ID: 00010203_dolly
Source: Phone call (transcript)
Project: Preventive Surveillance
Date: 2003/06/24
Status: Active
(Static)
Target: Hello? Who is- (unintelligible)?
Agent: This- from the Department of Talent Acquisi-.
Target: Excuse me?
Agent: Can you hear me, Dr. Birkin?
Target: Oh, now I do. I'm sorry.
Agent: By no means. I'm afraid the line is not quite stable, since I'm actually underground. Our facilities are under renovation-.
Target: Can I help you?
Agent: I'm calling you on behalf of the United Nations Artificial Evolution Laboratory.
Target: The lab in Hakone?
Agent: Technically, our organization has several branches over the world, but indeed. Have you been following the official investigations the lab is carrying out?
Target: Have I? I must have read a thousand articles about your findings already. In fact, I have subscribed to several academic publications that my university has no access to, just to keep up with your work.
Agent: That is great to hear, doctor. Truth be told, given the accident that resulted in the death of Dr. Katsuragi and most of his expedition, we are experiencing a shortage of personnel.
(Silence)
Target: I'm truly sorry. It was a tragedy.
Agent: The reason we are calling is to request your formal participation in any future endeavors our organization might take part in.
Target: I… I don't know what to say. It would be an honor, but what could I help you with?
Agent: We have paid scrupulous attention to your last research, Dr. Birkin. And frankly, we consider you one of the few remaining scientists with potential in the field of biology.
Target: Come on… There's no need for excessive flattery. I'm sure colleagues of mine like Dr. Thomas Aldwell or Dr. Gala Fernández have a more impressive résumé.
Agent: Then, let me rephrase it… You are, at least, one of the few who is not restricted by any contract –particularly those relating to big pharma– or tied to a given government.
Target: I see.
Agent: What we're offering is an exclusive deal. In other words, you'd be asked to cease any other collaboration with universities or private employers. The reason is simple. The current objective the UN is pursuing is to salvage the Katsuragi investigation by all means necessary—
Target: But I thought that had been settled after the official investigation of the accident, am I right? Most of Katsuragi's research was redone by the few scientists who survived.
Agent: Yet there are some missing pieces we're still trying to find. Our thirst for knowledge isn't quite quenched. Furthermore, the expedition's work was plagued by questions that have rekindled the world's passion for science. In the upcoming years, there will be a series of projects that feed on Dr. Katsuragi's initial findings. Particularly, we'd be glad to have you join a prospective investigation related to cellular replication in organic beings.
Target: Is it related to Wilmut and Campbell's experiment in Scotland?
Agent: Well, I'm not particularly versed in the scientific vicissitudes. As far as I can tell, the Scottish did an excellent job in replicating animal organisms, but our team aims to solve the key issues that appeared in the posterior treatment of the cloned subject and its medical condition.
Target: Ah… I see. Well, if I'm not mistaken, the telomeres in the subject's cells were the same age as those of the original animal, which may have caused a premature decay in the replicated organism. The outcome was a grotesque creature, in my opinion; a baby in the outside, an aged being in the inside. It was doomed from the start.
Agent: Certainly, the challenges of such an endeavor were unprecedented. However, with the state of the art technology we now possess, with the new facilities we are building, there is a consensus among our scientific team. We could be in the verge of some great discoveries in the field. Discoveries that would encourage our team to work with more advanced test subjects.
Target: Is this sanctioned by international law? What exactly are the implications of the work you're suggesting?
Agent: I can sense the skepticism, but you shouldn't fear any reprisal, Dr. Birkin. Our cloning project will undergo the necessary procedures to avoid any kind of scandal.
Target: I don't like the term "cloning", in particular. There's no such thing as cloning by biological standards. Best case scenario, you can produce a replica that remains faithful to the original shell. But how can you replicate memories? How can you replicate thoughts? We are unable to emulate the spontaneous synapses that occur inside the brain. How can you imbue all these little coincidences in life that shape our behavior and influence how we perceive reality into a petri dish? That's God's work.
Agent: But imagine what could be done with enough talent and resources to develop this field. As of now, the lab is putting together a team of experts that will surely break the current frontiers of biology. After a couple of years, wouldn't these replicas, as you call them, get better and better?
(Static)
Target: In the unlikely event that these replicas don't crack just by laying your eyes on them, all you'd get is a far echo of what it's supposed to be. A kind of… reverberation.