The Manchester Effect

The Manchester Effect
By
Raman Jalota

   Melissa rotated the clear green liquid inside the glass cylinder, shaking it every now and then. She stared at it and looked at the clock again. She bit her lower lip and threw the cylinder in the trash bin. The noise of the glass breaking reverberated through the vast lab. She stomped out of the lab muttering to herself.
   All that effort wasted. It stays green for three weeks. All that DNA material that I used! This can’t be. I have to stop it. Damn, what do I do next? There was so much riding on the dragon genes. And now nothing.
   She passed Craig Hollander in the hallway. He smiled and opened his mouth to say something. Melissa glanced at him; her orange eyes were on fire as her vertical green pupils almost turned blue sparkling with rage. Craig flattened himself against the wall as Melissa, lost in her own world, burnt everything in her vision with her hatred of failure.
   Craig was now convinced. Melissa was a true dragon. Why did he ever think her green eyes could show compassion? He had been fooled by his love of Natasha. He felt he had seen a hint of Natasha in Melissa’s eyes. He felt completely stupid standing in the hallway with his body pressed against the wall.   His white face slowly turned a healthy pink as he thought of his Russian blue cat and her bluish green eyes.
   He slowly walked to the lab and looked for the results on the videocoder. His eyes widened in disbelief as he saw the green liquid in Melissa’s hand, reflecting her dragon eyes as she threw the cylinder in the trash. He now understood what was behind the anger of the dragon lady. He punched the keys and studied the results intently. He then wrote his comments and walked out of the lab.

…..

   The murmuring slowly died as Preeti Mehra raised her hand, “O.K. O.K. I know you have already heard the rumors, so here it is. Our experiment with the dragon coefficient derivative ended abruptly today … yes in failure. For the last three weeks, no amount of additional dragon DNA manipulation brought any change in the genetic makeup of our present ecosystem. This basically means an end of the dragon study and brings us completely back to square A.”
   Dr. Jacker stood up, “Then we are doomed!”
   Melissa: “I would hardly agree with that. Yes, the dragon DNA is not the solution, but we still have several years left to reverse the Manchester effect.”
   Jacker: “And may I ask what I do with my three sons in the meantime? What do we do with our next generation Melissa? Do we let them mutate and lose their sanity? Do we accept the finality of the Manchester effect and let everything be destroyed?”
   A stunned silence fell over the faculty as everyone considered his own personal lives and what the failure of the experiment meant. Craig slowly stood up and cleared his throat; “Perhaps the fault lies not in the thesis but in the execution of the serum generation.”
   Melissa gave him a dirty look but he smiled back, “I think Miss Dragon’s thesis is correct just as the supreme council had thought three years ago.”
   Melissa: “I am glad you are not trying to disprove the irrefutable accuracy of my work.”
   Craig: “No, your thesis is the perfect evolution of genius as we know it, it’s the possibility of the flaw in the lab work that I am talking about here.”
   Melissa’s eyes sparkled with angry fire, “Flaw; in my lab work? Why you are nothing but …”
   Preeti raised her hands for silence, “Perhaps Craig has seen something that needs to be considered. What have you seen Craig?”
   Craig looked at Melissa and shrugged his shoulders, he started writing on the console in front of him.
   Melissa: “What the hell is that? Some kind of photo finishing process from the ancient times?”
   Craig: “Yes! You are brilliant Miss Dragon. Your knowledge of pre-historic chemistry is amazing.   However, have you actually tried to create a chemical mixture or compound from the ancient times?”
   The large monitor showed 12 different chemicals and weights and their liquid strengths and ratios.
   Craig continued, “This is just a standard list of chemicals to be used in various combinations and times and temperatures to create a developer that can achieve the perfect negative. The individual strengths and acceptable levels of impurities also vary. However, I discovered that using the above chart I could obtain excellent results almost every time I tried it.”
   Her eyes turned blue with the fire of understanding; a slow gasp came from Melissa, “You mean the outcome from the same chemical reaction varies?”
   “Ah! Now you understand Miss Dragon. Precisely the same process produces markedly different results … sometimes disastrous. I found out that I could mix all the chemicals together and then add distilled water to create the developer or add individual chemicals to the distilled water one by one, dissolving them completely before adding the next one or dissolving each of the chemicals in small quantities of distilled water and then mixing all the solutions or creating a special order in which I combine the chemicals. Each of these produced different results and I found a unique sequence that produced the perfect developer that gave me the perfect photo negative … but not every time.”
   Preeti: “That’s nonsense. Chemistry like DNA development is fixed and constant. I have never heard such strange rubbish. How can you call yourself a chemlaur and espouse this?”
   Craig: “It’s exactly because of my understanding of the inexactness of chemistry that I call myself a chemlaur. Preeti, you do know how the minutest shift of a small molecule of acid in the DNA can create an angel from a monster?” “And a dragon from an angel.”   He whispered under his breath as he stared at Melissa’s green eyes.

…..

   Click. She heard it very clearly. The ecosystem had made its final turn to self-destruction with a loud and distinct sound. Click!
   She lay in bed, drenched in perspiration. What can I do to stop it? Damn! Shouldn’t the council have solved this years ago? Bastards! Why should I save mankind, or whatever we have become. It’s not just me. It’s their hides too.
   She thought of her ancestors. She remembered her grandfather clearly. She was a ten-year-old restless tomboy sitting in his lap. He patted her head and looked in her eyes. “You too have the green eyes of the dragon. You are so sweet Melissa, but you too are doomed. Our genes just do not have the energy to survive. We have everything except a built in course of survival for our species. You are the only dragon offspring in your generation. You will be the last dragon.”
   She didn’t quite understand what he said that day, but his warm tears filled her with an impending sense of doom.
   And the ‘Click’ she heard filled her with an accelerated sense of the final moment. It was no longer something she didn’t understand. It was no longer something she vaguely feared. It was here. It was now. It was deafeningly loud and clear. Click!

…..

   Melissa touched Marcus’s arm as she talked to him. “We must redo the serum creation from the start, but I feel I must understand the exact process to be followed.”
   Marcus smiled, his green eyes sparkling with laughter, “Anything to stop the Manchester effect. Fight we must .. or is it dig we must?”
   Melissa smiled, her green eyes softening, “You have a fun way of looking at the gravest situations, Marcus.”
   “Yes, when I was lying in the grave, or was it the womb, I heard this voice coming from afar yet from very near? It started with a slow heartbeat that slowly picked up pace and volume, building to a climax at which it synchronized with my heartbeat and I realized I was listening to my twin. My evil twin!”
   She laughed at his dramatization. “Is he green like you?”
   “No, I am the strange one. I was born with this hideous green skin. But it matches my green eyes. Come to think of it, it matches your green eyes too.”
   “Oh! But you have human eyes. I have these dragon slits.”
   “Now, now, don’t throw no fiery breaths at me Melissa.”
   They walked laughing to the lab and started recoding the initial sequencing.

…..

   Craig shook Marcus’s hand, “So you are the tiger among us.”
   “Yes, but my genetic progression is hardly noteworthy. Not like Miss Dragon here, she is a perfect specimen.”
   Craig stared at his eyes, “You have Tiger eyes. It’s the skin that’s … more like an alligator than a tiger.”
   Marcus laughed, “No, not an alligator. I am more like a frog. The prince charming cursed to live in a frog’s skin.”
   Melissa: “It has been such a great pleasure to work with Marcus these last two weeks. He is a riot. Are you ready to coach us now Craig?”
   He nodded, “If you are willing to absorb the art of chemistry from me?
   “First of all, you must understand the Manchester effect. This was discovered almost three centuries ago when scientist mapped the genetic evolution of species over the last forty thousand years on earth. Synchronous with the evolution was an increasing decline in the number of species here on earth. When followed logically to its conclusion, very few species will survive this forward march. The number of species remaining after each adjustment is considerably less than before. In addition to that, the interaction between the new species that evolve and the remaining species that are mutating is consistently destructive.”
   Marcus: “In other words, the earth is getting violently destructive!”
   Craig: “Yes, precisely. Our survival curve points down and towards the axis. At some point in time total annihilation will be achieved through constant mutation, extinction and mutual destruction.”
   Melissa: “But this is all natural!”
   Craig laughed, “Look at yourself Melissa. There’s nothing natural about you, or about Marcus. You are both genetic derivatives of the human species and animals that had extraordinary qualities. Your ancestors were bred this way, not in their mother’s womb but in the lab.”
   Marcus: “Well sure. Our ancestors were manipulated, but we have all been born naturally. We are almost as natural as a human being can be.”
   Craig: “Oh really! Tell me Melissa, how many living relatives do you have?”
   She nodded as she understood, “None. I am the last surviving dragon. After me there will be no living dragons left in the universe.”
   Marcus: “O.K. O.K. You made your point Craig. But what do we do now?”
   Craig: “You must do exactly as I tell you. You must follow the sequence I have designed exactly. Remember we do not have much time. The Manchester effect inches towards its goal almost every five years. It’s like a metallic wheel clicking it’s way forward towards the final groove where it will lock and force the ultimate explosion.”
   He looked at Melissa and thought about her as he walked out. It was such a pity. She was such a perfect specimen, but with such a rotten disposition. The tiger seemed to be calming the dragon. Perhaps it will work.

…..

   Click. She heard it very clearly. She lay in bed, drenched in perspiration but her fear made her shiver. What can I do to stop it? Does it matter any more?
    She reached over and grabbed the second pillow and pressed it to her breasts. Half-rocking to herself she mouthed ‘Marcus.’ And then she said it out loud, “Marcus, Marcus, Marcus.”
    What’s wrong with me? I am thirty-nine years old. I had decided years ago … no not decided, I had accepted years ago that I will end up alone. That I will always be alone. Why do I long for Marcus? For his company? For his voice? For his presence? He makes me laugh. I have the best time when I am around him. Yes, he makes me happy.
    She stared at the dark gray ceiling. She could see it slowly turn green. She could see his eyes and feel his green skin around her. “I love you Marcus.” She screamed at the ceiling. She lay rocking herself and telling herself … He makes me happy. This may be the ultimate chance at happiness for me. I should get hold of him as tightly as I can and never let him go.
Then she realized, the ‘Click’ she had heard was not the ecosystem moving towards destruction. It was her own heartbeat. As she lay half-dreaming and rocking herself, she heard it again. Click!
    And the ‘Click’ she heard filled her with an accelerated sense of the final moment. It was no longer something she didn’t understand. It was no longer something she vaguely feared. It was here. It was now. It was the last chance at her own happiness. It was deafeningly loud and clear. Click!

…..

    Craig patted Marcus on the shoulder, “You ready for a break big boy? I need to talk to you.”
    They sat in the cafeteria sipping their coffees. Marcus took another bite out of his pie, “What is it you need to talk about?”
    “Melissa.”
    “What about her?”
    “How are things between you two. Is she still the fire breathing dragon that she has always been?”
    “On the contrary. She is really sweet. She laughs and kids around like a comedian.”
    “Really?”
    “I am having a great time with her. She laughs at my jokes and makes me laugh. We build on each other’s thoughts. It has been really great for me.”
    “Are you seeing her outside of the lab?”
    “Of course.”
    “And how’s your relationship? How’s she in private?”
    “She is no fire breathing dragon, If that’s what you are looking for? When I look in her eyes, I don’t see a dragon, I see the softest, gentlest butterfly. I can’t believe any of the stories I heard about her.”
    “Isn’t she repulsed by your skin?”
    “She likes my skin. She says she sees her eyes in every part of my body. It’s green all over.”
Craig smiled, “Great! This will work after all.”
   Marcus looked at his retreating back with a bewildered look in his eyes. What did Craig mean by that?

…..

   Marcus held her tight, “I see myself in your eyes.”
   She murmured back, “I see myself in every part of your body.”
   “This is perfect. I love you absolutely, Melissa.”
   She softly replied, “I too love you Marcus. You have given me the joy I was missing all my life.”
   They kissed and hugged repeatedly as they got ready. “It’s the big day, Melissa. Do you think everything will turn out O.K?”
   “I don’t care that much any more. If I have to die now, I will happily die having known you and having been with you.”
   Marcus tapped her on the nose, “No one’s going to die. We are all going to survive.   I promise you that.”
   They practically ran to the lab. Melissa shook the glass cylinder with the clear green liquid inside. She bit her lower lip, remembering what happened the last time. Marcus placed his arm around her shoulder and put his hand over hers.
    “Gently, Melissa.   It has several more minutes to go.”
    “It better turn now.”
    They placed the cylinder on the counter and with their hands touching covered it’s green liquid.
    “Close your eyes Melissa.”
    “Are you closing yours?”
    “Yes. We will open them together when I say so.”
    Marcus removed his hand from the cylinder and she let her hand drop in her lap. They sat in silence for a moment. She reached over and held his hand in hers.
    “Now!”
    They opened their eyes to see the clear transparent liquid in the cylinder. They kissed and danced around the lab.
    “We have done it!”

…..

    As the council clapped, Melissa and Marcus poured the first of seven cylinders in the water supply.
Craig smiled, “I knew it will work.”
   Marcus: “Well of course. It was supposed to work. We designed a different sequence per your instructions.”
   Craig laughed, “That was rubbish. There is no difference in sequencing for DNA manipulations.”
Melissa stared at him unbelievingly, “All that talk about the right sequencing and now you tell us it didn’t matter!”
   Craig: “What mattered was not the sequence, but the atmosphere under which the development was carried out.”
   Melissa: “I don’t understand!”
    Craig: “The sequencing wasn’t the solution. The solution was the serum makers and their dispositions. The absence of rage and hatred and the presence of love and laughter created the exact environment needed for the precise stimulation for the genetic manipulation. It was the presence of life that was needed and you two were able to dispel the pall of death and introduce life to the process, in the process and ultimately in the ecosystem.”
   Marcus and Melissa walked out hand in hand. Marcus smiled as he suddenly understood it all, he looked at the deep blue sky and shouted, “God damned Craig! So that’s what he meant!”

The End         2885 words

Copyright © 2004 Raman Jalota. All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.

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