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Short Stories Science Fiction Daniel's Discovery
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Daniel's Discovery |
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| Written by David Neve | |
| Wednesday, 02 April 2008 | |
| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 02 April 2008 ) |
"Mathew ignored the horrendous smell, but he passed out as the brown goo sprayed onto his hands." Recognizing a voice he had not heard in months, Daniel McGreer didn't even wait for the sentence to end before he tossed his communicator into his lab coat and walked into the transport sheet. As he popped into his lab he saw a group of N-droids standing around the examination table. Sensing his arrival the N-droids cleared a path for him to approach. Lying on the table with her feet planted firmly in the stirrups, he saw the most beautiful thing he had seen in months.
He smiled as he walked up to the table, "Marlene, how are you?"
She returned his smile, "Danny! I had hoped that it would be you to attend when I arrived, but it is just as well. It is so wonderful to see you again."
"Is everything okay?"
"Oh, yes, I believe I'm doing fine now, I can't say the same for poor Mathew though."
"Where is poor Mathew?"
"He went to take a short break, I believe. He's such a sweetheart, that boy."
"Yes, we all like him here." He looked at the monitors as he spoke, "How did you know to come, Marlene? Are you sensing any pain? Are you comfortable?"
"I'm fine Danny, really, you fuss too much over me. Really, it wasn't as bad at you may think. It was definitely a new sensation, no doubt about that - but it was not sudden, I could feel the pressure build, and I simply waited until I thought it was time."
"My I examine you?"
"Certainly. What a silly question."
Daniel moved down to the end of the table and lifted the sheet, then hesitated. Turning to the nearest N-droid he asked, "Sharon?" He waited a moment for it to sink in: it always takes a moment. Marlene smiled as she watched him.
The N-droid looked at Marlene for a split second before turning to Daniel and nodding acknowledgement.
"Sharon, would you please clean up Marlene for me?" He waited for a moment to catch the confirmation for his request then stood up.
Looking again at Marlene, "I'm going to go check on Mathew while Sharon cleans you up a bit and then I shall return immediately." Marlene was still smiling, so he had to inquire. "Is something wrong, dear?"
"No, nothing is wrong, I'm afraid you have confused Sharon."
"How so?"
"First, she wonders why you do not call her N137 like everyone else does, and second, she wonders why you ask instead of direct."
Daniel smiled back at Marlene, then turned to N137, "Well my dear, I call you Sharon because N137 implies that you are a solely an organic mechanism without personality, which I assure you is not the case. The fact that you lack facial detailing and the ability to speak does not mean that you are any less than the most advanced bio-droid. Secondly, I ask so that you have the opportunity to decline." Smiling he turned back to Marlene, performed a quick bow, and walked into the next room to find Mathew.
Within moments he was back at Marlene's side. Sharon had completed her task, and awaited any possible new instruction that Daniel might have.
"Well, then, Mathew seems to have recovered well. He is currently in the process of running the sample through the lab. Shall we have a look to make sure you have suffered no damage?"
Daniel once again moved to the end of the table to examine Marlene and he continued speaking as he began the examination, "Marlene, how many droids are on the neural net here?"
"Seventeen Daniel, why?"
"Just wondering; and the other lab?"
"Another seven. Really Daniel, you should just get an implant and be done with it. It has got to be a complete nuisance to have to rely on others to communicate with the very droids you created. You need to be on the neural net."
"Not yet my dear. Not until I know that there is no danger for me. You know how I feel about organic implants. There is never any guarantee what sort of implant is actually being installed."
"Surely you would trust Sharon to do it."
"Yes, I would, but you know as well as I do that things can change once the implant is installed. I would rather wait until all of the variables are under my complete control."
"Well, you're the Professor."
Daniel completed the examination and moved back to the monitor, "Well Marlene, I can find no damage and all of indications from the monitors tell me that you get a clean bill of health." He turned to another of the N-droids, "Cheryl, would you please locate some clothes for Marlene? The dress that she arrived in will not suit the meeting we will be attending." After receiving the nod from Cheryl he turned again to Marlene, "Marlene dear, please hop on the net and advise all of the Department Heads that there will be a meeting in twenty minutes - attendance is to be mandatory."
"Sure Daniel, will there be any exclusions?"
"None. Tell them that this is relevant to project code Superman."
"Where would you like to have this meeting?"
"Let's have it in Australia, we haven't been there in a while - there's a writer there I'd like to check in on."
"It's done."
"Oh, Marlene... one more thing. Contact Mathew and tell him to dress appropriately."
"I already have Danny."
Daniel smiled, he had waited more than fifteen years for this meeting."I don't know what I would do without you, Marlene."
"I know Danny - shall we go make history?"
* * *
Daniel McGreer arrived five minutes after the deadline to ensure no interruptions. With Marlene and Mathew by his side he went to the lectern and tapped the small microphone to get everyone's attention. He looked to where the leader of the organization would be seated and found the seat occupied by the second in command.
He addressed the man in the Presidents seat, "Where is President Frish?"
"He could not attend", you may continue without his presence.
Daniel looked straight into the eyes of the speaker, "That is neither acceptable nor is that an option." Turning to Marlene he whispered a few words.
Within moments, President Frish appeared in his seat - visibly upset. He stood with his hand raised in Daniel's direction, but before he could utter a word, two male bio-units appeared at his side and forcibly seated him.
Daniel looked at the shock on everybody's faces and smiled a self-satisfied smile. Nodding for Marlene and Mathew to take a seat he began his presentation.
"Gentlemen, I have gathered you all here today to make a few very important announcements regarding our bio-droid research. As you know, we came upon a terrible fallback five years ago when the enemy infiltrated our labs and removed a huge amount of our research. That single event almost caused us to start our research from the beginning again.
From that point on, to the best of your knowledge, we stopped researching advanced bio-units and developed the N-droid. We determined that the best way to keep our sensitive areas secure was to remove the ability of speech from the assistant droids. We created a neural net that would allow communication to be selective between droids, and impossible with a human that does not have the proper implant.
The problem that we were researching had to do with the detection of our advanced units in espionage environments. In the past, our bio-droids could not escape detection because of a simple human trait that they lacked. Our enemies would need do nothing more than feed our agents, then put them in a room and wait. Since our units essentially converted food to carbon ash in their "stomachs", in a matter of 24 hours, they would be uncovered.
Today we have solved that problem. We have had dozens of units involved in the incubating process for months and we have had our first successful transition. Gentlemen, we have finally learned to synthesize human waste.
This means two things. The first thing that it means, is without the specialized equipment in my lab, there is no way to detect the difference between a bio-droid and a human. We now have the ultimate bio/organic-droid agent, which, as you may have noticed by the guards that assisted the ex-president in becoming reseated, are already in operation in many areas. Many of you have had these advanced droids such as Marlene, the ex-president's secretary, in your offices for more than a year. No, you have no need to fear them, just think of them as a way to keep everybody honest.
Judging by the surprised looks, you had no idea how far our research has moved. I did say ex-president, didn't I? Yes, that is the second thing that is changing. From this day forward, I am assuming leadership of this organization. No, the objectives are not changing; we shall still pursue and gain total power on the planet - I shall simply be in charge from here on out."
Daniel gave his words a few moments to sink in then dismissed the group, "Gentlemen, I look forward to meeting with each and everyone individually to discuss how our relationship can best benefit the organization - you are dismissed."
He then turned to Mathew and asked, "So, Mathew, as head of bio-development, how long to get another 300 units into the field?"
"Approximately 90 days, Mr. President."
"Excellent! Lets get moving on that if you will."
Mathew stayed in the room long enough to utter the words, "Certainly Daniel!" then disappeared through a transport sheet.
Daniel looked at Marlene and she smiled, "You have just made history, Daniel."
"An odd bit of history that, don't you think?"
"How so Daniel?"
"It seems I have just created an empire based on sh - human waste."
Marlene laughed, "Yes, you have."
"Well, I guess it's time for the implant now. Do you think Sharon will mind doing it for me?"
Comments (7) |
 04-02-2008 00:07, slowly but surely, i'm gonna sneak all of my stories back in - so please bear with me... and what the heck, read it again! write on! » Reply to this comment...  04-02-2008 03:25, I remember this lil assgnment. Good story you did with it. Enjoyed it. But as Ive come to learn...you usually don't dissapoint. » Reply to this comment...  04-02-2008 04:47, this is the only story that went and said..."brown goo"...uhuh...SHIT! Secondly, this is the ultimate proclaim-your-royalty coup story. Really great and well written. :) » Reply to this comment...  04-02-2008 07:28, I rembember when I put up the topic idea on the forum, I thought there is no way the kids will think of a story for this.Man, how wrong was I.Even better the second time round. » Reply to this comment...  04-02-2008 08:26, "Gentlemen, we have finally learned to synthesize human waste"... man, the way the mind works trying to figure this out. Great story; silly me I would have never thought to have a stroy that included robots having anything to do with waste. Glad someone else did :-) » Reply to this comment... 04-02-2008 17:27, is so gross. She shits experimental shit for a living and has pleasant convos while having her....erm.. effluent exit checked. If I could shit for a living... » Reply to this comment...  04-03-2008 10:12, This was a great read! Very creative, and a story well written on a subject that "stinks"! » Reply to this comment... |
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