Eumans

Synopsis: A tale of a neurobiologist, Dr. Jolene Cosmobella who creates nandrites. These cells are self-healing, expanding brain cells with untold capabilities. However, her best friend, Dr. Halbrook Lyons decides to steal the cells from her in an attempt to create an army of indestructible, invulnerable soldiers named nandrumans that follow his every whim, all for the capital gain and notoriety it will give him.

Chapter 1—Searching for Nandrite Candidates

Jolene Cosmobella was the most euphoric neurobilogist in Oregon. Her nandrites were nearly perfected. She knew there were candidates that desperately required the introduction of her newly created cells but they had to go through a stringent background check to make certain they were suitable candidates for such a groundbreaking procedure. The nandrites were the holy grail when it came to cells. Jolene had unlocked the dendrite's ability to store information ad infinatum. She created them to protect themselves against oxidation that developed as a direct result of age, wear and tear. These cells would be able to heal themselves and proliferate even into the recipient's golden years. At least, this had all been hypothesized thus far. She still had to find willing participants to act as guinea pigs for her study. Only one more test remained in her lab mice and then the cells' viability would be proven effective.

Doctor Halbrook Lyons was Jolene's best friend, but he hid a detestable secret. He had been envying her from afar. Jolene was a genius, an altruistic hard worker who looked out for the well being of others more so than herself. Halbrook, however, only wanted to help himself.

'If only I could use those cells to create my own battalion. The media would go gaga. All the credibility would be mine. I have been an assistant long enough. Time for the limelight to shine on my ingenuity. I helped Jolene invent the nandrite, so it should be my success after all.', he thought to himself, seething behind her back.

'Halbrook ! What are you doing in the laboratory so late ? I'm ready to close for the evening.', she said, yawning and stretching.

'Actually, you can go ahead and start heading back home. I'll shut down for the night. You needn't worry. In fact, you've been working too hard, my friend.', Halbrook said. Jolene didn't even perceive his masked evil intent. He had been plotting to swipe her prized invention right from under her nose ever since the nandrite cells were in their infancy 7 years ago.

'Ah, Hal. What would I do without you ? Ronaldo and the kids will be so happy to see me coming home early. I'll actually be able to make a suitable dinner for once.', Jolene thrilled, a giant smile crossed her tan, high-cheekboned countenance. Halbrook's blue-green eyes glimmered with victory, his smile twisted. He wasn't going to sully this moment with cliched villainous laughter. Oh, no. That would come after he began the procedures to create what he had always wanted, nandrumans; the perfect super soldier.

Chapter 2—Oblivious

Back at home, Bolivian-French bombshell, Jolene finished dinner with her family and served them sundaes for dessert, topped with maraschino cherries and extra creamy whipped cream.

'Mom, this dinner was the bomb !', Donald exclaimed, patting his sated stomach with immense satisfaction. Jolene's husband, Ronaldo, kissed her tenderly, stroking her hand tenderly at the table.

'Ugh, guys. Get a room.', Jane complained, sticking out her tongue in disgust. Of all the children, she was the most immature and found boys, save her elder brother, 'yucky'.

'Why did you come home so early ?', Ron questioned, curiously, raising a dark bushy eyebrow.

'Hal decided to shut down the lab for the day, saying I could use a day off.', Jolene said, happily.

'I think this calls for a family movie. How does BFG sound ?', Ron suggested.

'I love that movie !', both children said.

'Then it's unanimous !', Jolene responded, and followed her entire family into the den to snuggle closely to her beloved kids and husband.

Meanwhile...

Hal quickly stowed the peitri dish of cell culture into his cooler, packing it with dry ice.

'Now to take this back to my lab at home. I'll run by the graveyard as well. I know just the deserving sell that needs to become a nandrumans.', he thought to himself.

Chapter 3—Awake All Night

Jolene tossed and turned in the night, forehead dappled with sweat. She awoke with a shriek that made Ron's blood icy.

'What's wrong ?', Ron asked, stroking Jolene's arm tenderly.

'I had a premonition. I've never felt this panicked before, nor have I ever had a nightmare so vivid.', Jolene began.

'Tell me everything.', Ron assuaged his wife, lightly stroking her leg, gently.

'I think I was wrong in my assessment of Halbrook. I have to return to the lab, and quickly.', she said, steeling her courage. Ron wanted to go with her but she reassured him she could handle this problem alone; Jolene was a woman who was stronger than she seemed.

Jolene wasted no time hurrying to the lab and caught Hal in the act of loading up the cell cultures.

'Hal. How could you ? I trusted you ! You were my best friend.', Jolene said, too embittered to cry over such a wretched betrayal.

'You want to know why I'm doing this, Jolene ? You were always in the spotlight, and I was forever in the shadows. You were towering over everybody else in your luminosity. I could no longer stand it. I helped you with the format for these cells. If I can't have some of the credit, by GOD, I will take all of it.', Hal said. She heard the all-too familiar click of an H&K pointed directly at her heart.

'Don't be rash, Hal. We can talk about this rationally.', Jolene began. The manic, wild-eyed scientist threatened her even more, barking orders forcefully. Jolene didn't want to be violent with him but with quick thinking, she wrested the gun from him and pointed it at him with no intention to shoot but if she had to, she wouldn't hesitate.

'This is my meal ticket ! You would only use these cells to heal brain damage and reverse disease. My application would be invaluable to the army, but the army would be mine. The government would pay me for my nadrumans !', Hal raved. Jolene had taken back her cells and held Hal at bay with his gun.

'You are completely mad. You'd be causing more harm than anything.', Jolene said, placing her petri dishes back in cryogenic storage. Hal finally lost his cool and began to charge her. Not really knowing how to shoot a gun, she took aim and squeezed the trigger. Staggering, Hal began to lose footing. He had been shot clean through his chest and before he knew it, he had bled to death on the floor around them.

'I'm sorry but you left me no choice.', Jolene whimpered as she called 911 and the paramedics arrived promptly on the scene. Of course, police came as well and began casing the scene.

'It's an open and shut case. You were really brave. We're just sorry that it happened to such a gentle soul like yourself.', the officer said, comforting her. She knew this would haunt her dreams at night but Hal had clearly lost all functionality of his brain. She would have to attend his funeral and provide him a proper send off, even though he had been completely insane. Even despicable megalomaniacs deserved proper wakes, she thought.

Chapter 4—PTSD

Everything had occurred in such a blur that Jolene felt she was moving through molasses. It was a sensation of everything becoming considerably harder to do, like her hands were made out of lead. Her sleep schedule didn't exist, not even after Hal had been buried. Not very many people came to the funeral and she felt extreme sorrow for him.

'I thought that at least maybe someone would have wanted to say their final farewells, but only the people from the office paid their respects. At least there were people mourning for him.', Jolene stated sadly to her husband. Ron had been incredibly patient and understanding with his darling wife. Even the children understood what their mother was going through and gave her space when they needed it. However, when she found herself overwrought with tears, they were quick to react with hugs, kisses and loving encouragement. Certainly it would take Jolene many more weeks to recuperate, but she had found willing participants to see if her cells worked as well in humans as they had in her rodent subjects.

Chapter 5—A Paraplegic, Healed !

There was a man named Armando Voliere. He had been in a terrible car accident that had rendered him unable to function from the waist down. Despite that he had gotten his wife pregnant and they were expecting their first daughter, aptly named Hope.

'I had been a champion runner and triathlon winner in years past but that wreck took everything, well, almost everything, from me.', he said, watching his words carefully for the press so as they wouldn't twist his words. Armando was given the risks and benefits of the procedure and put under local anesthetic. Then, the cells began to work their magic.

One by one, the nandrites began to rewire the parts of Armando's brain that hadn't functioned in so long. His muscles began to work in perfect harmony. His hands tingled and twinged and began to move.

'It's...miraculous !', he said, nearly weeping for joy. He would still have to attend physical therapy to improve motor function. After being wheelchair bound his muscles had atrophied but in time, he would be able to walk upright without anyone to act as his crutch.

'I owe you everything, Doctor Cosmobella !', Armando said, finally able to hold his savior's hand in the air triumphantly. It was her first success and she accepted it humbly.

'Part of it was because you believed in the power of your own body to heal.', Jolene stated, wisely. Belief was part of the battle, and Jolene was fully aware of that. It was the first in many experiments that proved to change the course of how illnesses were treated. Big Pharma didn't appreciate the advances that Jolene had made and their attempts at threatening her were of no consequence. Eventually, Big Pharma went bankrupt and they were shunned for their practices. There were a few left within Pharma that used herbal remedies to reinforce human bodies and heal the source of illness rather than the symptoms. Illnesses were soon becoming a thing of the past and all because of one woman's phenomenal discovery.

Chapter 6—A Name Redeemed

Halbrook's youngest sister, Henrietta, had decided to go into the burgeoning field of neurocardiology, even though, due her brother's psychotic reputation had marred her's. She wouldn't allow that from keeping her obtaining her highest goal, though.

No one had ever known Henrietta was even related to Halbrook due to the fact that she had legally changed her name at 18. She had always been unique and took no qualms in making that fact obvious to everyone who ever met her, but not to belittle others or seem arrogant. She had many friends and loved helping others.

Henrietta had read Doctor Cosmobella's biography. Knowing that she was going to be at a symposium made her positively giddy. She was quite a prodigy and she was about to graduate cum laude, top of her class. Even though she held lofty honors, she was incredibly humble and got along with everyone that came into her path.

'I turn the forum over to questions at this time.', Jolene stated, sweetly, giving an usher a microphone to pass around to inquisitive listeners at the live symposium.

'What led you to the field of neurobilogy ?', Henrietta inquired.

'That one's simple. I wished to give people a new lease on life. Until the time I discovered the nandrites, there were no methods of healing people that otherwise had no help. Conventional science couldn't assist them, so I enacted on pre-existing cells, the idea of plasticity and the amazing concept we all know as faith or belief. People have to be willing to participate themselves. It's about surrender. The mind, as we know is the most powerful organ we have. Science can't even peg it or define it. We are still discovering more of its attributes every time we delve deeper into its fathomless depths.', Jolene said. Jolene thought she saw something familiar in Henrietta's face. She had the same oval features, high cheekbones and hair color. Her auburn hair was held back by faux-diamond bobby pins. Her hazel green eyes twinkled with compassion behind her retro horn rimmed glasses.

'Do I know you from somewhere ? You resemble a friend I had once.', Jolene stopped for a moment. She paused for a moment and shook the notion off, but after the lecture, she took her aside and chatted with her for a bit.

'I knew I recognized you. You're Halbrook's sister. I thought I saw you at the funeral all those years ago, but you were just a little girl then. I can't even begin to think what you've been through.', Jolene said, uncharacteristically hugging the skinny girl close to her. Henrietta hadn't cried for years and suddenly she began to bawl. For so long she had existed in Halbrook's sinister shadow that she had become invisible. There were even people who were frightened of her. There was one person though, who had taken a chance on her, and that was her best friend from college. They roomed together and even developed a romantic relationship. At some point, Henrietta and her life partner, Sybil, would begin a new life together.

'No one remembers any of that anymore. The controversy and shock have long since passed, but I wanted to make good on the Lyons name. I changed it to 'Prowl'. Not one for originality but no one even speculated as to my birth name when I got my degree.', Henrietta began. It was true that time did heal all wounds and Jolene saw nothing but blue skies in Henrietta's aspiring career.

'I really owe this all to you. I can't thank you enough.', Henrietta said, wiping some errant grateful tears.

'Your words are plenty, sweetie.', Jolene pacified. She reassured her fan that would she ever need her, she would always be a phone call away. A friendship formed from that moment on. Jolene became the young woman's mentor whenever she had questions or needed help in creating the next advancements in science.

Chapter 7—Neurocardiology

Henrietta forged ahead in a field that was taking off as well. She had discovered that the Taurean field was indeed real and palpable. It's length had exceeded anything scientists could understood and explained 'distance healing'. Also memory cells in the heart were only beginning to be probed thanks to her. The heart was no longer considered just a pump, but also another brain, intelligent all on its own accord. Thanks to her work, she received a Nobel, proved that love did indeed heal a multitude of ills. When she made her speech for the Nobel, she called Jolene to come and join her.

'I wasn't expected to speak in front of so many people today.', she said, wringing her hands a little apprehensively. Even though she had spoken in front of large classes and lectured millions of people, public speaking still was a rampant fear. However, looking at her husband and son in the audience gave her peace of mind. She stared down at her growing belly, too, knowing that her family was about to expand even more.

Henrietta was still a young lady and Jolene had become middle aged. Despite that, the two were big kids whenever they got together for a girlfriend's weekend. Although the two were the world's most sought after scientists, they took their newfound fame humbly.

Epilogue

Jolene had lived a healthy, lengthy and zesty life, witnessing her children marry and have kids of their own. She spoiled her grandchildren terribly, but they had inherited their grandmother's humility and altruism. Thanks to her, humankind no longer had to deal with diseases and vaccinations were a thing of the past; a mere footnote in human history. Neurocardiology had been proven to heal on an emotional level. War and violence were archaic concepts that rarely happened in this time. It was a peaceful era and people only continued to evolve to their greatest form. It was something that Doctor Cosmobella never believed would occur, but yet, she knew that it was always possible.

As she watched her adult children play with their children pondering what the little ones would do someday. It was entertaining simply to watch them chase each other and be drawn away to infinite realms through their impeccable imaginations. They would probably live the longest lives ever recorded since Biblical times, Jolene mused. It was a blessed era to be living in. Whatever occurred though didn't really matter. The only object of any importance was the happiness and laughter they all shared, away from the limelight, away from the fussing of the media or snapshots of the camera-drones. Just lying out here in nature, breathing the clean air, listening to the whoosh of the trees, it was enough. Savoring this precious time, doing absolutely nothing but just being grateful. These simple moments solidified their family unit even more. Even when they departed, their families were tightly knit and would continue to be so in the days, months, weeks and years that followed.

The End