“Dr. Cooper, if you wouldn't mind removing the specimen from the container so that we may proceed.”
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They’d called the body a specimen. As if they had any idea what that meant. Silas wonders if he didn't make them stay outside of the room for the simple fact that he would have throttled them if they’d stood beside him.
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With a wall of glass between him and them, he proceeds with the measured motions of a marionette. They had explained to him beforehand how he should handle the body once it’s removed from cryofreeze, and he’d listened to each word as if it truly made a difference.
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Laying the body on the ice, he can picture in his mind the reaction he would have garnered had he pulled the body out and threw it on the ground.
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Only he knows that it would have procured the same results.
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The body is unyielding. Frozen solid from the conditions it was submerged in for the better part of a month, Silas knows he must wait for it to thaw before he can begin the procedure laid out for him.
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Standing on the other side of the glass wall, the pseudo scientists chat among themselves and their benefactors, pointing to the body and it’s capsule. Silas stands beside the gurney and dares any of them to make eye contact with him.
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His only partner in this is Julie, the one scientist he trusted to prep the samples and to stand by him as he plays along with this game. Her own movements are mechanical, and she never once looks at the gurney where the body lies.
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As it thaws, the sounds of ice crunching pair with Julie’s soft clinks and Silas can barely stand it.
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“The body is sufficiently thawed when all four limbs are parallel with the body.”
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Silas knows the men have never worked with primates, only their less advanced counterparts. He starts the procedure when the limbs are pliable.
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He follows all the steps, allowing the serum to leave the veins, and readministering the harvested blood cells to the body.
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He waits ten minutes for any eye movement. Thirty minutes for any movement in the extremities. An hour for the body to get off the gurney and walk away.
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But it does none of these things.
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“She is dead.”
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He knew this. Julie knew this. But he can hear the intern breath a sigh of relief. Yes, he thinks, it's a good thing.
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“Give it time, Dr. Cooper.”
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This doesn't make him angry. He’s been angry. “I gave you time, Mr. Whitney. All that I could spare. You’ll have to come to me tomorrow if you want to try for more of my time.”
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Silas nods to Julie, who’s already begun cleaning her station as they spoke. “I’d like brain and tissue samples before we dispose of the body.”
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Julie has her tools ready and prepped, something Silas had asked her to do before they’d entered the room. In the other room, Silas can hear the director trying to get through a door he had no access to. It lightens his mood considerably.
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Each sample packaged in a sampled container, Silas tells Julie to leave out the back entrance while he takes the body to the furnace.
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“What are you doing with our property, Dr. Cooper?”
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The director is waiting for him on the other side of the door, and he’s content to ignore the man until he puts his body in the way of the gurney and stops it with his hands. “I pay you good money to do your research, Dr. Cooper. I demand an explanation.”
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“I suggest you not touch the gurney, Mr. Whitney. I’m not wearing all of this protective gear as a fashion statement.” The director moves his hands as if he’s been burned. “You’ll need something a bit stronger than sanitizer to wash that off. Good day, Mr. Whitney.”
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The double doors swing behind him, leaving a furious board of directors in his wake. When he loads the body into the specialized furnace, he can do nothing but stare into the flames.
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