Here, Gun || OffGun

Chapter 1

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Dr. Off scratched his head as he looked at the large whiteboard hanging on the wall. That didn't look good. If he increased protein enzymes by a factor of six, it would be ... Off's shoulders slumped.

He was stuck in the mud.

In a fit of frustration, Off threw his marker on the board.

This was going nowhere. He had worked and reworked the formula so many times that he was seeing it in his dreams.

It just wasn't going well. When a lifetime of tiny mutations in the genetic code accumulated, cells began to die. These deaths led to changes in hair and weight, hearing and vision deficiencies, loss of muscle mass, and weakening of the bones.

Off knew that the key to what happened in the earlier stages of aging were genetic mutations or DNA damage accumulating, and thus critical cells began to die.

If he could isolate the cells that repair mitochondrial DNA and figure out a way to keep them from dying, then maybe he could find a cure for aging. If his formula worked, they might start thinking about pharmaceutical interventions to slow aging by preserving mitochondrial function. So many lives could be saved or lengthened. So many people could be helped.

He just had to get the formula to work.

"Dr. Off, do you hear me?"

"Huh?" Off turned to look at his assistant. He had forgotten that the intern was there. He wished it weren't.

Off always worked best alone. He hated having people in the lab with him.

"What did you say, Miguel?" The man's jaw clenched.

"My name is Mike."

"Mike. Right. I knew it." Off started spinning back to his notes when the man snapped his fingers. Off frowned at the interruption as he turned again, glaring at the man who was so rudely interrupting him. "What?"

"Your brother is in line three."

"Take the message." The man's dark face changed to a slimy expression, his jaw clenched.

"I've already taken your messages, Dr. Off, three times. Your brother threatened to fire me if I didn't get you on the phone right now."

"Oh." Off's lips twisted as he lifted books and papers to the side, looking around his desk for the phone. Maybe what he needed was to clean up a bit. His lab was kind of a mess.

"Miguel, do you see ..."

"Mike," the man grunted as he held the phone. "My name is Mike."

"Mike, sure. I knew it." Off blinked at the man as he picked up the phone and wondered why the intern was so damn annoying.

It wasn't like he had some formula that wasn't working. Off wasn't quite sure what the man was doing in the lab other than bothering him and answering the phone.

Off turned his back on Mike and said "Hi?"

"Off, did you forget our meeting for lunch?"

"Lunch?" Did I have a lunch meeting with my brother? He looked at the calendar on the wall near the door. His brother had insisted that he put one in big, bold type so he could read it from anywhere in the lab.

Whoops.

He had a working lunch with his brother twenty minutes ago. Off's stomach clenched in dread. Tay was going to be upset with him.