*** This is my submission for the
Valentine's Day Story Contest 2023
.
Fair warning to my fans, this is a little different from my usual fare. Though it contains my standard interracial / taboo themes, there is also a sci-fi element which (I humbly believe) facilitates some nice twists in the story.
Regardless, I do hope you enjoy.
U_D***
Hurrying through the automatic doors of MIT's Biological Engineering building, Dr. Haoran Gao's mind was occupied by everything except the present moment, as usual. Passing students and professors greeted him with deference, which he responded to with cursory, tight-lipped nods.
Even at 23, the young prodigy commanded the respect and admiration of practically the entire science faculty.
From an early age, Haoran had seemed to absorb knowledge like a machine, one scan of a page enough to commit its contents to memory. At 11 years old, he had been skipped 2 grades, his prodigious mathematical and verbal aptitudes already leagues beyond his peers. His mother informed his school principal that all the boy seemed to do was read and write science fiction stories.
At 16, he was granted a scholarship to MIT. At 19 he was awarded his first doctorate.
By 20, he was a professor, teaching hundreds of students each year.
When proof-of-concept for his transcerebral communicator had been released, news spread quickly, creating ripples in the biotech industry. Within a month the university had half a dozen major companies offer 8 figure deals for part ownership of any technology resulting from the breakthrough.
Haoran didn't concern himself with the details, allowing the university to choose a patron on his behalf. He simply presented a meticulous list of all the equipment necessary for the project. Some were easily available, some bespoke. All were expensive.
A year later, the device was successfully tested on primates.
Now, after years of working late nights and weekends in the lab, the experiment was finally ready for its last phase.
It was to be his legacy.
His brainchild was about to be born into the physical world, destined to change the world for the better.
If he were alive, Haoran's father would have been extremely proud.
There could be no errors, no oversights. Haoran would check the support technicians output personally. It had been a nightmare to get the proposal passed by the ethics board, and Haoran had no intention of allowing any mistake to derail his work at this stage.
When he entered the observation room, Dr. Cindy Yu and Dr. Bryan Fuller were already seated at the monitoring consoles.
"Well... are we ready?" Haoran said brusquely, for once sounding slightly nervous.
Cindy cleared her throat. "Good morning, Dr. Gao. It is Monday 6th February, 10:04am. Both subjects have been sedated, vitals are steady. All relevant equipment checks have been performed and all systems are confirmed as operational. Backup systems are online and functional. In other words... we are ready. Please confirm TCC activation."
"This is it, Dr. Gao. This is what we've been waiting for." Bryan said excitedly.
"Fingers crossed." Haoran muttered as he checked the measurements on the array of monitors before them.
With a deep sigh, he allowed his shoulders to relax. The readings looked good.
"Ok team. We proceed as planned. Please activate TCC." he ordered.
Bryan clicked a button on his screen and the large machine on the other side of the glass began to hum. The test overseers felt the gentle vibration of the machine underfoot.
The two adult male subjects on the other side of the glass were strapped to beds, wearing only light blue surgical gowns. A team of doctors stood by in case any irregularities arose.
Subject A was a white male, 29 years old. Eric Monroe, former machinist, recently unemployed. In good health.
Subject B was also a white male, 36 years old. Joseph Reed, former professional football player, in good health.
Both were sedated.
With the latest iteration of the TCC, diodes were implanted subcutaneously and were invisible to the naked eye.
The link had taken approximately five minutes in primates, for humans it was expected to take longer, but no one yet knew for sure.
The trio watched as the connection confirmation bar moved from 1 to 5%, slowly ticking up. Haoran vaguely noticed his mouth was dry as the indicator passed 80% some fifteen minutes later.
Then 90%. Then 95. 96. 97.
The air was heavy with expectation and tension.
98%.
99%.
Haoran blinked.
100%.
Oh my God, he thought.
He exhaled loudly, and the other scientists laughed nervously, allowing themselves a momentary respite.
"Ok team, so far so good. Let's progress to phase 2. Bring them both out, let's see what's what and, more importantly... who's who."
Again Bryan pressed a button on-screen and stimulants were injected intravenously. The three scientists silently watched both sets of vitals begin to surge on the monitor.
"Wakey wakey." Cindy almost whispered.
On the other side of the glass, Joseph Reed's eyes blinked open.
"Subject B appears to be conscious." Bryan said. Leaning forward, he pressed a button on the intercom, before saying, "Hello Joseph, can you hear me?"
The tall, powerful man on the other side of the glass looked disoriented and confused.
"Joseph, can you hear my voice?"
"Are you... talking to me?" he said groggily.
"Yes. Can you hear me clearly?"
"I can hear you alright... but my name's Eric."
Bryan punched the air and Cindy whooped, jumping to her feet to hug Haoran.
As the gravity of the moment sunk into Haoran, he smiled slightly before beginning to laugh giddily.
It worked, he thought.
IT FUCKING WORKED!!!
_______________________________
Both subjects were run through a series of basic motor function tests to assess their physical coordination. Both scored highly. There seemed to be little to no lag between the neural connections the men shared. After the assessment, both were sedated once more and their cerebral connection was safely terminated, ensuring no jarring crossover as each individual effectively returned to his own body.
By the time the experiment ended and the team was debriefed, it was almost midnight. Haoran was simultaneously euphoric and weary as he drove home, the long drawn out climax to his work finally taking its toll on his mental and physical reserves.
As he turned into his driveway twenty minutes later, he noticed the lights were on.
He opened the front door of the house and immediately was hit by the aroma of his mother's traditional Chinese cooking. It was only then he realized he hadn't eaten since breakfast.
"Hi Mom." he called through to the kitchen as he lowered his laptop bag to the floor and kicked off his shoes.
"Hi dear!" his Mom replied. "I made sticky rice, you want some?"
As he walked into the kitchen, he saw his 42 year old mother standing by the cooker, facing away from him, serving up a plate of food. Wearing a pale yellow frilly blouse with a black skirt, he tried not to notice the curve of her ass and the outline of a large bust.
His Mom was still a beautiful woman.
She turned to him with a dazzling smile, long, silky hair swirling, her teeth perfectly white and even, her dark brown eyes radiating that familiar maternal warmth. High cheekbones coupled with full, plump lips gave her a deeply sensual femininity. She presented her cheek and Haoran leaned down to kiss it, as usual.
"That'd be great, thanks!" he said, sitting down at the table.
"So!... How'd your thing go?" she asked distractedly.
Qing Gao knew her son was a genius... but she also had no idea what he actually DID all day. He had given up trying to explain his work to her, consoling himself to the fact that she was proud of him regardless.
"Yeah... really good." he smiled self-consciously.
"Oh? Well, that's good!" she said with overblown enthusiasm. "So is that the end of your test... project... thing?"
"Well, the hard bit is done." Haoran said, surprised she had even remembered. "Still have some analysis and writing to do."
"Hmmm... So now that you'll have a bit more free time... does that mean you'll start looking for a girlfriend soon?" his mother cooed embarrassingly.
"God Mom! I swear you're more interested in my love life than I am!"
"Ohhhh! You have a 'love life', do you?" she smiled. "Could have fooled me!"
He wondered whether his mother knew he was still a virgin. With his slight frame and poor social skills, it wasn't exactly as if women were banging down the door.
"Maybe I've secretly been building a robo-wife for the past three years..."
"Well, since your father passed, you're the only man in my life! I just want to make sure you have a good woman to look after you when I'm gone... human or otherwise!"
Haoran gave his Mom a dubious look.
"... and, you know... maybe... someday... give me a grandchild... or three?" she said, before laughing good naturedly.
Haoran smiled before lifting a spoonful of rice to his mouth.
Unsurprisingly, it tasted delicious.
"Tell you what Mom... You keep making food this good, I'll have no reason to replace the only woman in my life... even though she's inexorably approaching obsoletion."
Not comprehending his words fully but assuming she had been somehow insulted, Qing scowled before hitting her son playfully with a towel.
"Cheeky boy!" she chided. She leaned in and said in a low, conspiratorial voice, "You know... next week is Valentine's day. Maybe you should ask that Chinese girl you work with on a date, hmmm? What was her name again, Mindy?"
"CIN-dy has a girlfriend..." Haoran said somewhat smugly between bites.
