Entanglement: A Modern Frankenstein | Creation

Prologue

The first victim, Adam, remained undiscovered for one day and one night. Even with the office staff buzzing around him, he stood undisturbed in his silent state.    

Adam's colleague, Wade, knew as well as anyone in the company that Adam had a quirky reputation in the research company. He didn't consider it unusual to see Adam staring blankly at the calendar on his high cubicle wall, perhaps deep in thought on his next assignment to analyze competition for their customers. Wade only poked his head in for a few seconds, but Adam did not move the entire time. Wade told himself he would check back later that afternoon to compare progress of their research projects. If he had followed through, he would have been alarmed to find Adam in the same position staring at the same spot. Instead, Wade favored a different course that afternoon. Instead of completing his own company analysis, he opted for drinks with two appealing women from the sales team. Because of Wade's choice for an exciting evening , Adam spent the night at the office in the same state.

Wade was not alone in missing and misdiagnosing the issue. Without a reason to find themselves in Adam's back section of the office and to peer into Adam's cubical, Adam's head was just below the tall walls and his presence was not noticeable. For those who happened to walk by, Adam's awkward habits to date inspired his co-workers to dismiss their brief observations as homogeneous character flaws.

Within weeks, national and international perceptions would become hypervigilant of the signs Adam was exhibiting. In future weeks, anyone within earshot of world news would be ready to raise alarm bells. But Adam fell victim when the world was still naive. Initial reaction to Adam's case would be simple curiosity and confusion. Up to this moment in human history, no mental, physical, or biological ailment like Adam displayed had existed. Adam was their introduction, with others soon to follow.

By the time Wade also fell victim months later, the world would be a different place. Wade would be diagnosed within an hour and panic would ensue in the office. As news of two incidents in the same suite rippled across the globe, that panic would spread and ratchet to a new level. By that point, months of news reports laden with victims around the world would have absorbed into their concerned minds. They would continue to lack any understanding of the root causes. And that uncertainty would make it all the more threatening to human brains.

On that inauspicious Thursday afternoon, before tragedy rippled across the globe, Adam continued to stand and stare. A data analyst shared her concern about Adam's odd behavior with Adam's cubicle neighbor. The neighbor peered over the cubicle wall on tiptoes to see the top of Adam's head only a foot from the cubicle wall. When he noticed that Adam seemed intent upon a project release schedule, his brain convinced him that someone could be so preoccupied when faced with an impending deadline. He accepted his assumption as fact then communicated it back to the colleague, feeling a subconscious need to defend his neighbor. Only later did he learn that Adam had already submitted his research earlier that morning.

The new intern was the only one who admitted to talking with Adam that afternoon. She walked into his cube and tried to assess the odd situation. She greeted him with a warm "hello" and introduced herself as a new analyst. A friend in marketing had forewarned her about Adam so she proceeded to launch into her questions. She received neither a response nor the slightest hint that he knew she was there. In subsequent interviews with colleagues, she conceded with reluctance that she had stood there uncomfortably for maybe as long as three minutes before walking away, determined to answer the questions herself via the internet.  

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