The Internship

The deal with Maria

With the help of Mitsugo, we finally got the money to move forward with the fertility booster. The next step was to figure out what it is about my sperm that makes them so aggressive, and hopefully figure out a way to create some sort of product out of that.

That led me to SADI Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the country, and conveniently located in the city. I had scheduled a meeting with one of the lead scientists at the company earlier in the week, and the day had finally come to meet this person.

A young female receptionist escorted me through the building and its cavernous white corridors and bright lights. Most of the walls were made up of large glass windows with rounded corners, giving me a look at the building's innumerable labs and mass-production equipment, all staffed by people in lab coats and safety glasses. I was both parts amazed and creeped out by the place, which resembled something from a dystopian science fiction film.

When I finally reached this lead scientist, I was more than surprised to see that it was a woman, and a relatively young one at that. She looked like she was in her late-twenties or early-thirties, with long black hair and a beautiful face hiding behind a pair of glasses. A smile crept upon her lips as I approached her.

"You must be Mr. Rose," she said eloquently, her hand outstretched. I shook her hand and nodded, trying my best to remain calm and cool-headed while my heart pounded in my chest. "My name is Dr. Liza Reichert. Pleased to meet you."

"Thank you, Doctor," I replied. She chuckled.

"You can call me Liza," she corrected, to which I took exception. "Please, have a seat."

I sat across from Liza's desk, not too far from where she sat. She was very well organized, with any papers or utensils neatly stacked and arranged, much like the rest of her office, which would've evoked the same sterile feel as the rest of the building had it not been for the bookshelves and furniture pieces that made it look like an actual human being occupied this space. The walls were littered with various degrees and accomplishments; it was clear that she was not one who liked to hide how smart she really was.

"So, from my understanding, you want to create a fertility booster, correct?" she asked, to which I nodded. "And the specimen from which you wish to create this fertility booster is yourself, yes?"

"Yes, that is correct," I said plainly.

"Do you care to explain to me what leads you to believe that you are indeed a worthy candidate for such a booster?" she further pressed. I gulped, knowing that my answer would be hard to believe for most people.

"Well, that's because of... these two women I work with," I explained, "I got the both of them pregnant. One of them we think is pregnant with more than ten babies, and the other was pregnant, but because of my sperm, they began redeveloping to incorporate my DNA and the mother's DNA."

"I see..." she sighed, closing her eyes for a brief moment as she pondered. I sat in silence as I anxiously awaited her next words. She took an audible breath and opened her eyes.

"As you may or may not know, the human genome has already been fully decoded," she explained, "we know all about where certain genes are and the influence variations in DNA can affect these genes. From what I hear from your story, your sperm are particularly aggressive and fertile, and if this were the case, we could most certainly figure out what genes are responsible for this."

"That's great!" I exclaimed.

"However," she interrupted, "creating a product that could alter other people's DNA is tricky. There are most certainly methods, but whether we could replicate your sperm's level of aggression and fertility is unclear. Not to mention that you wouldn't want the results of this gene altering to be permanent, so people continue to buy your product."