TWO-WAY MIRROR

Chapter VII

Ten Years Earlier - North Dakota, U.S.A.

The few residents of Medicine Hole North Dakota had no idea that a research facility even existed less than twenty minutes to the east. The lab had been built in an old fall-out shelter and the workers were flown in once every two months under cover of darkness.

This was John Sheppards' dream and he would spare no expense, and let nothing get in his way. Getting the property itself had required huge bribes and under the table backroom deals. Anyone who entered had to sign extensive non-disclosure agreements. Even so, John didn't keep the same people around for long; before they could get the whole picture of what was going on at the facility they were out the door.

This was his moment. His father had made billions in oil and later in the stock market but John was a scientist first and a billionaire second. This research was going to change the world.

He entered the clean-room and, ignoring the few staff on shift, went to check on his 'babies'.

The cages were pristine as he demanded. Mickey and Minnie scurried around as happy as two white mice could be. They were fast and large and most importantly alive.

That was the miracle, of course, your average mouse only lives about 3 years, but Mickey and Minnie were over 9 years old and showing no signs of aging at all. In the next cage sat Libby the chimp. Libby had been acquired at the ripe old age of 49 but now just 3 years later she looked more like a 20-year-old.

So it was all down the line of cages, dogs, cats, rats, rabbits all alive well past their expiration dates.

The gene therapy worked, the aging process had been stopped for all of them, with the added bonus of enhanced healing, bone density, and muscle mass. They even looked better than other members of their kind with shinier fur, whiter teeth, and more vibrant coloring.

"Excuse me, Doctor Sheppard..."

A pretty young girl in a lab coat had come up behind him quietly.

John turned annoyed, "Yes, what is it, um..."

"Rebecca..."

"Yes, of course, Rebecca. What can I do for you?"

"Well... it's just that...well..."

"Rebecca, I'm actually very busy..." He started, annoyed.

"I'm diabetic." She said flatly.

"Oh, well I'm sorry..."

She cut him off speaking in a nervous rush, "At least I used to be diabetic... I used to have to inject myself with insulin four times a day... but now I don't..."

"Well, that's good to hear," said John.

"No, I mean... it's weird. It doesn't make any sense, and I was talking to Philip and he said his appendix scar has disappeared and I think he's ... well ... taller. Something strange is going on...."

John didn't have time for this, he was about to dismiss Rebecca when he suddenly remembered the first time they had met. It was her first day at the facility, Rebecca had been hand-picked from thousands of Genetics experts and sat attentively in the orientation meeting. She had nervously approached him afterward to shake his hand and thank him for the opportunity. Mousy brown hair, crooked teeth, and bad skin... that was Rebecca Lewis, but now she was... well... beautiful. Her hair was now dark chestnut with red undertones, her teeth were blindingly white, and even and her skin was smooth and glowing. I didn't make sense... unless... oh God!

John pushed Rebecca aside and ran across the cleanroom like a madman. He slammed his hand against the big red 'Lock Down' button mounted on the wall by the door. Sirens wailed and emergency lights began flashing throughout the facility but John knew it was already too late. 

The Center for Disease Control swooped in and determined that the tailored virus John had used to implement the genetic changes had mutated and become airborne. Everyone in the facility was infected, including John himself. To make matters worse, protocols had failed and the virus had escaped the facility.

With the help of the U.S. Army, the CDC prevented a worldwide pandemic by isolating 150 square miles of North Dakota with the facility at its center. It was pure luck, if the winds had been blowing to the west they could have never stopped it. As it was they foamed 300 square miles with a poisonous antibacterial agent killing every living thing that could spread the mutated virus. Civilians were told a half-truth and brought in for examination and quarantine. Then the children started to get sick. Forty-three died in all... but it could have been so much worse. Johns' dream died with them, this accidental human test proved that although life expectancy could be enhanced the cost would be paid by the young whose bodies were not able to survive the changes.

Millions of dollars and friends in high places kept John Sheppard, now 3 inches taller and far more handsome than he had ever been, out of jail. He paid for the CDCs' clean up out of his own pocket and the facility was now buried under twenty-four feet of concrete. He created a one hundred million dollar fund for the families of the dead children anonymously, as he was told to do so any other way would mean admitting fault.

Six months later the story of a viral outbreak and government cover-up broke, with John at its' center. One of the researchers must have talked, but that was of little importance. More lies, pathetic lies that made him sick to his stomach.

The entire human race agreed on their hatred of John Sheppard but the reasons for that hatred were two-fold. Many hated him for almost killing all of the children on the planet but even more hated him for not giving them the cure for aging. The internet was flooded with before and after pictures highlighting John's own impressive transformation which further inflamed people who wanted to be young and strong and handsome and damn the consequences. His very existence was a slap in the face.

 There were protests and riots. All around the globe he was burned in effigy.  When the death threats started John went into hiding.