Charlie showed before and after pictures of a number of the recipients, including their names and ailments.
Charlie: As I said, this was very, very carefully monitored by the FDA, personally supervised by FDA Director Ritchie. Each person was selected and reviewed by Ethical boards prior to inclusion into the study, with the exception of two people at my lab who accidentally received the treatment. It was the genius originator of the drug, who made that mistake.
There were pictures of FDA inspectors photographing and measuring the ears, eyes, faces, and adding tattoos to each participant.
Charlie: The FDA, with the permission of each recipient, is posting the names and various conditions both before and after treatment. The recipients were from all across the world. They are all allowing a dozen reporters from their respective countries to interview them. To those friends who believed them to have died, they would love to hear from you again. It should be obvious to anyone looking at the post pictures that each recipient now looks like they are twenty years old. Let me point out one accident, which occurred in the vacuum of space. In training, a tear was made in the outer hull of the spacecraft. Two hundred recipients were exposed to vacuum. You or I would have died. One of the transformations of Panacea is that they no longer need air to the same degree that we would. They were able to leisurely make the repair and all lived, with no ill effects. They are also much stronger than you or I, and have much faster reflexes. While they can be injured, they heal much faster and could sustain many, many injuries, which would kill a normal human. A full description of all the testing and results is published on the FDA at fda.gov/panacea. It also includes verification by independent FDA agents that this was not a sham. I apologize for the secrecy of these last half dozen years, but we wanted to be sure of the results and make sure there were no long-term effects before we released it to the public and avoid riots. The delay in releasing Panacea was due to the necessary testing. On the other hand, every day we delayed would mean millions of people would die of old age, disease, or accidents.
Daphne: Charlie, those two employees of your company who received the treatment, what happened to them?
Charlie: They are both doing excellently. They both demanded and received a full apology from the genius originator. We put into place safeguards so that mistake did not happen again.
Daphne: Can the press speak to them too?
Charlie: Not at this time, they are too busy to be taken away from their other duties. To continue, my company is now releasing Panacea to be administered on emergency basis to all those who are in critical condition, pending their or a legal representative’s approval. I would like to suggest in all local municipalities, that judges be available around the clock to hear disputes. Furthermore, I recommend each hospital provide an advocate who could likewise petition the court to request a hearing to reconsider the terminal patient’s wishes if they are unable to speak for themselves and if they believe the patient’s representatives are not acting in the best interests of the patient. Let me stress, that despite the precarious physical state each of our volunteer heroes were in, there has not been a single negative effect, especially death, for any of our patients. That is not to say, that in the three days from the time of administration until the time of DNA conversion that very ill patients will not die, but if they can live for three days, they are likely to see the next millennium or more.
Daphne: You said no negative effects, what about male sterility?
Charlie: When we first discovered the fountain of youth aspects of Panacea, we considered stopping the drug development. The Earth has about seven billion humans on it. It can’t hold more. If each woman had only two children every hundred years, after a thousand years the population would be over seven trillion, a thousand fold increase. Population is the cause of pollution. The Earth can’t manage a human population with no deaths, only births. I was very surprised to learn that the geneticist had solved that problem too. While keeping and extending each male’s sexual drive and ability, all men’s sperm will be incapable of fertilizing their female’s egg. The semen is sterile, unless the male receives a special treatment. This treatment would be provided by their government, upon the approval of the world government. This has been tested, and two such children were born in space. This information is also available at the FDA site. To answer your question, sterility is a necessary and essential feature of Panacea, it is not a bug but a feature.
Daphne: What about the economic turmoil?
Charlie: Yes, fortunes will be lost, and some will be made. I should point out that C H Enterprises will voluntarily be among the former. Let me explain. First, we will not make a penny from Panacea. It has been and will be administered free. How could we charge for a life? Secondly, for the next year, we are not going to charge for any mileage costs for your automobiles or emergency vehicles. We also have identified all people who work in the health fields, such as doctors, hospital administrators, chiropractors, etc. These people will automatically be entered into a voluntary program. Without any other action on their part, they will get home electrical power free. If, and only if, they feel they are capable, they will pay what they like. They will still receive an electrical bill, but it will indicate that they are not expected to pay any of it. This will also be extended to people in health insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Most pharmaceutical companies will be incapable of surviving. Some might survive and convert to other applications, such as agriculture or veterinary research. For the rest of the world, I will waive payment for our next bill. I will evaluate my action next month.
Charlie: To return to your question, most of us at age twenty were penniless, barely out of high school or college. We earned a lifetime of money, only to have it robbed by ill health, terminal diseases, and the cost of treatment. It is a pointless question to ask if you would prefer money or life. We now have to chance to start all over again, with the knowledge that we can do so without the fear of war or illness. There will no need for expensive insurance. Nor is retirement a meaningful concept. There will no longer be a fear of death stalking each one of us after fifty or so years. Yes, many of us will be penniless again. However, President Shaw, as you heard yesterday, has built-up a very large surplus of emergency funds. Working closely with me, she has prepared the country for this coming transitional time. She has agreed for a massive educational retraining program. Programs such as this have also been initiated world-wide. This is the beginning of a very exciting time. The rebirth of humanity. One world under God.
Daphne: The ‘Rapture’ as it’s being called will take place a week from tomorrow. Any suggestions?
Charlie: I have suggested to President Shaw to issue a state of emergency. Specifically, seven days from now, I suggested a mandatory curfew of all civilian vehicles. With her permission, I will ground all cars using the C H gravity reflecting engines. For emergency vehicles, as a precaution, if you drive, you must drink. I suggest those drivers limit themselves to one glass every four hours. While on that topic, we developed Panacea to be very susceptible to alcohol. A two-hundred eighty pound male who has eight ounces of beer, a glass of wine, or watered down liquor would be purged of Panacea. I recommend that they do it daily from four to seven days from today, if you don’t want to experience the effects of Panacea. There will be two other opportunities. This recommendation will be repeated in every newspaper, television and on the web.
Daphne: How long will it take people to return to life?
Charlie: That depends on how sick they were. Our record was a man who needed four weeks to recover from a 90% burn over his body, including the destruction of his hands, feet, and eyes. Many will wake in three days. The older you are the longer it takes. Based on our experience, our geneticist developed a simple web site to give an approximation. It is also at FDA.gov/panacea. While on that topic, I have sent to each municipal government another suggestion to prov
ide a central location for support of young children, whose parents will take longer to wake. Alternatively, one father or mother could abstain from Panacea at this time and watch over the children in their neighborhood.
Daphne: You had all Panacea patients undergoing treatment in the hospitals. Surely there isn’t room for all of humanity in them.
Charlie: They were in the hospitals because they were part of a medical study and monitored very carefully by the FDA. Once they started their re-growth process, they can be anywhere. For all people who are not suffering a life-threatening illness, they should stay home. If you are not within three days of dying, stay home with your loved ones. Any bed, floor, or chair will do. It is also very important that the first people you see when you come out should be your loved ones.
Daphne: Let me go on to a possibly more important question. Is Cherry God? Before you answer that, how do you say its name?
Charlie: I’ve been pronouncing it Chee’our’i. That’s as close as our mouths could come to it. However rather than three distinct syllables, Chee’our’i says it as one simultaneous word. As best as I understand it, its name is actually over two hundred syllables long, it also involves an assortment of aromas and waving of 128 branches. Chee’our’i doesn’t expect humans to know how to say its name. On the other hand, his avatars are more than capable of creating a virtual representation of its name in its complete form, in all of its variations.
Daphne: What can you tell me about the avatars? Are they human? Wise? How were they selected?
Charlie: All I’m authorized to say at this moment is that there are two in training, a male and female. They were selected for their intellectual potential. Each is much smarter than any other human, who has ever existed. They are smarter than DaVinci, Galileo, Einstein, or myself. One of them was the Panacea geneticist. They jointly developed the guidelines of the Laws of Justice. Both have received Panacea.
Daphne: This is the first time I’ve heard about these new Laws.
Charlie: Don’t worry, it won’t be presented for another fifteen years.
Daphne: It will take that long to write?
Charlie: Not at all. I’ve seen a final version, but there will be a period of adjustment for humanity first. It will be a massive readjustment for the everyday person to think in terms of progress and goals for the next thousand years in contrast to thinking in terms of goals for the next day or week. For those thinking that it is a plot by an anti-Christ or a “How to Serve Man” cookbook, an outline is posted on the web at www.god.god. If there is a clear consensus we will reconsider providing the Laws of Justice sooner.
Daphne: You just said these avatars are smart. I asked if they were wise.
David thought back to that time he first drove Dee and Joshua to the Sister’s of Mercy Hospice in the bowels of the Atlanta slum, almost seven years ago. They both looked like they were in their late teens. Dee had turned two years old.
Corey: David, thank you for taking Dee and Josh there today.
David: No problem.
Corey: Dee, Josh, I know you can tell the future and control the past. For this training you’re not allowed. The only thing you can do is learn to love and help your fellow human being. Many will just need your presence to help them. Others will need simple physical help. Others are beyond help. That is also the human condition.
***
David was sitting in his car, outside the hospice, working on a number of projects when a program of his flagged an 'event'. David replayed the last ten seconds in summary mode and flashed an alert to the adult Ins.
They all saw Dee place an infusion next to an old man, a footnote on the image identified him as Tom Cooley, a patient with chronic heart disease. “What is that?” Tom asked. He looked doubtfully at the young girl besides him. Dee said, “A special drink to make you feel better.” Tom's voice was gravelly and full of impatience, “Listen miss, I'll ask you one more time. What is that?” Dee looked frustrated, “I made it to make your heart problems go away.” She paused then said, “I'm gifted, I'm the thirteenth generation of Voodoo priestesses. It’s a secret handed down from mother to daughter.” David had been looking and listening from Josh's eyes and ears. David heard a soft click, which indicated that one of the Ins just sent a message to Joshua.
Joshua: No
There was another click and Joshua reluctantly walked to the old man and Dee. Joshua said, “I'm sorry. I guess I just overheard you. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. But Dee is not a Voodoo princess. Her mom and dad are both doctors in a pharmaceutical company. Her grandmother is of full Scottish descent, a claims adjuster for the Liverpool Insurance Company.
Tom, pointing at the glass, asked, “Then what is this stuff?” He looked suspiciously at Dee.
Joshua shrugged, “The concoction could be rose hip tea, but I wouldn't take it.”
Tom asked, “You ain’t a devil worshipper?”
Joshua said laughing, “My cousin doesn't worship the devil. Tell the man who you worship Dee. Go on.”
Dee sullenly said, “You're not my cousin.”
Joshua sighed, “You're right. Her mom and my mom are best friends, long before either of us was born. I call your mom Aunt Corey. Her family even moved next door to mine. Dee and I are closer than brother and sister.”
Dee and Joshua eventually walked away. Joshua carried the untouched cup Dee had brought to Tom.
Dee turned and glared at Joshua.
Dee: HOW DARE YOU!
Corey: I told him to. What in the world were you doing?
Dee: I was helping that man. The concoction, as Joshua called it, would have cured his heart problems in a few days. He would have lived for another four years. You aren’t the only one who understands medicine, Joshua.
Corey: And what would you have learned? You can cure things by being a godling? You are here to learn how to be a human. Not a god. What do you think would happen?
Sidney: Josh, ask Chee’our’i what would have happened?
Joshua: Ah, what would have happened?
Chee’our’i: In a week from today you asked me to go back in time to correct this matter, which I just did. Tom Cooley did feel 'queerly', two days from today. He told the other residents that Dee was a witch. In six days the director would have asked you and Dee to leave. In a month 50% of all social service agencies would have heard the story. Due to your request in six days, I informed David that his help was required.
Corey: Dee, why in the world would you have told him you were a Voodoo Princess?
Dee: But mom, he watches a lot of horror movies, it was a way to get him to take the drug.
Corey: David, I'd like you to expand that monitoring program of yours and give your dad, the Ryans, and me a copy. Young lady, you are banned from talking to Joshua or Chee’our’i for the next two days. The next infraction will be four days, then eight. Exponential! You get the message? You knew what you were allowed to do and what you couldn't. If you want to save people by any non-human means, you're going to need our permission. And I will very carefully monitor any sudden improvements in anyone you help. Do you understand?
***
Three weeks later Tom Cooley was buried. David, Joshua, and Dee attended the funeral.
***
Two months later, Joshua and Dee were hired as aides to assist the hospice for four hours a day six days a week. They also worked ten hours a week at a hospital caring for severely ill cerebral palsy children. Two years later they spent an additional three hours working in an after school tutorial center. Both Joshua and Dee looked like they were college students. On Fridays they went to a Moslem temple, on Saturdays to a Jewish Synagogue, and on Sundays to a Protestant Church.
Corey and Janet allowed two of the cerebral palsy children to be ‘tested’ with Panacea.
Charlie Haines looked at Daphne, “Are they wise? There is no scale for wisdom. Wisdom is something you learn by living, experiencing the breadth and depth of people. Th
ey have been working, actually working seven days a week on learning humanity, humility, and solving human problems in a human way. As best as we could, we guided their development so they have learnt the human condition and love people.
Daphne: We?
Charlie: Myself and four others. We monitored every action, every word by the avatars.
Daphne: Did they use their avatar powers?
Charlie: They weren’t allowed to. They were allowed to use only their human compassion, love, and their intelligence. I’d like to change topics as they and their teachers have to remain incognito right now. The female avatars will be writing her memoir a few years from now on what she learned and how she grew.
Daphne: How old are they?
Charlie: Sorry, no personal questions. I’m sorry to say that I’m going to have to terminate this interview now. Thank you for your questions.
Charlie terminated the interview with a nod to Daphne.
Year 29.43 The Day after Tomorrow is the First Day of the Rest of My Life
Three days later David was leaning back in his chair. In the background, he saw the ocean waves leaping around Phyllis. She flicked her wet hair off her face. The memory was an old one, but he often took refuge there, especially in the last few turbulent years. David shifted his view and looked out the real window. It was dark already. He sent a message to his wife.
David: Time?