Page 36 - Tales Apocalyptic and Dystopian

Desynthesis

They were grateful for a bit of sympathetic human contact; the anti-
science mania was just getting underway.”
“Yes, yes. We needn’t belabor the obvious,” said the judge. “Let’s
try to expedite this, eh?”
“Right, Your Honor. Now, Mr. Finch, in your investigation, did
you come across the name of Proteus Labs?”
“I did.”
“And its head of research, Dr. P. D. Aaron?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, please tell the court what Dr. Aaron was doing at Proteus
Labs immediately prior to the events you described on September
tenth.”
It was a clear elicitation of hearsay, but this time the prosecutor did
not even glance at the judge or defendant.
“Proteus Labs had a government contract to—”
“Whoa!” shouted the judge. “Strike that from the record! Now,
continue, Mr. Finch: but let me remind you that any further display
of disrespect will likely result in contempt of court charges. Do you
understand?”
“Perfectly, Your Honor. As I was saying, Proteus Labs was
working on biologically mediated methods of eliminating industrial
waste. According to my informants, Dr. Aaron had recently
genetically engineered a bacterial depolymerizer. It was designed to
eliminate pollutants by catalyzing disintegration of specific complex
molecules into simple organic compounds, metallic oxides and
mineral salts—more or less their original components. As a catalyst,
it would not be consumed in that chemical reaction. In fact, the
reaction would provide a medium in which the bacterium could
reproduce, creating more of the depolymerizer as a by-product. Thus
only a small amount of it need be applied to, say, a huge oil spill, and
the entire mass of pollutant would be disposed of. The scientists had
made the organism self-limiting with a so-called ‘suicide gene,’ halting
its ability to ingest nutrients after a small number of reproductions.”
“And did they test their discovery?”
“I believe so. I poked through the wreckage of their laboratory,
and I found some papers indicating a patent had been applied for.
That generally indicates a level of confidence in an invention
supportable only by empirical confirmation of its functionality.”

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