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Fritz Parsons was an astrophysicist at MIT where he studied the cosmos based on data collected from the Hubble Space Telescope. He’d had a lifelong fascination with space and his job at MIT was the realization of his desire to come closer to the wonders that he’d viewed through telescopes. Parsons caught the eye of the CIA when he correctly predicted the 2013 asteroid strike that injured over a thousand people in Russia. The asteroid was a surprise to the world when it entered Earth’s atmosphere and lit up brighter than the sun, and Parsons knew that it was coming. He tried to warn people, but no one seemed to care because no alert systems had sounded and everyone told him that his research was likely wielding aberrant results. Parsons watched footage of the asteroid’s entry into the Earth’s atmosphere and it was awe inspiring. The sound created at entry shattered the glass from windows and some described experiencing heat in the area. Parsons didn’t gloat when reports of the asteroid spread, but he got a lot of attention from the scientific community. He was recommended for government service because of his diligence and soon after, he was working on top secret government projects.
His time with Kevin at the secret CIA facility was a life changing experience for him. He had always harbored a sort of conviction that alien life existed in the universe and that it was most likely much more advanced than human beings, and seeing the device in Kevin’s brain confirmed that for him. There were people at the facility who tried to play down the awesome nature of the advanced technology, like Dr. Thomas Eakran who repeatedly insisted that humanity’s intellectual capabilities extended far beyond the perceived limits. Parsons couldn’t believe that. The device in Kevin’s brain was complex in many ways. Not only could it manipulate matter, but it was apparently technology that blurred the line between science and nature. The device was definitely manufactured to integrate into naturally occurring biological structures. Parsons couldn’t imagine a human being capable of that effort.
Seeing Kevin bring his imagination into reality was so awe-inspiring that he couldn’t dwell on it when he and Kevin worked together. It was like watching a movie, seeing Kevin flex nothing noticeable and watching as things appeared and disappeared before his eyes.
Parsons’ expertise is astrophysics, but his scientific education provided him with a breadth of scientific knowledge and curiosity. This explains the wide array of experiments that Parsons did with Kevin. Parsons was curious if testing the limits of the device might reveal the creator’s purpose. So Parsons devised the seed experiment where he had Kevin study the intricacies of a seedling to see if he could create a functional replica. He also gave Kevin extensive studies of human anatomy to see if he could create functional limbs. This, of course was difficult. The human body is an incredibly complex machine and Kevin couldn’t fathom all the things that made it up.
Parsons was eager to see if Kevin could create functional human organs, but he puzzled about the means to test that ability without overloading Kevin who was an eager student who never said no to Parson’s tests. Until he realized that Kevin could try to create human life from the start that might be able to become fully realized with time.
A fertilized human egg is not a simple thing, either. It contains the code required to build a new human being, transcribed in DNA. So Parsons enlisted the help of a geneticist to educate Kevin on the complexities of DNA. Kevin practiced creating DNA on a large scale so that the geneticist could easily critic the creation, until he was able to create a near functional model. He scaled it down, and though he was never aware, Kevin had successfully created the fertilized egg, or zygote, with DNA that the geneticist had designed herself. Parsons let the geneticist monitor the growth and development of the zygote and they were stunned that Kevin’s creation would be viable if implanted into a human being.
Kevin’s relationship with Parsons was a friendly one and he was the only scientist that Kevin truly trusted. He learned a lot of things from the work with Parsons, and because Kevin had been so eager to please his superiors at the CIA facility, he tackled his work with Parsons with a dogged focus that sometimes meant that he fell asleep with biology textbooks cradled in his arms or to audio recordings of scientific texts. Kevin had managed to ingrain much of his knowledge of DNA and human fertilization in his subconscious, along with much of the other knowledge that Parsons had him learn for tests.
That training is not relevant for Kevin’s current task of dealing with the zombie that he has found in his neighborhood in Wilmington, NC; though it will become very important to Kevin soon enough. Kevin figures that the zombie man is most likely the result of experiments by Dr. Roy Worthington, and it may be possible for him to use his ability to help the man on a microscopic scale, but without a scientist that he trusts, Kevin feels that he has only one option.
Alia is inside the house, but she notices the light from a fire through the window. The zombie man worried her not only because he is proof that Worthington’s work is still terrorizing their community, but because she cannot sense the minds of the dead and has no way of knowing how many there are walking around and defying expectations. This is a difficult position for Alia to be in. The woman with access to possible futures only accesses that information through contact with her own mind in the future, which means that even her possible future selves can’t be of much help. It is even more disconcerting that their encounter with Worthington seemed to suggest that whoever he worked for was aware of Alia’s ability and may have a means to block it. Alia is regretting ever getting involved with the man Conner, the son of Dr. Worthington, who alerted Alia to the problem in the first place. Alia hasn’t been so unsure in a long time.
As the light from the fire outside dies down, Kevin comes inside. Alia doesn’t look at him.
“We have to find all of them and end them. Before this really spreads.” Kevin says standing before Alia.
“I can’t find them,” she says absently.
“We have to think of something.” Kevin is frustrated and he raises his voice.
Alia stands and puts a hand on his cheek to calm him.
“We can talk to Ivan, maybe he can help.” A single tear falls down her cheek. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten us into this.”
Kevin sighs. “Don’t do that. We helped. I’ll call Ivan.”
Kevin kisses Alia to console her and she admits that she is scared.
“Don’t be.” Kevin says and the two ignore the dying fire outside, the mounting threat of zombies, and they make love in their bedroom. When they are done, Alia gazes into Kevin’s eyes.
“Maybe I’ll take a break from the futures.”
Kevin scoffs. “I don’t think you know any other way.”
“I do. I have to look into the sun to see anything, and when I try, I don’t have to hear or feel anything. I just have to practice trying.”
“I would like that,” Kevin says. “But won’t the world crash and burn without the Alia keeping track?”
“One thing I’ve learned is that horrible things in the future come regardless. Maybe nothing I’ve been doing has helped at all. Maybe my meddling caused the zombies. Who knows.”
“You’re sure you can’t sense them? If not, I think you should take some time for yourself. Get to know Alia. Don’t worry about this situation, I’ll see if Ivan can help. You focus on finding something that makes you happy.”
Alia snuggles closer and kisses Kevin. Maybe she did love him after all. And maybe it’s dumb to worry that she will do to him what she does in all the futures. She’s been out of the care of doctors for a while now, but she can’t even imagine that she can get pregnant, not with all the chemicals they used to treat her. And she and Kevin always practice safe sex. Maybe it was time for her to retire the Alia, if only for a little while.
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