Yes, until further research could sort all of this out, I was willing to do my part to insure that the text she carried was passed on to future generations in its original form, where minds wiser than ours might come to better understand it, plumb it for its secrets, and neutralize its deadly penalties.
After all, the lethal qualities of the DNA she carried didn’t extend to reproduction. That, the copyright notice said, she was free to do.
I was prepared to help her do just that.
I moved my head over and kissed her face.
After all, I was a forensic scientist, but a scientist first, and though I’d pretty much reached the limits of my capacity to contribute to the ongoing research here, that didn’t mean that I’d shirk my responsibility to help the subject of the research live on.
That, and I so enjoyed looking into Jenna’s green-violet eyes when they were happy…
Illustration by Joseph Griffo