Robbie Dorman - Regrowth

The last thing Jon expected was a phone call from the richest man on Earth.

He answered groggily, not recognizing the number, his brain still half asleep.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Did I wake you, Jon?” asked the voice, one that Jon had heard before, but only on the news. He recognized it and didn’t.

“Who is this?” asked Jon.

“This is Eaton Shaw,” said the voice. “My assistant has tried to contact you for a week, Jon. Thought I’d reach out personally.”

The name Eaton Shaw pushed out most of his dreariness. He blinked his eyes and wiped them with his free hand. Eaton Shaw? That was impossible. He suddenly had the same feeling in his gut he would get in elementary school, when he would disappoint a teacher, or forget to do his homework.

Technology magnate Eaton Shaw, the man who made money when anything was bought or sold on the internet, was talking to him .

“It’s been a rough week,” said Jon, the only excuse he could muster. And it had been. To be fair, it’d been a rough few months, but this week had been harder than most. They had locked down his lab, leaving him with nowhere to work. He’d been sleeping there as well.

“I imagine it has,” said Shaw. “My eyes and ears tell me it’s hard out there.” Shaw paused, took a breath. “I don’t have much time, Jon, so let me get straight to it. I need your help.”

“Help with what?” asked Jon.

“I have a lab, Jon. I want you there. I want your research there.”

“My research?” asked Jon. “Why me?”

“Because it could change the world, Jon. You’re a part of a larger whole. The world is ending, Doctor, and I don’t intend to quietly slip into the night. If we are going to go out, I mean to go out fighting. And not with soldiers and bombs, but with science and intelligence. I have been a fool for waiting this long, but it is time to pull the ripcord.”

Jon looked out his window into the early morning light. The roads were empty and had been for days. The president had declared martial law. But only two days ago, rioters had flooded the streets, and Jon had barricaded his door, unsure of what else to do. His food was running low, and he’d have to go to the grocery store at some point. Word was they still had milk, but he was afraid. He’d been surviving on rice and beans for days.

“So what do you say?” asked Shaw.

“Where is this lab?” asked Jon.

“It’s a secret,” said Shaw. “Very few know the location. To protect you, and it, from outside influence. But it’s fully stocked, and nothing is outside my grasp. You’ll have whatever you need, whatever resources you require.”

Jon thought to his lab, which he so coveted, running on decade old computers and borrowed equipment. Which was now barred from him, and would be for the foreseeable future.

“When do you need an answer by?”

“I have to be off this call in three minutes,” said Shaw. “So by then.”

Jon looked outside again, reflexively.

“What about my family?” he asked.

“I was under the impression you lived alone,” said Shaw.

“I do,” said Jon. “But I still want to give them the chance.”

“We have living quarters and support systems in place for any family of team members,” said Shaw. “If they wish to come, they may.”

“Then I’m in,” said Jon.

“Good,” said Shaw, his voice showing happiness for the first time. “I’ll have you picked up.”

“When?” asked Jon.

“Within an hour,” said Shaw. “They’re already on their way. You’ll have to forgive me, Jon, but I need to go. I’ll see you when you arrive.”

And then the call ended. Jon took a deep breath and got out of bed. He shaved, showered, and quickly threw together all his clothes into a suitcase. It wasn’t hard, there wasn’t much.

His research. It was in piles of papers in boxes, sitting in the corner of his living room and on an assortment of thumb drives, all in a shoebox. He piled them up. He would need it all.

All the while his guts ached, full of nerves and anxiety. The car would be here soon, and he couldn’t put it off anymore. He found his cell phone and called Maya. He hadn’t talked to her in months. Not after he had gotten into the screaming match with Tommy.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Hey, Maya,” said Jon. “It’s me.”

“Jon,” she said. Her voice was measured. It always had been. At least until it wasn’t.

“How are you both?” he asked.

“We’re doing okay,” said Maya. “All things considered. Tommy is still asleep. I’m leaving for my next shift in a couple hours. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” said Jon. “That’s why I’m calling. They shut down my lab.”

“Well, you’re not exactly essential business,” said Maya. “Not with everything going on.”

“No, probably not,” said Jon. “I have a question for you.”

Jon heard her take a deep breath.

“Jon, whatever you’re thinking, now is not a good time. I don’t think Tommy has—”

“It’s not that, Maya. I just got off the phone with Eaton Shaw.”

“Wait, what? The Eaton Shaw?” asked Maya.

“Yes,” said Jon. “The one and only. He’s running a lab. Inviting the best and brightest, is what he said. And for some reason, that includes me.”

“Well, congrats,” said Maya. “That’s kind of crazy.”

“I—yes, there’s literally a car on the way now to pick me up,” said Jon. “But that’s not it. He said I can bring my family along. I don’t know where it is, but it’s safe, it’s protected, and we’ll be taken care of while we’re there.”

“Jon—”

“Do you want to come with me? You and Tommy? I know that I’ve been distant lately, and that Tommy still probably resents me—”

“Jon—”

“And this isn’t an attempt for us to get back together. I just want you both to be safe. Shaw talked about his resources, and it has to be safer than where we are now. It’s getting worse every day, and I don’t know how long we’ll have any semblance of order, I can’t even get groceries, I can’t imagine what it’s like at the hospital—”

“Jon. Take a breath,” said Maya. Jon paused, realizing he hadn’t stopped talking since she had answered.

“Where is this lab?” asked Maya.

“I don’t know,” said Jon. “Shaw wouldn’t tell me. He’s keeping it isolated away from everything.”

There was a long pause, and Jon heard Tommy’s voice on the other end. Maya talked to him off the phone, and Jon only heard their muffled back and forth.

“But it’s safe there?” asked Maya.

“It’s run by Eaton Shaw,” said Jon. “The richest man on Earth. He said that we will save the world. So I imagine it’s impregnable.”

Another long pause.

“I can’t go,” said Maya. An ache entered Jon’s heart and silence hung between them. “I’m glad that you’re a part of it, but my work is out here. I can’t abandon my patients. They need me now more than ever. Even if it’s in my best interests to go with you.”

“Maya—”

“But take Tommy,” she said.

“Without you?” he asked, and he could hear her breath catch in her throat.

“Yes,” she said, finally. “I don’t know what’s going to happen out here. But his safety is more important than anything.”

Jon said nothing, his mind rolling over everything that the word anything contained. It contained the entirety of his ex-wife.

“Will he agree to it?” asked Jon. Tommy was 14, and both him and Maya had largely agreed that he was old enough to make a lot of decisions on his own.