Beast Machine (14 page)

“
This device,” Jeffrey
stated as he held up the first device, “is a breakthrough
technology for coal miners and humans in general. I’ll preface this
device by saying it will be HUGE in China if we choose to market it
there; it’ll be a real life saver for many.” He pulled the device
out of its plastic casing and held it between his forefinger and
thumb. It was no longer than an inch and was opaque. “It is placed
in the nasal passage and will ‘filter’ all ‘non-healthy’ products –
think air pollution, cigarette smoke – that enter through the nasal
cavity. It should effectively end miners dying from Black Lung and
any respiratory diseases – our miners at least, sir. Any pollution
that enters the mouth, however, still will be detrimental to the
human’s body. We have yet to develop a filter device for the mouth
that would not suffocate the person.” Jeffrey acted as if he were
choking to add to his presentation. “The nose filter device, when
our full plan takes effect, will be implemented in all Americans
for healthier lung function. It would be surgically inserted into
the nasal passage with a recovery time of no more than a
week.”

“
I thought I told you that
we weren’t going to be using the mining facility as an actual mine?
I want the Earth to be around as long as humanity! This goes
against my wishes, Jeffrey,” said Chairman Obelis as he eyed the
small nose filter still in Jeffrey’s possession.

“
We weren’t but I decided
that we should continue mining out the massive amount of coal
that’s left in that part of the ground.”

“
Why so?” asked Chairman
Obelis growing weary of Jeffrey’s recent antics.

“
Well, sir, there are three
reasons for continuing to mine the coal: the locals already have
plenty of experience working in the mines, so there won’t be any
extra training needed for the lowly folk in case this second device
cannot be rolled out quick enough. Secondly, once these devices are
implemented in all of our miners, it will show the entire world how
effective the device is by how healthy the miners are, thus wanting
the device themselves! Finally, the coal wouldn’t be used for
energy purposes; rather it will be humanity’s emergency power
source. A rainy day energy fund in a sense.”

“
Emergency power source?”
Chairman Obelis flared his nostrils; signaling he was mildly
interested in what Jeffrey was saying.

“
Yes! The coal retrieved
will be placed in secret, well secured vaults as energy reserves
only to be used in global emergencies. Only Thane, you and I will
know of these vaults. In addition, I hope to put over 50% of the
world’s mines under your control in the next decade, if not sooner!
Thus, we’ll control what happens with the coal and all byproducts.
No more
accidental
chemical runoff from mining facilities after they’re under our
– erm – your control.” Jeffrey picked up Chairman Obelis’ coffee
and took a sip. It was quite normal for the two to share drinks.
“The coal vaults will be kept in our possession and without any
governmental knowledge – well, it can become governmental knowledge
once you eventually become President!”

“
Excellent,” Chairman
Obelis clapped quietly. “I am quite impressed by your work and
determination. Now, Jeffrey, the humanity-changing device – our
device that will set humanity straight – educationally, not
sexually.” They both giggled.

“
Ah, yes!” exclaimed
Jeffrey. Jeffrey gently placed the nasal device back in the red
faux-leather briefcase and pulled out a glass tube the size of a
modern cell phone. “Inside this glass casing is your
‘humanity-changing’ apparatus. We cannot actually open this glass
case and gaze at the device in the open world because it would
render the device useless.

“
However, if you look
closely you can see a bluish object within the glass case. Here,
have a look.” Jeffrey slowly passed the device to Chairman Obelis.
“Please be gentle, sir. Doctor Silva said he needs as many of these
devices as possible since the materials needed to make them are
rare at the moment.”

“
Of course, of course,
Jeffrey,” said Chairman Obelis. “What makes the materials so
rare?”

“
The materials are mostly
from living beings – living human beings. They need to be alive to
extract the necessary materials.”

“
Does it kill them? I don’t
want to be killing Americans whatsoever, Jeffrey.”

“
No, no, no, sir. No one
dies from extracting materials, but they will be temporarily
rendered inert. It doesn’t last for more than an hour and the
removed biological material typically recovers in three
months.”

Jeffrey, however, was lying
to spare Chairman Obelis of the gruesome details. To create this
humanity changing device of theirs, Silva needed to remove the
spinal cord, soft tissue cells and white blood cells from other
humans. Silva found that local orphanages were the best place
to
shop
for spinal
cords, as children had the ripest spinal cords since they were so
young. An occasional drifter or streetwalker would be used as well
if there happened to be a void.

Where were the bodies of
these poor orphaned children and drifters? Not even Jeffrey knew
because he did not want to know.

“
So, no permanent damage
done?”

“
No, sir!”

“
Now, explain to me how we
will be implanting the device without a person knowing?”

“
During the surgery for the
nasal device, another doctor or nurse will be inserting this
biological creation of Silva’s into the nervous system by way of a
cervical spine surgery – a surgery that Silva isn’t accustomed to
yet, but he will be soon after enough practice.” Jeffrey sat on
Chairman Obelis’ lap. “The object will hijack – for lack of a
better term – certain processes of the brain. The personality of
the person won’t change at all, but their patterns, habits and the
like will be altered – they all will have a strong fondness for
you, of course. Personality will be changed along the way naturally
we hope.”

“
Nifty little sucker right
there.” Chairman Obelis held the glass case up to his squinting
right eye. He cracked a smile.

“
The human sourcecode will
be tapped in the spinal cord and our
better
sourcecode will be
added.”

“
It’s going to work,
right?”

Jeffrey stood up to
explain. “Absolutely, sir! The fifty trials on various animals
worked marvelously. Each animal followed every command we gave
them; eventually they started making the objectively
healthier
and
smarter
decisions on their
own accord. For instance, the male chimpanzee was skipping, using a
sewing machine and refusing to eat the usual slop we gave him for
healthier options. The skipping and sewing machine use are examples
of the being becoming happier and more resourceful as well in
comparison to wanting to fight another chimpanzee. The chimpanzee
slept under the picture of you that we placed in his pen. Every
single night. He even admired it when he wasn’t eating or working
on the sewing machine.”

“
Wonderful, my boy!
Wonderful.” Chairman Obelis returned the glass case to Jeffrey.
“What’s the name of it?”

“
We haven’t made the
decision on that,” said Jeffrey. Jeffrey wanted to name it after
himself or Chairman Obelis but knew that would be quite the haughty
decision.

“
The device – we hope –
will eventually be fully consumed through the brain stem in a few
short months and we’re hopeful that it will be passed on through
conception – artificial or natural. Then the next generation of
children will be smart, healthy and overall devoid of most damaging
mental illnesses; their physical stature and attributes will still
be determined by their birth parents. We may have world peace in a
few short decades if this device, accompanied with the nasal
device, makes it into the developing countries too!”

“
That’s truly spectacular,
Jeffrey.”

Chairman Obelis hugged
Jeffrey tightly. Jeffrey’s face began to turn red as a smile of
relief and joy crept onto his face and into his trousers. The hug
lasted longer than Jeffrey thought it would, to his delight. He
placed his head on Chairman Obelis’ shoulder.

“
Now, ahem, now, what is
the next phase of our – your grand plan, sir?” asked Jeffrey while
slowly releasing from the embrace with a warm smile.

“
Deciding if I should go by
‘Governor Obelis’ or ‘Chairman Obelis’ once I become Governor of
Arkansas, ha!” laughed Chairman Obelis as he patted Jeffrey on the
shoulder. The pair laughed hysterically at the painfully bad joke.
“We need to name this humanity-changing-device because calling it
‘the device’ is boring.”

“
Yes, sir! I will
brainstorm immediately,” said Jeffrey. Chairman Obelis nodded and
smiled.

“
Jeffrey, I will be having
Thane drive me to McCarthy’s site. I am going to begin my in-person
meetings with him.”

“
Well, uh, okay. What about
me?” whined Jeffrey. “What am I to do?”

Chairman Obelis smiled,
“You will be my eyes and ears at the facility while I am gone. You
will begin the process of hiring the troubled and impoverished
people of Arkansas. Then you will slowly be giving them the new
devices by way of mandatory physicals at the facility. I know you
will not fail me, Jeffrey.”

“
Of course, sir,” bowed
Jeffrey as he left the office. Jeffrey wanted to succeed for the
sake of Chairman Obelis, much more than he wanted to see humanity
succeed. Chairman Obelis’ approval and love meant much more to
Jeffrey than poor people receiving better lives.

“
Oh and Jeffrey,” Chairman
Obelis called out. “You’ve set up Silva’s deceased wife’s
‘voice-box’ at the facility, right?”

Jeffrey replied, “You
betcha. That Silva really believes it’s his wife he’s communicating
with and, bizarrely, talking dirty to; he even has released some
tension through physical means that I unfortunately caught on
camera.” Jeffrey grimaced. “It’s quite amazing what one will do
when their heart is reignited.”

Chapter 15

Life Is Confusing

The first two beasts and
Gora gently, but firmly, moved the frantic Tubman to a gurney, tied
her down again and rested some more. Sleep was often sought in the
laboratory but Gora, Hitbear and Owlbert rarely partook in the act
unless emotionally or physically necessary. They had to get moving
on the revenge; too much sleep would ruin their resolve. Adding
Tubman would lighten the load before, during, and after each
mission.

Tubman was sluggish and
became even more confused after the blow to the head, but she was
still determined to escape the clutches of whatever these people –
these things were. She jumped between reality and her dreams about
the past.

One moment Tubman was
transporting a slave family of three out of their torturous life
and into the North, her last journey south so she could retire and
seek medical help for her painful migraines. The next moment she
was a hare bound to a gurney by a strange woman and two strange
beasts that could speak. It was truly a heaven and hell switcheroo
for Tubman. But which was real? “Is this purgatory?” she thought.
“What did I do to deserve this?” She contorted her new body the
best she could, but didn’t break free of the straps until she used
her teeth to cut through them.

Gora had hoped a night of
sleep would be beneficial to the entire group but awoke to Tubman
chewing and rummaging through supplies in the lab. Gora wasn’t sure
if Tubman had caused the lab to look more of a mess or if Tubman
was rummaging through the mess Gora had made. Either way, the lab
was still disgusting.

“
You know you could just
ask for some food?” said Gora lightly. She didn’t want to scare the
skittish hare. Gora was wrapped in her sky blue blanket and
resembled a mummy with how tightly the blanket was
wrapped.

Tubman looked up at Gora
quickly then kept rummaging through various supplies; breaking
beakers, smashing samples, tossing chemical on the floor without
hesitation and chewing on anything that faintly resembled food or
smelled tasty.

Gora took her wheat bread
off a nearby chair and opened it. “Here’s some bread. I’d get you
carrots but carrots aren’t good for your digestive system as a
hare.” Gora tossed the bread toward Tubman. “There’s a fun fact for
you.”

“
I ain’t no damn hare,
lady,” replied Tubman harshly. Her jaw extended outward and she
spat. “I am Harriet Tubman.” She pointed at her chest. “I am
Harriet Tubman. You cannot change that. I am Harriet Tubman.” Tears
slowly rolled down the gray and white furry face of Tubman as she
stopped her rummaging.

Gora stepped closer to
Tubman. She wanted to be as kind as possible to her newest, and
most confused, creation.

“
You
are
Harriet Tubman in the sense that
you may remember the memories she had, you have the strengths and
weaknesses she possessed and you retain the strong personality she
had, but you are no longer Harriet Tubman the human.”

“
What am I then? A rabbit
that can speak?” questioned Tubman through tears and sniffles. “I
am Harriet Tubman!”