The doctor raises her eyebrows. "Oh, really?"
"I can try, anyway," you say.
"Master, I'm so pleased you'll finally be one of us!" Joyeuse says. "I had sometimes worried about what would happen when you passed away
but now we can be repaired forever!"
"Very well," says the doctor. "I will not schedule any surgery for you. Good day."
You leave the hospital eager to start your greatest project yet.
"So that must be what happened to your father," Mom says on the phone that night, after you've explained Algernon's disease. She looks wistful in the video feed.
"I thought that might be the case," you say. "You said he had a stroke, but did he have any episodes before the last one?"
"Oh yes," your mother says. "He fainted several times, but he wanted to hide it from you. He said he didn't want to worry you, but I think he just didn't like showing weakness. He begged me not to tell you."
"I don't understand your generation sometimes," you say. "I could have done genetic testing long ago, if I'd known."
"We didn't understand it either, honey," Mom says. "You're used to living in a world where everything is under control and makes sense, but medicine
just still isn't there. Old age is full of things coming out of the blue to get you. There's that old saying: 'old age isn't a battle, it's a massacre.'" She smiles. "Oh, do you even understand how much you've done personally to change that, sweetie? It was your medical technology that saved me."
"Well, I'm
trying something a little different now, Mom."
"Of course you are," Mom says with a smile. "I look forward to seeing what you come up with."
"You know, somehow, talking to you convinces me everything's going to be all right," you say.
Mom laughs. "That's not what I'm saying at all, honey! But it's like the Serenity Prayer says: 'Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to tell the difference.'"
"I think I can change a lot," you say.
"I know you can, sweetie. I know you can."
When you get home, Joyeuse quickly hides in its room and shuts the door.
You find the house too quiet for your comfort. It occurs to you that it's very late in life for you to be alone.
What will you pour for yourself?
1) A glass of water.
2) Wine.
3) Scotch.