Free SFS1 - Science Fiction Short Stories by Krishna kumar Mani

1 Rejected Patent
I sat in the courtroom waiting for a judgment
regarding a patent of mine.
    FLASHBACK
I'm Bill Ambrosone. And I'm a scientist who
specializes in DNA. But more than that, I'm a
businessman. I own five different labs and our
primary service is analyzing DNA samples for
clients. The cost for our services is lower than
you'd
think.
We identify
hereditary
disease
markers for the most part, but it's not unheard
of to get a request for a paternity test. For the
past three years I've been working on a project
and once I have the patent for it, our business
will take off like never before. You might ask
what the advancement is, and I'll tell you. Just
bear with me. I've got to get this patent. If I go
to
the market
with my product
without
a
patent, the next guy will come in and swoop it
out from under my feet.
I waited for the mail that day for what seemed
like forever. When the mail carrier arrived, I
hurried down the steps and out to the mail
box. I sorted through the mail until I found an
envelope that was stamped with “USPTO,” the
acronym for the patent office. I ripped open the
letter and poured through the contents. “We're
sorry to inform you that your request for a
patent has been rejected.” Needless to say, I
was upset. Since I applied for the patent, it's
now public knowledge. Even though I hadn't
been able to get a patent, I also didn't need to
have given out my trade secrets to every upstart who wanted
to
run a DNA lab.
And
what's to say the next guy who tried to apply
for a patent with a slightly modified version of
my work wouldn't get one and put me out of
business altogether?
I sat
on my terrace and
mulled
over
the
situation.
My phone rang. It was an old friend
from school, a guy we used to kid that he'd
had mud in his head instead of a brain. He
ended up dropping out of college and worked
in real estate now. After catching up for a little
bit he invited me to a party. I agreed, needing a
change of scenery and also just wanted to get
my mind off the patent situation.
I arrived at dinner to have him greet me. No
one else was there yet, maybe they were late?
“Hi, I thought more people coming?” I asked.
“Nope, this is just for you,” he replied.
“Wait, why?” I asked, confused.
    “Just hold on, Bill. It'll be clear in a second. It's
not some weird come on or anything like that. I
just wanted to introduce you to my friend.”
A 40 year old man entered the foyer from the
kitchen sporting a Rolex
and
a two button
Armani suit in pristine, pressed condition.
“Mr. Ambrosone, I presume? I'm the president
of development for Arlon Inc.. We do a bit of
everything, but mostly we develop software
programs, specifically for mobile devices. I've
heard a lot about you and I asked our mutual
friend
here if
he could
set
up
a meeting
regarding a business deal.”
”I am a DNA scientist and you work in
computers. What is it that you think we can do
together, exactly? ”
”I know that your patent got rejected today.
I've read all the details of your concept. They're
really interesting, I had to admit.”
    ”You've read my research?” I was shocked
that word had traveled this quickly. Who was
this man?
”Yes, I know and now it is ready for business,”
he said with a smile “Would you like me to
explain my understanding of your research?
I'd like to see if I've got it correct.”
    “Yes, by all means.”
“The gist of the process is that your research
allows you to take a DNA sample and extract
data from a previous life. You can find their
date of
birth,
and
basically
their
entire life
history from birth to death. Hell, you say you
can find out what they were named based off
DNA. That alone might be worth millions if it
works. I've got the basics down, yes?”
I was still in shock about the speed that he'd
read it at. The research itself was somewhat
technical, but most people would understand
the basics of it. Perhaps he had a scientist read
it for him.
“So how do you