Experiment

By jinnis

"Hold on a few more minutes, father. Help is coming." Adam pressed the man's clammy fingers, waiting for the siren of the ambulance.

"Adam." The hoarse voice had lost its convincing edge, the natural dominance it used to radiate. "Listen. You're not my son. I should have told you, but the time was never right. And now—"

A shiver ran through the frail body in the white lab coat, and the eyes behind the horn-rimed glasses lost their focus. Adam pressed the old man's chest in the rhythm he'd learned and trained in the lifesaving course. Tears blurred his sight, but he kept his gaze on the contorted features of the man who hadn't been his father until a distant wailing announced the approaching ambulance. He already knew Doctor Catelli wouldn't need it anymore.

~

When the rescue team and the police were gone, Adam poured himself a drink and slumped into his father's chair. No, he reminded himself. Not his father, Doctor Catelli. He should have known. His shorter, stockier build, defying the fact most children outgrew their parents. His brown eyes, so different from the doctor's piercing blue ones.

From a genetic point of view, the late man's statement made sense. Also, the doctor never had shown interest in a woman or mentioned Adam's potential mother. As long as he could remember, it had only been the two of them—and the work in the lab. But why? Why the lies?

He pulled the plastic key from his pocket, the master key he pilfered before they took the body away. It was time to get answers.

~

Adam spent the night in the lab. Not that this was something new. He'd practically grown up in the place, being homeschooled by his father and assisting with experiments from a toddler's age. His dad's work had fascinated him, and he was keen on following in the famous man's footsteps. Two years ago, he'd finished his master thesis and was now well on his way to a PhD. Genetics had been his choice, of course.

In the wee hours, he stared with bleary eyes at the file with the genetic code that explained it all. His dad's obsession, and genius, and his own ancestry. Most of all, it explained why certain members of the research team never would accept him as an equal.

With a soft curse, he closed the file and stood, yawning. He needed a breath of fresh air to process what he'd learned.

~

Adam followed the pathway to the zoo. It had been a while since he visited the enclosure with his father's most prominent success. His own scientific work had kept him from spending time with the animals. Now, he regretted he'd let others care for his childhood friends, mostly students who came here for a chance to work with the famous Doctor Catelli, who hoped to find a place in his ambitious program.

With his own key, he opened the entrance to the den. The well-remembered musky scent greeted him, and another tear formed in the corner of his eye. He rubbed it away with his palm and stepped into the enclosure, offering a green-leaved branch he'd picked from the stack by the entrance.

The woolly trunk reached for it, a delicate touch of the mobile tip, and guided the snack to the mouth between the giant tusks.

"Good morning, old friend. Glad you're already up. How do you fare, these days?" With an outstretched hand, he stepped closer to the giant animal, who greeted him with a moan. Adam caressed the trunk, ran his hand through the coarse hair covering it.

The calf hid behind his mother, shielded by her bulk against intruders. Although it was big and strong enough to squash a human, it feared them. The great mammoth shuffled, rattling the chain that fettered her. Adam took in the festering wound where cold iron chafed her skin and winced at the pain she must suffer. "Don't worry, my friend, I'm here to help."

He found the fitting wrench on the workbench in the maintenance room. The primary danger while removing the fetter was being trampled by the mighty beast. But the mammoth held still, and a few minutes later, the iron cluttered to the ground. "Here you go. I doubt anyone will find time to worry about you today. Enjoy your freedom while it lasts."

He watched the giant animal stroll through the park, the calf only a few steps behind. Their time of respite will be short-lived, like mine, but we should make the best of the moments we have.

~

Back in the lab, he checked the clock. He still had an hour before the first employees arrived. Enough time to set something else free.

The mammoth was only the more spectacular fruit of his adoptive dad's experiments. The reconstruction of an extinct species from frozen DNA as an impressive means to showcase the potential of his gene splicing and molecular cell-modification methods. Animals that shouldn't exist to raise public attention and gain funding for his pet project. The lonesome beast had been a mere playground, just like him, Adam.

He sat down at Doctor Catelli's workstation and called up the picture of the iceman. A Neolithic hunter, found in the melting ice of an alpine glacier, murdered over five millennia ago by a flint arrow in the back. The DNA of the man had been well preserved. Well enough to allow the decoding of his genome. "How was it, living in your time? I fear human nature wasn't too different back then."

Staring at the picture of his ancestor—no, his alter ego—Adam enjoyed the peace understanding brought to his troubled mind. This explained why he always felt out of this time and place. Why he didn't fit with his peers. He wasn't one of them.

And now, with his creator and protector gone, the community of scientists would never accept him as an equal, not as long as they knew about his origins. He would become a specimen, treated like the lab rat he always had been.

The doctor's ultimate research goal had been cell rejuvenation. What an irony that his heart failed him before he fine-tuned the procedure to save his own life. For years, Adam had followed his developments, admiring first. But lately, he wondered what success would mean in a time marked by overpopulation and climate change, amongst other unsolved problems. Driven by doubt and curiosity, he had started his own project on mutation and adaption. And he had discovered a few interesting facts.

He switched off the computer.

~

With the care ingrained by a lifetime of handling dangerous substances, Adam retrieved a vial from the freezer and placed it on a working table. He stared at it for a few moments. Was this the right choice?

He created the virus by accident. Aware of the devastation it could spread, he had kept only a single vial, a sample for future reference. Still, it would be enough to spread, invisible and fast. Carried by airliners and cargo ships, it would reach the farthest corner of this world within days or weeks. And then it would be too late.

Adam hesitated, but the hiss of the automatic front porch announced the first workers. His time was running out. With a sad smile, he unstoppered the tiny vial and dripped the content into the water tank of the coffeemaker in the corner.

Then he picked up his jacket and left the lab, and his past, and human company for good.