Silos of Man

Chapter 7: Sister, Sister, Where Are You?

"I don't think that I deserve to be managed here, Sam.  Why can't I speak with Reid directly?"  We have a significant issue in Section 29 which I'm in the middle of with a clear view, and I can assure you that if New London doesn't start taking this seriously, it may get away from us."  Joan can't stand Reid's pompous new assistant who acts like she's the only person in the world with access to Reid Owen, the Section's Representative.  "Dr. Dwyer, I assure you that Dr. Owen is fully aware of the situation in Section 29, and government agents of the NWO are currently assessing the best move forward, with our global perspectives clearly in sight throughout the decision-making process."

"Then please tell me what our status is, because quite frankly, you're expecting me to keep everything calm and quiet on-site, but Dany Piper isn't the only brilliant mind around here that is confused, curious and determined.  There is a remarkable group of scientists here, who have been working on this project since undergrad, and are very well aware that something isn't adding-up.  A few of them may believe that there was an anomalous batch we've been working with for years, but none of them can see a reason why they wouldn't then be given the sample to work from.  It would be the next reasonable step, and so I'm stuck explaining why New London has taken it away instead of giving us a direction to work with it." 

"I fully understand how tricky this is for your right now, Joan, and there's no further advice we can give you because we don't know your team.  Just know that you have our full support and we will sanction any resources you require."  "Sanction!? I don't need anything sanctioned, I just need an explanation that won't leave a bunch a soon-to-be/recently eligible young people feeling personally panicked."  

"Pardon?"  "Well, I hadn't spoken with anyone at either the NGW or any level of the Science Councils, despite my repeated efforts to get some guidance, and so I told Dr. Piper that you were worried about chromosomal degradation.  I was stuck, and so extrapolated from 14 months ago when we found a degraded sample.  We can trust Dany to keep that information quiet until I can disseminate the official explanation.  So, if you could please enlighten me as to why these samples were confiscated, so that I understand the actual situation while I'm trying to divert attention over here, that'd be super."  There was silence for a good ten seconds on the other end before Joan continued, "Hello?"  "I see.  Okay, thank you, Joan.  I know this was a tough one to manage.  We'll be in touch with the official explanation very soon.  Hang in there and continue to do your best."

Joan hung-up with New London and proceeded to pace around her office.  She was panicking now.  They don't typically throw the word "sanctioned" around, and when they do, it often devolves into a consideration of "sanctioned removal".  Joan was high-up enough to know that sometimes sanctioned removal meant the sudden relocation or accidental death of someone involved in the equation, because with them in it, the best intentions and plans for the greater good will be detrimentally impacted.  Joan, however, wasn't high-up enough to know this officially or have any input into this level of sanctioned activity.  If she showed too much resistance, she could betray her affinity for Dany.  If they caught-on, then she'd become considered a "concerned party" to this situation, which would mean that she'd be held at further than arm's length and be out of the loop on something about which she cares quite deeply.

No.  She decided.  She won't make waves now.  She'll wait patiently until New London gives her direction.  Hopefully she'll get to keep everyone and everything humming past this hick-up of confusing NWG behaviour.  Her clever Dany is going to be a problem for them though.  As if they thought for a second that wouldn't be the case!?  Dany's explosion onto their radar happened about nine years ago – eleven days before turning 17, at just 16 years old.  It was then, during a Science Fair project, that Dany suggested the counter-virus, viral delivery method.  The idea was that they could inject genetic material into a virus she designed, which would then the deliver replacement amino acids to the site of genetic damage on the Y-chromosome, forming a cast-like cover over the chromosome damage site.  Although this amino acid bridge idea was brilliant, it didn't provide enough chromosomal stability to sustain an organism for longer than a few hours, but it was the viral delivery method that should have scared them.  While the essential casting of the unravelling chromosome was clever, it wasn't a long-term solution, but it showed the medical community that there is a lot of outside-the-box thinking that comes along with Dany Piper's work.

Joan felt an urgency to meet face to face with Reid, as they had gotten along so well a few times at various functions they were both at together.  In fact, she thought that she may have sensed a flirtatious vibe from Reid at one of the functions.  Joan had seen a lot in her time here on Earth so far, and wasn't above using her feminine-wiles to push situations in her favour when the opportunity arose.  As she had just breached fifty, these opportunities were becoming fewer and farther apart, so she was ready to jump on this one.  Women had done it for years, so why feel like you're betraying your gender, she asked herself?  Let that shit go and do what it takes to make sure that Dany stays out of their 'sanctioned activity".  She knew that if she could make personal contact, there may some pull she can have over the fate of someone who has become like a surrogate child to her, after the loss of her own.  She started going through her contacts to see what backdoor access to Reid she could find. 

She also did a quick calculation as to how many people Dany might possibly share the information with.  None of their seven-member research group have wide-ranging connections, nor do they have media tendrils.  This will upset them for a bit.  They'll talk about expediting personal plans and goals with their significant others and/or within their Domestic Units.  That should be the end of it, though.  Annoyed, Joan thought about how she may lose a few of them early to maternity leave, but that would be acceptable collateral damage, to her and to New London.  She reminded herself that it would only be temporary and that she'd get a ready supply of fresh blood into her lab to look at their challenges with fresh eyes.  She can live with that.

She figured that she'd only have to keep them diverted for a couple of days anyway, before the brains at New London come up with a plan.  Managing Dany will be tougher though.  This brilliant young scientist roused such strong maternal feelings for Joan, which she had been carrying as weight since the loss of her son, so many years ago.  Joan loved Dany, like she had loved her own son, and even though she only had him for a short while, she saw a kindred-ness between he and Dany.  Above all, Joan wanted to ensure the safety of this pseudo-surrogate child. 

Keeping Dany safe and away from 'sanctioned corruption' was first, but she also worried about the psycho-emotional fall-out from all of this.  This project was everything to Dany, and what's so hard to swallow is that the project was a success.  It would leapfrog them to the Cure, she had no doubt.  She ran the experiment herself multiple times, and through her international peer reviews and discussions with fellow scientists within and outside of The Science Circles, she knew that the Cure would be less than a decade away, as per the modelling she unofficially ran with some of them.

The hardest thing that she was going to have to do would be to convince this brilliant, dogged, curious and, trickiest of all, ethical protégé, that the experiment was a failure and the project needs a full redirection.  She knew that she would have to deliver it slowly, in pieces, because if she shocks Dany, there will be a lot of immediate, clever questions, followed-by action.  If there is a sense of an injustice at all, Dany won't sleep until it is uncovered.  'Investigative journalism would have been ideal for that kid', Joan chuckled to herself.  No, it'll have to be distraction, and her claims of degrading supplies will resonate with Dany, because of Ryann...Dany won't be able to keep this from her without feeling guilty of a betrayal. 

Through Joan's closeness with Dany, she knew of Ryann's natural sense of urgency to expand their family, stemming from her parents' advanced years.  It'll suck for Joan, because a lab without Dany would be like a stadium game without the star player, but at least she'll have a year to get all her ducks lined back-up in the lab, regardless of New London's direction.  Joan realized that Ryann, whom she'd met only a handful of times over the past seven years, was going to be her ticket to distracting Dany with a baby.