Sins of the Father

By StormDrake 

“Daddy! Daddy! Look at what I taught Mittens to do.”

Doctor Samson Grey didn’t even glance in the direction of the voice. “I can’t right now, Sandy. I have to finish my work right now. Maybe later.”

But Sandy pouted. “You always say ‘later,’ Daddy.” And the little girl with the mop of brown hair ran off, back to whatever it was she had taught their cat to do.

Samson looked up, just in time to see his only daughter run around the corner and out of sight. It was just as well… he had made a major breakthrough on his project today, but there was still a lot of work that needed to be done. He needed to concentrate on the calculations. Once he finished this – if he finished it – they would all be able to relax comfortably and never have to worry about where the money for dinner was going to come from again. That was the one thing Samson's wife had never understood. He didn’t work for the fame, or for textbook notoriety. He worked so his family might be able to find financial freedom one day.

But Julia hadn't understood. So they split up, with his wife getting virtually everything but their daughter and his home and laboratory. Samson had somehow convinced the courts that he would be able to take care of his daughter far better than his wife. He had a stable job as a research scientist, which didn't bring in much money, but at least he had hours that would let him spend time at home with Sandy. And that was most important to Samson. Because if he didn't have a family to work for, then all his work was for naught.

But that couldn't happen. He had to succeed. He was closer to completing the necessary calculations and designing a matter transportation device than anyone else on the planet. All he had to do was finish the error-checking algorithm, and he would be set. The amount of data necessary to catalog 100% of a person's genetic make-up was phenomenal. Converting a person's memories into electrical code was just as huge. That much data was almost guaranteed to have an error in it somewhere, between recording and transmitting and reforming a human being with 100% accuracy. All he had left was to write the algorithm that would check the electronic information for errors, and then test it out. He was so close to success, he found it difficult to concentrate sometimes. And Sandy, as much as he loved her, tended to get into the way of things more often than not.

So Dr. Samson Grey continued to pour over his notes and the computer screen, trying various programs, changing code, and running stress tests that ultimately failed under the high duress necessary for the system to run properly. For hours he sat there, until he heard his daughter call out from upstairs 'I'm going to bed, Daddy!"

"I'll be right up, sweetie."

Three hours later, Samson assumed his daughter had tucked herself in. He just couldn't leave the computer. He was so close. An idea had developed, one that would make the development of the algorithm a hundred times easier. He started streamlining several protocols, and combined functions to decrease time. It would have been better for each program and section of the algorithm to run separately and uniquely, so as to help prevent one error from making it past several error checks. But this would work also, and would cut the time it was taking him to write the code by a third, if not more. He would double-check it tomorrow, if he remembered. Maybe.

Some time around four in the morning, Dr. Samson Grey clicked SAVE, began the long transfer of data from his desk computer to the larger systems in his basement laboratory, and sat back, smiling. He was done. Their orange cat Mittens already asleep next to the empty fireplace. And within thirty seconds, Samson was dreaming too. 

Sandy left a note on the kitchen table saying that she had gotten ready for school on her own, and that she was fine. The unstated message was that she was not happy with her father. But Samson was content in knowing that he was done. He spent the entire day in the laboratory, configuring the equipment for a test. By 2:00 in the afternoon, he had double-checked everything, and was ready for the first test.

The matter transportation device consisted of a round platform, two feet in diameter, atop a huge mass of machinery and equipment, and underneath even more. The receiving end of the device was on the other side of the room. Samson placed a small potted plant on the platform, and returned to the main terminal. He entered several commands, and the computers began to scan the plant, converting its atomic and genetic make-up into a series of ones and zeroes. It took the machines about three minutes to calculate and convert the data. Then, with the press of a button, the plant was struck by several powerful lasers, and broken up into harmless airborne atoms. There was a pause of about five minutes, as the data was transferred to the receiving end. Finally, the second platform began glowing, and the machines began to reassemble the potted plant from the atomic level up.

The whole process took almost ten minutes. But ten minutes after he had begun, Dr. Samson Grey was looking at an identical plant to what had previously been at the opposite side of the room. He had tears in his eyes.

Of course, transporting a plant was one thing, but transporting an animal, let alone a human being, was an entirely different matter. He ran some tests on the plant, but could find no errors or anomalies. No sudden tumor growths, as he had feared might develop, if there were any errors in the transmission. As far as his equipment could tell, the plant was identical in every way to the one he had placed on the first platform, down to the atomic level. It had indeed been transported.

But he needed to test the system on a complex animal before he tried it on a human. In his laboratory, Samson had a fish tank filled with several white mice. Reaching in and grabbing a particularly feisty one, he put it in a small glass and covered it with a lid. The mouse squirmed about as Samson placed the glass upon the teleportation platform. He knew he would have to rig some sort of enclosure for the platform, if for no other reason than security, or for keeping animals from leaving the platform. But one thing at a time. The mouse on the platform, Samson returned to the computer terminal and made the necessary entries. Before long, both mouse and glass had disappeared, and reappeared on the other side of the room. The mouse looked none too happy, but was otherwise unchanged. A quick genetic test confirmed it was the same mouse.

"Daddy, I'm home!"

"Sandy, come down here! I've done it!" Samson was on the verge of crying. He was so happy that his device worked as it did, he couldn't believe it.

Sandy came down the stares, still wearing her backpack. She was wearing a pink skirt, green skirt, and white sneakers. Not necessarily the best combinations of colors, but then again the eleven year-old had dressed herself. "Daddy, I got my spelling test back, and I got an A!"

Dr. Samson Grey took his daughter and gave her a massive hug. "That's wonderful, dear. I finished my big project last night. No more late nights in the lab or on the computer. No more missing school performances because I have to work on calculations late into the night. From now on, we'll have enough money that we won't have to worry about it any more. We'll be able to move into a bigger house. We'll finally be happy!"

"That's great, daddy!" exclaimed Sandy. "Now I won't be alone anymore!"

"I promise you won't be alone ever again," promised Samson.

"Can you show me your machine?"

Samson thought for a moment. "Of course, dear. Can I see your backpack for a few minutes?"

Sandy gave her father the backpack. It was a pink and yellow one, with cartoon characters on the back. Samson placed it on the platform, and returned to the controls. Sandy stood nearby, and watched as her backpack was struck by lasers, scanned, and disintegrated. She was greatly alarmed at this point, but Samson assured his daughter it was all right. After a few seconds, the computers began to recreate Sandy's backpack. The whole process took fifteen minutes, and Sandy sat patiently watching as her pink and yellow backpack reformed on the other side of the room. When it finished, Sandy's eyes were wide.

"That's the coolest thing in the world, Daddy! Can I touch it?"

"Of course, dear. Tell me if everything is in there as it should be."

Sandy practically flew to the second platform and retrieved her backpack. She sat with it on the floor next to the machine, and rummaged through. "Yeah, it's all here," she reported after a few moments.

"Wonderful."

Sandy returned to her father's side. "Umm… can you do that to people?"

Samson creased his brow. "Theoretically, I should be able to. All of the tests I've run have passed successfully, well within the acceptable rate of error. I haven't run any tests on human subjects, but living organisms seem to have no adverse effects from matter transportation."

Sandy laughed. "Daddy, you're using scientist words again."

"Heh heh. That means I haven't tried teleporting people yet, but there is no reason why not. Sandy, dear, would you like for me to teleport you?"

"Umm… will it hurt, Daddy?"

"I don't think so, dear," Samson responded, smiling at his daughter. She smiled back. "You shouldn't feel anything."

Sandy looked at her feet for a moment, thinking. Then she looked back at her father. "Okay!" she exclaimed, "That sounds like fun! I'll be the first!"

Dr. Grey guided his daughter onto the platform. "Now Sandy," he said, turning serious. "Be careful. I haven't done this yet. You should be fine, but just relax and stay calm. It might be scary."

"I'll be brave, Daddy. I want to help you."

Samson smiled, and returned to the computer controls. His daughter stood on the platform, looking at him and smiling, but obvious a little nervous as well. "Now, the first thing that will happen is the lasers will scan you, to input all necessary data into the computer. You won't feel anything, but it might be bright, so close your eyes."

With that, Samson typed in the command, and the lasers began going over every inch of his daughter. At first, Sandy cringed, but after a few moments she relaxed, and almost giggled. She was very patient as the computer scanned her. After several minutes, the lasers stopped. "You can open your eyes, Sandy," said Samson. The ten year-old opened her eyes, and looked out at her father. She smiled.

"Alright, Sandy, next is the actual teleportation. Brace yourself."

Sandy clenched her fists as Samson entered the final command. The lasers hummed into life. But just as they were about to fire, their cat Mittens ran into the room, up to the platform and Sandy, and leapt up into the girl's arms. Sandy instinctively caught the orange feline. "Mittens, I forgot to say hello to you when I came in! I'm sorry!"

Dr. Samson Grey had just enough time to think about telling his daughter to get the cat off the platform and call out "Sandy!" before the lasers struck both figures, and they disappeared.

Oh God… what was going to happen? Samson was frantic. He could do nothing but wait until the computers and machines reassembled his daughter and pet. He prayed that she would be alright.

The time it took to reform the girl on the other platform was the same as every other time the machine had been used, but this time the wait was agonizing. Finally, Sandy's form began to reappear on the other platform. But something was wrong. She looked too tall. As more details were reconstructed, Samson's horror increased. His daughter appeared to be older… seventeen or eighteen. She still wore the same clothing she had previously, but it looked too small on her now. Her shirt hugged her newly developed anatomy tightly, and exposed a belly covered with smooth white fur. Her entire body was covered in fur of a slight orange color on her back and sides, shorter white pelt on her underside. Her arms were furred down to the tips of her fingers, which now sported long black claws. Her now-short skirt showed legs that were the same, furred as far up as Samson could see. Her feet were still in the sneakers, which looked stretched. That couldn't be comfortable. Sandy's face was feline as well, with green eyes and whiskers. Her ears were large and furred. Her hair was still a tangled mop. And Sandy had a tail… a couple feet in length, and colored just like Mittens' had been. How could this be…

The algorithms! By streamlining the protocol the night before, Samson must have somehow removed an important part of the equation, allowing multiple living organisms or similar species to be teleported simultaneously. The machine had lost track of which atoms were Sandy's and which were Mitten's, and mixed them up. Sandy had been combined with their cat! She was physically an amalgam of two creatures. And her age… Mittens had been three and a half years old - about twenty-five in cat years. The combination of girl and cat was at the average age of the two. This was horrible!

Sandy stirred, stumbling forward off the platform. Her father caught her, almost recoiling in horror when her fur touched his skin. She started regaining consciousness - apparently the act of teleporting had virtually knocked her out.

"Sandy! Sandy! Are you alright? Oh dear God… I'm sorry…"

Sandy looked up, her feline face confused. "Daddy?" Her voice had changed as well. It was somehow more like the purr of a cat. "I'm… I can't think. It's Mittens."

"What?"

"Mittens, she's… she's in my head! I can hear her crying! She's scared!" Sandy meowed frighteningly.

"Oh Jesus… I'm sorry, Sandy. I had no idea this was going to happen. I…"

"Daddy, help me!" cried Sandy, growing more animated. "I don't want Mittens in my head. Get her out of my head, Daddy! Help me!"

Something inside Dr. Samson Grey snapped, and he grabbed a tranquilizer from a nearby table. He cried out as loudly as Sandy did when he plunged it into the back of the creature that had once been his daughter. She could only manage a look of intense sorrow and anguish before collapsing unconscious. She purred as she slept.

Samson didn't know what to do. The odds that he could fix his daughter's condition were slip to none. Even if he could somehow dredge up information about his daughter's form and change her back - and he was rather sure that he could not - there was nothing he could do about her mind. Girl and cat had been permanently infused into each other, merged by the teleportation device. All because he had cut corners. He had never meant anything like this to happen. He had only had love in mind. But he had nonetheless sinned, by ignoring those things that were important to him until too late. And his only daughter had paid for the sins of the father.

Dr. Samson Grey sat down, and cried. 

The End