Chapter 6: Confrontation

Although Casey lived with her father, they didn't spend much time together. Their house, large for their community, was like two townhouses joined together. Both had three floors and a basement, each with its own bathroom, kitchen, study, and bedroom. They had access to each other's space through a door under the staircases that ran through the middle of each townhouse.

Casey's kitchen was part science lab, part cooking and refrigeration area. It couldn't really be called a kitchen because there was no embedded stove. Cooking was done on a benchtop burner or in the microwave. There was a wall of fridges and two benches: one in a horseshoe style around the walls and one in the middle of the room with a built-in bookcase underneath. This was where Casey was most comfortable, amongst her own things, where she could run her own experiments without anyone observing her. She could also help the community find solutions to broader issues beyond just soil erosion and water generation. She initially thought her expertise in those areas was what made her the best candidate for the job in Calberra's lab.

Jonathon had never worked from home, so his side of the house was very neat and clean. It had basic furniture and a modern kitchen, where they would eat together on occasion. Now that her memories included those from Percy's journal about her mother and grandmother, Casey decided it was time to confront her father, so she sent him an AirPlay message to say she would join him in his kitchen for dinner that evening. She couldn't wait another day.

It was rare for Casey to invite herself to dinner, so Jonathon was immediately concerned. Although they'd been working in Calberra's lab together for some time now, they rarely saw each other. He left for work before her and returned after her. This was intentional, as he didn't want her to get involved in his work, and he knew that if she found out what it was, she would try.

The evening started pleasantly. Jonathon had cooked Casey's favourite, Pyrenean ibex, with vegetables. It was not only her favourite because it tasted good, but it was also one of the first extinct animals her father's friend, Professor Hervé Rognon, was able to clone and adapt to her community's environment.

However, with so many questions Casey couldn't hold back, the first, probably not the best to start with: "Did you love my mother, or did you use her to get a job with my grandfather?" Jonathon thought he was prepared for anything, but not this. "Why would you ask such a question?" he retorted. She didn't want to tell him about her new memories, well not yet anyway, so she said, "Now that I have the job at the lab, I can see how difficult it is to get in, so you would have to have some influence to be recruited." Jonathon was more offended than anything; to think she believed he was not superior in his studies and had to leverage his relationship with Moira to get a job was quite a shock.

Steadying himself, he looked directly at Casey and, in the calmest voice he could muster, said, "I loved your mother deeply. Together, we were going to change the world. And for the three years after your grandfather died, we really thought we could." She asked, "Did you know about great-grandmother's conception experiments?" "Not entirely," he replied. "We knew they existed, but it wasn't until after your mother died that I read about them.

We were so focused on a different formula and meeting the demands of the President and his cronies while trying to find a pathway forward that we never looked into it. We knew it existed and that it had something to do with conception, but as your mother was so young and there was no relevance to our work, we didn't consider it a priority to investigate." Welling up, he added sadly, "How I wish we had."

He thought for a moment and then said, "It seems your great-grandmother's journals are starting to make sense." "Yes," she replied without emotion.

"Why get pregnant before you could change the world?" she asked with a little more compassion. "Your mother had such a wonderful experience growing up in the lab with her father that she wanted to experience that with her child, but she never got the chance," he said, a tear rolling down his cheek. 

She wanted to know more and tested how much he would confide in her. "How did her mother die?" Jonathon seemed to drift off into space with that question, new tears streaming down his face. She ran to get him the laser to evaporate his tears. After his shoulders stopped shaking and his voice returned, he explained what Casey already knew: Eliza had experimented with the Conception formula, and the antidote hadn't worked. Then, without prompting, he said, "This is how your mother died."

At first, it didn't make sense to Casey, as her mother didn't use the formula. Then Jonathon explained in tragic detail. "Moira became pregnant naturally; however, the chemical that killed Eliza was transferred into Moira's bloodstream while she was in Eliza's womb." He suddenly seemed to realise he was speaking to Moira's daughter then continued, "When your mother gave birth to you on the 19th of August 2066, that date is embedded in my soul," he said, shaking his head. "The chemical spread throughout her body, and there was nothing that could be done to save her." Sobbing harder, he continued in a difficult-to-decipher voice, "We had no defences because we knew nothing about it."

There were so many more questions, but with the new memories she had from Percy's journals and what her father was telling her, she needed to be careful not to get overwhelmed. She still had a lot of Percy's files to extract. Her next steps were going to be critical for her mental health. While her father took time to regain his composure, she decided on her next move: to find out how much he was willing to share.

"Are there other copies of great-grandmother's journals?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied. Although this angered her— knowing she had been trying to decipher them for years—she tried to pace her questions and responses so he didn't feel like he was being interrogated. But it was hard for Casey.

"What about this other formula you are working on? Is it anti-aging?" she asked. "Yes, but it is much more sophisticated than just an anti-aging formula," he responded meekly, "and it is too dangerous to share with you." "Casey, I'm sorry," he said. "I will share everything I know about the Conception formula, but other than continuing to give you your regular dose, I will not share anything about anti-aging with you," he continued.

This shook her. "What do you mean, give me my regular dose?" Suddenly, his demeanour changed; he sat up straight and became very serious. "Casey, that purple vitamin tablet you take daily, called gnia-itra, slows down the aging process."

After the shock wore off, it struck her how naive she had been. Her father was born in 2040; he was now 66 but looked 26, and she was 40 and looked like a teenager.