It should be no surprise that all the others in the C-suite voted with Michael, and honestly, I had no real opinion about it either way.
So if Michael and Naveen thought we needed warships, warships we would get. I mean, I made Michael the boss for a reason.
Maynard and Jessi decided to look into commercializing the research I was busy with. Essentially they decided to replicate the Folly for rats. Well, pests in general, but so far we only had the data for rats.
Sure, I would give them what we had when we found the pertinent information for mice as well, but that might be some time off still.
Otherwise, our explosive growth was not enough to satisfy the demand. Yes, the replicators were an expensive piece of hardware. But if you compare it to the average industrial fabber, they were not significantly more expensive, and needed way less room, though we did point out that carbon extruders and molecular forges were still better, and were much more versatile. All in all, they were a significantly better option than an industrial fabber.
Heck, the big ones compared favorably to full industrial setups. And were suited for switching on the fly.
It would still take decades to replace all the industrial machinery humanity had amassed with NADAs, but at this point, it was just a matter of time. It was a bit surprising that several of the C-. B-, and lower A-tier corporations waited for Burgmeister, Dalgon, or Xiao Ping to bring their version to the market.
Not that we cared. I mean, come on, we could not even come close to satisfying the immediate demand, much less care about any market share. And in a couple of years, unless the other big hardware corps paid us for the conveyor system, they would remain way behind in quality.
It showed that we had essentially third-generation NADAs, while the rest had not even designed their first-generation ones.
Oh, and of course Jessi had presented the results of the new first-aid kit that we had developed. I knew her well enough by now to know that she was never fully satisfied with any new medical device, but her “adequate” included it in our product lineup.
And that was the end of another meeting that was not really necessary in my opinion. Oh, I get why we held these meetings, and when, not if, something was threatening to slip through the processes, those meetings would be a godsend, but for now, it was mostly just a mutual shoulder-patting ceremony.
Virtually everything we had talked about could have been managed via E-mail or a VR conference.
Whatever, it wasn’t as if I had anything else to do that day. What I had said, that I was taking a break, was the whole truth.
Not that Warden took a break from analyzing the data we had, and the automated fertilizers were also still working around the clock.
That was the situation on Thursday when we reconvened to look at the process of mouse fertilization. Honestly, it took us way less time than I had expected. The two component proteins were different, but the resulting big protein was, within the same confines as with the rats, the same.
As with the rats, we quickly tested it by changing one or the other, or sometimes both, in a manner that put the key protein out of spec, and lo- and behold, each and every time it stopped the division.
That meant we now had a method to stop mice from procreating as well. And all that happened before we even had lunch.
After lunch, we started to work with other rodents as well. Guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, the whole gallery.
This time we did not bother to look at one species that closely, but instead at the whole gaggle at once. And we found the same thing. Different components, but the key protein was the same.
Which of course meant that at least for rodents, we now could look for the key of life every single time.
We were a bit early, but I decided we had done enough for Thursday, and to continue Friday. After all, I had to spend some time with my pet, didn’t I?
Friday we switched over to primates. Naturally, first to the common lab monkeys. And we found something that sparked joy in all of us.
The key of life for primates was the same.
We might actually have done it. The next steps involved the other primates, up to chimpanzees, and it was always the same thing. A virtually endless variation of component proteins that combined into the same key protein, which then started the cell division.
Then it was time to look at human cells. And whoever guessed that those two component proteins were crippled, well, you were right.
Unlike any other species we had looked at, it seemed as if the component proteins were mostly randomized.
That also explained why the Folly did not result in complete sterility. Yes, the components were crippled, but just by random chance, they sometimes combined into a barely functional key of life.
With the data we had by now, we could calculate the chance, but the result was depressing. We had a 1:180 chance that the combination resulted in a functional key. Combine that with all the other influences on fertility…
That of course did not yet tell me why K4 were hyper-fertile or how projects like C3 worked. But at least the first one was relatively easy to test.
I had a BOU inspect my own, unripened eggs, and the result was that I had the full key of life instead of a component protein. No need for a matching protein from any potential partner.
Now it was only a matter of looking at K4-sperm if it did the same, but considering the hyperfertility of male K4, my guess was it did.
More importantly, we tested what happened if we used nano-bots to insert the key of life into a fertilized but not dividing egg.
Several times over the next week. And several times, it worked. Unlike all other specimens, we did not destroy those zygotes, of course. But we also did not see the need to create artificial wombs for them. No, we froze them.
It was now a matter of looking into a cure. At least the first step. Oh, and look, somehow we had three couples that wanted children.
I wondered who we could test the nano-bots on. What nano-bots? Don’t forget that I am a nano-engineer by inclination.
Of course, the very first thing I did, even while our first tests were running, was design a specialized nano-bot that could be injected into the woman, and that forced the key of life into every single egg that left the ovaries.
Yes, I know, it was a brute-force solution. But it was a brute-force solution that had a pretty good chance of working. It would at least be a workaround that could be used until some geneticist created the real cure.
But for now, I had the eggheads thinking about becoming guinea pigs. And no, I did naturally not simply inject them with a batch of untested nanobots. What are you thinking of me?
No, one of the first things I did when I started this project was start a batch of research clones. Male and female alike. Not that I needed the male ones, mind you, but I did not know that from the outset.
But at least the preliminary tests were quickly done. The new nano-bot design worked as I had planned, and build depots at the very tip of the fallopian tubes, and any time an egg moved by ‘infected’ the egg with the full key of life. And thanks to them being research clones, I had absolutely no compunction in triggering ovulations. Multiple ovulations.
I was naturally aware that this was only the first step in testing, and the drugs I used to trigger the fast maturing and release of the eggs might influence the result.
But this was the quick and dirty phase of the testing. Does the nano-bot do what I wanted it to do? There was no point in an elaborate and safe test setup if the bots did not manage to do their job.
But there was no need to be concerned, the bots worked exactly as intended. Not too surprising, considering the experience I had in designing medical nanites. But nice to get it right on the first try anyway.
The newly harvested eggs of the clones had a success rate of fertilization of above 90%. At first, I was a bit disappointed, until I realized that au naturel, humans had an even lower success rate, even before the Folly.
Not surprising here, considering how much variation there can be within a species concerning the key of life, or how many other factors influence fertility. Many of which, ironically, had been tackled in the first couple of decades of Revitalize and were nowadays a standard treatment included in any batch from the start.
It was now time to call Vandermeer. Even if the efficacy of the nanobots proved to be lacking, we had enough new data that it should bring the eventual cure that much closer.
And honestly, the next step was basically human testing. The nanobots were, well nanobots. They were a variant of a standard bio-medical design. And the protein was firstly a protein that the human body should make and secondly encapsulated by the bots. There was literally nothing that could cause problems in humans, outside of the extremely rare allergy.
And it was simply impossible to test the efficacy on anything not suffering from the Folly, which limited it to research clones and humans.
That, though, was Vandermeer’s decision. I would naturally give the Wakefields, Vaughns, and Mitchells the option, as well, seeing that they wanted children, but otherwise, the eggheads in Nowhere could figure that one out.
It was surprisingly quick to get a meeting with the first councilor of the Commonwealth, even virtual, and the very next day we met.
Again, the viron was the same one he had prepared for our first meeting, again with the fire burning.
I was… less severe in my avatar this time though. It was essentially a copy of my real appearance, with the hair in a loose braid, and some comfortable clothes.
Again, he stood and greeted me.
“Hello Vivian. It’s nice to see you.”
“Hello… “ honestly, I was a bit stumped. I could not keep calling him ‘Vandermeer’ least of all to his face, but on the other hand, I could not bring myself to even call him grandfather, much less grandpa, gramps, or similar endearments.
Fortunately, he recognized my awkward faux pas.
“You have still problems with how to address me?”
When I nodded, happy that my avatar could not blush, he sighed but waved toward the chairs.
“I can’t say that I’m happy about that, because honestly, it hurts, but it is not your fault. I know what was done to you. So how about you call me Nate?”
It took me only a tick to think about it, taste it in my mind, and no, there was no instant rage that came with that name.
“Yes, I think we can do that. Hello Nate, and I am sorry about it, but… I just can’t help it. All my life I… I thought you could have ended my torture at any moment.”
He nodded while sighing again.
“I get that. I hope that someday in the future you can call me Granddad, but until then, let’s do the best.”
We sat down, and coffee appeared for each of us on the low table.
“I am, honestly, a bit surprised how quickly you agreed to meet me.”
He raised an eyebrow when he looked at me.
“Vivian, you are my granddaughter. I won’t give you some hollow phrase like ‘I have always time for you’, because, honestly, we both know that I don’t. My positions as first councilor and CEO of Vandermeer simply take up too much of my time for that, but you are directly after that.”
That was interesting. Honestly, the only person other I had a somewhat deeper relationship was Ben, and with him it was similar. He had too much time locked up in his position and was too dutiful to shirk it. I just hadn’t thought that Vander… Nate thought similar about me.
“I see. I fear I still have much to learn about human interaction.”
“That is no problem. You are learning, that is the important part. Nobody expects miracles. But now, what do you need to talk about?”
I ordered my thoughts for a brief moment, before I answered.
“A few things. First, I would like it if you could send me some K4-sperm. It does not need to be from a functional K4, and it won’t be used. It is just to close off that chapter.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“You don’t want to experiment with it?”
“No, why would I? No, I just want to investigate if what I found with my gametes is true for male K4 as well. That brings us neatly to the next point. I had somewhat of a breakthrough last week.”
His face got suddenly very serious, and he leaned forward, placing almost unnerving attention on me.
“You had a breakthrough? How much? What exactly? And where exactly are you in the project?”
I looked him directly in the eyes.
“We found, what I call the key of life. Essentially it is a protein that will be assembled out of one protein each from the egg and the sperm. While the individual proteins are different for each species, the combined one, the key of life, is not. It is the same for all mammals I looked at.”
I made a pause and took a sip of the coffee.
“Except for humans that is. As far as I can tell, for virtually all humans, the components are randomized. The chance of getting a working key of life is around 1:180. And as the key of life is the one protein that kicks off the division, well, it explains what the Folly does and how it has influenced human procreation.”
He leaned back, closed his eyes, and blew out a breath he had been holding in.
“You did it! You fucking did it! Asking you to look into it was a Hail Mary, and you came through. With that, we now can maybe find a cure.”
I took another sip.
“That is not quite all. I looked into the ‘component’ that my eggs have, and I have the full key of life. No addition from the father needed. That is what I want to look for with the K4-sperm. Then we tested what happens if we insert the key of life along with the sperm, and it worked every single time, though the sample size is only in the 10s of thousands. By the way, we have the zygotes on ice, if you want them back.”
He leaned forward abruptly.
“Wait, you are saying that just inserting this ‘key of life’ beats the Folly?”
“Yes, it does. That made me design a nanobot that will build depots in the fallopian tubes and insert the key into every egg that passes by. How long those works depends on the number of bots naturally. So far I’ve tested them on research clones, very successful, but not yet on humans. And if it works, while the bots remain in the system the woman will be as hyper-fertile as a K4.”
“So you are telling me you already have a cure? That is marvelous.”
I shook my head.
“No, not a cure, a treatment. Sure, the treatment is cheap. Around Ȼ50 for a two-year dose, but the Folly still remains. Each and every successive generation would need it as well. To change that, to cure it, we need to come up with a way to rewrite the impacted DNA.
So, that is another point why I am here. You promised me that if I find something you provide a geneticist. Well, it is time.”
“Are you willing to provide Revitalize with all the data?”
I recoiled a bit in confusion.
“Of course! Why do you ask? This will help save humanity.”
He sighed.
“You would be surprised how many scientists, self-proclaimed enlightened minds, would hoard every little spec of information to squeeze whatever iota of advantage out of it.”
I shrugged.
“So what? Sure, Enki is already trying to find a way to use the research to make something like the Folly for rats, but otherwise, I fail to see where there is any real advantage in keeping this knowledge secret.”
“Enki could, for example, sell those nanobots you designed. For thousands of credits.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You mean as Panacea would do? Holding the fate of humanity hostage to get even richer? Why bother? I don’t know if you’ve heard it, but right now, Enki makes more than Ȼ350 billion per day. After taxes. Yes, that is not yet the level of Panacea at its height. They had what? Ȼ900 billion per day? But we are not even half a year in the business. And are mostly limited by our ability to produce enough. In a year we probably will surpass Panacea.”
Nate took a deep breath again.
“I fear from now on you have to expect some serious pushback. Yes, you had an almost vertical climb so far, but now you will threaten the big ones. Every step will be a fight. And it did not help that you licensed out the NADA plans.”
I scoffed.
“If we had not, we would probably look at a hostile takeover right now. And it isn’t as if anybody else just can take the idea and bring anything comparable to us to the market. Sure, it will be a bit harder, but we still have advantages.”
He nodded sagely.
“As long as you understand that the easy ride is over, it is your decision. But back to the cure. I understand your point that it is just a treatment, but compared to what we have now it is a quantum leap.”
I shrugged again.
“I know, but we don’t even know if it works as I think it would or not. Yes, there were no problems with research clones. After we extracted the eggs to fertilize them. So we can assume it works for in-vitro, but we can only assume it works in-vivo as well.”
He chuckled softly.
“You are always so pessimistic. I understand you, and you are right. But on the other hand, you got further than anybody in 150 years. Even if it only works in-vitro, that is a giant step forward. And it shows us where to look for the ultimate solution. I assume you have quite a bit of data that we could use, right?”
I snorted.
“You could say that. What I have is nearly the size of all the data of Project Revitalize together. Around 36 Exabytes.”
He coughed surprised.
“How… sorry, how did it get so big?”
I rolled my eyes.
“I used the workaround that I told you about. It allowed me to observe the whole fertilization process on a molecular level. And I have the records of tens of millions of specimens. For each fertilization event, you get around a terabyte of data. Sure, most of that is useless for Revitalize. Now that I weeded it out. But in case I made a mistake, or it is useful for something else, we should keep it. And give scientists all over the world access to it.
Who knows what other information is hidden in there?”
“Wait, you want to give us everything? I understand the data that is important to Revitalize, but the rest? Why do it?”
“Because I am not a biologist. If I never have to work with this icky stuff again, it will be too soon. But the data could be too valuable to simply throw it away. I won’t use it, so why not give it to people who will?"
He chuckled briefly.
“Yes, I see your father in you. He would have acted exactly the same. Not that he would have been able to get the data in the first place, mind you.”
I felt a lump in my throat and was unable to answer. So Nate continued:
“I am sure there will be many people who will be happy about it. Even if just in the future. Right now we are most likely already below the critical mass that allowed us to grow exponentially. You won’t find many scientists who do science for science's sake anymore.”
He looked and sounded depressed, but then his face brightened again.
“But thanks to you, we can reach that level again. We will have enough people to make it possible to research seemingly unimportant things again.”
I took a deep breath.
“Again, we don’t know for sure if it works yet. Yes, it should, but…”
He cut me off:
“Even if it only works in-vitro, that is so much more than we had that it is a win. Do you know what a single participation in C3 costs per couple? The Commonwealth pays Ȼ5688 for that. For each. A simple harvesting system, a single lab worker, and if your treatment costs Ȼ50 for two years, it will be available for a couple of credits for the single application. All in all, maybe Ȼ100 for one application.
And C3 only gives a chance of 11%, compared to the 90% you gave us. So, even if it is just working in-vitro, it would be good enough.
Not perfect, but good enough that we could sponsor three, four, maybe five children per family. Good enough that we could provide the treatment for every nation willing to participate.
Good enough to save humanity. Do you understand that?
You have just saved humanity!
Even if we never get any better, humanity is saved, thanks to your work.”
He looked at me with so much pride in his eyes, that I really felt uncomfortable, but I could not really disagree with his understanding. I was pretty sure that he knew way better than me how much it cost to run Revitalize.
And yes, even with all the importance that Revitalize had, all the importance that was written into the Constitution of the Commonwealth, every couple only got one shot, unless they paid themselves. Barely enough, along with widespread cloning, mostly sponsored by Panacea or Dalgon, to ensure that the population of the Commonwealth shrunk way slower than anybody else's.
I finally found my voice again, hoarse and a bit unsure:
“But… we still have much to do. We can’t let it stop here. So… please call in your geneticist so we can start the next step.”
He flinched.
“Oh, yes. Sorry, but… this got away from me. One moment…”
He closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment before he looked back at me.
“I have arranged a meeting. Let me send you the matrix address.”
I felt a bit irked.
“Ok, and when?”
He chuckled.
“Well, now. But promise me to meet a bit more often. I want to get to know you.”
Oh, ok, that was even a bit faster than I had expected.
“Ok, yes. I will try my best, but… sorry to say so but I am rather introverted. Even Ben has to badger me to get me to spend time with him sometimes.”
“That is ok, then I will badger you as well. I’ll see you and don’t worry, we will begin the tests immediately.”
He stood up and I followed him, and then the viron dematerialized, along with Nate, and I was standing in cyberspace for a moment, collecting my thoughts, before I moved to the matrix address that he had given me.
In there, I found a simple meeting room viron with a tall blonde woman of around 20 pacing impatiently.
As soon as I arrived, she turned on me, and the annoyance on her face was hard to miss.
“Finally! What took you so long? First I get a message from the boss to drop everything and come to an urgent meeting here and then nobody is here! So what the fuck is going on? Do you have any idea how important my work is? What you’ve interrupted? No, of course not. How could you? I sure hope whatever crap you so urgently need to tell me is important.”
I have to confess I recoiled when I was faced with her diatribe, and it took me a moment to find my balance again. Apparently too long, as she huffed, crossing her arms below her rather impressive bust.
“Well? I am waiting!”
I took a deep breath.
“Do you ambush everybody this way? I might not be the most social person, but if I am not mistaken, then it is customary to introduce oneself and say some greeting verbiage before one comes to the point.”
She raised an eyebrow, with derision sparkling in her light grey eyes.
“So you insist on this meeting, right now and then make such a fuss about manners? Typical!”
I rolled my eyes.
“First, I did not demand this meeting right now. That was Nathan Vandermeer. I learned of it a few seconds before I got here. Second, I still don’t know who you are. But as I want to be at least courteous, I am Vivian DuClare."
She harumphed but then softened her stance a bit.
“Fine. I am Danielle McTacish. And what do you mean you learned about the meeting a few seconds before you came here?”
I shrugged.
“I did ask Vandermeer to arrange a meeting with a geneticist, apparently you. But I honestly expected that he would arrange something next week or tomorrow at the earliest. But then he told me he had arranged it for just now. I had just enough time to say goodbye and came here.”
She shook her head angrily, and began pacing again.
“Typical. Just because he is a rich asshole he thinks he can just push me around. Well, at least this is the first time, and compared to the Knowles it is not so bad.”
It was my time to cross my arms.
“Am I to understand that you are one of the K4 Vandermeer ‘liberated’ from Panacea?”
“As if you don’t know.”
“No… I don’t know. I know that you are Danielle McTavish because you told me that. I assume you are a geneticist because that was who I asked Vandermeer to arrange a meeting with, and I know that Vandermeer managed to free the K4 from the serfdom contracts that Panacea and Dalgon forced them into, and I don’t think the Knowles would care enough about a run-off-the-mill geneticist to bother her, which makes it likely that you are a K4. But all that are assumptions.”
She rolled her eyes, sighed, and then stomped towards the table, sitting down.
“Yeah, fine. Yes, I am a K4 and a geneticist. And I thought that after I was free from Panacea that I was finally able to research what I really want. But no, in the midst of my work, Vandermeer calls me to this meeting. God, I hate those rich entitled assholes.”
I sat opposite her.
“Is this the first time Vandermeer did that? And what are you working on?”
“Yes, it is the first time. That is what makes it so jarring. And right now I am working on the human genome to find out what Sandersons Folly did so that I might reverse it. I tried that for years, but the Knowles outright forbid it.”
Ok, that… I could see how her work was important. Not urgent, but after being stymied for years, getting yanked out of it now must be annoying.
“Ok, that explains much. And I think you owe Vandermeer an apology later. This meeting is about the Folly.”
She frowned:
“It is? But why did he not go through the normal channels then? Does that mean that you are to assist me? Sorry, but I don’t have the time and the energy to introduce another lab assistant.”
I had to chuckle.
“It is, and you have to ask him why he did not go through the normal channels. I have an idea, but who knows? I am not here to assist you, or maybe I am, in a way. But you don’t have to introduce me, and I am not a lab assistant. Point is, I am also a K4, but unlike you and the rest, I managed to fly under the radar of Panacea and Dalgon.
Though my specialty is more nano-technology and physics, Vandermeer asked me to look into the Folly.”
She frowned even harder.
“Nano-tech? Physics? How could any of that help with the Folly? Has he gone soft in the head? And a K4? I thought there were only 11 of us.”
“Nope, there were 12 of us in our generation. But as I said, I kept it silent, and neither Dalgon nor Panacea noticed me. And you would be surprised what nano-technology can do in this case. Imagine being able to observe the fertilization process on the molecular level, not in real-time but all of it.”
She rubbed her chin, thinking hard.
“Ok, I confess, that might be useful. In a general way. Is that what you think you can offer me? Sorry to say so but right now it is not what I need. I told you I am analyzing the genome to look where the changes were made.”
I rolled my eyes slightly.
“No, not really. And do you really think that comparing the genome from before the war to what it is now will help? Who knows what bioweapons left their mark on it? How do you think you can differentiate what the Folly did from what other bioweapons did?”
She threw up her hands.
“It is the best I can come up with. Do you think throwing random chemicals at it and hoping something sticks is better? At least I am doing something to find the root cause of the problem. And if you are not offering this observation tool, what are you offering then?”
I leaned forward, propping myself onto my elbows.
“What I am offering you is the result of me and a small team observing several tens of millions of fertilization processes from all sorts of mammals, looking for what actually starts the phase in the fertilization that is broken by the Folly.”
Then I made a pause for effect.
“And the result of that is that I know exactly what it is that the Folly did. I have no clue what genetic markers it changed to achieve that, but I know the result of it. And nothing against your project, but in my opinion it would be way more productive if you could look for the specific cause of what the Folly does, or maybe for a way to overwrite it.”
She just sat there, with her mouth hanging open.
After what seemed an eternity, she shook her head.
“Are you… are you sure? You do have the Folly? For real?”
I shrugged.
“Yes, I have pinpointed it. And frankly, we already most likely can treat it. But to cure it, that is your job. Just to make it clear, you are only the second person outside of my team that has learned about this. The first was Nathan Vandermeer, a few minutes ago.”
For a moment she just sat there, staring at me. Then she deflated.
“Fuck! You are right! I owe Vandermeer an apology! I hate that! I hate that I owe some rich asshole something! Much less an apology.”
I cocked my head.
“Why? Because he is rich?”
She growled.
“Oh please. All rich people are assholes.”
I sighed.
“As much as I hate to defend him, has he ever done anything that makes you believe that he is an asshole?”
She frowned again.
“No, but it is just a matter of time. You just can’t trust the high and mighty.”
I shrugged.
“Sadly, you are mostly right. There are very few exceptions. But everything I know about Vandermeer tells me he is one of those exceptions.”
She looked to the side and at the ground.
“Yeah, you might be right. But I still don’t trust him.”
“Then don’t. Just don’t let your mistrust cripple you.”
“Yeah, ok. But that is for later. Right now, tell me what you’ve discovered. If we finally manage to beat the Folly, we have left our mark on history for sure.”
And with that, we began the transfer and explanation of data.
It was invigorating to work with somebody who was coming even close to my intelligence, as arrogant as that sound. But she grasped the ideas, and the facts far faster than anybody I’ve ever met before.
For the very first time, I was working with somebody who at once intuitively understood where I was coming from and where I was going, but also did not need a detailed handholding explanation to get it.
Yes, Warden brought one of those two factors to the table, and Maynard, Jessi, and the Minions brought the other, but this was a completely new experience.
For the first time, I realized how limiting it was to work with people so far away from my mental capacity.
And when the meeting ended far quicker than I had expected, I was strangely unhappy about it.
It should be no surprise that all the others in the C-suite voted with Michael, and honestly, I had no real opinion about it either way.
So if Michael and Naveen thought we needed warships, warships we would get. I mean, I made Michael the boss for a reason.
Maynard and Jessi decided to look into commercializing the research I was busy with. Essentially they decided to replicate the Folly for rats. Well, pests in general, but so far we only had the data for rats.
Sure, I would give them what we had when we found the pertinent information for mice as well, but that might be some time off still.
Otherwise, our explosive growth was not enough to satisfy the demand. Yes, the replicators were an expensive piece of hardware. But if you compare it to the average industrial fabber, they were not significantly more expensive, and needed way less room, though we did point out that carbon extruders and molecular forges were still better, and were much more versatile. All in all, they were a significantly better option than an industrial fabber.
Heck, the big ones compared favorably to full industrial setups. And were suited for switching on the fly.
It would still take decades to replace all the industrial machinery humanity had amassed with NADAs, but at this point, it was just a matter of time. It was a bit surprising that several of the C-. B-, and lower A-tier corporations waited for Burgmeister, Dalgon, or Xiao Ping to bring their version to the market.
Not that we cared. I mean, come on, we could not even come close to satisfying the immediate demand, much less care about any market share. And in a couple of years, unless the other big hardware corps paid us for the conveyor system, they would remain way behind in quality.
It showed that we had essentially third-generation NADAs, while the rest had not even designed their first-generation ones.
Oh, and of course Jessi had presented the results of the new first-aid kit that we had developed. I knew her well enough by now to know that she was never fully satisfied with any new medical device, but her “adequate” included it in our product lineup.
And that was the end of another meeting that was not really necessary in my opinion. Oh, I get why we held these meetings, and when, not if, something was threatening to slip through the processes, those meetings would be a godsend, but for now, it was mostly just a mutual shoulder-patting ceremony.
Virtually everything we had talked about could have been managed via E-mail or a VR conference.
Whatever, it wasn’t as if I had anything else to do that day. What I had said, that I was taking a break, was the whole truth.
Not that Warden took a break from analyzing the data we had, and the automated fertilizers were also still working around the clock.
That was the situation on Thursday when we reconvened to look at the process of mouse fertilization. Honestly, it took us way less time than I had expected. The two component proteins were different, but the resulting big protein was, within the same confines as with the rats, the same.
As with the rats, we quickly tested it by changing one or the other, or sometimes both, in a manner that put the key protein out of spec, and lo- and behold, each and every time it stopped the division.
That meant we now had a method to stop mice from procreating as well. And all that happened before we even had lunch.
After lunch, we started to work with other rodents as well. Guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, the whole gallery.
This time we did not bother to look at one species that closely, but instead at the whole gaggle at once. And we found the same thing. Different components, but the key protein was the same.
Which of course meant that at least for rodents, we now could look for the key of life every single time.
We were a bit early, but I decided we had done enough for Thursday, and to continue Friday. After all, I had to spend some time with my pet, didn’t I?
Friday we switched over to primates. Naturally, first to the common lab monkeys. And we found something that sparked joy in all of us.
The key of life for primates was the same.
We might actually have done it. The next steps involved the other primates, up to chimpanzees, and it was always the same thing. A virtually endless variation of component proteins that combined into the same key protein, which then started the cell division.
Then it was time to look at human cells. And whoever guessed that those two component proteins were crippled, well, you were right.
Unlike any other species we had looked at, it seemed as if the component proteins were mostly randomized.
That also explained why the Folly did not result in complete sterility. Yes, the components were crippled, but just by random chance, they sometimes combined into a barely functional key of life.
With the data we had by now, we could calculate the chance, but the result was depressing. We had a 1:180 chance that the combination resulted in a functional key. Combine that with all the other influences on fertility…
That of course did not yet tell me why K4 were hyper-fertile or how projects like C3 worked. But at least the first one was relatively easy to test.
I had a BOU inspect my own, unripened eggs, and the result was that I had the full key of life instead of a component protein. No need for a matching protein from any potential partner.
Now it was only a matter of looking at K4-sperm if it did the same, but considering the hyperfertility of male K4, my guess was it did.
More importantly, we tested what happened if we used nano-bots to insert the key of life into a fertilized but not dividing egg.
Several times over the next week. And several times, it worked. Unlike all other specimens, we did not destroy those zygotes, of course. But we also did not see the need to create artificial wombs for them. No, we froze them.
It was now a matter of looking into a cure. At least the first step. Oh, and look, somehow we had three couples that wanted children.
I wondered who we could test the nano-bots on. What nano-bots? Don’t forget that I am a nano-engineer by inclination.
Of course, the very first thing I did, even while our first tests were running, was design a specialized nano-bot that could be injected into the woman, and that forced the key of life into every single egg that left the ovaries.
Yes, I know, it was a brute-force solution. But it was a brute-force solution that had a pretty good chance of working. It would at least be a workaround that could be used until some geneticist created the real cure.
But for now, I had the eggheads thinking about becoming guinea pigs. And no, I did naturally not simply inject them with a batch of untested nanobots. What are you thinking of me?
No, one of the first things I did when I started this project was start a batch of research clones. Male and female alike. Not that I needed the male ones, mind you, but I did not know that from the outset.
But at least the preliminary tests were quickly done. The new nano-bot design worked as I had planned, and build depots at the very tip of the fallopian tubes, and any time an egg moved by ‘infected’ the egg with the full key of life. And thanks to them being research clones, I had absolutely no compunction in triggering ovulations. Multiple ovulations.
I was naturally aware that this was only the first step in testing, and the drugs I used to trigger the fast maturing and release of the eggs might influence the result.
But this was the quick and dirty phase of the testing. Does the nano-bot do what I wanted it to do? There was no point in an elaborate and safe test setup if the bots did not manage to do their job.
But there was no need to be concerned, the bots worked exactly as intended. Not too surprising, considering the experience I had in designing medical nanites. But nice to get it right on the first try anyway.
The newly harvested eggs of the clones had a success rate of fertilization of above 90%. At first, I was a bit disappointed, until I realized that au naturel, humans had an even lower success rate, even before the Folly.
Not surprising here, considering how much variation there can be within a species concerning the key of life, or how many other factors influence fertility. Many of which, ironically, had been tackled in the first couple of decades of Revitalize and were nowadays a standard treatment included in any batch from the start.
It was now time to call Vandermeer. Even if the efficacy of the nanobots proved to be lacking, we had enough new data that it should bring the eventual cure that much closer.
And honestly, the next step was basically human testing. The nanobots were, well nanobots. They were a variant of a standard bio-medical design. And the protein was firstly a protein that the human body should make and secondly encapsulated by the bots. There was literally nothing that could cause problems in humans, outside of the extremely rare allergy.
And it was simply impossible to test the efficacy on anything not suffering from the Folly, which limited it to research clones and humans.
That, though, was Vandermeer’s decision. I would naturally give the Wakefields, Vaughns, and Mitchells the option, as well, seeing that they wanted children, but otherwise, the eggheads in Nowhere could figure that one out.
It was surprisingly quick to get a meeting with the first councilor of the Commonwealth, even virtual, and the very next day we met.
Again, the viron was the same one he had prepared for our first meeting, again with the fire burning.
I was… less severe in my avatar this time though. It was essentially a copy of my real appearance, with the hair in a loose braid, and some comfortable clothes.
Again, he stood and greeted me.
“Hello Vivian. It’s nice to see you.”
“Hello… “ honestly, I was a bit stumped. I could not keep calling him ‘Vandermeer’ least of all to his face, but on the other hand, I could not bring myself to even call him grandfather, much less grandpa, gramps, or similar endearments.
Fortunately, he recognized my awkward faux pas.
“You have still problems with how to address me?”
When I nodded, happy that my avatar could not blush, he sighed but waved toward the chairs.
“I can’t say that I’m happy about that, because honestly, it hurts, but it is not your fault. I know what was done to you. So how about you call me Nate?”
It took me only a tick to think about it, taste it in my mind, and no, there was no instant rage that came with that name.
“Yes, I think we can do that. Hello Nate, and I am sorry about it, but… I just can’t help it. All my life I… I thought you could have ended my torture at any moment.”
He nodded while sighing again.
“I get that. I hope that someday in the future you can call me Granddad, but until then, let’s do the best.”
We sat down, and coffee appeared for each of us on the low table.
“I am, honestly, a bit surprised how quickly you agreed to meet me.”
He raised an eyebrow when he looked at me.
“Vivian, you are my granddaughter. I won’t give you some hollow phrase like ‘I have always time for you’, because, honestly, we both know that I don’t. My positions as first councilor and CEO of Vandermeer simply take up too much of my time for that, but you are directly after that.”
That was interesting. Honestly, the only person other I had a somewhat deeper relationship was Ben, and with him it was similar. He had too much time locked up in his position and was too dutiful to shirk it. I just hadn’t thought that Vander… Nate thought similar about me.
“I see. I fear I still have much to learn about human interaction.”
“That is no problem. You are learning, that is the important part. Nobody expects miracles. But now, what do you need to talk about?”
I ordered my thoughts for a brief moment, before I answered.
“A few things. First, I would like it if you could send me some K4-sperm. It does not need to be from a functional K4, and it won’t be used. It is just to close off that chapter.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“You don’t want to experiment with it?”
“No, why would I? No, I just want to investigate if what I found with my gametes is true for male K4 as well. That brings us neatly to the next point. I had somewhat of a breakthrough last week.”
His face got suddenly very serious, and he leaned forward, placing almost unnerving attention on me.
“You had a breakthrough? How much? What exactly? And where exactly are you in the project?”
I looked him directly in the eyes.
“We found, what I call the key of life. Essentially it is a protein that will be assembled out of one protein each from the egg and the sperm. While the individual proteins are different for each species, the combined one, the key of life, is not. It is the same for all mammals I looked at.”
I made a pause and took a sip of the coffee.
“Except for humans that is. As far as I can tell, for virtually all humans, the components are randomized. The chance of getting a working key of life is around 1:180. And as the key of life is the one protein that kicks off the division, well, it explains what the Folly does and how it has influenced human procreation.”
He leaned back, closed his eyes, and blew out a breath he had been holding in.
“You did it! You fucking did it! Asking you to look into it was a Hail Mary, and you came through. With that, we now can maybe find a cure.”
I took another sip.
“That is not quite all. I looked into the ‘component’ that my eggs have, and I have the full key of life. No addition from the father needed. That is what I want to look for with the K4-sperm. Then we tested what happens if we insert the key of life along with the sperm, and it worked every single time, though the sample size is only in the 10s of thousands. By the way, we have the zygotes on ice, if you want them back.”
He leaned forward abruptly.
“Wait, you are saying that just inserting this ‘key of life’ beats the Folly?”
“Yes, it does. That made me design a nanobot that will build depots in the fallopian tubes and insert the key into every egg that passes by. How long those works depends on the number of bots naturally. So far I’ve tested them on research clones, very successful, but not yet on humans. And if it works, while the bots remain in the system the woman will be as hyper-fertile as a K4.”
“So you are telling me you already have a cure? That is marvelous.”
I shook my head.
“No, not a cure, a treatment. Sure, the treatment is cheap. Around Ȼ50 for a two-year dose, but the Folly still remains. Each and every successive generation would need it as well. To change that, to cure it, we need to come up with a way to rewrite the impacted DNA.
So, that is another point why I am here. You promised me that if I find something you provide a geneticist. Well, it is time.”
“Are you willing to provide Revitalize with all the data?”
I recoiled a bit in confusion.
“Of course! Why do you ask? This will help save humanity.”
He sighed.
“You would be surprised how many scientists, self-proclaimed enlightened minds, would hoard every little spec of information to squeeze whatever iota of advantage out of it.”
I shrugged.
“So what? Sure, Enki is already trying to find a way to use the research to make something like the Folly for rats, but otherwise, I fail to see where there is any real advantage in keeping this knowledge secret.”
“Enki could, for example, sell those nanobots you designed. For thousands of credits.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You mean as Panacea would do? Holding the fate of humanity hostage to get even richer? Why bother? I don’t know if you’ve heard it, but right now, Enki makes more than Ȼ350 billion per day. After taxes. Yes, that is not yet the level of Panacea at its height. They had what? Ȼ900 billion per day? But we are not even half a year in the business. And are mostly limited by our ability to produce enough. In a year we probably will surpass Panacea.”
Nate took a deep breath again.
“I fear from now on you have to expect some serious pushback. Yes, you had an almost vertical climb so far, but now you will threaten the big ones. Every step will be a fight. And it did not help that you licensed out the NADA plans.”
I scoffed.
“If we had not, we would probably look at a hostile takeover right now. And it isn’t as if anybody else just can take the idea and bring anything comparable to us to the market. Sure, it will be a bit harder, but we still have advantages.”
He nodded sagely.
“As long as you understand that the easy ride is over, it is your decision. But back to the cure. I understand your point that it is just a treatment, but compared to what we have now it is a quantum leap.”
I shrugged again.
“I know, but we don’t even know if it works as I think it would or not. Yes, there were no problems with research clones. After we extracted the eggs to fertilize them. So we can assume it works for in-vitro, but we can only assume it works in-vivo as well.”
He chuckled softly.
“You are always so pessimistic. I understand you, and you are right. But on the other hand, you got further than anybody in 150 years. Even if it only works in-vitro, that is a giant step forward. And it shows us where to look for the ultimate solution. I assume you have quite a bit of data that we could use, right?”
I snorted.
“You could say that. What I have is nearly the size of all the data of Project Revitalize together. Around 36 Exabytes.”
He coughed surprised.
“How… sorry, how did it get so big?”
I rolled my eyes.
“I used the workaround that I told you about. It allowed me to observe the whole fertilization process on a molecular level. And I have the records of tens of millions of specimens. For each fertilization event, you get around a terabyte of data. Sure, most of that is useless for Revitalize. Now that I weeded it out. But in case I made a mistake, or it is useful for something else, we should keep it. And give scientists all over the world access to it.
Who knows what other information is hidden in there?”
“Wait, you want to give us everything? I understand the data that is important to Revitalize, but the rest? Why do it?”
“Because I am not a biologist. If I never have to work with this icky stuff again, it will be too soon. But the data could be too valuable to simply throw it away. I won’t use it, so why not give it to people who will?"
He chuckled briefly.
“Yes, I see your father in you. He would have acted exactly the same. Not that he would have been able to get the data in the first place, mind you.”
I felt a lump in my throat and was unable to answer. So Nate continued:
“I am sure there will be many people who will be happy about it. Even if just in the future. Right now we are most likely already below the critical mass that allowed us to grow exponentially. You won’t find many scientists who do science for science's sake anymore.”
He looked and sounded depressed, but then his face brightened again.
“But thanks to you, we can reach that level again. We will have enough people to make it possible to research seemingly unimportant things again.”
I took a deep breath.
“Again, we don’t know for sure if it works yet. Yes, it should, but…”
He cut me off:
“Even if it only works in-vitro, that is so much more than we had that it is a win. Do you know what a single participation in C3 costs per couple? The Commonwealth pays Ȼ5688 for that. For each. A simple harvesting system, a single lab worker, and if your treatment costs Ȼ50 for two years, it will be available for a couple of credits for the single application. All in all, maybe Ȼ100 for one application.
And C3 only gives a chance of 11%, compared to the 90% you gave us. So, even if it is just working in-vitro, it would be good enough.
Not perfect, but good enough that we could sponsor three, four, maybe five children per family. Good enough that we could provide the treatment for every nation willing to participate.
Good enough to save humanity. Do you understand that?
You have just saved humanity!
Even if we never get any better, humanity is saved, thanks to your work.”
He looked at me with so much pride in his eyes, that I really felt uncomfortable, but I could not really disagree with his understanding. I was pretty sure that he knew way better than me how much it cost to run Revitalize.
And yes, even with all the importance that Revitalize had, all the importance that was written into the Constitution of the Commonwealth, every couple only got one shot, unless they paid themselves. Barely enough, along with widespread cloning, mostly sponsored by Panacea or Dalgon, to ensure that the population of the Commonwealth shrunk way slower than anybody else's.
I finally found my voice again, hoarse and a bit unsure:
“But… we still have much to do. We can’t let it stop here. So… please call in your geneticist so we can start the next step.”
He flinched.
“Oh, yes. Sorry, but… this got away from me. One moment…”
He closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment before he looked back at me.
“I have arranged a meeting. Let me send you the matrix address.”
I felt a bit irked.
“Ok, and when?”
He chuckled.
“Well, now. But promise me to meet a bit more often. I want to get to know you.”
Oh, ok, that was even a bit faster than I had expected.
“Ok, yes. I will try my best, but… sorry to say so but I am rather introverted. Even Ben has to badger me to get me to spend time with him sometimes.”
“That is ok, then I will badger you as well. I’ll see you and don’t worry, we will begin the tests immediately.”
He stood up and I followed him, and then the viron dematerialized, along with Nate, and I was standing in cyberspace for a moment, collecting my thoughts, before I moved to the matrix address that he had given me.
In there, I found a simple meeting room viron with a tall blonde woman of around 20 pacing impatiently.
As soon as I arrived, she turned on me, and the annoyance on her face was hard to miss.
“Finally! What took you so long? First I get a message from the boss to drop everything and come to an urgent meeting here and then nobody is here! So what the fuck is going on? Do you have any idea how important my work is? What you’ve interrupted? No, of course not. How could you? I sure hope whatever crap you so urgently need to tell me is important.”
I have to confess I recoiled when I was faced with her diatribe, and it took me a moment to find my balance again. Apparently too long, as she huffed, crossing her arms below her rather impressive bust.
“Well? I am waiting!”
I took a deep breath.
“Do you ambush everybody this way? I might not be the most social person, but if I am not mistaken, then it is customary to introduce oneself and say some greeting verbiage before one comes to the point.”
She raised an eyebrow, with derision sparkling in her light grey eyes.
“So you insist on this meeting, right now and then make such a fuss about manners? Typical!”
I rolled my eyes.
“First, I did not demand this meeting right now. That was Nathan Vandermeer. I learned of it a few seconds before I got here. Second, I still don’t know who you are. But as I want to be at least courteous, I am Vivian DuClare."
She harumphed but then softened her stance a bit.
“Fine. I am Danielle McTacish. And what do you mean you learned about the meeting a few seconds before you came here?”
I shrugged.
“I did ask Vandermeer to arrange a meeting with a geneticist, apparently you. But I honestly expected that he would arrange something next week or tomorrow at the earliest. But then he told me he had arranged it for just now. I had just enough time to say goodbye and came here.”
She shook her head angrily, and began pacing again.
“Typical. Just because he is a rich asshole he thinks he can just push me around. Well, at least this is the first time, and compared to the Knowles it is not so bad.”
It was my time to cross my arms.
“Am I to understand that you are one of the K4 Vandermeer ‘liberated’ from Panacea?”
“As if you don’t know.”
“No… I don’t know. I know that you are Danielle McTavish because you told me that. I assume you are a geneticist because that was who I asked Vandermeer to arrange a meeting with, and I know that Vandermeer managed to free the K4 from the serfdom contracts that Panacea and Dalgon forced them into, and I don’t think the Knowles would care enough about a run-off-the-mill geneticist to bother her, which makes it likely that you are a K4. But all that are assumptions.”
She rolled her eyes, sighed, and then stomped towards the table, sitting down.
“Yeah, fine. Yes, I am a K4 and a geneticist. And I thought that after I was free from Panacea that I was finally able to research what I really want. But no, in the midst of my work, Vandermeer calls me to this meeting. God, I hate those rich entitled assholes.”
I sat opposite her.
“Is this the first time Vandermeer did that? And what are you working on?”
“Yes, it is the first time. That is what makes it so jarring. And right now I am working on the human genome to find out what Sandersons Folly did so that I might reverse it. I tried that for years, but the Knowles outright forbid it.”
Ok, that… I could see how her work was important. Not urgent, but after being stymied for years, getting yanked out of it now must be annoying.
“Ok, that explains much. And I think you owe Vandermeer an apology later. This meeting is about the Folly.”
She frowned:
“It is? But why did he not go through the normal channels then? Does that mean that you are to assist me? Sorry, but I don’t have the time and the energy to introduce another lab assistant.”
I had to chuckle.
“It is, and you have to ask him why he did not go through the normal channels. I have an idea, but who knows? I am not here to assist you, or maybe I am, in a way. But you don’t have to introduce me, and I am not a lab assistant. Point is, I am also a K4, but unlike you and the rest, I managed to fly under the radar of Panacea and Dalgon.
Though my specialty is more nano-technology and physics, Vandermeer asked me to look into the Folly.”
She frowned even harder.
“Nano-tech? Physics? How could any of that help with the Folly? Has he gone soft in the head? And a K4? I thought there were only 11 of us.”
“Nope, there were 12 of us in our generation. But as I said, I kept it silent, and neither Dalgon nor Panacea noticed me. And you would be surprised what nano-technology can do in this case. Imagine being able to observe the fertilization process on the molecular level, not in real-time but all of it.”
She rubbed her chin, thinking hard.
“Ok, I confess, that might be useful. In a general way. Is that what you think you can offer me? Sorry to say so but right now it is not what I need. I told you I am analyzing the genome to look where the changes were made.”
I rolled my eyes slightly.
“No, not really. And do you really think that comparing the genome from before the war to what it is now will help? Who knows what bioweapons left their mark on it? How do you think you can differentiate what the Folly did from what other bioweapons did?”
She threw up her hands.
“It is the best I can come up with. Do you think throwing random chemicals at it and hoping something sticks is better? At least I am doing something to find the root cause of the problem. And if you are not offering this observation tool, what are you offering then?”
I leaned forward, propping myself onto my elbows.
“What I am offering you is the result of me and a small team observing several tens of millions of fertilization processes from all sorts of mammals, looking for what actually starts the phase in the fertilization that is broken by the Folly.”
Then I made a pause for effect.
“And the result of that is that I know exactly what it is that the Folly did. I have no clue what genetic markers it changed to achieve that, but I know the result of it. And nothing against your project, but in my opinion it would be way more productive if you could look for the specific cause of what the Folly does, or maybe for a way to overwrite it.”
She just sat there, with her mouth hanging open.
After what seemed an eternity, she shook her head.
“Are you… are you sure? You do have the Folly? For real?”
I shrugged.
“Yes, I have pinpointed it. And frankly, we already most likely can treat it. But to cure it, that is your job. Just to make it clear, you are only the second person outside of my team that has learned about this. The first was Nathan Vandermeer, a few minutes ago.”
For a moment she just sat there, staring at me. Then she deflated.
“Fuck! You are right! I owe Vandermeer an apology! I hate that! I hate that I owe some rich asshole something! Much less an apology.”
I cocked my head.
“Why? Because he is rich?”
She growled.
“Oh please. All rich people are assholes.”
I sighed.
“As much as I hate to defend him, has he ever done anything that makes you believe that he is an asshole?”
She frowned again.
“No, but it is just a matter of time. You just can’t trust the high and mighty.”
I shrugged.
“Sadly, you are mostly right. There are very few exceptions. But everything I know about Vandermeer tells me he is one of those exceptions.”
She looked to the side and at the ground.
“Yeah, you might be right. But I still don’t trust him.”
“Then don’t. Just don’t let your mistrust cripple you.”
“Yeah, ok. But that is for later. Right now, tell me what you’ve discovered. If we finally manage to beat the Folly, we have left our mark on history for sure.”
And with that, we began the transfer and explanation of data.
It was invigorating to work with somebody who was coming even close to my intelligence, as arrogant as that sound. But she grasped the ideas, and the facts far faster than anybody I’ve ever met before.
For the very first time, I was working with somebody who at once intuitively understood where I was coming from and where I was going, but also did not need a detailed handholding explanation to get it.
Yes, Warden brought one of those two factors to the table, and Maynard, Jessi, and the Minions brought the other, but this was a completely new experience.
For the first time, I realized how limiting it was to work with people so far away from my mental capacity.
And when the meeting ended far quicker than I had expected, I was strangely unhappy about it.
