RESTORATION (a science fiction novel) (RESTORATION (the science fiction trilogy)) (2 page)

Immediately Bobby without thinking of the delicateness of the subject blurted it out.

“Grandpa Kerrington, that’s who!”  

The unexpected comment hit Bobby’s Father like a brick after such a trying day.  What with the realization that he nearly lost his son, and then the thought of losing his father was just too much for him.   

“Excuse me for a minute,” he said.  He quickly left the room to keep from breaking down in front of his son.  Bobby didn’t mean to upset anyone he simply couldn’t understand why Grandpa didn’t want to live. 

His Mother leaned in and gave him a kiss. 

“We’ll see you tomorrow, okay?  You get some rest now.” 

“Is Dad all right?”  

“Don’t worry young man, your father is a strong man and very wise, he’ll be just fine.  We all had a very long day waiting anxiously to see that you were all right.  You just focus on getting stronger so you can come home real soon.  If you need anything just press that red button there by your hand and the nurses will come right away.  Your father and I’ll be back first thing in the morning to see you.” 

“That drop of liquid the nurse put on the back of your hand a few minutes ago was a sleep aid.  You’ll be out in a minute so just relax and get a good night’s sleep okay?” 

“Okay.”

“I love you Son.”

“I love you too.” 

Within seconds he was sound asleep. 

Dodge Kerrington had left the room in a rush to hide his emotions from his son.  He knew Bobby had been through enough and he had read that some people, especially youth, have problems adjusting to the idea of a new body.  The last thing he needed was to see his Father falling apart. 

It was hard to believe this was real.  The paramedics had taken a final reading from the implant in Bobby’s brain just before he died in the ambulance on the ride to the hospital.  Per standard procedure that information was added to the Lifecorder data. 

Dodge knew that Bobby would eventually remember the entire events of that day and the experience of the accident might cause Bobby some real problems with anxiety and nightmares.  He was worried about whether or not Bobby would really be Bobby.  His father had been ranting for years about the “playing God” thing and Dodge was concerned that his dying father might not accept Bobby again.  That could cause Bobby and the whole family a good bit of emotional pain and complication. 

Dodge really wanted his father to accept the Restoration procedure, after all, why should anyone choose death when we have this technology? 
“Wait, this gift, that’s it!”
  Dodge remembered one time before his Mother passed away that his father had mentioned he was thankful to God for the doctors and the new technology they were using to save lives. 

He remembered, from conversations with his father, that he had made comments like, “God had gifted the doctors with special skills and tools to save lives.” And “Science was a gift from God.” 

That was the angle.  This is what he would use with his father to convince him to go through with the procedure.  It saved Bobby and it could save his Dad.

He was headed back to the room to say good night to Bobby and met Linsey coming out.

“He’s asleep now and he won’t be waking up, they sedated him,” she said. 

“I really wanted to tell him good night.” 
Said Dodge.  

“It’s all right my
Dear, we’ll see him in the morning, “Let’s go home.” 

Dodge looked in on him.

“Good night Son, I love you,” he whispered.

As he drove home from the hospital he began putting together exactly what he would say to his father.  There were definitely some hurdles though because his father had several friends that had nearly died of old age related disease’s years earlier and they had opted for the Restoration process.  His Father swore that he hardly knew them after the process and he believed they were not the same because the process was flawed.  He knew his Dad would play the religion card as well.  Dodge would have to choose his words carefully and be ready for any argument.

Bobby woke the next morning very early.  He was so hungry that his stomach woke him once earlier but he actually thought he was dreaming.  He had hoped that was the case and that the whole thing had never happened.  When he opened his eyes and saw the nurse standing in front of his bed with a tray, he knew it
was real.  He felt really good but at the same time not as strong as before. 

“Good morning,” said the nurse, in a tone that was just a little bit too jolly.  Bobby tried to be cheerful back but didn’t really feel like it deep down inside, he was still worried about his Grandpa. 

“I’m sorry Bobby, this food is a little plain, but it’s specially formulated for your first meal.  I’m going to turn on the TV and start an educational video that will explain a few things about your new body, okay?”  Bobby was a little surprised at this but nodded in agreement, without looking up from the tray.  He was poking at the glob of pinkish goop on the plate in front of him.  It smelled good, kind of fruity, but it didn’t look very good. 

“What’s in this?” He asked. 

“It’s an engineered super food made out of several genetically altered fruits and vegetables.  It’s rich in vitamins, and minerals, and there’s also a few super proteins in there to help build the muscles up fast so you can go home sooner.” 

It contained several more powerful ingredients but it was much too complex to elaborate on with every patient.  Besides the Lifecenter Administration frowned on full disclosure and discouraged the staff from expounding upon the details. 

As the video began to play on the TV, Bobby slowly but surely began forcing down his first meal.  The whole time all he could think about was a big plate of pancakes with some bacon on the side and a big glass of OJ.  The video, while pretty poorly made, was still fairly informative.  He had remembered very little about the LifeTech system from health class and now was listening intently as this whole cloning thing had just become very personal.  Like most teens his age he had thought it wouldn’t be a concern until he was very old.  He learned that the Lifecorder contained two nuclium power cells good for ten years each.  One for the main power source and the second for a backup in case the first should fail.  It was quite amazing technology and the video went into a much more detail explaining how it all worked.

As a bonus, Scientist also discovered the soul of a person leaving their body upon death.  They had accomplished this ground breaking discovery a few years before the pandemic broke out and their continued curiosity and research lead to the development of the Lifecorder which actually only recorded a person’s memories and not the soul at all.  They didn’t know
exactly how the soul worked but it did exist and as a result they had publicly acknowledged God or a higher Power out there that must be instrumental in creating Life and the Soul. 

Some people called it the Spirit but Grandpa called those people “tree huggers” which Bobby didn’t really get.  He remembered the days that this happened very well because Grandpa was in a great mood for weeks after, walking around with a little more zest in his step than usual.  He would smile and say, “Those clowns finally had to admit we didn’t come from a monkey.”  

Scientists had discovered, that cloning a person after the soul departed, didn’t really yield a whole person but instead more like a crazy person with little or no personality.  Even though early attempts yielded a person that looked like the original and even knew their friends, and relatives, and every detail of their life, they seemed to be without any personality and no conscience whatsoever. 

Several earlier experiments yielded individuals that had to be euthanized due to their violent and radical behavior.  They simply had NO ethics whatsoever, and would sometimes kill their pets for an accident or murder their friends and family over losing at a game.  It wasn’t until they discovered that the soul leaves the body after about one hour following death that they perfected the system.   Restoration performed within that hour was always successful while those performed after were not. 

They discovered, a cell sample kept fresh and suspended in a special pure solution that sustained the life of the cell, would cause the process to work.  Even with that, the soul was still leaving the body eventually, but it was delayed.  It somehow knew that the person was not completely dead. 

Science couldn’t answer all of the questions surrounding this technology yet, but they had made the system work for now.  Of course they still refused to call it a soul.  They called it P-Source2 or Personal Source Energy Squared instead.  In spite of their play on words, everyone knew that this was just science speak for soul. 

Some Restorations had failed, but they were conducted either by other companies that had since gone out of business, or in some cases they had attempted the procedure after the one hour cut off time.  The soul seemed to have left and didn’t return leaving the clone incomplete and out of its mind, more like a robot or animal than a person.  In the end, the recommended longest time in between death and restoration remained at one hour.  If they did attempt it after an hour the family members had to sign an “after 60 minute waiver” that allowed doctors to keep the restored individual for up to 90 days after the procedure for observation and possible euthanizing should any problem arise.

Bobby still didn’t understand exactly how it all worked even after watching the video twice, but he knew enough to believe he would be all right.  After all, he was restored in 28 minutes, much faster than the 60 minute cut off point.  He also had two friends at school that said their grandparents had been restored and they seemed perfectly fine.  Of course when a person was planning the Restoration there was no emergency.  They simply made an appointment for the procedure and then checked in at one of the Restoration centers, sometimes the hospital if they were deathly ill. 

They had to bring their Lifecorder in for upload into the new body.  They were given a pill causing them to fall into a deep sleep like being in a coma.  While they were out the technicians would bring in the clone and then upload the data.  After waking you up, they ran a few simple neurological tests to make sure everything was normal.  If you passed, they would release you to a room for observation and visitation.  If everything was successful, then after two days you went home, and the old body was destroyed after 90 days. 

They always waited two days just in case something went wrong with the clone.  If there was a problem, they could reawaken your original for a while, giving them some time to grow another clone and try again, but that very rarely happened.  In some case’s people were so close to death when they decided to be cloned that they would have to freeze them long enough to grow a clone.  Once complete they could thaw them out and make the switch.  It had to work on the first attempt because they found out how to freeze a person and thaw them out successfully but no one had lived more than three days after being thawed.

The one thing that bothered Bobby the most was not knowing anyone his age that had gone through this and he wondered if his friends would treat him the same way.  He also wondered if he could still play basketball as good as he did before.  Suddenly he began to feel ill.  He knew he was going to be sick.  He tried to get to the bathroom but his legs were so weak, he only made it halfway and had to go for the trash can.  A nurse in the next room heard him and came to his aid very quickly helping him back into bed. 

“Didn’t anyone tell you? You can’t walk too well just
yet, you have to go to therapy.”  Reflecting on the video, Bobby did remember a part about muscle atrophy but didn’t completely understand it.  “Don’t worry everyone gets nauseous the first couple of times they eat.  You only have to eat that stuff today and then tomorrow you get some regular food.” 

“
Wow, that’s a relief,
that pink goop tasted even worse coming back up!”

Back at the house, Dodge and Linsey Kerrington were discussing how they might approach Grandpa Kerrington about Restoration.  He had not been in a very talkative mood the night before as he was leaving the hospital.  Dodge hoped that his Father would ask them to take him up to see Bobby, but they had not heard from him at all since the night before, and could only assume that he was avoiding going up to see Bobby due to his feelings about cloning.

  Linsey had become very close to Dodge’s parents in recent years in the absence of her own parents who had both passed away several years before the Restoration process was feasible. 

It was really hard on her and Dodge both when Dodge’s mother, Elizabeth, had passed away, and now they were both faced with losing his father too. 

Linsey was hopeful that they could convince him to do it for them and for the children, if not for himself.  Alan had always had a soft spot for Linsey and would kid Dodge.

“Boy you lucked out when you got this one you big clod!  If it weren’t for her, you’d be lost.” 

Now Linsey was planning to turn on the charm the best she could to persuade Alan to go through with the process.  What they didn’t know, and what they would be surprised to discover, was that grandpa was way ahead of them and was already on his way to the hospital to see Bobby. 

He had been up most of the night with insomnia.  He couldn’t quit thinking about Bobby.  He wanted to know if it was really him or if Bobby would be different, and he had to see this for himself, he couldn’t wait any longer.