Cyberpunk Fantasy Ancient Hope // Tribulation : Singularity

-18 years before Singularity.

Framed newspaper articles, magazine covers, diplomas, & letters cover the walls of the den. Headlines include : "Boy, 11, makes new breed of cat from stray & toy science kit, Wins Fair by Unanimous Decision."  "Monsanto lawyer defends Grow Your Own Pets approval to be sold at toy-stores." "GYOP sells out at retail stores across the country."  "Monsanto lawyer laughed out of court against GYOP, defense win." "McTaggart Genetics; profits and stock prices soar after release of new product line." "Rolling Stone : the 5 Rock Star Scientists behind GYOP at McTaggart Genetics." "GYOP make Puppy/Kitty-mills Obsolete; many 'close doors.'" "GYOP at Toy's R Us." "Time Magazine 2022's Man of the Year : Nathan McTaggart." "McTaggart's Quartet; the 4 siblings who were genetic experiments themselves." "McTaggart Wed's Wealthy Heiress"  "'Father' of 'McTaggart's Quartet' released from prison. Reunion." "The Pious Life of Inventor's Wife." "Father of McTaggart's Quartet dies surrounded by family" "'Gene's of Evil', shouted by Muslim protesters during baptism of Geneticists Daughter." "Joy McTaggart Donates 1 Billion Euro Inheritance to Catholic Church.'' "GYOP fad bigger in 2020's then Cabbage Patch Kids in the 1980's."  There is also a Nobel Peace Prize in Genetics & dozens of different death threats.

***

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! I had a great idea last night, while I was watching National Geographic!" exclaimed the young Genevieve McTaggart, while bursting into her fathers den.

"OK, OK, honey, what are you so excited about?"

She holds up the crayon drawing of a Narwhal with its horn circled in red, a plus sign, a horse, an equal sign, & the final picture in her equation; a unicorn.

He shakes his head...

"But Daddy, you're the best..." says the 9 year old girl, & points to the awards & diplomas on the wall in her father's den. "Mommy said you became a rich man by creating 'Grow your own pet' & I've read plenty of stories on the net, about extra toed cats & dogs with 2 tails, so don't give me the 'crimes against nature speech', I WANT A UNICORN!"

That's when he noticed it in her eyes, while yes, she was acting like the spoiled, bratty, ungrateful, daughter of the highest paid geneticist on the planet; she was also showing determination.

So he relented, provisionally.

"Fine, but I'm not going to do it. You'll do it yourself. I'll teach you the fundamentals, but you do all the work, deal?" She let out a high pitch squeal.

She was a smart girl, and with her father's training, she knew she could do it. "The hard part is going to be getting the Narwhal DNA for the horn, it's going to take some time for that to happen you know? I'll expect you to study in the meantime?" he said as she hugged him. "I WILL, I WILL, I WILL, THANK YOU DADDY! THANK YOU!" she kissed his cheek.

When she finally released him, he looked her in the eyes and smiled. "Now, today is Sunday, correct?"

Her smile faded as she released her grip from around his neck. "Yes." she acknowledged.

"Then I'm sure your mother would like it, if you were dressed in your Sunday best? It's her final choir performance for Bishop Rothschild before he leaves for Rome to be ordained as a Cardinal. Get that look off your face young lady, you're going to become the first person to ride a unicorn, since the Garden of Eden & you can't even dress nicely, without pouting?"

She realized what she was doing was bratty & smiled at the thought of her own real unicorn. "That's better, now run along & get out of those pajamas before your mother has to ask again." Genevieve ran off to change, screaming her delight, through the house, as she went. He never could say no to her, Nathan McTaggart thought, as he made the "pick up the phone" motions recognized by his Google/Corning internet accessible contacts & began to dial with it's SharksTooth auto dialing app.

"Thank you for calling McTaggart Genetics Corporation, if you know the exten..." McTaggart tapped into the air in front of him. *BEEP, BUUP, BOOP, BEEP,BUUP* he quietly heard in his ear.

"Good morning Nathan, what can we do for you?" Said the dry British accent, on the other end of the line.

"That depends Argus, who do you mean by we? Are all 4 of you there again?"

"No, just the 3 of us at the moment. Augustus decided to pick up breakfast for us all at the last minute."

"So he's still on his way in? Do you 4 ever take a day off from working in that lab?" Nathan chuckled.

Smiling, Argus replied, "We all have projects which..."

Nathan interrupted him, "Save it Argus, it was just a joke. I know you love your work. I'll be stopping by the lab this afternoon, just warn them, I have a new project to discuss."

"Warn them?" Argus asked, as the phone disconnected from the other end of the call.

***

"As most of you know, I will be leaving for Rome in a few days." stated Bishop Rothschild. "These past few years at this Holy Cathedral have been a great blessing. It has been a delight to have gotten to know so many of the wonderful newcomers to our growing parishes. For which I am very grateful for your diligence in helping to expand the faith, during the Corona depression. During those years the Lord blessed us, because we opened the doors of the Vatican to the homeless. So very many have been brought to the church, that our coffers overflowed, even during these days of tragic economics.

The initiatives which have gone out from the parishes I have over-seen were copied throughout the world & now the church has doubly swelled with what is now 2 billion Catholics, worldwide. The Good Lord guided his flock back to their good faith. The Glory of God. I will be reading from 1 Corinthians, Chapter 10, it is a passage which has always given me great courage.

1 I want you to be quite certain, brothers, that our ancestors all had the cloud over them and all passed through the sea.

2 In the cloud and in the sea they were all baptized into Moses; 3 all ate the same spiritual food

4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, since they drank from the spiritual rock which followed them, and that rock was Christ.

5 In spite of this, God was not pleased with most of them, and their corpses were scattered over the desert.

6 Now these happenings were examples, for our benefit, so that we should never set our hearts, as they did, on evil things;

7 nor are you to worship false gods, as some of them did, as it says in scripture: The people sat down to eat and drink, and afterwards got up to amuse themselves.

8 Nor, again, are we to fall into sexual immorality; some of them did this, and twenty-three thousand met their downfall in one day.

9 And we are not to put the Lord to the test; some of them put him to the test, and they were killed by snakes.

10 Never complain; some of them complained, and they were killed by the Destroyer."

Nathan McTaggart lays a hand on his daughter's restless right leg to keep it from kicking the pew in front of her. After he gave her a disapproving look, she ceased squirming around in her seat, with a sigh.

"11 Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were described in writing to be a lesson for us, to whom it has fallen to live in the last days of the ages.

12 Everyone, no matter how firmly he thinks he is standing, must be careful he does not fall.

13 None of the trials which have come upon you is more than a human being can stand. You can trust that God will not let you be put to the test beyond your strength, but with any trial will also provide a way out by enabling you to put up with it.

14 For that reason, my dear friends, have nothing to do with the worship of false gods.

15 I am talking to you as sensible people; weigh up for yourselves what I have to say.

16 The blessing-cup, which we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ; and the loaf of bread which we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?

17 And as there is one loaf, so we, although there are many of us, are one single body, for we all share in the one loaf.

18 Now compare the natural people of Israel: is it not true that those who eat the sacrifices share the altar?

19 What does this mean? That the dedication of food to false gods amounts to anything? Or that false gods themselves amount to anything?

20 No, it does not; simply that when pagans sacrifice, what is sacrificed by them is sacrificed to demons who are not God. I do not want you to share with demons.

21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons as well; you cannot have a share at the Lord's table and the demons' table as well.

22 Do we really want to arouse the Lord's jealousy; are we stronger than he is?" With unconscious boredom, Genevieve McTaggart's left leg begins bouncing.

"23 'Everything is permissible'; maybe so, but not everything does good. True, everything is permissible, but not everything builds people up.

24 Nobody should be looking for selfish advantage, but everybody for someone else's.

25 Eat anything that is sold in butchers' shops; there is no need to ask questions for conscience's sake,

26 since To the Lord belong the earth and all it contains.

27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal, go if you want to, and eat whatever is put before you; you need not ask questions of conscience first.

28 But if someone says to you, 'This food has been offered in sacrifice,' do not eat it, out of consideration for the person that told you, for conscience's sake-

29 not your own conscience, I mean, but the other person's. Why should my freedom be governed by somebody else's conscience?"

Nathan leans to his daughters ear & whispers, "Please settle down? Your mother will be singing soon." Quickly, she stops herself.

"30 Provided that I accept it with gratitude, why should I be blamed for eating food for which I give thanks?

31 Whatever you eat, then, or drink, and whatever else you do, do it all for the glory of God.

32 Never be a cause of offence, either to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God,

33 just as I try to accommodate everybody in everything, not looking for my own advantage, but for the advantage of everybody else, so that they may be saved.

Please follow in hymnals, song #142 "For the Glory of the Lord"" offering the attention to the choir, Bishop Rothschild finishes speaking. Genevieve & Nathan open their hymnals & sing along with the choir. Joy McTaggart was in perfect harmony with the others in the choir, so her voice wasn't really noticeable. Genevieve never did understand why her mother didn't try to stand out. Her songs often filled their home in a remarkable way, but here, it seemed, unnoticeable & bland. Genevieve jokingly sang along with her muttering father in a childishly teasing way. Smiling, Nathan shifted his weight & playfully bumped her hip, with his, forcing her to maintain her balance, or fall into the old lady next to her.

After the service.....

"Joy, I've called for another car to take you home. Genevieve & I are going to stop by the lab. She showed an interest in my work for the first time this morning & I'd like to encourage her a bit?" Nathan told his wife. Rolling her eyes, "Thank you for bringing her to the service. I'll see you at home for dinner?" She leaned into Genevieve & gave her a kiss goodbye with a smile. As they leave with the crowd, she turns back to speak to the bishop about the church's new family awareness and outreach initiative.

After playing what felt like the typical waiting game to see him, Joy was finally alone with the Bishop. They discussed church business for a few minutes, and decided the dates to roll out the new campaign. "Yes, bringing new people in on Halloween weekend would be appropriate, but we need to ensure that overzealous priests keep away from the doom and gloom. These are people new to the church," with a flirty smile, she added, "your Grace, ...." It was just how she said it. Bishop Rothschild couldn't understand it himself, but he loved her voice.

He loved it when Joy called him "Your Grace." He just liked the sound of it. The submissive tone, reminding him of how not submissive she can be. It was that reminder, which changed his tone. She was the only woman who ever stood up to him. 

Joy continued "....many of them will be having their first experiences with the church. We can't have them turn away then, just as we are finally getting them to hear the Lord's word." He nodded in agreement. He was done talking. He stared at her until she became silent, finally, after another couple of minutes of her going on and on. He stood.

He walked around his desk and sat next to her. "And how is your choir, are they learning everything you have to teach?" Joy knew the mood in the office had changed. She could sense the subtext in his words. "Yes, your Grace." she said in a more sultry tone, as she unbuttoned the top button of her dress. "My choir is growing, as well, your Grace." It got him every time, she could tell his excitement was growing. As she unbuttoned another, his attention zeroed in on her hands. She knew she had his interest already.

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