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<< Back to Poems & Writings Main
Alpha and Omega - Part 11
By Marie Ellen Pacha
Our technicians have uncovered additional information about Eden; again through emails sent by Lawson to his associate. In a more practical tone Lawson explained that his program was funded by entrepreneurs who were afraid of losing their fortunes to unworthy descendants or manipulative corporate opponents. It was that financial backing that allowed him to create his data base and create his research facility. Because of the negative connotations associated with cloning in the early 21st century, and because only the "elite" members of society could afford the actual procedure, the entire program was kept secret and was spread only by word of mouth from Lawson's benefactors.
At least that is what they thought.
Lawson took his research considerably beyond what they expected of him. Not only did he manage to clone human beings; he also managed to completely map their DNA structure and develop a strategy to repair damages and increase potential in certain areas. The implications of this seemed to overwhelm the poor man. He suddenly had the power to eradicate all diseases by making Homo sapiens unsusceptible and resistant to viruses and bacteria. He had the power to extend life expectancies by splicing genes to maximum anti aging hormones already present in the human body. In short, he had the power to play God.
To his credit he did not take on that role. The final discovery which made human cloning a reality was his alone, and he did not publicize that fact. Instead he managed to cover it up, and pleading temporary illness he put most of his research team on an extended leave of absence. He was, after all, not a young man at the time...he was nearly 70 years old.
He had to tell his benefactors that he had achieved success however, or the money would have dried up. They immediately demanded that their DNA be harvested for cloning purposes and that he did with the skeleton crew that remained to monitor his equipment. At this point he focused his attention on creating the machines that would allow him to replicate a human being.
For years science fiction had been full of machines that replicated human wombs. Lawson's research perfected those concepts. Money built them, and money wanted to control them. But Lawson's religious beliefs prevented him releasing his knowledge to anyone who might use it to play God. For the time being the people who had funded his project were satisfied. They were in good health and in no apparent danger of dying, and the sense of urgency they had created the program under was temporarily alleviated.
But Lawson was faced with the ultimate moral dilemma. He had been paid, and quite well for his services. But could he risk his immortal soul by violating the tenets of his church?
In a way he totally avoided that decision. For the time being he had achieved his initial goal...he could replicate human life. He needed time to perfect the process and build a facility that would be self-contained, and almost impenetrable. His focus shifted as building commenced on the facility he called Eden. He chose the title for the obvious reason; it was the place where God had brought forth Adam and Eve.
His health truly was beginning to decline by now. The strain of justifying his research against his religious beliefs was preventing him from sleeping. As the facility reached final completion he made his decision.
The computer which regulated the processes necessary to clone a human being would make the decision for him. He set the perimeters for the program to begin the cloning process only if and when it ceased to receive his commands for a period of 100 years. Unless he reprogrammed the system every 25 years a new clone would be produced. Lawson probably intended for this to be only a temporary measure, while other safe guards were put in place but the catastrophic events of Armageddon disrupted his plans. This computer? In one of his final acts he named it god.
Continue to Part 12
This article is © copyrighted by Marie Ellen Pacha. Any use of this article, in full or in part, is strictly prohibited without written permission from Marie Ellen Pacha.
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