The Bloodless Page 5

  Inside of his office there were all kinds of presents and gifts wishing him a speedy recovery. It was the traditional thing to do still even though almost all recoveries those days, especially in that hospital, were speedy ones. Justice walked around his office and stood in front of his windows taking everything in. He felt quite different. He seemed to have a greater sense of appreciation for all things, which was odd but he assumed that’s what happens when someone is put into a coma, even a medically induced one. He did not know any better, it was his first coma after all. But he felt almost healthier than he had before the accident, perhaps even a bit stronger.

  After some time passed, Jack walked in and cleared his throat to catch Justice’s attention. “You still here?” Jack asked politely.

  Justice turned around and smiled at Jack as he walked towards him. “I noticed there’s nothing here from Mr. Jefferson,” he said, skirting Jack’s question.

  “Naw, but that’s what I am here to deliver,” Jack responded, smiling back. Justice looked quizzically at him because Jack was not carrying anything. “He said to give you as much time off as you need and not to hurry back if you don’t want to.”

  Justice couldn’t keep a note of disdain out of his laugh, “That’s quite generous of him.”

  “Whaddya expect,” Jack said, the smile faltering on his face.

  “A little something extra for starters,” Justice said, slightly annoyed, “I’m about to make that guy richer than any man needs to be. I suffer a major head wound in the process of breaking ground science has only ever dreamed of before and his gift to me is extra time off that I was entitled to anyway?” Justice walked over and stood behind his desk and examined a few of the gifts that adorned it. “I mean, I know the guy’s a complete sociopath, hell bent on hording all the money in the known universe, but for fuck’s sake I’m a human bei- you know what,” Justice said, trying to calm himself down, “forget it, I don’t need the extra days. Let’s get back to work.”

  “Justice,” Jack said, “take some time off, you need it.”

  “I feel fine, I don’t need any extra time. Let’s get back to work like obedient little sycophants,” Justice seethed. “It’s what our glorious leader would want, right?”

  “Are you sure?” Jack asked tentatively.

  “Yeah, it’s fine,” Justice responded, attempting to scale his anger back. “I feel fine.”

  “Okay man,” Jack said softly, “we’ll pick up where we left off.”

  “Still on the first subject?” Justice asked as he threw his lab coat on. He followed Jack out of the office and the two headed towards the main lab.

  “No, we’re on 103 now.”

  “What happened?”

  “The first and second ones failed. We suspect it was an issue with the gamma stimulation process but we’ve recalibrated everything so it should be back on track,” Jack explained as they reached the lab doors.

  “You did one without me?”

  “Boss’ orders,” Jack sighed.

  “Right, heaven forbid a couple days pass without any work in a lab taking place,” Justice said as he sat down behind the main console. Jack did not respond to this, instead he awkwardly avoided looking at Justice. “Okay people, let’s do this,” Justice said to the room at large. “Bring in subject zero five - wait, what’s the day?” Everybody looked around at each other at a complete loss on how to respond. “Nobody knows the date?” Justice asked bemused.

  “Oh,” Jack said, “it’s the 20th. Come on guys, let’s pay attention,” he added in an attempt to reprimand the other employees.

  “The 20th?” Justice asked doing the math in his head. “Was I really out six days?” Jack nodded slowly. Justice thought for a couple more moments, “Wow,” he finally said, “that must’ve been a helluva head wound!”

  Jack laughed nervously, “Indeed it was Justice.”

  “Well, no point in dwelling,” Justice said as he booted up his workstation. “Bring in subject 05202100-103.” A gurney topped with an elderly man was rolled into the lab and placed under the gamma sequencing array. “Subject is male, aged 114 years. Subject’s life ceased due to natural causes. We are recording this, right?” Justice asked as an afterthought. Jack nodded. “Good. This is much easier without an audience.”

  “There’s an audience,” Jack said and when Justice looked at him he pointed up. Sure enough, there was a small crowd gathered in the observation deck looking down upon the proceedings.

  Justice did not recognize any of them, “So there are. Sorry, you’ll have to excuse me, my mind’s a little fuzzy. Head wound,” he joked, pointing to his head. The people in the observation deck laughed. “Okay, let’s get back to it. Subject, natural causes,” Justice muttered, “ah yes. Body once again donated willingly as noted in the deceased’s last will and testament. No major disease during life and organs, bones, et cetera are reportedly in good condition. Everything seems to be in order here and we should be able to proceed. Now Jack, you did say everything was sorted out with the gamma array?”

  “Yes, I have been assured that the sequence will run smoothly this time.”

  “Great,” Justice said and he began to manipulate the screen in front of him. “Commencing in five, four, three, two, one.” Justice hit a big red “Execute” button on his screen. That same low hum from before started up again but this time it remained much more controlled. Suddenly walls emerged from the floor and enclosed the subject within them. “That’s new,” Justice commented.

  “One of the engineers found that it would help keep everything contained within the sequencing stage,” Jack supplied.

  “Give that guy a raise,” Justice said absentmindedly, his concentration still on his console. “Initiating gamma sequencing now,” and he hit an execute button on his screen. Again small jolts of electricity shot into the dead man’s body causing muscles to twitch at random. Then the lights above the body flash on and in that same structured and sequenced manner as before. This time nothing out of the ordinary, relative to what Justice was expecting, happened and the first phase achieved completion without incident.

  All the lights then dimmed and Justice, Jack, and one of the other scientists circled around the body. The gurney was reassembled into a round table upon which the body, now showing signs of basic life functions, lay. Justice addressed the observers as six candles were placed upon the round surface, “Now we begin the séance. Please observe that the subject has gained a heartbeat and brain functions are slowly beginning to return. Neural networks are being reestablished and synapses are firing up once again. This is a crucial moment and the séance must be started as soon as possible lest we miss our opportunity.”

  The three of them joined hands after the candles were lit and the lights in the room turned completely off. It was the third scientist that led the séance chant. “We call out now, to the souls that exist beyond our sight. We know, physically you are far from us, but we ask of you only one thing. Deliver to us the soul of this man who, in life, was named Merton Chaucer. His body is ready to receive that which was lost and taken from him.”

  Nothing happened immediately, which was expected by this group. Justice took his hand away from Jack’s and used the communicator strapped to his wrist to remotely access his control terminal. He made a few movements and then something clicked on in the darkness. An electric buzz hummed to life that quickly turned into a soft static noise. “Since you have chosen to not cooperate with us,” Justice said, “we will deliver the soul to his body ourselves.”

  The static noise gradually grew louder and suddenly glowing orbs began to illuminate and die as they raced back and forth across the lab. The darkness around the dim candle light seemed to swell and envelop everything in the room, even attempting to consume the flames. The temperature in the lab dropped rapidly and as Justice spoke, his words pushed misty breath from his mouth, “We reclaim this man’s soul in the name of science and so that he may once again be present in his loved ones’ lives as a physical
entity.”

  The process continued and as it did so, the room began to lightly vibrate, which seemed odd to Jack given the perplexed look that stole across his face. Soon disembodied voices echoed off the lab’s bare walls. “Keep… balance… all will perish… destruct… souls,” were just some of the snippets of speech that were heard rattling through the pitch black. A bright white light flared above the subject’s body for a few seconds before it appeared to be forced down into the body by an unseen force in the room.

  On the monitors surrounding the body, life functions seemed to improve rapidly and the brain seemed to have been jump started as there was an influx of new activity. The room abruptly stopped vibrating and all the lights slowly illuminated back to their initial brightness. Everything was still, nobody moved and their collective breath was held. Justice continued to monitor vitals and brain activity. He waited a few more tensioned filled seconds before speaking.

  “Vitals appear to be improving along with brain activity. Levels approaching nominal status,” he said as he struggled to keep the excitement out of his voice. However, he could not keep it out of his eyes. Justice walked over to the man and looked down at him. The man took in a deep, shuddering breath and began to writhe in agony. Justice looked scared and looked around at Jack for some answers.

  “Let it pass,” Jack said reassuringly, “this is just the body and soul fusing.” However, Jack wasn’t actually sure why the man was yelling and screaming in apparent pain. He had a guess, obviously, but nothing more than that. Eventually the man did begin to calm down but it went on much longer than Jack had anticipated, but he kept Justice assured that it was just part of the process.

  “Did you see this before?” Justice asked as the man’s screams deflated into soft moans, “in the previous two?”

  “Yes,” Jack said right away, “but not to this extent.”

  “Well,” Justice said, thinking deep, “perhaps this is what a successful reanimation actually looks like?”

  “Could be,” Jack responded.

  “I’ll see if I can rouse him,” Justice said. “Let’s see if he is who he’s supposed to be.” Justice reached a hand out and placed it gingerly on the man’s shoulder, as if he were afraid he might crumble into dust if he applied to much pressure. The man’s skin reacted right away to Justice’s touch and Justice pulled his hand back quickly as he was not expecting that type of reaction. “Merton Chaucer, can you hear me?” Justice asked quietly.

  The man didn’t respond, but the machines monitoring brain activity lit up like Santa’s workshop on Christmas Eve. “The brain activity makes it seem as if he’s trying to respond but not everything is firing properly,” the scientist monitoring the brain activity said.

  “Can we fix it?” Justice asked.

  “If things continue on their same path, it looks like the brain will fix itself,” the scientist responded. “Or rather, the regenerative cells will be strong enough to support normal brain functions.”

  This was good news all around and Justice’s smile grew as he realized what was going on in front of their eyes. They had done it, most of it anyway. The crucial moment of finding out whether the proper soul was retrieved or not was dragging along but it seemed as though they would find out in only a few short moments. “Merton Chaucer,” Justice said again, this time a little louder.

  The man moaned, “What?”

  His speech was slightly slurred but still remarkable for a person who had been dead for several days. “Can you hear me?” Justice asked.

  “Yes,” he responded, his words becoming clearer. His voice was scratchy and sounded as though the ravages of old age had their way with it. The man opened his eyes, they were a startling blue but there was an odd glow around the edge of the irises. Nobody made note of it.

  “Is your name Merton Chaucer?” Justice asked, speaking slowly.

  “My name,” the man responded, sounding quite confused.

  “Yes, Merton Chaucer. Is that you?”

  ‘I-I don’t t-think so,” the man sputtered.

  Justice looked worried. He looked around to Jack who mirrored his concern. It would seem the soul and the body they forced together we not, in fact, one and the same. It was something they had expected but were still saddened by. The achievement, however, was tremendous. It was the kind of scientific progress that haunted every single scientist’s wet dreams. They had just transcended the boundaries of nature and physical law. They had just brought the dead back to life.

  CHAPTER 4

  Itchy Trigger Finger

  A few years had passed since the first human was brought back from the dead, but the outcome was nearly always the same. More often than not the soul that was returned to the reanimated body was not the original that was present prior to death. However, every once in a great while they would manage to capture the right soul. There was no consistent data to support the reason for the correct soul being returned, so the scientists of GoD Labs were never able to adjust their processes accordingly.

  Eventually they devised a way to generate revenue from this newly discovered and patented procedure of reanimating the dead. In this case “they” actually refers to Alexander Jefferson. The scientists behind the discovery were outright against making this scientific endeavor into a money making venture, but since it was Mr. Jefferson’s resources, it was Mr. Jefferson’s decision, as usual. And as usual, he went in the direction that would make him the richest, monetarily speaking.

  This was the last straw for the opponents of GoD Laboratories. They viewed it as the most profane slap in the face of nature. It went beyond the tampering of pre-birth genetics that altered DNA and prevented genetic diseases from being passed on. They were able to look passed GoD Labs’ interference with natural selection by reversing the aging process and perfecting cloning and organ growing which virtually eliminated all other diseases and natural means of death. They couldn’t permanently stave of death from old age, but they were certainly able to prolong the human life span.

  However, the act of actually reversing death, the one thing in life that was guaranteed, the one thing that made the perpetuation of the human race, and indeed all species, a possibility on a single planet, was one that was unforgivable. What was even more maddening to these opponents was the fact that this had been going on under their noses for years. This made them so angry, in fact, that activists soon started organizing massive protests outside of GoD Laboratories’ main building, back when the general public was allowed on the compound grounds.

  Things soon turned violent when all resurrecting practices were not immediately discontinued and this prompted GoD Labs to take action by zoning their land as private property. This was opposed to it being commercial property previously which allowed them to pull in a legitimate, tax generating revenue. Since all revenue producing activities were temporarily halted, Mr. Jefferson sent all of his employees on an indefinite holiday. “For my employees’ safety,” he always pandered, even though the real reason was so he didn’t have to pay them and thus protecting his bottom line.

  A forced sabbatical allowed the employees to go out and reacclimate with the world outside of their offices. It also allowed them to get in-touch with their hobbies and families. Since Justice didn’t have a family, he decided to reintroduce himself to the world of guns. He had always been fascinated by machines that were built with the intention of killing a living being. He spent his whole life trying to keep things alive, so he found it quite profound that people out there were doing the exact opposite with theirs.

  This fascination led him to a global weapons convention that was held in Geneva, Switzerland, the weapons capitol of the world. This convention featured the latest prototypes and even some weapons that were still classified. Needless to say, anyone attending the conference either had a high security clearance level or knew someone with one. Justice’s connection was within the U.S. government, where he had many contacts that he made through the various contracts that were given to GoD Labs by
the same government.

  Justice stepped off the plane after landing at Geneva International Airport. The air was cool and the sky was a clear crystal blue. He had always enjoyed the draw of Switzerland, it just seemed like a much cleaner place to him. He felt as though the Swiss were a people who took care of their land, what little they had left. He always made it a point to remember Switzerland as it was before the fourth World War. That was one conflict they did not maintain their neutral standing as they had in past wars.

  After passing through customs he walked towards the exit only to find a man in a black suit and dark sunglasses holding a sign with his name on it. He looked at him as he approached and the man said, “You Mr. Justice,” without a trace of an accent.

  “Yeah,” he responded, “who are you?”

  “Right this way, sir,” the man responded, ignoring the question.

  “Hey,” Justice said annoyed, “who are you?”

  “I am your driver,” the man responded.

  “I didn’t hire a driver.”

  “It’s been taken care of sir,” and the man motioned for Justice to follow him. He did, but very reluctantly. The man led him out of the airport and to a limousine. He opened the door for Justice and then shut it after him.

  “There he is,” a voice said as Justice sat down. He looked over and saw a man in a dark pin stripe suit with slicked back hair and a thin goatee. “You like?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Justice said.

  “It’s me man, Carter Elliot,” the man named Carter said.