TM challenge116: Write about your father.
Simon used a vox filter, of course. This close to home he wouldn't want to risk tripping of alarms in the normal surveillance of routine ship to surface comm. He made his call voice-only.
"Leedstrom, Perry, and White. This is Alicia. How may I help you?" came a pleasant feminine voice over the wave.
"Please tell Finchley Perry that 'No-Shorts' from Versailles is on the line."
"I'm sorry, but he's in with a client. May I take a message?"
"He will be very glad if you interrupt him for me. In fact, I'm certain he'll buy you lunch."
"Hold please."
A faint smile lit Simon's features as he waited, sitting on a stool in the ship's infirmary. The Alliance personnel who'd helped refit Serenity after Miranda installed a cast-off medical computer system. It was eons better than what he'd had to work with previously. Finchley Perry was the only person in the known universe who still knew Simon, and also knew how he'd acquired the nickname from 4th grade gym class. Simon remembered happier times.
"Simon, is that you? Why no vid?"
"Hi Finch. I'm just being discrete."
"I'll say. You sound like a friggin' robot. Where the hell are you?"
"I'm not in town long. Just wanted to say hello. Let you know it all turned out all right."
"Fuck Simon! I've been watching the news! God, the trail of bodies left by this whacked-out renegade Browncoat, and then nothing. Not a peep. The warrants out on you and your sister were dropped."
"Coincidental with the Miranda broadwave," Simon pointed out.
"Yes?" There was a pause. "You mean that was YOU?"
"That's what River knew. That's why they wanted her killed." One of the reasons anyway... "But yeah, that was us... Listen, I called you for two reasons. One, to ask your opinion on four recent developments out of New Durham and the second, to ask you, as a personal favor, to go see my parents, and just ... make sure they are all right."
"Simon, why don't you call them?"
"Finch, please. Tell me you'll do it."
"Of course I'll do it. Estate in the same place?"
"That's one of the things I want you check on, but yes, that's still listed as their current address. I... You know we didn't part on the best of terms. This thing is: there's other people who want ... my sister... for various reasons. And I've got to keep her safe. It would ease my mind if my parents knew that we are both alive and well."
Finchley sighed. "Consider it done."
"Thank you. I am in your debt."
"There is never a debt between trusted friends."
Simon's lips curled to hear the formal words. His father had said formal words to him too. Sort of the inverse of this conversation.
You are not my son! You are not of this house! You are not my heir!
Simon forced his mind back to the present. Back to the mission.
"GenoTek has delayed it's release of the automatic cancer-screening test. Any idea why?"
"It doesn't work on 5% of the test cases. They don't know why. They're going ahead with the release. I've got my order in for it. Why are you so interested?"
Simon ignored Finch's query. "SmartCell has been touting the anti-aging cream, guaranteed to remove liver spots and lots of other signs of agign, to be mass marketed to average consumers. Their stock is shooting through the roof, but the Council on Aging had an article about serious side effects."
Laughter came from the speaker.
"What?" Simon asked.
"Oh yeah, it'll get rid of liver spots all right... while killing you with liver disease! How these companies make a thin dime is beyond me."
Excellent! Simon thought Smart Cell is a real possibility.
"I thought the science in their last presentation was a bit sketchy. The next one is Latimer Limited. They've been delaying the release of their cartilage preserving drug for 2 years."
"Oh, I can tell you exactly why but this is in strictest confidence."
"This conversation won't have happened two seconds after we end it. Give."
"Exactly... We're doing clinical trials for Latimer right here. The delay on it is that not only does it prevent the degeneration and loss of cartilage in normally aging adults, but we've found that it actually helps increase cartilage in older people who have lost it. So that's the delay. It's even better than they hoped and they want to go forward with that as their main market push instead of the prevention, which was its primary purpose. But they have to have all their ducks in a row first and restructure their whole marketing campaign. Side effects are minimal."
Simon crossed Latimer off his short list.
"Why so curious? What's so special about the research on New Durham?"
"My last curiosity is Hamden Hills Cryo-Revival," Simon said, ignoring Finch's question. "They claim to be able to fast-grow any and all internal organs from a sample of DNA. I know a lot of research and development has been going on in the area of accelerated growth. They claim they can do it in a vat. It's rumored that they can provide a replacement clone of an adult's body in three years. It's also rumored that what they actually have is a farm of clones that they rip organs from as needed."
"Yeah, they are gonna get busted one of these days. They're just shifty. They claim their tech is proprietary and they don't need to publish results and thus have their ideas and patents stolen."
"How can they get away with that?" Simon was outraged.
"They're privately funded."
"Oh... How does that work?"
"They started out as a simple regen clinic. Break a bone, get a limb cut off, they'll fix you right up. Now they promise immortality and a flawless body and mind. They have a hell of a clientele. There's always been rumor of illegal activities - growing clones to sell as slaves, that sort of thing. But they are independent, privately funded, completely secure, and ...backed by Parliament."
Muse: Dr. Simon Tam
Fandom: Firefly
WC: 1020
"Leedstrom, Perry, and White. This is Alicia. How may I help you?" came a pleasant feminine voice over the wave.
"Please tell Finchley Perry that 'No-Shorts' from Versailles is on the line."
"I'm sorry, but he's in with a client. May I take a message?"
"He will be very glad if you interrupt him for me. In fact, I'm certain he'll buy you lunch."
"Hold please."
A faint smile lit Simon's features as he waited, sitting on a stool in the ship's infirmary. The Alliance personnel who'd helped refit Serenity after Miranda installed a cast-off medical computer system. It was eons better than what he'd had to work with previously. Finchley Perry was the only person in the known universe who still knew Simon, and also knew how he'd acquired the nickname from 4th grade gym class. Simon remembered happier times.
"Simon, is that you? Why no vid?"
"Hi Finch. I'm just being discrete."
"I'll say. You sound like a friggin' robot. Where the hell are you?"
"I'm not in town long. Just wanted to say hello. Let you know it all turned out all right."
"Fuck Simon! I've been watching the news! God, the trail of bodies left by this whacked-out renegade Browncoat, and then nothing. Not a peep. The warrants out on you and your sister were dropped."
"Coincidental with the Miranda broadwave," Simon pointed out.
"Yes?" There was a pause. "You mean that was YOU?"
"That's what River knew. That's why they wanted her killed." One of the reasons anyway... "But yeah, that was us... Listen, I called you for two reasons. One, to ask your opinion on four recent developments out of New Durham and the second, to ask you, as a personal favor, to go see my parents, and just ... make sure they are all right."
"Simon, why don't you call them?"
"Finch, please. Tell me you'll do it."
"Of course I'll do it. Estate in the same place?"
"That's one of the things I want you check on, but yes, that's still listed as their current address. I... You know we didn't part on the best of terms. This thing is: there's other people who want ... my sister... for various reasons. And I've got to keep her safe. It would ease my mind if my parents knew that we are both alive and well."
Finchley sighed. "Consider it done."
"Thank you. I am in your debt."
"There is never a debt between trusted friends."
Simon's lips curled to hear the formal words. His father had said formal words to him too. Sort of the inverse of this conversation.
You are not my son! You are not of this house! You are not my heir!
Simon forced his mind back to the present. Back to the mission.
"GenoTek has delayed it's release of the automatic cancer-screening test. Any idea why?"
"It doesn't work on 5% of the test cases. They don't know why. They're going ahead with the release. I've got my order in for it. Why are you so interested?"
Simon ignored Finch's query. "SmartCell has been touting the anti-aging cream, guaranteed to remove liver spots and lots of other signs of agign, to be mass marketed to average consumers. Their stock is shooting through the roof, but the Council on Aging had an article about serious side effects."
Laughter came from the speaker.
"What?" Simon asked.
"Oh yeah, it'll get rid of liver spots all right... while killing you with liver disease! How these companies make a thin dime is beyond me."
Excellent! Simon thought Smart Cell is a real possibility.
"I thought the science in their last presentation was a bit sketchy. The next one is Latimer Limited. They've been delaying the release of their cartilage preserving drug for 2 years."
"Oh, I can tell you exactly why but this is in strictest confidence."
"This conversation won't have happened two seconds after we end it. Give."
"Exactly... We're doing clinical trials for Latimer right here. The delay on it is that not only does it prevent the degeneration and loss of cartilage in normally aging adults, but we've found that it actually helps increase cartilage in older people who have lost it. So that's the delay. It's even better than they hoped and they want to go forward with that as their main market push instead of the prevention, which was its primary purpose. But they have to have all their ducks in a row first and restructure their whole marketing campaign. Side effects are minimal."
Simon crossed Latimer off his short list.
"Why so curious? What's so special about the research on New Durham?"
"My last curiosity is Hamden Hills Cryo-Revival," Simon said, ignoring Finch's question. "They claim to be able to fast-grow any and all internal organs from a sample of DNA. I know a lot of research and development has been going on in the area of accelerated growth. They claim they can do it in a vat. It's rumored that they can provide a replacement clone of an adult's body in three years. It's also rumored that what they actually have is a farm of clones that they rip organs from as needed."
"Yeah, they are gonna get busted one of these days. They're just shifty. They claim their tech is proprietary and they don't need to publish results and thus have their ideas and patents stolen."
"How can they get away with that?" Simon was outraged.
"They're privately funded."
"Oh... How does that work?"
"They started out as a simple regen clinic. Break a bone, get a limb cut off, they'll fix you right up. Now they promise immortality and a flawless body and mind. They have a hell of a clientele. There's always been rumor of illegal activities - growing clones to sell as slaves, that sort of thing. But they are independent, privately funded, completely secure, and ...backed by Parliament."
Muse: Dr. Simon Tam
Fandom: Firefly
WC: 1020