I3 had detected a prohibited thought in her head. This ability to measure chemical activity in the brain and match them with feelings was created by the founder of Genetscism, Dr. Reginald B. Goodman B.S. in the year 3000, to lead the world on the path of morality. Silently rising from her seat, S1387 walked toward the door undisturbed. Everyone knew that she had been summoned.
Before stepping through the doors that led to the lab, S1387 gave the I3 a perfunctory handshake as recognition of status. Then, she turned around as a probing instrument was inserted into the back of her neck and a slimy mass of DNA was drawn out and into the instrument. The I3 then inserted the instrument into a recessed DNA chamber in the door. The numbers 1387 appeared in green against the black screen on the door which instantly parted to reveal a long corridor. On the edges of the floor, there were tiles of
white neo-marble that lead into each of the transport chambers. In the middle, was a moving floor that moved forward and backwards and stopped by voice command. Everything was stark white, including the dome-shaped 7 foot chambers. S1387 stepped upon the moving floor and stopped at chamber number 6. Stepping into the chamber, she pressed a protruding red button. Instantly, she began to shake violently as her molecules increased their activity and finally changed from solid phase to a gas. She felt herself being sucked through a long tube that led to the receiving chamber in which her body would return to a solid form.
Inside the lab, there was a large red couch in the middle of the room. Everything else was bright yellow. The walls were painted a crisp mustard yellow and the floor was carpeted in soft, yellow, neo-cotton fiber. Alpha, a spectral-like man no taller than four feet, sat crossed-legged in the chair with his eyes closed. As if sensing her presence, he said, "Come closer S1387, don't be afraid." The menacing tone in his susurrus voice advised otherwise. Tentatively taking a few steps forward, S1387 knelt down at Alpha's feet and kissed them as was customary. Then rising to her feet, she waited for what she knew would follow. Alpha spoke again, "It has been reported that the metabolism in your brain exceeded 1,000,000 reactions per second during my announcement. This measurement is equivalent to the reported reactions per second of a brain registering contempt or loathing. For this violation, you will receive an O2 injection immediately."
A mild smirk appeared on the old man's lips as shock, fear, and hatred passed through S1387 in an evanescent show of emotion. An O2 was one of the worst forms of torture created. "Give me your arm", he said. S1387 brought one shaky arm toward Alpha who already had a small intravenous needle in hand. With this, he proceeded to inject about 2ml of the chemical into a vein in her arm. Other than a slight stinging sensation, S1387 felt no pain but she didn't deceive herself. This was just the beginning of her punishment.
Upon being sent home early, S1387 used the nearest chamber outside of Number Four to transport herself from neo-Florida to a neo-Maryland home of her choice. She appeared in a chamber located in the middle of a suburban-like town. Homes much like those of the year 2003 were arranged in spirals around the chamber. It was still 10:00 am so she knew that the homes were vacant. None of the homes were locked or individually owned, a practice that was adopted after the year 3000, so S1387 walked into the nearest house. Like the others in which she had been in, this house was devoid of adornment. Its décor consisted of plain, white walls, one window, and a single white bed. A violent spasm coursed her body as the O2 moved into its first phase. Releasing an agonized cry, S1387 was hurled upon the bed by the force of the spasm. Once the initial shock ebbed, she sat up on the edge of the bed. Tucking her knees under her chin, S1387 rocked herself to and fro. In a child-like sing-song voice, she chanted, "Science will never fail you. Gain, obtain, retain", at first slowly, then faster and faster until her voice gained an urgent manic quality. She knew that she was loosing control of her brain and the delicate fibers that held it together were loosening into a mass of chromatin. The chanting subsided until a lethargic, "Science, fail, gain," was all that was left. Again, an emphatic convulsion passed through her. This time, it was accompanied by crazed laughter. Nearly chocking on the blood and mucus that had dripped down into her mouth from her nose, she chanted, "I'll never be bad, I'm a good girl now, I'm a good girl, I'm a good girl." Abruptly, S1387 got up from the bed and began to pace in a spiral pattern around the room, still repeating the chant. Hours later, the room began to spin and gripping both sides of her head, she let out a final cry and settled on the floor, spent and worn out.
Twenty minutes later, she slowly awakened from her slumber, S1387 took out a CleanM3000, a thin, 3X5 cm portable machine. When activated, it would release radioactive waves that would break-down and destroy harmful particles on the body and in the air. S1387 activated the machine by the command, "On", and in 10 seconds the room was adequately clean and the blood removed from her body and clothes. After pocketing the CleanM3000, she went back to sit on her bed and study. She brought out her hands and said, "Biochemistry", and her biochemistry text was projected on a wall in front of her. She read, "Unit One, atoms and chemical reactions in the body. If two atoms are moving at a speed of…"
Her studying done, she turned off the text and looked down at her arms. She counted five fiery red circles on her left arm and two on her right from previous injections. At least she was getting better at controlling herself. Just then, her head began to throb and the voices began again, "It's time. You are the one." S1387, confused said, "I thought the voices would stop. Not again. What do you want?"
"You are the one."
"What do you mean?"
"The world has changed and will change again."
"How?"
"In time, you will know."
"Know what?" she asked, but there was no reply. Two moons ago, the voices began. This worried S1387 because she thought she was losing her mind. The images that the voices evoked haunted her to the extent that she couldn't concentrate in school and was held back 2 moons. Again, she recalled the images, women with swollen bellies, creatures in test tubes, bright colors arranged in different positions, buildings with glass stained in unfamiliar colors, and then a terrible all-consuming fire that destroyed many nations. None of these images made sense.

At 8:00 am the next morning, S1387 was awakened by a piercing buzzing from the chip in her head. The lessons had begun. Once again, she would be isolated from the other students in the school and have at- home training. A voice from the chip in her head said, "Good day S1387. Turn on your text projector for the Genetscism text and turn to chapter 2. Then, type a 3 frame paper on the first rule of Genetscism. Your lessons end at 9:00 am. You will go to the nutrition hall after." When the voice buzzed off, the text turned on and she began to read. "Rule number one, life and science are one. According to the amendment 22 to the new world order, religion and education shall no be separate…"
Lifting her hands, and placing her fingers where the home row should have been on a 2003 computer, she commanded, "Type." A transparent keypad materialized and she moved her fingers in the air and typed the words, THE IMPORTANCE OF GENETSCISM, on the first line. Then she typed, Genetscism is important because … I am nobody, who are you? Are you a nobody too? "What is this, I didn't type that." Then, new words appeared, Then there's a pair of us don't tell, How dreary it is to be somebody. Poetry. This time, she knew she had typed these words but not of her own will. "P-O-E-T-R-Y, what is that?" The strange voices came again, "Go to the nutrition hall, down the steps, storage." Suddenly, the chip in her head buzzed and she knew it was time to go to the hall. Once again, she left the house and walked to the chamber in the center of the town and was taken to the nutrition hall.

The nutrition hall was located in a large building separate from Number Four. Ten circular tables were arranged in various parts of the hall and the students sat two to a table. S1387 scanned the hall for an empty table and seeing one, walked towards it. Every eye turned towards her, most of them curious. None dared to show any other emotion. Each table was white with a transparent key pad built into it for ordering sustenance. S1387 typed the words cherry coke, pizza, and banana then pressed enter. Instantly, three jelly bean pills appeared on the table. The black one was cherry coke, the red pill was pizza, and the yellow pill
was banana, all were vitamin and calorie enriched. Popping all three into her mouth at once, she chewed furiously until none of the jelly bean pills were left. After, she got up to go outside of the building and into the storage room. Outside, there were steps that led to a lower level so she crept down the steps apprehensively. A whooshing sound startled her and she looked up to see the space cars flying past her head. "Rotten drivers, driving below the air line." Once again, she continued her descent down the steps only to find a locked door marked STORAGE AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. "What could possibly be behind that door? It's just a storage room for sustenance and materials." Frustrated, she continued, "Oh, I wish that door would open!" As if by the command of her will, the door burst open to reveal a bright room that was light by no visible source. Silently, S1387 stepped into the room and jumped as the door noisily slammed behind her. Inside the room ,there were rows of shelves full of boxes labeled vanilla flavor, cherry flavor, etc. Further down, there were lab tables with beakers and other lab supplies that were used to engineer the nutrition products. Walking towards one of the tables, S1387 tripped over something on the floor, nearly falling. Looking down to see what she had tripped on, she saw a distinct square on the floor with a recessed DNA chamber in its center. S1387 extended her hands toward the square and felt a wave of energy radiating from her body. Like the door, the square panel slid open to reveal a hole in the ground , large enough to pass someone or something no wider than five feet in circumference. Luckily, S1387 was a frail agile youth who easily slid into the hole. A few inches down, she felt rungs so she used them to climb down into the plastic lined tunnel.
At the bottom of the tunnel, there seemed to be nothing there. The space was no more than a 10X10 foot room also lit by an invisible source. There seemed to be nothing of importance in the room, just archaic looking beakers, a small table, and a recessed square hole in the wall with dark dusty material covering its inside and brown beaten-up cylindrical objects thrown into it. Upon further scrutiny, a pile of

archaic text sources was visible. Unfamiliar with the text sources, S1387 tentatively walked towards it to sit in front of the pile and examine the text. Energy surged through her body once again and the pages of the text flew open and began to turn rapidly and stop on the page labeled "P". Scanning, the page, she realized it was an ancient text frame similar to Goodman's Dictionary. Sliding a finger down the columns of words, she read, "Psyche, psychedelic, psychiatry, psychic? Now, that's a funny word." Just as her finger touched the word psychic, the strange energy in her body increased, causing her body temperature to rise. Compelled to examine the word further, she read the definition, "Psychic, outside of natural or scientific knowledge; spiritual. Of or pertaining to some apparently nonphysical force or agency." Confused, S1387 closed the text. "That doesn't make sense. According to the second rule of Genetscism, force is something that is exerted by all physical beings, so how can there be a non physical force? The first rule of Genetscism states that all problems can be solved and explained by science." Shaking her head in confusion, S1387 repeated, "I don't understand, I don't understand, outside of natural or scientific knowledge?"
"You wouldn't understand my child," came from a voice behind her. Stopping in mid-sentence, S1387 turned to face the intruder.
"S1387, what are you doing here? Don't you know that bad things happen to disobedient youths?" asked the intruder. S1387 could recognize that voice from anywhere.
"Alpha, I can explain. I was just ----."
"No my dear, this is one thing you can not explain. Allow me. In the year 2003, I was 25 years old, what you would consider 50 new moons. I was an avid student of science, part of an organization called the F.L.U.B, the Federal League for Universal Betterment. Back then, I was known as Dr. Reginald Goodman. You see, we were a league of scientists who wanted to perfect the human race in that time of trouble.
There was a life expectancy of 78 years, and a homicide rate of 1000 deaths per day. There was much pain and suffering and evil in the world. Women were having babies the "natural way" and were conceiving, he spat out the words, "sickly mutants". I was one of the mutants. All my life, I was tormented by spirits using me as a medium. Every time they'd come, I would begin to foam at the mouth and shake violently until my eyes rolled back in my head. Then I knew they had control over me. One day, during a possession, the being was so violent that it forced me to take a knife and slash my legs. When it left and I regained myself, I was left with nothing but bleeding sockets where my knees should have started. I wept bitterly and asked God why he had made me this way. Why I had to endure so much pain and suffering for so long. I had seen miracles in my life time but I'd given up on them a long time ago. My parents rushed me to the hospital and put their faith in science. For the first time in my life, my parents were right. In a few operations, I was able to walk with prosthetic legs. Since then, at the age of 17, I had put all my trust in science." An unexplainable madness lit his eyes as he spoke. Then once again, became clouded by distant memories. " I went off to college to become a genetic engineer. New technology was being created every day. I created a pill that would fix my mind and make me insensitive to supernatural beings. With gene splicing, one could totally change their genetic makeup and become perfect, and cloning, oh, beautiful cloning, was the way to create the perfect race of humans. F.L.U.B. was funded by the United States government but was an international organization. We patented a machine that could clone not just females, but males in 2005. My son and daughter were eager participants but unfortunately, they had to die during their preservation process. That same year, I was working here, by the heat of the fireplace to create the elixir of life. One that would extend my life for many years." With outstretched arms he said, "And here I am, over two thousand years later, one of the five survivors after the great fire of 3000. The fire that


destroyed churches and whore houses, museums and schools, the good and the bad. The other four survivors joined me to create this utopia. One devoid of art and literature, the evils that engender dangerous thoughts, and especially mutants. Every one upon their production, took a pill that would make them insensitive to the supernatural. This sustained our utopia for thousands of years…until you came along." Pointing an accusing finger at her, he moved towards her. " You are the only Celeron left. I don't know why I didn't exterminate you with the others. You may be a clone of my daughter but you are nothing like her. Isabella was sweet and obedient, respectful; you are none of these." Seeing the scared and confused expression on her face, he said, "Isabella, I know you don't understand any of this but that's not important. What I do is for the good of science, for the good of the universe."
With that, he spoke the command, "Buzzer, on," and a piercing buzzing erupted into S1387's ears. The noise was excruciating and S1387 felt as if her ears were dissolving into liquid fire. Grasping her ears she yelled, "Stop!" and a chip no larger than 1X1mm flew out of an opening in the back of her neck and the buzzing stopped. The buzzing gone, she stomped toward Alpha, waves of energy coursing through her body. "You stupid little man. All the scientific knowledge in the world couldn't explain away the most common phenomena, like how life on earth started, or why people like you and I can talk to spirits." Raising her arms, she added, "Look at this, you have created a prison where people are not free to feel or think. This is no utopia." In a thundering voice she commanded, "Get out of my way! I WILL leave this place and I WILL tell everyone about the beauty of art, literature, and life itself." Fearful, with eyes bulging Alpha pleaded, "Please, don't do this. You will ruin what I have worked so hard for, what others in the past have strived toward. Please don't----." Before he could finish, a violent throbbing in his chest caused him to grip his heart and double over in pain. "Isabella---." Before he could get another word out,
his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he breathed his last breath. S1387 stood dazed, staring down at the crippled old man that she had come to worship. Lifting her hand to her face, she felt a strange liquid
dripping down from her eyes. Alpha had not taken away mankind's driving force, compassion. As she stood there starring down at Alpha, she wept bitterly for the first time in her creation. She wept for the culture that was lost to her for so long, for the new one that would emerge, and even for the lifeless old man the lay at her feet. okay, so it wasn't that short.