Memory, Part One

Joseph gestured weakly. Casey, hovering nearby, walked to his bedside and kneeled down. "Yes, old friend?" he said.

"I have a... confession," Joseph whispered. "And you're a... priest, so I suppose you're the one to give it to, eh?"

Casey looked uncertain. "I wouldn't class myself as such..."

"Humor a dying man," Joseph ordered.

"Would your confession be a lack of humility?" Casey asked, smiling.

Joseph shook his head. For a long moment, he lay still. Casey began to rise, thinking that he'd gone to sleep; then Joseph spoke.

"Some... time ago, I did a quite remarkable thing. You've heard them talking about those sea-creatures. Rather like crabs, over on the west coast... yes. The particular property that everyone was buzzing about was their genetic memory, you'll recall - their ability to store their memories in their genes, and pass it down to their children. Rather wasted on crabs, everyone agreed, and there was a great deal of hub-bub about using it on humans. Then... nothing."

"I did something. I talked to the right people, and found a rather clever fellow who'd sequenced this "crab"'s genetic code. He didn't lock his doors, as I noticed when I visited, so soon I had a copy, too. I did some research, a little bit of animal testing, on the side. Was very careful to keep my real work at my usual quality - you remember the late nights I spent in the lab back then! Ha!"

"But I figured it out. How to do it; transplant the crabs' capabilities into humans. I wasn't certain what to do with it, at first. I considered selling it. Then I went to a doctor - rather ironic, that I'd have to... and I found out that I had this. This! A degenerative nervous system disease. With all the precautions I'd taken against the old cancers and the viruses. It just doesn't seem fair!"

"...but that's not the point. I'm sure you can guess what I did. Rather a trick, writing my entire memory into the right format, then getting it into my body... had to run a specially designed virus or three through my entire reproductive system. You remember the flu I came down with, a few months back. Painful, but worth it. My child... the child Annabel is carrying even now (don't think I didn't know about it!) will have all my memories."

Casey sat back. This was not the confession he had expected. To give himself time to think, he asked, "Any other sins you'd like to tell me of?"

Joseph thought about it. "I stole a lollipop from my younger brother when I was seven. Always felt a little guilty about that."

Casey wasn't listening. "So your son. He'll know everything you do?"

Joseph nodded. "From birth, if it works properly. No time for human testing, obviously... he's the test! But he will know everything."

Casey drew back. "That means... he won't know anything else. He'll be you... anything else he'd be, just erased, overpowered."

Joseph grinned. "Yes. I am dying. But I will be reborn!"

Casey stood. He looked down on his friend, and said, softly, "God save you." Then he turned and looked outside, where Annabel stood, waiting; two months pregnant.