The
J
Genesis
by
Raymond Gen
Book 1 - The J Genome Book 2 - The J Genesis Book 3 - The J Generation
Description: The second book, The J Genesis portrays the life of Janus from birth, his education, his maturation into adulthood, and the events that caused his death. The life of Janus parallels the life led by the original possessor of his DNA. The novel ponders the question about the kind of person Jesus would be today. (77,255 words)
Prologue
The birth of Janus was noteworthy only in the fact that his mother had been impregnated by another female. Although the birthing room had two male father figures, who cared for both the mother and baby with the greatest devotion and affection, neither men were the biological father of the child. What made the baby, Janus truly unique was that he was born of a virgin. Virgin births have been asserted by thousands of people each year. Usually, these claims were made out of the pressures and encumbrances of shame, embarrassment, desperation, and sometimes out of self-deception. But Dr. Marilyn Aimee Yun, known as Aimee since her birth, made no such claim. Aimee never made the pronouncement that she was a virgin giving birth; although, she had every right to do so. Janus was a clone. He was the first human clone - but not just any human being - Janus was a clone of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The blood of the Nazarene was discovered on one of the nails that were used to crucify him over two thousand years ago. The DNA was extracted and sequenced, creating the Jesus DNA sequence or what the lab called The J Genome. Dr. Elena Sanchez, who worked at the ArcheoCloning Lab, which was renowned for cloning extinct animals, created the processes which made this possible. Both Dr. Sanchez and Aimee were assaulted by religious zealots. As Dr. Sanchez lay bleeding from her mortal wound, in a desperate last option to save the clone, she implanted the single-cell embryo into the unconscious Aimee, who brought Janus to term nine months later. For a full account of this unusual narrative, see the J Genome manuscript, which I wrote to recount the birth of Janus. What follows is Janus’ subsequent story.
2. Week One
At Janus’ birth, Father Connery and James Becker were present to “help” Aimee through the birthing process. But truly, what could the men actually do? What do inexperienced males know about the birthing process? Even when they go through a birthing class, which neither of them did, what can men honestly do to help? An experienced midwife or a male accoucheur could be a great benefit, but inexperienced people? Nothing. Inexperienced people just stand around and perform meaningless procedures like coaching breathing, which is of minimal help, or the cutting of umbilical cords, which is an excuse to give those gathered something ostensively engaging to do. The birth took place at UC San Diego’s Medical Center which is a premier medical facility. With a single bout of Rochambeau, it was determined that James would video record the event on his phone while Father Connery held Aimee’s hand in supportive encouragement. Neither man had much to offer to ease Aimee’s travail, but at least they did make an appreciated supportive effort.
Just after the birth and the cutting of the umbilical cord, one of the nurses noticed the baby’s shallow breathing and called the doctor over immediately. Janus was panting like someone who had over-exerted themselves during a long run. The doctor took a momentary glance, listened to Janus’ chest for only a few moments, and said, “Get a full course of antibiotics for a neonatal lung infection. I want a full course. Get a full blood panel going now. Also, let’s get a swab and a culture going,” she said. Dr. Kapoor then turned her attention to Aimee, James, and Father Connery who were genuinely surprised and had not noticed anything amiss with Janus. The OBGYN explained, “Janus has a lung infection. You can tell by the labored short breaths.”
Aimee blurted in fear and guilt for having not perceived his difficulty in breathing, “Oh my God! I didn’t notice anything!”
Dr. Kapoor replied, “Since he is your first born, it’s no wonder you didn't perceive it. But babies should be breathing as normally as you and me, drawing long, regular breaths. Janus’ breathing is short and shallow. I ordered an immediate full course of antibiotics because I did not want to wait for the identification of the specific virus. I’ve also ordered a culture so we will find out what specifically is causing the problem. But I want to nip this infection early and not wait for the culture to fully develop - if that’s ok with you?”
Aimee nodded in affirmation as did Father Connery and James who watched in near terror.
“We will keep Janus a few extra days and move him directly to neonatal intensive care. He will receive a richer oxygen mix to help him breathe easier. You will be able to visit him and hold him, but you will do this in the NIC instead of the regular nursery,” she calmly explained to Aimee.
“My poor baby!” exclaimed Aimee.
“Lung infections are more common than you think,” offered Dr. Kapoor. “Babies can be infected in utero, during labor and delivery, or postnatally. It’s undoubtedly better for us to see this now and begin immediate treatment. Had you taken him home, it might have been days before we started treatment. Right now we don’t care how he got his lung infection. The top priority is to stop it at its onset.”
Aimee stayed in the hospital for the standard two days during which she learned the rudiments of motherhood from the specialists who checked in on her. She was taught how to bathe, care for, and feed her baby. It was difficult to return home without taking Janus with her, but knowing he was receiving excellent care assuaged the emptiness and disappointment. James offer to extend his stay but Aimee convinced him to return on schedule so that he could come back when it would be more opportune. Now, he would just be looking at Janus through the window. Exposure to others would be kept to a minimum. Aimee said, “Go home, James. Come back when you can hold him. Father Connery will look after me if I need anything.” Father Connery nodded in agreement. James reluctantly left for New York on his scheduled flight.
Janus was brought home six days after his birth with no lasting effects from his extra stay in the hospital. The poor baby was poked and prodded and had an IV tube jabbed into him which temporarily bruised him, but no lasting harm was evident from the lung infection to the relief of everyone who cared.
Aimee’s Chinese-American father, Donald Yun and her Swedish-American mother, Lorena visited after Janus was brought home and provided their advice. Being traditionalists in their background, Aimee’s parents were having difficulty with the fact that Aimee had a baby out of wedlock. Although James had offered to marry Aimee before the birth, Aimee refused. Her parents’ accusatory recrimination suggested that ‘she had gotten the cart before the horse.’ Although modern society would not have given this a second thought, Aimee’s parents' old-school proclivities and their conservative church background looked down upon such happenstances. During Aimee’s nine months of carrying the baby to term, they had essentially disowned her, but since the birth, they eased up on their disapprobation and were becoming more comfortable with the concept. However, her parents would give James Becker, the assumed father, hostile stares for years. Their stares would have melted a glacier as sure as global warming. Donald and Lorena did privately concede to each other that the baby did not resemble James’ Germanic features a whit. The baby’s deep brown eyes, dark brunette hair, and olive skin attributed no connection to James’ northern European blue eyes, paler skin tone, and blonde hair. But they knew enough about genetics to know that traits often skipped generations. To think that James was not the father would open up the suggestion that Aimee had sexual relations with yet someone else. Aimee’s parents continued to contemplate the birth of their assumed grandchild. “The fact is,” they discussed among themselves, “Janus did not resemble Aimee either.” But they reasoned that such was the state of the American melting pot. It was a genetic stew consisting of different morsels of ethnicities, both culturally and genetically. “And who knew what gene pool the father had swum in?” Donald thought.
Aimee was sitting beneath the pergola of the condominium that ArC Lab had sold to Aimee for a dollar during her pregnancy. Dr. Greg Sibel was made the acting CEO of ArcheoCloning Lab, known more commonly as ArC Lab, after the founder, Sam Jellison had been killed when religiously motivated zealots had blown up the lab. Dr. Sibel was married to the genius behind ArC Lab’s scientific ventures in cloning, Dr. Elena Sanchez. Greg arranged for ArC Lab to sell the condominium to Aimee in order for her to have a permanent residence near the ArC Lab where he could continue to monitor the development of Janus. The only person at the ArC Lab, who knew that Aimee had given birth to the J Genome clone, was Greg Sibel. It was important for him to keep notes on humanity’s first clone. Everyone had presumed that all the cloned embryos were lost during the blast at the ArC Lab and the subsequent shootings at the offshore facility. No one but Greg was aware that Aimee had been impregnated by his wife with the only surviving cloned zygote.
James called Aimee, “I came home in a major snowstorm raging across the East Coast. I like San Diego weather much more.” James had come home from work to his New York studio apartment only ten minutes before and had dropped his backpack on top of his bed. “Your parents hate me,” said James unequivocally to Aimee on the phone. Aimee’s parents lived in Arcadia, in Los Angeles County. It had always been home for Aimee and her brothers, Eric and Lucas, except for her college days. Aimee’s dad, Donald was semi-retired, but he enjoyed going into the kitchen of his Chinese-American restaurant which was established by his father. He was the boss and only helped out when it got really busy. Donald had taken over the restaurant from his father after graduating from college with a marketing degree. However, none of Donald’s children expressed any desire to continue the family tradition and business.
James always stayed at a hotel when Aimee’s parents came to visit her in San Diego when their visits coincided. James tried his utmost to avoid this coincidence and her parents as much as possible.
It was not only the second week in January, but it was also the first week Aimee had come home with her newborn. The early weeks of January in Southern California were often in the balmy seventy degrees Fahrenheit. The warm clime seemed to be at its finest during the Rose Parade and its subsequent namesake football game, when millions tuned in to watch. Southern California rarely had inclement weather when the cameras were rolling during the parade and game. On this evening, Aimee went out to enjoy the weather as she spoke to James on the phone. Aimee was cradling Janus in her arms as she adjusted positions in her patio chair.
“They just blame you for getting me pregnant without the benefits of a wedding,” answered Aimee while she shifted Janus’ position in her arms. Aimee put the phone on speaker so she wouldn’t have to hold both her baby and phone. She smiled lovingly at Janus. Janus seemed like he understood and returned a contented smile. It was either love or gas from a burp that caused his smile. Aimee could not genuinely know which, but she chose to interpret it as love.
“You don’t deny it. They hate me,” James responded. “Why didn’t you tell them the truth? Surely they would have accepted the truth from you?”
“Oh sure, James. How about something like, ‘Mom and Dad, there’s no need to be ashamed. Tell all your friends at church that Aimee gave birth to Jesus’ clone. She’s still a virgin.’ - I’m sure that will put their minds at ease,” retorted Aimee in a mocking intonation. “No one - especially my parents - will ever believe it.”
“What about the Jesus Genome? We could do a DNA test on Janus and prove that he’s not our child,” answered James.
Father Connery, who joined Aimee and Janus on the patio, brought with him a pitcher of lemonade and two glasses filled with ice, interjected, “And once the world knows that a human clone was born, what kind of life do you think Janus will have? Then we top it off with, ‘not just any human - Jesus of Nazareth’s clone.’ Definitely not, James. This must remain our secret, at least until we know when the time is right. And that time might not come until Janus reaches adulthood.” Father Connery divided his time between Washington, D. C. and the West Coast. In D. C., Father Connery was acting as Cardinal Gonzales’ camerlengo or chief assistant. Cardinal Gonzales and Father Connery had been friends since their young priestly days. Father Connery had been the long-time priest of St. Abelard’s Cathedral in Washington, D. C., but the Cardinal moved Father Connery to his current position for two purposes. Firstly, he could help Cardinal Gonzales handle the ever-increasing pressures from Rome, and secondly, he could help raise Janus in San Diego. With the election of the conservative pontiff, Pope Jerome in the last conclave, much vexation came upon the more liberal Catholics in the world. And most conspicuously, the American Catholic community, which was largely not known for having a reserved interpretation of doctrine, felt Rome’s glaring scrutiny most keenly, like a naughty schoolboy trying to evade the eye of his teacher. The new Pope was trying to reign in the wayward Americans and bring them back into a more conservative and traditional practice of Catholicism. Cardinal Gonzales was one of the leaders of the more progressive American Catholic elements, and they had a major battle on their hands. Thus he offered his long-time friend and colleague, Father Connery the new position as his assistant or camerlengo. The freedom offered by a new office also enabled Father Connery the ability to spend most of his time on the West Coast with Janus and Aimee. Father Connery currently occupied the other bedroom of the condominium when he went to San Diego, but soon Father Connery will be vacating his bedroom and moving to his own unit. Cardinal Gonzales arranged with Bishop Allende of the San Diego Archdiocese to purchase a condominium unit in the same complex as Aimee’s so that the ‘optics’ of a priest living with a woman would not be a potential point of contention. Father Connery was also charged with providing Aimee assistance with the care of raising and educating Janus. All the parties, who were privy to Janus’ provenance, included Aimee, James, Father Connery, Cardinal Gonzales, Bishop Allende, and Dr. Sibel.
They had agreed that Janus’ education would include not only the standard American academic curriculum but also religious and theological lessons under the auspices of Father Connery. But Aimee retained the ability to issue the final decision regarding Janus, should they ever disagree. Cardinal Gonzales also promoted Father Connery to bishop and honored him with the title ‘monsignor.’ However, Connery preferred the title “Father” and kept that honorific instead of the more ostentatious bishop or monsignor. But in the official hierarchy of the Catholic Church, Patrick Andrew Connery was a bishop, although his bishopric was not clearly defined. The title ‘monsignor’ is not an office or a function but an honorary title bestowed upon noteworthy individuals who have attained at least the rank of bishop in the Catholic Church and have served the faith well.
Raising Janus would not be an economic issue since Cardinal Gonzales had established an irrevocable trust that would dole out a generous monthly dividend for Aimee and Janus from the Institute for the Works of Religion more commonly known as the Vatican Bank. Of course, the funds did not come directly from Rome but indirectly to a Swiss account, then a transfer was made to an American brokerage that made its own investments. This circuitous transfer of money was similar to what drug lords did to launder their money. The source of funding for the Vatican Bank account was Cardinal Gonzales’ administrative ecclesiastical office which oversaw much of the American Catholic church. By the time Aimee’s Bank of America account received the direct deposit from the brokerage, the source was nearly impossible to determine without prior knowledge of its source.
“I can see your point,” admitted James. He continued, “The poor kid would be ridiculed, bullied, and beat up incessantly in school. Wait - will he be going to school or will he be tutored or home-schooled?”
“I want him to have a well-rounded education. The schools around here are good and high-performing. I don’t want him to be sheltered or special. I want him to be as normal as he can be. Yes, he’s going to school. - Public school!” insisted Aimee. This was one of the points of contention on which Aimee had the final word. Bishop Allende suggested that Janus go to the Catholic Prep School in San Diego, or perhaps be tutored individually by the best minds and teachers in California. But Aimee had insisted on a solid, public education, like the one she had had. Bishop Allende backed down because Kindergarten was still five years off and he had time to change her mind.
“He will receive the best education that we can supply,” responded Father Connery. “What we lack, we will provide for him. He will be able to pursue whatever he wants, like any normal child in America. That’s what we envision. We will not force him into anything. He is not predestined to any outcome.”
“That sounds good to me,” replied James. “So he’ll be needing a dad. When will you marry me, Aimee? You know I was ready before he was born.”
“That was kind of you, James. I know that you were just trying to protect me and Janus, but I just couldn’t do it under those circumstances. It was like forcing you to marry me. It would have been the worst kind of ‘shotgun wedding.’ But if you are still willing, we can,” replied Aimee meekly. “I know that would make my parents much happier.”
“Now, I’m not too sure. Making your parents happy is a scary consequence,” bantered James with a laugh. Then with a complete change of tone, “Of course, I am still willing. Father, will you do the job? How about I fly out next week?” James suggested.
“Whoa, slow down, Cowboy,” answered Aimee. “I want to do this properly, even though some people, like my parents, might not like our timing, with Janus being born before the wedding.” She emphasized the word harshly. “I had always envisioned a big wedding. But now something simple with just family and a few friends is all I want. And I do not want a bicoastal marriage!”
James winced at Aimee’s last stinging pronouncement and said more accommodatingly, “Most people don’t care about issues like when a child was born anymore. I mean, ‘who cares?’ anyway,” replied James. “As long as Janus grows up in a loving home, the date of the ceremony doesn’t matter - does it Father?” he asked. The contemplative Father Connery was seated comfortably in the chair opposite Aimee’s seat facing the patio table with the large green umbrella protruding from the table’s center. Father Connery thought pensively. Then he took a sip of lemonade before he replied, “Timing does still matter for some people, James. But you’re right. I agree with you. All that matters from this point is that we raise Janus well. We give him all the advantages that growing up in America can offer. With the three of us, perhaps we can do an adequate job that befits the clone of Jesus.”
“Does this mean we have to be all ‘holy’ and everything?” asked James in a startling realization of the huge responsibility that he had just walked into. He thought, “What do we have to do to raise a - a Jesus?”
“From the strain in your voice,” said Father Connery, “you have either just realized that marrying means promising yourself to only Aimee. Or - have you come to the cognizance that you will be raising the Son of God? Perhaps it was a bit of both?”
“It was the latter. I will be raising Jesus. I don’t think I know enough about God or anything to do that properly,” answered James truthfully. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!” James swore under his breath.
“None of us do,” said Aimee. “This is what Father Connery and I have been talking about for nine months. We have a huge responsibility. The theological implications are staggering. What do we tell Janus? When do we tell him? Can you ever imagine hearing the words, ‘you are the Clone of Christ? When is it EVER the right time to hear those words from your parents? But Father Connery and James-” Aimee said, making sure they understood her intent, “Let’s be clear about one thing - he’s not Jesus; he’s Janus.” Father Connery nodded his agreement, then got up and went inside leaving Aimee and James to say their private good-byes.
James returned from his California trip to his relatively new job at a stock brokerage in New York. He left his job at the Bank of America in the Washington, D. C. area and moved to New York to work at Stucken and Gerber Investments, an up-and-coming firm that had taken the industry by storm. James was starting near the bottom of the rung, for he had much more to learn and was still establishing a clientele list. He worked long and hard hours trying to establish himself in the cut-throat industry. His marriage to Aimee would have to wait a bit. Even though Aimee and Janus would not want for money or support, he wanted to be able to provide for his family. He needed to achieve some economic independence for his own self-confidence as a father figure. He did not want to be dependent on the Catholic trust for his source of living. He was determined to find his way in this world. He refused to be supported by a trust established for his ‘adopted’ son.
3. Three months
In early April, Aimee attended the wedding of Sung-Mi Kim, who was Aimee’s roommate for two years at Muller Theological Seminary, where Aimee had earned her doctorate in comparative biblical linguistics. Sung-Mi was marrying Kevin Delancey, a good friend and study group partner at Muller. Aimee, of course, brought Janus along, but they sat in the back of the church so she could escape the ceremony should Janus start making a fuss, as he often did when Aimee sat still for too long. But being stationed in the back of the sanctuary also had another incidental advantage. When the door opened, during the organ’s recital of “Hornpipe” from Handel’s Water Music, the wedding party assembled for their march down the center aisle. Aimee and Sung-Mi could manifestly see each other, and there the two stared at one another with undisguised and unabashed love and friendship. Both women wished that Aimee were in the wedding party, and yet both knew that it wasn’t possible. Sung-Mi asked Aimee to be the maid of honor, but Aimee declined because she did not want to be separated from Janus for the lengthy periods of time required - not just for the ceremony, but the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, bachelorette party, etc. Aimee was not comfortable with leaving Janus with anyone for any length of time, not even with her parents. Even with Father Connery, she was comfortable with leaving Janus only for a few hours at the most for an exercise period and a shower. Sung-Mi settled for her younger sister, Wei-Ye to be the maid of honor. The younger sister and Sung-Mi’s family wanted the traditional Wedding March by Mendelssohn to be played for her procession, but Sung-Mi wanted something more unusual, yet still familiar, Handel was an acceptable compromise. A tear trickled down Aimee’s right cheek as she wiped it away with the diaper she kept handy to wipe away Janus’ urps and spit-ups from his chin and clothes. This would be among the multitude of sacrifices that Aimee will readily make for Janus’ sake throughout their lives together.
The wedding was a spectacular affair for an upper-middle-class, Methodist church celebration in the Los Angeles area. Kevin and Sung-Mi had agreed to work in this large church. Kevin was the youth pastor of the church, and Sung-Mi was the associate pastor in charge of Christian Education. So everyone in the church showed up and made the affair a celebration for the entire community. Frank was Kevin’s best man and the four of them, plus Janus enjoyed a simple lunch together the day before the wedding. Frank was the other study group member of their dynamic foursome. Frank became the associate minister of the Presbyterian church where his father was the senior pastor in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. Their conversation centered around their ambitious futures and plans for their careers in churches. The conversation circumvented Aimee’s plans until Sung-Mi blurted out, “Aimee, you’re the smartest of all of us. I thought you were going to be a professor of some sort. What are you going to do?” All the eyes turned towards her, including Janus’ eyes.
“Yes, I still want to do that. But I have different priorities, at the moment,” she admitted to her good friends. Aimee felt a little embarrassment, as did all her companions. None of her friends held any condemnation against Aimee for having conceived out of wedlock, but it was a major impropriety for a person going into religiously affiliated work. Albeit, Aimee had never intended to work in a church setting. She was headed toward a teaching career, but her unmarried-but-with-child status would preclude her from working in most religious educational organizations from parochial grammar schools to graduate schools. “I’ve been furthering my studies on my own, while I take care of Janus,” she explained to her friends. “Janus will be my priority for the foreseeable future,” Aimee asserted. Her three friends nodded their heads in understanding.
Each of her friends had thought at some point that of the four companions, Aimee had the potential to go the furthest with her academic acuity. “She could have taught at the most prestigious seminaries or schools. But she had circumstances that declared this possibility null and void. It was a shame and a waste of potential. Too bad she could not have waited until she was married,” they each concluded in thought.
Kevin broke their train of reflection and blurted, “Are you studying Aramaic or Coptic on your own? I would have flunked Greek and Latin without your help, Aimee. How could you pick up an ancient language by yourself?”
“No. I’m not studying ancient languages. I’m studying some modern languages. I’m learning computer codes. Right now I’m learning Python in the MIT OpenCourseWare. After I get that under my belt I may move on to Haskell or Scala,” replied Aimee matter-of-factly. “I’ve also become interested in genetics and microbiology.”
Her three companions looked at her in shocked silence. “What has brought this on, Aimee?” asked Frank. “Everyone here knows how smart you are, and we all know you can learn anything you put your mind to, but what has led you down this path?”
Aimee replied to her friends, “It was a curious path indeed that has led me to this pursuit. It does involve Janus, as you have probably assumed correctly. Hence, I have put my agenda on hold and have taken to learning computer codes so that I can also devote the necessary time to care for Janus. I am able to do this study at home. I hope that this will, at some time, work to make Janus’ future more secure.”
“How will computer languages do that?” asked Sung-Mi, seeking to understand her former roommate. “Do you want him to become a programmer or something?”
“It isn’t that,” replied Aimee. “A friend of mine gave me a set of electronic files to help me understand Janus and his circumstances. I’ve read the documents that were written in plain English. However, most of the files are computer codes and programs. I’m seeking to understand those.”
Aimee’s friends nodded in empathy, but they each wondered how computer codes could help Aimee raise a baby. But no one wanted to raise this question, but they all had these thoughts. They thought they would spare their friend the need to explain. It wasn’t even a question Aimee, herself could answer at the present time.
After the wedding and the reception dinner, Aimee took her leave after they all promised to see each other often and to keep in touch. Aimee drove to her parents’ home in Arcadia instead of traversing the southland to San Diego immediately. Aimee spent the rest of the weekend and the following Monday in Arcadia, letting her two younger brothers, Eric and Lucas entertain their baby nephew while she spoke with her parents. The tension between Aimee and her parents had lessened quite considerably. The shock of Aimee being pregnant without the blessings of marriage had been erased by their concern for Aimee and their grandchild. Aimee assured her parents that she was well looked after and that she had plenty of resources from which to draw. She explained to them that she was receiving funds from the insurance companies of ArC Lab and that there were no monetary concerns. She disliked misrepresenting the whole truth and the out-and-out omission of certain facts to her parents, but the truth of Janus’ origin could not yet be told to them. It would be doubtful that they would even accept the truth. She was receiving money, not from any insurance company, but from the trust. But disclosing the trust would involve disclosing the reason the Catholic Church was helping her and Janus. The timing was not right to tell her parents, she concluded once again.
After two days at home with her family, Aimee left for San Diego with Janus. The family breakfasted on Cantonese jook otherwise known as gruel with some roasted potato sausages. It was a mélange of Aimee’s father’s Chinese and her mother’s Swedish heritages on their meals. Aimee and her brothers, Eric and Lucas had grown up with such culinary combinations, and the cultural amalgamation was quite normal for them.
In the evening, after putting Janus down for sleep, Aimee turned on her desktop computer. She clicked on the external hard drive called Mater Dei (G:) and opened the drive that Dr. Elena Sanchez had created and bequeathed to Aimee before Elena died. She did not start looking at these files until she had been home for two months and Father Connery had returned for a jaunt in Washington, D. C. When she realized what the hard drive contained, she made four copies of the drive. One she kept in the cloud paying Dropbox for its Enterprise storage and service. Dropbox granted unlimited storage for this service and backed up all content that was uploaded, including the computer codes and programs. Aimee also made copies on two other external drives. One she kept in a safety deposit box at a nearby Bank of America that James had arranged free of charge and the other she would present to Father Connery upon his return. She had also transferred the contents of the drive to her desktop computer. There was also one other copy. The original was in the ArC Lab cloud from which Dr. Sanchez made the drive she bequeathed to Aimee. Aimee had not made so many copies of a single source since she backed up her dissertation a multitude of times because she feared losing the document before her degree had been conferred. She had created so many copies that she had forgotten where she had squirreled them all away. Copies of her dissertation were floating about, lost in the digital ether.
Aimee continued reading where she had left off before she had departed for Sung-Mi and Kevin’s wedding. Aimee was discovering what led Elena to her scientific procedural breakthroughs in cloning and the way she used computer technology to help her. Elena had expertly coupled two distinct disciplines. She had married microbiology specializing in genetics with computer science. The marriage of two fields was something Aimee understood when she combined her undergraduate degree in sociology with her church history Master’s Degree. And now Aimee was picking up Elena’s two fields. Aimee was driven to understand the fields of study which had mutated her life completely and had created the possibility of Janus’ existence. She held no illusions about getting a job at ArC Lab; she just wanted to understand how Janus’ existence was made possible. Included in the external drive was the J Genome, which, of course, was also Janus’ DNA. Aimee’s dogged determination had always made her successful in learning anything she put her mind to. She would be testing this assumption to its fullest in this endeavor. “Can I learn these fields?” she asked herself. In undergraduate school, she had aced marine biology and intro to computer science, but this self-study was completely different. She continued reading until she forced herself to bed at midnight, knowing that Janus would not be caring how much she slept during the night when he awoke in the morning.
In the few months since his birth, Janus and Aimee had hardly been separated. Even when Aimee took a quick shower, she brought Janus into the bathroom with her to make sure she could supervise him. She declined outside help. Father Connery offered to get Aimee a live-in nanny or at least a part-time helper who could assist Aimee when neither Father Connery nor James was available. But she declined. Aimee’s dogged perception of self-sufficiency overruled the offer. Father Connery explained that his bishopric would pay for it, but still, she declined. Cardinal Gonzales created Father Connery’s bishopric in part to fund the raising of Janus. Father Connery was free to pay for expenses he deemed proper for Janus’ care. But Aimee had steadfastly declined the hiring of a nanny at this point in Janus’ young life. Aimee compromised and allowed a housekeeper to come once a week to help with the cleaning chores around the house. When ArC Lab owned the house, they sent one of their custodial employees to maintain the condo. Greg offered to continue the service after selling the unit to Aimee, but she declined the generous overture of aid. Aimee’s devotion to Janus was nearly fanatical, but it was understandable. Not only was she caring for her baby, but this baby was the clone of Jesus. She often thought, “What did Mary do with the infant Jesus? How do I raise a child like that?” She did gratefully accept the monthly stipend which was directly deposited to her Bank of America account that James set up when he was still employed with the bank. From this generous fund which originated from the account Cardinal Gonzales had set up at the Vatican Bank, Aimee purchased food, clothing, diapers, and household supplies for Janus and her needs on a credit card she obtained from Bank of America. She paid off the card’s balance each month by transferring funds from her primary account to her credit card. She also accepted the leased vehicle from Father Connery’s bishopric. Most of the time, Father Connery accompanied Aimee and Janus when they went shopping, and he would naturally pay with his credit card which was supplied by his bishopric which Cardinal Gonzales had also funded.
Father Connery’s absences from Southern California were principally due to his work with Cardinal Gonzales in Washington, D. C. The Vatican had increased its pressure on the American Catholics and was cracking down on other liberal-leaning Catholics in the churches of Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Spain, and the Netherlands. A clear schism was dividing the Catholic Churches of the world. The modern or liberal cardinals stood on one side and the more traditional, conservative cardinals gathered on the other. This divide was made clear in the conclave which elected the current pontiff. Not since the conclave which elected Pope Gregory X in 1271 had the elector cardinals been so divided. The election of Gregory X in 1271 took nearly four years and had begun in 1268. The conclave which established the current conservative-leaning Pope Jerome lasted over three weeks. Cardinal Gonzales was one of the “papabili” who had not cast a single vote in this Pope’s favor. And the conclave had cast sixty-plus ballots. “Papabile” means “pope-able,” in other words, able to become the pope. Cardinal Gonzales had received some votes himself, but Gonzales then removed himself from consideration in support of another, more popular, non-American liberal candidate. But the more traditional candidate won the position in a compromise election. And since then, the liberal-leaning Catholics were defending themselves and trying to head off Vatican policies that would make the practice of Catholicism nearly impracticable for liberal Catholics. The truth was that Americans were not the only Catholics who practiced birth control, tolerated abortions, and engaged in alternative lifestyles, but Americans seemed to have flaunted it the most boisterously. Albeit, not all American Catholics were liberal in theology, practice, and life. Some conservative American Catholics were more right-winged than the Pope himself.
Father Connery was working with Cardinal Gonzales on the feasibility of support for the use of birth control, not just the turning of a blind eye. “The Holy Father needs to realize that the world isn’t the same as it was even fifty years ago,” said Father Connery. He continued, “People use birth control. It not only prevents undesired pregnancies, but it also protects against sexually transmitted diseases. Can’t he see that as a benefit?” Father Connery did most of this work from San Diego. He wrote carefully researched position papers which he documented in the Chicago Manual of Style. These were ready for publication in periodicals in the American Catholic News Agency, but the only person who read them was Cardinal Gonzales.
Cardinal Gonzales replied, “Patrick, don’t you think we’ve told him this time and time again? The Holy Father's reply has always been, ‘Sexual diseases would end if everyone abstained from sex until properly married and then remain faithful.’ He does have a point, but it flies in the face of human practice. But of course, he then says, that it’s our job to get everyone back to the Catholic faith and Christian practice.”
The Vatican, under the leadership of Pope Jerome, was intransigent. Father Connery and Cardinal Gonzales’ goal to reconcile the conservative Vatican with the unacknowledged progressive practices of liberal Catholics seemed like a bird seeking leniency from a cat who already had the bird under its paws. There wasn’t much of a chance. Their quest was doomed to ignominious failure; nonetheless, they persisted in their hopes.
End of Preview of Book 2- The J Genesis
See Preview of Book 1 - The J Genome
See Preview of Book 3 - The J Generation