Amygdala Hijack - A Genetic Engineering Sci-Fi Story of Impending Dystopia

EP. 8 - POISON PAUL

"WELCOME LISTENERS, I AM Peter Scott, and this is the Uncovering Science Podcast. Our special guest in the studio today is a nuclear physicist who spent time in the hallowed halls of academia here in Boston. We didn't pre-announce his name because anonymity was a condition of speaking on the show. The topic is very relevant to what's been on the news these last few weeks – that being the global reaction to the obelisk, its meaning, and how we might protect ourselves."

Ears held up his laptop to show Peter the screen, and he mouthed "one hundred seven thousand listeners."

At that large number, Molli grabbed her laptop and shook her head in disbelief. Peter's jaw dropped open, and he paused for an uncomfortable moment.

"Oh, my God!" he began. "Well, today we'll analyze the poison pill alternative nominally mentioned in the media. Because I prefer to be on a first name basis with our guests, he's agreed to let me call him Paul. In fact, our internal code name for him has been Poison Paul, but I don't see anything about him too volatile or deadly for us not to listen. Let's get to it right after this message."

Molli queued the ad and spoke before Peter could say anything. "Thirty seconds." She glanced at Ears. "What the hell, buddy? Those numbers can't be right, not unless the Reverend's flock is still visiting."

Ears smiled. "I told you guys I'd accelerate the list-building and marketing. Contacted every underground geedee group I could find. This is not your run-of-the-mill science podcast anymore, kids. It's a contender."

"3-2-1," Molli uttered to get them on track.

"My friend Ears, who has spoken on some of our shows before, just told me we are quadruple the number of listeners from last week, so we welcome our many first-timers. I'm not sure if it's due to my vivacious personality or our interesting guests."

"I'd place a Vegas bet on the guests," Molli interjected.

Peter laughed, "No doubt, and speaking of that, let's get started with Paul. Oh, he requested to disguise his voice, and we're live which might make it sound metallic at times. Paul, I won't give you much of an introduction, given the circumstances, but can you tell us how long you've been in and around nuclear physics in a professional sense?"

Paul rubbed his white beard which matched his shoulder-length white hair. "Forty-plus."

"For the audience, you should interpret that as years and not days. Were you in an official role with our federal government and nuclear agencies?"

"Yes," he answered, "both employed directly and as a contractor for many years."

"Weapons systems?"

"Yes, almost exclusively."

"Okay, great." Peter was concerned Paul suffered microphone-shyness so he lobbed an open-ended question to elicit a longer reply.

"What's your view on using nuclear weapons, either tactical, battlefield, or global, in response to a possible alien invasion, should that occur in the next, who knows, ten or ten thousand years?" he quipped.

Paul wrapped his hands atop his plump belly, covered only by an aging green Hawaiian shirt.

"Thought you'd never ask. Mind if I just start talking?"

"Yes, yes," Peter replied. "And for the listeners, please explain the poison pill analogy in this context."

"Sure, Peter. For those who are not inclined to the corporate world, a poison pill is a term used by a company to prevent a hostile takeover. A business might allow existing shareowners to buy many more shares at a discount in the event a hostile shareowner takes a run at buying enough shares to assume control. That effectively poisons any such transaction by diluting the value of all shares, to the detriment of all. In other words, if the hostile decides to proceed, it dies along with that which it attacked. It's a fitting analogy to what I'm discussing."