The Fourth Layer Page 11

  Doctor Greene chuckled. “She was just making a biological comparison to what the nanobots do. A very accurate one, at that. Her point is that there is no more risk to an organism from using the nanobots than there is using a biological mechanism to do the same thing.”

  “But we don’t use these trans-whatevers in clinical medicine yet, do we?”

  Hannah squirmed uncomfortably. “Not…not clinically, no…”

  “So you’re comparing the nanobots to a procedure that has not yet been approved by the FDA for use in humans.”

  “But they’re used in crops and animals! They’re used in them all the time—”

  “Look, Hannah, Dr. Greene,” Rusty cut in, “the FDA won’t budge on this. You have to go through the proper channels with this one. Go through all three phases of clinical trials, prove that there are no long-term side effects and then they’ll happily approve the procedure.”

  “Mister Whitman, that could take five years at least. In five years’ time most everyone on the planet will be green and—and sterile—and who knows what else!”

  Rusty sighed. “So nobody will have kids for five years. Lord knows the planet could do with that, anyhow. But in five years most people who are living on the planet now will still be alive and available to treat. When you look at it that way then five years isn’t so bad.”

  ‘Was the hybridization meant as a form of population control, Hannah?’ Artemis asked her.

  Hannah shook her head almost imperceptibly. I don’t know. Can you look into it?

  ‘Already on it.’

  Rusty left Hannah and Dr. Greene both feeling heavier and more dispassionate than they’d been when he arrived. There was nothing either of them could do.

  “I guess we have to hope that humanity is still around in five years then, huh, Dr. Greene?” Hannah said.

  He laughed humorlessly. “Why do I get the feeling you and I both agree there might not be anything left to save in five years?”

  Hannah said nothing.

  Artemis said nothing.

  Unless they did something, humanity was doomed.

  Author Note

  THANK YOU! for reading THE FOURTH LAYER, the 1st story of the

  FIXING THE WORLD series of the WE’RE ONLY HUMAN universe. Look for the 2nd in February. www.amazon.com/Craven-Jr-Boyd/e/B00BZ54JEC

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  A sketch of the WE’RE ONLY HUMAN universe

  as of October, 2019

  Feeding the World genres - Homesteading, Prepping & Pre-Apocalypse

  1 HUNTER HOMESTEAD Kindle & KU editions

  2 FEED THE WORLD Kindle & KU editions

  3 OOPS! Kindle & KU editions

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  Fixing the World genres - Apocalypse, Genetic Engineering, Artificial Intelligence

  1 THE FOURTH LAYER Meet a new co-author for this linked series!!

  A Dying World genres - Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian

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  Heirlooms of the World genres - Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Survival

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  A New World Order genres - Science Fiction > Dystopian, Lit, War

  Escaping the World genres - Science Fiction > Dystopian, Lit, War

  Taking Back the World genres - Science Fiction > Dystopian, Lit, War

  The World of Homo Perfectus genres - Science Fiction > Transhumanism