Oldie but Goodie pt.2

The attitude present at our first meeting of scholars, doctors and scientists wasn't much more professional than the one outside. A lot of boasting, a lot of egos in the room. In looking back, it had that "too many cooks in the kitchen" feeling. For a lot of those present it was a political affair; a stab at greatness, but I guess there weren't many instances when we weren't trying to get a leg up on the competition. Some of us are better at concealing it than others, though, and those who weren't brought a real sour taste to the room. Considering the shocking nature of the occurrence, it wasn't as though someone had a blueprint developed and waiting in the wing, just waiting for the perfect scientific anomaly to come along. The whole thing just felt very cobbled together, very contentious. It was a strange feeling to be in that room with so many inflated egos and heated words and then to look up at the ceiling, seeing the child being cradled by it's mother.

That being said, the first time I saw the child was quite remarkable. I'd been able to see her on my way in, but like Dr. Kopp stated in his entry it was like seeing a bird in the sky. There was no strange aura or implied phenomenon, the child was just there, visible through the wall in the most ordinary fashion. [This part isn't finished]

Deliberation was strenuous, it's steps flirting with the outskirts of hell. I'm sure the practice is seen in politics as it is in academia all the time, but the fact that it occurs doesn't make it any less ridiculous to behold. Debutantes from our finest Universities to it upon themselves to stand up, take a brief breath of importance and then dive into a big worded, high minded diatribe that was no different from the most hollow celebrity acceptance speeches. No one had half a mind to admit that they had no idea what to do. Instead most had a course, and this plan reflected their own interests as well as it did the child's. I'll confess that there were some amongst us who maintained dignity and served up advice that was malleable as well as practical, things that showed promise for adaptability and differing opinions, but the pickings were slim. Add to this the fact that the most transparent amongst us also happened to be the most belligerent and difficult and you can see how the entire thing quickly deteriorated into a 3 ring circus. My god, what a miserable show.

Our first issue to tackle was that of the naming of the malady, and whether any known records cited a 2nd case of the affliction. Given the attention involved in the issue at hand, we near unanimously decided to go with a name that was non-scientific, something those without jargon-laden minds could understand. The rationale was that if we didn't do this the media would just name the affliction themselves, and that made certain parties in the room (myself included) nervous. Dr. Harry M. Patrick proposed the name "Hypervisibility", and though I thought the name sounded silly I assure you that the others put forward were altogether shameful in comparison. Given the sensitivity of the issue and how things left ambiguous to the masses have the tendency to take on a life of their own in the interim, we moved quickly to get our terminology announced, beating back at least part of the devastating storm that comes with hysteria.

This, from Dr. Harry M. Patrick:

"I had proposed that we call young Angelica's condition "Hypervisibility", a name simplified for the cameras that best conveyed that her condition was essentially similar to the opposite of invisibility. Amongst my peers there was fiery debate of the naming issue, but it was difficult to remain focused as the debate constantly swept toward the nature of the thing...
...and I hate to bring politics into it, but this minor triumph should bring a fair amount of attention to the Ohio State University's science programs, which I feel is attention we deserve.

For the record, Dr. Patrick is most certainly one of those I would count amongst the imbeciles, a thick, balding, sweaty man whose aura of self importance seems to have risen out a need to justify his awful taste in tweed suits. At least that's the way it appears to me. Continuing...

After we'd drown out some of the white noise with the announcement of the condition's name, it was time to hear from the nuclear physicists, contamination experts and other people specializing in whether Angelica's presence was going to cause us to die and whether any inconsistencies were present. On our various flights to San Francisco, we'd each been given a hurried-dossier filled with information on each of the parents, where they'd lived, what they'd eaten, places they'd worked, where they'd traveled. Based on that hastily thrown together information, nothing conclusive had arrived. No exposure to radiation, no harmful pesticides or chemicals, no history of defects in either family.

This, from the father:

"Was I surprised? You're goddamned right I was. I mean, how could I not be? I'm a coal miner, and things had been going pretty crummy so we'd left Virginia and moved in with my parents in San Francisco. I dunno, I'd been thinking about going back to school or something 'cuz the dust was killing me. My dad had been plucked from Virginia to do some corporate work for one of those green energy companies in California, so they made good money, had an extra room and coal felt like it was dying anyway. We were from simple stock and until then we hadn't had nothing too nice I wasn't planning on changing that. I've never believed in having nothing fancy and I sure as hell ain't one to go looking for unnecessary attention. Now Angelica, God bless her, she brought about both those things in our lives. The good Lord saw fit to do it for a reason, but that don't mean there wasn't a sticker shock involved. Back where I'm from there's a phrase, and they say that "It takes all kinds." Well I always held true to that, and it wasn't my place to get in between what God created and what's right and wrong. That's above my paygrade, and I like it that way. Now if you're into causin' harm, that ain't right, but Angelica was just a child, and there wasn't any way she could do anybody harm...
...Now once the news broke, we got all these folks asking about what we been up to, acting as though Kim and me's been rolling through life like simps, not noticing when people see a mealticket. I tell you, people couldn't come around fast enough. People who hadn't ever acted like they were happy to see me in their life couldn't hardly contain their excitement calling me afterwords...
..The media and naysayers can crow all they want, but I'll bet the farm that I was just as surprised as any of them at what our beautiful Angelica was capable of."

The debate on exposure and the nature of Angelica's hypervisibility soon came to center around the possible nature of it all, and whether the effect could last outside her infancy. We weren't sure whether it was a detriment to her system or to the systems of those who came into contact with her, but it seemed as though the condition wasn't contagious given the fact that no one else popped up with it's or any unusual symptoms. There were many amongst us who thought the effects radioactive in nature, but no evidence substantiated that. In running radiation tests, no abnormalities were detected, and there was little reason to disbelieve them. Still, the radiation argument continued, with some posing theories that the child possessed a half-life, and that the condition would eventually dissipate much like nuclear fallout or a common cold. A horrifying number of blood, genetic and altogether too physically-intensive tests had already been conducted on the child giving her a clean sheet of health, but the louder public opinion (not necessarily the majority opinion, though) still persisted in saying that Angelica was a threat to the public.

Amongst this contingency, Dr. Edward Albers, an Astrophysicist out of the University of Texas was amongst the most outspoken.

"I fear this situation isn't breeding a wealth of rationalized thought. There are many amongst us who feel that since the threat of this child cannot be perceived that it is perfectly safe. Lord knows why fools jump to such conclusions in the face of what could be an unimaginable danger. The whole lot of us could wake up tomorrow, hypervisible as the day is long, and how would we remedy that? That's when the dread would really settle in. Then the error of our ways would be made evident.
As it stands, I'd rather not step close to the child, but the nature of our council requires us here. I make the (ignorant as it is) sacrifice in the name of science, but the populace at large has not agreed to any such peril. Never did they agree to their possible contamination, and it's for that reason that I insist on quarantining the child. Wait, watch to see if the affliction spreads. That's when you'll find the controversy in our deeds."

Since the beginning of our meetings, there had been an increasing push to dehumanize little Angelica, to place her in a cage like a dangerous beast. Dr. Albers was not the only voice calling for this to happen, and his was far from the only perspective that sought to justify it. There were those who thought her a possible military weapon, a threat to our national security if our enemies were to capture her and harvest her extraordinary gift for use on our troops, rendering them perfect targets. All this from a simple, gooing infant, barely removed from the womb.

I was thankful that in the sea of scientific scrutiny my research as a psychiatrist and philosopher could come into play. For years, I'd been a leading voice in my field for the operation of faith and humility, the end result being that when science couldn't explain a phenomenon, we admitted to ourselves that we simply did not know. There were those amongst us who claimed my work was half-baked and dangerous, to take our investments out of the furthest reaches of science and instead invest in practicality and communal ties, hoping to build a stronger bond between us all. I felt the people trying to decry my work were similar to those trying to dehumanize Angelica; attempting to treat something as static and lifeless, ignoring it's near-blinding vibrancy.

This wasn't to say I was a strong believer in unexplainable phenomenon, conspiracy theories or a science-fiction fueled version of our universe's function. It just meant that I was more apt to question the value of certain scientific conquests, feeling our willingness to use them as mandate subtracted from an outlet humanity needed for creativity.