Resequencing DNA

“BANG,” the sound of the front door to the apartment slammed shut, hard enough that it was not only audible from the bathroom but physically shook the walls of the apartment.

“Yup…Wes’ home,” thought Aaron as he finished up in the bathroom,

“Rough day?” he asked, poking his head out of the door to see his best friend storm by him down the hallway. The only acknowledgement he received was that of a hand wave as he passed by on his way to the living room.

“Ok…” thought Aaron, closing the bathroom door behind him and following in the same direction his best friend had gone.

The pair had been friends for a rather long time now, the pair had met when they attended Greenfield college together back when Aaron was 22 and Wesley was 18 to study Science and Engineering.

Although they lived together since college, the pair were complete opposites from one another. Aaron had dropped out of his studies partway through, saying that he found the classes much too difficult for him and such took up more hours at the bar that he had begun to work at part-time and where he continued to work. Aaron was now 32 years of age, 6ft 1inch tall and of average build, His dark brown hair was usually slicked back. It was clear to any outside observer that Aaron was the more extroverted of the two, whilst also being somewhat handsome too. Since moving across the country to attend college, Aaron had a fair few of both girlfriends and boyfriends, he had quite often questioned his sexuality, yet settled on the fact that he was more attracted to girls than guys.

On the other hand, was Wesley, who had begun attending Greenfield college at the age of 18, unlike Aaron, Wesley completed the course before going on to further study biology at Pinewood University, eventually specialising in genetics. This then led Wesley onto a career in a genetics research lab, not far away from where they live. Another way that Wesley greatly from Aaron was his love life or lack of one. Where Aaron was taller, dark-haired, more outgoing of the pair, Wesley stood at around 5ft 8inches, his hair was ginger, along with his pale, white skin. Instead of pursuing a love life of any kind, Wesley insisted on focusing more on his career, as a way to cover up his complete lack of self-confidence around women. Due to this, however, Wesley was now 28, having never had a romantic relationship, instead opting to spend his hours in the lab, working.

The two friends had no similarities either when it came to their upbringing. Aaron grew up on the other side of the country, with working-class parents, he was an only child. Aaron’s childhood home, however, was never meant to last, with his parents getting a divorce when he was 15, he then began to split his time between living with each of his parents.

Wesley grew up close to where he now lived. Both his parents and grandparents were fairly well off, with his family owning a rather large home with lands outside of the city where even now at the age of 28, Wesley will go to spend a few days to relax in the country air. Unlike Aaron, Wesley grew up with an older brother Jude, who is 33 and a younger sister named Pippa who was now 23. Wesley, however, had always felt he shared a much closer bond with Pippa than Jude, with Jude being more in the same ilk as his parents, the way he described them was arrogant and somewhat snobby, more interested in money and rubbing shoulders with people of the same class. Pippa, however, was different, as Wesley describes her, almost like a breath of fresh air.

After Wesley had made his entrance, Aaron made his way into the living room, where he found Wesley slumped in his seat on the sofa in front of the t.v.

“Fancy a few drinks bro… there are beers in the fridge?” asked Aaron, making his way to the kitchen, whilst looking in the direction of his somewhat depressed looking friend.

“Fuck beers man…anything stronger lying around?” asked Wesley, glancing back towards Aaron.

“That bad huh…two whiskey’s coming right up,” Aaron replied as he pulled out two glasses to pour drinks for the pair, soon making his way in to sit beside Wesley in front of the t.v.

“Cheers bro,” stated Aaron, clinking his glass with Wes’ glass shortly after it to him.

The pair sat in awkward silence for a few moments. Aaron reached into his pocket and pulled out his pack of cigarettes.

“So….you wanna talk about it?” Aaron asked, glancing at his friend as he lit his cigarette.

“Fuck man where do I begin,” replied Wesley, taking another sip of his drink.

“The beginning would be a good start,” laughed Aaron in an attempt to humour his friend.

Wesley gave half a smile, sipped on his drink before he sighed,

“Well… it’s my sister, Pippa, remember how I said she was getting married,” stated Wesley.

“Oh fuck yeah, I remember, the wedding that your parents said I can’t come to, even though Pippa wanted to invite me….yeah I remember,” snapped Aaron.

“Yeah…That would be the very same one,” answered Wesley, downing the rest of his drink before getting up to pour himself another.

“Well…” started Aaron, taking a drag of his cigarette before tapping the ash into the ashtray that was positioned on a small table beside the sofa. “What of it?” Aaron proceeded to ask, looking quizzically at his friend.

“My mother….the meddling old bastard she is, still insists I take a plus one,” sniggered Wesley before rolling his eyes.

“But dude, they won’t let you bring me… I was your plus one,” laughed Aaron.

“Yeah…” started Wesley, “well…they insist I take a date to the wedding,” he added with a laugh before his face turned deathly serious. “My mother wants me to go with their friend's daughter, Layla Rafferty.”

 “Wow…she’s erm…really not your type,” stated Aaron with a chuckle.

“No….not my type at all,” replied Wesley, “She is, however, more suited to my mother and fucking father, it would help them and their standing with all of their toffee-nosed friends no end at all. I take her there on a date and that will be it, like it or not we will be the next ones to be married, just to ensure my parent's bloody happiness over my own,” he continued with his rant. “Then my brother…Jude the fucking almighty, he doesn’t have this problem, no… he met his Mrs fancy knickers, Priscilla, at one of my fathers ‘social gatherings’ didn’t he and he has the nerve to ask if I’ll have a boyfriend in time to take as my date, the arrogant wanker.”

“Boyfriend,” sniggered Aaron,

“For fuck sake, don’t you start,” snapped Wesley.

“Well I’m sure you will be quite the charming couple, Wesley and Layla Ashton-Burns, that sounds like quite the match made in heaven if you ask me,” Aaron proceed to chuckle at the expense of his best friend as he stubbed out his cigarette. “So…how was work?” Aaron proceeded to ask.

“Hmmm, yes…it erm…it went rather well actually, my new invention…it actually works,” stated Wesley, still somewhat distracted over the predicament he was in regarding his family.

“New…invention?” asked Aaron, as he always does, Aaron asks about Wesley’s work and yet doesn’t understand a single word that Wesley explains.

“Yes…the project I have worked two goddamn years to finish…the DNA resequencer … actually bloody works, quite remarkable really,” reiterated Wesley with a proud, smug look on his face.

“Ah…okay…that’s pretty cool…how do you know it works?” asked Aaron, yet filling with instant regret the fact his mouth asked questions that he doesn’t truly care about.

“Well you see, your DNA is responsible for everything, the colour of your hair, your eyes, how tall you are…even whether you’re male or female… now, by using my invention, we can tweak parts of you that you’re unhappy with…your skin…your height…your eye colour…the size of a woman’s breasts… we can essentially allow you to design and remodel yourself exactly how you want to look,” explained Wesley.

“Ha…scary times we live in huh,” stated Aaron.

“Yes, indeed,” replied Wesley, “just today, I was able to change a woman’s breast size, hair colour and height, just by making a few adjustments by inputting it into a computer. It was all over and done within around 45 minutes to an hour,” Wesley went on to explain. “Can you imagine the ramifications… this could revlotionise the way we do things, not only cosmetic procedures but surgeries, fixing defects in the human body…the possibilities are endless.”

The night passed by and the pair continued to drink more and more until that is, Wesley began to fall asleep.

“C’mon buddy, bedtime,” laughed Aaron, lifting his friend up off the sofa and begun to help him stagger his way towards Wesley’s bedroom. With his arm draped across the shoulder of Aaron, Wesley turned and looked at his friend.

 “You know what…you are more than my best friend Aaron…you’re my family…my real family…” mumbled Wesley.

“Okay…sure,” replied Aaron with a chuckle to humour his drunken friend.

“No…I mean it…Pippa is my sister and you… you are my brother, you two are the only ones who give two shits about me… you know,” rambled Wesley.

“Yeah…I know…” stated Aaron with a chuckle.

“Why.. why…why…” continued Wesley, quickly applying the breaks to stop them from moving towards Wesley’s room, much to Aaron’s annoyance.

“Why what? What now?” Asked Aaron with a less than enthusiastic sigh as he rolled his eyes, “Give me a god damn break!” he thought, glaring at his drunken friend.

“I…I sometimes wish that…that I could talk to girls… how I…how I talk to you…you know,” muttered Wesley.

“Ok…” answered Aaron nervously, “It will come I guess…one day, with the right girl for you… I tell you what, I’ll help teach you,” added Aaron with a nervous chuckle, unsure of where this conversation was heading, as he slowly got Wes moving again.

Just as they reached the bedroom door, Wesley stopped in his tracks once again and looked at Aaron.

“You know…it’s a shame you weren’t a girl… even if…even if it was just to get this stupid wedding over and done with,” chuckled Wesley, “I already love you as a friend…don’t worry though… I’m not attracted to guys,” he added.

“What the fuck Wes,” laughed Aaron, “I love you too bro now get the fuck to bed,” he added as he pushed Wes into his bedroom, where he collapsed on his bed in a heap of laughter. “Goodnight Wes,” he stated closing the bedroom door as he shook his head, before heading to his own bedroom.  

“He’s a fucking idiot, especially for someone who’s such a genius,” thought Aaron as he laughed to himself, “He really is in a bit of a shitty place, but I’m sure it’ll turn out okay for him.”