Yelling Mercy Over Raw Ecstasy

After billions of years, nature has ultimately provided humans with a brain capable of self-evolving however it desires. It is like spending a month constructing a robot that can build other automatons in only two hours, or investing a big amount of money in a firm to later profit from its earnings. That’s the game evolution played with us, but it always comes at a risk.

Nate Zhao was never remarkably sharp-witted. He learned to read at age eight, and he had to go through the fifth grade three times. When he turned twenty-two he managed to get into a college and resolved to major in neuroscience. He asserted that his choice was based on his absorption in synaptic processes and the complexity of the functions that take place in the cerebrum, as well as his interest in gray matter. Bullshit, he actually did it because he wanted to find out what was wrong with him; why he couldn’t be the “typical smart Asian” instead of shame for his parents.

Vlad Weber had no idea about who Charles Darwin was until he reached the age of nineteen. He grew up exhibiting unconcern for all the happenings transpiring around him and showing himself oblivious to the most obvious things. He possessed an IQ of merely 83 points, and his paucity of cleverness was clear to every individual who encountered him. George Weber, his father, was a lawyer who wanted his son to follow his same career path, but the way he educated him during the early years of his life only made little Vlad abhor him ferociously. He used to strike him with metal chains to the ribs every time he got a bad grade on a test, which happened quite often due to the child’s deficit of intellect. When Weber Jr. got to college, he didn’t know what to study, but he would unquestionably not please his father by choosing a profession in the field of law. Eventually, he determined to major in molecular genetics, because the man his mother committed adultery with was a renowned geneticist, so he believed that this would dismay his dad even more, and indeed, it did. Vlad and Nate met for the first time on October 14th, 2026, when Vlad jumped off the window of a fraternity house while impaired, and landed on Nate, injuring him severely. Hours later, while laying in contiguous beds of a nearby hospital, neither of them seemed able to recall the accident, but through a spontaneous conversation that commenced with one of them murmuring “...will pigeons eat my corpse?”, and the other one asserting the inquiry, they discovered that they shared major similarities in character.

A long time had elapsed since the coincidental incident that paired both strangers jointly, and it was New Year’s eve of 2034. The exuberant ambiance outside their laboratory was not sufficient to divert the profound contemplation these men had into their most recent discovery, for it could significantly ameliorate the caliber of the human species perpetually, and would mean an immediate leap forward in the evolutionary process. They had just found a way of modifying a large percentage of the single nucleotide polymorphisms inside a fetus’ DNA during the early gestation period, which would lead to an extreme increase in the IQ of the developing child. Before trying it with humans, however, the scientists needed to prove the coherence of their method by manipulating the genes of lab-rats.

The two men finally put their hypotheses into execution, and the results were delightfully engrossing, though not unforeseen. The experimental group consisted of 15 genetically-modified rats which witnessed one of their fellow, less intelligent rodents falling victim to a mouse trap. Immediately afterward, all the subjects in the experimental group showed themselves disinclined to approach the food placed on the deadly mechanisms; what had hitherto been a desirable source of satisfaction for their hunger was now an object that signified peril. This was a definite manifestation of observational learning, something very uncommon in animals with such primitive brains and insignificant cognitive abilities, and yet there was still more to see. After apparently getting an understanding of how the trap worked, some of the rats started to grab small objects utilizing their mouths, and used them to trigger the spring gadget, consequently becoming able to devour the bait without any risk.

Lastly, the most intriguing part of the inspection was when the rats who had not watched the apparatus in action exhibited an equally reluctant attitude towards getting close to it as the rest of their companions. This could mean one of two things: the subjects had developed some type of abstract way of communication, or they were merely mirroring their peers’ behavior. Both scenarios were impressive, as they displayed superior social adroitness. The results happened to be fantastically triumphant, and now it was about time to test it in a human being.

Karen Cosby was only 19 years old and pregnant. She wasn’t living a particularly knowledge-seeking life, and most of her quotidian diversions consisted of ingesting substances that would make her numb to the hassles of the outside world. While reading through the jobs section of her local newspaper in an attempt to get enough money not to be obliged to implore for food in the streets, a peculiar announcement drew her attention: “NEED PREGNANT WOMAN (between 11 and 19 weeks) for a scientific experimental test. We’ll be paying $4000 to whomever volunteers.” As odd and dubious as it seemed, after she read the monetary amount she could receive, Karen ignored every warning from her judgment trying to dispute the reliability of such an experiment, especially when it had been published on the jobs section of a low-reputation newspaper instead of some scientific magazine. She dialed the contact number, and after waiting for about three nanoseconds, somebody on the other line picked up and accorded to meet at the CCBRL (Chicago Central Biological Research Laboratory) the following afternoon.

The city was blurry as usual, and reality was each day a bit less clear. Approaching the comprehension of something as abstract as existence itself has always been purposeless, but the reasoning every person uses to come to this conclusion depends on an indefinite amount of factors, and truthfully, most people find contrary explanations to this one. Some find hope, some find joy, and others simply hold on to whatever they believe can keep them afloat. Karen’s views were inconsistent, as she wasn’t aware of herself most of the time, but one thing that always stayed undeviating was the fact that she couldn’t care less. She was glad that the money from the experiment would allow her to abort her child, saving her the trouble of going through the painful process of giving birth to a new life.

The world was moving, perhaps too fast. However, a quick pace is the biggest curse that can be laid upon someone who doesn’t know where to go. The encounter had an utmost amiability on part of the researchers and went smoothly enough. Karen signed the authorization form with great hurry, avoiding laying her eyes on even one of the conditions that the contract included and let them begin the process. Nate and Vlad acknowledged that most of the time predictions do not go as planned, because the human brain tends to overlook some of the millions of variables that every situation accounts for, and therefore their optimism was minimal, but they remained expectant anyhow. That portion of expectancy derived from their curiosity and visionary mindsets was the factor that hit the switch to start something exceeding anything their imagination could ever devise.

The meeting was over, Karen took the money and prepared to hasten away just before Nate’s voice interrupted her leave-taking from behind.

“I hope you read attentively the documents with the conditions and procedures this research involves,” He knew she didn’t “we look forward to seeing you and your son or daughter in five months!”

“My son or...what?” Her bewilderment was conspicuous “I am not following”

“You granted us permission to periodically test and observe your child’s cognitive development until he or she turns six years old.”

“No, there’s a misunderstanding here, I am planning to get rid of this baby as soon as possible.”

“Well, I am afraid that isn’t part of the deal, but if you really refuse to go through with this then I would like you to give us the money back”

Karen exhaled loudly while considering the alternatives she had. Having to take care of an infant didn’t sound appealing, however, giving up four thousand dollars without having any more money to even buy food conveyed undiluted absurdity.

“See you in five months.” She muttered.

Corey Cosby was significantly small at the genesis of his earthly existence, and several complications occurred which nearly killed him before he could even respire for the first time, but to the disappointment of his mother, he endured. Many animals are guided by genetically acquired instincts because that’s what helps them thrive, survive and reproduce. Humans are an exception to this, since due to their intellectual aptitudes they are able to go around using reason and logic. Newborns have brains that are merely starting to develop, meaning that their thinking is virtually nonexistent, and therefore present some inherently inherited instincts that can be classified as reflexes. One of these is the rooting reflex, which is characterized by the tendency of a newborn to open the mouth and search for nipple when touched on the cheek. Corey, nonetheless, was different since the moment of his birth; when he was supposed to open his mouth to indicate to the doctors that his rooting reflex was in order, and thus signifying that he was a healthy boy. He instead showed an extremely clear expression of annoyance and confusion from being poked on the face. The medicine practitioners wondered about the nature of the baby’s reaction, but none of them was able to conclude that it denoted advanced cognition and brain development until the baby uttered single syllables in an attempt to mimic the voices he heard, after only being a few hours in the world.

Many of us experience strain when trying to visualize how we would think without knowing any form of language. A majority of the schemes and ideas formulated by the mind of a communicating individual are composed of some type of wording or specific verbal definition, and with a lack of means for conveyance of information we would most likely think about sounds, textures, tastes and all other kinds of sensory stimuli much more often, for they would be the only way for humans to evoke emotional responses and have an understanding of nature. Merely stating that fact makes the language developed by the surviving hominids inhabiting Earth a belonging of the gods, which is true for the most part, but another statement full of veracity is that every existing creature is flawed, and so are their methods. Words possess multiple deficiencies. The typical paradigms are: the failure of anyone when trying to delineate colors and shades to someone who was born sightless; the attempt to convey a notional or abstract sentiment; the non-fulfillment of reaching an understanding in the brains of less complex beings. The quintessential example, however, was the scarcity of terms that the scientists were faced with at the moment of first measuring Corey’s reasoning capacity. The intelligence quotient for almost everyone falls within the range of a bell-curve representing a normal distribution among groups defined by their cognitive levels, but Corey’s IQ was unquestionably off the charts, and coming up with a number that would compare him to the rest of the population was a major challenge. The final estimate was 713 points, a value which was never before thought possible and now was merely “unprecedented”. The child was 2 years old during the initial examination and some of his accomplishments were unimpressive deeds such as finishing twelve years of schooling in only one chronological year and coming up with a unique psychoanalytic treatment for his mother so that she would diminish her fierce deportment towards him. Everything advanced unduly stagnant, the clouds appeared inattentive to his perspiration, and his disappointment knocked the dominos one by one; there was no chain effect, for he controlled all the factors as if the universe were a laboratory setting.