the zombie in me - Chapter 1
Did you ever stop running and wonder why do zombies bleed? Ever wonder why they do not rot like in the movies? Why aren't they decomposing if they are dead? That's because they are not.
I remember when they were only in our imagination. I remember a day when we even celebrated them. Movies and tv were littered with slow moving corpses coming to eat our brains. We were much happier then weren't we. I remember working too much. I worked more than i do now, and now i work to stay alive.
It is all my fault. Well not really, if you really look closely at the problem, but it is. I am writing this because someday an alien species will come earth and see what we've left behind. I hope they will find this and understand that those things outside are not us. they are not human. perhaps they'll even take pity on us and clone a couple of us. Clean clones, real humans.
I worked as a post-doc scientist in the lab of Dr. McKenzie at the university of miami school of medicine and pharmacy. The year was ending and the lab held its annual projects meeting and new year's party. It was bleak party as there was only tea to drink and dried asparagus to eat. Dr. McKenzie quietly listened to everybody's update on their research until I somberly took the floor.
My thin voice bounced off the walls as I asked to change projects. "No" Dr. McKenzie nonchalantly responded "I want to you finish your work on the cartilage repair proteins. I thought you were interested in this project and i'm already writing several grants with it in mind". I paused with my mouth agape not knowing what to say until the silence became too awkward for me and I sat down. The cheap university office chair moaned at the pressure from my ass and I shot up "Please let me do this! I...I have been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease and there is really promising research that i would like to investigate. You see the protein ñaña has been found to be defective in patients with my condition. If i could work in its self-repair mechanisms perhaps i can find something that can help me and thousands of people. I know that I have only been in this group for a year and that this is too much of an imposition but please let me look into this."
Dr. McKenzie pouted as she seemed to hover on her large office chair. She was one of those hippie children who grew up. Her age was mystery to me, her experience and c.v. told me she must have been in her sixties but her demeanor and physique told a different story. She could even pass for a 37 year old smoker. "How long do you have before any symptoms appear"
--"I was given two years and then I'll need to live in a facility"
--"Ok. If I were to allow this, what would you need? I'm talking money if course"
--"Yes well I looked into the most current experiments and the only thing that we'd need to buy are some HeLa cells. I want to use them to grow and test the proteins binding sites and specificity. We'd also need some DNA aptamer that we can buy or convince Dr. Cord to make for us."
Dr. McKenzie laughed and immediately gave a resounding yes. "Oh this new year looks very promising. " It turned out that due to a change in the catalog, Dr. McKenzie had mistakenly ordered HeLa cells and was looking for a way to get rid of them among the faculty in the university. She thought it was destiny that I needed them. The problem was, those HeLa cells might as well have come from hell itself.
I remember when they were only in our imagination. I remember a day when we even celebrated them. Movies and tv were littered with slow moving corpses coming to eat our brains. We were much happier then weren't we. I remember working too much. I worked more than i do now, and now i work to stay alive.
It is all my fault. Well not really, if you really look closely at the problem, but it is. I am writing this because someday an alien species will come earth and see what we've left behind. I hope they will find this and understand that those things outside are not us. they are not human. perhaps they'll even take pity on us and clone a couple of us. Clean clones, real humans.
I worked as a post-doc scientist in the lab of Dr. McKenzie at the university of miami school of medicine and pharmacy. The year was ending and the lab held its annual projects meeting and new year's party. It was bleak party as there was only tea to drink and dried asparagus to eat. Dr. McKenzie quietly listened to everybody's update on their research until I somberly took the floor.
My thin voice bounced off the walls as I asked to change projects. "No" Dr. McKenzie nonchalantly responded "I want to you finish your work on the cartilage repair proteins. I thought you were interested in this project and i'm already writing several grants with it in mind". I paused with my mouth agape not knowing what to say until the silence became too awkward for me and I sat down. The cheap university office chair moaned at the pressure from my ass and I shot up "Please let me do this! I...I have been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease and there is really promising research that i would like to investigate. You see the protein ñaña has been found to be defective in patients with my condition. If i could work in its self-repair mechanisms perhaps i can find something that can help me and thousands of people. I know that I have only been in this group for a year and that this is too much of an imposition but please let me look into this."
Dr. McKenzie pouted as she seemed to hover on her large office chair. She was one of those hippie children who grew up. Her age was mystery to me, her experience and c.v. told me she must have been in her sixties but her demeanor and physique told a different story. She could even pass for a 37 year old smoker. "How long do you have before any symptoms appear"
--"I was given two years and then I'll need to live in a facility"
--"Ok. If I were to allow this, what would you need? I'm talking money if course"
--"Yes well I looked into the most current experiments and the only thing that we'd need to buy are some HeLa cells. I want to use them to grow and test the proteins binding sites and specificity. We'd also need some DNA aptamer that we can buy or convince Dr. Cord to make for us."
Dr. McKenzie laughed and immediately gave a resounding yes. "Oh this new year looks very promising. " It turned out that due to a change in the catalog, Dr. McKenzie had mistakenly ordered HeLa cells and was looking for a way to get rid of them among the faculty in the university. She thought it was destiny that I needed them. The problem was, those HeLa cells might as well have come from hell itself.
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