A mother, a grandmother, and a sensitive child. Many parents have to deal with this, and their parents help, too. But some children are very sensitive, just too sensitive…
To: Christine Hong
From: Genevieve Saunders
Subject: Thank you thank you thank you!!!!
Hi, Mom! I hope you’re settling back in at home. Thanks again for so, so much help over the last few months. It’s not going to make up for all the time you took off to help us, but then nothing would make up for that, so never mind. Anyway, I’m sending you a gift basket as a paltry thanks. Don’t let Dad eat all the chocolate!
You were right, of course. Having a child is more work than anyone realizes. I’m not sure Alfred and I would have survived without your help. How you made it through my childhood with your sanity intact, not even accounting for Anna, then Pietro, then Stella? If I’m half the mom you were, I’ll still be miles ahead of everyone else.
Samuel slept for five hours straight last night, and I may never enjoy five hours of sleep more than I did that stretch. He did wake up with a bit of a fever, which I am refusing to let stress me out. There’s nothing to worry about. The doctors told me as much. Some kids just run a little warmer, and he’s well below when they say I should panic. Instead I’ll just fret and form an ulcer and chew all my fingernails down to stubs, so that’s all fine.
It gets less worrisome with the next children, right? Not that we have any interest in that just yet. For now, Samuel is all we can handle.
I mean that in a nice way. You know that, right? All the exhaustion, all the worry, I wouldn’t change it for the world. The look on his face when he sees me and smiles? It makes me want to cry every time, out of pure happiness.
Sammy is my world. He’s my little ray of sunshine, bright and warm.
Hope you enjoy the gift basket. Love you tons.
Genny
#
Excerpt from A Star is Born.
Interview with Marianne Petty, conducted by Eduard Ramos. Recorded 7 July 2060 13:09 CDT.
Marianne: I wouldn’t say I knew him all that well. We were in the same classes for about three years, so I suppose I knew him a little, we just weren’t close. After those three years, my parents got jobs in the belt, and I moved in with my aunt and uncle in London. Must have been about eight years old at that point.
Eduard Ramos: Was he distant? A lonesome child?
Marianne: Not at all. I was the lonesome one, that’s probably why we weren’t closer. No, Samuel was super friendly. But in a gentle sort of way, you know?
ER: How do you mean?
Marianne: Well, he was always concerned about you being OK. A lot of the boys in class, they were running around, making noise, wrestling. Acting little bastards. Oops, can I say “bastards”?
ER: It’s fine. How was Sam, in comparison?
Marianne: Quiet. He didn’t wrestle even during free time. We used to play this game, I can’t remember the name, one of those where you’d basically kick a ball around on the playground.
ER: Kickball.
Marianne: Something like that, but it wasn’t kickball. The name doesn’t matter all that much.
ER: Sounds like kickball.
Marianne: It was not kickball.
ER: You were kicking a ball around, you said.
Marianne: I know what I – Lots of games involve kicking a ball. Never mind. Whatever the game was, Samuel wouldn’t play it. He’d be watching birds or picking up ladybugs, or just smiling at the clouds.
ER: Was he slow? Did he struggle?
Marianne: He was a fantastic student, I remember that. Always got top grades, always interested in whatever the subject was. He was just gentle, that’s really the best word for it. I remember seeing him cry once in class and the teacher pulled him aside and asked what was wrong, and he was upset that a plant on the windowsill was dying. He felt sorry for the plant.
ER: A sensitive child.
Marianne: Exactly. I didn’t know him intimately, but I knew him enough. And I can’t imagine he would ever have wanted to hurt anyone. He was nice to even the dickish kids in our class. Is it OK to say “dickish?”
ER: I’d prefer you didn’t.
#
Medical summation 13:42, 4 Apr 2056
Saunders, Samuel Hayes
Meadowlands Urgent Family Care Center, Calabasas CA
Summation entered into record by Dr. Stefan Lindquist
Patient exhibited signs of a lingering fever, confirmed to be 100.9 Fahrenheit at time of examination. Patient’s mother informs he has always run slightly warmer and his fever has only recently become worrisome. Confirmed via prior medical exam records.
Some dehydration and salt loss. Samuel is not experiencing discomfort beyond sweating and thirst. Basic cognitive tests revealed a minor drop in focus which was well within a standard deviation of his average. Nothing out of the ordinary for a child running a fever.
Mother did insist on a full scan, despite my recommendation to put the patient on a mix of anitvirals and waiting to see if the fever reduces naturally. Scan revealed some high activity of the hypothalamus and some peripheral vasodilation which could be a response to the warmer body temperature. No blood- or lymph-born foreign bodies detected. No inflammation detected. T-cell count within normal limits.
Recommended, again, taking him home and letting him rest. Mother agreed, not very happily.
#
Excerpt from Science on the Horizon. Episode 9. Recording date 7 Dec 2047. Aired BBC2 23 Dec 2047.
Moderator: Evan DiDimenico
Panel: Toshi Ishahara, Allison Locke, Grant Niekamp, Ramesh Sandhu
Timestamp 18:17:32
Evan DiDimenico: I’d like to shift focus. Dr. Locke, you stated recently that you believe the theory of molecular memory, that matter and energy can easily return to a prior state, has some merit. And you have received your share of grief as a result. Ramesh, I see you, please hold on to your comment for just a moment. My question to the panel: Is there room in today’s scientific community for seemingly outrageous ideas or has science become intolerant of new theories?
Ramesh Sandhu: Those are not the only two options. Of course, theories should be vetted, that is at the very heart of the scientific method. Peer review does not mean hostility. And I’d like to point out, it’s not a new idea, it’s a very old one. Allison, you don’t really believe that molecular memory stuff, do you?
Allison Locke: I said that during a debate on evolution to make a point, in fact, and it’s the same point you, Evan, just repeated. Continental drift was laughable not all the long ago. Diseases being spread by microscopic organisms? Nonsense! The Earth orbiting the Sun? You must be joking!
RS: Those viewpoints existed when people couldn’t observe the world at large. That’s no longer true.
Toshi Ishara: The heliocentric model was observable for many years while people refused to believe.
RS: Not the same. Observation was a tedious affair for most of human history. You would have to map the movement of the stars over months or even years. Now we have satellites and millions of photos. We see essentially everything, and it’s immediately accessible and can be scrutinized. Are you saying you believe a glass of water that was frozen in a glacier for centuries will refreeze more easily than tap water at the same temperature?
TI: No, of course not.
RS: Thank you. Of course not.
TI: But I believe what Evan is driving at is that different ideas have always been met with hostility by experts in fields relating to those ideas.
ED: And should that be the case? We are better informed and have access to more ideas now than anyone in history before us. Should that make us more open to radical ideas or more skeptical of changes to the status quo?
RS: In general, I think we are more open.
AL: You practically foamed at the mouth when you heard the idea of molecular memory come up just now! That is not being open.
RS: Because it’s absurd! It’s been floating in the fringes for decades, even centuries in some forms and thoroughly and repeatedly debunked. And if you actually believed it, I would start to wonder-
AL: I do believe it’s possible.
RS: No. Come off it.
AL: Want to hear something that will really upset you? I think it’s possible atoms themselves develop a sort of memory.
Grant Niekamp: Ramesh is going to explode. This is delightful.
RS: I know you’re joking. I’ve got to believe that.
AL: Why? Think about how memory itself works. A neural pathway fires. The act of firing makes it easier to fire again, requiring less of a stimulation. The more a pathway fires, the more it can fire. Things fall back into previous patterns all the time.
GN: I know where you’re going with this, but a neuron is one thing. A complex thing, in fact.
AL: And atoms are not? Subatomic particles glued together by atomic force with electrons fizzing about in a cloud of probability? Take away one proton and invisible nitrogen gas becomes a solid lump of carbon. That’s simple?
RS: That supports my point, actually. Remove a proton? That takes massive amounts of manipulation. A nitrogen atom will never spontaneously change back to carbon and hydrogen just because it started that way in some distant star.
AL: My only argument is we shouldn’t automatically reject ideas just because they may sound silly at the onset.
RS: What about if they continue to sound silly the more they are examined, can we safely reject them then? Look, if I start reverting to star matter, I’ll be the first to apologize. Until then, I have to pretend you’re joking for my own sanity.
#
To: Christine Hong
From: Genevieve Saunders
Subject: Re: Update?
Hi Mom. Sam is feeling better, but they won’t release him. It’s very frustrating. Alfred is going back tomorrow to yell at anyone who will listen. If you don’t know what’s wrong, leave him be and let him come home!
His teacher is upset, too, bless her heart. She’s the one who called the ambulance when Sam collapsed. It was in the middle of her class and I guess it freaked her out pretty badly. Join the club, right? Seriously, she’s been very sweet. I suspect Sam is one of her favorite students, because of course he would be.
I saw him this morning, and he’s in good spirits. Just a little confused, as we all are, why they are keeping him for observation. One of the doctors told him it was to monitor his high fever. Bull crap. How many fevers has he had over the years? Now they’re suddenly worried?
#
Excerpt from A Star is Born.
Interview with Gabriel Wu, conducted by Eduard Ramos. Recorded 20 Sep 2050 10:10 PDT.
Gabriel: He was sort of frantic that day. I mean, for him. Hyperactive. Like his parents fed him a mountain of sugar or something.
ER: You remember him acting strange?
Gabriel: Yeah, because it scared the daylights out of me. I knew Sam as a calm guy. Easy to get along with. Always. Then one day he comes to class all jittery and sweaty and right after lunch he sits down and starts laughing, then gets back up from his desk acting like he’s about to run out of the room and just falls over instead.
ER: Was anyone concerned?
Gabriel: Everyone was concerned.
ER: I mean was anyone concerned for their own safety?
Gabriel: No. Not that I heard, no. We had no idea what was going on, we were kids. Way I hear it, the adults didn’t know, either. Even if we had known, I don’t think we would have been afraid. Sam was well-liked. Not the type you would be worried about hurting you.
#
Excerpt, Johns Hopkins Medical Symposium, National Archives copy, 3 March 2049
In attendance: Beni Gallway MD PhD, Katy Annanika MD FFR, Juan Delgado Ruiz MD, Ophelia Musa MD FAAFP
Annanika: We can’t get a good x-ray. We’ve tried two different machines, and Samuel cannot be x-rayed. Or MRI-ed. Or anything. We can’t get an internal picture. It’s nothing but blurs.
Gallway: Techs already examined the machines?
Annanika: Every one. Three times, at least once under my direct supervision. The machines are fine, the boy is the problem.
Musa: Some of the symptoms evidenced in the past week are repeats of previous complaints. He’s been to multiple ear, nose, and throat specialists within the last three years. Sinus pain, ear aches. Those have retuned. We are now also seeing mucosal thickening throughout the sinuses and irritated pharyngotympanic valves.
Gallway: That doesn’t seem like the biggest of concerns, all things considered.
Dr. Musa: No, but bear with me. Two days ago, Samuel experienced joint pain, muscle twitches, headaches, and blurred vision. He was dizzy again, and there was some hemorrhaging around one of his ear drums.
Dr. Gallway: Yes?
Dr. Musa: So I got approval for a hemorobotic workup. Check out the results, here.
Dr. Ruiz: There’s helium in his blood. He’s got the bends?
Dr. Musa: He’s got something like it. Ran the scan twice over two days. There was an increase in nascent helium bubbles the second time.
Dr. Gallway: An increase while he sat in an examination room? Where would the helium come from?
Dr. Musa: Exactly.
#
Baltimore police blotter
6 March 2059 9:42 AM EST
Suspect attempted to enter a restricted area of Johns Hopkins hospital. She threatened staff if they did not allow her to see her son. Officers attempted to speak to suspect and staff together, to understand why she was not allowed in. FBI agent was on premises and took over scene. Officers were encouraged to leave.
#
Excerpt from A Star is Born.
Interview with Lara Goldsworth RN, conducted by Eduard Ramos. Recorded 19 Feb 2051 13:09 CST.
Lara Goldwsorth: I was on rotation that night.
Eduard Ramos: What happened when Mrs. Saunders entered the hospital?
LG: She was crying, and said she wanted to see her son. I didn’t understand what was going on or why she was begging like that.
ER: Was that unusual?
LG: Yeah, because she should have been able to see her son. He was a child. She was fully his legal guardian. I thought she was just confused and was trying to get info but some doctor I had never seen before came running up and shut me up. That pissed me right off.
ER: That was when you called the police?
LG: I never called the police. I’m not sure who did. The lady was screaming and wailing by that point and this mystery doctor was just standing there shaking his head.
ER: Who was the doctor?
LG: You know, I never learned who he was. The police came, and he got right between them and me before I could say a word. Then a bunch of guys in suits show up and flash around some FBI badges, and everyone just sort of left. I never found out who the kid was until he was back in the news. Then I recognized the name.
#
GB Live news report
Recording time stamp 23 Jun 2049 14:25 EDT
Anna White: News tonight out of Washington as the Department of Interplanetary Research confirms the existence of what some people are calling a human star. Diane Laudermilk is at the NIH Clinical Center where it is rumored a patient is being held. Diane, how are people reacting?
Diane Laudermilk: Mostly with disbelief. The DIR has said they will give a formal news conference some time tomorrow. That has done little to quiet the explosion of curiosity which began here a short while ago when someone videoed what they thought was a walking nuclear bomb being transported here to the agency’s dangerous weapons laboratory.
AW: We’re seeing that footage play now. I’m sure many of our viewers have seen these images already. It’s hard to make out many details, that light is very bright. You can see a group of people in protective gear carrying some sort of illuminated object into the building.
DL: A spokesperson for the agency did give a brief statement less than an hour ago that we were not allowed to record or transcribe directly. What I can tell you is there is a person, I’m not sure of his age, and some people are saying he is a child named Samuel Saunders, who for unknown reasons is giving off heat and light. Unnamed sources have said that energy is being formed through nuclear fusion. How that could be possible has yet to be clarified.
AW: Were you able to see this person?
DL: No, they have things locked down tight here. There is a wide perimeter which we are all standing outside of. I’m hearing unconfirmed reports that at least one person attempting to cross the perimeter was forcibly removed.
AW: Forcibly, as in with physical harm?
DL: That is unclear, these reports have not been confirmed by anyone that I am aware of.
AW: Why wait until tomorrow to fill in the details, do you think?
DL: I suspect there are still too many unknowns. The DIR has said they are assessing the situation which typically means they are still looking for answers, themselves.
AW: Then why make a public announcement now?
DL: The video we’ve seen was shared nearly two hundred million times in the first hour. Most people were suggesting it was either an alien or some form of enhanced genetic experimentation. I think the agency simply wanted to stop those rumors, although I’m not sure this approach has done much to cut down on the wild speculation. They didn’t want people to panic, was the general message.
AW: Announcing that we have a small fusion reactor of unknown origin on the ground doesn’t necessarily make me feel any better.
DL: No. And I think that is the general reaction from the public.
#
From: Allison Locke
To: Ramesh Sandhu
Subject: None
I’ll take that apology any time. Jerk.
#
Excerpt, A Mother’s Sun, a CNN special news report
Genevieve Saunders interview conducted by Martin Kilgore
Air date 2 July 2049
Timestamp 14:28:50
Martin Kilgore: How has the government responded to your requests to regain custody of your son?
Genevieve Saunders: They won’t respond. No to me, anyway. I saw the official report, I know they think he’s a threat. Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean you have to be scared of it.
MK: But surely you can see why everyone is nervous.
GS: Not everyone. Not me! OK, sure, I understand why some people would be afraid of the unknown. So, talk to him. Let me talk to him.
MK: As I understand it, communication has been impossible for the past year. No one can get close enough to talk to Samuel directly.
GS: So what did they do? Put him in a sealed room. Cut him off. Can you imagine what that must be like for him?
MK: I have a statement here from the Department of Interplanetary Research. They say they installed speakers in his room so he can hear them, and microphones to talk back. But the ambient noise Samuel is creating is all anyone can pick up. They aren’t sure he’s even conscious at the heart of it all.
GS: I could talk to him, if they would just let me.
MK: If you could, what would you tell him?
GS: I would say, don’t be afraid. I’m here. I’m right here, baby. We will figure this out. You are not alone.
MK: And if you could talk to the people guarding him?
GS: I would say, don’t you take my beautiful baby boy away. You don’t need to take him off planet.
MK: The Mars research outpost has been a center for a great deal of modern cosmological study. Several scientists have come out in favor of the transfer. They think they have a better chance of helping him there.
GS: That’s not why they’re moving him.
MK: Why are they moving him?
GS: Fear. Baseless fear. He’s not a threat. He’s a good boy. He’s my good boy.
#
DIR debriefing on Mars Incident. Declassified.
Excerpt beginning 25 Feb 2050 11:44:18 EST
Director [Redacted]: Who made the decision to move the body to a sealed environment?
[Redacted]: It was a joint decision between [Redacted], [Redacted], myself, and Samuel.
Director: Samuel? You were able to converse with him?
[Redacted]: After a fashion. When we first moved to the [redacted] facilities, Samuel was allowed to wander between two observational chambers. It was very slow, and we thought he was sort of hovering and drifting at random. Over time we discovered that his movement was intentional, and that we could communicate by turning the speakers to full volume and asking yes/no questions, and he could move to chamber 11 to indicate a yes, or chamber 12 to indicate a no.
Director: And these rooms were not also sealed?
[Redacted]: Level 1 containment only, some gas exchange was allowed. We wanted to have control over his environment and not just put him in an airtight box.
Director: Yet, you did just that.
[Redacted]: Eventually. As a last ditch attempt to slow things down. Samuel was growing in size and temperature. Steady, accelerating growth. After a month, he was stuck in chamber 12 because he could no longer fit through the connecting portal. Each of those chambers was nearly two million cubic meters large. After two months, he was taking up nearly half the chamber. [Redacted] but even that could melt at high enough temperatures.
[Redacted]
Director: But you were still able to communicate with him?
[Redacted]: Yes. He would float higher for yes, lower for no. We asked if he wanted to be left to grow, or did he want us to attempt to throttle his growth.
Director: And he voted for the throttle.
[Redacted]: He did. After we explained our concerns.
Director: If he hadn’t? Would you have let him keep expanding?
[Redacted]: Fortunately, that wasn’t a problem. He felt, as did the rest of the [redacted] committee, that it was too dangerous to let him keep sucking in hydrogen and adding mass. We sealed the vents.
Director: And the consequence?
[Redacted]: He grew even hotter. Much hotter. Much faster than anyone could have predicted. Every astrophysicist on staff agreed it was impossible. Like we knew anything about what was possible.
Director: And you tried to extinguish him?
[Redacted]: We did. The foams burned right off of him. [Redacted] failed to activate entirely. The vents melted shut so there was no way to open them back up. As far as the instruments could tell us before he exploded, he was creating elements way up into the highest atomic weights. Once the hydrogen ran out, his fusion spiraled out of control. I was back on Earth at the time, I can’t tell you what the facility staff may have attempted at the end.
Director: Because communication was down.
[Redacted]: Some kind of radiation coming off him was blocking our comms, we assume.
Director: And then he exploded.
[Redacted]: Then he exploded.
#
Excerpt from A Star is Born.
Interview with Madeline Britell, conducted by Eduard Ramos. Recorded 13 May July 2051 13:09 CDT.
ER: You were his teacher the year he collapsed. How would you characterize Sam as a student before then?
Madeline Britell: As a student? He always tried very hard. Somewhere between good and great, academically. But always tried to do better. He always made an effort with me, and with the other kids. A great student, is what I would say. Even tempered. Sweet. Not the type anyone would have guessed could go nova.
#
Crimes and Government Legal Analysis Blog
By Jackson Arevelo
18 July 2052
Damages announced today in the case of Saunders vs. DIR reached a staggering sum of 23.2 billion dollars. Regular readers know I’ve been following this case closely since it started. Let’s take a quick look back at the timeline of relevant events.
7 April 2050: The U.S. Government files suit against the parents of Samuel Hayes Saunders in response to what they call “complete annihilation” of the Mars research facilities by a dangerous man. This “man” was twelve years of age at the time of the Mars Incident, I would like to remind everyone.
30 May 2050: The New York Times investigates claims that the DIR, embarrassed by the Mars Incident, engaged in an aggressive campaign of misinformation in an attempt to shift public opinion against Alfred and Genevieve Saunders. Public opinion of the Department does shift, from low to negative.
15 June 2050: Judge Nicola Virtanen dismisses the first lawsuit for lack of merit.
29 June 2050: The DIR takes their case to U.S. District Court 19. This lawsuit is allowed to continue, and discovery takes place over the next fourteen months.
2 August 2051: A Star is Born premieres, this reporter’s favorite documentary of last year. Reviews are, overall, middling.
8 October 2051: A desperate Genevieve Saunders countersues the U.S. government for negligence, harassment, child endangerment, and trauma. In an interview with BBC News, she says she didn’t want to sue, she wanted to move on. But defending her family has drained their finances and she is left with little choice. What is she hoping for? Ten million dollars to cover legal expenses.
12 December 2051: The second DIR lawsuit is dismissed, without comment. The Saunders lawsuit continues with fresh enthusiasm.
13 February 2052: Federated Fabriks secures a bid to rebuild the Mars research facilities. They begin construction the same day the bid is announced, which has many asking how the DIR can be in supposed need of cash, as they have repeatedly claimed in court, if payments are already being processed.
1 June 2052: The DIR is found liable. Damages to be awarded “soon.”
18 July 2052: Today. Judge Kofi Osei files a scathing rebuke of the DIR, awarding Alfred and Genevieve Saunders 23.2 billion dollars, U.S. In his decision, Judge Osei cites the department for “wanton disregard of responsibility, not to mention basic human decency” and “using intimidation tactics to undermine the public trust.” A full transcript is not yet available. At least one court reporter in the room says the judge took a full forty minutes to lecture DIR representatives.
Who is willing to bet they pay the damages, give a sincere apology, and be done with it? No, me neither. I’ll be following any appeals as they happen.
#
To: Peter Richter
From: Damien Brooks
Subject: Class of ’35 Reunion
Pete! So great to hear from you, old friend. I refuse to believe it’s been twenty years already. Weren’t we just kids yesterday, trying not to act hung over at graduation? Seems impossible.
I missed the ten-year reunion because my wife and I were traveling. I made sure I was going to be around this time so I could see the old crew. Thanks for organizing the details, like always. Good to know some things haven’t changed yet, and Pete the Greet is still reliable. I’m coming into town a couple days ahead of time to show Robin the old neighborhood and do some exploring. Looks like Hungry’s is still in business, which is crazy, so we need to go have a pizza and catch up. If you’re free. If not, no worries, I’ll see you at the family picnic.
We’ll be bringing Elizabeth and May to the picnic, FYI, and I’ll just apologize now. Elizabeth is a full-fledged teenager and we’re only including her because May would be upset if we didn’t. I mean, she’s fine, I’m just ready for her to grow the hell up already. She walks around angry at the entire world, insisting she just wants to be left alone while demanding constant attention. And I’ve become the world’s dumbest person, she is happy to tell me every chance she gets.
It’s like she sucks all the light and happiness out of the room. Her mood is so cold and dark. She’s a walking black hole and getting worse every day. Sorry in advance.
Anyway, what can I bring to the picnic? All good on potato salad?
Damien
END
