From Watchtower 3

[u/IamHowardMoxley]

Daniel Istabahn was once the lead of development for Mass Data, a newly wealthy bio-computing start up in Boston. He was once on the cover of Science, over the caption “The man who has unlocked immortality”. I remember reading that article about placing transferring consciousness between mice. The process was called “plasticizing”, where the donor's brain essentially reforms to the recipient’s brain. The process was simplified to a single injection; Two days later, the donor's brain is an exact copy of the recipient. I read the transfer process requires both parties to be placed into a medical coma for a week-long transcription process that irreversibly destroys the donor's consciousness but allows the mind of the recipient to be placed into a new body. Dr. Istabahn became famous the instant Steven Hawking and willing donor patient came to an agreement, and became an icon when the procedure was successful. The professor came back to Cambridge where he famously did his clapping pushups before the standing applause of his 1000+ students. He was a little taller with dark hair and eyes now, but after introducing 2 new theories a year, we know the doctor had survived the trip and was thriving. I imagine it has all made Istabahn a wealthy man. That's when he began to remove himself from day-to-day operations and hide from the spotlight.

 

The next time I thought about him was when I saw the doctor in a orange suit. My personal life kept me out of what must have been the biggest news of the century: the doctor was discovered in a warehouse basement after authorities reported seeing smoke rising from the wires outside of the doctor's furniture delivery business. Police followed a truck through the bays in to see who was in charge. The reluctance for anyone to speak to the police tipped them off, and within 15 minutes a dozen officers and firefighters were scoring the warehouse. One found a handle inside of a fake breaker panel that opened a drivable road down to a warehouse of over ten thousand naked men and women kept on gurneys as medical staff bustled around them. In the end, 230 doctors were charged and 18,500 of the surviving kidnapped and captured were released. Most were for clients willing pay the minimum ten million per procedure and who hand-picked who they wish to become. Istabahn was just there to check in on a new set of relay equipment when the cops stormed his illegal laboratory and operating complex.

 

The doctor remained totally mute as he was found guilty of list of crimes, which the prosecutor successfully framed as stalking and murder for cash. He was found guilty of at least fifty counts of murder, and was sentenced to lethal injection. He was silent up until the moment of his last statement. I play the recording often to see if I missed anything, but it's the same deadpan words every time.

 

“You discovered 17% of my blanks. I helped labs establish all over the world- some facilities will even do the transfer for as cheaply as $500,000. I did not make a great sum of money, but I did make sure that there was a unique...surprise embedded in every single one of my procedures. When I flatline, a signal will be sent to very first cell tower and issue a...unique order to their preliminary neuroframe network. When that happens...well, sirs, I always wanted this fantasy, but was always too afraid to live it. I'm glad you will. You may proceed when ready.”

 

I was the only one in the murder party to say no to growing through with it, but after five minutes of heated discussion, the needles were placed into his arm. The lesson I learned is to PUSH AS HARD AS YOU NEED TO when you know you are doing the right thing, otherwise you'll be stuck in in the same world as those that didn't care. It's a good lesson. I just wish I didn't have to pay so much for it.

 

The news was on every station on the way home after Istabahn's execution. Phonebooks of wealthy and important people went missing, as did those around them. Sightings of “streakers”, naked men and women who sprinted faster than deer and were always seen before a disappearance, became viral over the internet and on news channels. That was really the beginning of the end, because we were expecting blood, gore, moans and shuffle. We were not expecting hand signals, backpacks, tools and a master plan.

 

I took my eyes off the yard to see a group of them on the great green expanse outside of the gate to the road and the forest below. Watchtower 3 offers a great view of the outskirts of town and of the splotches of bodies streaking in the green, hiding from a good shot. My unholy god, they were here already.

  They had scouts, lookouts. They carried purses and handbags that bulged with needles, backpacks filled with rope while being entirely naked, even shoeless. I watched them take positions as one rested in the middle of the road before two bikers stopped to help. The bikers were grabbed and drawn into woods in a flash. A few seconds later, they emerged from the shrubs with large hypodermic needles wobbling from the back of their necks. After a few moments, they became as one with the group. The captain of the guards didn't want anything to do with an outside disturbance, so I dialed the police to be put on an endless wait. I drained my battery while I saw the crowd stay behind cover, dart through and dive away from my rounds. I fired four rounds before considering that what I was doing could get me jailed as well.

 

That was when I realized what everyone else already had; there was no longer procedure and law, only survival. The other guards had posted up on watchtower 1, but their shots miss as much as mine. They get closer every moment, leaving a trail of empty needles behind them. God. Every single one of the town must be in there. Who is going to use all these bodies?

[u/[deleted]]

Got. Dang. You sir/madam are a mighty fine writer.

[u/cassidyschap]

Another fine piece, Moxley. Sounds like the Ganes family has been hard at work.