Worth the Price

Doctor Caelum Finch won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his tireless effort to develop Panacium, the drug that could cure any disease, and the results made him curse the day he created it. Doctor Finch loved humanity and wanted to see the species grow. He wanted mankind to prosper on every inch of the Earth and to go forth and start new colonies amongst the stars. Doctor Finch thought Panacium would help fulfill this dream, but once it was mass-produced around the world, the population began to decline.

“How could this be?” Doctor Finch furiously said to his wife, Vivienne, who was also the CEO of the pharmaceutical company he founded, Finch Pharmaceuticals. She had been reading an article about the population decline on her tablet and made the mistake of sharing it with her husband. “It says right here, ‘Because of Finch’s miracle drug, people around the world no longer feel the burden of reproduction out of the fear of disease.’ The burden of reproduction? What are they talking about?”

Vivienne brushed her hand against Doctor Finch’s and said, “Calm down. Your job was to give the world what it needed. You can’t control things like this. And think of how well we’re doing. Have you seen the stock price lately?”

Doctor Finch pulled his hand away and said, “I can’t let this happen. I can’t be the man who caused the fall of humanity.”

“The fall of humanity?” said Vivienne. “That’s a little much, don’t you think?”

Doctor Finch turned to his wife with rage in his eyes, and she stared back with a dare in hers. Doctor Finch didn’t take that dare and instead chose to storm out of the room and confine himself to his study. After many hours of brooding, an idea struck him, and he got to work.

A week later, a security guard at Finch Pharmaceuticals named Frank Mallory was in his kitchen arguing with his teenage daughter Jenna. Frustrated, he said to her, “If your mother were here, do you think she’d be happy with the grades you’re bringing home?”

“Seriously?” replied Jenna. “You’re bringing mom into this?”

Frank softened up a bit and said, “Honey, I… I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just looking out for you. I want you to have good things in life. I want to see you go to college. I want to see you make something out of yourself.”

“College is overrated,” said Jenna. “You went to college. Did you make something of yourself?”

With his blood starting to heat up again, Frank said, “I’ve made enough of myself to keep a roof over your head. I hope you like that roof, cause you’re going to be looking at it for a while. You’re grounded.”

“You can’t be serious,” said Jenna. “I’m supposed to meet Brooke and Kara at the bowling alley at 9:30. It’s already 9:20. I can’t just not show up.”

“It’s 9:20?” said Frank, startled by the realization. He looked at the clock on the kitchen stove to confirm this was true and saw it tick to 9:21. “I’m late for work,” he said, and he grabbed his jacket and keys. As he made his way to the door, he turned around and said to Jenna, “You better not leave this house. If you do, I’ll know about it.”

Jenna turned around and went to her room, saying in a huff, “You’re unbelievable,” before slamming her door shut.

Finch Pharmaceuticals was closed for the evening, and all the workers had long since gone home. When Frank arrived at the security office, he found Tom Granger, the guard he was supposed to be relieving. Tom said to Frank, “You’re late.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” said Frank. “I’m sorry about that. I had this thing with my kid.”

“Is she dead?” said Tom.

“No,” said Frank. “She just –”

“If she’s not dead, then I don’t care to hear it tonight,” said Tom.

Trying not to dwell on that too much, Frank replied, “Did you cover any of my sweeps?”

“Nope,” said Tom. “You were late, and I need to go home and worry about my own kids.”

As Tom walked away, Frank said, “Gee, thanks.”

Frank started his rounds of the Finch Pharmaceuticals building, inspecting the empty rooms of the factory, but when he reached the blending room, he noticed someone was inside.

“Hey, Doc. It’s kind of late for you, isn’t it?” said Frank, as he walked up to Doctor Finch in the blending room.

Doctor Finch looked startled and said, “I thought you did your rounds at 9:45.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” said Frank, embarrassed and a little surprised that the founder of the company would know his schedule so well. “I had something come up, so I’m running a little late. I’d really appreciate it if you kept it between us.”

“No problem at all,” said Doctor Finch. “As far as I know, you were on time. But that puts us in an interesting position. If you were on time, you wouldn’t have seen me in here. Right?”

Frank rubbed his chin and replied, “Yeah, I suppose that’s true.”

“Good man,” said Doctor Finch. “I’m glad we’re able to understand each other.”

“Alright. Well… Have a good night, Doc,” said Frank, and he started towards the door. With a forced grin on his face, Doctor Finch stared at Frank until Frank walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.

Three months later, Frank was sitting on his couch at home, enjoying a nice cold beer and half falling asleep in front of the television, when his daughter burst into the house. He half-heartedly looked towards her and said, “Hey, honey. How was school?”

Jenna dropped her backpack next to the couch and said, “Are you going to get laid off?”

Jolted out of his daze, Frank replied, “What are you talking about?”

“You seriously haven’t heard?” said Jenna. “Panacium is killing people. Everybody’s talking about it.” She pulled out her phone and sat next to Frank with her Buzzbook app open. As Jenna scrolled through her feed, Frank saw post after post of people getting sick and dying from taking Panacium. The most up-to-date death toll from around the world had reached about 50 million.

Vivienne Finch was at her desk in her office, reading the most recent death toll reported to her in an email, when Doctor Finch entered the room. Vivienne glanced up at him for a moment to say, “Close the door and sit down,” before returning her attention to her computer screen.

Doctor Finch sidled up to the chair in front of his wife’s desk and sat down. After a moment, Vivienne was done reading her email and said to Doctor Finch, “Have you looked at the stock price in the past half hour?”

“No,” said Doctor Finch.

Vivienne shook her head and stared at a space on her desk, and said, “It’s probably gone down since then anyway.” She looked into Doctor Finch’s eyes from across the desk and continued, “Does anyone have a reason to accuse you of anything?”

“What are you talking about?” said Doctor Finch.

Vivienne put a hand up and rolled her eyes. “Does anyone have a reason to accuse you of anything?”

“I don’t know what you’re–” started Doctor Finch.

“Caelum!” interrupted his wife, glaring at him.

Doctor Finch’s eyes darted around Vivienne’s desk, and he said, “I mean… There was a security guard a few months ago… He saw me in the blending room one night and might think something or another–but it’s nothing. I wouldn’t worry about it. Nothing happened.”

Vivienne nodded her head up and down slightly and reached over to dig inside her briefcase. She pulled out a large manila envelope and handed it to Doctor Finch. He was somewhat confused, and the moment he took it from her hand, Vivienne said, “I’m divorcing you. The papers say for irreconcilable differences, and we don’t need to discuss it any further than that.”

“What?” said Doctor Finch. “Viv, no. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but we can get through this.”

“Caelum,” said Vivienne, “you know me well enough to know I’m not changing my mind. Please don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be. I do still care about you, and we’re going to have enough problems dealing with all that ‘nothing’ you claimed happened.”

Doctor Finch took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He said to Vivienne, “All right. You’re scared. I can understand that. You just need your space and some time to think things through. I’ll go home now and pack a bag. When I find somewhere permanent, I’ll send for the rest of my things.”

“No need,” said Vivienne. “I’m having my things moved out as we speak.”

Doctor Finch looked dumbfounded and replied, “No, Viv. Please, I insist, you should stay in the house.”

Vivienne rose from her desk, and as she walked towards the door, she said, “I don’t want anyone to think you’re somewhere I might be.” Doctor Finch turned around in the chair and saw Vivienne holding the door open. With the manila envelope in hand, Doctor Finch rose and walked towards the door. As he passed his wife, she brushed her hand against his and said softly, “Take care of yourself, Caelum… Please.” Doctor Finch stopped and looked at her, but she did not return his gaze. Vivienne walked back to her desk and got back to work. Doctor Finch stared at Vivienne for a moment longer and walked away without saying a word.

Doctor Finch was walking to his car in the parking lot, and he heard a voice say, “Hey, Doc.” Startled, he looked around him and saw Frank approaching. “It’s kind of a crazy time for you, isn’t it?” continued Frank.

“Can I help you with something?” said Doctor Finch.

“You don’t remember me?” asked Frank.

“Of course not,” replied Doctor Finch. “Because we agreed we never had the chance to meet.”

“Well, Doc, a lot of people have been dying from Panacium,” said Frank, “and I can’t help but recall you were in the blending room a few months ago. Some people might find that an interesting correlation.”

Doctor Finch looked around the parking lot. Not seeing anyone else around, he said to Frank, “Seeing as you’re expressing this theory to me in a parking lot instead of to an officer at the station… I don’t think it’s much of a stretch for me to leap to the conclusion that you want something.”

“You got me all wrong,” said Frank. “I want 10 million somethings.”

“I can’t take that kind of money out of the bank right now, and you wouldn’t want me to. People would ask questions,” said Doctor Finch. “And despite what you’ve learned from watching Scrooge McDuck, people like me don’t keep that kind of money lying around the house.”

“Yeah, and despite what you think about people like me, we’re not all idiots,” replied Frank. “Between you and your wife, I’m sure there’s enough jewelry at home for you to scrape together 10 million easy.”

Doctor Finch just stared at Frank for a moment, contemplating the proper course of action when being extorted. When he finally came to a conclusion, he said to Frank, “All right, I’ll find something for you.” Looking around the parking lot again, Doctor Finch said, “Here’s as good a place as any. When should we meet?”

“My shift starts at 9:30 tonight,” said Frank. “Meet me here at 9:20.”

“Anything else?” asked Doctor Finch.

“Nope, that’s it,” said Frank. “I’ll see you tonight.” Doctor Finch started to walk away, and Frank turned to him and said, “Don’t worry, Doc. I’m not going to keep hitting you for more money. I have my integrity. Just pay me tonight and we’ll be through.”

Doctor Finch looked over his shoulder at Frank and said, “Good to know.”

“Do you even know my name?” said Frank.

“I couldn’t give a fuck about your name,” replied Doctor Finch, and he turned and walked to his car.

That evening, Frank took his daughter Jenna out to her favorite restaurant, Ember & Thyme, for dinner. “We didn’t need to do this,” said Jenna to Frank, having just sat down at their table.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Frank. “You’ve done so well getting your grades up these last few months. You deserve it.”

“I really do appreciate it, but, Dad…” said Jenna. “Dad, can you really afford this? Especially with what’s going on.”

Frank took his daughter’s hand and said, “I want you to have good things in life.” She forced a smile back.

At 9:20 that night, Doctor Finch was standing next to his car in the Finch Pharmaceuticals parking lot, when a car drove up and parked next to him. It was Frank, who got out of the car and said, “Good to see you, Doc. What’s in the box?” pointing at a wooden box next to Doctor Finch’s feet.

“A crate of 1945 Château Mouton worth 1.2 million,” said Doctor Finch. He handed Frank a briefcase and said, “In here are four Patek Philippe watches worth 3.8 million and four investment-grade pink diamonds worth another 5.”

Frank took the briefcase from Doctor Finch and said, “Why didn’t you make it all jewelry?”

“My wife moved out this morning,” said Doctor Finch, “and I’ve never been much for jewelry. The watches were all gifts from her.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Frank. “Do you have any kids?”

“No,” said Doctor Finch. “We were always too busy with work.”

“At least that’s something you don’t have to worry about,” said Frank. “But I really am sorry to hear about your wife. My wife died a few years back. I know how hard it can be dealing with the empty space.”

“Thank you, blackmailer,” replied Doctor Finch.

Frank furrowed his brow and said, “It’s Frank, and I was trying to show you some compassion.”

“You can keep your compassion. It won’t do me any good,” said Doctor Finch. A news van was driving through the parking lot and parked next to the two men. “Ah, excellent. I was hoping they’d get here before the police.”

“The police?” said Frank, looking dumbfounded. A cameraman and a female news correspondent hurried out of the van and approached Doctor Finch.

“This is Marisa Trent with Summit News,” said the news correspondent into the camera, “coming to you live from the parking lot of Finch Pharmaceuticals. Behind me is Doctor Caelum Finch, founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the company, who is being accused of poisoning a batch of Panacium produced here several months ago, leading to the deaths of tens of millions around the world.” Doctor Finch could see police cruisers and more news vans approaching from a distance. He heard a car door open next to him and saw Frank get back into the car he arrived in and drive away as newscaster Trent tried to get a word from him. She turned the camera’s attention to Doctor Finch and said, “Doctor Finch, who was that man?”

“He’s none of my concern,” said Doctor Finch. “I don’t even know his name.”

“Doctor Finch, have you heard the allegations against you?” said Marisa Trent. “Is there any truth to them?”

“Of course they’re true,” said Doctor Finch. “I’m the one who called your station. I’m the one who poisoned the batch. And no matter what happens to me, I want everyone to know, it was all worth the price.”