“You’ve been in this industry for twenty years, Lyle, don’t pretend this isn’t the same thing you’ve done every single day of it.”
Lyle closed his mouth, stunned. That’s not true.
Is it?
“All we need is a tiny vial of ReBirth,” said Kerry. “Pedro turned into a six-foot gringo with just a tiny sample, right? So we barely need any to make it work. We fix my wife and then we fix everybody else. You want to look like the model on the box? NewYew can do it—just pick the age and the size and we’ll make it happen, and we’ll even give you the perfect hair color to go with it. Like a bonus prize in the same package!”
“Of course all our models would have to have O negative blood,” said Sunny, “for safety reasons.”
“Don’t pretend like this is safe,” said Lyle.
“And they would need perfect skin,” said Cynthia. “No more futzing around with oily and flaky and combination formulas—you just rub on some lotion and your skin is perfect, right down to a genetic level.”
“But you’d need the models’ permission,” said Lyle, “and there’s no way any of them would give it.”
“For enough money they’ll give us anything we want,” said Cynthia. “Just ask Jeffrey.”
Jeffrey turned red.
“It’s illegal,” Lyle insisted, searching for anything he could think of to stop them. “The FDA wouldn’t give ReBirth a second look back when it was just a moisturizer. You think they’re going to allow it now that it clones people? Are you insane? The first advertisement that goes out is going to get this entire company seized by the government—and we can’t rely on the secondary marketing plan you came up with before, because the only way to sell this is to tell people exactly what it does. This is not just some boring technology nobody needs to know about—the technology is the whole story. We can’t not tell people what it does, but if we do tell people we could be charged with … I don’t know, war crimes for all I know. Bioterrorism.”
“We’ll go offshore,” said Sunny simply. “The company, the manufacturing, the whole deal, and then we just import it. There are virtually no restrictions on lotion imports under current law—we could flood the country with it.”
“But we still couldn’t sell it,” cried Lyle. “We’ll bring it in and they’ll seize it all and we’ll be right back where we started!”
“Except the price would go through the roof,” said Cynthia. “This could fetch hundreds of dollars a bottle, maybe thousands, and that’s when it’s legal. Think what a black market would do for it.”
“You’re talking about running drugs,” said Lyle.
Cynthia’s face grew cruel. “We are talking about running everything. This is not just a beauty product, this is the beauty product. Anyone who uses it—anyone, bar none—will look like a model. Cosmetic surgery is the most common category of surgery in this nation, maybe in the world, and now we can do it in two seconds with no pain, no surgery, and no complications—just rub on some lotion, drink a lot of fluids, wait four weeks. You thought the market for the old formula was going to be big? This new version won’t just outsell our competitors, it will make them obsolete—there will be no reason for anyone to ever buy from anyone else again. ReBirth is going to buy us the world.”
Lyle swallowed. “It’s too easy to misuse,” he said lamely. He was running out of arguments. “You put the wrong lotion on one morning and suddenly you’re accidentally someone else.”
“Every cosmetic product has a safety warning,” said Sunny. “We’d just make this one … stricter.”
“And it would work for men, too,” said Kerry. “I’m already excited to try it—on purpose, I mean. For every woman out there who wants to look like Angelina Jolie, there’s a man who wants to look like Brad Pitt.”
“What about…,” Lyle shook his head. “I can’t believe we’re even talking about this.”
“We need unimprinted lotion,” said Carl. “All we have for sure is Lyle lotion, and nobody wants to be Lyle. Lyle doesn’t even want to be Lyle.”
Cynthia looked at him. “Do you have any?”
“I won’t give it to you,” said Lyle, straightening up. “You want to clone the world, you do it without me.”
“Then what about your little girlfriend?” asked Cynthia. “The one in the hospital? She’s already turning into you; if you destroy ReBirth, there’s no way to save her.”
Lyle went pale.
“Is there any blank lotion?” she repeated.
Three bottles, Lyle thought, sitting right on my desk. But I can’t give it to them. What they’re planning is wrong—it’s not just wrong, it’s stupid and dangerous and illegal. It’s evil.
But … Susan.
Lyle looked at Cynthia—really stared at her, examining her in detail. Not her face, but her mind. She’s horrifying, he thought. A person like her should never have access to this kind of power. But that’s always the way: scientists invent the future, but accountants control it. I can’t let her have ReBirth. I can’t let any of them have it.
But can I even stop them? Lyle looked around, glancing at the door as casually as he could, hoping they didn’t see it; hoping they didn’t guess what he was thinking. I could run, but then what? If I run to my office they’ll stop me from leaving the building, and if I leave the building instead they’ll just search my office and find the lotion. They’ll get it either way; they’re offering me a chance to save my job. To save Susan. Isn’t it better that I stay? Isn’t it better to be here, where I can watch them and keep things under control? It’s just like when the lotion got stolen—it’s better to help NewYew get it out first than to let some unknown criminal have it—
Lyle swore. “The theft last month—whoever stole it has this technology.”
Everyone swore.
“What was in the stolen bottles?” Cynthia asked, rising quickly. “Was it you, or was it blank?”
“I’m not sure,” said Lyle, “I don’t remember—I have to check.”
“Then go!” shouted Carl. “Don’t just stand there like an idiot!”
“We save Susan,” said Lyle, not moving an inch. “Whatever else you do—whatever else we do—we save Susan first.”
“Of course,” said Cynthia. “All we need is her untainted DNA.”
“We can go to her house,” said Lyle, standing up, “we can ask her roommate for something of hers—a hairbrush, like Kerry said, or a—”
“Nobody can know,” said Carl. “We’ll save Susan, but we’ll do it in secret.”
Lyle nodded. “The blank lotion’s in my office.”
