| "This is a pressurized water tank. It is a very rare and costly piece of equipment. I believe that there are only a few others like it in the world, all much smaller than this one. It can duplicate the pressure of the ocean floor, which is an amazing feat. We use it to grow a fish, a bottom dweller, Theomodias fatiblious. This fish is a recent discovery of a Swedish biological team which trolls the bottom of the north sea. They are quite large, in this tank there are only ten of them, and that makes it quite crowded. The reach a size of over ten feet long and nearly a ton in weight. Apparently, the Swedish group lead by Dr. Magnus Brehner, found them in a deep underwater fissure. They reported that there was a population of these fish which was enormous, but could not manage to bring one up alive or even whole. The problem was that the fish would explode with the great change in pressure. Some of our scientists, lead by Dr. Brehner, our recent acquisition of talent here, developed a way to do it though. I won't bore you with the specifics, but I will tell you that it took one month to pull one of these fish to the top the first time around. But once we got one to the top we could study it and develop some new ways to haul them in. "Another thing we did once we got these fish to the top was to eat them. Since we are a food industry research institute, that was necessary to see if this could be a possible food, if not, we would have turned the discovery over to some more virtuous researchers. But luckily the fish tasted good, actually, really good. Most fish of its size are horrible to eat, that's why you can't get a whale burger. But this one, we call it the fat fish, lives in such a pressurized environment that the meat is both tender and tough, its hard to describe. You'll have to try it." Dr. Felts walked me over to a table set against one side of the room. On the table was a few pictures of the fish. It was enormous, and it strangely resembled the chicken and the shrimp. It seemed to be all meat, made for the eating. It's mouth was large, but I was told by the scientist working at a desk nearby that the mouth was actually quite small for the fishes size. "The fat fishes eating habits," he said "were strange. Inside of the mouth and before the gills it has a very small organic filter of sorts. The fish apparently swims very little, but it wags its small fins just enough to stir up the ocean floor. This clouds the water with organic matter which the fish sucks in. The filter catches some of it and channels it into its stomach." "The fat fish eh, and you say that it tastes pretty good." "They should call it the stank fish, that would be more appropriate," said the young scientist. Dr. Felts looked sternly at him. "Yes, the fish does have an odd odor about it. At first we thought it might be the result of the lack of oxygen down there, but it seems to be just the fish. You see, its anaerobic, a sulfur reducer. Quite rare, that they are indeed. But we're trying to fix that. Need to modernize them. It's proving to be a task though. You'll know it when we get that done though, the whole world will. That will be a big discovery, and one which will further revolutionize the industry of food. But that is a different tale, let's get on back to the board room, the directors wanted to see how the tour went after it finished. I am sure they will get quite a surprise when they hear your opinion. They are truly expecting you to be outraged. Sometimes I think they need to question their reference point more." The doctor and I walked back to the front office, all the while I was becoming more and more anxious for the confrontation that I felt was coming. I didn't know what I felt, and I was certain that it wasn't an issue that I should be the judge of. This was a moral delima, one that had large implications on the future of food. Should I give the nod to genetically altered foods? Obviously nature had produced a few that were on the same level of weirdness. But was the research done here moral or ethical. I mean, the results would make food easier to produce and cheaper for all, but did that out weight the possible risks that were involved. The risks, there was one area in which I felt that my knowledge of the situation was lacking. Dr. Felts has said that they were little to none, but he was most certainly biased. What were the risks of one of the genetically modified creatures which lurked this building getting out. Could that ruin the world, just one animal? I had no idea. And as we walked into a room and took a seat around a table filled with what was obviously the board of directors, I began to be frantic about my position. With us all sitting around the table, making our introductions, and a small amount of shop talk between one of the board members and the doctor, I was left a small amount of time to survey the people around me. Each and everyone of these men felt that I was on their side. The board members had conceded that I would help them to change future of this institute. Dr. Felts was confident that I had been on his side. I wished that I could just leave right then, just walk out and leave the judgment to some other more qualified person. But, I guess that I am just as qualified as anyone. If someone had taken this tour who had the scientific background to understand it all, he probably would side with Dr. Felts because his research was amazing. I just wished that I could take the tour again, with the board of directors this time, so that they could tell me their side of the story, so they could point out what they felt was wrong about this place and what went on here. I knew deep down, though, that I had to make a decision, one way or the other I was not leaving here until some side won. Dr. Felts, shot a look at me, his face was the epitome of reserved excitement. I expected him to break out in an ear to ear smile at any second. But at this moment it oppressed me, all this pressure on me, just a normal person. I was quite happy when he got up and left for some reason, and told us all that he would be right back. "So Dr. Felts," one of the board members addressed me, "what was your take on the plant?" "Well, it was all quite interesting, I was quite taken aback." "Shocked, I see?some of the things are quite appalling, they aren't exactly what we like to show off all the time. The earlier research here was quite profitable, and definitely safe. We thought that it would be beneficial to progress on that line. But, unfortunately Dr. Felts and the late Dr. Riesdorf did not agree. That is why you had to stomach all that you did earlier today. We have confronted Dr. Felts about it all ready, and we will soon be forcing him to cease all present research projects. It is just not what we at HIFIRD want to be associated with. But he insisted that we get a independent opinion. Which we agreed with, just because we know that we are correct. So, if you would please be blunt with Dr. Felts when he returns, he has agreed to honor your opinion as independent and valid." I squirmed in my seat as these men sat solemnly in theirs'. I knew not what I believed was right or wrong. As I sat there and saw the pretentiousness that these men had for the doctor, though, I began to question what it was they were preventing. It was research, research which is possibly unsafe and also possibly beneficial. The work being done here was experimental, that was true. Although it could be unsafe, wasn't that what experimental work was for? Wasn't it necessary to test out possible ideas in places like this, and if that's what was going on here, how could it be wrong. These thoughts, still uncertain, continued to fill my mind. And as Dr. Felts walked in, I was still debating what I should do. "Mr. Miller, I have a treat for you. I am sure that you will truly enjoy this. I don't know how you like your shrimp, with cocktail sauce perhaps?" Dr. Placed a plate in front of me. The other men around the table were all acting disgusted and embarrassed. One of them started chuckling condescendingly at Dr. Felts. It was one of the enlarged shrimp that I saw earlier which was looking at me, staring as bewildered as I was, our eyes meeting in some sort of uncertain connection. I looked around me, all the eyes in that room pointed at me, all but the shrimps expecting me to side with them. I heard a vibration, and I imagined that it was the shaking of my arm on the table. But it was something much more basic than that. As the vibration rumbled again I knew where it came from, and also I knew what I must do. My stomach made the choice for me. |