An announcer walks on to the stage, dressed in a formal suit and tie. The
anticipation from his audience is palpable, their eyes roaming hungrily for the star of
the show. He puts the mic to his lips.
"PRESENTING, THE MAN YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR, WHOSE HONORS ARE TOO NUMEROUS TO LIST, DR. DREW LIPSKY".
The audience bursts into wild applause.
There come many turning points in our lives. Points where the paths we tread
branch and flow outwards. For Drew, one such incident occured when he wandered into an attic one day, and instead of a recording of his great great grandfather, he found a set of documentaries entitled "Great Men of the Age".
Young Drew sat transfixed in front of the TV for hours on end. One by one,
humanity's best and brightest were displayed for all to see. The 9 year old did not yet
comprehend the impact of the events he witnessed, but there was something there he did comprehend. An aeroplane full of strangers spontaneously applaud as an abashed Dr. Jonas Salk boards. A man embraces Norman Borlaug with tears in his eyes in front of fields of wheat. A crowd bows deeply to Alfred Sommer. No, Drew did not really know what these people had done, but he did know that this was who he wanted to be. And perhaps that was enough.
When he returned to school, Drew had a new invention. Another ray device for the
playground. But today he would not be conquering tetherball pole, today he would
"contribute to humanity". He held back a maniacal laugh as he... revamped the playground jungle gym. Standing on top of his new creation, he looked at the wide-eyed stares of his peers and inwardly sighed, perhaps this was pointless after all. Then, applause broke out. Kids grinned at him and cheered. Screams and shouts of merriment echoed throughout recess."This is much better than my rubber control ray!", thinks Drew, "why, everyone is happy; I am happy". Seizing on this newfound popularity, Drew continued inventing. But instead of spitball flingers, pencil vaporizers, or other spiteful contraptions, he made gifts. The cafeteria began materializing gourmet foods, the restrooms cleaned themselves, and the teachers suddenly found interactive and entertaining teaching materials. Out of no where, Drew was the most popular child in the school. No one was sneering at him, bullying him, or talking behind his back. He reveled in this new feeling.
Throughout middle and high school, those formative years, Drew's reputation
persisted. The generous genius. The child prodigy. It was a peculiar type of popularity.
Though he sat at the top of the dubious social order (works of fiction inevitably
overemphasize its power) of Middelton Middle School, there was no backstabbing, no false friendship. He was a giver, insulting him was social suicide. He interacted with
everyone, because everyone wanted to talk to him, for honest reasons or shallow ones. It must be noted, though, that at this point, Drew still craved social approval most of all.
His adolescence was not without its share of small dramas and teenage tragedies, but they did not define him as they did another man, who would have become Drakken. As it happened,his passion for sciences led him to his closest friends. Whether they be "nerdy" or "popular", the defining characteristics of his inner circle were intelligence and vision.
His closest friends molded him as much as he molded them. He would regale them with lessons from the now weathered and much-handled copy of "Great Men of the Age". They would talk, at first dreaming simply of fame, about solving the great crises of the age. They would bemoan the suffering of others, and exalt the noble nature of science. Humans are peculiar beasts though, they possess the unique ability to fool themselves, to turn fiction into fact.
By high school, science was "in". Everyone truly wanted to be like Drakken now.
They admired his intelligence, they genuinely listened to the ideas adopted from those dusty documentaries. Most of all, Drew and his cohorts now wanted to help, truly. They were empathizing now, as few of us do, with the plight of the many. That was when Drew happened upon his first major invention.
"What... is that", muttered Alexander, looking at a strange purplish plant
growing in Drew's front lawn.
"BEHOLD MY LATEST INVENTION", Drew shouted enthusiastically, waving his arms.
Alexander chuckled, Drew's lust for life, while sometimes irritating, tended to improve his mood and enthusiasm. "I am beholding it, but what does it do", he said. Perhaps this was some way to make Middleton's High's garden prettier or something.
"No fun", remarked Drew, "You remember the problems we were discussing in Africa? Too little water, too much heat, too little nutrients?"
"Surely not", Alexander's eyes wandered to the plant's base, it was planted in
sand. "You dont mean..."
"It grows with 6 inches of rainfall a year, and can enter a dormant state with
less to avoid dying. It is a high-yield plant that provides a grain that is easy to
harvest yet nutrient rich. It is resistant to wheat rust, parasites, and flooding. It
requires only sodium ions to facilitate its cell division. I like to call it bob", Drew
snickered at the last remark.
"Well..." Alexander was honestly dumbstruck. They always talked a lot about
saving the world, and none of them doubted Drew's ability, but to be the first to see
history in the making...
"Today we recognize the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate, for his
extraordinary contribution to the world food supply. We stand today, looking at a purple future for Africa, a future where no one is hungry, where starvation is a thing of the past!", the chairman of the Nobel Committee shakes Drew's hand.
Through all the fanfare, all the adoring crowds, all the speeches, Drew found
himself in a sort of daze. "We made it." he thought absently, overwhelmed by his new
fame. Yet out of all of this, one memory struck him in particular.
An old man, with tears in his eyes, grasping his hand. "Because of you, my
children will grow up to be strong men. Because of you, I will watch no more young ones die. Because of you, I will not have to cry any longer. Thank you." The man wipes his eyes, overcome with emotion. The president of the Republic of Niger bows deeply to the high schooler, and exits the room.
Drew's convictions have never been stronger
As Drew enters college, he is more determined to help than ever. He is not close
friends with Ramesh, Bob Chen, or James Possible. Well, he maintains a healthy respect for them, but they are not particularly close, he certainly isn't dependent on them as another Drew might have been. He never makes a crude female robot, he is developing more important things.
A slightly stunned new-caster reads, "The world rejoices today as Mr. Drew Lipsky
announces his comprehensive plan to eradicate malaria from the world, over to Bob with the story."
"Sue I have the great honor to be standing with Drew Lipsky, already the
youngest Nobel laureate in history. Mr. Lipsky, do you mind explaining your solution to the malaria problem?"
Drew speaks confidently now, a young man eager to convince his audience, "Yes, we have developed a new form of mosquito gene, one that will make them much more fertile, and also much more likely to attract a mate. In our experiments, a group of 10 with this gene and 2000 produces a 99.99% mutated population within 5 generations.
This protein also causes the mosquito to develop a peculiar defect, instead of
drinking human blood, these mosquitoes drink water from cactus and other similar mosquitoes cause negligible damage to the plants, as they can only hold a drop ortwo of water, but more importantly, they are no longer disease vectors.
Because they hold significant competitive advantage over non-mutated counterparts, they will bully them out through survival of the fittest."
Things go according to plan. Populations of mutated mosquitoes are released at
strategic points throughout the developing world. Like an inexorable wave, the new
Anopholes mosquito spreads far and wide, out competing its dangerous brethren for
resources, mates, and space. 6 years after the initial release, 99% of disease carrying mosquitoes have been eradicated. Malaria, yellow fever, and rift valley fever all but go extinct. Honorary Doctor Drew Lipsky wins the Nobel prize in biology.
"Are you sure about this operation?" Dr. Drew leans over an Amelia Go. A look of
concern covers his face, "I know young people can be harsh, but your skin is part of who you are".
"I just want to be normal doctor, to stand out less, to have normal friends.",
the green skinned girl answers. "Perhaps later, I can be strong like you, help people
like you do, but for now, I want to be normal".
The doctor sighs heavily, "I recommend Middleton, if you must move somewhere". He administers the anesthesia, and begins.
As the years progress, invention after invention emerges. Nanites remove plaque
from arteries and same nanites are modified to surgically removed cancer cell-
by-cell. A new scanner provides MRIs for pennies.
He branches out, batteries efficient enough to power a theoretical orbital laser
("what sort of egomaniac would build something like that", jokes drew), yet small enough to fit in your hands. Solar panels that manage to capture energy at 50% efficiency.
Award after award follows. A knighthood, the Bharat Ratna, the nobel prize in
physics. At first the world is shocked, then rejoices. Drew is the man of the year. The
man of the decade. The man of the century.
Inevitably though, Drew grows bored. So when the new supervillains of the age
spring up... he is happy to accept a position at GJ. Kim Possible and her long time older sister figure Amelia Go find themselves better outfitted then ever before.