Resurrection

I've given thought to a futuristic setting in a semi-utopian world. But what kind of challenges and conflicts might folks face in a place without war, crime, or poverty?

The Grand Hall was a round, open atrium of pure white with a domed, windowed ceiling where sunlight flooded in giving the place a warmer look than it felt. The only furniture in the room was reserved for the Akademianoj. The tall onyx half-moon table surrounded by high-backed chairs let the estroj look down their noses at you and pronounce judgment.

Jonas strolled in and studied the representatives from the major academies.  Three men in their Arabian taubs, each with a colored stole draped over his shoulders representing his particular field: green for life science, brown, for earth science, and gray for engineering. Three women, each in Indian sari and each with a sash across her breast for her academy: blue for chemistry, black for space science, and blue, for chemistry.

There was no “official” government in the Great City. Citizens had liberty to live their lives in peace, but they relied on the Akedemio to educate them, to turn out professionals and to inform the public on all things scientific. Minor academies like medicine, zoology, and marine biology, each appointed an “estro” or a “leader” who directed the work of the particular academy. The estro, would then appoint a representative to meet with other like academies in a major academy. The major academies, then appointed representatives to lead the Grand Academy.

The estro of the Grand Academy was a man Jonas had known for years. His name was Jonathan. Jonathan was a tall, skinny man with an angular face and pointed chin covered by a goatee that left little flecks of brown hair mixed in with the gray.

“What was so urgent, you had to call us this quickly?” Jonathan asked in a reedy voice.

Jonas grinned locking eyes with the Life Sciences estro,his own brother Kaleb.

Jonas stretched out his arms like an acrobat who had just landed and announced, “Just this.  Kris, David, can you come in here, please”.

A man and a woman entered the atrium through the open arch. Each wore the clothing of their respective gender. They were both youngish, in their middle thirties. The man was freckle-faced and had short-cropped red hair. The woman had long, brown hair that fell to the middle of her back in curls.

Jonas waited for recognition to settle across his brother’s face. He saw the flush of shock and finally, Kaleb stood and shouted, “This is an abomination. This cannot be done”.

“Relax, brother, it’s not what you think”.

“Who are these people?” Jonathan demanded.

“They are supposed to be my grandparents,” Kaleb said.

“They ARE OUR grandparents,” Jonas said.

“What are you talking about?” Jonathan said.

“He’s cloned our ancestors"or something like that,” Kaleb said.

“You do realize, what you’ve done could result in your expulsion from the academy.” Jonathan said.

“No,” Jonas replied. “IF I had done as my brother says, I would be expelled. I have not cloned my grandparents. I have brought them back from the dead”.

With that, the five other representatives in the room began to murmur amongst themselves, forcing Jonathan to bang his gavel on the table.

“Is this some kind of joke”.

“No, it isn’t. Over the past few decades, the academies have rewarded me for my work in cryogenics and cell regeneration. Death is a process, not an event. And processes can be slowed, stopped, and even reversed.  For over a hundred years, we’ve been able to bring people back from what we call ‘clinical death’ if they’ve been dead only a few minutes.

As you know, a few years ago, I developed a method of bringing back someone who had been dead for over an hour. In the years I’ve been gone, I’ve extended my reach. My researchers and I have been able to bring back persons who have been dead for a day, a week, and eventually a year, now more. As long as I have human tissue to work with, I can regenerate it, no matter how long it’s been dead”.

Murmuring rose from the academy again and Jonathan slammed his gavel repeatedly.

“I need a recess,” Jonathan declared.

Unlike the sanitary-looking main atrium, Kaleb’s office was trimmed in dark wood paneling with bookcases that held actual books. Oblong windows, trimmed in brass overlooked the ocean. Kaleb had always loved the ocean and his office was meant to evoke the feel of an ancient sailing ship.

Kaleb leaned against the brass windowsill, his arms folded across his chest. He stared out the window and took in the ocean. Jonas entered. Kaleb kept his back to him.

“How could you do this?”

“What? Give people their lives back?”

“You know damned well what I mean. You have no right to play God”.

“Do you know the difference in men and gods?”

“What?”

“Men are real. Gods are not”.

“Still, this was reckless. It could be disastrous. There is a limit to what we can do. We’ve extended the human life span to centuries, yet we still run into diseases that didn’t exist two hundred years ago. No matter how many times we replace someone’s heart, eventually we will die. Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something”.

“Maybe we should push back against the universe”.

“Arrogant”.

“What are we going to do with this? How far back do we take this?”

“I say we go all the way. Bring everyone back”.

“EVERYONE? You know, in centuries past, there was war. Can people from another century live in our world today? How would they function? What about murderers?”

“Fine. We don’t bring everybody back. We pick and choose”.

“We don’t have the right to decide who gets to live and who doesn’t”.

“Why? Because that would be ‘playing god’?”

“Believe it or not, I had good intentions with this. We live in the Great City in probably the best time in human history. We’ve eliminated war, hunger, and most crime. But, we still lose loved ones too soon”.

“Don’t”.

“Everything is automated with super computers. Sensors check everything. But, things still get missed”.

“No”.

“Sometimes, despite all our technology and all our carefulness, we still have train wrecks”.

“No, no, no, NO”.

“Kassidy was the light of my life and---“ Kaleb trailed off. He turned around and faced his brother for the first time.  He was sobbing.

“That’s why I kept it hidden. When I first saw the evidence that this was possible, I went underground. I couldn’t bear for this to make the blogs and give people false hope"not you and Cassandra”.

“Cassandra can NEVER hear about this. Do you understand? Never”.

As if on cue, Cassandra came into the office from the far side of the room. Her face was already wet with tears. “She’s my daughter too”.

“Cassie, no”.

“Can you do this?” she asked Jonas.

Kaleb met Jonas with a hard stare.

“What happens next?” Kaleb said. “What if you bring her back, and there’s some other unknown? What if she dies again? I’ve already lost her once. I won’t do it again”.

“Kassie was seven years old,” Jonas said. “Doesn’t she deserve a second chance?”

“Don’t you think I know that! I am her FATHER”.

“Yes. And I was Uncle Jonas: the one who always lifted her up on my shoulders so she could pick the apple from my apple tree. I know there’s no comparison between your loss and mine. But, don’t think my heart doesn’t ache too”.

“What will it be like for her?” Kaleb asked. “What will she remember? How will she adjust to knowing she’s been dead all these years? I think it may be best just to let her rest in peace”. He put his arm around Cassandra and pulled her close. She wiped tears away with her fingers.

“I think you two should think about this. I don’t mean to sound callous, but Kassidy isn’t going anywhere. So, take as long as you need. If you BOTH decide you want me to do this, come see me. It’s entirely up to you”.

Jonas turned and walked toward the door.

“Jonas”.

“Yeah,”

“Does Dad know you brought Grandma and Grandpa back?”

“Not yet”.

Reviews

[Creepy Swine Guy]

What a fabulous idea. The possibilities are endless. They live in Utopia, but how long can it stay Utopia if there exists the power to give back life to the dead? Will so many people become Lazerus that food supplies will become an issue? Will people kill for this new power?

This definitely has the feel of a longer piece. Do you sense that there is so much you can do with this too?

Technically, I saw two "nicks" ... or what I believe to be "nicks"

1. In the very first line, I thought there needed to be a comma after "flooded in".

2. You listed "blue for chemistry" twice.

Beyond that, nicely done, I will be very curious to see if you feel compelled to extend this.