Karma Can

How did it come to this?

Dr. Eris Baronas lay on the narrow cot, staring at the cracked ceiling. She needed a drink. Or a vape. Or something stronger. All she got was a bologna sandwich and water somewhere amongst booking, fingerprints, facial scanning, DNA swabbing, and shoving her in this cell.

Criminal justice had come a long way in the early twenty-second century.

I wonder if they’ll let me out for Mom’s funeral?

Her thoughts toggled between the charges won’t stick to not likely. She sniffed and swiped her tears away with a corner of her tattered blanket. She couldn’t believe it. Her discovery should have saved Mom. It should have saved everybody.

Your discovery?

Of course, her mind went back there. She thought that day three years ago was the start of her new life. It was, just not like she imagined.

~*~

The dark cell was replaced with light, laughter, champagne, cocktail dresses, and canapes. The ballroom was resplendent with its crème-colored wallpaper with golden accents and lights sparkling on crystal glasses and chandeliers. Eris smiled as she wandered through the crowd, chatting and sipping champagne amongst the accolades.

“Congratulations on your discovery,” Dr. Magus said. “I hear talks about nominations for the Breakthrough Prize, the Abarca Prize, and the Nobel Prize once the FDA approval is done and this goes public.”

Eris smiled at the Medical School Chairman. “Not bad for a computer scientist.”

Dr. Magus smiled, his veneered teeth matching his white hair. “AI is integral to healthcare now. We’re saving more lives than ever. Your genetic detection programming may eradicate cancer.”

“That’s the goal,” she said, sipping her champagne.

“Computers can’t do everything,” a voice said behind her. They turned to see Lila stepping up to them, her green gown swirling around her slender frame. “Eventually, you have to bring people into the process.”

Eris swallowed, feeling bloated in her white gown with silver accents. “Of course.”

“I know it took both the medical and engineering teams to make this discovery,” Dr. Magus said, squeezing Lila’s hand. “Please accept my condolences on your loss. I wish this would have happened sooner.”

Lila nodded. “Thank you, Doctor. I hope our work will prevent anybody else from experiencing the same loss that I have. That’s what we strive for in science, right? Making life better?”

“I know your contributions to this project were invaluable,” Dr. Magus said.

“Everybody’s contributions were valuable,” Lila said, gesturing toward Eris. “It’s too bad they only had one of those fancy awards to give tonight.”

Dr. Magus cleared his throat. “I must mingle. Congratulations again, ladies. I’m proud that my staff and the University are bringing this groundbreaking discovery into the world.”

They watched him walk away in a stiff silence. Finally, Eris turned to Lila. “What was that?”

Lila took a glass of champagne from a passing tray. “What was what?”

Eris sighed. “Lila, this is complex work and people can’t understand the significance of something hard to describe.”

“How is it hard to describe that you needed me to tell you how to program the AI to read the human genome correctly? Or to program it to read the protein codes in DNA properly so it can correct mutations that make people more prone to cancer and correct cellular replication errors that lead to tumors?”

Eris swallowed. “This is simple to us because we do it every day, but to the average person –”

“Who isn’t as stupid as you want them to be,” Lila interrupted.

“It’s not so simple,” Eris continued. “If I singled you out, then I’d have to single out every member of the team, and people don’t have the mental bandwidth to handle that. They want one person to stand for the entire project, and that’s me. I’m the leader.”

Lila snorted. “You’re the boss, so you own our brains?”

“No!” Eris put her hand on Lila’s arm. Lila flinched but didn’t push it away. “You’re grieving the loss of your father and I’m sorry. I agree with Dr. Magus. You’re on this project because you hoped it would save him. My mother has cancer, and I pray she can get this AI integration with her neural chip in time to save her. But I’m the computer scientist who developed the AI. I wrote the code, developed the bridging software with the neural chips, tested it, and ran the simulations and early trials. It all comes back to me. Of course, I appreciate your work and contribution, and I can’t thank you enough for finding that coding error. We’d still be slaving away in the lab if you didn’t.”

“You can’t thank me publicly,” Lila said. “You can’t admit that you couldn’t do it alone and it wouldn’t be going public if it weren’t for me.”

“Lila, you’re taking this too hard. In time you’ll understand.”

Lila surveyed the room. “You always referred to us as a team until tonight. The raining accolades washed us away.” She finished her champagne in a final swig and placed it on a nearby table. “Enjoy it while you can.”

Eris narrowed her eyes. “What does that mean?”

Lila smiled. “I can’t deal with you, but karma can and you can’t stop it now.”

Eris scoffed. “Lila, I’m sorry it’s too late for your father, but it’s not too late for billions of other people.”

Lila raised an eyebrow. “Like your mother?”

“Karma? Please, Lila. You need grief counseling.”

Lila smiled as she swooped another glass of champagne from another waiter. “Everybody gets what they need in the end,” she walked away.

~*~

“Don’t worry, Mom. You’ll be good as new when you get out,” Eris kissed the lady lying on the bed in the hospital surgery prep area.

“I know I will dear,” Mom said. “You’ve brought the world a miracle. When I wake up, the cancer will be gone and I’ll start new. I wish other people had this AI, like your friend’s father.”

Eris looked away. She was surprised that Lila returned to the lab after her award presentation but she did, every day, ushering the AI programming through the trials, finalization, and FDA approval process. It required hard work and late nights, but they pulled it off. The final development and testing was successful, and they got the approval in six months. The new AI programming had drastically boosted survival rates over the past year, with no remissions. Now, she was certain it would cure Mom’s chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Hope alone gave her a new lease on life.

“It is a shame, but Lila’s father had small-cell carcinoma. At least your cancer spread slower, so there’s more hope for you than there ever was for him.”

Mom squeezed Eris’s hand. “At least she’s using her pain to help others. She doesn’t want other people to suffer like he did, or to grieve like she and her family do. I admire that altruism.”

“It took her some time to get to that,” Eris said.

Mom nodded. “Hurting people hurt others. She was hurting that night, sweetheart. She needed to get that pain and frustration out. She forgave you for neglecting to give her the credit she was due. You need to forgive her for lashing out in grief.”

Did she forgive me? They never discussed it. They returned to the lab Monday morning and got back to work. In the three years since then, Lila showed up to work, did her job impeccably, and followed Eris’s lead. She even helped Eris prepare for presentations, attended conferences and volunteered for the late night shifts to review and compile data for updates and run developmental simulations and tests. Lila prepared most of the paperwork and pretty much walked the project through the FDA approval and public integration process. “You’re right, Mom. I need to let it go. I did it and now here we are, saving your life.”

“Why do they have to bring me to the hospital and put me under?” Mom asked. “I thought they were doing this through my neural chip.”

“They are, but they have to sedate you so the AI programming can integrate with your neural chip, develop new programming, and disperse it through your cells,” Eris said. “You might go into shock otherwise. It’s safer if you’re unconscious while they do it,” she kissed Mom’s cheek as the doctor and nurse entered the room. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ve saved you. This cancer can’t hurt you anymore.”

Mom smiled. “Thank you, dear.”

~*~

“I’m sorry, Eris,” the surgeon looked pale as she sat at the small table in the family room off the surgery recovery area. “All surgery has risks, but we didn’t expect this.”

Eris dabbed her watery eyes. “I don’t understand. How could she die? This AI integration works.”

“Nothing is infallible.”

“It’s the only procedure with a zero percent fatality rate!”

“Until now,” the surgeon tapped her tablet, consulting her files. “The AI programming failed, and it sent your mother into cardiac arrest. This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Eris looked up with her reddened eyes. “It failed? That’s impossible!”

“The AI module integrated with the neural chip, but it couldn’t read the genetic coding.”

“She’s had that cancer for three and a half years! Her neural chip should have that data stored. Surly, there was plenty of genetic and cellular data for it to work with.”

The surgeon spread her hands. “There was, but it didn’t do it. Our computer engineers are looking at it now. It will take a while to analyze, but they say the most likely scenarios are a coding error or a virus.”

“A virus?” Eris said. “How could my AI have a virus? It’s perfect!”

The surgeon leaned forward. “Nothing is perfect. I don’t mean to sound crass, but we’re imperfect people living in an imperfect world. Mistakes happen, and sometimes things can’t be fixed. We did everything possible for your mother, but this AI integration is new territory for us. It’s my first fatality from this procedure, too. Trust me, I will not be able to sleep tonight because of it.”

I can’t deal with you, but karma can.

“No,” Eris whispered.

The surgeon sighed, mistaking the whisper for sorrow. “Do you want me to send in the Chaplin? It sounds like you need to talk to somebody.”

Eris stood. “I certainly do, but not him.”

The surgeon stood. “Do you need for us to get you somebody else?”

Eris smiled. “No, I know where to find her.”

~*~

“Ms. Baronas?” a tall man in a dark suit said as Eris stormed through the hospital surgery waiting room.

“Dr. Baronas,” she snapped, looking between him and the short, curvy woman standing next to him. “I’m sorry, no pictures or interviews. My mother just died.”

They both pulled out badges. “That’s why we’re here, Dr. Baronas,” the woman said. “We’d like to talk to you about that privately.”

“Call my office to make an appointment with my staff,” Eris said.

“We’d really like to talk privately,” the man said. “Now.”

Eris pushed past them. “Call my lab!”

The man grabbed her arm and slapped a cuff on her wrist. “Dr. Eris Baronis, you have the right to remain silent.”

“What?” Eris screeched as he continued to read her rights while snapping the cuff on her other hand.  She turned her head, taking in the other people in the waiting area. Several people were gathering around, with phones in their hands.

“Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?” was the next thing she heard. Her head snapped back to the man.

“No,” she said. “Why are you arresting me?”

“For the first-degree murder of your mother, Emelia Barona,” the woman said as they escorted her out of the hospital with the crowd watching.

~*~

“You have a visitor,” the harsh voice said.

Eris raised her head from the cot, rubbing her eyes. She must have fallen asleep. How many days had she been in here? Maybe her lawyer finally got something done. She stood. “My attorney?”

The guard snorted. “I’m not your secretary. Come on.”

He guided her to the visitation room, which was empty save for a woman sitting at the center table. The woman stood as Eris entered the room.

It was Lila, looking resplendent in the same gown she wore to the award ceremony three years ago.

The guard motioned Eris to the table while he pulled earbuds and a cell phone from his pocket, retreating to a corner and turning his back. Eris glanced between Lila and the guard, the lights buzzing overhead.

“I told you this would happen,” Lila said finally.

Eris snapped her head to focus on Lila. “You did this.”

Lila smiled and sat down. “Did what?”

“Killed my mother.”

“According to the reports, you did that. It was you who missed the glitch in coding in the AI to read for slow-growing cancers.” She leaned back. “How could you miss that, Eris? The cancer had been there so long that the AI read the data as normal. It turns out that it only worked on early-stage or fast-progressing cancers.”

Eris slammed her hands on the table so hard that they stung. She ignored the pain. “How did you do it?”

Lila studied her perfectly manicured nails. “That was your mistake, not mine.”

“A mistake that was fixed. How did it come back?”

Lila leaned forward. “It always comes back, Eris. That’s what I tried to tell you three years ago, but you wouldn’t listen. You laughed at me.”

Eris jumped to her feet. “What did you do?!”

The guard turned his head. Lila motioned to him and he turned back to the corner.

“I didn’t do anything. This was your project, your discovery, your gift to the world. If it went bad, then you have nobody but yourself to blame.” She sat up straight. “You get back what you put out, and now it’s coming back for you. You do know that the FDA has filed a suit against you for knowingly deceiving them? We reviewed the data and discovered that you didn’t do proper trials to test this AI in the slow-moving and advanced cancer stages. You rushed it through testing and falsified the paperwork to make it look like you did statistically viable trials.”

“All those late nights,” Eris said. “All that paperwork. Leading the trials and processing the results. It was you.”

Lila stood. “All I did was take back what was mine, and now I’m taking it with me. You didn’t even pay attention to what was going on around you. You were so presumptious that you thought everybody else thought as highly of you as you thought of yourself.” She tapped the guard’s shoulder, pulled some green bills from her purse, and pressed it in his hands. He slipped it in his pocket and roughly took Eris by the arm.

“You never did understand the burden of leadership. I hope this comes back to you!”

Lila smiled. “Now you believe in karma? I suppose the hardest lessons stick.” She stepped forward and put her hand on Eris’s arm. “I do understand, Eris. You’re the one who doesn’t understand. I’m merely balancing the scales. You can’t take the credit but not the blame, and you can’t expect loyalty when you give none.”

“You won’t get away with this,” Eris hissed as the guard drug her through the room. “The charges won’t stick. I’ll get out and then I’ll find you!”

Lila smiled. “Good luck. You can’t touch me now, only karma can. I’d say its work here is done.”

Eris screamed as the guard dragged her back to her cell.