Short Story I am writing for your review

[Puppet]

This is the first chapter of a short story I am writing. I wanted to see what you thought.

Please note: I have not proof read it yet, or corrected gramatical problems. It is just the idea for the first part.



Dr. Stephens sat in his office, looking over medical readouts from the previous nights tests. Everything from heart rate to brain activity was detailed within the report. As he looked over documents, a deep smile was spread across Dr. Stephens face; reflecting his deep satisfaction he felt for his completed project. For three years he and his staff had worked exhausting hours to see his experiment to fruition. Dr. Stephens’s dedication to his experiment had cost him a divorce with his wife and the loss of his home; for his wife had objected so strongly to his experiment that she could not justify staying married to him as long as he continued.


“But it’s going to change the world!” he had objected to his wife, during a heated argument over dinner two years ago. “Can’t you see that? I can help better the human race and move us forward into our next stage of evolution!”


Dr. Stephens recalled the look on his wife’s face so many times after he made that statement. She sat, with her head hung low, dabbing thick tear drops from the corner of her eyes with a cloth napkin. “You are not God, Harold,” she had said. “Only he gets to decide where humanity goes from our current state.”


Mildred, Dr. Harold Stephens’s wife, was a devout Catholic and believed in God so much she would put him before anything else, and Dr. Stephens knew it. So, he said the one thing he knew would hurt his wife, Mildred, the most, “Maybe there is no God, Mildred. Did you ever stop to think of that?”


“Harold,” she had responded. “I knew you were an atheist when I married you. In my heart I believed if I showed you enough love and patience that you would finally see the light. After ten years of marriage I finally realized that wasn’t going to happen, and I gave up trying on you. But, I will no longer stand by and watch you blaspheme the name of God because of your arrogance. You hurt me when you say such things; because you know what God means to me. If you don’t believe in God and hate him, then you hate me too.”


With that Mildred Stephens stood from the dinner table and walked out of the house. Dr. Stephens had never seen her after that. He received divorce papers in the mail a week later with all of Mildred’s demands and requests, including the house. Dr. Stephens felt so badly about what he had said to Mildred out of anger that he signed the papers without even second guessing himself, packed his bags and left.


For the remaining two years of his experiment he had lived in his office at the lab. A small portable plastic closet was propped up in the corner of his office with all of his clothes; and an ironing board was leaned against it. He had showered in the labs bathroom area and virtually never left the building, except when he decided to go out for a movie or drinks from time to time.


His chair had long since developed a slump on the right hand side, from where he constantly leaned in it. On his computer screens video monitors were focused in on the beautiful and perfect male body: his experiment. Dr. Stephens had created the perfect human; well, almost perfect. It had long blond hair, and crystal blue eyes; which were usually hidden behind closed eye lids. Its body structure was perfect, very athletic looking, and perfectly proportioned in every way. The only flaw with the body was a matter of consciousness; for it had no higher brain function. Its brain regulated blood pressure, heart beat, reflexes, yet for the past two months it had never become conscious; and could always be found laying on the cold medical table in the lab.

None of Dr. Stephens collogues, nor he, could figure out why the creation, which had been dubbed Adam, would not become conscious. Adam’s DNA was perfect, his brain’s neural pathways fully intact and better than any living humans; fully capable of computing amounts of data which no other human on earth would be able to process, including the worlds fastest super computer. Yet, it remained motionless, the body, nothing more than a lump of flesh and blood wasting away with every passing day.


Dr. Stephens had often assumed that the reason for Adam’s unconscious mind was the fact that they had grown him into an adult from the very start. Adam’s DNA triggers were activated to make him keep growing until he reached adult hood; completely bypassing babyhood
and childhood, moving directly into adult phase.


Dr. Stephens laid down his medical reports on Adam looked at the view screen one more time at Adam’s, still unmoving, body. He stood and ran his fingers through his long matted hair, and walked over to his office couch, which had become his bed since his divorce. With his mind hungry for sleep, Dr. Stephens lay down and closed his eyes; swiftly falling asleep.


In his sleep, Dr. Stephens mind wandered over his thoughts that he suppressed during his waking hours: his ex wife Mildred, the children he never had, the home he lost, and the life he wished so desperately he could get back. On several occasions he found him self standing next to the dining room table where he had last seen his wife, and spoken his last words to her out of anger.


He watched his self talking to his wife, saying those horrible things to her, while at the same time shouting curses to his younger self to stop what he was saying; that the experiment wasn’t worth the loss of his beloved.


“its funny how hind sight is always in perfect clarity isn’t it?” asked a strange voice from behind Dr. Stephens; who quickly spun around in his dream to discover who this intruder of his deepest thoughts was.


A man stood before him, who did not truly look like a man; as his shape was fluid and constantly changing from one image to another. For a moment, this intruder looked like Dr. Stephens experiment Adam, then another moment it looked like his long dead father, Harold Senior, before shifting entirely to a being of pure light; which carried with it warmth like Dr. Stephens had never felt before.


“For all of your accomplishments and all of your deeds, you now must realize that without the bonds you make in this world they amount to nothing,” said the being.


Dr. Stephens looked at this being, man, what ever it was with seething eyes, “**** you buddy, but who the hell are you to tell me what my deeds and accomplishments are worth? I am actually very proud of my life and think my deeds are worth a great deal!” But silently he was crying inside, because the truth of this strangers words were undeniable; and a deep feeling of regret passed over Dr. Stephens for talking to this being the way he had, for he knew in his heart this person was only trying to help in some way.


“I’m sorry,” said Dr. Harold Stephens. “I had no right….”


The being held up a fluid glowing hand and said, “You have caused me no grief, therefore you should feel no need to apologize. Perhaps you should forgive yourself before you apologize to me, for you will come to find that you hurt yourself more by giving in to anger than you could ever hurt another.”


Dr. Stephens felt this to be a true statement, although he couldn’t for the life of him understand why. A deep and profound since of knowing of this being overwhelmed Dr. Stephens, as if he knew who this being was and what he was about; but still could not understand why he felt so familiar. “Pardon me, but who are you?”


“I am,” replied the being. “But you may call me what ever you wish, for I have many names from many different times and places. Each name depicting a part of me and who I am, yet no name could describe me; for the infinite is not knowable to your minds; for your minds simply don’t have the mental capacity to understand the concept of what I am.”


Dr. Stephens’s mouth hung open, his mind racing to understand the sheer simplicity of what this being just said. He had simply wanted to know the beings name and received an answer so simple it was complex. “So, you want me to call you?”


“I see you have failed to grasp my previous statement,” said the being. “So, I will make this simpler for you. You can call me One, for I am one with everything and all things exist within me.”


Dr. Stephens realized this being had just, in no uncertain terms, called himself God. This realization sent a panic thorough Dr. Stephens, especially because he had just been witness of Dr. Stephens dream where he had once questioned the existence of God to his wife. “Are you God?’


One seemed to pause for a moment, reflecting on the question Dr. Stephens had just asked. “I am an aspect of what your kind might refer to as God. But, I am only a representation of that omnipresent and omniscient being which your kind has labeled as God.”


This answer gave birth to even more questions in Dr. Stephens mind, yet he knew in this dream state, where every thing seemed to be acceptable without question, each answer would only give rise to more questions and it would be aggravating to keep asking.


“Harold,” said the being. No one had called Dr. Stephens by his first name in so long that it made him feel like a little child being scolded when this being did. “I have come to you because of your experiment, Adam.”


Harold instantly reflected on his wife’s words, warning Harold that his experiments were wrong in God’s eyes, and became afraid. “If I had truly known that what I was doing was evil…”


One held up his hand to stop Harold from speaking.


“I never said that what you have done was evil,” said One. “I have come to you to ask why you believe that Adam, your project, is catatonic and for all intents and purposes, nothing?”


A sudden swell of relief came over Harold that this being known as, One, was not angry at him for his project. “I believe that Adam has no higher brain activity because of our tampering with his DNA, causing him to age faster. I believe within the next several months of development his higher brain function will appear and he will awaken from his sleep.”


One’s lips bent upwards slightly in a controlled smile. “You are wrong.”


Dr. Stephens awoke on his couch, sunlight streaming in through the window where he rested. He felt as though he hadn’t slept at all, yet when he went to sleep it had been half past midnight, and now it was six o’ clock in the morning. Even though his body felt tired, he was surprisingly calm; as if he had been meditating for hours.


He rubbed his eyes and looked groggily towards the ceiling, appreciating these first few moments of the morning when none of the other doctors had arrived yet. Dr. Stephens glanced towards his computer and a red alarm light was flashing on the computer screen. All vital signs of Adam were flat lined, and Dr. Stephens realized with horror that he had forgot to turn his computer speakers on before he went to sleep.


Without checking the video surveillance equipment, he ran out of his office and down the hall as fast as his tired legs could carry him. He pulled out his security swipe card and slid it through the security card reader, and then typed in his personal code. Throwing open the door, Dr. Stephens ran into the lab, and came face to face with Adam; who stood with a smile upon his face, and all medical monitoring devices removed from his body. He walked forward several steps in very fluidic motions and said, “Good morning, Harold.”