Captive

Chapter 32

Freddie worked hard to keep his trepidation at bay. The Matthews clone was in its toddler stages. If it were living, this would be the point in its life when it would toilet train. The blonde child lay in the chambers asleep, its face glowing with innocence and youth. The lab technician smiled—these moments made him understand why parents found their sleeping children so precious. The offspring were safe and warm, unfamiliar with the cruel world and its dangers. If Freddie ever wanted children, which he did not, these were the moments he knew he would cherish the most. He stood on the other side of the glass, watching his creation inhale and exhale in a dreamless state as it moved through its early life.

"Excellent work," a voice from behind acknowledged. Freddie turned, startled. It was Doctor Spencer/Nathan Jones.

"Ah, thank you, sir." It was all Freddie could manage.

"I have a request involving this project." The doctor's voice gleaned expediency.

"Okay?"

"I need you to speed this up. I need it ready to go in a week."

Freddie was confused. He replied, "But sir, Phase II is a very delicate process. In order to ensure complete accuracy, the beings must be given time to mature. Because we are aging this one to its thirties, it will take a month."

"I need it by the end of the week." It was clear that Spencer/Jones was not impressed with his employee's answer. "Now, I will pay whatever you need to achieve this, but I'm telling you, the project must be finished within a week. You have seven days."

"With all due respect, sir, I've never sped up the process. There are many implications to changing the gestation time. The end result could be damaged or less perfect than the original." Freddie was concerned. He knew that rushing the project had its own problems, but he also knew that something was happening elsewhere if Spencer/Jones had to make this demand. Spencer was not one to risk perfection, so his reason for taking chances had to be ominous.

"Well, then, now is your chance to find out. Besides, all the mannerisms and personality traits are added later, so there really isn't anything to worry about." Spencer changed tactics. "If it's money you want or need—"

"It isn't that, Doctor Spencer. It's..." Freddie tried to find his words. "It's just that I'm not sure what complications may arise. This replica could end up with physical abnormalities, or the brain development could be hindered. I'm not sure increasing the gestation time would provide much benefit. And if something went wrong, we'd have to start all over again."

Spencer wanted none of this. "I'm willing to take that risk. I want a completed product within seven days. There's a bonus in it for you if you meet your deadline. If you can't complete the task, then I'll just have to find someone else who's willing to rise to the challenge." He walked away before Freddie could respond.

The geneticist cast his attention back to his slumbering work. He never tried to rush his art, and now, his career depended on taking that risk. He left the gestation chamber and went to his desk. Freddie spent several hours combing over the research and notes he had collected since he began his freelance assignments. He found very little evidence to encourage Spencer's demand. Many factors played into creating life and aging it to perfection. Freddie considered his work the only cooking skill he possessed. He could bake a human being like a cake and ferment it like wine. Spencer's request wanted him to crank up the heat and risk ruining the end result just to cook it faster. In order to cut the time in half, he would need to increase the speed of gestation, the amount of sleeping sedative to keep the being comatose, and pay close attention to the aging process. If his calculations were off, then the being would not be the exact age. If he used too much sedative, there could be other side effects. Some of those, particularly the side effects involving the brain, could possibly be removed during the memory transfer, and even that was a still a big risk. If the brain was not healthy, it may reject the memories or disorganize the information and store it incorrectly. It was of the utmost importance that the brain develop accurately and fully intact.