Do you care to know - Final

The Company CEO, Raj was a transhumanist, one who supports human enhancements. He believed that new technologies would allow people to control and fundamentally change their minds and bodies. The future generation should have the power to decide how they wish to look and feel. His company had received the secret proposal to test the gene therapy on animals and then on willing subjects so that it could be launched globally in next few years. But Raj was in hurry to succeed. His patience was wearing thin and he decided to go straight for human testing. He needed young people around so that they could be studied day in and day out. Thus, his think tank team had thought of hiring only young blood, offer hefty packets so that they would happily work and also willing to stay back if needed. The game plan was set and all this would have to be carried out in complete secrecy. 

The Manager was a complete asset, he knew exactly which day which employee needed to be held back for testing and monitoring and the staff believed in his incompetence completely. The only hitch that arose was Aarti. 'She had started thinking and who asked her to do it,' mentioned Raj to the Manager. 'She needs to go before she gets others thinking. Her matter was more sensitive, she was to create a designer baby'. The Manager set the ball rolling and her death was accepted as an accident. 

Today was Mona's turn to report. She was showing good progress. Her memory, IQ and reasoning skills had improved beyond measure. He personally felt like interacting with her to study her deeply. 

Mona entered her office but with nervous trepidation. 'What am I to expect today? thought she. She went to her desk and began with her daily logs. She was getting very quick with her work and abstract logs seemed more basic now. Around 8 pm, she smelled coffee. 'Should I, or shouldn’t I? the dilemma plagued her. Eventually she gave in to the temptation. At the other end, she saw Amit drinking coffee. He looked at her smiled. He was looking stronger every day. 

At around 8:30 pm, she felt a numbness and a feeling of being carried towards a bed. She felt needles pricking her, heard lots of murmurs and discussion around her various reports. The CEO wanted them to be injected with larger doses and the scientists had their reservations. The discussions had turned into arguments. These people had maintained a huge file on her and every employee in the company, the scoundrels had privy to their most personal secrets.

Even though she was physically inactive, she had never felt so alive mentally.  She could sense Amit's heartbeat, the CEO's frustration and the Manager's sickening 'yes man' attitude. Within a few minutes, everything that had been engineered the past few months with them was as clear as crystal. 

At 9:30 pm she was adjusted back on her chair and she saw Amit adjusted on his chair too. They had been giving him gene injections for doubling muscle strength and speed. After 15 minutes, Mona moved towards Amit and woke him up.The look in his eyes confirmed the shared knowledge. Together, they had a chance, alone they would be guinea pigs or another Aarti. 

At that very moment, the Manager walked in. Seeing Amit and Mona together, he felt a prickling disturbance. As he moved towards them, Amit took the paperweight and quickly banged it hard on the Manager's head and saw him losing consciousness. 

Very quietly, they moved towards the CEO's office. On the way, they picked up a huge knife from the pantry and checked for camera and other sightings. Raj was on cloud nine, both subjects had shown good progress. In another 6 months, he would be able to make the global announcement. Success was his and he could vision the trophy coming towards him. As he closed his eyes to drown in that glory, he felt a knife stabbing his heart. The scream died in his mouth as he felt a hand closing his mouth. He opened his eyes to see both Mona and Amit, one stabbing him and one holding him tightly. The cruel glee in their eyes and the pleasure of seeing him suffer shook him. He had not expected the injections to make them resilient and so cold hearted.