Short story by Juju's Pearls
I love myself !thought Adriane. She was her own favorite and always fantasized about having her own replicas. What a beautiful world it will be? With so many fun loving Adriane’s in this universe, what a wonderful this blue planet will be! With these thoughts in her mind, she rushed out of shower. Quickly blow dried her hair, grabbed the first T-shirt and rushed downstairs juggling with her jeans and missed the last step and boom and thud! She fell flat of the ground. Her younger brother, an ace baseball player threw a cushion from the living room sofa, Adriane’s face safely landed on the cushion and she was saved by few centimeters. Their mother came running out of the kitchen and sighed, “Adriane dear, I know yet another idea has come into your mind and you are in extreme hurry to reach your laboratory. Please try to reach in one piece as an idea without a head is of no use.” Her brother giggled. She made a crossed face and went upstairs to change her dress. Inwardly, she was working on her idea of time capsule and she was just close to finish it.
After half an hour, she walked downstairs with her head held high and an air of perfection. She sat on the breakfast table. Her favorite fruit juice and scrambled eggs were in front of her in her plate. As soon as her eyes saw eggs, immediately her face lit up and she knew the day was not very far when she would release her time capsule. She gulped the juice and packed her breakfast. Kissing her mother on forehead, she picked up her car keys and was on her way to laboratory. Her cell phone rang. She was so busy in her mind that no other sound was audible to her. As she parked her car in the parking, she picked up her phone to see at least ten missed calls from her professor.
She rushed and went straight to his chamber. Dr. Kohler saw her through his monocle, forehead full of creases. Obviously, he seemed worried. Drumming his fingers on his table, he paused, inhaled and exhaled. After exactly sixty seconds, which seemed liked eternity, He opened his mouth, “So, Dr. Adriane, where do we stand right now? We are almost in the last phase of our trial. What do you think we should put in time capsule? There is immense pressure from the government and we are on the verge of running out of funds. We have to release this time capsule within next eight weeks.”
It was Adriane’s turn to create a more tensed atmosphere. She took her time and slowly smiled,” Professor, I know what we need to put in the time capsule.”
Professor replies “Let me hear you out my dear doctor.”
Adriane smiled and said, ‘Dr. Kohler, we will put fertilized human eggs from people in different fields. The whole idea is to have the best lot of humans in future.”
Dr. Kohler removed his monocle and looked up, “Now, what is your criterion of best human eggs?”
Adriane replies, “I have a full work up plan for the same. Let’s first get assurance from the government. After that, we will pick up at least five best persons in terms of health, intelligence, looks etc ,from each field of work and call them for assessment. After short listing, we will run the data in our software. The computer will make permutation and combination. By this we will have a list of best eggs and sperms of human race. The major question which will arise is the consent part. I have created a presentation, which will focus on the benefits of this whole procedure. Initially, we will keep hundred fertilized eggs in different stages of development in one time capsule. I have another plan. We need to build a bigger time capsule, which can accommodate fifteen to twenty human from different spheres of work. The smaller time capsule will be created first followed by larger capsule.”
There is pin drop silence as both look at each other. They exchange glances. Adriane’s worst fears seem to come true. She was afraid that Professor will reject her idea out rightly. Adriane slowly takes her laptop and gets up.
As she reaches for the doorknob,
Professor Remarks, “So, Doctor who are you planning to call upon first?"
With tears in her eyes and expression of disbelief, she cries aloud, “Do you believe in me?”
“Cent percent” comes the reply from Dr. Kohler, he continues,” The real challenge is how to convince the Governor and then people. And, how soon you can start?”
“Sir, we can start immediately and I promise you that we will do it successfully as long as we work as a team,” replies Adriane.
With a sense of accomplishment, she goes to café. The scrambled eggs have started giving out a fishy odor and find themselves in waste bin. Adriane picks up a cup of black coffee and starts working on her presentation. After working nonstop for many hours, she makes a convincing presentation.
Meanwhile Dr. Kohler fixes up an appointment with the Governor. Finally the day comes when their team’s hard work of decade will be presented for Government’s approval. Keeping fingers crossed, Adriane starts off it a motivating manner and manages to capture the attention of everyone throughout. After concluding, the house is made open for question and answers. There are no questions; everyone seems to be in a state of stupor. Dr. Kohler clears his throat loudly to break the silence. The Governor comes to his senses and remarks, “Dr. Kohler, how soon can you start with the selection procedure? This seems to be noble cause as far as human race is concerned. Darwin’s theory is “ Survival of the fittest “ yet another theory says, only the species which adapt to change will survive. Your time capsule will prove both. ‘
He further elaborates, ‘Please, send a quote of how much more funds does your laboratory needs? I will get it sanctioned at the earliest.”
The gathering disperses. There is a feeling of celebration in the lab.
Dr. Kohler invites Adriane next morning and asks, “So doctor whose eggs will be first on the list?”
Adriane smiles and replies in affirmative, “Obviously mine Sir!”
With this, she barges out of the office with a sense of pride in her heart and a smile that finally in her dream project, a part of her will travel as the first passenger.