Friday fictioneers – The Signature

~ neilmacdon
boatpilxr_-antiqued
PHOTO PROMPT © Georgia Koch

Joel wasn’t a believer. Not in spirits, faeries or deities. But neither did he believe in coincidence. Two samples containing the strange DNA sequence he could dismiss, but not 500.

“It’s crazy,” he told Emily. “the gene’s present in humans, mice, fruit flies, and amoebae. It’s ancient. But does nothing.”

“Oh, it does something,” Emily said digging her hands into the pocket of her lab coat. “But you’re not going to like this.”

She spelled out the amino acids the gene coded for – Alanine, Lysine, Phenylalanine, Histidine, Arginine.

Joel didn’t follow. “So?”

“It spells Alpha. This is a signature.”

 

Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here.

 

67 thoughts on “Friday fictioneers – The Signature”

  17. “The Alpha , the Omega, the beginning and end, the God of all Creation and my personal friend” Lyrics to a song sung by Accapella back in the 90’s. This piece reminded me of the song, the group, and the cd that got me through so many hours of relearning life. 🙂 ❤

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  22. Intriguing and I confess a little mystifying – maybe I’m over thinking!
    Perhaps god is a crossword setter – because god knows why anyone sets crosswords.
    My real concern is that this assumes a universal naming/writing system?

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  23. This could be the beginning of a great horror or SF story. Someone who injects that sequence for whatever reason and perversely leaves a signature. Then they all die, or become clairvoyant, or telepaths, or zombies. That way you don’t have to worry about some deity knowing that humans would develop writing in latin letters, and name amino acids that way.

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  24. Very intriguing! Whose signature? Could be the inventor’s, perhaps an alien race. But it would make more sense if the inventor was human, because why would an alien race embed code in a Greek word, based on English names for proteins?

    Or it could be the creator’s signature. I am thinking of Bible verses in Isaiah and Revelation: “I am the Alpha and the Omega….”

    I have a feeling you’ll provide us all with a sequel(s) to expound on the computer simulation. But I am wondering how the theological angle would play out.

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  25. Neil, you GOT me! I love stuff like this! This is one of my guilty pleasure-type scenarios. Yes, DNA mysteries and science stuff can be overused by others, but it’s the SUSPENSE and brevity you build in this one and that takes real commitment. Do you have any ideas for a longer story on this one? I’ll be the first to read it.

    Bravissimo! Five out of five petri dishes.

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      1. Well, there are only so many types of, say, boy meets girl stories, for example, but only authors make them unique. You could be the one people will say, “Wow! I never heard a story told like that before.” Anyway, keep ’em flying!

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  31. Pingback: Friday Fictioneers – The Signature, Part 2 | Neil MacDonald Author

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