Another Life IV Part 10
Liz was checking over her notes on Lisa’s training when the phone rang. “Your Majesty, its Duncan McCleod.” Duncan was one of those on a rather short list that were to be put through immediately no matter when they called. Liz looked at the clock and saw that she had been at this for a while; it was almost 8 in the morning. Lisa would be up in a few minutes to Liz’s office.
“Duncan, what’s up?” Liz did not believe in beating around the bush; if she was getting a call fairly early in the morning then it was not for idle talk.
“Liz, I have another Immortal Couple that want to have children. The woman is one I have known for centuries, Annie Devlin. The man is a newbie who I will probably be training. I know that Alex and his bunch were working with the Granolith on refining the process. I promised Annie I would check on how things were going. She just came by the Dojo yesterday and I introduced her to the new possibilities for Immortals. Needless to say she was shocked but also very much wanting to have children.”
Liz sat back and thought for a minute. She had not talked to Alex for a while as regards the pod process for the Immortals. She made a quick decision. “Duncan, have them come on down here. I have not talked to Alex about if for a while. So lets see what is going on and they can see what is what.”
Lisa came in right after Liz got off the phone with Duncan. Liz sat back and looked at Lisa for a moment. Lisa got a little uncomfortable. “Is there something wrong?” she asked worriedly.
Liz blinked and shook her head. “No, just got off the phone with Duncan. He will be bringing down a Immortal couple who want to have children. I think it would be of the good for you to meet them, and Duncan. Annie and Duncan are fairly old as immortals go, more then 400. The man with Annie is a newbie like you, not even started training yet. “
Lisa admitted to herself that she was very curious. “I know you explained some of what would have to happen for an Immortal to have children. Something about a pod as I recall?”
Liz nodded. “A couple that Duncan had known for over 300 years got podded and had a child. The process at that time was to put them in pods that had been constructed to shield out all energy, or as much as we could anyway, for a period of about 6 months. The Immortals would be put under and fed through tubes. It is a fairly involved process. After their quickening is gone then the woman is impregnated and has to go back into the pod for the first 3 months. After that the child is part of her and the Quickening will not have an effect. So she can be brought out and live normally. Her quickening will be slow to return as long as she is pregnant. After she has the child her quickening will return to what she was before the process in about 6 months; maybe a little longer depending on how strong her quickening was in the first place. I know Alex and his nerd herd and the Granolith have been working on fine tuning the process but I do not know the details. Duncan and the others will be here the day after tomorrow.”
Liz stood with Lisa waiting at the airport for Duncan and the others. He had let Liz know that the whole crowd would be coming. Liz had asked why and he told her that it was mostly curiosity from Richie and Amanda and Courtney; while Joe and Rebecca were just being nosy watchers. Methos and Grace were of course already in Roswell. Cassandra and Constatine had decided to stay in the Highlands, not far from the Inn where Connor and Rachel were. They would not be coming at this time, though Duncan noted that they all were interested in having more children sometime in the future.
It was not easy keeping things low key whenever Liz and the other Royals were involved. Luckily the airport at Roswell had been greatly expanded and a lot of it had been built with security and the ability to stay out of site in mind. Duncan had chartered a small jet, and it landed and taxied right into a hanger where Liz and Lisa were waiting. Lisa was especially interested in how far away she could detect a buzz, though of course this would be different in that there were several Immortals in the plane and that would not be the usual situation.
Duncan came first with Amanda and the children, followed by Annie and Sean, then Richie and Courtney and their kids, then Joe and Rebecca. Liz walked up to him and gave him a big hug, and then Amanda as well. Annie and Sean stood back while Liz greeted the others.
Annie looked at the Queen with great interest. She knew the basic story that everyone knew about the former Liz Parker, and she knew what Duncan had told her. Annie had had hundreds of years fighting the English and their Royals, and that had clouded her opinion of all Royalty. ON the other hand, this was someone not born to it, but chosen and had earned in every way the title of Queen. Taking down a dictator had a special appeal to Annie, who remembered so well what the Irish had gone through way back when. Sean was still trying to come to grips with just being an Immortal, so all the rest of it was so much back noise.
Liz turned towards Annie and Sean and smiled at them. Annie, a little slowly and cautiously moved towards her, Sean right at her side. Liz observed all this and smile wider. It was so clear to her how close these two already were; even if they had met less then a year earlier. Duncan had talked a lot about Annie, and Liz could see how much she had calmed down over the Little Warrior that she had been for centuries, so dedicated to the cause. She was no taller then Liz, maybe even a little shorter.
Annie was not quite sure how to address her; Liz could see that.
“Annie, Duncan has told me a lot about you. How long you fought and how hard you fought for your cause. I think I have a little appreciation for that, though only a little since my time as a warrior was pretty short; days instead of centuries. It is good to have you here. I truly believe that Immortals have a destiny far beyond the Game, to lead and guide and push progress ahead. There were few that I have heard that put so much of themselves into a cause, for so long, and ignored the Game. I think that kind of dedication and fire is needed just as much today, to try and make sure that Mankind does not screw things up. And by the way, as long as we are not in public with reporters and the like, its Liz and not Your Majesty. Frankly I would not care even then, but tradition and all that requires the pretty words. ”
Annie blinked a little at that. “Uh, OK, Liz. Its just that someone like me who has been around so long there are things that are kind of ingrained to me; personally I have hated royalty for centuries but still what I learned as a child still is with me to this day. So it’s a little hard to address a Queen by her first name; especially one who really earned her title, not just happened to be born to it.”
Duncan stood back and watched with great interest the interaction between Liz and Annie. Both very small physically, yet much larger in every other way. Their presence and forcefulness of their personalities. And Duncan knew that both had come about because of the circumstances and battles they had fought. They had grown and confronted their challenges, and both in the end had survived and triumphed. He was struck that somehow this was important, their meeting. He did not know how, but somehow it was going to mean something in the future.
Liz motioned for them to follow her into the vans that she had arranged to take them to the palace. She made it a point to sit with Annie and have Lisa sit with Sean. After introducing them, she told Annie that they ought to let the kids talk to each other, since both of them had come so recently into their knowledge of who and what they were. Annie had looked thoughtful, then nodded. She too thought that letting the newbies talk would be a good thing.
Lisa decided to be direct with Sean. “When did you know that Annie was different?”
Sean thought about that. “We had known each other for a while; my father had known her and talked about her so when I met her and saw how young she was at first I thought she was using the name or something like that. After a while it was clear that she was Annie Devlin, a legend amongst all of us. I could not figure out what was going on. And yet I was drawn to her right away. I would have made a fool out of myself except that she made it clear that she felt the same way. Then a little over a month ago an old enemy of Annie’s; not an immortal but one in the IRA, came gunning for her and shot me; just before I died I saw her pull out a sword and run him through. When I woke up I felt different; I remembered being shot and could find no wound even though there was a hole in my coat and shirt. Then Annie let me know all about it. To say it all came as a shock is not to tell it at all. I am still really coming to terms with all of it. What happened with you?”
Lisa decided the short answer was best; besides her story was much less interesting. “I did not know I was Immortal until the day I had the interview with the Queen of Antar as her ADC. I came into the office all nervous and such; then I got this terrible headache. I did not know what was going on until the Queen came in. She looked at me and told me to look at her and the pain would go away and it did. I was thinking what in the world was going on. I had been in a car accident a few months earlier that looking back I should have had a lot more questions about. I am very lucky in that I have not had to change my life at all. Pretty much like you.”
Sean nodded. “The only ones that were there that night was me and Annie. My father had passed a few years earlier and my mother long before; I had no brothers or sisters. All I had was the cause and that sort of went away just after I met Annie. Her friends now are pretty much of the Immortal kind and I guess the same with me. Though Duncan and the others were the first ones I had met outside of Annie. Now we are kind of just trying to figure out what to do now; outside of me getting my training of course. Then this all comes up about actually having children. That was something that frankly I had not thought much about; figured if it came it would be long into the future. Assuming I lived that long. I know Annie badly wants children and now that she is not fighting, I can see that it really is something that is taking hold of her. I love her in ways I did not think I could; anything she wants is fine with me.”
Liz and Annie were talking as they arrived at the Palace.
“First things first; lets go meet Alex and see what he has to say about the process. Lets get that out of the way then we can relax and get to know each other.”
Annie was very much in favor of that. Besides the curiosity was really getting to her.
Another Life IV (HL, XO, CC, MA) COMPLETE 3/9/10
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thumper1942
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thumper1942
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Re: Another Life IV (HL, XO, CC, MA) Part 10 2/27/10
Another Life IV part 11
Alex had been working fairly hard on the pod process with his nerd herd partners. A select group of them had been let in on the Immortal secret so as to facilitate the process. The main difficulty was putting all the necessary parts together in one pod. It first had to be as impervious to any kind of energy; which meant a thick wall and electronic white noise type compensation. Then it had to have the ability to monitor the occupants. Immortal or not that had to be done. Then you had to be able to maintain the Immortals with some kind of nutrient intake as well as keeping them unconscious. The first model had been pretty crude and Alex had frankly been surprised that it had worked. The new one was much more sophisticated. According to data recorded by the Granolith, it was twice as capable of filtering out energy as the previous model.
Liz led Annie and Sean, with Lisa, Duncan, Amanda, Richie and Courtney to where Alex had his lab. The children were with Joe and Rebecca.
Annie took a hard look at the pod. Liz had explained in general terms what was entailed in the procedure, but actually seeing it was much more concrete. It was about 7 feet long and perhaps 4 in diameter. Dark gray with lots of instruments and wires and the like all around it.
Alex had been a little nervous about the whole thing; he was not really comfortable talking to strangers about the pod and the process. However, he was very aware that for the foreseeable future it was the only game in town for Immortals that wanted children.
Liz led them in and spotted Alex. “OK, you are on. Annie and Sean here are prime candidates for Pod People part Deux, and Amanda and the rest are probably thinking about it to down the road so that is why they are here.”
Alex took a deep breath and began. “As you can see we have finished the latest model of the pod. It should be twice as efficient as the first model so that an immortal should only have to spend about 6 months tops, depending on how strong their quickening is, before its gone. Now if you are talking both male and female immortals, what would be done would be the female would have an egg harvested and fertilized with the male sperm, then implanted. The female would then go back into the pod for approximately three months. At that time the fetus would be far enough along to be considered by the quickening as part of the body and would not be attacked. The Granolith would of course be monitoring the entire process. At the three month point after a careful examination there is no reason that the female immortal cannot have a regular pregnancy from that point on.”
Liz nodded thoughtfully. “At the time the couple come out of the pod, won’t the energies start back on them rather quickly?”
“No, it takes some time. We should have a window of about 72 hours to do it all and get the female back into the pod.”
Liz had a thought. “Alex, has there been any consideration to harvesting sperm and eggs and putting them in the pod for monitoring to see how long it takes them to become active again? If that is the case then only the female needs to have her quickening brought to a zero level.”
Alex sat back and thought about that. “Granolith, is this possible?”
The Granolith had a permanent intercom to Alex’s lab so that he could talk to it at any time and it could monitor all experiments.
“This does seem possible. Testing would be required. It would indeed remove the need to have both Immortals in the pod to bring their quickening s to zero. Sperm and Eggs can be kept for extended period outside the body and still remain viable.”
Annie grimaced a little at all this. So scientific and cold, yet the possibility it gave…
“I do not look forward to being podded up for six months, but I will do whatever it takes to have a child.”
Liz looked at Annie and nodded. She then looked at Alex and cocked her head.
Alex sighed and nodded. “There is no reason we cannot began any time you want.”
Duncan and Amanda and Richie and Courtney had been walking around the pod, examining it.
Richie shook his head. “Wow, I really have it easy. No podding at all if this works.”
Courtney nodded her head. “Glad I am not immortal. Had enough time in the last pod.”
Amanda sighed but looked at Duncan with a smile. “Not at the moment, but down the line a little and I am willing. I love our children but I am greedy and want more.”
Duncan gave her a hug and nodded as well. “I too am greedy. More children would be very welcome.”
At this point Methos and Grace came in. Methos had visited the lab on occasion and was familiar with the pod. Upon hearing Liz’s idea, he smirked and said that the male immortals certainly got the better end of this deal. Amanda then pointed out that what was new about that; women had been given the short end of the reproductive stick since the dawn of time.
Duncan mused. “ I am guessing that Cassandra and Constantine will want another child; Connor and Rachel as well. For them it will be the easiest thing of all. Though I am guessing that Connor will still make come complaints about the whole process being so unnatural.”
Liz smiled at that a little, quietly agreeing inside. She much preferred the other way. Thinking about Rachel, for the first time really Liz thought about the fact that she was mortal and would age and die. She was not looking forward to that for sure; and she wondered how Connor was thinking on that. Immortality for one half of a couple was not that great of a deal. Courtney could expect to live another hundred years easily since her transformation, but Liz was very well aware of Max’s mortality compared to her own. That got her to thinking something that had kept coming into her mind at odd moments, mainly at night sometimes when she would lay next to Max listening to the comforting sound of his breathing, and dreading the day that it stopped. She truly did not know how she would be able to handle that; added to watching her children age and die. She loved them so much and had such great joy; but still that Sword of Damocles ever hovered. Taking a deep breath, and noticing that Annie and the others were now talking to some of the antarian techs about the details involved, and that Alex was alone for the moment. She carefully motioned for him to come over.
Alex had been watching the Immortals peppering his techs with questions when he saw Liz motion him over, being careful to not attract attention. Wondering what was up, he slowly and carefully moved over to where she was standing near the door.
Liz pulled him out the door and down the hall out of earshot of the others and into a break room that was deserted at the moment.
Alex looked at Liz with some concern; she seemed very tense about something; whatever it was it was getting to her big time.
Liz took a very deep breath and doubted her ability to even bring this up but she felt a terrible need to do so.
“Alex how close do you think you and the Granolith have gotten to being able to replicate the Quickening?”
Alex blinked. “ I think we have gotten to around 92% as near as we can figure as regards identifying the various energies. We can get to 98% using the shield and electronic white noise energy – as regards blocking all energy. Liz this is obviously bothering you big time; what is it?”
Liz walked over to the window over looking the central square of the Palace grounds. Closing her eyes for a moment she then turned around and faced him with a determined look on her face, chewing away at her lower lip.
Alex recognized all the signs of a Liz Parker determined to do something out there and tough and hard and maybe dangerous. He hoped it was at least not the last.
“Alex, have we gotten any farther in identifying any DNA differences between mortals and Immortals.”
“Grace has not been able to find any that can be definitely pointed out; and she has been looking hard for a long time. So have I and so has the Granolith. At this time we still can not point to anything that on a definite physical genetic level will show if one is an Immortal or pre immortal or not.”
Liz slowly nodded. This did not surprise her and more and more it lined up with some of her personal beliefs about Immortality, where it came from and what it was all about.
Alex was very concerned that Liz was after something really big with lots of pitfalls.
“Liz you are scaring me a little. Just spit it out- the suspense is killing me.”
Liz looked at her childhood friend for a long moment then slowly nodded.
“Alex I want you to start looking for test subjects to see if you can make someone Immortal.”
Alex had been working fairly hard on the pod process with his nerd herd partners. A select group of them had been let in on the Immortal secret so as to facilitate the process. The main difficulty was putting all the necessary parts together in one pod. It first had to be as impervious to any kind of energy; which meant a thick wall and electronic white noise type compensation. Then it had to have the ability to monitor the occupants. Immortal or not that had to be done. Then you had to be able to maintain the Immortals with some kind of nutrient intake as well as keeping them unconscious. The first model had been pretty crude and Alex had frankly been surprised that it had worked. The new one was much more sophisticated. According to data recorded by the Granolith, it was twice as capable of filtering out energy as the previous model.
Liz led Annie and Sean, with Lisa, Duncan, Amanda, Richie and Courtney to where Alex had his lab. The children were with Joe and Rebecca.
Annie took a hard look at the pod. Liz had explained in general terms what was entailed in the procedure, but actually seeing it was much more concrete. It was about 7 feet long and perhaps 4 in diameter. Dark gray with lots of instruments and wires and the like all around it.
Alex had been a little nervous about the whole thing; he was not really comfortable talking to strangers about the pod and the process. However, he was very aware that for the foreseeable future it was the only game in town for Immortals that wanted children.
Liz led them in and spotted Alex. “OK, you are on. Annie and Sean here are prime candidates for Pod People part Deux, and Amanda and the rest are probably thinking about it to down the road so that is why they are here.”
Alex took a deep breath and began. “As you can see we have finished the latest model of the pod. It should be twice as efficient as the first model so that an immortal should only have to spend about 6 months tops, depending on how strong their quickening is, before its gone. Now if you are talking both male and female immortals, what would be done would be the female would have an egg harvested and fertilized with the male sperm, then implanted. The female would then go back into the pod for approximately three months. At that time the fetus would be far enough along to be considered by the quickening as part of the body and would not be attacked. The Granolith would of course be monitoring the entire process. At the three month point after a careful examination there is no reason that the female immortal cannot have a regular pregnancy from that point on.”
Liz nodded thoughtfully. “At the time the couple come out of the pod, won’t the energies start back on them rather quickly?”
“No, it takes some time. We should have a window of about 72 hours to do it all and get the female back into the pod.”
Liz had a thought. “Alex, has there been any consideration to harvesting sperm and eggs and putting them in the pod for monitoring to see how long it takes them to become active again? If that is the case then only the female needs to have her quickening brought to a zero level.”
Alex sat back and thought about that. “Granolith, is this possible?”
The Granolith had a permanent intercom to Alex’s lab so that he could talk to it at any time and it could monitor all experiments.
“This does seem possible. Testing would be required. It would indeed remove the need to have both Immortals in the pod to bring their quickening s to zero. Sperm and Eggs can be kept for extended period outside the body and still remain viable.”
Annie grimaced a little at all this. So scientific and cold, yet the possibility it gave…
“I do not look forward to being podded up for six months, but I will do whatever it takes to have a child.”
Liz looked at Annie and nodded. She then looked at Alex and cocked her head.
Alex sighed and nodded. “There is no reason we cannot began any time you want.”
Duncan and Amanda and Richie and Courtney had been walking around the pod, examining it.
Richie shook his head. “Wow, I really have it easy. No podding at all if this works.”
Courtney nodded her head. “Glad I am not immortal. Had enough time in the last pod.”
Amanda sighed but looked at Duncan with a smile. “Not at the moment, but down the line a little and I am willing. I love our children but I am greedy and want more.”
Duncan gave her a hug and nodded as well. “I too am greedy. More children would be very welcome.”
At this point Methos and Grace came in. Methos had visited the lab on occasion and was familiar with the pod. Upon hearing Liz’s idea, he smirked and said that the male immortals certainly got the better end of this deal. Amanda then pointed out that what was new about that; women had been given the short end of the reproductive stick since the dawn of time.
Duncan mused. “ I am guessing that Cassandra and Constantine will want another child; Connor and Rachel as well. For them it will be the easiest thing of all. Though I am guessing that Connor will still make come complaints about the whole process being so unnatural.”
Liz smiled at that a little, quietly agreeing inside. She much preferred the other way. Thinking about Rachel, for the first time really Liz thought about the fact that she was mortal and would age and die. She was not looking forward to that for sure; and she wondered how Connor was thinking on that. Immortality for one half of a couple was not that great of a deal. Courtney could expect to live another hundred years easily since her transformation, but Liz was very well aware of Max’s mortality compared to her own. That got her to thinking something that had kept coming into her mind at odd moments, mainly at night sometimes when she would lay next to Max listening to the comforting sound of his breathing, and dreading the day that it stopped. She truly did not know how she would be able to handle that; added to watching her children age and die. She loved them so much and had such great joy; but still that Sword of Damocles ever hovered. Taking a deep breath, and noticing that Annie and the others were now talking to some of the antarian techs about the details involved, and that Alex was alone for the moment. She carefully motioned for him to come over.
Alex had been watching the Immortals peppering his techs with questions when he saw Liz motion him over, being careful to not attract attention. Wondering what was up, he slowly and carefully moved over to where she was standing near the door.
Liz pulled him out the door and down the hall out of earshot of the others and into a break room that was deserted at the moment.
Alex looked at Liz with some concern; she seemed very tense about something; whatever it was it was getting to her big time.
Liz took a very deep breath and doubted her ability to even bring this up but she felt a terrible need to do so.
“Alex how close do you think you and the Granolith have gotten to being able to replicate the Quickening?”
Alex blinked. “ I think we have gotten to around 92% as near as we can figure as regards identifying the various energies. We can get to 98% using the shield and electronic white noise energy – as regards blocking all energy. Liz this is obviously bothering you big time; what is it?”
Liz walked over to the window over looking the central square of the Palace grounds. Closing her eyes for a moment she then turned around and faced him with a determined look on her face, chewing away at her lower lip.
Alex recognized all the signs of a Liz Parker determined to do something out there and tough and hard and maybe dangerous. He hoped it was at least not the last.
“Alex, have we gotten any farther in identifying any DNA differences between mortals and Immortals.”
“Grace has not been able to find any that can be definitely pointed out; and she has been looking hard for a long time. So have I and so has the Granolith. At this time we still can not point to anything that on a definite physical genetic level will show if one is an Immortal or pre immortal or not.”
Liz slowly nodded. This did not surprise her and more and more it lined up with some of her personal beliefs about Immortality, where it came from and what it was all about.
Alex was very concerned that Liz was after something really big with lots of pitfalls.
“Liz you are scaring me a little. Just spit it out- the suspense is killing me.”
Liz looked at her childhood friend for a long moment then slowly nodded.
“Alex I want you to start looking for test subjects to see if you can make someone Immortal.”
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thumper1942
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Re: Another Life IV (HL, XO, CC, MA) Part 11 2/27/10
Another Life IV part 12
Alex looked at his old friend in shock. She could not mean what she just said, could she?
A grim looking Liz glared back at him. Now that she had spoken that thought that had been knawing a way at her for years she felt icily calm.
“Yes I meant exactly what I said. I know figuring out how to find some and at the same time letting them know what its about will not be easy. As a matter of fact I have a couple people in mind. Mortal halves of Immortal couples. And a few other candidates that may be interested that already know about Immortality. It is not right that I should expect you to find them; that will be my job. You just need to start figuring a way to do it; the testing part anyway. What we will be looking for is a way to start a quickening in a mortal. Maybe it is not possible; maybe whoever or whatever is running the Game will not allow it; all I know is that I have to try.”
Alex leaned back against the counter. He still could not believe what Liz had said.
“Liz, have you thought about this carefully enough. I can kind of think of what this is all about..”
“No you can’t, Alex. As well as you think you know me you don’t know that.”
“Liz this is not like you at all – what is going on here?”
Liz took a deep breath and faced her old friend.
“What is going on here is what has haunted me from the day Duncan told me I was immortal. What has haunted me since I fell in love with Max and realized that I could end up outliving him by thousands of years. Of maybe falling in love again and again and losing that person again and again. I cannot imagine how Methos kept his sanity. Do you know he has had 23 wives over 5000 years? And I know he loved each and every one of them. I cannot go through that. I do not know where people get the idea that Immortality is this great gift; to me its been a horrible curse.”
Alex looked at her in shock. “Liz…”
“No, Alex, it has been. Why do you think I was happier on Antar then I have been here on earth?”
Alex opened his mouth to say something, then didn’t. He had been thinking that maybe he was imagining that, but now he knew he had not been, and he felt very cold.
“I was happier there because I knew I was aging, and even with the aids that you and the granolith came up with to try and bring back my quickening, I really did not take it that seriously. If it had not worked at all it would have been fine with me.”
Alex closed his eyes.
“That is why this is so important to me. I am determined that if there is any way then anyone I care about is not going to age and die on me. No matter what it takes. We have all this knowledge and all these resources. I am not going to squander them.”
That night Alex was sitting in the living room of their suite. Isabel looked at him; she was worried. She knew that some Immortals that wanted children had been brought in by Liz to see about the pod process and something had happened with that and it had Alex very worried.
“Alex, what is it? You have been in a funk for hours. “
Alex looked over at his wife. Should he tell her? Liz had not said anything about keeping it quiet amongst the group but he knew she would not be telling anyone. He was so worried about her.
Isabel correctly figured out that look.
“Its got something to do with Liz, hasn’t it? Something is going on with her and you are really worried?”
Alex shook his head. Isabel really had him figured out.
“Liz got this really wild idea and told me about it. What worries me is not so much the idea which is out there and really could have serious consequences, but it’s the way Liz is acting about it. She had this look on her face that was just like when she knew she was going to fight Felicia Rising. That she was going to get it done no matter what it cost her. Max told me what she was like that day when they went after Kivar. She went roaring up the stairs towards the throne room and Max figured that if the rebels had not shown up when they did she would have kept right on going into the room and taken on Kivar and all his guards all by herself.”
Isabel sat back in shock. That was not like Liz; yes she had seen her determined and ready to fight before but this was very different. She had not heard that story about the battle that day. Which was no surprise; Max tended to not want to talk about things that made him uncomfortable and that certainly would qualify. She narrowed her eyes and thought hard. She had grown very close to Liz over the last 6 years; really the first female friend she had ever had. Liz tended to make friends easily and yet keep them close; Tess and Courtney certainly qualified there. She was very aware that Liz tried to keep up the appearances of someone who always had an answer and always had a plan; that nothing really startled her or worried her too much. Which to a certain extent was true. But not always. She looked at Alex.
Alex sat down on the sofa next to his wife and took her hand. It gave him comfort for what he was going to say.
“Liz wants me to start experimenting on some people that she is going to find.”
Isabel looked at him in shock. He could not mean that.
“I mean it and whats worse so does she. I think its something that has been eating at her ever since she became Immortal.”
Isabel then knew what it was. And it shocked her to her core.
“Liz wants to see if we can make Immortals.”
Alex just gripped her hand a little harder.
Max was looking at his wife and he was worried. He knew that something was deeply disturbing her, and more then that he had a feeling it had been doing that for a while but he had not spotted it. He wondered if he could get her to talk about it. There were times when Liz would just look at him and shake her head and he knew he would get nothing out of her. Liz kept things deep inside her sometimes. He remembered when she had told him how she had considered Immortality a curse and a sentence of terrible things on her head. He had had a little hunch that it bothered her but he had had no idea it had bothered her anywhere near that much. Immortality. Somehow he Knew that it had something to do with that; whatever it was.
Liz stood looking at the children as they played in the main room. How incredibly blessed she was to have children with the man she so loved anyway; and as an Immortal to be the first one to ever have children she knew how lucky she was. Could she be pushing it? Could this current course she had decided on undue everything she had worked so hard for? Was that something or someone that she was convinced that was pulling all Immortals strings getting ready to slap her down? She shook her head; she could not be other then what she was. She was not going to just sit down and accept what every other Immortal for thousands of years had accepted; she was not going to lose all that she loved to time. If that made her incredibly arrogant then so be it.
She felt Max move next to her, felt him put his arms around her and draw her close. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the feel of having him near, holding her. And she looked down at her children and her will turned to pure stainless steel. She would not bend; she would not yield.
Max knew that she was not going to speak but at the same time he realized that she had relaxed; she had made a decision and was content with it. He would find out in time; he just had to be patient.
Duncan was standing in the training room watching Liz work Lisa out with her KATA; she was making excellent progress. Annie and Amanda had decided to spar; and Richie would be over in a bit so that Duncan would get to work out. He looked over at Liz and narrowed his eyes; something was bothering her. He walked over to where Joe was sitting; he was the designated watcher for the day. Cynthia would be over later; Liz had told her about the newbie, and she had told Joe. The Watchers had not known about her; so now another Watcher was needed. It was going to be tricky with Lisa staying at the palace; Cynthia came over every day or so to visit and she was the only watcher that could.
Joe was watching the progress of the new Immortal; and also thinking about what to do about Sean; Liz had told him that he was a newbie as well. Joe shook his head; another one that they had missed. He was going to have some words with Annie’s watcher; clearly the man had gotten careless to have not spotted that Sean had become part of the Immortal world. Meanwhile he had to start the chronicle of Lisa Anderson; and that Queen Elizabeth of Antar, Immortal, had her first student. He figured that Liz would do as good a job as can be done; after all her teacher had been the one that Joe considered the finest teaching Immortal he had ever seen, Duncan McCleod. He looked up as Duncan walked over; and narrowed his eyes as he could see some concern there.
Duncan walked over to Joe and motioned towards the far end of the room; Joe got up and followed him over to the corner where they were clearly wanting to talk in a little privacy; with what was going on that should not be too hard.
“Joe, something is going on with Liz. It started yesterday when we were looking over the pod; and Alex and the Antarians were explaining the details. Liz took Alex out of the room for a while and when they got back Alex looked like a train had hit him; and Liz looked as concentrated and as grim as I have ever seen her.”
Joe sat back and considered this. “Cynthia told me a while ago that she thought something was bothering Liz but could not get her to talk about it. But she was sure it had something to do with Immortality.”
Liz saw that Duncan was talking to Joe in the corner and decided that now was as good a time as any. She told Lisa to just keep working on her KATA and headed over.
Joe and Duncan watched her as she came close, she motioned with her head to follow her and they left the room and walked down the Hall to her office. She went and closed the door after they went in. They took a seat while she went over to look out the window. They both knew her well enough to wait without asking questions.
Liz turned around and faced them. It came to both Joe and Duncan that she looked like she was about to give battle. There was a hard and tough mien to her face that was definitely not of the usual.
“ I can see that you both know something is up and that it has something to do with Immortals.”
Joe and Duncan looked at each other then at her and both nodded.
“You know Alex and the Granolith have been working on blanking out all energies associated with the Quickening and they believe that pretty much have them all figured out and I think by and large they are about 95% correct. I do not think the remaining 5% will be all that important. Yesterday I asked him what about the genetic research they and Grace have been doing over the past few years. They admitted that they have not been able to identify anything in any DNA that would identify those that were Immortal or Pre Immortal from those that are not, which does not surprise me.”
Both Joe and Duncan were now starting to get worried. The whole way Liz was acting; the subject, and most of all the almost clinical way she was talking.
Duncan looked at his former student. “Liz this is not like you and it frankly worries the hell out of me.”
Joe agreed. “Liz you are one of the finest people I have ever met but right now you are scaring me some.”
Liz closed her eyes and nodded. When she opened them they could see the determination burning there.
“I have asked Alex to prepare to start testing human subjects to see if we can make someone Immortal. I need your help to find those willing to find out. They have to know about Immortals already and be willing to become part of the whole thing, including the Game.”
Both Joe and Duncan sat there with their mouths gaping open; unable to say a word.
Alex looked at his old friend in shock. She could not mean what she just said, could she?
A grim looking Liz glared back at him. Now that she had spoken that thought that had been knawing a way at her for years she felt icily calm.
“Yes I meant exactly what I said. I know figuring out how to find some and at the same time letting them know what its about will not be easy. As a matter of fact I have a couple people in mind. Mortal halves of Immortal couples. And a few other candidates that may be interested that already know about Immortality. It is not right that I should expect you to find them; that will be my job. You just need to start figuring a way to do it; the testing part anyway. What we will be looking for is a way to start a quickening in a mortal. Maybe it is not possible; maybe whoever or whatever is running the Game will not allow it; all I know is that I have to try.”
Alex leaned back against the counter. He still could not believe what Liz had said.
“Liz, have you thought about this carefully enough. I can kind of think of what this is all about..”
“No you can’t, Alex. As well as you think you know me you don’t know that.”
“Liz this is not like you at all – what is going on here?”
Liz took a deep breath and faced her old friend.
“What is going on here is what has haunted me from the day Duncan told me I was immortal. What has haunted me since I fell in love with Max and realized that I could end up outliving him by thousands of years. Of maybe falling in love again and again and losing that person again and again. I cannot imagine how Methos kept his sanity. Do you know he has had 23 wives over 5000 years? And I know he loved each and every one of them. I cannot go through that. I do not know where people get the idea that Immortality is this great gift; to me its been a horrible curse.”
Alex looked at her in shock. “Liz…”
“No, Alex, it has been. Why do you think I was happier on Antar then I have been here on earth?”
Alex opened his mouth to say something, then didn’t. He had been thinking that maybe he was imagining that, but now he knew he had not been, and he felt very cold.
“I was happier there because I knew I was aging, and even with the aids that you and the granolith came up with to try and bring back my quickening, I really did not take it that seriously. If it had not worked at all it would have been fine with me.”
Alex closed his eyes.
“That is why this is so important to me. I am determined that if there is any way then anyone I care about is not going to age and die on me. No matter what it takes. We have all this knowledge and all these resources. I am not going to squander them.”
That night Alex was sitting in the living room of their suite. Isabel looked at him; she was worried. She knew that some Immortals that wanted children had been brought in by Liz to see about the pod process and something had happened with that and it had Alex very worried.
“Alex, what is it? You have been in a funk for hours. “
Alex looked over at his wife. Should he tell her? Liz had not said anything about keeping it quiet amongst the group but he knew she would not be telling anyone. He was so worried about her.
Isabel correctly figured out that look.
“Its got something to do with Liz, hasn’t it? Something is going on with her and you are really worried?”
Alex shook his head. Isabel really had him figured out.
“Liz got this really wild idea and told me about it. What worries me is not so much the idea which is out there and really could have serious consequences, but it’s the way Liz is acting about it. She had this look on her face that was just like when she knew she was going to fight Felicia Rising. That she was going to get it done no matter what it cost her. Max told me what she was like that day when they went after Kivar. She went roaring up the stairs towards the throne room and Max figured that if the rebels had not shown up when they did she would have kept right on going into the room and taken on Kivar and all his guards all by herself.”
Isabel sat back in shock. That was not like Liz; yes she had seen her determined and ready to fight before but this was very different. She had not heard that story about the battle that day. Which was no surprise; Max tended to not want to talk about things that made him uncomfortable and that certainly would qualify. She narrowed her eyes and thought hard. She had grown very close to Liz over the last 6 years; really the first female friend she had ever had. Liz tended to make friends easily and yet keep them close; Tess and Courtney certainly qualified there. She was very aware that Liz tried to keep up the appearances of someone who always had an answer and always had a plan; that nothing really startled her or worried her too much. Which to a certain extent was true. But not always. She looked at Alex.
Alex sat down on the sofa next to his wife and took her hand. It gave him comfort for what he was going to say.
“Liz wants me to start experimenting on some people that she is going to find.”
Isabel looked at him in shock. He could not mean that.
“I mean it and whats worse so does she. I think its something that has been eating at her ever since she became Immortal.”
Isabel then knew what it was. And it shocked her to her core.
“Liz wants to see if we can make Immortals.”
Alex just gripped her hand a little harder.
Max was looking at his wife and he was worried. He knew that something was deeply disturbing her, and more then that he had a feeling it had been doing that for a while but he had not spotted it. He wondered if he could get her to talk about it. There were times when Liz would just look at him and shake her head and he knew he would get nothing out of her. Liz kept things deep inside her sometimes. He remembered when she had told him how she had considered Immortality a curse and a sentence of terrible things on her head. He had had a little hunch that it bothered her but he had had no idea it had bothered her anywhere near that much. Immortality. Somehow he Knew that it had something to do with that; whatever it was.
Liz stood looking at the children as they played in the main room. How incredibly blessed she was to have children with the man she so loved anyway; and as an Immortal to be the first one to ever have children she knew how lucky she was. Could she be pushing it? Could this current course she had decided on undue everything she had worked so hard for? Was that something or someone that she was convinced that was pulling all Immortals strings getting ready to slap her down? She shook her head; she could not be other then what she was. She was not going to just sit down and accept what every other Immortal for thousands of years had accepted; she was not going to lose all that she loved to time. If that made her incredibly arrogant then so be it.
She felt Max move next to her, felt him put his arms around her and draw her close. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the feel of having him near, holding her. And she looked down at her children and her will turned to pure stainless steel. She would not bend; she would not yield.
Max knew that she was not going to speak but at the same time he realized that she had relaxed; she had made a decision and was content with it. He would find out in time; he just had to be patient.
Duncan was standing in the training room watching Liz work Lisa out with her KATA; she was making excellent progress. Annie and Amanda had decided to spar; and Richie would be over in a bit so that Duncan would get to work out. He looked over at Liz and narrowed his eyes; something was bothering her. He walked over to where Joe was sitting; he was the designated watcher for the day. Cynthia would be over later; Liz had told her about the newbie, and she had told Joe. The Watchers had not known about her; so now another Watcher was needed. It was going to be tricky with Lisa staying at the palace; Cynthia came over every day or so to visit and she was the only watcher that could.
Joe was watching the progress of the new Immortal; and also thinking about what to do about Sean; Liz had told him that he was a newbie as well. Joe shook his head; another one that they had missed. He was going to have some words with Annie’s watcher; clearly the man had gotten careless to have not spotted that Sean had become part of the Immortal world. Meanwhile he had to start the chronicle of Lisa Anderson; and that Queen Elizabeth of Antar, Immortal, had her first student. He figured that Liz would do as good a job as can be done; after all her teacher had been the one that Joe considered the finest teaching Immortal he had ever seen, Duncan McCleod. He looked up as Duncan walked over; and narrowed his eyes as he could see some concern there.
Duncan walked over to Joe and motioned towards the far end of the room; Joe got up and followed him over to the corner where they were clearly wanting to talk in a little privacy; with what was going on that should not be too hard.
“Joe, something is going on with Liz. It started yesterday when we were looking over the pod; and Alex and the Antarians were explaining the details. Liz took Alex out of the room for a while and when they got back Alex looked like a train had hit him; and Liz looked as concentrated and as grim as I have ever seen her.”
Joe sat back and considered this. “Cynthia told me a while ago that she thought something was bothering Liz but could not get her to talk about it. But she was sure it had something to do with Immortality.”
Liz saw that Duncan was talking to Joe in the corner and decided that now was as good a time as any. She told Lisa to just keep working on her KATA and headed over.
Joe and Duncan watched her as she came close, she motioned with her head to follow her and they left the room and walked down the Hall to her office. She went and closed the door after they went in. They took a seat while she went over to look out the window. They both knew her well enough to wait without asking questions.
Liz turned around and faced them. It came to both Joe and Duncan that she looked like she was about to give battle. There was a hard and tough mien to her face that was definitely not of the usual.
“ I can see that you both know something is up and that it has something to do with Immortals.”
Joe and Duncan looked at each other then at her and both nodded.
“You know Alex and the Granolith have been working on blanking out all energies associated with the Quickening and they believe that pretty much have them all figured out and I think by and large they are about 95% correct. I do not think the remaining 5% will be all that important. Yesterday I asked him what about the genetic research they and Grace have been doing over the past few years. They admitted that they have not been able to identify anything in any DNA that would identify those that were Immortal or Pre Immortal from those that are not, which does not surprise me.”
Both Joe and Duncan were now starting to get worried. The whole way Liz was acting; the subject, and most of all the almost clinical way she was talking.
Duncan looked at his former student. “Liz this is not like you and it frankly worries the hell out of me.”
Joe agreed. “Liz you are one of the finest people I have ever met but right now you are scaring me some.”
Liz closed her eyes and nodded. When she opened them they could see the determination burning there.
“I have asked Alex to prepare to start testing human subjects to see if we can make someone Immortal. I need your help to find those willing to find out. They have to know about Immortals already and be willing to become part of the whole thing, including the Game.”
Both Joe and Duncan sat there with their mouths gaping open; unable to say a word.
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thumper1942
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Re: Another Life IV (HL, XO, CC, MA) Part 12 2/27/10
Another Life IV Part 13
Joe Dawson looked at Queen Elizabeth of Antar and shivered. What was she saying? What did she mean?
Duncan McCleod looked at his former student and wondered: where was Liz going with this? Where was this coming from?
Liz closed her eyes for a moment and thought hard. Then she opened them and looked at her two friends.
“ I know how it must sound- have I become a mad scientist, a Doctor Frankenstein? And that is a very valid question. As best as I can say for what I am thinking, no. But I may be going down that road. I realize that it may look that way. And maybe it is and I am just kidding myself. But I do not think so at the moment. Then again maybe Doctor Frankenstein thought the same way as well.”
Joe sat back and pondered hard. “It would help Liz if you could tell us where this is coming from. I kind of think I know but I need to hear it from you.”
Liz sighed. “I think I can safely say that this started from the moment Duncan told me I was Immortal. Maybe it did not really come together as a complete thought for a while, but the initial feelings were right there from the start. I have never seen Immortality as anything but at best a mixed blessing for me, and at times I have truly hated it.”
Duncan looked at Liz. This really did surprise him. Maybe because he was so far beyond his first life and maybe it was a product of Liz not having to change, but he had never really felt that way about being Immortal. He knew some did, but very few that he could think of ever put it that way and felt so definite about it, and those that did usually took a long time to come to that conclusion.
“Liz, tell me why you feel this way.”
“To me its always been the same reason: all those I love will age and die and I will not. My parents, Max, my friends, and god help me now even my children. Maybe having children has made it worse; initially being able to have children seemed to relieve the worst curse of Immortality in not being able to have children. But more and more I realize that it is a trap I will never escape, and will cost me more and more every year I live. And I think I am in a position to at least try and do something about it; with the Granolith and Alex and others that have come so far in being able to identify scientifically so much about the Quickening and its energies.”
Joe leaned forward. “Liz, have you considered that perhaps you feel this way because you are still so young and so new to immortality, that you are not able to see beyond what you see now?”
Liz snorted. It was not a pleasant sound. “I see it very clearly, Joe. I see watching my children grow up and have children which is so great; then watching them age and die. And then their children doing the same and their children and so on; I see myself a thousand years from now watching all those I love age and die. I see Max growing old and dying; while I could possibly accept that with my parents; how do I accept it watching Maria and Alex and Cynthia and all the rest of my mortal friends and loved ones aging and dying; all those funerals I will be going to and fewer and fewer around me that knew me really.:
Duncan closed his eyes and considered Liz’s words. He moved around so much; never staying anywhere more then 10 years or so. He did not have to watch those he loved grow old and die day by day; and he really had never had a lot of people that close to him. Not like Liz had. And of course there is the children; had he and Amanda ignored the reality of the situation in having children? Because her words were now striking home.
Joe leaned back and thought about Liz’s words. He had never really considered what it must be like for an Immortal to see the world in that way; and yet he should have. Was he not a Watcher, someone dedicated to chronicling and understanding Immortals? Had he stepped back so much that that fundamental truth of Immortality, that of watching all that you had known slowly wither away while you remained unchanged, and what that must do to that person, so totally escaped him?
Liz walked around the room, slowly picking up a couple of things then setting them down. Just wandering. Aimlessly. Finally she sat back at her desk and looked at them.
“You now know how I feel. How I have felt since the first day. And It will not change. And I am determined to try and change that which I hate. I know that this will open up such a can of worms such as we have never seen. Beyond relocating a people halfway across the galaxy. And it may not be possible at all. Especially if my suspicions about how it all got started are true.”
Duncan looked at Liz at those words. “What do you mean, Liz?”
Liz shook her head. “Come on Duncan, to me its seems obvious that the whole game was never anything natural. Its not a part of nature. It cannot be. The evidence that the Granolith and others have shown that there are no DNA differences between immortals and mortals is part of it. The fact that we can block most of the energies and basically turn on the quickening and turn it off is another. Holy Ground and all that has happened there. And above all else there is the question of never finding a mother of an Immortal. Even in this day and age. We just appear. That is not nature. That is not natural. SOMEONE or SOMETHING is doing it. And whoever or whatever that is will probably not like me messing with the Game. “
Joe thought about that. “To me the lack of mothers has always been the biggest question of all. And yet I never seemed to dwell on it or try and figure it out. I wonder why? It is such a huge consideration and yet the Watchers, even the Research Division, have never really put all that much effort into trying to figure it out. Now why is that? I have never heard anyone really put all that much emphasis on it. Not ever.”
Duncan got up and wandered a little himself, thinking very hard about it. He himself had never felt a real need to try and find his real mother. He could not think of an Immortal he had ever met that had really tried. Why was that? That did not seem natural. And maybe that was the point. Was something or someone influencing all the Immortals and even their watchers so that no one ever really tried to find out? He looked at Liz.
“Liz, have you ever felt any great need to try and find your birth mother?”
Liz shook her head. “Never have. And for me that is strange. I need to always know the answers; I hate puzzles unsolved. And yet I feel no need to ever even try. All I know is that I was found in the dumpster outside the Crashdown maybe a day old and only a week after Mom had been told she cold never have children. No trace of anyone was ever found and from what Mom and Dad have told me the Sheriff of that time was very good and tried really hard to find her. Nothing at all. And back then Roswell was still pretty small, with no interstate near by and most roads only 2 lanes. “
Liz walked around some more. Clearly trying to organize her thoughts in a way that the two men would understand.
“So there you have it. I firmly believe that the Game was manufactured and so were all its players, and to this day they are being played. And it’s a good probability that the Game Master is not going to like me changing the rules. But we will see. I am determined to go on.”
Joe sighed. “By those you want already knowing about Immortals you are saying watchers. That by itself could get very messy. The Council has backed off so much that except for more stringent reporting measures that were instituted after the whole Felicia Rising mess they have pretty much let me have a free hand. But if they find out about this it will be a whole different story. How many are you looking for? “
Liz considered. “Not that many, maybe only half a dozen or so. If it works then it gets a whole lot more complicated. Which reminds me- has Methos or you gotten any closer to getting your hands on the Watchers Database?”
Joe shook his head. “The Council has employed some very high priced computer security experts over the years. We have not been able to do it or really even come close.”
Liz nodded. Then had a thought. “ I am so stupid. We never asked the one possible resource that might be able to do it and do it easily. The Granolith.”
Both Joe and Duncan stared at her, then shook their heads. Why in the world had no one thought of that before?
Joe especially could not believe he had not thought of that one. With the abilities the Granolith had, this could very well be childs play for it. Then he had another thought and looked at Liz.
“Liz, have you discussed your wild idea with the Granolith?”
Liz blinked. “No I haven’t and I cannot explain way. For some reason it never occurred to me to talk to anyone except Alex. And that makes no sense at all. Maybe further evidence about us being played, just enough to keep us from doing anything.”
Duncan thought about that. “Then how is it you are doing it now. If whatever was that diligent, it should have been able to keep that thought from coming up.”
“Maybe…. Just maybe it just tries to guide thoughts in a general way, without being specific or being able to really prevent the thought process from working if you are determined enough. That is just as bizarre as anything else. But it does make you wonder.”
Liz stood up and looked at them. “Lets go and talk to the Granolith.”
Minutes later they were standing outside the Granolith, in its original surroundings in the rocks where the pods used to be. Visible from the air, but still on the hill that now was the center of the Roswell settlement. Liz had ordered the guards to make sure no one came near, and at this time of day there usually were only a few people anyway.
The Granolith hummed as Liz approached it. “Queen Elizabeth, how may I help you.”
Liz took a deep breath. “Two things. First, do you think you would be able to somehow copy the Watchers Database kept in their Mainframe at their Paris Headquarters?”
The Granolith hummed for a minute then stopped. “I should be able to do so. I assume you want it to happen so that there will be no suspicions?”
“Very much so.”
“Then I see no real problem. It might take a few days to make sure that it will be done quietly, but I foresee no serious concerns.”
Joe and Duncan looked at each other and shook their heads. Talk about an obvious oversight.
Liz took another deep breath. “OK here is the big one. I intend to see if it is possible to take a mortal human and make him into an Immortal.”
For the only time that Liz could remember the Granolith went completely silent. For seconds it stayed that way – then it began to hum. LOUDLY HUM.
Liz and Joe and Duncan waited while it kept humming away. It seemed to go on for hours yet was only probably minutes then it became quiet.
“Queen Elizabeth, this request truly takes me by surprise. I had never considered the possibility and that is not logical. It should have been part of my work on the quickening and all that went on with Immortals having children. It is a logical step in the process that I never considered. And I am unable to explain why.”
Liz closed her eyes. “Why does this not shock me.”
Then she went on to explain her thinking on Immortality.
The Granolith started humming loudly again. For several minutes.
“Queen Elizabeth, the logical deductions from available evidence can only lead to the conclusion that your theory is correct. And I must also conclude that I have been influenced as well to have left out so logical a part of previous processes.”
Joe shivered again. Were they on a collision course with a God?
Joe Dawson looked at Queen Elizabeth of Antar and shivered. What was she saying? What did she mean?
Duncan McCleod looked at his former student and wondered: where was Liz going with this? Where was this coming from?
Liz closed her eyes for a moment and thought hard. Then she opened them and looked at her two friends.
“ I know how it must sound- have I become a mad scientist, a Doctor Frankenstein? And that is a very valid question. As best as I can say for what I am thinking, no. But I may be going down that road. I realize that it may look that way. And maybe it is and I am just kidding myself. But I do not think so at the moment. Then again maybe Doctor Frankenstein thought the same way as well.”
Joe sat back and pondered hard. “It would help Liz if you could tell us where this is coming from. I kind of think I know but I need to hear it from you.”
Liz sighed. “I think I can safely say that this started from the moment Duncan told me I was Immortal. Maybe it did not really come together as a complete thought for a while, but the initial feelings were right there from the start. I have never seen Immortality as anything but at best a mixed blessing for me, and at times I have truly hated it.”
Duncan looked at Liz. This really did surprise him. Maybe because he was so far beyond his first life and maybe it was a product of Liz not having to change, but he had never really felt that way about being Immortal. He knew some did, but very few that he could think of ever put it that way and felt so definite about it, and those that did usually took a long time to come to that conclusion.
“Liz, tell me why you feel this way.”
“To me its always been the same reason: all those I love will age and die and I will not. My parents, Max, my friends, and god help me now even my children. Maybe having children has made it worse; initially being able to have children seemed to relieve the worst curse of Immortality in not being able to have children. But more and more I realize that it is a trap I will never escape, and will cost me more and more every year I live. And I think I am in a position to at least try and do something about it; with the Granolith and Alex and others that have come so far in being able to identify scientifically so much about the Quickening and its energies.”
Joe leaned forward. “Liz, have you considered that perhaps you feel this way because you are still so young and so new to immortality, that you are not able to see beyond what you see now?”
Liz snorted. It was not a pleasant sound. “I see it very clearly, Joe. I see watching my children grow up and have children which is so great; then watching them age and die. And then their children doing the same and their children and so on; I see myself a thousand years from now watching all those I love age and die. I see Max growing old and dying; while I could possibly accept that with my parents; how do I accept it watching Maria and Alex and Cynthia and all the rest of my mortal friends and loved ones aging and dying; all those funerals I will be going to and fewer and fewer around me that knew me really.:
Duncan closed his eyes and considered Liz’s words. He moved around so much; never staying anywhere more then 10 years or so. He did not have to watch those he loved grow old and die day by day; and he really had never had a lot of people that close to him. Not like Liz had. And of course there is the children; had he and Amanda ignored the reality of the situation in having children? Because her words were now striking home.
Joe leaned back and thought about Liz’s words. He had never really considered what it must be like for an Immortal to see the world in that way; and yet he should have. Was he not a Watcher, someone dedicated to chronicling and understanding Immortals? Had he stepped back so much that that fundamental truth of Immortality, that of watching all that you had known slowly wither away while you remained unchanged, and what that must do to that person, so totally escaped him?
Liz walked around the room, slowly picking up a couple of things then setting them down. Just wandering. Aimlessly. Finally she sat back at her desk and looked at them.
“You now know how I feel. How I have felt since the first day. And It will not change. And I am determined to try and change that which I hate. I know that this will open up such a can of worms such as we have never seen. Beyond relocating a people halfway across the galaxy. And it may not be possible at all. Especially if my suspicions about how it all got started are true.”
Duncan looked at Liz at those words. “What do you mean, Liz?”
Liz shook her head. “Come on Duncan, to me its seems obvious that the whole game was never anything natural. Its not a part of nature. It cannot be. The evidence that the Granolith and others have shown that there are no DNA differences between immortals and mortals is part of it. The fact that we can block most of the energies and basically turn on the quickening and turn it off is another. Holy Ground and all that has happened there. And above all else there is the question of never finding a mother of an Immortal. Even in this day and age. We just appear. That is not nature. That is not natural. SOMEONE or SOMETHING is doing it. And whoever or whatever that is will probably not like me messing with the Game. “
Joe thought about that. “To me the lack of mothers has always been the biggest question of all. And yet I never seemed to dwell on it or try and figure it out. I wonder why? It is such a huge consideration and yet the Watchers, even the Research Division, have never really put all that much effort into trying to figure it out. Now why is that? I have never heard anyone really put all that much emphasis on it. Not ever.”
Duncan got up and wandered a little himself, thinking very hard about it. He himself had never felt a real need to try and find his real mother. He could not think of an Immortal he had ever met that had really tried. Why was that? That did not seem natural. And maybe that was the point. Was something or someone influencing all the Immortals and even their watchers so that no one ever really tried to find out? He looked at Liz.
“Liz, have you ever felt any great need to try and find your birth mother?”
Liz shook her head. “Never have. And for me that is strange. I need to always know the answers; I hate puzzles unsolved. And yet I feel no need to ever even try. All I know is that I was found in the dumpster outside the Crashdown maybe a day old and only a week after Mom had been told she cold never have children. No trace of anyone was ever found and from what Mom and Dad have told me the Sheriff of that time was very good and tried really hard to find her. Nothing at all. And back then Roswell was still pretty small, with no interstate near by and most roads only 2 lanes. “
Liz walked around some more. Clearly trying to organize her thoughts in a way that the two men would understand.
“So there you have it. I firmly believe that the Game was manufactured and so were all its players, and to this day they are being played. And it’s a good probability that the Game Master is not going to like me changing the rules. But we will see. I am determined to go on.”
Joe sighed. “By those you want already knowing about Immortals you are saying watchers. That by itself could get very messy. The Council has backed off so much that except for more stringent reporting measures that were instituted after the whole Felicia Rising mess they have pretty much let me have a free hand. But if they find out about this it will be a whole different story. How many are you looking for? “
Liz considered. “Not that many, maybe only half a dozen or so. If it works then it gets a whole lot more complicated. Which reminds me- has Methos or you gotten any closer to getting your hands on the Watchers Database?”
Joe shook his head. “The Council has employed some very high priced computer security experts over the years. We have not been able to do it or really even come close.”
Liz nodded. Then had a thought. “ I am so stupid. We never asked the one possible resource that might be able to do it and do it easily. The Granolith.”
Both Joe and Duncan stared at her, then shook their heads. Why in the world had no one thought of that before?
Joe especially could not believe he had not thought of that one. With the abilities the Granolith had, this could very well be childs play for it. Then he had another thought and looked at Liz.
“Liz, have you discussed your wild idea with the Granolith?”
Liz blinked. “No I haven’t and I cannot explain way. For some reason it never occurred to me to talk to anyone except Alex. And that makes no sense at all. Maybe further evidence about us being played, just enough to keep us from doing anything.”
Duncan thought about that. “Then how is it you are doing it now. If whatever was that diligent, it should have been able to keep that thought from coming up.”
“Maybe…. Just maybe it just tries to guide thoughts in a general way, without being specific or being able to really prevent the thought process from working if you are determined enough. That is just as bizarre as anything else. But it does make you wonder.”
Liz stood up and looked at them. “Lets go and talk to the Granolith.”
Minutes later they were standing outside the Granolith, in its original surroundings in the rocks where the pods used to be. Visible from the air, but still on the hill that now was the center of the Roswell settlement. Liz had ordered the guards to make sure no one came near, and at this time of day there usually were only a few people anyway.
The Granolith hummed as Liz approached it. “Queen Elizabeth, how may I help you.”
Liz took a deep breath. “Two things. First, do you think you would be able to somehow copy the Watchers Database kept in their Mainframe at their Paris Headquarters?”
The Granolith hummed for a minute then stopped. “I should be able to do so. I assume you want it to happen so that there will be no suspicions?”
“Very much so.”
“Then I see no real problem. It might take a few days to make sure that it will be done quietly, but I foresee no serious concerns.”
Joe and Duncan looked at each other and shook their heads. Talk about an obvious oversight.
Liz took another deep breath. “OK here is the big one. I intend to see if it is possible to take a mortal human and make him into an Immortal.”
For the only time that Liz could remember the Granolith went completely silent. For seconds it stayed that way – then it began to hum. LOUDLY HUM.
Liz and Joe and Duncan waited while it kept humming away. It seemed to go on for hours yet was only probably minutes then it became quiet.
“Queen Elizabeth, this request truly takes me by surprise. I had never considered the possibility and that is not logical. It should have been part of my work on the quickening and all that went on with Immortals having children. It is a logical step in the process that I never considered. And I am unable to explain why.”
Liz closed her eyes. “Why does this not shock me.”
Then she went on to explain her thinking on Immortality.
The Granolith started humming loudly again. For several minutes.
“Queen Elizabeth, the logical deductions from available evidence can only lead to the conclusion that your theory is correct. And I must also conclude that I have been influenced as well to have left out so logical a part of previous processes.”
Joe shivered again. Were they on a collision course with a God?
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thumper1942
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Re: Another Life IV (HL, XO, CC, MA) Part 13 2/28/10
Another Life IV Part 14
Joe Dawson had had to think long and hard about who to ask to be part of Liz’s experiment. He decided to not include any current Watchers. Instead to reach out to those he knew who knew of Immortals but were not part of the Watchers organization. Basically sons and daughters who knew but had decided not to Watch. He had not realized until he started considering people that the number he could chose from was larger then he had suspected. He thought of the conversation they had had after reluctantly agreeing to become part of the experiment.
“Joe, I want to tell Cynthia and some of the others what I am going to be trying to do. They should know and they might have a perspective on all of it that might be valuable. Besides its best to have some people who know about it but are not part of it to keep an eye on things to make sure nothing spins out of control. I am very aware that this could get very ugly very fast.”
Joe shook his head as he remembered that conversation. He had never seen Liz so focused and serious and determined. He realized once again just how much this meant to her. He could not recall any accounts of any Immortal who had so hated being Immortal. Some reacted badly to it and were not able to come to terms with it and died quickly one way or another. But nothing he had ever read or heard compared to how Liz Parker felt about Immortality. Standing back and being impartial he could understand where she was coming from; but otherwise it still puzzled him. He had thought about it several times trying to figure out why he felt it was so odd; then one night he had realized that the reason he felt that way was colored by his years as a watcher and more then that why he had become a watcher; he was so fascinated by Immortality that it drew him in. That was pretty much the way it was with all Watchers that were dedicated and professional. They did it because it fascinated them. And that is why they could not really feel the hatred that Liz felt; and he wondered how many Immortals felt that way but never said anything that a watcher could hear and write down.
Cynthia wondered what was up; Joe had called her and asked her to come see him at the Palace where she would also be talking to Liz. Cynthia could tell it was serious. She wondered if it had anything to do with the newbie Immortal that Liz had as her ADC.
Joe and Liz were quietly talking in her office when Cynthia came in. Liz told her receptionist to bring her right in. She looked over at Joe and shrugged. He nodded back at her.
Cynthia came into Liz’s office and saw Liz standing by the window with Joe sitting off to the side. Liz looked at her and motioned for her to sit down, which she did next to Joe.
Liz considered how to start and decided to just wade in.
“Cynthia, what I am about to tell you will shock you somewhat, but keep your questions until I finish.”
Cynthia blinked at the tone- this was a tough and hard Liz that she had only seen when challenged. She had a feeling this was really big and bad.
“You know all about the experiments the Granolith and Alex had gone through identifying the various energies that make up the Quickening so that we can cancel them out so that Immortals can have children.”
Cynthia nodded but did not speak.
“What is new is what I decided to have the Granolith and Alex start working on. A way to make a mortal Immortal.”
Cynthia blinked- she could not have said what she thought she had said. Could she?
“Yes you heard me right. Joe has agreed to approach some people who are aware of Immortals but who are not watchers. I want you and some others to know what is going on so that you can keep an eye on the process and raise hell if it starts going off the rails.”
Cynthia’s mouth gaped open and stayed that way for several minutes. Thoughts flew around her mind. Had Liz gone nuts? Had Joe? Had Everyone? Making mortals Immortal. Incredible. But with the abilities of the Granolith, maybe not so impossible. She looked at Liz for clarification.
“Despite all their efforts, the Granolith and Alex and his nerd herd and Grace with her work, there has been no link to any DNA differences between Immortals and Mortals. And they have been able to dig much deeper then anyone ever has into human DNA. Not that I am surprised; with all the weird things that go on with Immortality it should come as no surprise how little science can explain. That we can block most of the energies involved speak to how good we are at that; and the fact that nothing else can be found makes for more questions then answers. You know I have always thought that someone or something is behind the whole thing; and the more we find out the more it points in that direction. So as far as I am concerned if there is nothing genetically different between Immortals and mortals, then there should be no reason we cannot make mortals Immortal. So I am determined to find out if we can do it. We are starting out with five or six, and see what happens. I think we can find out one way or another in about 6 months. Either the person will start to have a quickening or not.”
Cynthia managed to get ahold of herself to the point where she could ask some questions.
“How are you going to do this?”
“What we are going to do is have a energy transmitter that amplifies the energies we have identified with the Quickening and have the person where it 24 hours a day 7 days a week for 6 months. The Granolith is able to measure quickenings. It will be able to tell if it works.”
Cynthia shook her head in shock. This was incredible.
“I knew somewhat how you felt about Immortality, Liz, but I did not realize how much you hated it.”
“That is because I never spoke of it that much, and never really wanted anyone to know how much I despise it. Max did not know and no one is closer to me than he is. And Part of it is that I never really faced my true feelings about it myself. Never really wanted to admit how much I hate the fact that I will live and stay the same while all those I love will age and die, including my children. I think more then anything else that is what really made me hate Immortality; my children.”
Joe nodded to himself. He really had not considered that aspect, and he should have. He was a father himself and he could not imagine outliving his daughter by thousands of years. Maybe Liz was right and that was what really triggered it all. He knew that after their meeting the other day Duncan had been much quieter and more reflective then he had seen for a long time. Joe had a feeling that this had really rocked Duncan, and thinking about his own children had made it just that much more clear. Immortals having children might have been the weight that finally over balanced the whole thing; the one thing that could not be born or accepted. Standing back and watching your CHILDREN age and die while you did not.
Liz headed down towards the private part of the Palace where the Royals lived. It had been a tough day, what with talking to Joe and Duncan about the experiment. She opened the door that led into the private suite of the King and Queen of Antar and stopped – seated in the rather large living room area was the whole Group plus Richie and Courtney. Cynthia was there as well. Sighing, she closed the door and went to sit next to Max.
Maria stood up and walked over to Liz and squatted down in front of her, with a very serious look on her face.
“Liz, Alex has let us know what you are looking to do and it has us all worried. We need to know whats going on.”
Liz looked at Maria and smiled sadly, reaching out and brushing her cheek with her hand, then got up and walked over to the big picture window that overlooked the square at the center of the Palace.
Liz stood there for a moment, then turned around and faced her friends and family.
“I guess it is not a real shock to anyone here that I generally pretty much hate Immortality.”
Maria nodded. “Not that surprising, Liz, but that still does not explain whats going on.”
Kyle spoke up. “Liz, why would you want to turn more people into something you hate?”
“Because it probably will work better then removing Immortality.”
Jaws dropped over the entire room at that.
Max looked at her with a very worried frown. “Liz, are you saying that if you thought it was possible to stop being an Immortal, you would do it?”
“In a heartbeat.”
Courtney frowned. “Liz, do you really hate being an Immortal that much?”
“More. The happiest I have been was when I was on Antar and losing my immortality. I kind of felt that the universe was conspiring against me when that Rogue Star showed up. Though that is probably beyond the power of whatever is behind all of this.”
Alex leaned forward. “ I have gotten the feeling from things you have said, Liz, that you absolutely believe that someone or something is behind Immortality.”
“Of course something has to be Alex. You look at all the facts about Immortals and look close and its clear. One- no mother of any immortal has ever been found. Even in this day and age with surveillance cameras and whatnot everywhere pre immortal babies just appear. Two-the quickening energy can be blocked, replaced, manipulated. Three-despite the best efforts of the Granolith, Grace, Alex, and others NO DNA difference can be found between Immortals and Mortals. Four- the absolute belief about Holy Ground and the fact that all immortals believe Mt Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii because two immortals fought on Holy Ground. Five-the Granolith has found that something kept if from looking into whether immortals could be made even though that SHOULD have been part of the logical process when we were looking at how to have children. And last- you all know how curious I am and how I am always trying to solve puzzles. Yet I have NEVER felt any kind of need to find my birth mother- absolutely none; nor my birth father. Joe has admitted that he never thought to really look into all that and that the Watchers, who have been so curious about Immortals for over 3000 years, have never put any effort into finding the birth mothers, even in this day and age when it should be a lot easier to do. You add ALL of that up and it tells me that we are being manipulated and played.”
Maria was shaking her head. “ I have heard you talk about some of this at one time or another but not all at once. I have to admit that it certainly SOUNDS like this whole thing is manufactured.”
Isabel nodded. “Laid out like that its hard to argue. So that is why you think it can be done?”
“Yes. I realized some time ago that living beyond all of you and especially my children is something I cannot bear. And I will not.”
Everyone in the room caught the cold, hard, determined tone. Maria looked at her best friend in deep worry.
“Chica, that sounds really kind of…” she could not finish.
Grimly Liz looked at all of them. “I will not live beyond those I love. And yes that means just what it sounds like. I am going to try and extend the life of those I love and failing that will not live beyond them.”
Cynthia was looking at her Immortal with a very troubled look in her eyes. In the silence that seemed to extend beyond infinity she screwed up her courage to ask something that had been bothering her after Liz’s cool, calm summing up of the reasons behind her belief in something or someone being behind the existence of Immortals.
“Liz, if there is something or someone out there controlling all of this, maybe it will do something.”
Elizabeth Parker Evans, Queen Elizabeth of Antar, coolly looked at Cynthia.
“That is right. I am challenging he, she, it, whatever head on. Come and stop me.”
Joe Dawson had had to think long and hard about who to ask to be part of Liz’s experiment. He decided to not include any current Watchers. Instead to reach out to those he knew who knew of Immortals but were not part of the Watchers organization. Basically sons and daughters who knew but had decided not to Watch. He had not realized until he started considering people that the number he could chose from was larger then he had suspected. He thought of the conversation they had had after reluctantly agreeing to become part of the experiment.
“Joe, I want to tell Cynthia and some of the others what I am going to be trying to do. They should know and they might have a perspective on all of it that might be valuable. Besides its best to have some people who know about it but are not part of it to keep an eye on things to make sure nothing spins out of control. I am very aware that this could get very ugly very fast.”
Joe shook his head as he remembered that conversation. He had never seen Liz so focused and serious and determined. He realized once again just how much this meant to her. He could not recall any accounts of any Immortal who had so hated being Immortal. Some reacted badly to it and were not able to come to terms with it and died quickly one way or another. But nothing he had ever read or heard compared to how Liz Parker felt about Immortality. Standing back and being impartial he could understand where she was coming from; but otherwise it still puzzled him. He had thought about it several times trying to figure out why he felt it was so odd; then one night he had realized that the reason he felt that way was colored by his years as a watcher and more then that why he had become a watcher; he was so fascinated by Immortality that it drew him in. That was pretty much the way it was with all Watchers that were dedicated and professional. They did it because it fascinated them. And that is why they could not really feel the hatred that Liz felt; and he wondered how many Immortals felt that way but never said anything that a watcher could hear and write down.
Cynthia wondered what was up; Joe had called her and asked her to come see him at the Palace where she would also be talking to Liz. Cynthia could tell it was serious. She wondered if it had anything to do with the newbie Immortal that Liz had as her ADC.
Joe and Liz were quietly talking in her office when Cynthia came in. Liz told her receptionist to bring her right in. She looked over at Joe and shrugged. He nodded back at her.
Cynthia came into Liz’s office and saw Liz standing by the window with Joe sitting off to the side. Liz looked at her and motioned for her to sit down, which she did next to Joe.
Liz considered how to start and decided to just wade in.
“Cynthia, what I am about to tell you will shock you somewhat, but keep your questions until I finish.”
Cynthia blinked at the tone- this was a tough and hard Liz that she had only seen when challenged. She had a feeling this was really big and bad.
“You know all about the experiments the Granolith and Alex had gone through identifying the various energies that make up the Quickening so that we can cancel them out so that Immortals can have children.”
Cynthia nodded but did not speak.
“What is new is what I decided to have the Granolith and Alex start working on. A way to make a mortal Immortal.”
Cynthia blinked- she could not have said what she thought she had said. Could she?
“Yes you heard me right. Joe has agreed to approach some people who are aware of Immortals but who are not watchers. I want you and some others to know what is going on so that you can keep an eye on the process and raise hell if it starts going off the rails.”
Cynthia’s mouth gaped open and stayed that way for several minutes. Thoughts flew around her mind. Had Liz gone nuts? Had Joe? Had Everyone? Making mortals Immortal. Incredible. But with the abilities of the Granolith, maybe not so impossible. She looked at Liz for clarification.
“Despite all their efforts, the Granolith and Alex and his nerd herd and Grace with her work, there has been no link to any DNA differences between Immortals and Mortals. And they have been able to dig much deeper then anyone ever has into human DNA. Not that I am surprised; with all the weird things that go on with Immortality it should come as no surprise how little science can explain. That we can block most of the energies involved speak to how good we are at that; and the fact that nothing else can be found makes for more questions then answers. You know I have always thought that someone or something is behind the whole thing; and the more we find out the more it points in that direction. So as far as I am concerned if there is nothing genetically different between Immortals and mortals, then there should be no reason we cannot make mortals Immortal. So I am determined to find out if we can do it. We are starting out with five or six, and see what happens. I think we can find out one way or another in about 6 months. Either the person will start to have a quickening or not.”
Cynthia managed to get ahold of herself to the point where she could ask some questions.
“How are you going to do this?”
“What we are going to do is have a energy transmitter that amplifies the energies we have identified with the Quickening and have the person where it 24 hours a day 7 days a week for 6 months. The Granolith is able to measure quickenings. It will be able to tell if it works.”
Cynthia shook her head in shock. This was incredible.
“I knew somewhat how you felt about Immortality, Liz, but I did not realize how much you hated it.”
“That is because I never spoke of it that much, and never really wanted anyone to know how much I despise it. Max did not know and no one is closer to me than he is. And Part of it is that I never really faced my true feelings about it myself. Never really wanted to admit how much I hate the fact that I will live and stay the same while all those I love will age and die, including my children. I think more then anything else that is what really made me hate Immortality; my children.”
Joe nodded to himself. He really had not considered that aspect, and he should have. He was a father himself and he could not imagine outliving his daughter by thousands of years. Maybe Liz was right and that was what really triggered it all. He knew that after their meeting the other day Duncan had been much quieter and more reflective then he had seen for a long time. Joe had a feeling that this had really rocked Duncan, and thinking about his own children had made it just that much more clear. Immortals having children might have been the weight that finally over balanced the whole thing; the one thing that could not be born or accepted. Standing back and watching your CHILDREN age and die while you did not.
Liz headed down towards the private part of the Palace where the Royals lived. It had been a tough day, what with talking to Joe and Duncan about the experiment. She opened the door that led into the private suite of the King and Queen of Antar and stopped – seated in the rather large living room area was the whole Group plus Richie and Courtney. Cynthia was there as well. Sighing, she closed the door and went to sit next to Max.
Maria stood up and walked over to Liz and squatted down in front of her, with a very serious look on her face.
“Liz, Alex has let us know what you are looking to do and it has us all worried. We need to know whats going on.”
Liz looked at Maria and smiled sadly, reaching out and brushing her cheek with her hand, then got up and walked over to the big picture window that overlooked the square at the center of the Palace.
Liz stood there for a moment, then turned around and faced her friends and family.
“I guess it is not a real shock to anyone here that I generally pretty much hate Immortality.”
Maria nodded. “Not that surprising, Liz, but that still does not explain whats going on.”
Kyle spoke up. “Liz, why would you want to turn more people into something you hate?”
“Because it probably will work better then removing Immortality.”
Jaws dropped over the entire room at that.
Max looked at her with a very worried frown. “Liz, are you saying that if you thought it was possible to stop being an Immortal, you would do it?”
“In a heartbeat.”
Courtney frowned. “Liz, do you really hate being an Immortal that much?”
“More. The happiest I have been was when I was on Antar and losing my immortality. I kind of felt that the universe was conspiring against me when that Rogue Star showed up. Though that is probably beyond the power of whatever is behind all of this.”
Alex leaned forward. “ I have gotten the feeling from things you have said, Liz, that you absolutely believe that someone or something is behind Immortality.”
“Of course something has to be Alex. You look at all the facts about Immortals and look close and its clear. One- no mother of any immortal has ever been found. Even in this day and age with surveillance cameras and whatnot everywhere pre immortal babies just appear. Two-the quickening energy can be blocked, replaced, manipulated. Three-despite the best efforts of the Granolith, Grace, Alex, and others NO DNA difference can be found between Immortals and Mortals. Four- the absolute belief about Holy Ground and the fact that all immortals believe Mt Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii because two immortals fought on Holy Ground. Five-the Granolith has found that something kept if from looking into whether immortals could be made even though that SHOULD have been part of the logical process when we were looking at how to have children. And last- you all know how curious I am and how I am always trying to solve puzzles. Yet I have NEVER felt any kind of need to find my birth mother- absolutely none; nor my birth father. Joe has admitted that he never thought to really look into all that and that the Watchers, who have been so curious about Immortals for over 3000 years, have never put any effort into finding the birth mothers, even in this day and age when it should be a lot easier to do. You add ALL of that up and it tells me that we are being manipulated and played.”
Maria was shaking her head. “ I have heard you talk about some of this at one time or another but not all at once. I have to admit that it certainly SOUNDS like this whole thing is manufactured.”
Isabel nodded. “Laid out like that its hard to argue. So that is why you think it can be done?”
“Yes. I realized some time ago that living beyond all of you and especially my children is something I cannot bear. And I will not.”
Everyone in the room caught the cold, hard, determined tone. Maria looked at her best friend in deep worry.
“Chica, that sounds really kind of…” she could not finish.
Grimly Liz looked at all of them. “I will not live beyond those I love. And yes that means just what it sounds like. I am going to try and extend the life of those I love and failing that will not live beyond them.”
Cynthia was looking at her Immortal with a very troubled look in her eyes. In the silence that seemed to extend beyond infinity she screwed up her courage to ask something that had been bothering her after Liz’s cool, calm summing up of the reasons behind her belief in something or someone being behind the existence of Immortals.
“Liz, if there is something or someone out there controlling all of this, maybe it will do something.”
Elizabeth Parker Evans, Queen Elizabeth of Antar, coolly looked at Cynthia.
“That is right. I am challenging he, she, it, whatever head on. Come and stop me.”
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thumper1942
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- Posts: 157
- Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:37 pm
Re: Another Life IV (HL, XO, CC, MA) Part 14 3/2/10
Another Life IV Part 15
Methos was looking at the latest paper that Grace had written regarding genetics. It would be, like all the others, anonymously submitted to the American Medical Journal. Her other papers had caused a fair amount of stir in the world of genetics. At first dismissed as either a joke or something of the sort, it had gradually become clear even to the skeptics that the author knew what they were talking about. Several fairly substantial breakthroughs in understanding DNA had come about because of them. Needless to say speculation was rife amongst the community as everyone was trying to figure out who was doing it and why were they not taking credit for what was clearly noteworthy work. Some thought it was someone who had been disgraced; others thought it was a noted figure who just wanted to tweak the community. Methos was quite entertained by the speculation. Grace just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Her commitment was to learning and exploring new ideas; to her credit did not matter and since she could not take it anyway what was the point of worrying about it.
He looked up as Grace came into the house, just having come back with talking with Alex and the Granolith about some of her other ideas. His look sharpened when he saw that she was pale, and seemed very upset. He immediately went to her and pulled her down onto the sofa with his arms wrapped around her.
“Grace, what is it? Did you sense a strange immortal?”
She shook her head, taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself. She was very shaken about what she had found out, and could not really explain why. Yes, the news was disturbing, but it should not have had the effect on her that it had. Why was this so disturbing?
She looked up at Methos. Even now after being together for several years, she still marveled at her mate. The Legendary Methos, 5000 years old, so old that he made her feel like a child at times.
Methos felt concern deep inside. Much as he had cared for Alexa, he had not been so deeply in love for literally millennia. He sometimes wondered if part of the reason was that they were able to have children, that that tied them together that much more tightly. Adam and Rebecca (Grace had flat out refused to name her Eve) were incredible gifts to Methos, who had lived for 5000 years with the knowledge that he would never have children. Despite his concerns for the future, he was never sorry or even close to it. The joy and wonder made even his ancient bones warm. So to see Grace like this was very troubling.
“OK, if it was not an immortal it must be something you found out at the Palace. What is it?”
Grace took a deep breath and straightened up, though still remaining in Methos’s arms.
“Liz has decided to see if she can make a mortal Immortal.”
Methos blinked, then shook his head. Had he heard this right?
Grace smiled slightly, slowly getting back to normal. Methos thought he was so guarded and hard to read; but for one who loved him his face was an open book.
“Yes, you heard me right. Liz has decided that since we have been unable to show any genetic or DNA evidence differentiating mortals from Immortals, that she will get some volunteers and see if they can make them Immortal.”
Slowly Methos shook his head. This really startled him; Liz was so levelheaded that something like this truly came out of the blue; or did it. He started to think about it.
Seeing Methos going into a thinking posture, Grace got up and headed into the Kitchen to get some coffee. Methos would be like this for a while, sometimes hours, while he thought something through. And Grace had to admit that this was something that needed thinking through. Part of her wanted to think that Liz had not, but she knew that this came from a long time thought for her. She had a sinking feeling that Liz had thought this through all too well.
Sometime later Methos emerged from his thinking routine to see that Grace was sitting next to him looking over some papers, patiently waiting for him to emerge from his funk. He reached over and pulled her back into his arms, with his head resting on hers.
“I guess I should not be surprised about this. Liz is one to solve puzzles and this had to be digging at her for a long time. Now she is doing something about it, which should come as no surprise at all. I just hope nothing blows up on us.”
“I was trying to figure out why I was so disturbed by this; as you said it makes sense when you know Liz. It took me a big to figure it out. I was afraid?”
Methos was puzzled. “Afraid of what? That Immortality will get out? I do not think there is much chance of that.”
“No, its not that. You are right that there really is not to much chance of that getting out. What I am afraid of is if Liz pulls it off.”
Methos cocked his head. “What are you afraid of?”
“If Liz does it she will want to give this chance to many if not all; and that could cause it to get out. But that is not what I am afraid of. I am afraid that she is challenging something or someone that will fight back.”
Now Methos was fully puzzled. “What do you mean?”
Grace smiled ruefully at her love. Sometimes he was really oblivious. But maybe its no surprise that the oldest Immortal did not really look at things the same way. It had always been this way and it always would. Considering how much skepticism he had about religion, perhaps the fact that he did not see or maybe did not want to see things that were not a surprise.
“Liz is certain that some kind of power or being or the like has been running the game for all these thousands of years. And what she is doing is basically challenging them or it or whatever. And that is what has me scared. “
Methos sat back and thought about that. Perhaps he had been a little oblivious, but not all that much. Its just that he figured he would never know the answer and why worry about it? But Liz was very different and not one afraid to challenge. And Methos had to admit that thinking that something was behind all of it had occurred to him a long time ago. But he was unable to do anything about it even if he had wanted to, so he put it out of him mind. But now technology had progressed to the point, with Alien help admittedly, to be able to actually do something. Methos had never had any encounters with any so called higher being; and he was deeply skeptical that there was indeed any one god. But on the other hand it would be foolish to dismiss the idea out of hand with all the evidence to the contrary. Methos had dealt with those in positions of power and some of them had thought of themselves as gods, millennia ago. They had never reacted well to a challenge; and why should any so called higher being be any different?
He looked at Grace. “Yes, that has to be a thought. Is it likely that anything of real power is going to be happy with what it must think of as a lesser being challenging him? Yet how can we know even that for any surety? Perhaps somehow this mechanism was put into place thousands of years ago and all it will do is as it has done.”
Grace was curious. “You think some kind of powerful machine instead of a god like being?”
“Who knows? But we might be finding out soon. And that could get more then a little exciting.”
Joe Dawson looked at the names on the list he had made. There were 12 in all. He decided to start from the top and talk to each one personally to get a feel for them and then pop the question. There was no doubt this was going to be an interesting process.
Liz was sitting in her chair behind her desk, waiting for Lisa to appear. Lisa had not been told about all this and Liz had decided to inform her today. The reactions from her friends and family had not exactly been a surprise; as a matter of fact she had not really been shocked at any of them. Skepticism and worry predominated; and she had to admit both reactions were quite valid. Could it be done? And if it could, what would happen next?
Lisa came into the palace office areas from her rooms and headed for Liz’s office. She had a hunch something was up; the last couple of days others in Liz’s group had seemed to be tense or nervous. She hoped nothing serious was coming.
Liz looked up as Lisa came into the office and closed the door behind her, and then pointed at the chair for her to sit.
*Liz looks very serious- I guess I am going to find out about whatever is going on now.*
Liz looked at Lisa and decided to be blunt and short.
“I have decided to see if we can make a mortal Immortal. The Granolith and Alex are working on the procedure and Joe is looking for candidates. I want those who already know about Immortals but who are not watchers. (Liz had decided to let Lisa know about the Watchers, after getting the OK from Joe) I hope to start in a few weeks and find out in a few months if it is possible.”
Lisa was glad she was sitting down or she would have fallen over. Still getting used to the idea of Immortals anyway, this was a shock.
Liz stood up and began to pace about the office. “You have heard my speculations on things, and why I think something or someone is behind Immortality. I have found, recently, even more evidence that that is so. I believe that it may be possible and I feel that I have to try.”
Lisa thought about this. She had to admit that she felt that Liz had a point about some kind of higher power or being pulling strings of the Immortals. There was no way nature made babies appear out of nowhere.
Liz was still pacing. “Some of the group are worried that I am going off the deep end about this. They did not know how much I detest Immortality.”
Lisa opened her eyes wide. She had had a feeling that Liz was no great fan of Immortality, but this was the first time that Liz had made that statement.
Liz stopped pacing and looked at Lisa. She deserved to know it all.
“Almost from Day One I never liked it. And as I got to know more about it, and as my life changed, I began to hate it. It lightened up a little when I was able to have children; but that really only damped it down for a while. Who wants to watch all those that they love, including their own children, grow old and die while you change not at all? I was never happier then on Antar when my quickening was going away and I was just like everyone else who had an expiration date. Then that Rogue Star came along and destroyed that. Once again here I am, destined to watch all those I love wither and die. And I happen to be in a position to at least try and do something about that and so I am. And if whoever or whatever wants to argue about it, I am not hard to find.”
Methos was looking at the latest paper that Grace had written regarding genetics. It would be, like all the others, anonymously submitted to the American Medical Journal. Her other papers had caused a fair amount of stir in the world of genetics. At first dismissed as either a joke or something of the sort, it had gradually become clear even to the skeptics that the author knew what they were talking about. Several fairly substantial breakthroughs in understanding DNA had come about because of them. Needless to say speculation was rife amongst the community as everyone was trying to figure out who was doing it and why were they not taking credit for what was clearly noteworthy work. Some thought it was someone who had been disgraced; others thought it was a noted figure who just wanted to tweak the community. Methos was quite entertained by the speculation. Grace just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Her commitment was to learning and exploring new ideas; to her credit did not matter and since she could not take it anyway what was the point of worrying about it.
He looked up as Grace came into the house, just having come back with talking with Alex and the Granolith about some of her other ideas. His look sharpened when he saw that she was pale, and seemed very upset. He immediately went to her and pulled her down onto the sofa with his arms wrapped around her.
“Grace, what is it? Did you sense a strange immortal?”
She shook her head, taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself. She was very shaken about what she had found out, and could not really explain why. Yes, the news was disturbing, but it should not have had the effect on her that it had. Why was this so disturbing?
She looked up at Methos. Even now after being together for several years, she still marveled at her mate. The Legendary Methos, 5000 years old, so old that he made her feel like a child at times.
Methos felt concern deep inside. Much as he had cared for Alexa, he had not been so deeply in love for literally millennia. He sometimes wondered if part of the reason was that they were able to have children, that that tied them together that much more tightly. Adam and Rebecca (Grace had flat out refused to name her Eve) were incredible gifts to Methos, who had lived for 5000 years with the knowledge that he would never have children. Despite his concerns for the future, he was never sorry or even close to it. The joy and wonder made even his ancient bones warm. So to see Grace like this was very troubling.
“OK, if it was not an immortal it must be something you found out at the Palace. What is it?”
Grace took a deep breath and straightened up, though still remaining in Methos’s arms.
“Liz has decided to see if she can make a mortal Immortal.”
Methos blinked, then shook his head. Had he heard this right?
Grace smiled slightly, slowly getting back to normal. Methos thought he was so guarded and hard to read; but for one who loved him his face was an open book.
“Yes, you heard me right. Liz has decided that since we have been unable to show any genetic or DNA evidence differentiating mortals from Immortals, that she will get some volunteers and see if they can make them Immortal.”
Slowly Methos shook his head. This really startled him; Liz was so levelheaded that something like this truly came out of the blue; or did it. He started to think about it.
Seeing Methos going into a thinking posture, Grace got up and headed into the Kitchen to get some coffee. Methos would be like this for a while, sometimes hours, while he thought something through. And Grace had to admit that this was something that needed thinking through. Part of her wanted to think that Liz had not, but she knew that this came from a long time thought for her. She had a sinking feeling that Liz had thought this through all too well.
Sometime later Methos emerged from his thinking routine to see that Grace was sitting next to him looking over some papers, patiently waiting for him to emerge from his funk. He reached over and pulled her back into his arms, with his head resting on hers.
“I guess I should not be surprised about this. Liz is one to solve puzzles and this had to be digging at her for a long time. Now she is doing something about it, which should come as no surprise at all. I just hope nothing blows up on us.”
“I was trying to figure out why I was so disturbed by this; as you said it makes sense when you know Liz. It took me a big to figure it out. I was afraid?”
Methos was puzzled. “Afraid of what? That Immortality will get out? I do not think there is much chance of that.”
“No, its not that. You are right that there really is not to much chance of that getting out. What I am afraid of is if Liz pulls it off.”
Methos cocked his head. “What are you afraid of?”
“If Liz does it she will want to give this chance to many if not all; and that could cause it to get out. But that is not what I am afraid of. I am afraid that she is challenging something or someone that will fight back.”
Now Methos was fully puzzled. “What do you mean?”
Grace smiled ruefully at her love. Sometimes he was really oblivious. But maybe its no surprise that the oldest Immortal did not really look at things the same way. It had always been this way and it always would. Considering how much skepticism he had about religion, perhaps the fact that he did not see or maybe did not want to see things that were not a surprise.
“Liz is certain that some kind of power or being or the like has been running the game for all these thousands of years. And what she is doing is basically challenging them or it or whatever. And that is what has me scared. “
Methos sat back and thought about that. Perhaps he had been a little oblivious, but not all that much. Its just that he figured he would never know the answer and why worry about it? But Liz was very different and not one afraid to challenge. And Methos had to admit that thinking that something was behind all of it had occurred to him a long time ago. But he was unable to do anything about it even if he had wanted to, so he put it out of him mind. But now technology had progressed to the point, with Alien help admittedly, to be able to actually do something. Methos had never had any encounters with any so called higher being; and he was deeply skeptical that there was indeed any one god. But on the other hand it would be foolish to dismiss the idea out of hand with all the evidence to the contrary. Methos had dealt with those in positions of power and some of them had thought of themselves as gods, millennia ago. They had never reacted well to a challenge; and why should any so called higher being be any different?
He looked at Grace. “Yes, that has to be a thought. Is it likely that anything of real power is going to be happy with what it must think of as a lesser being challenging him? Yet how can we know even that for any surety? Perhaps somehow this mechanism was put into place thousands of years ago and all it will do is as it has done.”
Grace was curious. “You think some kind of powerful machine instead of a god like being?”
“Who knows? But we might be finding out soon. And that could get more then a little exciting.”
Joe Dawson looked at the names on the list he had made. There were 12 in all. He decided to start from the top and talk to each one personally to get a feel for them and then pop the question. There was no doubt this was going to be an interesting process.
Liz was sitting in her chair behind her desk, waiting for Lisa to appear. Lisa had not been told about all this and Liz had decided to inform her today. The reactions from her friends and family had not exactly been a surprise; as a matter of fact she had not really been shocked at any of them. Skepticism and worry predominated; and she had to admit both reactions were quite valid. Could it be done? And if it could, what would happen next?
Lisa came into the palace office areas from her rooms and headed for Liz’s office. She had a hunch something was up; the last couple of days others in Liz’s group had seemed to be tense or nervous. She hoped nothing serious was coming.
Liz looked up as Lisa came into the office and closed the door behind her, and then pointed at the chair for her to sit.
*Liz looks very serious- I guess I am going to find out about whatever is going on now.*
Liz looked at Lisa and decided to be blunt and short.
“I have decided to see if we can make a mortal Immortal. The Granolith and Alex are working on the procedure and Joe is looking for candidates. I want those who already know about Immortals but who are not watchers. (Liz had decided to let Lisa know about the Watchers, after getting the OK from Joe) I hope to start in a few weeks and find out in a few months if it is possible.”
Lisa was glad she was sitting down or she would have fallen over. Still getting used to the idea of Immortals anyway, this was a shock.
Liz stood up and began to pace about the office. “You have heard my speculations on things, and why I think something or someone is behind Immortality. I have found, recently, even more evidence that that is so. I believe that it may be possible and I feel that I have to try.”
Lisa thought about this. She had to admit that she felt that Liz had a point about some kind of higher power or being pulling strings of the Immortals. There was no way nature made babies appear out of nowhere.
Liz was still pacing. “Some of the group are worried that I am going off the deep end about this. They did not know how much I detest Immortality.”
Lisa opened her eyes wide. She had had a feeling that Liz was no great fan of Immortality, but this was the first time that Liz had made that statement.
Liz stopped pacing and looked at Lisa. She deserved to know it all.
“Almost from Day One I never liked it. And as I got to know more about it, and as my life changed, I began to hate it. It lightened up a little when I was able to have children; but that really only damped it down for a while. Who wants to watch all those that they love, including their own children, grow old and die while you change not at all? I was never happier then on Antar when my quickening was going away and I was just like everyone else who had an expiration date. Then that Rogue Star came along and destroyed that. Once again here I am, destined to watch all those I love wither and die. And I happen to be in a position to at least try and do something about that and so I am. And if whoever or whatever wants to argue about it, I am not hard to find.”
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thumper1942
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Re: Another Life IV (HL, XO, CC, MA) Part 15 3/3/10
Another Life IV Part 16
Liz looked at the six people Joe had recruited for the experiment. 4 men, 2 women, all in their late 20’s or early 30’s. In the month since she had first started it all, Alex and the Granolith had come up with a plan. It was a little more complicated then she had imagined, but it had its points. Alex’s nerd herd had built 6 pods that were much like the ones that they hoped to have Immortals be in to have children. Heavy metal and electronically shielded, with life support and extensive monitors. The only real difference was that these were built to focus the energy inside at the person instead of keeping it all out. The Granolith had hypothesized that it would take a large energy burst over a period of time to accomplish anything. All the energies that they would be using were out of the normal spectrum, and as far as they could tell would not injure human tissue. As far as they knew. And that was why Liz wanted to make sure that they understood the risk.
“I want to make this very clear; if at any time you want to back out that is up to you. No one has ever done anything like this before so there is no data or records to look at. As far as we can tell there should be no threat of injury; but we will not know until we try. We will be monitoring you very carefully, both us and the Granolith, and we will pull you out the moment we see anything suspicious. But the long term risks are unknown.”
None of them appeared to want out, so Liz looked at Alex who nodded to his nerd herd and they began the process of preparing them. It would take several days, as they were put on a low fiber diet to empty their digestive systems, as they would be fed through a tube for the 2 months that were the original part of the experiment. The Granolith was of the opinion, and Alex and Liz and Methos and Grace all agreed, that that was enough time to see if anything was going to happen, as when the immortal couple was podded their quickening had started to weaken with the first month. With more accurate instruments now, it seemed to be fairly certain that they would have the answers within two months.
Max was worried about Liz. Maybe even more so if the experiment failed. He had heard it in her tone of voice and seen it in the look in her eye- she would not live beyond himself and their children. Now whether some god like being would cause trouble because Liz was daring to interfere he had no idea, but had to admit that worried him too.
Maria had talked to him and Alex a fair amount ever since that day when Liz had been so hard and cold about what she wanted to do. Maria had wondered if part of the quickening from that evil headhunter had anything to do with the way Liz was acting. They had decided to talk to Methos and Duncan about that. Happily they were both of the opinion that it had nothing to do with it; but were both also of the opinion that Liz was in deadly earnest about the whole thing and that worried them as well.
Methos had admitted that he was not really in a position to question how Liz felt about Immortality since he had had it so long that it was not even a thought anymore. Duncan too admitted that he was pretty much the same. But that he could understand where Liz was coming from; he felt that at one time or another all Immortals felt that way. In some ways, Methos thought, it was part of the fact that Liz had not had to lose her family and her life when she became Immortal. She had not had that shocking loss so many Immortals had at the beginning of their Immortal life. So she had had a chance to savor and enjoy at a much higher level then most did, and thus had a lot more to lose early on in her Immortal life. That perhaps made the inevitable loss seem more then the usual Immortal saw.
Maria had listened to that and partially agreed, but felt that there was more to it then that.
“Liz from the day I first met her loved life and living; she wanted to enjoy it all and not miss a moment of it. I think maybe she has a finer appreciation of life then most do. And she wants those she loves around her forever. So with that to build on the thought of losing us and Max and above all her children, and to live possibly thousands of years beyond that, terrifies her and she hates it. Really truly hates it. And will do anything she can to beat it.”
It had been two weeks since the volunteers had been podded. Liz checked at least once a day and sometimes more. Sometimes when she could not sleep at night she checked as well. Max was getting more worried all the time; Liz was not sleeping well. She was so fixated on the experiment that Max feared what might happen if it failed.
One month into the experiment and they were all getting more worried about Liz. Not that she was neglecting her duties or her family, but that she was going to bed later and getting up earlier so that she could spend more time monitoring the experiment. Not that there was really anything to look at. Due to the constant barrage of energy, there was no way to measure whether any of the subjects were retaining any of it. That would have to wait until they were taken out, which was still a full month away. Maria decided an intervention was needed- they had to get Liz away from the palace for more then just a day or so. Max agreed and a plan was hatched.
Liz got up at 5 am and quietly left Max sleeping- or so she thought. As soon as she left the bedroom Max got up and grabbed the phone and called Maria. The plan was set in motion.
Liz headed down to the Lab. Intellectually she knew there was no reason for her constant visits, but she could not help herself. This was so important to her.
After checking on the pods Liz headed back to the private quarters of the Royal family. Halfway there she was surprised to see Max heading down the hall towards her- she barely got a chance to ask what he was doing up so early when he grabbed her hand and pulled her down another hall that led to the square where the Granolith was.
“Whats going on, Max?”
“Doing something I should have done a while ago. We are going to the Highlands for a visit and a real vacation.”
“Max I can’t. There is too much to do…”
“No there is not. There is nothing important that will not wait. The pods are going to stay this way for a full month more whether you check them three times a day or not. We are going and that is that.”
It was very rare for Max to be like this, so Liz really could not object.
The went before the Granolith and before Liz could say anything else they were transported away.
Rachel and Connor were waiting in front of the Inn. They had gotten a call from Duncan only two days earlier telling them that Liz badly needed a vacation and that the whole gang would be coming. Rachel had been quite happy about that as they had not had a chance to spend any real time with Liz for quite a while. As it turned out the Inn was for one reason or another almost empty and Rachel was able to make sure no one else would be coming. The few that had been there were already gone.
Liz felt the familiar energy glow fade as they materialized in front of the INN, with Rachel and Connor waiting for them.
“Rachel! So glad to see you! I am not even ticked off with Max for whisking me off with no notice.”
A fun time was had by all that evening, with a full barbecue going and a fair amount of drinking. As per custom, a squad of SAS were keeping an eye on things and had been given absolute orders that this time NO one was allowed up at the Inn or near the field nearby where the Immortals liked to spar.
Max woke up the next morning with Liz laying on his chest, her beautiful silky black hair fanned out. And most happy of all for Max was that she had slept through the night and was still sleeping. If there had been any doubt that he had done the right thing it was long gone.
Liz slowly woke, aware of laying on Max. She slowly raised her head to look at her husband, who was smiling rather broadly at her.
“don’t smirk, Max. You are not any good at it.”
“Well my lady can I suggest something else…”
“No problem.”
Liz wandered with Max down the trail next to the Inn, hand in hand. Just meandering a long.
“I admit it Max. This was the thing to do.”
“Not often I get credit for having a brain. Usually I am just considered a pretty face.”
“Lets not forget your tight and pretty tush.”
“I refuse to be just an object for your lust!”
“Would you like to make a bet on that?”
Maria was sitting with Michael just outside the Inn. In Mid August it only got into the mid 70’s or so, which made it just about perfect. It was a beautiful day.
“Liz looked all sorts of relaxed after she came back with Max this morning.”
“Yeah I noticed the leaf in her hair and the grass stains on Max’s jeans”
“Don’t be crude spaceboy.”
“I thought you liked me crude.”
“Only at certain times.”
Cassandra and Constantine and their two children had arrived that morning once Rachel had let Cassandra know Liz and company were here. Cassandra seemed intent on talking to Liz about something.
Duncan and Connor were sparring, with Joe watching and taking notes, when Liz and Max wandered into the field. Amanda and Rachel had the children back at the Inn, as it was felt that they were way too young to see any of that. As a matter of fact Rebecca and Grace along with Amanda and Rachel had all of the children at the inn, letting all the other parents wander at will.
Cassandra spotted Liz, and headed over to her. Max saw the determined look on Cassandra’s face and sighed- it was nice while it lasted. He then headed over to where Michael, Alex and Kyle were sprawled out in lounge chairs under some trees.
Liz and Cassandra moved over to the far end of the field, away from all of the others, since it seemed clear that Cassandra had something to say that required privacy.
“Liz, I had another dream a day ago that had you in it.”
Liz looked up at her with great interest. Cassandra’s abilities were a great mystery to all including herself. Methos had said he had never met anyone with as strong a psychic anytime in his 5000 years.
Sitting down leaning against a tree Liz tried to relax a little.
“Well let me have it.”
“There was a dense mist or fog, and then I saw you faintly walking. You had your sword out and was looking around, as if waiting for an opponent. Then something seemed to come boiling out of the mist or fog, and you turned to face it with your sword up in a defensive posture. And then that was the end.”
Liz tried to figure it out. She looked at Cassandra.
“Do you think that was a vision of a challenge, or symbolic of something.”
Cassandra, despite having over 2800 years to get used to her visions, still could not always figure them out, especially when it involved someone other then herself.
“I THINK it was symbolic. Has there been anything going on out of the ordinary.”
Liz thought for a moment- then decided to just blurt it out.
“We have started an experiment to see if we can make Mortals Immortal.”
Liz had never seen Cassandra actually stand there with her mouth gaping open.
Liz looked at the six people Joe had recruited for the experiment. 4 men, 2 women, all in their late 20’s or early 30’s. In the month since she had first started it all, Alex and the Granolith had come up with a plan. It was a little more complicated then she had imagined, but it had its points. Alex’s nerd herd had built 6 pods that were much like the ones that they hoped to have Immortals be in to have children. Heavy metal and electronically shielded, with life support and extensive monitors. The only real difference was that these were built to focus the energy inside at the person instead of keeping it all out. The Granolith had hypothesized that it would take a large energy burst over a period of time to accomplish anything. All the energies that they would be using were out of the normal spectrum, and as far as they could tell would not injure human tissue. As far as they knew. And that was why Liz wanted to make sure that they understood the risk.
“I want to make this very clear; if at any time you want to back out that is up to you. No one has ever done anything like this before so there is no data or records to look at. As far as we can tell there should be no threat of injury; but we will not know until we try. We will be monitoring you very carefully, both us and the Granolith, and we will pull you out the moment we see anything suspicious. But the long term risks are unknown.”
None of them appeared to want out, so Liz looked at Alex who nodded to his nerd herd and they began the process of preparing them. It would take several days, as they were put on a low fiber diet to empty their digestive systems, as they would be fed through a tube for the 2 months that were the original part of the experiment. The Granolith was of the opinion, and Alex and Liz and Methos and Grace all agreed, that that was enough time to see if anything was going to happen, as when the immortal couple was podded their quickening had started to weaken with the first month. With more accurate instruments now, it seemed to be fairly certain that they would have the answers within two months.
Max was worried about Liz. Maybe even more so if the experiment failed. He had heard it in her tone of voice and seen it in the look in her eye- she would not live beyond himself and their children. Now whether some god like being would cause trouble because Liz was daring to interfere he had no idea, but had to admit that worried him too.
Maria had talked to him and Alex a fair amount ever since that day when Liz had been so hard and cold about what she wanted to do. Maria had wondered if part of the quickening from that evil headhunter had anything to do with the way Liz was acting. They had decided to talk to Methos and Duncan about that. Happily they were both of the opinion that it had nothing to do with it; but were both also of the opinion that Liz was in deadly earnest about the whole thing and that worried them as well.
Methos had admitted that he was not really in a position to question how Liz felt about Immortality since he had had it so long that it was not even a thought anymore. Duncan too admitted that he was pretty much the same. But that he could understand where Liz was coming from; he felt that at one time or another all Immortals felt that way. In some ways, Methos thought, it was part of the fact that Liz had not had to lose her family and her life when she became Immortal. She had not had that shocking loss so many Immortals had at the beginning of their Immortal life. So she had had a chance to savor and enjoy at a much higher level then most did, and thus had a lot more to lose early on in her Immortal life. That perhaps made the inevitable loss seem more then the usual Immortal saw.
Maria had listened to that and partially agreed, but felt that there was more to it then that.
“Liz from the day I first met her loved life and living; she wanted to enjoy it all and not miss a moment of it. I think maybe she has a finer appreciation of life then most do. And she wants those she loves around her forever. So with that to build on the thought of losing us and Max and above all her children, and to live possibly thousands of years beyond that, terrifies her and she hates it. Really truly hates it. And will do anything she can to beat it.”
It had been two weeks since the volunteers had been podded. Liz checked at least once a day and sometimes more. Sometimes when she could not sleep at night she checked as well. Max was getting more worried all the time; Liz was not sleeping well. She was so fixated on the experiment that Max feared what might happen if it failed.
One month into the experiment and they were all getting more worried about Liz. Not that she was neglecting her duties or her family, but that she was going to bed later and getting up earlier so that she could spend more time monitoring the experiment. Not that there was really anything to look at. Due to the constant barrage of energy, there was no way to measure whether any of the subjects were retaining any of it. That would have to wait until they were taken out, which was still a full month away. Maria decided an intervention was needed- they had to get Liz away from the palace for more then just a day or so. Max agreed and a plan was hatched.
Liz got up at 5 am and quietly left Max sleeping- or so she thought. As soon as she left the bedroom Max got up and grabbed the phone and called Maria. The plan was set in motion.
Liz headed down to the Lab. Intellectually she knew there was no reason for her constant visits, but she could not help herself. This was so important to her.
After checking on the pods Liz headed back to the private quarters of the Royal family. Halfway there she was surprised to see Max heading down the hall towards her- she barely got a chance to ask what he was doing up so early when he grabbed her hand and pulled her down another hall that led to the square where the Granolith was.
“Whats going on, Max?”
“Doing something I should have done a while ago. We are going to the Highlands for a visit and a real vacation.”
“Max I can’t. There is too much to do…”
“No there is not. There is nothing important that will not wait. The pods are going to stay this way for a full month more whether you check them three times a day or not. We are going and that is that.”
It was very rare for Max to be like this, so Liz really could not object.
The went before the Granolith and before Liz could say anything else they were transported away.
Rachel and Connor were waiting in front of the Inn. They had gotten a call from Duncan only two days earlier telling them that Liz badly needed a vacation and that the whole gang would be coming. Rachel had been quite happy about that as they had not had a chance to spend any real time with Liz for quite a while. As it turned out the Inn was for one reason or another almost empty and Rachel was able to make sure no one else would be coming. The few that had been there were already gone.
Liz felt the familiar energy glow fade as they materialized in front of the INN, with Rachel and Connor waiting for them.
“Rachel! So glad to see you! I am not even ticked off with Max for whisking me off with no notice.”
A fun time was had by all that evening, with a full barbecue going and a fair amount of drinking. As per custom, a squad of SAS were keeping an eye on things and had been given absolute orders that this time NO one was allowed up at the Inn or near the field nearby where the Immortals liked to spar.
Max woke up the next morning with Liz laying on his chest, her beautiful silky black hair fanned out. And most happy of all for Max was that she had slept through the night and was still sleeping. If there had been any doubt that he had done the right thing it was long gone.
Liz slowly woke, aware of laying on Max. She slowly raised her head to look at her husband, who was smiling rather broadly at her.
“don’t smirk, Max. You are not any good at it.”
“Well my lady can I suggest something else…”
“No problem.”
Liz wandered with Max down the trail next to the Inn, hand in hand. Just meandering a long.
“I admit it Max. This was the thing to do.”
“Not often I get credit for having a brain. Usually I am just considered a pretty face.”
“Lets not forget your tight and pretty tush.”
“I refuse to be just an object for your lust!”
“Would you like to make a bet on that?”
Maria was sitting with Michael just outside the Inn. In Mid August it only got into the mid 70’s or so, which made it just about perfect. It was a beautiful day.
“Liz looked all sorts of relaxed after she came back with Max this morning.”
“Yeah I noticed the leaf in her hair and the grass stains on Max’s jeans”
“Don’t be crude spaceboy.”
“I thought you liked me crude.”
“Only at certain times.”
Cassandra and Constantine and their two children had arrived that morning once Rachel had let Cassandra know Liz and company were here. Cassandra seemed intent on talking to Liz about something.
Duncan and Connor were sparring, with Joe watching and taking notes, when Liz and Max wandered into the field. Amanda and Rachel had the children back at the Inn, as it was felt that they were way too young to see any of that. As a matter of fact Rebecca and Grace along with Amanda and Rachel had all of the children at the inn, letting all the other parents wander at will.
Cassandra spotted Liz, and headed over to her. Max saw the determined look on Cassandra’s face and sighed- it was nice while it lasted. He then headed over to where Michael, Alex and Kyle were sprawled out in lounge chairs under some trees.
Liz and Cassandra moved over to the far end of the field, away from all of the others, since it seemed clear that Cassandra had something to say that required privacy.
“Liz, I had another dream a day ago that had you in it.”
Liz looked up at her with great interest. Cassandra’s abilities were a great mystery to all including herself. Methos had said he had never met anyone with as strong a psychic anytime in his 5000 years.
Sitting down leaning against a tree Liz tried to relax a little.
“Well let me have it.”
“There was a dense mist or fog, and then I saw you faintly walking. You had your sword out and was looking around, as if waiting for an opponent. Then something seemed to come boiling out of the mist or fog, and you turned to face it with your sword up in a defensive posture. And then that was the end.”
Liz tried to figure it out. She looked at Cassandra.
“Do you think that was a vision of a challenge, or symbolic of something.”
Cassandra, despite having over 2800 years to get used to her visions, still could not always figure them out, especially when it involved someone other then herself.
“I THINK it was symbolic. Has there been anything going on out of the ordinary.”
Liz thought for a moment- then decided to just blurt it out.
“We have started an experiment to see if we can make Mortals Immortal.”
Liz had never seen Cassandra actually stand there with her mouth gaping open.
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thumper1942
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Re: Another Life IV (HL, XO, CC, MA) Part 16 3/3/10
Another Life IV Part 17
Cassandra could not believe it. Liz was trying to MAKE a mortal IMMORTAL?
Liz smiled a little at the obvious shock of Cassandra.
“Yes, that is what I am trying to do. We have had six volunteers podded for the last month. In one more month we bring them out and test them to see if they have retained any energy. IF they have not its probably a fair thing to say that they won’t. We shall see.”
Cassandra was thinking very hard. She looked at Liz. “Why?”
Liz sighed. Here we go again. “I refuse to sit back and watch those I love age and die while I do not. I have the ability and opportunity to change that and that is what I am trying to do. I will not outlive those I love.”
That cold calm statement made Cassandra shiver. There was no doubt or hesitation in her words. While Cassandra had not known Liz that long, she was sure of the intent and determination. She looked harder at Liz. “There is something else as well.”
Liz slowly nodded. “I have no doubt that somebody or something is running the show. I feel by doing this I will force them to appear. That should be interesting.”
Now Cassandra was gaping again at Liz. “You sound like you want to force this confrontation. Liz, incase you might not of noticed, if there is something they would have the power of a God.”
“Maybe. Power certainly. The power of a God? I wonder. And I will find out.”
“Does it occur to you that it might just swat you like a fly.”
“That is possible but I doubt it. I am willing to bet that no one has ever challenged it. Simple curiosity alone will make it want to talk to me.”
“And if it does confront you what are you going to say?”
“Piss off. Or Something of that nature. We have grown beyond you now get out of the way.”
Cassandra for the third time found her mouth gaping open. “Do you have a death wish, Liz? Because it sounds like it.”
“No I just am not willing to stand by and do nothing.”
Connor, Rachel and Constantine had been briefed in on Liz’s experiment and all had reacted in shock. Connor noticed that Rachel was thinking hard.
“Rachel, what is it?”
Rachel took a deep breath. “If it works I want in.”
“Rachel…”
“Connor if it works it means I could get a thousand years with you. I am willing to take a big risk to have that happen.”
Cassandra and Liz wandered back to the other side of the field where the others were gathered. Liz was willing to bet that they had just been told about her plan. She moved over next to Rachel who seemed to be in a stare down with Connor. She turned to Liz and said
“Liz if it works count me in for the next batch.”
Liz blinked. “Rachel we are not sure of the long term effects even if it works. You might end up spending a lot of time in the Pod if it works but we keep having to charge you up.”
“Maybe so. Still I am very interested.”
Connor was shaking his head. “Rachel, its too big of a risk.”
Rachel turned to Connor and said in a low voice. “Its not just for me, Connor. Our Children as well.”
Connor McCleod saw that the stubborn woman he had married would not budge. But he was deeply concerned as he turned to Liz.
“Liz just what is involved?”
“You are podded just like we would for an Immortal that wants to lose their quickening in order to have children. The Difference is instead of filtering all energy out you are constantly blasted with Quickening energy. In One month we should know one way or another. If it works the Granolith believes it can tell when you have enough Quickening energy to stop aging.”
Constantine had been talking to Cassandra on the side and she had told him of her dream. Thinking hard, he walked over to Liz. “The other part of your plan. Do you really think it will work?”
“I think natural curiosity alone will make it come sniffing around. Immortals have been around 7-10,000 years and it’s a pretty safe bet this is the first time anyone has tried this. I kind of wonder if it has noticed Immortals with children. It might not notice this at all.”
Looking closely at her, Connor remarked. “Lass, it seems to me that you would be disappointed if some God does not come knocking.”
Liz smiled, a cool, calm, predatory smile. “I think I would.”
The week went quickly by, with no incidents at all to liven things up, which all concerned thought was a good thing. Liz was totally rested and relaxed by the time it was over. She had taken advantage of Cassandra and Amanda being there by having Lisa spar with them. She had just gotten her sword from Germany before they had come over, and she was eager to see how she did. Amanda showed her a lot of trick moves and the like, while Cassandra showed her more psychological tactics to unnerve her opponent. Lisa ended getting stuck and swatted and knocked down a lot, but she also learned a lot.
Courtney had quietly cornered Liz one afternoon.
“What do you think the effects would be on a Antarian?”
Liz looked very thoughtful at that. “Frankly I have no idea. But I will ask Alex and the Granolith to think on it. It might not work on Antarians.”
Courtney slowly nodded. “If that is the case how hard would it be for me to become human?”
Liz took a deep breath at that. “Since we changed you more from what you were to Antarian then it would be from Antarian to Human, off hand I do not see a problem. Probably talking at least 6 months in the pod.”
“Fair enough. I want a lot more time with Richie then I will get this way. I don’t want 100 years; I want a 1000 years.”
Getting back to the palace Liz made a concerted effort to not obsess about the Experiment; only visiting once a day. She put more effort into training Lisa, who since getting her sword had really progressed.
Finally the day arrived when they were to depod the test subjects. It was done carefully as they were unconscious. First the energy bombardment was stopped; then the chambers were opened and the subjects lifted out and placed on gurneys, which were then wheeled into the health lab. Then they were left to regain consciousness without using any booster drugs, while still being closely monitored. Alex and Liz examined each of them after the doctor checked them out. As far as they could tell there were no problems. Liz had decided to wait until they regained consciousness before testing for quickening energy.
Knowing it would take another hour or so before anything happened, Liz dragged Lisa back to the training room. There Liz put Lisa through a tough workout and then made her do her KATA twice. Liz did hers three times just to tire herself out a little.
Alex called Liz to let her know that they were starting to awaken. Taking a deep breath, Liz motioned to Lisa to finish up and they walked towards the Lab.
Alex was as nervous as anyone else was; frankly more towards how Liz would react if there was no positive result from the test. She felt so strongly about all of this that he was very worried about how she would take a failed test.
To be absolutely sure, each person was transported to the Granolith, which had been closed to the public for the day, so that there would be no doubt about its analysis.
Liz stood with Lisa and Alex and several members of his nerd herd as they waited for the Granolith to render its verdict. Max and the others had let them know they would not be coming; no one really wanted to be around if it failed.
The Granolith was humming loudly as it made its examination.
“Queen Elizabeth, I have the results.”
Liz closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and stepped forward.
“Granolith, what are the results?”
“All six subjects register as having weak quickenings. Approximately 20% above the level of pre immortals. It is my calculations that it would require 6 months of podding to have a quickening that would protect the person from aging and disease.”
Liz let out the breath that she had been holding. It works. “Granolith, thank you for your efforts. We will have the subjects come forwards for examination daily for the next two weeks to see if the quickening leaves or gets weaker.”
“By your command, Queen Elizabeth.”
Liz turned towards William Jenkins, the first one who had volunteered.
“Bill, it looks like it will work. However we do not know how long it will last and how much reinforcement will be required. Clearly more will need to be done.”
He looked at her and shrugged. “I went into this with my eyes wide open. Actually it would be better in a way knowing that it might just slowly leave without continual work. That way we can always say no more and quit. I am quite happy to continue on this.”
The others all agreed with his statement. Liz smiled at them. “Thank you for your work. We still have a lot to do but at least it looks promising. After the two weeks we will reevaluate and see how long it will take to give you quickening sufficient enough – I am thinking that if you get severely injured somehow that you will probably need more juice to make up for it. We shall see.”
Lisa had been deep in thought and when Liz motioned for her to follow back to Liz’s office she was a little startled. Once back there Liz motioned for her to sit down and then fixed her with the gimlet eye.
“So what have you been thinking so hard about, Lisa?”
“This is so out there. The fact that it looks like we can make people immortal is just so incredible. What are we going to do about it? Clearly this is not something that can be done easily on a large scale, as a matter of fact I do not think it could be done on a large scale. So who picks and chooses?”
Liz slowly nodded. “I have been thinking about that hard. I was being selfish about the whole thing, just concerned about those I care about. But clearly the implications go far beyond us here. Probably need to get everyone together to talk it over.”
“Probably ought to wait on that until we know more about how long this will last.”
“Yeah, after the two weeks have passed and we have a better idea on how long it will last.”
Two weeks later Liz was in her office reading the printout from the Granoliths examination results. There was a drop-off in their quickening, but it was not a great one; only about 10%. The Granolith calculated that a 6 month podding would be required to make a quickening strong enough to protect against disease or aging. It made the point that major injuries like in a car accident were not factored into this. It also hypothesized that a personal booster transmitter might be all that would be needed to prevent the quickening from deteriorating. That would mean they might not need to go back into the pod at all. Obviously long term monitoring would be needed to see what it all meant. Its conclusion that the experiment showed strong indications of long term success.
Liz sat back and thought about it. It worked. Now what?
Cassandra could not believe it. Liz was trying to MAKE a mortal IMMORTAL?
Liz smiled a little at the obvious shock of Cassandra.
“Yes, that is what I am trying to do. We have had six volunteers podded for the last month. In one more month we bring them out and test them to see if they have retained any energy. IF they have not its probably a fair thing to say that they won’t. We shall see.”
Cassandra was thinking very hard. She looked at Liz. “Why?”
Liz sighed. Here we go again. “I refuse to sit back and watch those I love age and die while I do not. I have the ability and opportunity to change that and that is what I am trying to do. I will not outlive those I love.”
That cold calm statement made Cassandra shiver. There was no doubt or hesitation in her words. While Cassandra had not known Liz that long, she was sure of the intent and determination. She looked harder at Liz. “There is something else as well.”
Liz slowly nodded. “I have no doubt that somebody or something is running the show. I feel by doing this I will force them to appear. That should be interesting.”
Now Cassandra was gaping again at Liz. “You sound like you want to force this confrontation. Liz, incase you might not of noticed, if there is something they would have the power of a God.”
“Maybe. Power certainly. The power of a God? I wonder. And I will find out.”
“Does it occur to you that it might just swat you like a fly.”
“That is possible but I doubt it. I am willing to bet that no one has ever challenged it. Simple curiosity alone will make it want to talk to me.”
“And if it does confront you what are you going to say?”
“Piss off. Or Something of that nature. We have grown beyond you now get out of the way.”
Cassandra for the third time found her mouth gaping open. “Do you have a death wish, Liz? Because it sounds like it.”
“No I just am not willing to stand by and do nothing.”
Connor, Rachel and Constantine had been briefed in on Liz’s experiment and all had reacted in shock. Connor noticed that Rachel was thinking hard.
“Rachel, what is it?”
Rachel took a deep breath. “If it works I want in.”
“Rachel…”
“Connor if it works it means I could get a thousand years with you. I am willing to take a big risk to have that happen.”
Cassandra and Liz wandered back to the other side of the field where the others were gathered. Liz was willing to bet that they had just been told about her plan. She moved over next to Rachel who seemed to be in a stare down with Connor. She turned to Liz and said
“Liz if it works count me in for the next batch.”
Liz blinked. “Rachel we are not sure of the long term effects even if it works. You might end up spending a lot of time in the Pod if it works but we keep having to charge you up.”
“Maybe so. Still I am very interested.”
Connor was shaking his head. “Rachel, its too big of a risk.”
Rachel turned to Connor and said in a low voice. “Its not just for me, Connor. Our Children as well.”
Connor McCleod saw that the stubborn woman he had married would not budge. But he was deeply concerned as he turned to Liz.
“Liz just what is involved?”
“You are podded just like we would for an Immortal that wants to lose their quickening in order to have children. The Difference is instead of filtering all energy out you are constantly blasted with Quickening energy. In One month we should know one way or another. If it works the Granolith believes it can tell when you have enough Quickening energy to stop aging.”
Constantine had been talking to Cassandra on the side and she had told him of her dream. Thinking hard, he walked over to Liz. “The other part of your plan. Do you really think it will work?”
“I think natural curiosity alone will make it come sniffing around. Immortals have been around 7-10,000 years and it’s a pretty safe bet this is the first time anyone has tried this. I kind of wonder if it has noticed Immortals with children. It might not notice this at all.”
Looking closely at her, Connor remarked. “Lass, it seems to me that you would be disappointed if some God does not come knocking.”
Liz smiled, a cool, calm, predatory smile. “I think I would.”
The week went quickly by, with no incidents at all to liven things up, which all concerned thought was a good thing. Liz was totally rested and relaxed by the time it was over. She had taken advantage of Cassandra and Amanda being there by having Lisa spar with them. She had just gotten her sword from Germany before they had come over, and she was eager to see how she did. Amanda showed her a lot of trick moves and the like, while Cassandra showed her more psychological tactics to unnerve her opponent. Lisa ended getting stuck and swatted and knocked down a lot, but she also learned a lot.
Courtney had quietly cornered Liz one afternoon.
“What do you think the effects would be on a Antarian?”
Liz looked very thoughtful at that. “Frankly I have no idea. But I will ask Alex and the Granolith to think on it. It might not work on Antarians.”
Courtney slowly nodded. “If that is the case how hard would it be for me to become human?”
Liz took a deep breath at that. “Since we changed you more from what you were to Antarian then it would be from Antarian to Human, off hand I do not see a problem. Probably talking at least 6 months in the pod.”
“Fair enough. I want a lot more time with Richie then I will get this way. I don’t want 100 years; I want a 1000 years.”
Getting back to the palace Liz made a concerted effort to not obsess about the Experiment; only visiting once a day. She put more effort into training Lisa, who since getting her sword had really progressed.
Finally the day arrived when they were to depod the test subjects. It was done carefully as they were unconscious. First the energy bombardment was stopped; then the chambers were opened and the subjects lifted out and placed on gurneys, which were then wheeled into the health lab. Then they were left to regain consciousness without using any booster drugs, while still being closely monitored. Alex and Liz examined each of them after the doctor checked them out. As far as they could tell there were no problems. Liz had decided to wait until they regained consciousness before testing for quickening energy.
Knowing it would take another hour or so before anything happened, Liz dragged Lisa back to the training room. There Liz put Lisa through a tough workout and then made her do her KATA twice. Liz did hers three times just to tire herself out a little.
Alex called Liz to let her know that they were starting to awaken. Taking a deep breath, Liz motioned to Lisa to finish up and they walked towards the Lab.
Alex was as nervous as anyone else was; frankly more towards how Liz would react if there was no positive result from the test. She felt so strongly about all of this that he was very worried about how she would take a failed test.
To be absolutely sure, each person was transported to the Granolith, which had been closed to the public for the day, so that there would be no doubt about its analysis.
Liz stood with Lisa and Alex and several members of his nerd herd as they waited for the Granolith to render its verdict. Max and the others had let them know they would not be coming; no one really wanted to be around if it failed.
The Granolith was humming loudly as it made its examination.
“Queen Elizabeth, I have the results.”
Liz closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and stepped forward.
“Granolith, what are the results?”
“All six subjects register as having weak quickenings. Approximately 20% above the level of pre immortals. It is my calculations that it would require 6 months of podding to have a quickening that would protect the person from aging and disease.”
Liz let out the breath that she had been holding. It works. “Granolith, thank you for your efforts. We will have the subjects come forwards for examination daily for the next two weeks to see if the quickening leaves or gets weaker.”
“By your command, Queen Elizabeth.”
Liz turned towards William Jenkins, the first one who had volunteered.
“Bill, it looks like it will work. However we do not know how long it will last and how much reinforcement will be required. Clearly more will need to be done.”
He looked at her and shrugged. “I went into this with my eyes wide open. Actually it would be better in a way knowing that it might just slowly leave without continual work. That way we can always say no more and quit. I am quite happy to continue on this.”
The others all agreed with his statement. Liz smiled at them. “Thank you for your work. We still have a lot to do but at least it looks promising. After the two weeks we will reevaluate and see how long it will take to give you quickening sufficient enough – I am thinking that if you get severely injured somehow that you will probably need more juice to make up for it. We shall see.”
Lisa had been deep in thought and when Liz motioned for her to follow back to Liz’s office she was a little startled. Once back there Liz motioned for her to sit down and then fixed her with the gimlet eye.
“So what have you been thinking so hard about, Lisa?”
“This is so out there. The fact that it looks like we can make people immortal is just so incredible. What are we going to do about it? Clearly this is not something that can be done easily on a large scale, as a matter of fact I do not think it could be done on a large scale. So who picks and chooses?”
Liz slowly nodded. “I have been thinking about that hard. I was being selfish about the whole thing, just concerned about those I care about. But clearly the implications go far beyond us here. Probably need to get everyone together to talk it over.”
“Probably ought to wait on that until we know more about how long this will last.”
“Yeah, after the two weeks have passed and we have a better idea on how long it will last.”
Two weeks later Liz was in her office reading the printout from the Granoliths examination results. There was a drop-off in their quickening, but it was not a great one; only about 10%. The Granolith calculated that a 6 month podding would be required to make a quickening strong enough to protect against disease or aging. It made the point that major injuries like in a car accident were not factored into this. It also hypothesized that a personal booster transmitter might be all that would be needed to prevent the quickening from deteriorating. That would mean they might not need to go back into the pod at all. Obviously long term monitoring would be needed to see what it all meant. Its conclusion that the experiment showed strong indications of long term success.
Liz sat back and thought about it. It worked. Now what?
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thumper1942
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Re: Another Life IV (HL, XO, CC, MA) Part 18 3/4/10
Another Life IV Part 18
Liz had let everyone know that they needed to talk about the experiment. Two days after the Granoliths evaluation, the whole gang was at the palace. There was a conference room just down the hall from her office and everyone was there.
Duncan was sitting next to Amanda, with the children down in the private quarters with Lisa, who had volunteered to keep an eye on them. Which was no small feat with over a dozen children, most of them under the age of 5.
Liz took a deep breath as she faced her friends and family. She had decided that the parents needed to know as well so they were there, too.
“For those of you who were not told about this, we have been conducting an experiment over the last two months. Bottom line is this; we have established that it is possible to take a mortal and make them Immortal.”
Sheriff Valenti sat there with his mouth open; as did most of the parents involved. The Whitmans were fairly laid back, but even they were astounded. The parents who did not know about Immortality had been clued in once everyone was back on earth. Since of the immediate group only Liz was Immortal, it had not really been that much of a big deal. Now of course it really hit home.
Jeff Parker thought he had heard and seen it all. His daughter Immortal, married to an Alien king. He now realized that he hadn’t.
Amy Valenti blinked. Shook her head. Then looked at Liz.
“Wait a minute. A real Immortal? The whole thing? You can do that?”
“We got six volunteers and put them in pods. Unconscious, fully monitored with life support. Then they were bombarded with quickening type energy for 2 months. They were then pulled out and the Granolith examined them. They had a weak quickening, which only weakened a little after two weeks out of the pod. The Granolith estimates that 6 months in the pod would be enough to give a person a quickening strong enough to prevent aging and disease. It also thinks that wearing a portable transmitter to boost reception of quickening energy would make it unnecessary to return to the pod for a booster. Now this does not include someone getting in a car accident with major injuries. We think you would survive but your quickening would be drained and you probably would have to go back into the pod for a while. But outside that you would not have to.”
Phillip Evans had been thinking about this. He looked at Liz.
“Do you have any data on what would happen to someone that already was sick? Would this heal them?”
Liz shook her head. “We do not know. The Granolith is not sure either. I THINK that anyone with a serious disease MIGHT be helped by this but it is not known. Charging up the tissues takes a while; whether the process would help heal a disease we do not know. All six of our test subjects were in perfect health. I guess we could try it- but I am not sure at all if it would work.”
That got a lot of looks between people. Immortality is one thing; being able to heal something like cancer or the like was a whole other deal completely.
Liz had not really thought that much about that area; looking at Alex she knew he was kicking himself for not looking at that particular direction. This might even be a bigger consideration then Immortality; could this process heal everything? Since they had shown the world that Aliens exist, medical technology had taken a huge leap. There were only a limited number of healers like Max, and they could not heal everything. Technological advances, especially in the area of genetic manipulation and gene therapy, had made great strides in treating just about every known human illness. With the advanced energy situation, all that money that had been spent on oil and other fossil fuels and the like had been gradually eliminated. Money had been freed up to be used elsewhere. More research had been started on all diseases that had not been cured already. AIDS, Alzheimers, MD, many had been just about beat down. Cancer was still a problem due to all the many different types but it was getting worked. So this was not as big a deal as it would have been 5 years earlier; still there were diseases out there that they had not yet beaten- could this do it? Was this the process that would see man finally beat disease as well as aging?
Isabel had been thinking hard about this for a while.
“If we put this out as a healing method for the critically ill, would anyone figure out the Immortality part of it?”
Liz shook her head. “As far as we know only the Granolith is able to detect those energies that make up the quickening. Alex, how far away do you think you are from being able to detect them?”
Alex considered. “Probably at least 5 years from anything anyone could duplicate if they knew about it.”
Liz nodded. “OK, so for the foreseeable future it is not a real worry. “
Duncan had been thinking a lot about all of this.
“If this gets out there for something that slows or stops aging, then no immortal would have to worry about not being seen to not age again. We could stay in one place and make a full life for ourselves. “
All the Immortals outside of Liz sat back and thought THAT over. Methos above all the others could see what a huge impact this could have on Immortals. No fear of being found out, no real worries about staying somewhere. But there was one thing.
“The only thing that we would still have to worry about was healing from huge injuries – and really dying and coming back. I really doubt that we can make a quickening strong enough to do that but it is possible, I suppose. That would be the only way we could be outed.”
Alex shook his head. “I am not sure if we can juice anyone up enough for them to come back from the dead. That would probably take a lot more time in the pod. Though it would be kind of hard to test, wouldn’t it.”
Everyone in the room shuddered at that. Liz nodded.
“There are things we will not do and that heads the list. We will not experiment in that way or anything close to it. Of course if we ever put this out to the public and the tech gets around, someone else just might. It would not surprise me. But we will NOT.”
Maria was next.
“I guess then the question is when do we make this public? And how do we do it?”
Alex nodded. “We need to complete the process and then monitor the people for a while. I would say at least a year from now.”
Liz agreed. “This will have to be done very carefully, and thought through on every detail.”
Max was next.
“As a method to treat critical diseases, we can try that and see how it works. If it does, then we have to let it out. However, if it does not, then there is really no reason to let this out anytime soon. If word gets out that this prevents aging, the ramifications are huge.” He looked at Methos. “I understand why Immortals would want this to get out as a way to prevent aging; they would never have to move or change names again. They could stay who they want where they want. But the overall impact on the world has to be considered. Even with the energy breakthroughs, this could not be done on the scale of millions. It would eat up too many resources. Then of course you would have the impact on earths population- with no more death it would jump so fast we would be in serious trouble in only a relatively short time. Since we have yet to locate any viable colonization planets, that is something to think about.”
They had all been disappointed in the failure to find another planet so far. The Granolith had analyzed all results and calculated that there might only be a million or so planets in the entire galaxy that would be like earth. With over 700 Billion stars, that was such a small number that it would probably take years to find another. With that in mind, Liz had ordered the Granolith to start working on ways to terraform planets that at the moment were not viable but could possibly be made to be so. It had calculated that Mars was too far for the process to work, but that other planets found could be terraformed- but that it would take a tremendous amount of resources to make it work.
Methos grimaced but had to agree. “You have a point. Its just that for someone like me who has had to change and move a thousand times it would seem like such a great thing. But the other problems it creates we need to have answers for first before we do anything.” He looked at Liz. “We need to see if this will treat disease; so we need to find someone sick of something that so far we have not been able to treat.” He then looked at Joe. “Is there anyone you know of that already knows about Immortals that we could try this on.”
Joe sat back and thought. “I cannot think of anyone at the moment. You don’t think this will regenerate limbs, do you?” He looked at Alex.
Alex shook his head. “No indications of that at all. Sorry Joe.”
“That’s OK. I guess its good we cannot do everything=that could lead to bad things down the road.”
Liz had been thinking. “We need to look around quietly for someone sick of something that does not necessarily be beyond current medical capability. We need to know if we can heal first; then find out if it can heal everything. One step at a time.”
Charlie who had been silent up to now, taking it all in. Suddenly straightened up. Cynthia, sitting next to him, looked at him. “What is it?”
Liz had noticed this. “Thought of something, Charlie? Spit it out if you have. We need all possibilities thrown out on the table if we are going to do this right.”
Charlie took a deep breath. “ A good friend of mine- he works at another gym as a trainer in Seacouver- he has a son who was just diagnosed with juvenile Leukemia; the really bad one. Its treatable but it’s a nasty process, and its not a sure thing it will work. He is about 11 I think. Would he be a candidate?”
Liz looked at Alex, who nodded. She took a deep breath. “Call him Charlie. But make it clear that this is experimental- it might not work. But we will give it our best shot.”
“OK. I will call him now and explain about it. “
With that the meeting broke up. Liz’s parents immediately went to her and told her that they were not really interested, they felt that that was the way it should be. Liz was not really happy with that, but understood.
Charlie’s friend, George Wilson, and his son, Ted, arrived two days later. Ted did not look bad, the disease had not yet had a chance to really do damage yet. It had only been found because the blood test for his routine checkup had been off. Liz was waiting for them when they arrived at the palace with Charlie.
George went up to Charlie and gave him a hug, then turned to Liz.
“Your Majesty, thank you for this.”
“George, thank me after it works. This is not a sure thing.”
In the lab it was described in detail what would happen. Then they went to the granolith for it to examine Ted. It did and concurred with the diagnosis. Ted was fascinated with the self aware Computer.
“It sounds like a real person! Even if sort of like Mr Jones at school. Kind of boring.”
Liz smiled at that. “Well he was a computer program before he became sentient. Some of that has stuck. “
Two days later Ted went into the pod. Liz and Alex and the doctor at the lab all worked on the procedures. Constant monitoring plus a full emergency team with doctor would be in the lab 24/7. Every two weeks he would be brought out and checked. Though they could take blood samples constantly, they felt that having the granolith do a full exam each time was better.
One month and a few days went by. The first check showed no effect ; the second checkup showed the disease was retreating. It was decided to put him in for a full month straight.
One month later he was pulled out and checked. The disease was gone.
George forgot all about protocol and all that and gave Liz a rib cracking hug. Then he realized what he had done and put her down and started to apologize.
“Don’t you dare apologize! I loved it!”
Liz had let everyone know that they needed to talk about the experiment. Two days after the Granoliths evaluation, the whole gang was at the palace. There was a conference room just down the hall from her office and everyone was there.
Duncan was sitting next to Amanda, with the children down in the private quarters with Lisa, who had volunteered to keep an eye on them. Which was no small feat with over a dozen children, most of them under the age of 5.
Liz took a deep breath as she faced her friends and family. She had decided that the parents needed to know as well so they were there, too.
“For those of you who were not told about this, we have been conducting an experiment over the last two months. Bottom line is this; we have established that it is possible to take a mortal and make them Immortal.”
Sheriff Valenti sat there with his mouth open; as did most of the parents involved. The Whitmans were fairly laid back, but even they were astounded. The parents who did not know about Immortality had been clued in once everyone was back on earth. Since of the immediate group only Liz was Immortal, it had not really been that much of a big deal. Now of course it really hit home.
Jeff Parker thought he had heard and seen it all. His daughter Immortal, married to an Alien king. He now realized that he hadn’t.
Amy Valenti blinked. Shook her head. Then looked at Liz.
“Wait a minute. A real Immortal? The whole thing? You can do that?”
“We got six volunteers and put them in pods. Unconscious, fully monitored with life support. Then they were bombarded with quickening type energy for 2 months. They were then pulled out and the Granolith examined them. They had a weak quickening, which only weakened a little after two weeks out of the pod. The Granolith estimates that 6 months in the pod would be enough to give a person a quickening strong enough to prevent aging and disease. It also thinks that wearing a portable transmitter to boost reception of quickening energy would make it unnecessary to return to the pod for a booster. Now this does not include someone getting in a car accident with major injuries. We think you would survive but your quickening would be drained and you probably would have to go back into the pod for a while. But outside that you would not have to.”
Phillip Evans had been thinking about this. He looked at Liz.
“Do you have any data on what would happen to someone that already was sick? Would this heal them?”
Liz shook her head. “We do not know. The Granolith is not sure either. I THINK that anyone with a serious disease MIGHT be helped by this but it is not known. Charging up the tissues takes a while; whether the process would help heal a disease we do not know. All six of our test subjects were in perfect health. I guess we could try it- but I am not sure at all if it would work.”
That got a lot of looks between people. Immortality is one thing; being able to heal something like cancer or the like was a whole other deal completely.
Liz had not really thought that much about that area; looking at Alex she knew he was kicking himself for not looking at that particular direction. This might even be a bigger consideration then Immortality; could this process heal everything? Since they had shown the world that Aliens exist, medical technology had taken a huge leap. There were only a limited number of healers like Max, and they could not heal everything. Technological advances, especially in the area of genetic manipulation and gene therapy, had made great strides in treating just about every known human illness. With the advanced energy situation, all that money that had been spent on oil and other fossil fuels and the like had been gradually eliminated. Money had been freed up to be used elsewhere. More research had been started on all diseases that had not been cured already. AIDS, Alzheimers, MD, many had been just about beat down. Cancer was still a problem due to all the many different types but it was getting worked. So this was not as big a deal as it would have been 5 years earlier; still there were diseases out there that they had not yet beaten- could this do it? Was this the process that would see man finally beat disease as well as aging?
Isabel had been thinking hard about this for a while.
“If we put this out as a healing method for the critically ill, would anyone figure out the Immortality part of it?”
Liz shook her head. “As far as we know only the Granolith is able to detect those energies that make up the quickening. Alex, how far away do you think you are from being able to detect them?”
Alex considered. “Probably at least 5 years from anything anyone could duplicate if they knew about it.”
Liz nodded. “OK, so for the foreseeable future it is not a real worry. “
Duncan had been thinking a lot about all of this.
“If this gets out there for something that slows or stops aging, then no immortal would have to worry about not being seen to not age again. We could stay in one place and make a full life for ourselves. “
All the Immortals outside of Liz sat back and thought THAT over. Methos above all the others could see what a huge impact this could have on Immortals. No fear of being found out, no real worries about staying somewhere. But there was one thing.
“The only thing that we would still have to worry about was healing from huge injuries – and really dying and coming back. I really doubt that we can make a quickening strong enough to do that but it is possible, I suppose. That would be the only way we could be outed.”
Alex shook his head. “I am not sure if we can juice anyone up enough for them to come back from the dead. That would probably take a lot more time in the pod. Though it would be kind of hard to test, wouldn’t it.”
Everyone in the room shuddered at that. Liz nodded.
“There are things we will not do and that heads the list. We will not experiment in that way or anything close to it. Of course if we ever put this out to the public and the tech gets around, someone else just might. It would not surprise me. But we will NOT.”
Maria was next.
“I guess then the question is when do we make this public? And how do we do it?”
Alex nodded. “We need to complete the process and then monitor the people for a while. I would say at least a year from now.”
Liz agreed. “This will have to be done very carefully, and thought through on every detail.”
Max was next.
“As a method to treat critical diseases, we can try that and see how it works. If it does, then we have to let it out. However, if it does not, then there is really no reason to let this out anytime soon. If word gets out that this prevents aging, the ramifications are huge.” He looked at Methos. “I understand why Immortals would want this to get out as a way to prevent aging; they would never have to move or change names again. They could stay who they want where they want. But the overall impact on the world has to be considered. Even with the energy breakthroughs, this could not be done on the scale of millions. It would eat up too many resources. Then of course you would have the impact on earths population- with no more death it would jump so fast we would be in serious trouble in only a relatively short time. Since we have yet to locate any viable colonization planets, that is something to think about.”
They had all been disappointed in the failure to find another planet so far. The Granolith had analyzed all results and calculated that there might only be a million or so planets in the entire galaxy that would be like earth. With over 700 Billion stars, that was such a small number that it would probably take years to find another. With that in mind, Liz had ordered the Granolith to start working on ways to terraform planets that at the moment were not viable but could possibly be made to be so. It had calculated that Mars was too far for the process to work, but that other planets found could be terraformed- but that it would take a tremendous amount of resources to make it work.
Methos grimaced but had to agree. “You have a point. Its just that for someone like me who has had to change and move a thousand times it would seem like such a great thing. But the other problems it creates we need to have answers for first before we do anything.” He looked at Liz. “We need to see if this will treat disease; so we need to find someone sick of something that so far we have not been able to treat.” He then looked at Joe. “Is there anyone you know of that already knows about Immortals that we could try this on.”
Joe sat back and thought. “I cannot think of anyone at the moment. You don’t think this will regenerate limbs, do you?” He looked at Alex.
Alex shook his head. “No indications of that at all. Sorry Joe.”
“That’s OK. I guess its good we cannot do everything=that could lead to bad things down the road.”
Liz had been thinking. “We need to look around quietly for someone sick of something that does not necessarily be beyond current medical capability. We need to know if we can heal first; then find out if it can heal everything. One step at a time.”
Charlie who had been silent up to now, taking it all in. Suddenly straightened up. Cynthia, sitting next to him, looked at him. “What is it?”
Liz had noticed this. “Thought of something, Charlie? Spit it out if you have. We need all possibilities thrown out on the table if we are going to do this right.”
Charlie took a deep breath. “ A good friend of mine- he works at another gym as a trainer in Seacouver- he has a son who was just diagnosed with juvenile Leukemia; the really bad one. Its treatable but it’s a nasty process, and its not a sure thing it will work. He is about 11 I think. Would he be a candidate?”
Liz looked at Alex, who nodded. She took a deep breath. “Call him Charlie. But make it clear that this is experimental- it might not work. But we will give it our best shot.”
“OK. I will call him now and explain about it. “
With that the meeting broke up. Liz’s parents immediately went to her and told her that they were not really interested, they felt that that was the way it should be. Liz was not really happy with that, but understood.
Charlie’s friend, George Wilson, and his son, Ted, arrived two days later. Ted did not look bad, the disease had not yet had a chance to really do damage yet. It had only been found because the blood test for his routine checkup had been off. Liz was waiting for them when they arrived at the palace with Charlie.
George went up to Charlie and gave him a hug, then turned to Liz.
“Your Majesty, thank you for this.”
“George, thank me after it works. This is not a sure thing.”
In the lab it was described in detail what would happen. Then they went to the granolith for it to examine Ted. It did and concurred with the diagnosis. Ted was fascinated with the self aware Computer.
“It sounds like a real person! Even if sort of like Mr Jones at school. Kind of boring.”
Liz smiled at that. “Well he was a computer program before he became sentient. Some of that has stuck. “
Two days later Ted went into the pod. Liz and Alex and the doctor at the lab all worked on the procedures. Constant monitoring plus a full emergency team with doctor would be in the lab 24/7. Every two weeks he would be brought out and checked. Though they could take blood samples constantly, they felt that having the granolith do a full exam each time was better.
One month and a few days went by. The first check showed no effect ; the second checkup showed the disease was retreating. It was decided to put him in for a full month straight.
One month later he was pulled out and checked. The disease was gone.
George forgot all about protocol and all that and gave Liz a rib cracking hug. Then he realized what he had done and put her down and started to apologize.
“Don’t you dare apologize! I loved it!”
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thumper1942
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Re: Another Life IV (HL, XO, CC, MA) Part 18 3/4/10
Another Life IV Part 19
They had a celebration after Ted was cured. Maria pushed hard for it since she knew how hard Alex and the others had worked on it, and for Liz who had been so worried it would not work. While they had to be a little circumspect since George and Ted did not know about Immortals or the other experiment going on, it was still fun and helped those that needed it to relax some.
One by one, all of the Roswell parents had let Liz know that if they got sick they would try the pod, but they were not looking to become immortal or stop aging. Charlie and Cynthia had also decided not to participate, as had Joe and Rebecca. Only Courtney and Rachel had signified their desire to go the full route. And for Courtney it would be a two process podding; the first one to make her human, the second one for immortality. Richie had not been sure about it, but Courtney was stubborn.
Months flew by and soon it was time to pull the six out of their pods and see what was what. Liz was impatiently standing by the pods as Alex and his nerd herd depodded them. Lisa was right at Liz’s side as always, and had just been judged by Liz as ready to face the world as an Immortal. Liz had had both Amanda and Cassandra, as well as Annie spar with her to “graduate”, as Liz put it. Annie was due to go into the pod after the test tube process had been seen to work. She would spend 3 months in a pod to make sure the pregnancy took, then would be able to leave-they hoped. Still this was the first time and no one knew for sure. Sean had almost finished his training with Duncan, and had been doing very well. He was not sure what he was going to do with himself while Annie was in the pod; he just knew he would not leave the palace while she was unconscious. Liz had hit upon the idea of him teaching Phys Ed for jr high kids in town, which they could arrange. All agreed that that would really occupy his time.
It took several hours for the depodding to be finished and everyone started to wake up. Liz was pacing constantly, very nervous. While the initial results had looked promising, this was the acid test. Since they all were weak from being unconscious, though the pods had rotated to keep them from getting bed sores and other problems, they were put in wheel chairs for the trip to the Granolith.
The Granolith hummed as it examined them. Liz was barely able to contain herself; she had never been this nervous about anything ever.
“Queen Elizabeth, I have the results.”
Liz braced herself. “Spit it out.”
“All six have a full quickening, not as strong as yours was originally, but as strong as Lisa Andersons quickening when first brought before me.”
Liz sagged, incredibly relieved. “Thank you Granolith.”
She looked at the six. “This is not the end of it; we want to monitor you once a month to see if it is weakening and if so how much and how fast. Alex has manufactured boosters you need to wear all day, and have near you at night. We are hopeful that that will be enough to keep it going, but we have to be sure. In the meantime you all might consider who you want as your teachers as regards learning how to use a sword. There is no hurry, but it is something to think about.”
Liz went back to the office with Lisa right with her. She closed the door behind her as Liz sat behind her desk.
“I guess the question is, now what?”
Liz shook her head. “Not really sure. The Granolith just got the watchers Database to Joe and Methos. They are looking through it now to look for Immortals that might want to have children and are worthy of it. Annie is due to go into the pod next week and stay there for 3 months, and of course we need to monitor the six to see if their quickening weakens even with the booster transmitter. The real question right now is to decide how to let out about the healing properties of the pod. There are relatively few diseases that we cannot treat in other ways, usually quite well. “
Lisa nodded. “Yeah its kind of dicey to let it out; there are going to be demands to produce the pods elsewhere. If that happens we need to figure out how to make sure more Immortals are not made by accident.”
“Alex and I have been talking about it. He feels that a scaled down pod, with clear limits on how long anyone can stay in it, should be enough to take care of that problem. I agree, if we are careful about it, the chances of it happening should be very small.” He thinks we can build it so that no one can stay in it for more then say six weeks, which the Granolith estimates should be all that is needed to cure any disease without coming close to making anyone Immortal.”
Liz had talked to Grace and Methos about it, figuring they would be the best people to ask.
Grace had thought about it a while, and then agreed with what Alex and Liz had come up with.
Methos had been a little more pessimistic about the controls lasting, but agreed that it was doubtful that anyone had the ability to measure a lot of the energy that made up the quickening. And as long as no one stayed in a pod longer then a couple of months at most, then nothing was likely to be found out.
It had been decided to make the announcement around Thanksgiving, as that would tend to dampen down the reaction. Liz wanted Alex to make it, giving him some time in the sun of Public Appreciation. Alex had not been sure about that, but it was Isabel that put her foot down.
“This would make him famous and cause all sorts of problems; people would expect more from him and then attack him when it did not happen. Nothing good can come of it.”
So once again it was Liz making the announcement. They chose the Monday before Thanksgiving.
Press Conferences at the Antarian Palace were very rare things, and more so when one of the Royals would be making an announcement. The fact that it was Queen Elizabeth whetted the media appetite even more. Liz made it a point to stay out of the public eye as much as possible, and for her to do something like this had everyone anticipating something big. It was figured that it was nothing like another baby; that was done by a simple press release. And since it was Liz and not Max, early speculation about possibly finding a planet to move to was quickly discounted. Interestingly, polls showed that most Humans did not really want their guests to leave. There had been so many advances and life on Earth had improved so much for so many that it was a consensus that if they wanted to stay another 20 years most would be fine with that.
Liz was nervous as always before a public event that she had a major part in, even though she had been at dozens since becoming Queen. Squaring her shoulders, checking her makeup and seeing to it that her long skirted Dress, demure and businesslike, looked fine she headed out to the podium.
The entire Press Corps got up in respect as Queen Elizabeth of Antar walked to the podium.
“Thank You for all coming. I will make this short as possible, then there will be some time for questions. For the last year, our technicians with help from the Granolith have been testing a new treatment for serious diseases that have not yet been beaten by the new medical technology that has come out in the last 5 years. It is complicated and rather extreme. It consists of putting a person in a pod, something like all the Antarians and Granularians were transported in, only much more sophisticated. This process consists of putting the person to sleep, with life support measures and very high tech monitoring, and then bombarding the person with very specific energies That we have only come to understand in the last 5 years. All experiments so far have shown complete eradication of the disease within 6 weeks at the most. Our technicians do not think that there is anything that cannot be cured within 2 months at most in the pod. We will be contacting the FDA with details of what we have done and will apply for license to begin field tests. It will be some years before this process can be manufactured elsewhere due to the energies required and the monitoring needed. Now for the questions.”
For a minute there was a buzz then a portly middle aged journalist stood up.
“Joseph Warren, BBC news. Your Majesty, were there any side effects noted?”
“None. These energies are not those known to most scientists, and were only discovered by the incredible abilities of the Granolith. All tests indicate that they have no effect on normal living tissue.”
A thirtyish brunette in a sever suit stood up. “Monique Van Voren, French National News. Your Majesty, what diseases have your pods cured so far.”
Liz tensed a little at that, but answered smoothly. “Juvenile Leukemia was the first, and while that can be treated otherwise, this particular case had the extreme type and was deemed a good test case. The other ones are Testicular Cancer, extreme Type III; Multiple Sclerosis; and Advanced Adult Leukemia, Type II. “ They had indeed looked around Roswell and found persons suffering from extreme diseases and had treated them on condition of anonymity. These had all been done in the last 3 months.
A tall well dressed man in a 3 piece suit stood up. “James Winters, New York Times. Your Majesty, what costs are expected to come from this process?”
“There will be none through the full testing process. After the FDA certifies the process non experimental, we will look at it. We will build the pods for free; it will be up to the various hospitals and the like to charge for it. However we will monitor that and make sure they are not making up costs on other treatments with expenses from this. Realistically, it should not be expensive at all since all the hospitals will be paying is the electrical bills and paying the salaries of those operating it.”
This caused a little stir. A short pudgy man in a sports jacket stood up. “Thomas Wilson, Chicago Tribune. Your Majesty, does this mean that if you find a hospital charging more then you think it should, you will pull back the pods?”
“Yes it means exactly that. The Hospitals will have the pods only on a fee free loan basis; we will continue to own them. If they violate the agreement, we will take back the pod.”
The Palace Press officer stood up. “One more question and then the Queen must leave for a public award ceremony.
A young woman wearing tight pants and a loud T Shirt stood up. “Jean Simmons, E News Online. Your Majesty, there are rumors that you are going to be having another child soon. Is this true?”
The other journalists groaned at this joke question.
Liz gave what was agreed by all afterwards as a Mona Lisa type Smile.
“Not at this time. But I will be sure to let you know if I get knocked up anytime soon.”
She then quietly left the podium to applause and laughter.
Watching all this, the group laughed as well. Kyle shook his head. “Just when they think they have Liz figured out, she dumps a bucket of water on their heads.”
Maria smiled. “That’s my Chica. Leave’m laughing and a little puzzled at the same time.”
They had a celebration after Ted was cured. Maria pushed hard for it since she knew how hard Alex and the others had worked on it, and for Liz who had been so worried it would not work. While they had to be a little circumspect since George and Ted did not know about Immortals or the other experiment going on, it was still fun and helped those that needed it to relax some.
One by one, all of the Roswell parents had let Liz know that if they got sick they would try the pod, but they were not looking to become immortal or stop aging. Charlie and Cynthia had also decided not to participate, as had Joe and Rebecca. Only Courtney and Rachel had signified their desire to go the full route. And for Courtney it would be a two process podding; the first one to make her human, the second one for immortality. Richie had not been sure about it, but Courtney was stubborn.
Months flew by and soon it was time to pull the six out of their pods and see what was what. Liz was impatiently standing by the pods as Alex and his nerd herd depodded them. Lisa was right at Liz’s side as always, and had just been judged by Liz as ready to face the world as an Immortal. Liz had had both Amanda and Cassandra, as well as Annie spar with her to “graduate”, as Liz put it. Annie was due to go into the pod after the test tube process had been seen to work. She would spend 3 months in a pod to make sure the pregnancy took, then would be able to leave-they hoped. Still this was the first time and no one knew for sure. Sean had almost finished his training with Duncan, and had been doing very well. He was not sure what he was going to do with himself while Annie was in the pod; he just knew he would not leave the palace while she was unconscious. Liz had hit upon the idea of him teaching Phys Ed for jr high kids in town, which they could arrange. All agreed that that would really occupy his time.
It took several hours for the depodding to be finished and everyone started to wake up. Liz was pacing constantly, very nervous. While the initial results had looked promising, this was the acid test. Since they all were weak from being unconscious, though the pods had rotated to keep them from getting bed sores and other problems, they were put in wheel chairs for the trip to the Granolith.
The Granolith hummed as it examined them. Liz was barely able to contain herself; she had never been this nervous about anything ever.
“Queen Elizabeth, I have the results.”
Liz braced herself. “Spit it out.”
“All six have a full quickening, not as strong as yours was originally, but as strong as Lisa Andersons quickening when first brought before me.”
Liz sagged, incredibly relieved. “Thank you Granolith.”
She looked at the six. “This is not the end of it; we want to monitor you once a month to see if it is weakening and if so how much and how fast. Alex has manufactured boosters you need to wear all day, and have near you at night. We are hopeful that that will be enough to keep it going, but we have to be sure. In the meantime you all might consider who you want as your teachers as regards learning how to use a sword. There is no hurry, but it is something to think about.”
Liz went back to the office with Lisa right with her. She closed the door behind her as Liz sat behind her desk.
“I guess the question is, now what?”
Liz shook her head. “Not really sure. The Granolith just got the watchers Database to Joe and Methos. They are looking through it now to look for Immortals that might want to have children and are worthy of it. Annie is due to go into the pod next week and stay there for 3 months, and of course we need to monitor the six to see if their quickening weakens even with the booster transmitter. The real question right now is to decide how to let out about the healing properties of the pod. There are relatively few diseases that we cannot treat in other ways, usually quite well. “
Lisa nodded. “Yeah its kind of dicey to let it out; there are going to be demands to produce the pods elsewhere. If that happens we need to figure out how to make sure more Immortals are not made by accident.”
“Alex and I have been talking about it. He feels that a scaled down pod, with clear limits on how long anyone can stay in it, should be enough to take care of that problem. I agree, if we are careful about it, the chances of it happening should be very small.” He thinks we can build it so that no one can stay in it for more then say six weeks, which the Granolith estimates should be all that is needed to cure any disease without coming close to making anyone Immortal.”
Liz had talked to Grace and Methos about it, figuring they would be the best people to ask.
Grace had thought about it a while, and then agreed with what Alex and Liz had come up with.
Methos had been a little more pessimistic about the controls lasting, but agreed that it was doubtful that anyone had the ability to measure a lot of the energy that made up the quickening. And as long as no one stayed in a pod longer then a couple of months at most, then nothing was likely to be found out.
It had been decided to make the announcement around Thanksgiving, as that would tend to dampen down the reaction. Liz wanted Alex to make it, giving him some time in the sun of Public Appreciation. Alex had not been sure about that, but it was Isabel that put her foot down.
“This would make him famous and cause all sorts of problems; people would expect more from him and then attack him when it did not happen. Nothing good can come of it.”
So once again it was Liz making the announcement. They chose the Monday before Thanksgiving.
Press Conferences at the Antarian Palace were very rare things, and more so when one of the Royals would be making an announcement. The fact that it was Queen Elizabeth whetted the media appetite even more. Liz made it a point to stay out of the public eye as much as possible, and for her to do something like this had everyone anticipating something big. It was figured that it was nothing like another baby; that was done by a simple press release. And since it was Liz and not Max, early speculation about possibly finding a planet to move to was quickly discounted. Interestingly, polls showed that most Humans did not really want their guests to leave. There had been so many advances and life on Earth had improved so much for so many that it was a consensus that if they wanted to stay another 20 years most would be fine with that.
Liz was nervous as always before a public event that she had a major part in, even though she had been at dozens since becoming Queen. Squaring her shoulders, checking her makeup and seeing to it that her long skirted Dress, demure and businesslike, looked fine she headed out to the podium.
The entire Press Corps got up in respect as Queen Elizabeth of Antar walked to the podium.
“Thank You for all coming. I will make this short as possible, then there will be some time for questions. For the last year, our technicians with help from the Granolith have been testing a new treatment for serious diseases that have not yet been beaten by the new medical technology that has come out in the last 5 years. It is complicated and rather extreme. It consists of putting a person in a pod, something like all the Antarians and Granularians were transported in, only much more sophisticated. This process consists of putting the person to sleep, with life support measures and very high tech monitoring, and then bombarding the person with very specific energies That we have only come to understand in the last 5 years. All experiments so far have shown complete eradication of the disease within 6 weeks at the most. Our technicians do not think that there is anything that cannot be cured within 2 months at most in the pod. We will be contacting the FDA with details of what we have done and will apply for license to begin field tests. It will be some years before this process can be manufactured elsewhere due to the energies required and the monitoring needed. Now for the questions.”
For a minute there was a buzz then a portly middle aged journalist stood up.
“Joseph Warren, BBC news. Your Majesty, were there any side effects noted?”
“None. These energies are not those known to most scientists, and were only discovered by the incredible abilities of the Granolith. All tests indicate that they have no effect on normal living tissue.”
A thirtyish brunette in a sever suit stood up. “Monique Van Voren, French National News. Your Majesty, what diseases have your pods cured so far.”
Liz tensed a little at that, but answered smoothly. “Juvenile Leukemia was the first, and while that can be treated otherwise, this particular case had the extreme type and was deemed a good test case. The other ones are Testicular Cancer, extreme Type III; Multiple Sclerosis; and Advanced Adult Leukemia, Type II. “ They had indeed looked around Roswell and found persons suffering from extreme diseases and had treated them on condition of anonymity. These had all been done in the last 3 months.
A tall well dressed man in a 3 piece suit stood up. “James Winters, New York Times. Your Majesty, what costs are expected to come from this process?”
“There will be none through the full testing process. After the FDA certifies the process non experimental, we will look at it. We will build the pods for free; it will be up to the various hospitals and the like to charge for it. However we will monitor that and make sure they are not making up costs on other treatments with expenses from this. Realistically, it should not be expensive at all since all the hospitals will be paying is the electrical bills and paying the salaries of those operating it.”
This caused a little stir. A short pudgy man in a sports jacket stood up. “Thomas Wilson, Chicago Tribune. Your Majesty, does this mean that if you find a hospital charging more then you think it should, you will pull back the pods?”
“Yes it means exactly that. The Hospitals will have the pods only on a fee free loan basis; we will continue to own them. If they violate the agreement, we will take back the pod.”
The Palace Press officer stood up. “One more question and then the Queen must leave for a public award ceremony.
A young woman wearing tight pants and a loud T Shirt stood up. “Jean Simmons, E News Online. Your Majesty, there are rumors that you are going to be having another child soon. Is this true?”
The other journalists groaned at this joke question.
Liz gave what was agreed by all afterwards as a Mona Lisa type Smile.
“Not at this time. But I will be sure to let you know if I get knocked up anytime soon.”
She then quietly left the podium to applause and laughter.
Watching all this, the group laughed as well. Kyle shook his head. “Just when they think they have Liz figured out, she dumps a bucket of water on their heads.”
Maria smiled. “That’s my Chica. Leave’m laughing and a little puzzled at the same time.”