New U Redux Ch.3 "Related Themes" :: BigCloset Classic :: BigCloset TG Stories <br /> June 2001 to November 2004

Sometime, the day after tomorrow, it will be possible...
New U Redux
-3-
Related Themes

Chapter three of the original 8 revised and edited. (proofers for new chapters welcome)
NiGHTs
2004

Obviously, the characters and situations presented are fiction and any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental unless they're public figures and then shame on them. Please feel free to post or archive with notification. Otherwise, this work should be considered copyright 1997 Jeffrey S. Rose and no part should be published electronicly or in printed form except for review/critical analysis, or offered for sale without consent of the author.

New U Ch.3: Related Themes
by Jeff Rose

Chris tightened the bolt while Jim and Beth held the 4x6 in place. " Jim," Beth started, "I was wondering … if it's not too personal that is …"

"Would his telling you it was make a difference?"

"Shut up Chris. Jim, you know everything about what we can do and after all the work you've done on our computer I'm sure you have at least as much access to our records as we do."

"True 'nuff."

"In all the time you've been with us, you've never asked about getting the 'New U' treatment for yourself."

"That's right." Jim looked up. Chris had finished tightening the beam in place and was now looking at him with curiosity in her eyes.

"Okay, it's like this right?" he said. "I'm only 30 right? You guys took all the requisite samples anyone would need to clone me, or at least to provide me with a little tax deduction." Now Chris and Beth looked confused. Jim sighed and went on, "Hell, assuming y'all are amenable, I could wait 'til I'm 60, or older and still turn the clock back. I've come this far; I might as well at least sample old age."

"Besides, by then any possible side effects would have cropped up, yes?" He added and mentally crossed his fingers. Maybe they'd buy this as an explaination.

"OK troops, gather 'round for iced tea!", Anne called as she walked up from the cellar entrance. Jim thanked Anne mentally for the interruption and helped Chris down as the four met at the picnic table in the back yard.

" Jim, remind me to look around for something to replace this." Anne said, sitting at the weather beaten picnic table. "Now what's the topic of conversation today?"

" Jim just accused us of shoddy work." Chris said and pulled Anne upright. Handling her like a product, she hefted Anne's ample breast.

"Now does this look like a bad job?" she asked as Anne slapped her hand away any looked at Chris in a way that reminded Jim of an old Beatles song. Lennon' s voice was still running round Jim's head ("If looks could kill it would'a been us instead'a himmmmm-AH!"), as he heard himself say, "That's not what I was saying Chris. And don't fondle others in public, it's rude." Jim sipped his tea and thought for a moment.

"I was talking about the fact that no one has done what you've done to yourselves. No one, has any experience with this stuff. For instance, what ultimately does a full 'New U' treatment do to the subject's immune system?"

" Jim maybe I gave you too much credit. The S-1 through V series, completely takes over for the body's immune system.", Beth stated.

"Exactly!" Jim said, tapping the side of his nose with his finger, before catching himself. "Now let me tell you a story I read once."

"Once upon a time, there were two parents who loved their newborn very much. They wanted to protect their baby from all the evil and nastiness in the world. So they enclosed their child in a bubble and carefully monitored every thing that the child encountered there."

"No food was brought in that might sear his mouth or rot his teeth. No entertainment, neither book, nor music, nor video, was that might elicit a negative emotional response of any kind was allowed into that pristine environment."

"And when the child was 18 and legally an adult, they acknowledged that they had done all they could do to protect him and quite a few parents groups applauded their efforts...And the poor dumb kid took two steps outside the bubble before dying of excitement over a glass of OJ."

"Cute, nice O. Henry twist. What's the point? "Beth asked.

"You just told me five separate series of nanites handle the same responsibility as the immune system. Just what does that system do in the meantime? You also told me that just after I was hired that you're guessing that those nanites will shut down in about 100 years." Jim began to warm to his subject now that he was sure the conversation would go where he wanted. "All of them will self destruct in 100 years? Simultaneously? I doubt it. When I was reading through the overview of the treatment, you noted that because of the nature of those very same nanites, any attempts to alter or introduce new nanites would result in their destruction as they were identified as invaders."

"So lets say (God forbid), in 40 years you lose your S-III's. There is now a hole in your defenses and your natural immune system is defunct. I think I'd feel pretty silly meeting St. Peter and having to admit that I died of terminal Athlete's Foot."

Jim finished his tea. "I love you girls dearly," he said nodding first to Anne, then Chris, and finally taking Beth's hands, knowing that she'd flinch at contact with him. "but until I absolutely have to have that kind of support, I'll do the best I can without." He winked at them, finshed his tea and returned to the deck, humming. Beth strained for a moment trying to identify the tune. Then screwed her face up in disgust. "Eheeuuww!" she groaned, when she recalled it as the song from "Highlander".

"What was that for?" Chris asked.

"Believe me you don't want to know."

Anne just stared at the man moving another piece of lumber into position. "Break's over." she said.

* * *

"Just got the last of the tests faxed back from Hopkins." Anne looked up at Beth from the batch of requests and orders on the desk. "And..?"

"It's definite. Non-hodgekins Lymphoma." Beth said as gently as she could, placing the damning folder in front of Anne and then massaging the older woman's shoulders. "They want to know when they can schedule him for an appointment."

Anne leafed through the pages looking for some discrepancy in the tests and their results. All she could see was Scott and her cobalt orbs went cold. "How long to get a full treatment prepared?"

* * *

Analyzing other people's work had been Harry Selznick's job for five years now. He was very good at it and companies were willing to pay him a lot to do it well. Unfortunately one company was willing to pay him even more to do it badly.

In a way, Harry's job was simple. He would be presented with a proposed set of nanite designs for production. Those plans would in turn be compared with the subject's DNA for compatibility purposes. Similarly, when the treatment had been manufactured he would check that against the original production orders. Harry had some help of course. The mini-cray in the basement had a complete set of data from the recently completed Human Genome Project. Together, they could describe anyone with just a single complete strand of the stuff. The FBI was seriously looking at adopting the system he had developed for New U.

What Harry had been doing with that system to the two special orders handed down from the three rejuvenated women in the Baltimore facility went well out side the duties in his job description.

This morning, Ms. Anderson finished setting up the satellite link between the mini-cray in the basement and the Baltimore facility. This pleased Harry as he'd held up final approval of the Angstrom and McGowan packages for as long as he dared. As far as the computer here knew there had been no tampering with designs submitted by his soon to be former employers. The computer in Baltimore was another matter however. Since one of the treatments was going there, he deftly told that computer to forget about what it had been told before. This was what the Angstrom and McGowan treatments should be. The computer took the data tentatively, examined the authorization codes, and finding them to be good, accepted the update. Convincing the machine that there had been no update and that this was the data it had always had took a little longer, but after some whining, the machine allowed that it had been in error. Grinning at his cleverness, Harry opened his briefcase and looked over the original orders for McGowan and Angstrom.

His new employer was playing him a lot of money to disrupt the company. They'd said nothing about killing anyone (Although they had implied it forcefully.), and what he had done should result in no deaths. He and the mini-cray had been very careful on that point. After all Harry Selznick might be an industrial spy and saboteur, but he was not a murderer.

"Ah well", he thought aloud, closing the folders and briefcase. "They could've been siblings anyway." Chuckling to himself, he realized that now they would be.

Harry called his secretary in and passed the two release orders to her with proper routing instructions and left to start his vacation.

**

At 65, (The) Richard Angstrom was out of practice feeling grateful. Nevertheless, he'd had to consciously refrain from hugging and kissing the whole staff at the New U clinic (His wife, Mary, had felt no such need for such restraint.) when he and his daughter walked(!) out to his car. The money he'd invested to accomplish this feat was meaningless.

Five years of chemo, radiation and that god-awful bone marrow transplant had been erased from her life. Just last week his little girl had been virtually bald, weighed less than 90 lbs. soaking wet and was at death's door. Now she stood tall (if somewhat shakily) on her re-fleshed legs. Her golden hair was still short (Barely 3" long.), but just as thick as it had been before five years ago. In fact, except for hair length, there was almost no way to tell the difference between the 12 year old student she was and the 17 year old former cancer patient she now was. She had literally come full circle.

As he drove his family (His daughter would come into her trust fund before he'd be able to afford a driver again.), he glanced periodically into the rear view mirror at his little girl. Neither he nor Mary however, could see below Danielle's shoulders and so never noticed the way she was absentmindedly scratching her arms and belly. Though both were taken by the thought that her pale green eyes seemed brighter somehow.

End ch.3 Jeff Rose 1997

Note: TG sci-fi transformation series rated-M
Read Chapter 1. 2. 3. 4.