McBrega v Belyayev
~A concept by Oculus~
~Featuring art by Princess Purrpaws~
~
“Fwuffy am aww saddies. Nu can wun fass, nu can pway baww…. Huu huu….”
“I understand. Can I take a good look at your missing leg, Tim?”
“sniff Otay…. Huu…”
The veterinary surgeon observes the fluffy’s leg. The fluffy had lost his right forelimb due to an unfortunate accident involving a lawnmower. Of course, the vet already had an x-ray to work with, but as part of his bedside manner he had to maintain the pretence.
“Well fluffy, we’ll be bringing you to the Dreamie Place. When you wake up, you will have a new leg.”
“Weawwy?!”
“I promise. But you have to promise me that you will keep your eyes closed.”
“Otay…”
It didn’t take long for the fluffy to sleep anyway – the aesthetic was already doing its job.
The surgeon takes out the new leg he had made two nights before. The leg started out as calcium rich material with an artificial marrow within it. Utilizing the biolathe, the surgeon had boneturned the material until it formed the rough shape he needed. Then, he spent a good few hours working at the bone with a gouge until it had formed the shape he was looking for. This was followed by adding the synthetic made flesh and skin, cloned from the cells of the fluffy. All that was left now was to reattach this newly made leg. It was a delicate procedure, as it involved having to bind the connective tissue of the new leg with the fluffy’s body.
But it was a success.
And after a week later, the fluffy was happy.
The fluffy benefitted from being born in a more modern era. Now, the art of growing replacement limbs in the modern world was vastly improved from how it was in the 50s. Just as a disabled man could get himself a new pair of legs if he was in the money, a fluffy that had lost its legs could get a new pair.
“Tim wub nyu weggie! Thanks doctah!”
“It’s my pleasure,” says Wayne Belyayev.
~
Wayne Belyayev was a changed man. Cured of AIDS and with no trace of HIV within his blood, he had bounced back from an unhealthy lifestyle of depression, drugs and unemployment to a much happier, healthier life. He was also free from his other problems. With the aid of his mother Miriam and his father’s financial partner Samuel Adams, Wayne was able pay off his alimony. Within a year, and much to his Sam’s astonishment and his mother’s pride, Wayne had succeeded his father in the ownership and management of the Belyayev family farm.
However, his life as a boutique maker of biotoys did not go to waste. Now freed from his father’s influence, and with his mother’s blessing, Wayne expanded the farm to include a trauma centre funded by the Association of Welfare for Fluffy Ponies (AWFP). Here, the bodies of heavily injured fluffies could be repaired to their fullest. Wayne does his job with pride, and seeing the smiles of happy fluffies getting a new lease of life with their new limbs and organs gives him joy. And it was not limited to just fluffies. Skilled at the bio-lathe, he had recently repaired the beaks of an abused birds, from toucans to parrots. Whatever the animal, whatever the situation, Dr Wayne Belyayev was ready to take it on.
And today was a very special appointment.
“Morning Sam!”
“Morning Wayne! This here is Mr Devushkin, and his daughter, Barbara.”
Wayne observed Fyodor Devushkin. He was about his age. Unlike Wayne, who still had a mullet and beard, Fyodor was shaven and well-groomed. Even though they came from an entirely different walks of life, Wayne wondered what his life would have been if his marriage had not gone haywire. The girl by his side, Barbara, had just reached her teenage years. She was carrying a pet carrier, most likely the patient for the next operation. At the same time, she was tugging at the hands of her father.
“Daddy, will Major be okay?”
“Don’t worry, Barbie. Major will be alright.
You wait outside with Mr Adams, alright? I’ll spend a moment with the Doctor here.”
~
Wayne observes Major, the fluffy of the Devushkin family. To the naked eye, he resembled any other fluffy pony, especially those of natural birth. Of course, as a Marty McBrega biotoy, he was a clone of Will Kroc’s Marty. In some ways, Roy had managed to mimic and fully replicate the work of the Belyayev’s in perfecting the fluffy as a biotoy – naturally grown in a vat, and with perfectly defined features guided by the cells. And yet, the test results had revealed a different story. His bones were losing calcium, his muscles were starting prematurely atrophy and his blood sugar level was too high. In addition, Major was complaining about constant headaches, and an MRI had revealed a swelling in his brain, around where the McBrega chip had been installed. Major was lucky that Barbara never played much games with him, as he would have developed cyberpsychosis. All in all, Major’s problems were the result of intended defects, part of a planned obsolescence that was built into his system.
It was a conundrum. Major was both an improvement on his father’s work, and yet, a parody of it as well. It seemed thus fitting that, despite his relatively young age, Major was at the end of his ropes.
“When did the problems start?”
“About a few months ago. I brought Major to one of McBrega’s customer service outlets, but they stated that he was fine, and that he was just old. I had a hunch that something was wrong. I had a Dendy when I was much younger, named Laika, and Laika lived until the age of 15.”
“What’s a dendy?”
“What we call fluffies in Russia.”
“I see.
So, I take it that Sam referred you to me?”
“Indeed! I knew Mr Adams through a mutual friend of your fathers. Said friend had introduced me to Mr Adams, and he suggested coming to you for an appointment.”
A family friend. Wayne was not quite sure who Devushkin was referring to. He blamed himself for being so removed from the workings of his family. Getting down to business, Belyayev had to explain the situation to Devushkin.
“Mr Devushkin, I’ll make it brief. I can fix Marty here. It’s a lot of work, but it can be done. Do stuff like change his organs, as well as remove that chip from his brain. And I think that’s why I was recommended by Sam. But I’m a little worried about McBrega’s no-tampering policy. They’ve been trying to sue against anyone who tampers with their products.”
Devushkin’s face lowered a little. With a little resignation, he conceded.
“I understand.”
But there was more to Wayne that met the eye, as he smiled.
“But, why should we care about what a big company like McBrega says about what we can do with our pets?”
~
Roy McBrega was staring at himself in the mirror. His hair was completely blonde, dyed over the silver hair that he had inherited from his father. His body too, was no longer quite the same. In addition to a strict fitness regimen, he had undergone the latest in designer surgery. His muscles were better, he now was taller, and he was larger in other places, including down below. With the money he had made by climbing up the corporate ladder, he had utilized the advancements in gene therapy and cosmetic surgery to turn himself into an Adonis. So much so that the distinctive features of the McBrega family were no longer as apparent.
As Roy stared at himself in the mirror, he had to come to grips with a new reality. Both Uncle Henry and his father were withering away in the hospital, dealing with an advanced illness that gene therapy had yet to cure. Just a year ago, Henry had gone catatonic, and it was likely that his father Irving was next to become a vegetable. With his closest family disappearing, and with the changes he made to his appearance, Roy was not sure whether he was still himself.
There was also another bit of news that was causing him undue stress. It was arguably more pressing. And he had to present on it today.
He takes out the vial from his pocket. In it was a white powder, which he lines on the ceramic. Bringing his nose down, he inhales each line. Giving the chemical some time to work, he feels more at ease. It seemed like the better alternative. He tried tobacco, but he didn’t like how it affected his lungs, and getting replacement lungs was too annoying.
Having taken his ‘medicine’, Roy was ready.
To mark the conclusion of the development into the CubicFluffy, the company was having a business lunch in an events room at McBregaLand. A unique piece of entertainment was being presented to the company executives.
Burger Fluff Restaurant, idea by FoalOut4, art by Princess Purrpaws
The little microfluffies started collecting the bits of food that was provided to the, Following the orders that were provided earlier, the fluffies worked deftly. Pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, veggie patties, buns. All assembled neatly. Despite having hooves, the fluffies were well trained, and more importantly, had been programmed to carry out this routine with gusto.
As Roy watched the performance, he was well aware that each of the microfluffies that were doing the little entertainment were all bio-animatronics, each which would have been “programmed” with the Dream Maker to pull off such synchronization. It came natural to these fluffies, because it was innate to them. For a natural-born fluffy, they’d have to be trained. And yet, as Roy himself knew, these little fluffies would only ever know how to put together “the perfect meal”.
And within fifteen minutes, lunch was served. As per the order, each executive got their respective meal, whether it was savoury pancakes, burgers or spaghetti.
Following the conclusion of the lunch, CEO Nolan Turner then addressed the room.
“Our earnings in the third quarter of this year have been high as expected. Demand of the McBrega64 is still present, but there is a lot of pre-orders for the CubicFluffy system. However, we are facing stiff competition. Despite our initial projections, the TecBoi Exodus is still the second most sought console in the market, especially due to the popularity of the game SimSim for both the Exodus and Genesis. In addition, there is a lot of hubbub about the upcoming TecBoi Dreamcat, which will be TecBoi’s first foray into the biotoy market.”
Nolan sighed. The next bit of discussion was going to be difficult.
“Also, we have faced another issue regarding our sales.”
Roy could feel his heart beating. This whole time, he was masking the high he had received from the white powder he took earlier. But he had to do it. It was a particular stressful problem that he knew couldn’t be solved easily. And the solution that he was going to propose was just as stressful.
“As some of you are aware, our bio-animatronics are designed to have planned obsolescence. Each of the organs are designed to be operational for up to five years, but defects are still allowed to ensure that the biotoy will face some significant health problem by the end of its expected life cycle. From there, we release the new biotoy and console to coincide with the end of the previous generation. It is how the McBrega64 phased out the earlies MES, and now, our fluffies with the organic bioport will phase out the fluffies released at the time of the SMES.
However, we’ve been getting word about the biomodding scene. Biohackers and biomoddders have been working on augmenting our product, replacing the organs with those sourced from boutique biotoy makers. In addition, we are facing competition from a particular entity.”
As he says this, an image of a farm appears on the projector. Next to the farm was a clinic, the real focus of the presentation. Mr Turner’s face was grim. He recognized the farm. He knew that the discussion was going to turn to this. And that there was no other choice.
“AWFP has been sponsoring efforts into undermining our policy of planned obsolescence. And there is only one way to deal with this problem.”
~
The message was clear.
Cease and Desist.
But Wayne was undeterred.
“I’m going to take him to court.”
Miriam and Sam were concerned with Wayne’s boldness.
“It’s going to cost you.”
“Mr Adams. My father said that he would take in any fluffy, including the bio-animatronic ones.”
“Well yes, he did-“
“And, from what I understand from mom, his stance on biomodding had softened.”
“Yes dear. He did.”
Wayne’s conviction remained the same.
“I’m not going to let some company like McBrega bully us out simply because of their bottom line.”
~
“We’re going to meet this challenge. Head on.”
~
Five decades of a cold war between the two families finally led up to this moment.
On one side was Roy McBrega, an executive at McBrega’s. The son of Irving, and the successor of the three McBrega brothers, Roy had reclaimed the name of his family business from its buyer Will Kroc. The McBrega’s, which had specialized in the field of bio-animatronics, had a prodigy in Roy, who was both on the cutting edge in the development of artificial life and at the same time, possessed a strong business acumen matched only by the likes of veterans like Gerry Vannevar.
And on the other side was Wayne Belyayev, the current owner of the Belyayev farm. The son of Fievel, Wayne had continued two family businesses – the farm which had bred the first true fluffy ponies, and recently, the charity that sought to ensure the rights and freedoms for fluffies of all kinds. A wayward man in his youth, surviving the dreaded HIV virus had awakened a new purpose in life for Wayne, driver further by his desire to be worthy in his father’s eyes.
A lot was on the line. It was not just the McBrega corporation getting the Belyayev farm and AWFP to cease their work on biomodding and improving the conditions of McBrega brand fluffy. Also on the line was the very classification of what, and what wasn’t, a fluffy pony. The McBrega corporation were looking to copyright the name “Fluffy Pony”, with their lawyers ready to argue that the original stock of fluffies from the Belyayev farms were just “advanced fancy dandies”, and should be marketed and treated as such.
Both parties met, as their attorneys duelled before the blind eyes of the Law. But nothing was to be settled by that day.
~
Wayne found himself in a café. It had been about a year since the legal proceedings first started. He had gotten word from Sam that a specific individual wanted to meet him in private at a local diner.
The man who turned up to meet at the diner was a man he had only see a few times before. In the distant past. When he was only a boy.
“Nolan Turner.”
The elder Turner smiled. Wayne was a lot bigger from how remembered him.
“You’ve really grown Wayne. You resemble your father.”
Wayne felt slightly offended by that remark. Not because it was disrespectful, but because he felt it wasn’t accurate.
“I’m nothing like my father.”
Nolan chuckles.
“You’d be surprised.”
With a stand-offish air, Wayne laid out his concern in blunt fashion.
“Why did you want to meet me?”
The elder Turner sighed. Despite being from the company that was suing his farms, Nolan had a reason to meet Wayne.
“I’m old, Wayne. I’ve been the CEO of McBrega for nearly a decade. Prior to that, I had been working with the company for ages, from the time I was hired as a fry cook. In that time, I have known both your father, and Irving’s son, Roy.”
“I know. And Roy is the one who’s trying to shut me down.”
“You know, the two of you share a lot in common.”
“I’m nothing like him,” Wayne spoke sternly.
“You say that, but there’s a fire in you. Roy has that same fire. And I believed in it when he first joined.
The company isn’t quite the same as how it started. Back in my day, when we made a product, it was a product that was meant to last. But now Roy has become something else. Now I can see why your father left McBrega.”
Roy still didn’t understand what Nolan was getting at. A sudden change in conscience? It didn’t make sense.
“Roy as well as many other executives have been arguing that the factory made fluffies, the bio-animatronics, are entirely different from the natural-born fluffies, which they argue are just ‘advanced fancy dandies.”
“Yes…” noted Wayne, wondering what Nolan was getting at.
“Well, I want to offer you some food for thought.”
And as he said this, Nolan pushed an envelope towards the young Belyayev.
Wayne opens up the envelope. It was a secret document, only for the eyes of the CEO. But he noticed that the findings were from a research group, unconnected to either McBrega or AWFP. As he kept reading, his eyes widened at the findings.
Before he could read further, Nolan Turner gets up from the table. Having finished his coffee, and accomplished what he intended, he was now free.
But Wayne, in incredulity, called out to him.
“Why are you showing all this to me?”
Nolan smiles.
“Because I love fluffies, I guess.”
~
The video footage was shown towards the court. Wayne felt like he was back in university, giving a presentation to fellow scientists.
“As you can see, the test subjects were 5 pairs of fluffies, each sourced from a McBrega plant. Although the fluffies lacked sexual organs, per McBrega policy, they nonetheless had testosterone and oestrogen in them to ensure they had the matching gender identity.
For decades, the one type of organ that had not been successfully replicated through bio-animatronics were sexual organs. But these researchers had successfully engineered a working set of testes, penis, ovaries and vagina needed for sexual intercourse.
Now, when the sexual organs were attached to the respective fluffies, the previous feelings of mutual romance started producing interesting developments.”
All eyes in the court were peeled for the following.
“Despite having never experienced sexual intimacy before, it came naturally to these fluffies. For both genders that had received the organs, the fluffies had practiced some form of sexual stimulation, whether it was masturbation, tactile or oral stimulation.
In some cases, the subjects developed an attachment to their partners and engaged in full on intercourse….”
“OBJECTION!”
This came out from the prosecution side. From the stand, Wayne could see Roy’s face, fuming with hidden anger. On his behalf, his lawyer spoke.
“What is the point of showing all this?”
“The point is that the bio-animatronics are now at a stage where, if they’re introduced to natural fluffies, they will integrate and breed. While it is true that they can be reset and have an unnatural origin, these particular manufactured bio-animatronics are not that functionally different from their natural born counter parts.”
It didn’t take long for the prosecution to figure out a rejoinder. After all, the sexual organs were artificially introduced and thus, could still be considered a form tampering. But two things had come out of the deliberation. That McBrega’s bio-animatronic fluffies could breed if given the chance and McBrega would not have any control of any foals born from this union.
It was a discovery that shocked not just the court, but also the people who had been following these events.
~
And soon, it led to a landmark ruling.
“This revelation that biotoys have the ability to innately use reproductive organs if given the chance casts a different light on their existence. I understand that they are manufactured as artificial creatures. But they still have a basis in living material, and living tissue.
Seven decades ago, a war was fought to preserve the Sanctity of Life. Not just Human Life, but also Life in general. Life should not be commodified and made cheap. I recognize McBrega’s interest in maintaining their integrity as a company, but if their product has the capacity and capability of becoming an animal, then it should be recognized as such. In addition, if the owner of such animals as pets wishes to convert their store bought McBrega biotoy into a full-fledged animal, then they should have the right to do so. McBrega may own the likeness of Marty McBrega, but they do not own his genes.”
~
Roy McBrega is at home.
Just a few months ago, his father died, not too long after uncle Henry. Both had died in a hospital ward, their mind and body completely withered despite the advancements in science. In addition to that, the CubicFluffy that he had spent years developing with the new organic bioported fluffies was losing its market share to the TecBoi Dreamcat, which had become a lot more popular due to SimSim 2 and the breakout Days into Dreams.
And now, his company had lost their legal battle against the Belyayevs. Fluffies could no longer be marketed as a biotoy, even if they were manufactured in a factory. Even if they lacked a biological father or mother through intercourse. This, was piled up on a reputation that had now inherited. Over the past many months, he had been receiving death threats – as an executive arguing for the biotoy treatment of fluffies, many people had called him an abuser, blaming him for the abuse that some McBrega fluffies had experience because they were “not real animals”. In addition, other biotoy chains and franchises such as Jeb Bear Pizzeria and the Tecboi, with their Dreamcats, saw him as a pariah, due to the incurred cost they too had to share by having their product be deemed as “potential animals”. It was a lot to take it, made worse by the fact that Nolan was stepping down, and Roy was named his successor.
Staring at himself in the mirror, he could see a bit of the blonde dye fading, revealing his natural silver hair. But his face wasn’t the same. So much of him wasn’t the same. It was enough to make a grown man cry.
“Daddeh? Wuts wong?”
Roy is shocked. He didn’t realize how audible his sobbing was. But it was enough to make Sucy two stop playing with her toys. Desperate for affection, Roy confessed.
“I just need a hug.”
“Fwuffy can gib bestes’ huggies! Make daddeh feew aww betta.”
“Indeed.”
As Roy embraces Sucy Two, he imagines himself as Geppetto in that moment. It makes him wonder – when Pinnochio finally and truly became a human boy at the end of his story, was he accepted by the other boys as being one of them, despite his origin as a wood puppet of Gepetto’s? Even though he was flesh and blood, Pinnochio would have known that he was not of woman born.
But as he feels through fluff, and onto the skin, he remembers the day he took the husk back from the factory. How he crafted Sucy by hand, adding the fluffy by himself, putting the organs together It didn’t matter if he saw Sucy as a biotoy, and the Law say Sucy as an animal. He knows that, like Pinnochio, like the Velveteen Rabbit, Sucy’s genuine love and loyalty to him is real. And that made her special.
~
Epilogue
continued from Strangers in Moscow
A now adult Barbara Devushkin was at the Belyayev farms. Wayne Belyayev was an ageing man, but still had a bit of the flower child in him. Wayne had arranged to meet Barbara not too long after her escape from Russia.
“I saw your article on Mikhail Ivanovich. He sounds like quite the interesting fellow. A pity he died so young.”
“A pity indeed. But he was very interesting. A bit messy, and not very charming, but he was definitely passionate about his interests.
I wanted to work with him, because of his knowledge of the Dendies. I had tried other avenues, but, in ever avenue, anything related to the Belyayev family had gotten cold.”
Wayne could only lament.
“There’s so much about the world of Dendies that’s foreign to us.
You know, my father had apparently found out a lot about the missing side of our family in Russia. He had compiled a lot of his findings into his folder, and was going to publish a book about it when he returned.
And then he died. The manuscript, the research, anything he found had carried him to the grave.”
It was just a small project. A favour that she wanted to do for the man who had ensured the longevity of her beloved Major. But it was a failure.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t find out more.”
But Belyayev smiles.
“It’s alright Barbara. I appreciate what you could find. Even Martin here is interesting to me – we have not encountered Dendies like him.”
“Why, what’s special about Martin?”
“Well – he has an organic bioport, right?”
“Yeah, the one that was designed at the same time for the CubicFluffy system.”
“The organic bioport was coded within a gene. When the later generation of fluffies got biomodded with sexual organs, they passed on this gene to their offspring. It was something that McBrega never intended, but it was a phenomenon that happened.”
Barbara was a little surprised when she heard that.
“You’re saying Martin has a bit of a McBrega fluffy in him?”
“More then that. If Dendies are the result of fluffies interbreeding with fancy dandies, then Martin would truly be one of a kind – a mix of fancy dandy, natural fluffy, and McBrega bio-animatronic.”
It was a lot to take in. In a way, Mikhail had provided Barbara a most interesting specimen, something that represented an entirely different world that Belyayev wanted to know better.
The discussion went on for a bit more, and it then shifted to something more current.
“I heard the news that the supreme court was planning to overturn McBrega v Belyayev.”
“Indeed. Too many conservative judges, especially those who believe that manufactured fluffies should be recognized as biotoys and not animals. McBrega kept pushing it, as did TecBoi.”
“It’s a big if though. If they try to state that bio-animatronic fluffies are not animals, people would object.”
“Perhaps. But I wouldn’t put it past them. And then this whole thing will start all over again. But that’s just Life.”
Just then, the phone at Wayne’s table rang. It was a number that Wayne did not recognize.
“Pardon me, Barbara.
Good evening. This is Dr Belyayev.”
“Hello Wayne. It’s me, Roy McBrega.”
~
“More human than human”
Mariette, Blade Runner 2049
~
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