The Dry Bones Report

1 © Bryce Merkl. All rights reserved.

The Dry Bones Report Compiled by Liam Butler Rocky Mountain News Special Investigation Artifact #1: 0:00 GMT +00 15/Feb/2051. Video appearing on the SimBiotics, Inc. home page. Woman speaking in front of the R. Nguyen Event Center, Byrne University, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A.

“SimBiotics is a company on the leading edge of revolutions in medical biotechnology, and at this year’s upcoming BodyWorks conference jointly hosted by Byrne University’s Colleges of Medicine and of Life Sciences, SimBiotics is proud to announce the unveiling of our latest world-class healthcare solution: the Victor 6200 3D Bioprinter….”

“While many healthcare providers currently offer 3D printings of exact human organ replicas, SimBiotics has taken that technology to a new level. Because catastrophic circumstances can damage more than a single organ at a time, the Victor 6200 will be able to reproduce not just organs for transplant, but an entire body replica of the patient printed under just one hour. No longer will anyone need transplants, plastic surgeries, or physical therapies.

Instead, a new printing can be animated while the previous body can be simply discarded….”

“Dr. Walter Metzger of the newly revived University of Ingolstadt (proudly sponsored by SimBiotics) invented the Victor 6200 in a record three years’ time, naming it after a childhood literary hero. Metzger will be demonstrating the power of this new SimBiotics technology in a live demonstration at this year’s fifteenth annual BodyWorks conference….”

Artifact #2: 16:00 GMT -07 20/Mar/2051. First-hand witness account from Dr. Devdan Asija Premji, concerning Dr. Julian Ryo Okada at College of Life Sciences & College of Medicine Joint Faculty Meeting, Byrne University, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A.

Interviewer (Liam Butler): What happened during the faculty meeting?

Premji: Julian has a notorious reputation for falling asleep during faculty budget meetings, so he missed the actual announcement about the SimBiotics presentation at the conference. When I told him what it said, he appeared highly disturbed. I can’t say I liked the implications myself, but I was going to miss the conference to visit family in Mumbai for Easter.

Butler: What did Dr. Okada do after that?

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Premji: He asked if anyone was investigating what exactly Dr. Metzger was planning to do in the demonstration at the conference. I told him that somebody probably already had, but he didn’t seem too satisfied with my suggestion. When the Life Sciences Dean went on to a different topic, Julian looked up the video on his phone. After that, he was pretty pale.

Butler: Did anything else happen at the meeting?

Premji: He told me and Dr. Chau that he wanted to contact Metzger and find out more about what he was planning. We both replied to be careful since we’ve both been burned by large corporations in the past. He just told us he would keep the discussion purely on scientific grounds and that he was conducting similar research on the topic.

Butler: Had Dr. Okada ever mentioned this research previous to this incident?

Premji: No, and as the Chair of the Biotechnology Department, any such research would have to be cleared past my desk. But something else happened too.

After the meeting was over, Julian went down and talked with Dean Borisov. I happen to need to ask the Dean a separate question and was standing nearby. Julian asked Dr. Borisov if anyone had taken action to investigate the workings of the Victor 6200, particularly the functioning of its printings. Dr. Borisov just laughed him off and said the matter had been peerreviewed more than the Big Bang theory. Julian smiled, but I know he wasn’t convinced.

Butler: But Borisov didn’t mention that SimBiotics had never fully tested the animation of a human printing?

Premji: No. Artifact #3: 9:56 GMT -07 29/Mar/2051. Archived email conversation between Dr. Teresa Jaelle Morejno and Dr. Walter Metzger. College of Social Sciences, Byrne University, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A. and College of Science and Technology, University of Ingolstadt, Ingolstadt, Germany, European Union.

From: Teresa Morejno, PhD tmorejno@byrne.edu To: Walter Metzger, MD, PhD wmetzger@ingoldstadt.edu.de

Dr. Metzger, I was most intrigued about your upcoming presentation at the BodyWorks conference. I am currently doing anthropological research on the existence of the human soul, and I would love to add a religious or philosophical dimension to your project, if possible.

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However, as a practicing Orthodox Jew, I have to ask if you have considered the non-scientific consequences of any actions to be taken during your “live demonstration”? I fear that it may cross boundaries of not only science, but also human ethics.

Yours truly, Teresa Morejno, Professor of Religious Anthropology, Byrne University From: Walter Metzger, MD, PhD wmetzger@ingoldstadt.edu.de To: Teresa Morejno, PhD tmorejno@byrne.edu

Dear Dr. Morejno, Dr. Metzger is very busy with the research and preparation for his presentation and cannot answer emails personally, but I can assure you that he has taken all appropriate caution concerning the live demonstration for the BodyWorks conference. Due to competition clauses in his contract with SimBiotics, Dr. Metzger is not able to release any further details, and your inquiries about collaborative research, though appreciated, must be turned down.

Sincerely, Hans Keller, Assistant to Walter Metzger, MD, PhD, University of Ingolstadt Artifact #4: 13:39 GMT -07 31/Mar/2051. Security audio recording between Dr. Julian Ryo Okada and the Rev. Clint Salazar outside Church of the Advent, Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.

Salazar: What’s on your mind, Julian?

Okada: I’ve run upon an ethical dilemma. Someone’s life may be at stake, but it’s ambiguous—no one may die if I’m wrong. I don’t know if it’s better to act and be wrong or to not get involved but risk the loss of a human life, or at least a human soul. I’m just not sure.

Salazar: I’m not following—how can someone lose their soul without dying?

Okada: My friend Daniel Premji explains it like this: Just because you have the same neurons and neuron interactions that make up memories that doesn’t mean you are the same conscious being. Essentially, a human printing could lack the original human’s soul—it would be its own creature, something that shares common memories without common spiritual essence.

Salazar: Hmm, and you want my advice? I would say it’s always better to act in the cause of life, even if you end up being wrong. Just as we regularly confess sins “by what we have left undone” then it would always be better to act for good, for life, for a human soul.

Okada: That’s what I was afraid you’d say.

Artifact #5: 15:04 GMT -07 1/Apr/2051. Patriot Act phone wiretap transcript (released under the Digital Freedom of Information Act of

4 2033) between Dr. Teresa Jaelle Morejno and Sgt. Kenneth Brown. Golden Police Department, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A.

Brown (3033848034): Golden Police Department, please state your reason for calling.

Morejno (3034321353): Yes, I’d like to report a planned murder. The SimBiotics presentation at the university tomorrow will kill someone intentionally and then print a new body, but my religious anthropological research shows that— Brown: What is this, an April Fools’ Day prank, lady? Who’s the suspect?

Morejno: Well, I’m not sure. I think it may be Walter Metzger, but then it could be an assistant, or someone else at the conference. But they’re planning a fake resurrection!

Brown: Nice prank. Goodbye. [Line disconnected] — Brown: Yes, Ms. Morejno, this is Sgt. Kenneth Brown from the Golden Police calling you back. I just heard from the Feds, and apparently this whole resurrection machine business is a matter of national security. They advise you to desist from any more action to sabotage this presentation or Dr. Metzger’s important research. I can’t tell you anything else but stay away.

Artifact #6: 10:23 GMT -07 2/Apr/2051. Direct neural brain probe recording (released under the Digital Freedom of Information Act of 2033) of SimBiotics, Inc. employee Stanley Jenkins (employee #: 45938857), concerning actions taken by Dr. Julian Ryo Okada in the R. Nguyen Event Center, Byrne University, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A.

Walking down the hallway next to Dr. Metzger. Behind, I hear, “Dr. Metzger, could I please ask you just a few questions about your presentation this afternoon? It’s urgent!” Turning around, I see a short, Asian man. His appearance matches the description of Dr. Okada. He asks questions faster that Metzger can respond, though Metzger doesn’t even try. I hear him laugh as he waves off Okada’s questions. Metzger smiles and keeps walking.

I call security, and with Smith and Johnson, I physically keep Okada away from Metzger.

Okada keeps asking questions: “Does the Victor 6200 transfer human consciousness through a separate function? What level of awareness did your test human printings have? Who is your test subject this afternoon? Will they actually die at the presentation?”

So many questions, but security arrives. Smith and Johnson keep up with Metzger and continue to prepare the subject for the afternoon presentation, ensuring his full brain and body

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scan have been prepared prior to his termination. Ready for this damn presentation to be over so pesky research professors stop asking so many questions.

Okada has been flagged by our agent inside the Byrne faculty, whom we expected the most resistance from, so I must treat him differently during interrogation than the reporters and other researchers. We know that Okada’s specific beliefs have the power to disrupt our research advancement. We secure him in a chair in the interrogation room. His steady eyes betray an iron will. This one will be a challenge to break. ***[Sensitive material censored by SimBiotics, Inc.]*** I ask Dr. Okada the questions I know he wants me to. I’m like a cat that plays with its prey before turning it into food. I tell Johnson to prepare the body scan for Okada should we desire to use him as the presentation subject instead. Meanwhile, Okada continues on about meaningless scientific arguments: “…and there is no way to physically transfer consciousness from a dead test subject to a reprinted one. I’m a professor of biophysics—you’d think I’d know if the data of a biological system had a transfer mechanism, but consciousness is still such an unexplored subject. Dr. Metzger needs to hear this before he demonstrates the new Victor 6200 on an unsuspecting subject…”

Oh, Dr. Okada, the subject won’t be unsuspecting, I’m sure. Because it will be you.

Artifact #7: 11:10 GMT -07 2/Apr/2051. Video recording transcript from the R. Nguyen Event Center security control room, concerning actions taken by Director of Campus Security Gerald Mbaka and Dr. Teresa Jaelle Morejno. Byrne University, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A. Mbaka: Keep your eyes out for her. The NSA agent said she’d most certainly try to

sneak into the conference and during the open expo session will be her best opportunity.

Camera controller: Yes, sir. We’re watching every possible entrance to the main

floor of the expo room, but the presentation doesn’t start until three o’clock.

Mbaka: Oh, no. She’ll be here early. She’s a valiant one is what her file said. She’ll try

to contact or stop Metzger well before the presentation. She’s already barraged his emails with lectures about the Jewish belief in the final resurrection of the faithful dead. Bull, really— Camera controller: Sir! There she is, on camera 48. She’s just passed through the

security checkpoint with a fake ID. Our man didn’t even notice.

6 Mbaka: Good, good. Radio our back-up men on the floor and get her in here. I will not

have anyone messing up this presentation. SimBiotics is paying double our university salaries to make sure this comes off seamlessly, and I don’t care if I have to arrest a few zombie-loving religious wackos to make sure the Victor 6200 demonstration does everything but raise the dead.

Artifact #8: 11:48 GMT -07 2/Apr/2051. First-hand account from Dr. Teresa Jaelle Morejno, concerning herself and Dr. Julian Ryo Okada at the R. Nguyen Event Center, Byrne University, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A.

Interviewer (Liam Butler): What happened next?

Morejno: After I was in the holding room for about a half hour, they brought in Julian as well. We immediately swapped stories. I’m surprised they even put us together—we were working for the same cause. Neither of us wanted to see anyone die in the live demonstration, even if it was for science. Julian said scientifically that the machine wasn’t likely to work— there’s no record or publication that it was ever tested once before the conference.

Butler: What motivated both you and Dr. Okada to carry out your plan?

Morejno: We both believe in the Judeo-Christian doctrine of resurrection. I’m a Jew, and he mentioned he was and Anglican. Neither of us buys into the idea that death is a good thing or that it has only to do with the cessation of biological functions. If a human body is the carrier and incarnation of a human soul, then it can also be redeemed. Tossing out a body as if it were last year’s fashion would be to us a major violation of what makes us human.

Butler: What else did you talk about in the holding room?

Morejno: Julian said that if he could only escape and talk with Dr. Metzger that he was sure he could convince him not to go on with the demonstration. Neither of us thought there was much chance of escaping in time and persuading Metzger to change course, but Julian had more hope than me. His eyes were fiery, so fiery, as he paced up and down the room. I’m sure if Metzger had appeared right then that Julian would have breathed some Easter fire out of his nostrils. What convinced me to help him escape was that he told me he knew where Metzger was going to be before the demonstration.

Butler: How was he able to get free?

Morejno: I used to volunteer at a local juvenile detention center, and we couldn’t take in food wrapped in aluminium foil because the delinquents would use it to hold open and disrupt the electromagnetic locks to their cells. Just before security had brought me to the holding room,

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we stopped in the break room. It was no problem slipping a sliver of foil out of the trash while they were refilling on coffee. All we had to do then was slip it into the lock.

Butler: What did security do when they found you alone and Okada gone?

Morejno: They put my body in the scanner in case they needed a different test subject.

Artifact #9: 12:22 GMT -07 2/Apr/2051. Security audio recording between Dr. Julian Ryo Okada and Dr. Walter Reinhard Metzger in a private break room. R. Nguyen Event Center, Byrne University, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A.

[A door opens quickly and then shuts slowly and quietly as a person enters the room.]

Okada: Dr. Metzger, happy Easter!

Metzger: Oh, Dr. Okada! Thank you, I guess. I’m surprised to see you here.

Okada: [laughs] Yes, well Japanese disciplined pursuit is hard to throw off. I’m afraid we had a bit of a misunderstanding in the hallway this morning.

Metzger: I’m afraid we did, but I’m preparing, and I’d rather we not talk about it.

Okada: I’d rather we did. I believe you’re making a serious mistake.

Metzger: You Americans are so entertaining. I’m telling you, if I had tried to perform the same demonstration at a conference in Ingolstadt, no one would have blinked an eye.

Okada: I’m not so sure. The forces of human goodness in this world are more numerous than you suppose, and even those representing sound science would object to your methods.

Metzger: Oh, I am now the evil scientist to be opposed by all? The Dr. Frankenstein, if you will, to be exiled for his experiments against human bodies? No, Dr. Okada, after today, the world will recognize that scientists with true courage are the ones that take the risk and push the boundaries of our knowledge back with bold strokes and stunning leaps into the future.

Okada: What of the consciousness factor? If you’re truly going to replace an entire human body as one unit, how will you transfer the consciousness of the old body into the new?

Metzger: Pfft. Consciousness is nothing more than synapses firing in the brain and the memories to support those synapses. The printing will have the same exact wiring. The idea of the soul is a myth. One that needs to be disposed of, and blatantly.

[The door bursts open and several security personnel rush into the room.]

Jenkins: Dr. Metzger! We’re sorry, but we came as soon as we knew he had escaped!

We were just about to have him scanned and prepared for the presentation. Okada, come with us.

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Okada: [laughs] What a daring move, Dr. Metzger, I must say! Trying to convince your enemies by resurrecting them—or silence them by failing in the attempt!

Metzger: [coughs, then a pause] Do not have him scanned, Jenkins, or the woman.

Jenkins: Why not, sir? Wasn’t that the plan?

Metzger: I can resurrect myself!

Artifact #10: 15:00 GMT -07 2/Apr/2051. Direct neural brain probe recording (released under the Digital Freedom of Information Act of 2033) of witness Randall Nelson (Colorado School of Mines), concerning actions taken by Dr. Julian Ryo Okada, Dr. Teresa Jaelle Morejno, and Dr. Walter Reinhard Metzger in the R. Nguyen Event Center, Byrne University, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A.

Finally, the moment arrives. After hearing about this presentation, the waiting had seemed like forever. That’s why I got here two hours early to watch the set-up. By the time there’s still an hour before the announced start time, the room is packed. I’m surprised most people can see anything at all if they’re not on the front row.

The Victor 6200 looks like any other 3D printer—like an MRI machine crossed with a copy machine—except a lot bigger. But the bulk doesn’t mean it’s ugly. Whoever designed this beauty had a great knack for design; it’s the epitome of human creative art in both form and function.

The press cameras start flashing before anyone can see Dr. Metzger. Finally, he emerges from a battalion of aides, assistants, and security guards. He stands behind a podium next to the Victor 6200. “Today,” he says, “we will witness the true power of human ingenuity. Through the rigorous discipline of science and on the eternal quest for knowledge, we have created a breakthrough. Today, you will witness the assurance of human immortality, the pinnacle of human achievement, the apotheosis of the human body. Today, you may wipe away every tear from your eyes, for there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away….”

Metzger continues, but some scumbag from the back pushes his way up to the front row and distracts me. He’s Asian with an olive-skinned woman right behind him. For everything Dr. Metzger promises, they don’t look too happy. Some people are never satisfied, I guess, even when you hand them abundant life on a silver platter. That’s what I think Dr. Metzger is doing at least.

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Metzger slows down the pace of his speech. His hand fumbles in his pocket as he says, “Today, I will defeat death.”

All at once, I see Metzger make a sharp movement, drawing out the item in his pocket.

Before I can put it all together, I hear screams from the crowd, the fire of the gun, the shooting of cameras, and I notice that some of the gore has landed on me. Dr. Metzger’s blood drips off my hands, and I shudder as I wipe a brain fragment onto the floor.

Christ have mercy, it’s disgusting, but even more so, such a beautiful mind has been wasted. The man that unlocked immortality for mankind is now dead on the conference room floor. I think they should have shot somebody else. That idiot Asian guy would have made a good candidate. What stunt is he trying to pull by administering first aid to a man whose brains are currently staining the carpet?

Security pushes the Asian guy and his sidekick back until they’re almost right next to me.

One of the assistants, announcing himself as Stanley Jenkins, says he was sorry for the fright but that Dr. Metzger will be joining us soon. His new body would arrive by the time they had cleaned up the old one. “Dr. Metzger will be raised to new life by the work of his own hands,” he says before he punches some buttons on the printer.

The machine quietly whirs to life and begins to move its delicate arms, cartridges, and axes above the build tray. The Victor 6200 is like no piece of technology I’ve ever seen. It moves not just with precision, but with grace; not just with smoothness, but with elegance. It dances above the build tray like a nymph, depositing miniscule layers of cells, tissues, bones, and tendons one at a time.

The olive-skinned lady begins to whisper under her breath. “The hand of the LORD was upon me and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you. There was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above….”

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She sounds like a crackpot to me, but her buddy at least remains quiet as he watches, transfixed, the work of the Victor 6200. The novelty of the printer’s work makes the hour sweep by as quickly and smoothly as the movements of its jetting arms and cartridges.

As slowly and silently as the machine had begun its work, it finishes. An identical printing of Dr. Metzger’s body lies within the printing chamber, resting on the build tray as if asleep. The room remains perfectly silent and enraptured as the printing continues to lie still. For a moment, we all doubt that it worked. Dr. Metzger’s copy does not appear functional.

Then, though it is such a subtle action, we all see it. He opens his eyes.

Artifact #11: 18:55 excerpt (Pages A1 & Reinhard Metzger at Lakewood, Colorado,

GMT -07 21/May/2051. Rocky Mountain News article A32), sourcing Dr. Julian Ryo Okada and Dr. Walter Byrne University St. Benedict XVI Campus Hospital, U.S.A.

LAKEWOOD, Colo.—The internationally famous Dr. Walter Metzger was released today from hospital custody amid many concerns about whether the biotech professor had regained the conscious remembrance of himself and his physical faculties.

For some fifty days, Metzger has been confined to Byrne University’s St. Benedict XVI Campus Hospital for therapies of every kind—including physical, psychological, and occupational.

His therapists refused to comment at the press conference earlier this afternoon but allowed Dr. Julian Okada to comment. Okada, a biophysicist at the University, studied Metzger’s case closely with medical colleague Dr. Brian Chau.

“Dr. Metzger has been the subject of thoughts and prayers by all of the hospital medical staff this past six weeks,” said Okada. “While our German colleague has recovered an amazing amount of his skills and original memories from before his public suicide last April, he will still need a great level of care in the months and years to come. It seems that despite having his memories and a duplicate body system, Metzger has been imbued with an entirely different—” But halfway through Okada’s speech at the press conference, Metzger insisted, by overpowering a whole phalanx of hospital security guards in order to get to the microphone, that he speak for himself.

Ripping the microphone from the podium, Metzger looked calmly into the eyes of the cameras and media personnel and stated, “I am not Walter Reinhard Metzger.”