Give

Me Time
I.
One life isnt enough. Two, threenot enough. Eternity, now that would be enough.
Eternity yes, but not spent in one of the transcendent dimensions promised by the various gods.
First of all, thats got to be boring. What is there to do surrounded by nothing but emptiness?
Nothingtheres nothing to do. Secondly, there is no god. Im sure, Ive checked. And theres
no soulthis is verified information. The only thing that exists is protein. And science. Only
science can help me reach my goal. Only science can give me time.
Im interested in an overall eternity, and in the duration of all things, preferably without
deterioration. An overall eternity is one thats not only mine as an individual, but that includes
a certain environment that I imagine will last forever along with me. Until I am satisfied, until
the world is satisfied with me, until I do and feel and experience so deeply that I finally say
enough. At the moment what I feel is hunger.
I am a hundred years old.
My name is Thomasa very symbolic name. Any association with the doubting
Thomas of the Bible is justified. I dont believe in anything that I havent examined for myself.
I need to put my fingers into the wound, like the skeptical apostle. I need to touch things
anything I cant touch, doesnt exist.
And I can touch a lot of things. I can look into places the average person has no idea
about. Im a geneticist, and thus able to analyze the very essence of human life, and I believe
that I can see into the core of human beings. I disentangle the helixsequence, isolate, analyze.

And as I said, I believe that theres nothing but protein. I have a T-shirt with the slogan: nothing
but protein. We are that and nothing more.
Unfortunately protein wears out. You can compare it to a rubber stamp. In time, the ink
runs out and the imprint becomes blurred. The same thing happens with proteinssometimes
they replicate incorrectly.
Thats what happened to me. And I am fucking pissed off.

II.
Its hard not to be pissed. Im dying, and its really fucking annoying. I dont understand
why this happened to me.
We all die, says Aurora, my wife. My first and last wife, so it seems. Shes a
philosopher and offers me bouquets of clever sentences. You have to accept life as it is. We
must live in harmony with one other. When the world falls apart, the broken pieces will
eventually fit back together.
I hate your sayings! I tell her. Ihatebullshit. All the more annoying is the fact
that, as a geneticist, I was able to see what was happening to my protein, but didnt have the
time to deal with it. Ive been busy with the entire worldI couldnt be bothered with anything
smaller than that: Aurora, Caroline, or myself.
You have to accept it and move on, Aurora says. I tell her to get out of my room, I
cant look at her. She seems to derive a perverse pleasure from the fact that unless a miracle
happensor unless I create a miracle, because I do have certain powersIm headed straight
for the finish line.
Never, I say quietly, because she doesnt like it when I whisper.

I have cancer. Fuck me. How could this happen? I dont understand. I mean, I
understand from an engineering or a genetic point of view. But I should have checked my body,
submitted a sample to the cross-simulator and instructed it to calculate the most likely
mutations. I should have done itI could have. And then what would I have done? I dont
know, but I prefer knowledge to ignorance.
I dont want to die. It isnt my time yet. I need more timeIm not done with my life!
Damn it, its not enough! Aurora doesnt understand.
Time passes, you cant change that, she says.
But I still have so many thingsso many things that I havent done, that I want to do!
That I have to do!
You cant follow every possible path in life, Aurora says.
Well see!
What do you mean?
Genesis, Genesisthats what I mean
You think your employer will help you? Aurora snorts, and in that moment I hate her.
Shes never liked my work. I mean my work since I switched from a state job to Genesis. She
knows that I love my current job, and when she wants to sting me she criticizes it. Or maybe
she really doesnt understand that Genesis is headed in the only right direction? In the end we,
mankind, would never make it on this ruined planet. In the end the Earth would kill us allwe
could never evolve quickly enough to outrun our own destruction of the environment.
They can help me, Im sure
I hope youre not overestimating their capabilities, Aurora says, and walks out of my
office. She closes the door carefully, almost inaudibly, which annoys me even more. So much

so that Id like to throw something against it. I dont do it, thoughI wont give her the
satisfaction of knowing shes driving me crazy. I wont give her an excuse for another lecture
about the necessity of accepting my illness. You have to accept that you cant influence
everything.
I fucking well can! I say to myself.

III.
I met Aurora when I was twenty-two. I put up with her for nearly a century, and Im
both proud of that and angry about it at the same timeangry about all the years I could have
spent with someone less complicated. In the beginning, when I was young, I was attracted by
her reticence, which could suddenly change into a verbal diarrhea. Her gestures, so ethereal, her
trembling lipsAurora cried a lot. Today shes not crying, just arguing with me. Not even
arguing, reallyjust contradicting.
She also used to laugh more. Whats left now is this passivity, this stubborn sticking to
me. After all, why does she stay with me? We dont match.
Its natural: our relationship, like everything else in the universe, evolved. Panta rhei
everything flows, said Heraclitus of Ephesus, to quote my wife quoting himshe quotes
philosophers any chance she gets. She spent years studying their work, so let her cite their
bullshit and Ill somehow put up with it, since I, too, observe the flow of everything, but as a
scientist. I used to love her. I felt good with her. I was Alpha, and sheOmega. I was midnight,
she was the noon. I was the zenith and she was the nadir. I was a plus, shea minus. We
attracted each other.

In the beginning we lived in peace. Things were really good, despite some financial
problems. Material nourishment is supposed to pale in comparison with the spiritual and
intellectual sustenance we offer each other. I disagreenothing tastes as good as lobster. Even
cloned lobster is damned good.
In ancient times, in the twentieth century, Aurora gave birth to our daughter, Caroline. I
no longer have contact with her, unfortunately. We lived an ordinary life: Aurora worked at the
university, I worked at an institute whose name has now faded from my memory. It doesnt
matterGenesis acquired it back when I was in my sixties. I thought they would just get rid of
methere were so many talented, much younger, scientists. True, I had some great
achievements, but these were purely theoretical and on a small scale. But things turned out
differently than I expected.
Miran noticed me, the president of Genesis. He reviewed our research, analyzed the
data. He fired everyone except me.
You have potential, he told me when he came to see me. That felt great. It felt so good
that, despite Auroras objections, I joined his team. That was in 2020.
Soon itll be my twenty-fifth anniversary of working for the company. For twenty-five
years, every day, my wife has protested against what we do, Genesis and me.
Through all my years with Miran, my anger at Auroras views has fueled meher
views, her philosophical small talk, her riddles, her contemptuous smile. Without them I
wouldnt be where I am today. I wouldnt have created a new tomorrowand I have created
one. Not alone of course, but together with Genesis, proving how very wrong she was. How
little she sees. How little, overall, she knows. Philosophy isnt knowledge, its a celebration of
ignorance.

IV.
Caroline is fifty-eight. Place of residenceunknown. Or rather known, but not visited.
Not by me, anyway, although Aurora sometimes visits her. My daughter doesnt want to see
me.
Its not surprisingI wasnt a good father. I was busy with everything but Caroline.
And by then I also didnt care for Aurora muchthe intimacy of the first years of marriage was
over. No wonder that theyAurora and Carolinebecame very close.
I should have intervened in the relationshipshould have disconnected them, these two
lovebirdsbefore my wife, accursed Aurora, broke my daughter. Before she filled her head
with stories from out of this world, convincing Caroline that genetic engineering is counter to
Gods act of creation. Nonsense! Engineering is just creation on fast-forward!
Before I realized that Caroline was lost, that she thought that what I did was wrong and
contrary to nature, it was too late. She told me she didnt want to know me. That she was
leaving the city, not wanting to see how Genesis would transform it into its own farm,
collecting people from all over the country, and then from all over Europethe hundreds of
thousands of people who would be needed to take care of the future of humankind. She didnt
understand that it had to be that way, that it would necessarily happen, and that we, the people,
would subordinate the whole world. We would be god. Collectively. I dont like collectives, but
let it be.
So she left. Never spoke to me ever again. Never, ever.
Before I die, I want to say something to Caroline. That I remember. One event. Caroline
was three years old. I took her for a walk by the river, something I almost never did. We walked

along the bank. She was licking a lollipop, and I held her hand. I felt her hand in mine and it
was good. It was great. I remember that day.
I need more time to tell her this. That one walk is not enough. I want to do something
more for her, for myself, something else.
I really miss Caroline.

V.
My disease is progressing rapidly. Cancer is a bitch, able to multiply at an alarming rate.
This ability fascinates me as a geneticist, but pisses me off as well.
Im undergoing various therapies, but this shit is resistant to all of them. There are some
new medications that Genesis is reportedly testing, and that supposedly work, but the research
isnt complete yet. Ive seen my colleagues come up with some epic fails in the past, so let
them finish the tests before I try them. Im not afraid to dieIll die anywaybut I dont want
to end up as some creepy mutation. If the risk that the meds might make my DNA go crazy is
low enough, then Ill try themjust thank Genesis, swallow the drugs without thinking about
the consequences, and thats that. I refuse to die just because some fucking cancer wants to eat
me alive.
There are also some other options that I want to discussI do not know whywith my
wife, who just brought my medications. I inhale them deeply, then cough, but they help. I hope
the cancer is now suffering an agony. Id like to hear it scream. I imagine that it sounds like the
squeak a shellfish makes when its put into boiling watereven the cloned ones squeak. Let the
cancer squeak until its hoarse.
Aurora, I can be cured. I talked about it with Miran, I say.

Well, he certainly has reliable cures, says my wife. First I stay silent. Then I break my
silenceI cant stand that tone.
He does, I answer. You probably dont even want to know what it is. The very fact
that it comes from Genesis is enough for you to object to it.
Right
I dont say anything more because I start coughing. Aurora sighs. She walks out, comes
back in a moment later, and brings me another inhaler. She turns it on and applies it to my
chest. The machine scans what has to be scanned, measures the dose. I put the nozzle in my
mouth, inhale the next drug. Im dizzy, and then feel better. I can, at last, answer Aurora.
I can undergo a transplant. At the company. For free
You know its not about the money
Right, money is not a problem. We have more than we need. We have our apartment in
one of the highest Hives of the Ark. Its on the top floorbelow you can see the entire
megalopolis. Except when smog covers it, but even then you can see all the way to the horizon.
Were above the smog. We are above the city. We are above everything.
Youre above God, Aurora says sometimes, usually as she looks at the Genesis
building that shines like a flare behind the other buildings. Its blue.
I dont know what youre talking about, I answer every time.
I sigh. I get up, go to the window.
Up! I command. Home computer pulls up the blinds. Before me I see smog, purple
and dense, pierced by occasional streams of light flowing from the glass-covered walkways.
The sidewalks glide the people alongthey dont walk, theyre carried from building to
building. From place to place. People flowingthere are so many of them, they seem to fuse.

Aurora joins me at the window.

What do they want to transplant?
Lungs
I know. What lungs?
I hesitate for a moment. I dont know whether to tell her the secret. I decide not to
better not. You never know whos listeningGenesis has cameras and listening devices all
over the city. Im not sure whether we have them here, in the apartment. Actually, Im pretty
sure we do.
Some. From a donor, I answer indirectly.
Dont lie
Im not lying
Youre lying, Aurora says, and shakes her head sadly. She doesnt understand that its
better if she doesnt know. She does not need that knowledge. Dont do it, she says.
Ill think it over
Youve already made up your mind, right?
Aurora...
Your mind is made up?
No. But I do not want to... I dont want to die. Please, understand me, Aurora! I do not
want to die! I need more time, just some time!

VI.
I have new lungs. Fresh, straight from my donor.

The donor didnt survive, unfortunately, but I dont care. The customers at the chain of
Genesis grocery storesthe name of which drives me crazy: Antwill eat its meat. Ants,
Hives, termite mounds and termites, people and their apartmentsthe tunnels between them
look like the tunnels between levels of an anthill. The individuals, large and small, glide inside.
All of them are workerstheres no queen. Or Maybe Satia fills that role. Shes so close to
Miran, probably fucks himI noticed something during the meeting, the way she looks at him.
As if she wanted to devour him, as if she loved him, but with a strange, possessive kind of love.
Different from Auroras love for meAurora loves me desperately, sadlya love that no
change can alter. I dont know if I should be grateful or cry.
I have new lungs, clean, without cancer. My old ones were tested first, then destroyed in
an oven. I hope the cancer suffered. It destroyed so many plans that I had, and now Im busy,
busy as hell, trying to make up for lost time. Well, now I have time to spare.
Time passes, I do not know how much. Life in the Hives makes it difficult to follow.
Year after year, its all the same, although the work changes dramatically. When I was born, I
didnt know how the world worked, my knowledge was so limited. The double helix was
described when I was almost twenty. Today I can disentwine it and then rewind it again in any
way I choose. That took less than a hundred years. My knowledge now grows faster and faster.
Im doing better and better, as if the information I havewhether stored in my head, or held in
the reliable Genesis databasesallows me to more and more effectively penetrate unknown,
unexplored fields.
Initially, with my new lungs, I feel great. Unfortunately, after some time they start to
make trouble. I assume that the goddamned cancer has been lurking somewhere inside me and

is now attacking me again. I do tests, but I dont find it. I feel bad, Im weak. I feel like my
body is somehow independent of my will. A rebellion.
I draw some blood on my ownIve done this hundreds of times. I put the sample into
the cross-simulator and let it do an evaluation. The machine does this willingly. I love
machinestheyre so much easier to use than people. The cross-simulator displays the results
on thin nets that hang from the ceiling. I wander between these curtains and stare at the
presentation created by my perfect mechanical collaborator, the powerful computer for which
nothing is impossible. It has cut my DNA into pieces and shows the fragments to me, asking if
it should spread the segments so that I can check them more thoroughly.
Split, I say. Cross-simulator listens. Splits. I see more pictures, this time not just blue,
but also green and pink. I dont have to look long. I see. I see whats happening inside of me.
Fuck! I say, and call Miran.
He picks up, as usual. Im important to him. I ask him for a meetingrequest that he
come downstairs, to the protected zone of the building, and take a look. He comes quickly.
My DNA combined with the DNA of the pig whose lungs were transplanted, I tell
him, although I know that he sees what I see: that Im becoming a pig. I was already
figuratively a pig, according to Aurora.
Oh, Miran says, and moves to the next sequence. Do you have any symptoms? Side
effects?
Yes
Oh. Hes still thinking.
I tell him that if it progresses, Ill probably cash in my chips. And I dont want thatit
is not time yet, as Ive said repeatedly. I still have a lot to do. And heres a nice surprise,

somehow, miraculously, not anticipated by cross-simulator, I have foreign DNA. Of course I

can get it cleaned out, come up with some medicine that will remove the unwanted sequences.
But theyll be back, like a stubborn wasp that returns to feed on something sweet. I dont like it.
I dont like it, I say to Miran.
I dont like it, either.
If this is happening to me, itll happen to others too. The ones whove been treated in
our clinics. There are millions of them.
I know! Miran is impatient.
What do we do?
Nothing. Not a single word about it outside. I will think it over, see if we can help you
somehow. But in the meantime keep what you know to yourself.
But they probably feel as shitty as I feel.
Fuck that. They have to hold on until we can solve the problem. Try to deal with it,
prepare some preliminary concepts. Ill order some teams to work on that
And if its... some mystery?
I dont understand.
If we cant solve the problem becausebecause theres some force beyond our
understanding, whose actions we cant comprehend, and who really doesnt want to cooperate
with us? I ask the question, and as soon as I finish I hear how stupid it sounds. Maybe I have
some mindfuck as a result of the mutations. I have junk in my head, I hear a constant noise,
headaches and dizziness. Ive become an idiot, as Miran confirms.
Bullshit. There are no supernatural forces, just us

In the evening I come home completely exhausted. Aurora sees that Im feeling bad.
She suggests a doctors appointmentshe doesnt know that I dont need the Genesis quacks,
because I have my cross-simulator. Those guys are fine for the termites. Not for me.
Ill make you something to eat, she decides. Prepares my salad with vegetables that
werent grown in the companys fieldswe, the better people, the non-termites, dont eat that
genetically modified shit. We eat clean.
I eat the salad, which tastes like papermy sense of taste is also undergoing mutation.
Auroras watching me. She knows me wellone look and she knows Im in trouble.
Whats happening? she asks.
I cant tell you, professional matters, I say. Aurora shakes her head. She leans
forward. A tear runs down her cheek, falls on the counter. I wipe it with my sleeve. Aurora,
you know the rules, I say to her gently.
Im worried about you, my wife says.
I feel so touchedI get up and hug her tightly. I kiss the top of her head, then her neck.
She still loves it. She breathes evenly and deeply, doesnt move away, but gets up. I kiss her on
the lips, as hard as if it will be our last time.
Time. I need timethis cant be the last time. I want to kiss Aurora forever. I have to
kiss Aurora. I love Aurora. Everything I do, I do for her. Although earlier I might have sounded
like I didnt care about her, deep inside I love her. And I will always love her. Aurora. Aurora.
Time.

VII.
Do you want to live forever, Aurora? I ask her some time later. Recently, weve been
talking a lot and I feel that things are slightly better between us, although theres still something
in the air that divides ussomething called Genesis. I dont want to think about it right now
Genesis isnt going to go away and Aurora will eventually accept it.
I dont understand, Aurora says. She gets nervous and sits down abruptly, showing
me her bare back. Its old, Aurora is old, but she looks good. She doesnt know what Im
talking about. Without informing her, I gave her something we prepared at Genesissomething
that isnt available to the termites, only to me and her and a few other people. It slows down
aging, pushes the cells to work harder and live longer. Thanks to this concoction Aurora feels
good, even though shes almost as old as me. She thinks its a matter of genesand in fact her
genes are good. She says her family is long-lived, and it is. So, as far as Im concerned, Im just
building on her existing potentialI boost it. Aurora can live for about two hundred years,
maybe even more if I work hard at it. Of course my goal is eternity, hence the question. Would
Aurora want to live forever? Always. Always.
Would you like to live forever and never die, I repeat, stroking her arm. The touch of
her skin still excites me. Even after so many years.
For what? Aurora asks. She lies down, covers her breasts. A pitytheyre really nice.
So you can do everything the way it should be done.
And how should it be done?
If you were able to live forever, youd have time to find out how to do everything just
right.
Do you regret something? And why are you asking?

No, maybeI dont know.

Thomas, are you dying?
Every day, bit by bit. I laugh, but I feel my throat tighten. Im afraid, because I know
that now my dying has been sped up. My clock is ticking at a frantic pace. My time, my
precious time, is running out. I feel worse and worse, and neither Miran nor the others have any
idea what to do with me. They had better hurry, because Ill be really pissed off if I die.
Thomas, I dont understand what youre trying to say. She turns her face towards me,
hugs me.
Caroline, I say, because Ive told her so many times about the problem of time that I
dont want to repeat myself yet again.
Oh, Thomas... Aurora sighs. It would be better to fix it now, today.
Today... I repeat.
Yes. Hurry up when youre loving people, they die so quickly, she says, quoting a
local poet. They do die quickly, so true. Im angry. I hate dying. Fuck, I hate it. Death sucks.
Theres been too much death in my life. Too much. I do not have good genes, neither from my
mother nor from my father. They were gone before I could give them time. Fuck me.

VIII.
I went to see Caroline shortly after that conversation, as Aurora had advised me to do.
Caroline doesnt live in the Ark. She chose a village, some complete shithole. I barely
managed to get theregravitational cars have trouble on the road, especially since the roads are
largely ruined. Almost no one travels outside the Ark because theres nothing there, so theres
no real point to repairing them. We have rail, which takes termites where they want to go.

Caroline looks bad. Shes very skinny. Im sure she sometimes goes without food. Its
no surprise. Our plantsgenetically modified and fast-growingdrove out everything natural.
Almost nothing will grow in the village fields, but people like Caroline are still struggle to
bring in a harvest. Clean food, uncontaminated by Genesis inventions. Their struggle is like
trying to turn back a river with a stickits clear that our GMOs will win the battle, but these
people delude themselves into thinking that their plants can survive. They wont, neither the
crops nor the people. They will not survive if they dont join us.
Caroline is fifty six, but she looks older than me. Shes very pale. Shes skinny. She
dresses in strange clothesno one in the Ark wears stuff like this anymore. The outfit is
threadbare, just like my daughter.
My heart breaks. I look at her for a long time, and my heart just breaks. My girl. I
havent seen her in so many years, and shes dying. I dont want her to dieit makes me want
to scream.
How are you? I ask, hoarse because my heart is breaking. Why does heartbreak cause
problems with ones voice anyway?
Okay, she answers. We sit in her house, one from a time before Genesis, as old and as
ruined as my child. I feel bad here. Its dark, were on the groundI cant live so close to the
ground. Literally and figuratively, I need to fly high.
I dont think so, I say. Are you sick? I ask directly.
I have leukemia, my daughter says. My heartbreak is suddenly complete. I cover my
face with my hands. I have to pull myself together.
What kind?

I dont know. Right, how would she know? How would anyone test her blood out
here? Holy shit!
I ask her about the symptoms. I ask if I can examine her. Caroline agrees. I touch her for
the first time in so many years. Ive missed this so much. Her skin is thin and warm. Soft.
I think you have lymphoblastic leukemia, I say.
I dont know what that is, Caroline says. I know shes lying. She used to work with
meonce, long ago. Then she left the Ark. She thought we were interfering with matters that
man shouldnt meddle with. At the time I asked: if we have an opportunity to intervene, why
shouldnt we? If godwhom she invoked over and over againgave us minds able to embrace
the world, apparently He wanted us to take the world over. In the end, He Himself said that we
should go out and rule it. Didnt he, Caroline? Caroline! Dont go, I said. She didnt listen.
I can cure you, I tell her.
How?
At Genesis. I can cure you, or at least get you into remission.
For what?
Caroline... I cant finish what I want to say.
I dont want that, says my daughter.
Why?
Because.
Caroline, stop talking nonsense. I use the old saying, but theres no humor in it this
time.

Its your fault that Im suffering, my daughter says angrily. You and Genesis did
this. You and your digging into the world. If it wasnt for you, if it wasnt for Genesis, none of
this would have happened. Everything thats going onthe end of the world.
Its not the end, its the beginning! I raise my voice. The beginning! Dont you
understand? If you come back with me, youll see that what youre saying is complete
nonsense.
Nonsense? Caroline shouts. She gets up, then sits down again because she isnt able
to stay on her feet. Youre killing me. Me and the others. Youre killing us!
Come back with me, I say, completely calm. Theres no point arguing with her now
Ill explain later. Shell understand everything, but itll take time. Understand that we,
humankind, have to move forward. This lifestyle that Carolines used to is outdated. Now its
time for the Ark. Now eternity is born.
No! says my daughter. Get out. Dont come back. Theres no point. I wont go with
you. Never. Id rather die. I dont want to live thereits not life. Its not the world. Youve
destroyed everything.

IX.
Genesis found a solution. As usualI never doubted that it would. Faith helped me
survive the period prior to the transplant, when I felt really bad. So bad that I was afraid Id
never make it. But I made itthe will to live is strong within me. I want to live, I want it more
than anything else.

The solution is based on my own DNA, from which the talented geneticists removed the
fragments that came from the pig donor. Inside a capsule, in a liquid suspension, they grew my
new lungs. I checked on them almost every day.
The surgery was easy. I didnt even tell Aurora that it was happening. Besides, we
quarreled after my visit at Carolines. I said that our daughter was a moron. Aurora said she had
the right to live the way she wanted. I dont think so. I think I should bring her here. Bring here,
heal her. Feed hershes so skinny. Shes an adult? So what! Im still her father! I still have a
duty to care for her, and with that obligation goes the right to impose my will on her. Aurora
screams that Im a tyrant. A mad tyrant who wants to control everything, to dictate terms. I
agree, but its only because Im angry with her.
After the treatment, I feel greatso much better. The pig genes were bad for memy
own are the best for me. Once again I have energy for my work, and I work as much as
possible, from time to time using stimulants. Im addicted, and Aurora yells at me about that,
too. She doesnt understand that just about everyone takes themnot just us, the core of
Genesis, but the termites too. If you can, why not?
Aurora can immediately tell that I feel better. As usual, she has questions about what I
did.
What did you come up with? my wife hisses. What devils trick?
There is no devil, I answer. I dont like these reproaches, with the bizarre epithets, and
she knows it, so she inserts the word devil whenever she can.
You sold yourself, she says. Another old, hackneyed trick. Aurora wants to piss me
off. No way.
I sold my soul to the devil, and you know what? I ask. I feel great about it

I win. Aurora is a very, very angry. Good. She shuts up for the moment, stops talking.
Also good. I dont have time for bullshit talk. And everything I cant change is bullshitthings
I cant change are irrelevant. And no one can change the fact that Genesis has once again gone
several steps forwardweve set up the next stage. Theres nothing to talk about. Nothing can
stop us.

X.
Ive gone too far. When I come home from workafter saying that I sold my soulI
find Aurora in the dressing room. Shes taking her stuff from the cabinets and putting
everything in a bag.
What are you doing? I ask, as if Im an idiotI can see perfectly well what shes
doing.
Im packing.
Are you leaving? I wonder where. After all, everyone is here, in the Arka short ride
away on a fast-moving walkway. Or in our vehicle as privileged employees of Genesis, we
have one available. Or maybe shes come up with a holiday somewhere a bit further away?
Yes, she responds.
Where? When will you be back? I sit down on a chair.
To Caroline. Never.
Shes fucking lost her mind, is what goes through my head.
Aurora, you know that makes no sense. Youll die there.
I will somehow manage to accept that fact.
I ignore thisits just intended to piss me off.

Theres no one there. Everyones in the Ark. Theres nothing.

Theres Caroline.
Better to bring her here.
No.
Aurora...
Thomas, my wife says, fuck off.
She leaves the same day. Her disappearance is, of course, recorded by the ubiquitous
camera. Not surprisingly, the next morning, Miran invites me for an interview. I assume hes
heard our conversation. Whatever. I have nothing to hide. But I hide a lot from Aurora and I tell
that to Miran.
She doesnt know anything, I assure him.
Maybe shes guessed?
I dont think so
What if she has?
I dont know. If she had some idea...
Would she tell anybody? About us?
No. And even if she did, those guys out there arent a danger to us.
True. But they have contacts with our competitors, who are eager to take advantage of
the people outside the Ark to achieve their goals.
Aurora has no idea about genetics.
If she does, youd better get rid of her.
No worries, I say. I try to relax, although Im scaredscared that something bad will
happen to Aurora. Miran never hesitates. If he thinks that shes a threat, hell kill her. Without

emotion. Without remorse or hesitation. The success of Genesis in based on these traits of his. I
admire them, and at the same time I feel overwhelmed by them.

XI.
Aurora called me. Unexpectedly. She had sworn that she would never talk to me again
and so on, and she wasnt one to make empty promises. When Aurora makes a decision, she
never wavers from it. If she says shell do something, she does it. Until now.
Today she calls me and shes crying. She says that Caroline is dying.
Without hesitation, I order a heliplane. It lands with a thud on the roof of my Hive. I get
on. From the plane I call Miran and describe the situation. I ask for permission.
Bring them here, he tells me. I know that this isnt because I suddenly touched his
heart. Its just convenient to have them under supervision. But Mirans reasons dont matter
what matters is that I bring them here, to the Ark, to the only place where Ill be able to help my
daughter.
Were flying. I look out the window. Below I see empty spacesthe only green fields
are ours, the ones belonging to Genesis. Below there are empty cities. Below us there are roads,
destroyed by the roots of our plants. Below us theres gray and brown. Below us its fallow.
Everything needed for life is consumed by the Ark.
We land and immediately Im running. I carry Caroline to the heliplane in my arms and
Aurora follows me. She begs me to save our child. I feel a certain satisfaction. In the end shes
admitted that I should do it. I want to point out to her that I was right, remind her of all the
times we argued about whether what I was doing was right or wrong and point out that only

now does she understand what I said over and over. I told you so! But this isnt the timewell
talk later. When Caroline gets better.
Caroline is so light, like a feather. People say that the soul weighs the mostmaybe she
doesnt have one. What a ridiculous thought! I push it away angrily, put Caroline in heliplane,
plug in the equipment that I have on board, and begin to analyze whats going on with my
daughter. The heliplane takes off, stirring up dust. Aurora is crying, repeating the same thing
over and over.
Save her. Thomas, save her!
I do what I can. As soon as we reach the Ark, I move Caroline to our clinic. I connect
more devices and remotely run the cross-simulator. I view the results in my daughters room on
the small screens they have there. We dont have the equipment here in the clinic that I use
downstairs, and the tiny screens make my eyes hurt. I prefer light curtains, but I dont want to
leave the room, leave her alone.
I analyze like crazy, and the cross-simulator warms up.
Countcount, you bastard! I say to it. It listens, it counts. It sends the results to the
gene editorlet it clean up my daughters DNA, clearing out the rubbish thats killing her.
Come on, bitch! I say to the editor, trying to make it work faster, although the conversion and
sequencing of DNA doesnt actually take long. To the capsule! I order.
New bone marrow will grow in the capsuleperfect marrow! This, unfortunately, will
take a bit longer. Unconsciously, I pray.
God, if you exist, give me some time! Give me time!
But God doesnt exist.
I dont get time.

Before I have the marrow, my daughter dies.

My daughter dies.
Completely.
I cant begin to describe the rage that fills me. I want to destroy the fucking crosssimulator, the gene editor, the capsule. But I dont. Because theres her DNA, right in there.
And as long as its there, Caroline isnt gone. My daughter. My child.

XII.
Less than a year later, Aurora dies. She stayed with me after Caroline died, or at least
her body stayed. Her mind went somewhere else. Aurora couldnt cope with the fact that
Caroline was dead. She said it was her fault, and she was right. We should have done
something sooner. She says she was stupid.
You were right, Thomas, she said. So what? It thought that Id feel satisfaction when
she finally admitted that my way was the only right way. I didnt.
I think she died of despair, I really do.
But I have her DNA. And I have Carolines DNA.
And Im still alive. I try to stay in shape until Im able to create them both anew,
marinated in chemicals specified by Genesis. I take more and more stimulants. I work more and
more. Miran works with me, on the same process I amcloning a human being.
I have the DNA from Aurora and Caroline.
Im alive. Im fine.
I have time. I have my time.

Sooner or later either Miran will find the solution or I will. Then Ill create Aurora and
Caroline once again.
And then well live our lives as we should.

ABOUT ME
I was born and raised in the south of Poland, but a big part of my family lives
in the US and Canada. As a child, I always assumed that my English-speaking uncles and aunts must feel terribly lost in Poland, since speaking Polish
is something of a superpower. So, I resolved early on to master Englishthe
first word I learned was teddy bear.
I began my writing career in 2012, after leaving the IT industry. Several of my books were published in Polish, and were all successful and wellreceived. In 2015, I made the decision to switch to self-publishing and start
my international career. This was a tough decision, but I assumed that since
I can say much more now in English than just teddy bear, I might succeed.
My first book published in English was Absolute Sunset. I still wonder
how I managed to complete this projectI think it was a matter of meeting
the right people at the right time. I have always been lucky to meet people
who are really committed to their work. When I saw my book on Amazon

24
for the first time, I took a selfie with my computer screen in the background.
I look at it almost every day. Working on Absolute Sunset was a lot of fun,
so I decided to go ahead with translating and publishing all of my books in
English.
And, of course, I continue to write. I am seriously considering switching to writing directly in English. Ill probably give it a try, and my editor will
likely go crazy. But I have a strong need to keep moving forward, to learn,
to develop, to try things that at first glance seem impossible to accomplish.
This is probably why I love CrossFit and distance running. Im short
and thin, but I can lift heavy weights and finish a marathon with a pretty
good time. Im training to run a 100-miler next year, and Ill probably also
try a triathlon, and maybe something more extreme, like skydivingI love
to push the limits. Even better, all of my family members are willing to join
me. Our motto is Coollets give it a try!
When I write I like to push the limits too. I dont stick to one genreI
like to mix them to achieve the effect I want. I dare to do that because I have
my lucky sweater that I always wear when I work, even in summer. It is blue
and very thick. Whenever I leave the lucky sweater on a sofa or chair, my dog
Rafa uses it as a blanket. He is a small pinscher and loves warmth, so most
of the year he suffers and shakesPoland is really cold. His favorite place at
home is the floor in front of the fireplace. He also likes to step on my notes
and sometimes drinks tea from my cup. And eats my chocolates. He is not
a good assistant.
On the whole, I am a professional dreamer. What I want is to be able to
write till the end of my life. And to win a few awards, of course. I think one
should always dream big, it does no harm, and maybe one day the dream
can be achieved. I am steadfastI will keep on doing my job and keep on
dreaming.

25
Dont forget, you can visit me online at www.katamlek.com, where you can
catch up with my latest news on my blog.
You can also find me on:
t
Facebook at www.facebook.com/KataMlek,
t
Twitter at twitter.com/KataMlek,
t
Instagram at instagram.com/katamlek, and
t
Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/katamlek.
Stop by and let me know what you think of Absolute Sunset!

26

MY OTHER BOOKS
ONE GOD

Miran Zielinski has had enough of ethics and laws getting in the way of
progress. Nothingnot governments, not the church, and certainly not
lesser mencan hold back Mirans vision for humankind: immortality.
Miran will need wealth, brilliance, and ruthlessness to achieve his goal.
Andreas can provide wealth, but must be paid in his own currency, and his
price is high. Satia has brilliance and ruthlessness to match Miran, but their
mix is volatile.
Opposed on all sides, Miran will not waver from his goal of immortality.
The question is not whether he will succeed, but who will be left alive when
he does.
Based on real-world developments in biology and genetics, this sci-fi thriller
rolls relentlessly through unexpected twists and continuous shifts of power,
leading to a tempting, disturbing, and altogether-too-likely vision of the future,
where one corporation gains almost total control over the world.
Already a hit in Polish, the English edition will be published in 2016.
For updates visit www.katamlek.com/one-god or follow my blog.

LALIKI

Before the wind comes, you can feel in the air that something is going to
happen. When it rolls down the hills and races between the slopes, even a
tiny spark is enough to start fights between neighbors. The people are on
edge, animals are skittish, and plants wither and die.
Who is responsible? The one who rides the wind and comes to Laliki village
to trouble its citizens.

28
Is it possible to get rid of the devil, along with other problems, such as
nymphs, talking animals, cursed ponds, never-ending forests, demons, and
of course stubborn guys from Laliki? Youll have to read the book to find out.
A collection of short stories and folklore. Available in Polish, with an English
edition coming in 2016.
For updates visit katamlek.com/laliki or follow my blog.

LONG DREAM OF FALLING

Artists make poor mates. For example, take Kata and Lukeshe a writer, he
a photographer. Both married to non-artists, both emotionally dependent
yet completely self-absorbed. Both completely devoted to their craft, their
escape from reality.
Reality: the artists bane, banished by drinking, cocaine, and one-night
stands. Reality: constantly present in the forms of their stable, boring
spouses, whom they simultaneously need and betray.
Will Kata and Luke change their ways? Or will they sacrifice everything that
makes a person whole, in exchange for the freedom every artist needs?
A burning hot novel that gives an intimate glimpse into the life and work of
a writer and photographer; full of real-world events; following the lives of
extraordinary people who think they are worthless.
For updates visit katamlek.com/long-dream-of-falling or follow my blog.

THE 9TH OF JULY

Who can say if love is right or wrong?

Andrzej loves her daughter, to the exclusion of everything else. Helena loves
her son, although he is far from being a good man. Renata loves her dog
Orionshe has nobody else, and when Orion is gone, she plans to leave this
world as well. Antonina loves the arts more than people. Daniela loves her
dead husband.

29
And Janusz... and Ela... and others... All of them ordinary people, trying
hard to love in the right way.
Full of humor and unexpected twists, this novel explores what our lives are
really about. Through the eyes of different characters, it asks a simple question:
are we all the same? Do we all need love to survive?
For updates visit katamlek.com/the-9th-of-july or follow my blog.