The Boston Experiment

Five

Although the security system that Bobby Orr has installed on the door of the goalie lab was fantastic, he still had a fear that someone would catch him in the act of genetically engineering a goaltender.

Thankfully, nothing had happened yet. It was now 1999, and it had been almost seventeen years since Bobby's first experiment, Pekka Rinne, was born. In five years, Pekka would officially be drafted into the NHL.

Things were going as well as they'd ever gone. Rosie had married a young man named Thomas in 1997, and he had agreed to move to FleetCenter, which was where the Boston Bruins now played, with her.

Thomas had also agreed to help take care of feeding the goalies. This was done through a tube inserted into the stomach. Thomas also volunteered for the uncomfortable task of emptying the bags that the goalies used for the expelling of waste. Thomas always washed his hands after taking care of that.

Still, Bobby was very grateful for the extra help. With Rosie's husband officially becoming part of their team, there were now three people assisting with the development of new NHL goaltenders instead of just two. This made Bobby's job so much easier.

"Bobby?" Thomas asked one day as he and Rosie attached a feeding tube to Tuukka Rask, who had just turned twelve that morning.

"Yes, Tom?" Bobby turned to face the younger man.

"I checked Tuukka's pancreas yesterday, and the islet cells are starting to die. It's only a matter of time until Tuukka has full-on diabetes."

"Well, I have already purchased some insulin, so we are all prepared," Bobby informed him. "I bought some at the beginning of this year, because the condition usually sets in around the age of 12."

"Okay, good," Thomas said as the door opened.

Everyone in the room immediately tuned around to see who was there. Thankfully, it wasn't a police officer coming to arrest them. That is, unless police stations had started employing preteen girls.

"Who are you?" Bobby asked firmly, and the girl looked frightened. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I don't know, I got lost," the girl stammered in her accented voice. "My name is Anja, and I'm here on vacation."

"Where are you from, Anja?" Thomas inquired.

"Savonlinna," Anja pointed at her bracelet, which had the flag of her home country on it. "You know, in Finland."

"Interesting," Bobby tapped his pen on the table. "We actually have someone in here from Os-er, Savonlinna. If you promise not to tell, you can come inside and take a look."

"Okay," Anja agreed before pulling a Nokia out of her jean pocket. "I'm just going to call my mother and tell her I...um...went to the bathroom. Hopefully she doesn't worry about how long it's going to take me. I'll just tell her that I'm reapplying my makeup."

After Anja had done that, she excitedly walked into the lab.

When Bobby said she'd meet a fellow "Finnish" person, she thought the person would be awake and talking. Anja was obviously shocked, then, when she was brought over to the tank that was holding an unconscious boy.

He was not the only sleeping boy in the room. There were many others. Anja didn't know why they were here or what they were being used for. She was curious, but she was too afraid to ask.

Anja looked down at the one boy that Bobby had brought her over to, observing the details. The boy was short, around five-foot-one. His thin lips were set in a frown, but it was more of a neutral frown than a sad one. He had curly brown hair and noticeably thin limbs. The only clothes he had on were boxer shorts, which, as Bobby had put it, kept his private area private.

Anja thought he was quite attractive for someone her age.

Bobby noticed the girl staring at his creation, and he walked over to the two of them. "What's going on?"

"N-nothing!" Anja stammered, then blushed. "It's just that he's cute. Well, I think he's cute."

Bobby chuckled. "Ah, I remember when I was your age. I was starting to have crushes on all the girls in my class."

Anja nodded, but she felt like what she had for the boy was more than a crush. Perhaps she was just being a silly little girl, but she didn't believe that herself.

Somehow, she had to ask this boy out. But how could she do that when he was being kept totally unconscious?

"Bobby?" Anja mumbled, her voice barely more than a quiet whisper.

Bobby Orr faced her. "What's wrong?"

"Can I..." Anja started, then hesitated. "Is it possible for me to somehow meet...um...what's his name?"

"His name is Tuukka," Bobby signaled at the name tag on the front of the tank. "Full name Tuukka Mikael Ilya Rask. Born at 3:45 in the morning on March 10, 1987. I suppose I can let you meet him, but it's going to be a challenge."

"What do you mean?" Anja asked.

"Well, Miss, I suppose you must know the full truth," Bobby sighed. "Tuukka is not from Os...er, Savonlinna. Only his parents were born there. Tuukka himself was made right here in this Boston lab."

"So he's...not a real person?" Anja questioned, obviously confused.

"No, no, he's real," Bobby explained. "He was made through the fusion of cells, just like everyone else. The difference between him and other people is that the cells joined together in a lab instead of a human body."

"Why..." Anja hesitantly reached out and touched Tuukka's hand, which garnered no response. "Why was it done this way?"

"Miss, the NHL's goalie situation is...not good," Bobby explained calmly to the confused girl. "Today's goalies have so many issues. They all let in too many pucks, don't make enough saves, and lose too many games. Well, there is the occasional exception, but this is too rare. So, I have taken it upon myself to make the National Hockey League the great league it once was."

"When does he wake up?" Anja asked.

"He will wake up at age eighteen," Bobby said. "He will have from March 10, his birthday, until June to prepare for the draft. Tuukka's memory, knowledge, and skill level will be perfect for a goaltender his age."

"So I don't get to meet him until 2005?" Anja sighed, disappointed.

"You could be put in one of these, I suppose," Bobby patted the top of the tank that held a comatose Tuukka Rask. "The process would be long, and it will obviously have to be kept secret from the public."

"I'll do it," Anja said without hesitation. Bobby was surprised, but he was willing to respect the girl's wishes.

Twenty minutes later, it was finished. Anja's mother had consented, and Anja was sedated and placed in the tank that would be her home for the next six years of her life.

Bobby smiles when the test showed that the brains of Tuukka and Anja were very compatible with each other.

This was going to work out perfectly if Bobby did everything right.

That seemed easy enough.