Animan

Ricardo winced at Lydia. “You said you wouldn't join Epsilon.”

Lydia said nothing. Ricardo laughed heartily. “I suppose in the end, changing your mind and joining us here was a wonderful decision of yours."

Lydia said fiercely, “It would have been easier for me to decide if you had just come clean when you came to see me.”

Ricardo feigned surprise. “I don't know what you are talking about.”

“A committee was convened at the university to investigate my thesis within two weeks of meeting you; a letter came from the IRS within three weeks; the FBI came to talk within four weeks—do you think those things just happened by chance?”

“When you bought a BMW and signaled to us that you were joining us, didn't all the trouble just magically go away?”

“It did.”

“So we want what's best for you, Lydia. If you stay alone, sooner or later you'll get into trouble. Stay with us and you'll face life's challenges, but you'll never be in danger. We will protect you. And if you don't—”

“And if I don't?”

Ricardo laughed, “You've seen what can happen if you're not. That's in the past now. You are now a respected researcher of our Epsilon. Welcome to Epsilon.”

Lydia asked, “What do I have to do now?”

“You don't have to do anything in particular. Just familiarize yourself with our operations, see what kind of work you like, and do that.”

“Okay.”

Ricardo stood up and said, “Come on, I'll show you around our office. You'll like it.”

Ricardo then showed Lydia everything. The large library, the big data center, and various laboratories. The most impressive thing was a massive supercomputer called Cragnon. There don't seem to be many computers of this model in the entire world. 

In small office cubicles, people are bent over their desks working. Their faces bear the stamp of sharp intelligence, but no warmth. There's an oddness in their expressions that you can't quite put your finger on—you can only sense it.

After showing her around everything and reaching the far end of the office, Lydia's eyes fell on a notice board—it had several individual photos of people. All of them were young. Lydia asked,

“Who are these?”

Ricardo said, “You don't need to know that right now.”

“I want to know.”

“Alright then. These are our former researchers.”

“Former?”

“Yes.”

Lydia frowned and asked, “Where are they now?”

“Gone.”

“Gone?”

“They're dead.”

“How?”

Ricardo shrugged. “Some in accidents, some by suicide, some from drug overdoses.”

Lydia looked at Ricardo slowly. “Why?”

“They all left Epsilon. They didn't like the way Epsilon operated. After quitting, they fell into a depression and died like that.”

Lydia whispered, “Actually, you killed them all, didn't you?”

Ricardo didn't answer. He just smiled. Lydia lowered her voice further and said, “And then you hang these pictures here, reminding everyone that if anyone betrays Epsilon, this is what will happen to them. Isn't that right?”

The smile on Ricardo's face widened. “How about a coffee?" he asked. “We have excellent coffee in our cafeteria.”

A week later, Lydia handed Ricardo an envelope and said, “Here you go. There's a CD inside. On the CD, I've written about a project.”

Pretending to be pleased, Ricardo said, “That's wonderful. Usually, people can't come up with an idea this quickly.”

Lydia said nothing and walked toward the library. About an hour later, Ricardo found her and said, “I've read your project.”

Lydia stared at her monitor, showing no enthusiasm for Ricardo's words.

Ricardo said, “I've sent it to the boss. I think—”

Lydia showed no enthusiasm for Ricardo's words this time either. She stared at her monitor. Ricardo tried to smile and said, “I think your whole argument is a kind of madness. Unreal madness.”

Lydia said nothing.

The next morning, Ricardo found Lydia excitedly. He lowered his voice and said, “You have to go to New York right now.”

“Right now?”

“Yes. The boss wants to talk to you.”

Lydia said, “When's the next flight?”

"You don't have to do that. Our company has its own jet.

Get ready."

“I'm ready.”

Ricardo said in an excited voice, “This has never happened before. The boss has never wanted to meet with someone so junior.”

Lydia said nothing.

Ricardo said, “Your project! The boss must want to talk about your project. It seemed crazy to me, but it didn't seem crazy to the boss. The boss must have seen something in it that I didn't.”

Lydia asked, “Is there anything special I need to know about talking to the boss?”

“Don't call him by his name. Say ‘sir.’ Even if he gives you permission to call him by his name, don't. Don't sit down until you're told you may.”

“Anything else?”

“If you're offered food, don't refuse. Eat it, even if you don't like it.”

“Anything else?”

“Don't look them straight in the eye.”

Lydia said, “Alright,”

Exactly six hours later, a black car picked Lydia up from LaGuardia Airport. When the car stopped in front of a building in midtown Manhattan, a man opened the door and said, “Lydia?”

Lydia nodded. The man said, “Come with me. The boss is waiting for you.”

The elevator stopped on the eighty-sixth floor, and Lydia followed the man out. The heavy door opened as they reached it. They stepped inside. Another heavy door ahead of them opened as well. The man walked down a long corridor to the very end, stopped in front of a door, and said, “Lydia, the boss is waiting for you in here.”

Lydia opened the door and stepped inside. It was a huge, brightly lit room. At the far end of the room, a man was standing with his back to her, looking at a piece of paper. Hearing Lydia's footsteps, the man turned around. His hair was snow-white, and his eyes were an astonishing shade of blue. His face was etched with the lines of age. It was hard to guess his age. A white shirt, a white tie, and a white suit. His shoes were out of sight, but Lydia guessed they were probably snow-white too.

Looking at Lydia, he said in a deep voice, “Come here, Lydia.”

Lydia walked forward. Even from a distance, she could tell this man was terrifying. One day, could she become like him?

When Lydia got close, the man said, “Sit.”

Lydia pulled up a chair and sat down. The chair was beautiful but not comfortable. It felt intentional, as if no one were ever meant to feel welcome in this room.

The man said, “Would you like some tea or coffee?”

Lydia had already seen out of the corner of her eye that there was coffee in a machine in the corner of the room. There were several mugs next to it. So she said, “I'll have some coffee. Black.”

The man got up himself to get coffee. He was tall and walked with an upright posture. His shoes were snow-white, just as she had guessed. He poured coffee into two mugs and approached her. Placing a mug of coffee in front of Lydia, he went back and sat in his chair.

Looking at Lydia, he said, “Wasn't there any trouble getting here?”

“No. There was no problem at all.” Lydia took a sip of the coffee and realized it was the best coffee in the world.

“My name is William MacKenzie. You can call me Bill.”

Ricardo had told her not to call him by his first name, but Lydia did anyway. “Thank you, Bill.”

Ricardo had told her not to look him directly in the eye, but Lydia looked right into William MacKenzie's eyes. She had never seen eyes so blue.

William MacKenzie took a sip of his coffee and said, “I've seen your report. I like your line of thinking. Can you explain to me, in your own way, why people would keep a pet human child instead of a pet dog or a cat?”

Lydia took a deep breath and said, "People keep pets for companionship. The more intelligent an animal is, the better a companion it can be. Is there any animal more intelligent than humans? That's why human children will make the best companions. You've surely noticed that in my report I made it clear these human children can be legally purchased from the market because they won't be entirely normal children. Through genetic engineering, we must make some changes to these children and get a law passed by Congress stating that even though they look human, they are not actually of the human species. They are a creature somewhere between human and animal. They will be cheerful but will not speak. Their intelligence will be limited, and their memory will be weak. Their lifespan will be a maximum of ten years. The people who have been keeping dogs and cats at home will now keep these human children.”

“Why do you think you can get Congress to pass a law declaring this species non-human?”

“I know you have a lot of power. Besides, congress and senators can be bought with money. We'll make the job easier with the help of the scientists.”

William Mackenzie looked at Lydia sharply and said, “How will you get the scientists' help?”

“We'll say that these human children aren't actually born in a mother's womb. That they're born in a laboratory's artificial environment?”

“Is that true?”

“No. But we'll demonstrate it in multiple laboratories around the world. When it's shown that it's possible to induce the birth of a mammal in a laboratory environment, everyone will accept that the technology exists. Who will disbelieve data published in a journal?”

“How could the results of a fraudulent study be published in a journal?”

Lydia laughed out loud. “The two studies that made me famous in scientific circles are both fraudulent. Scientists can be bought just like politicians. Everyone has a price—if you're willing to pay it, it's very simple.”

“Have you thought about what the human child you want to sell as a pet would look like?”

Lydia shook her head. “I have. But my vision isn't important. We can run a lot of surveys for that.”

“Still, tell me your thought,” William Mackenzie said.

“Big eyes. A flat nose. A smile on their face. No need to make them stand on two legs to distinguish them from humans. Fur on their bodies. A neutral gender, meaning neither male nor female. They could be given extra chromosomes to prove they are not of the human species.”

“Anything else?”

“Their faces will never show sorrow or pain. They will smile even when they are in pain. They will smile even when they are tortured. People will never know they are suffering on the inside.”

William MacKenzie was silent for a moment, then said, “I've checked the figures you gave on how many billions of dollars could be made from this human child business. The calculations are correct. Good work.”

“Thank you.”

“How long will it take if I want to implement this project of yours?”

“That will depend on how much money you want to spend. If money is no problem, then two years.”

“Alright, I'm giving you two years.”

“Thank you.”

“You may leave now.”

Lydia stood up and said, “Good night.”

“Good night.”

Just as Lydia was about to leave the room, William Mackenzie stopped her and said, “Have you come up with a name for this human pet?”

“I did.”

“What?”

Lydia hesitated for a moment and said, “It could be called 'Animan.' 'Ani' from 'animal' and 'man' from 'human.' Animan.”

"Alright, Lydia, good luck with your Animan project.”