With her hands inside the molded rubber gloves, Jessica peered through the microscopic viewer at four misty orbs, ghosts that glowed against the dark background of the biochamber. Her partner had started the cells last night. This one began as a single embryonic stem cell in a sodium bicarbonate solution but would continue to divide until it became a new kidney.
The syringe, permanently attached to the fingers of the glove of the right hand, was sterile but prone to sticking. As Jessica drew up the appropriate XenoMart solution and injected it into the dividing cells, she took care to give the plunger an extra pump for accuracy. Exact dosing accelerated the process. If her work continued to progress as planned, the patient would have his kidney by tonight.
She entered the code on the keyboard to initiate the creation program. By releasing electro-magnetic pulses into the cells at varying intervals, the program would work with XenoMart’s patented solution to direct the cell division. When the organ was viable, the program would shut off automatically. Usually, the end product was implanted in the patient within 24 hours of creation.
XenoMart had revolutionized the stem cell industry. It was a rarity that anyone in America died waiting for an organ anymore. Jessica’s lab was a manufacturing plant for all parts human, even bones and skin. She repeated the procedure, analyzing the patient’s chart for the correct solution and sequence to use. She would continue this until lunch, up and down each row of wired boxes. Across XenoMart, hundreds of labs like hers were churning out organs at the same time in exactly the same way. She was proud to be part of the miracle.
Of course, there were those who would say the process was murder. The stem cells came from embryos, fertilized eggs provided by couples for a fee. Rescuers believed that embryos were people and that Xenomart was trading life for life. They were a small group, but persistent. Rescuers said Xenomart used babies as replacement parts.
Rolling her chair to the next Plexiglas chamber, she placed her eyes on the viewer, and took up the syringe.
“You are always so damn careful with that thing,” a man’s voice whispered in her ear.
Jessica lurched back to look into the face of her partner.
“Edward, you scared me half to death. I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Well, I do have a key card and as always, you lose yourself in this.” He pointed a hand toward the biochamber in front of her. Edward’s key card dangled from his lanyard and rested against his white cotton scrubs. Besides Jessica’s, it was the only other way to get in or out of this lab, part of Xenomart’s state of the art security policy, protection against the Rescuers.
“What are you still doing here? You’ve been up all night. Why aren’t you home in bed?”
“I stayed to tell you that I’m resigning,” Edward said. The corners of his mouth pulled downward, his eyes preoccupied with his shoes.
“But why? You do terrific work.”
“What we do — it’s not right, Jessica. We’re playing God here. I came to convince you to quit, too.”
“Edward, we’ve discussed this before. I don’t agree with your politics. Frankly, you’re beginning to sound like a Rescuer. Besides, a couple of people quitting will not make a bit of difference. Organ manufacturing is a huge industry. Love it or leave it.”
“You’re right about that. My quitting won’t stop anything. It would take a much bigger event. Only a tragedy would slow this rat race down for even a microsecond.”
“So, why quit?” Jessica asked, still hoping to change his mind.
“Because, as you put it, I don’t love it, so I’m going to leave it.”
Edward gave a thin smile and spread his arms. Jessica responded with a firm one-armed hug.
“Good luck, my friend. Stay in touch,” she said.
Jessica watched Edward walk toward the door and then slid her chair to the next row of boxes.
“This is wrong,” she said aloud. She glared at Edward.
“Haven’t you read the memo?” Edward’s face contorted into a cynical grin. “There’s a glitch in XenoMart’s program. Sometimes, it’s not turning off in time. It’s overgrowth.”
Jessica looked back into the viewer. The mass looked something like a large ginger root but it was the movement that was most disturbing. It appeared to be respirating. Of course that was impossible, the organs were never animated until they were attached to the patient. Still, just to be safe, she hit the incineration button on the side of the cube.
Nothing happened.
The thing was as large as the cube now, its throbbing mass pushing against the Plexiglas walls.
“What have you done?” Jessica yelled at Edward, who was standing in the open door to the lab. She slapped the red button again and again.
“I did what needed to be done,” Edward replied, and was out the door before Jessica could get out of her chair.
The Plexiglas split and the fleshy growth poured out onto the lab table.
Jessica headed for the door, reaching for the key card clipped to the pocket of her lab coat. Her hand met cotton and she looked down in alarm, patting her chest frantically. The badge was gone.
In a panic, she looked through the rectangle window in the door. Edward was standing there, watching her. She banged her fists against the steel.
“Let me out! Edward!”
Edward cocked his head to the side and held up her key card. He mouthed I’m sorry through the soundproof glass and then strolled away, shoving the key into his pocket.
Jessica turned back toward the lab, pressing her back against the door as the throbbing mass filled the room, each cell dividing more rapidly than the last. She had just enough time to wonder how many “tragedies” Edward had arranged besides her own.
G.P. Ching is a nurse and writer living in Illinois. Her first novel, The Soulkeepers, is currently on submission.
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33 Responses to “REPLACEMENT PARTS • by G.P. Ching”
Comments
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January 19th, 2010 at 2:15 am
A nicely told / argued story.
However I found the beginning a bit laboured due to the jargon and in places the dialogue was a bit wooden.
January 19th, 2010 at 2:53 am
Euew.
The start is a little slow, but Edward’s entrance is perect: very creepy. From then, the pacing is really, really good, and a perfectly rounded finish. Great story, I enjoyed it.
January 19th, 2010 at 6:23 am
A nice, smooth read and a great story. Well done.
January 19th, 2010 at 6:42 am
Nice tale and the sabotage is all too realistic!
January 19th, 2010 at 6:55 am
Very vivid depiction of the argument against stem cell research. And just like people who kill abortion doctors, Rescuer Edward uses murder as a method of stopping what he believes is wrong.
Heart thumping conclusion!
January 19th, 2010 at 7:24 am
A nice tale, but hampered by a little too much exposition in the opening paragraphs. The B-Movie nature of Edward’s attack was a nice touch.
January 19th, 2010 at 7:30 am
Fabulous. A contemporary tale. And I totally disagree with the other comments. I really enjoyed the detail. That’s the difference between hard sci-fi and soft sci-fi. Gave it 5 stars.
January 19th, 2010 at 7:42 am
A bit too much detailed explanation at the beginning – felt like I was reading a piece of 1930’s or 1940’s SF. Once Edward arrived and we got some dialog and action it was great. Almost, but not quite, 5 stars, dinging it for the exposition.
One thing that bothered me a bit, the need for the keycard to EXIT. I know security people are typically paranoid, but to override what would normally be safety regulations for an emergency exit … ?
January 19th, 2010 at 7:56 am
The opening exposition was fine, but better suited for the start of a novel or longer-length story. For a flash, it is cumbersome. I would suggest the story might start here:
“You are always so damn careful with that thing,” a man’s voice whispered in her ear.
It’s a nice hook, and launches the reader into the story. From there, work in the details you need about the lab and bring the reader along.
–John
January 19th, 2010 at 8:15 am
Unsettling to the max. Well done.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:17 am
This was a great story, but I really would’ve loved to see more backstory about the differences between the two political groups and what they were protesting against. Maybe you could expand it?
January 19th, 2010 at 8:57 am
Two stars. Barely proficient write, too easy to figure what’s coming, and the ending, as was said earlier was hardly shocking or believable (key card to get out?).
January 19th, 2010 at 9:19 am
Creepy! Loved it!
January 19th, 2010 at 9:45 am
Very nice introduction of Edward, and I like how you decided to end. Well done.
January 19th, 2010 at 10:57 am
You lost me in the first couple of paragraphs with the technical jargon and I couldn’t keep focus enough to continue reading the story.
January 19th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
It was a good story. I thought that the beginning was a little more complex then the ending. The flow of intellegence wasn’t consistant. I had to finish it out. As for some of the previous comments well people it is fiction so believable it didn’t need to be.
January 19th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Agree with the comments on extent and complexity of exposition, in the context of a flash fiction piece.
“Microscopic viewer” sounds like the viewer is really small. Perhaps “microscope’s viewer”?
The first syringe is permanently attached to the fingers of the glove of the right hand. (Another?) syringe is later picked up in the next chamber. It’s not clear to me what’s going on with these syringes.
January 19th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
bastrat said: “well people it is fiction so believable it didn’t need to be.”
WRONG!
Fiction does not have to be believable in the real world, but it has to be believable in its own context. We are allowed “suspension of belief” from the real world, SF and fantasy use this all the time. But the world of the story needs to be consistent, and it shouldn’t contradict itself.
January 19th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Jim I know what you mean and maybe I should have elaborated on my statement. I was responding to the previous comment from fishlovesca about the keycard and it not being believable. I completely agree with your comment. There are many facilities that use keycards or finger prints scanners to be the main or only means to be able to access certain areas for security reasons. I just wanted to elaborate a bit on my statement.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Yes, to get into high security areas but not to get out. Unless, however, you cut coke for a living or handle top secret info; then the security would be high going in or out. Another issue with this story is unreal dialogue that pushes story info. i.e.
“gee John, how did you get in here,” Mary said.
“Oh, Mary, you know I have a keycard. You know, the one our boss, Rick gave us when we started working here,” John said.
“Yes, the one that can let us in and out of the labs,” Mary said.
I suggest reading writing books by Noah Lukeman.
January 19th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Kept my interest
Edge of my seat
5 *****
January 20th, 2010 at 3:07 am
I dunno, my work requires key cards to get out, as a means of tracking who’s in and who’s not. If security’s there they can override this, but there’s no automatic override. This didn’t throw me out of the story, and I found it well-written and deliciously creepy. And, sadly, all too believable.
January 20th, 2010 at 4:28 am
Cat, you’re saying there is no emergency exit? That sounds illegal.
January 20th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Love it! As a trained biochemist I loved the details and as a person with multiple sclerosis used to the pro vs. anti stem cell research arguments I though this was this was a clever twilight zone style twist in the tail! Bravo and 5 *s!
January 20th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
On reading the other comments, have people never been into high security buildings where top secret work (like Jessica’s) takes place? Of *course* you need a keycard to get out, otherwise you could follow someone in who used a key, hole up in the gents (or somewhere) until everyone leaves and just walk out stealing any secret items that you want to! *facepalm*
January 20th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
No, most people haven’t been in top secret buildings. Think about it.
January 20th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
I tend to agree with those who feel the story needs a better hook and less exposition at the beginning. I have the same problem with a lot of my work. It’s difficult when the reader needs to receive certain information in order to understand what’s happening. It’s easy to start with action. . . but then how/where do you fit those bits of information in? I’d love to see you start with “You are always so damn careful with that thing,” a man’s voice whispered in her ear.” as suggested by J.C. Towler.
January 20th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
extremely proud of you Gene, glad to see so many other like-minded people finally on board with the literary styling of G.P.Ching
January 20th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Wow! I want to know what happens next. The story grabs hold of you and leaves you wanting more!
January 21st, 2010 at 6:21 am
story built in tension just right I thought. The tech-like beginning was nice technique and telegraphed future suspense, very good. Towler’s suggestion on beginning used too much. Your ending conveyed an appropriate conspiracy found in a storyline such as this. I give it a 5.
January 21st, 2010 at 7:51 am
I want to hear what happens next. This could easily be a series.
January 21st, 2010 at 1:09 pm
I agree with the series potential! Nice work!
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:13 pm
This was great. I want to read some more. Really held my interest. G. P. Ching has done a fine job.