Feeling a bit awkward, Sean gave a small spit into a flask. Then he handed it back to a pleasantly smiling, old-aged person. Actually, the age was known by Sean just because he'd been told about that professor (90 he was, and Sean thought him to look surprisingly older than that – some white hair was already occupying the professor's head); the smile, in turn, was the one of a old man playing tricks with his nephew.
- Is that... it? - Sean asked doubtfully.
- Exactly, - now the professor looked slightly surprised, giving a kind laugh, though. - Why?
- No, nothing... But... Like... I would think it was, you know, difficult. So many genes we have. And here they are – like French fries from boiling oil, instantly...
The professor has started laughing again. It's been at least two decades since he last heard people adoring the new and cheap genome-deciphering technology. He felt pleased, even though understanding that Sean didn't belong to the most educated part of society (which was strange, since this part was predominant).
- Well, yes, that's the way it is, my friend. Would you kindly be so patient to outlast these few minutes of awaiting? - he replied joking.
Sean smiled but kept silent.
…- It's done! Please come closer to the screen now. What would you like to see?
- My ancestors, I suppose...
- Sure!
A man appeared on the screen, with a huge abundant beard, dressed warm in some animal's skin; his eyes were flaming with some threat and alert. Sean smirked: that's what he had expected to see. The professor smirked too and turned something. The man disappeared. Instead there came... another man, but somewhat different. He had denser hair all over the body; where his eyebrows were, the bones bulged forward, the lower jaw did too. His eyes... Sean thought them to have a vague mixture of what a human usually had... He was now more engaged, which was noticed by the scientist besides. The latter waited a bit, then turned the magic switch once more.
Sean blinked several times and gave the scientist a glance of bewilderment. “It doesn't even look like... an ape” - he said.
- Right you are, because it's not. You're watching at our, chimps, gorillas and orangutans' common ancestor. Not in the finest details, of course. But on the whole it's a pretty accurate image. Look, we can make it move!..
- It?.. - Sean asked.
- Yeah, since it's not even a hominid. After all, do you call a chimp's male a “man”? Do you say “him” or do you say “it”?
- It...
- That's why we can make IT move.
This computer-zoo went on and on. Sean was looking with a crazier and crazier eyes at what once upon a time had to give birth to what had once again give birth to what had one more time to give birth to and so on and so on... to WHO had to give birth to his grand-grand-grand-... and so on. Sean fell out of reality... It was only when they got to some uncountable-th creature that he got back and exclaimed:
- This?! Wh-What the he... Is this MY ancestor?!
- No. This is a five-hundred-million-years-ago-lived-creature and every to-ever-be-living-onward-creature's ancestor. Or, to put it simpler, it's our and lampreys' common ancestor. Preñambrian, my friend. - The professor's smile was on the top of triumph.
- Right... I... I got it. Can we?..
- Absolutely! Actually, you're one of those few who has reached this aeon! Some people have no a shadow of imagination and curiosity...
- But... How is it possible? We've not only seen the creatures, we've seen... the grass, the trees, the predators, the preys, the snow, the rain, the sea, the fire – the environment, the planet of that time! Why?
- That's a great question to ask. You see, your genes are the combination of your mum and dad's genomes. Theirs are that of their mums and dads'. Theirs are of theirs' and so on. The point is that you, one single person, have genes of the animals that lived millions and hundred millions and billions years ago. Their lives are encoded in you. Each of your tiny cells has in its core the history of Earth's biosphere. Imagine that, my friend. But why can we see their surrounding? Well, the genes our bodies need to exist and live are those that haven't vanished within time, while others did and do all the time. Because some give us advantages or change something with no harm (and maybe no use but still with no harm), while others bring harm or bring less use. So the genes we have (the minority is ever used, though) are the answer to the environment – they are what lets the creature not to die and then – to breed. The animals we've seen are your (and mine) ancestors, which means they gave descendants, which means their genes didn't vanish. The latter were the answer to their environment. Therefore, knowing what they were responsible for, and excluding those known to be useless (huge lots of them, to be honest) we can reconstruct in details what these genes were to give answer to. To put it really frankly, we look at a cure and find out what the virus is and how it looks.
- It's a time machine, isn't it?.. - Sean now was delighted.
- Ha-ha, well, it very well might be, although what we see is something like a slightly misted landscape looked at from a window: we see the most important things and some fine details, but the identity to the original is never to be 100%. Especially considering the mutations and deletions of genes and everything... But at least we kill no butterflies and civilizations, do we, ha-ha?
- What do you mean?
- Ah... - The professor stumbled, having understood being not understood. - Never mind, though.