Sparent

The chairman of the committee tapped a spoon on the thin, fluted champagne glass in his hand and the room fell silent.

“Thank you all for attending today. I wish that it was for a much happier and joyful occasion, but we all saw this coming. And we all wish the man behind the vision the best in whatever remains after his time here.”

Mr. Beverly looked over his index cards spread out on the podium. Maybe it would have been a better idea if he had practiced this speech ahead of time, but matters moved faster than anyone could have predicted. There were a few coughs in the reception hall and he could hear chairs shifting under the anxious weight of several board members, managers, middlemen, arrangers and the occasional assistant. No, he thought, I got this. He took another sip of champagne and focused on the first card.

“Over thirty years ago, humanity was concerned with disease, war, the economy – always on the edge of falling apart – homelessness, poverty and the usual lists of problems that never seemed to go away despite the best efforts of mankind. What no one talked about was the most debilitating problem of them all: human loneliness.”

The room was quiet again. A good sign?

He continued, staring out at the audience for a moment and wondering if he needed more champagne.

“For decades, loneliness was ignored and the results were clear: workers took record numbers of days off; the pharmaceutical industry made a fortune with the false promises of pills and medication; schools began to notice that their students could not focus on their work after they were discovered to come from single-parent homes. It was a growing social menace that no one wanted to acknowledge.”

Mr. Beverly was doing fine. He was smiling now, and it did not seem forced or a result of the earlier bourbon he sampled in the town car. Come on, Jim, he thought. Just get through the basics and then you can get to the real show.

“And then, as all needs find their necessary solutions, Tom Lyell Fast…excuse me, Dr. Fast…developed the technology and the first prototypes of what the world knows and what we all love as Sparent.”

His audience roared hard and long at the name, a reaction that did surprise Mr. Beverly, but he should have expected this. It was a very special day for them all and they had the good doctor to thank for it.

“Yes, yes, cut into my speech…”

More tittering and laughter around him, and he could see his team smiling and grinning at him. Yep, this was going better than imagined.

“As I said, we all love Sparent. We are aware of what it is capable of, and the results cannot be dismissed. However, we know that we have had many voices on the other side of the debate dismissing our work and calling us irresponsible and even dangerous.”

No laughter there. Some of the hired security looked out the windows and checked the large main doors and exits. For some reason, this did not bother Mr. Beverly. He had seen worse…and they knew it.

“You know my story. I was personally drawn up before certain governments and politicians who wanted to grill me about the intentions of our products. There was a lot of talk based on a lot of unfounded rumours and, let’s be honest, science-fiction fantasies…”

He put the glass down on the podium and cleared his throat.

“But we prevailed.”

That brought out some polite clapping.

“We proved our point.”

A few “hear, hears” caught that line. Did he even need those index cards?

“Sparent is the top-selling bio-mechanical interactive model in the world. This might be because we are the only company that sells a bio-mechanical interactive model.”

That was a good laugh for them all. Mr. Beverly knew it would bring things to a good conclusion.

“And as you know, Dr. Fast is the key to our great success. The man is responsible for a huge quantum leap in what we understand of our own biological strengths and weaknesses; he is responsible for pushing our understanding of what our lives can be. A brave man who deserved more than he received.”

They all knew where he was heading. The security staff was now looking at the audience in their seats around round tables. Mr. Beverly knew he had opened a door. It was not possible to stop here.

“A great deal more…”

They had their weapons ready. Mr. Beverly had personally organized the arrangement of guns and tasers and batons. No one was allowed to go into that room to watch their backs without a means to protect them.

“After the vicious attack on our headquarters, it was very unclear whether or not the doctor would survive and continue with his work. But as I said, we prevailed. We survived. And Sparent became even more popular than anyone could imagine. The media attention and the shock to share prices could not be ignored.”

The clapping was fierce, as was some of the accompanying laughter. Jim could not see anything unusual around him…so, why was he getting nervous?

“We prevailed…and Dr. Fast carried on with his work. Despite all of the surgical skill and medical talent involved, it was his own invention which saved his life. It was his ‘biological obscenity’ that made sure he made it through.”

More laughter at that (an old protest chant that Jim could not forget). They all knew it.

“And that is why we are all here today.”

The curtains behind him began to open; the lights above dimmed. The windows let in some light, but it was not enough to add to his nerves (why was he getting anxious now?).

“Dr. Tom Lyall Fast has retired from regular work with the company. He will consult with us in a freelance capacity, but he has decided to move on with his life and try other more exciting things. I think we all would with an advance in ourselves…”

Was that going too far? Should he apologize for…?

No, let’s go on.

“And now, Dr. T. L. Fast…”

The roar and clamour of the crowd was excessive, thought Mr. Beverly, but he understand this. They would not see each other again. The travel plans had been laid. The government made itself clear. The threats were still growing.

The fine doctor made it to the podium and stared hard at his host.

Was there recognition in those synthetic eyes? Did he even realize where he was?

Either way, it was time to let him speak.

Mr. Beverly was looking out at the crowd.

They could hear everything now.

“Thank you for that.”

The good doctor had some words to share.