Krishna kumar Mani: SFS1: Science Fiction Short Stories

I sat in the courtroom waiting for a judgment regarding a patent of mine.

I’m Bill Ambrosone. And I’m a scientist who specializes in DNA. But more than that, I’m a businessman. I own five different labs and our primary service is analyzing DNA samples for clients. The cost for our services is lower than you’d think. We identify hereditary disease markers for the most part, but it’s not unheard of to get a request for a paternity test. For the past three years I’ve been working on a project and once I have the patent for it, our business will take off like never before. You might ask what the advancement is, and I’ll tell you. Just bear with me. I’ve got to get this patent. If I go to the market with my product without a patent, the next guy will come in and swoop it out from under my feet.

I waited for the mail that day for what seemed like forever. When the mail carrier arrived, I hurried down the steps and out to the mail box. I sorted through the mail until I found an envelope that was stamped with “USPTO,” the acronym for the patent office. I ripped open the letter and poured through the contents. “We’re sorry to inform you that your request for a patent has been rejected.” Needless to say, I was upset. Since I applied for the patent, it’s now public knowledge. Even though I hadn’t been able to get a patent, I also didn’t need to have given out my trade secrets to every upstart who wanted to run a DNA lab. And what’s to say the next guy who tried to apply for a patent with a slightly modified version of my work wouldn’t get one and put me out of business altogether?

I sat on my terrace and mulled over the situation. My phone rang. It was an old friend from school, a guy we used to kid that he’d had mud in his head instead of a brain. He ended up dropping out of college and worked in real estate now. After catching up for a little bit he invited me to a party. I agreed, needing a change of scenery and also just wanted to get my mind off the patent situation.

I arrived at dinner to have him greet me. No one else was there yet, maybe they were late? “Hi, I thought more people coming?” I asked. “Nope, this is just for you,” he replied. “Wait, why?” I asked, confused.

“Just hold on, Bill. It’ll be clear in a second. It’s not some weird come on or anything like that. I just wanted to introduce you to my friend.” A 40 year old man entered the foyer from the kitchen sporting a Rolex and a two button Armani suit in pristine, pressed condition. “Mr. Ambrosone, I presume? I’m the president of development for Arlon Inc.. We do a bit of everything, but mostly we develop software programs, specifically for mobile devices. I’ve heard a lot about you and I asked our mutual friend here if he could set up a meeting regarding a business deal.”

”I am a DNA scientist and you work in computers. What is it that you think we can do together, exactly?”

”I know that your patent got rejected today. I’ve read all the details of your concept. They’re really interesting, I had to admit.”

”You’ve read my research?” I was shocked that word had traveled this quickly. Who was this man?

“Yes, I know and now it is ready for business,” he said with a smile “Would you like me to explain my understanding of your research? I’d like to see if I’ve got it correct.”

“Yes, by all means.”

“The gist of the process is that your research allows you to take a DNA sample and extract data from a previous life. You can find their date of birth, and basically their entire life history from birth to death. Hell, you say you can find out what they were named based off DNA. That alone might be worth millions if it works. I’ve got the basics down, yes?”

I was still in shock about the speed that he’d read it at. The research itself was somewhat technical, but most people would understand the basics of it. Perhaps he had a scientist read it for him.

“So how do you plan to capitalize on this research, Mr. Ambrosone?”

I stood there in silence and thought to myself. I had some vague notions but I didn’t want to get my hopes up before I had a patent. After a little while he spoke again.

“Bill, is it alright if I call you Bill? I really want to help you make money with your idea. Not since Watson and Crick first took credit for discovering DNA has there been such an advancement in the field of biology.”

I was happy with his compliment, I start explained:

“I will offer a service in the five DNA labs that I own.,” I said, beaming since he had complimented me. “Those that are interested in knowing their previous lives can submit DNA samples and get reports about their previous lives. It won’t be too expensive, but if I’m the only one who can do it, I’ll have all the business.”

He laughed for a while. I felt my face getting flushed with anger.

After a while he noticed my bright red face and stifled his laughter. “Sorry… very sorry…” he said after he had taken a sip of water. “Let’s talk for real here, Bill. You’re an excellent scientist, I’ll give you that. But as a businessman, I’m not convinced. Sure, you have your five labs, but this idea is so much bigger than that. I want to maximize your earnings. How much did you say you expected to make off this idea again?”

I told him again how much I had expected to make. He either coughed or stifled back a laugh again and continued. “If you agree to my plan, in the first month the revenue will be ten thousand times higher than your annual revenue from your five labs. And that’s the first month. With your plan, you’d be lucky if a rival competitor across town didn’t offer the service for cheaper after two weeks.”

“My patent was rejected though. I don’t understand.”

“Who want patents? Patents are a joke. No one even respects them any more. Nowadays the patent office is so backed up you have to wait years to get a patent. In the mean time, someone else has done the same thing, taken it to market and you won’t be able to get a patent anyways. That’s how business works now” “Alright. So tell me. How do you plan to increase the revenue? What would you do, open more labs? Sell the service to other DNA labs?” I asked.

“I’ll tell you, but before I do you have to sign a non-disclosure agreement.”

He shocked me by pulling out a legal document right there and then. I had no idea about this meeting and he must have been planning it for weeks. How had he even gotten wind of my patent?

“Listen, I’ll take care of everything. Every month your share will be deposited into a bank account that you specify. You retain the rights to the technology and you can count that as your investment. Like I said, I’m the investor. There’s no risk here to you. We’d split it seventy-thirty. I get seventy percent and you get thirty. Believe me, the difference between seventy percent and thirty at the numbers I’m talking won’t even matter to you once you see the paycheck.”

I was listening intently, still a bit rattled by the whole situation. He simply smiled and continued his monologue. “Bill, this isn’t a one time sale. In this contract, there’s a three million dollar advance. I expect that we’ll make that and more within the first couple of months. The check’s already made out to you. All you have to do is sign the contract.” “You know, I’d like to have a lawyer read over this to make sure everything is on the up and up,” I said. “Let me call the one I have on retainer for my labs. I don’t care if he’s in the middle of dinner or lounging in the hot tub, he’ll get here within twenty minutes. It won’t be long.”