Once is Enough

“Dr. Lansing, enough is enough. I called you here today because I want an update on progress. You are already three months late!”

“I apologize, Mr. Brown. This therapy is so novel, the development took more time than anticipated.”

“And more money than you originally asked for!”

Brown’s voice was shrill, commanding.

“I did warn you the original amount may not be enough. This research is highly illegal, I had to pay extra just to avoid any…complications.”

“I’m not sure you can justify all the extra money you got, but no matter. Only one thing matters now. Are you reporting success or failure?”

“Success. We’re ready.”

“The stem cells, they finally worked?”

“Yes, we had to combine them with a cocktail of drugs, and we finally got the mixture right.”

“So, you can bring me back?”

“In theory, yes.”

“Theory is good enough for me. When will you be ready to perform the procedure?”

Lansing nodded to the bag he carried.

“I have the first batch with me. I anticipated you’d want to proceed immediately.”

Brown’s eyes gleamed.

“You can do it here and now? You need no other equipment?”

“No, the test animals revived after the injection alone. No CPR or defibrillation was required. But before we go ahead, please accept my advice and don’t do it.”

“I didn’t fund your opinion. I funded your research.”

Lansing glanced down at the man in the wheelchair. William Brown. An ordinary name for an extraordinary man. He had been a millionaire by thirty, a billionaire by fifty. Now, at seventy-five he was confined to a wheelchair with crippling arthritis. Lansing felt no sympathy; by all accounts Brown had made his wealth by being an unpleasant, grasping bastard. He was no philanthropist, he kept all his money for himself. Brown read his expression.

“I know you dislike me, Lansing. I don’t care.”

Brown spoke to the other person in the room.

“Push me over to the window, Lucas.”

Lucas, Brown’s personal secretary, did as he was told. Brown stared out at the lush garden beyond.

“I am a rich man, Lansing. Richer than you can possibly imagine. I’ve dined with kings and emperors. I’ve visited nearly every country on earth. I’ve even flown in space. ”

He pushed the chair round to face Lansing.

“In short, Dr. Lansing, I’ve lived a long and fulfilling life. I’ve done everything I‘ve ever wanted to do. The only thing I haven’t done is died. I am not scared of dying, quite the contrary in fact. I want to experience it, but I want to come back so I can savor the sensation. I want to experience what it feels like to die by poisoning, by electrocution; by a dozen different methods. Your treatment, the one I have paid so much for, will bring me back, restored and rejuvenated, so I can die again and again.”

Lansing was unimpressed. He’d heard the same speech a dozen times over the years.

“As I said, Mr. Brown, it should work…in theory.”

“Then let’s proceed.”

Brown looked at his personal secretary.

“I need someone to do the deed. Lucas, I want you to strangle me.”

Lucas didn’t move. Brown frowned angrily.

“Lucas, I order you to kill me. Lansing will bring me back, there’s no need to worry.”

Lucas laid his hands round his employer’s scrawny neck.

“Now Lucas! Do it!”

Lucas squeezed.

Lansing watched with horror and disgust. Lucas’s face was set, showing no emotion. Brown was ecstatic, his visage convulsed with pain and pleasure.

It was over within minutes. Lucas removed his hands and Brown slumped in his chair. Lucas was visibly shaking. His pampered existence hadn’t prepared him for such an experience. He looked up at the doctor.

“Dr. Lansing, give him the injection. Bring him back.”

Lansing smiled, a bitter grimace. He opened his bag, revealing an empty interior.

“I can’t, Lucas. There never was any therapy. I funneled all the money into cancer research. What he wanted was both immoral and impossible. I chose to help people instead. Despite himself, his money went to a good cause.”

Lucas looked stunned.

“Don’t worry Lucas, I didn’t completely cheat him. He wanted to experience death, and now he has. But once is enough, Lucas. Once is enough.”

∼ RJ Meldrum