Chapter One, Part One

"You see, they are not animals nor humans. They are simply an entirely new species, not one of intelligence, certainly."

Harrison Morone slouched slightly in his seat, his eyelids drooping. Everything in this lecture was something that he did not believe at all, and it wasn't even interesting. He lifted his legs to rest them on the seats in front of him, accidentally bumping someone's elbow, which he quickly whispered his apologies for.

"Do any... Eh, you who are left, have any questions?"

Harrison involuntarily raised his hand, tilting his head a bit to the left.

The man's eyes lit up and exclaimed, "Ah, you there, in the black overcoat! What have you got for me?"

"I actually have a comment," he lowered his hand, "about your views on this, heh, 'species' you called it? There really is no possible way that this could be true. I mean, how could it be? With all the technology we have now, we would've found them. There would be news stories, it'd be all over the internet, they'd be dissected. They wouldn't even exist anymore."

"Well, uh. Well I see your point there, Mr... Um," he looked down at the sign in sheet on the table in front of him.

"Morone, sir. Dr. Harrison Morone. And I do believe that you are of the most prestigious professors in all of Russia, is that right? So tell me, professor," Harrison had, at this point, gotten up and was walking down towards the elder man, "Why are you here? In New Jersey? It's incredibly packed, so I can't imagine you're here on a whim."

"Dr. Morone, I assure you, I was asked very kindly to present here, I-"

"Then why have most of your participants left?"

The man stood quiet for a moment, his gaze turning from left to right. The auditorium was nearly empty; eleven sitting in the front, three scattered in the back. He dropped his eyes, but straightened his shoulders and looked at Harrison, their glares fighting to be above the other.

"Then I would like you to answer one thing, one thing, Dr. Morone. Why are you still here?"

Harrison's scrutiny disappeared almost immediately, his confidence suddenly leaving him. He watched as the professor had gained a smirk that slowly grew into a smile, showing off his small, stained teeth; a few of them were missing. His long white hair started to bounce while he chuckled inwardly, still staring down Harrison. Confidence struck once more as he peered at the professor through slightly crooked glasses.

"Well, professor, I in fact do have a question for you: do you believe in your own research? Don't answer me. Just think about it on your ride to your hotel. Good night, professor." Harrison briskly walked out of the auditorium into an empty hallway and stopped as he came to a water fountain and sighed of relief.

"Been a while since I've done that," he whispered, gulping down the steady stream of water.

"Quite a show there, Morone. He's sat fumbling with his words. Did you really have to pick on an old wanker like that?"

"I'm not in the mood for your British comedy, old chap. I just want to get back home and put a nice hot towel over my face." He leaned against the wall, his eyes lightly closed.

"Oh come now, I'm not that old! You do need to work on your accent skills, though. That was just dastardly awful."

Harrison squinted one eye open to look at the man. "Cornary Brisket, it's been a while since I've seen you at these things."

"It's Conrad Brinkest, you Moron!" he laughed, slightly wheezing. "Boy, you'll make my appendix explode yet!" He calmed his laughter and cleared his throat, signifying a more serious discussion. "Morone, I actually came here to see you. I stopped by the house, but your wife said you'd gone out so I guessed. Jameson told me you'd had a problem with your carbon unit. Is that true?"

"Aye."

"And you haven't told Jane or the kids? Morone, you need to get that fixed. Soon."

"Aye."

"I'm serious, Morone! I can help you."

"You're too old, Conrad."

"Then I'll get someone to help you. There's no way you can fix that by yourself. You've got yourself deep in a hole this time. How long's it been out?"

"About two weeks now. We've been well off without it. Do we really need it?"

"It's winter soon. You'll need it."

"I don't want the kids thinking I'm a failure. I just can't do it, Conrad. I haven't had a hit in months. No research, no discoveries, nothing. Everything I can find has been melted down and reused as "new information", which is what's been going on for the past five years. There's nothing, Conrad."

Conrad looked left and right, searching for any witnesses. "I can help you, Morone. I'll get you some new information."

Harrison's eyes widened as the older man cracked a smile. "Conrad, that's illegal. We're in separate fields. You can't just transfer research."

"Ah, but I can and I will. It's my research, Morone. No one knows that I have it. I have three too many projects that I'm working on, and this relates to your project. Do with it what you will. I give it to you," he ended, handing a small key to Harrison.

"...thank you."

"You've been next to me for too many of my own failures to not give something back to you in return. You've been a friend, Morone, when no one else has. Thank you. Now go look through the files. Oh! And get your carbon unit fixed!"

Harrison smiled again, almost falling over from not seeing where his feet were stepping. He ran out to his car and drove home.

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