Chapter III: You Are (Not) Replaceable
Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
12/25/2005
The nursing room was but a cold surgery. Over time, that tendency would repeat again and again. For her, it was not a problem, though. After all, babies were not so demanding of their accommodation. The lights flickered over her. Red and fiery, her eyes returned the glimmer. She observed the doctors, laid back on her glass cradle. Among them, there was the head of team. Dr. Richards was signing a few forms when commander Ikari entered the room.
"Good evening, Dr. Richards," Ikari said. He looked pale and anxious.
"It's a pleasure to have you here, commander," the doctor returned, smiling.
"I came as soon as I heard the news."
"Would you like to take a look at her?" Richards gestured the commander towards the cradle.
Inside the glass container, a white-haired baby stared at them with her crimson eyes. Carefully, Gendo placed his hand on the cradle and stared at the missing piece he had sought for a long time.
Holding back a tear, he asked: "how come her hair is…?"
"We're still not sure about it." The doctor was blunt. "It seems that some genetic information, although transferred to the new creature, hasn't been expressed correctly."
The commander straightened his jacket and faced the doctor. "Samuel, what you have accomplished here is far greater than anything else we have realized until now. Let me stress that."
"I know," said the doctor. "And I have to thank you for giving me the opportunity to lead this project. It's just that, after so much time and effort, I expected my rendition to be flawless."
"We all have flaws. Some more than others."
Behind them, a voice broke the spell. Paper in hand, it demanded Richard's attention.
He shoved him away. "Not now, Dr. Birkin!"
The tone took Ikari by surprise. Birkin, a younger doctor that had served as Richard's right hand, had been a late addition to the team. It had been Richard's idea, to get him on board. For sure, there were times when professionals had work related discussions which could escalate into arguments. Stress was a big factor, ego played a role too. But this…
"What's that you're holding there, Dr. Birkin?" inquired the commander.
Richards glared at his pupil, while Ikari read the medical reports attentively. "If I understand this correctly, there are some complications beyond her hair color…"
"As I said, after so much effort," started Richards, "we would have liked—"
"What's your opinion on this, Dr. Birkin?" The commander interrupted Richards.
Pensive, the young doctor weighted his words as his eyes alternated between his most immediate authority figure and the head of the whole organization.
"I think that, overall," Birkin returned, "we're talking about a step in the right direction."
"However…" the commander raised his brow.
"Brain scans show abnormal activity in her brain. Particularly, the areas supposed to engage in social interaction seem to underperform at the moment. Apart from that, we need further testing to ensure that her body and genes work properly."
Magically, most of the team had managed to put some distance between themselves and the operating room. Birkin was dispatched too. It all became quiet soon enough, and Richards evaded commander Ikari's accusatory glance.
Gendo approached the creature. He tried to warm up his hands a little, before picking the baby up. While he was rocking it, he asked: "how long?"
Richards hesitated. He wasn't very optimistic regarding certainties.
"How long until she can be perfect?" insisted the commander.
"There is no way to know. One can only estimate…"
"Humph… And what about Dr. Birkin's comments?"
The doctor sighed. "Well, I have to admit that I was out of line. There's no denying that she has some cognitive issue."
"Didn't you check for pathologies in the previous stages of the conception?"
"We did… It's not related to a low IQ, Down syndrome or any of the more classical issues that are easier to predict."
Ikari exploded. "Then what the hell is the matter with her?"
"Well, as Dr. Birkin said, she's non-respondent to social impulses. Most of our interactions with her are far from what you'd expect from a normal child. There isn't much feedback after touching or talking to her."
"Is there anything I should know about the eyes?"
"The red color surely is a concern. We need to do some testing. It may be possible that a partial blindness is affecting her development, but most babies don't develop their sight fully until they're one. We'll have to wait."
The commander fixed his eyes on hers. From the outside, the first cloned child ever did not look that broken.
"Imagine her like one of those Russian dolls. Before you, there's a beautiful girl… but the recipient is empty. It's as if… as if she didn't have a soul," the doctor concluded.
The baby growled. Tired, her eyelids closed as his little hands rested on her chest.
"In any case, that doesn't talk precisely well about your job."
"I'm doing all that can be done, Gendo…" the doctor took off his coat and hung it on a chair. Dejected, he let himself fall over it. "This whole thing… Do you miss her? Is that why we're using her DNA?"
The commander put the baby in the cradle. "Remember Dr. Akagi?"
Richards froze for a second.
Ikari continued. "She's about to complete her research. When she does, we're going to use her supercomputer to help us advance in some of the unfinished projects." Calmly, the commander placed a hand in his old friend's shoulder. "I often try to subdue her vigor. But she's strong, she's ambitious. Some of the team thinks your project needs a little push."
"No machine can handle this madness, Ikari," the doctor protested. "Only the human intellect can dance with the shadows we are both pursuing."
"Time is but a foe of man. In your case, AI might accelerate the downfall."
Richards went silent.
"If you think about it, Dr. Richards, it may be a good thing for you. In this way, you would have more time to concentrate in your other research. The one relating to your mother's…—"
Both hands covering his face, the doctor interrupted him: "I think I gave up a long time ago."