human
It's idiocy! young Dr. Phillip Dawson wailed in the laboratory conference room the next morning.
gpt
Blind, screaming idiocy. You've gone out of your mind--that's all there is to it. Can't you see what you've done? Aside from selling your colleagues down the river, that is? He clenched the reprint of Coffin's address in his hand and brandished it like a broadsword.
human
Really, Phillip! Dr. Chauncey Coffin ran a pudgy hand through his snowy hair.
gpt
How ungrateful! I thought for sure you'd be delighted. An excellent presentation, I must say--terse, succinct, unequivocal-- he raised his hand--
human
And the reporters, snapped Phillip.
gpt
Don't forget the reporters. He whirled on the small dark man sitting quietly in the corner.
human
How about that, Jake? Did you see the morning papers? This thief not only steals our work, he splashes it all over the countryside in red ink.
gpt
What Phillip is so stormed up about is the prematurity of it all, he said to Coffin.
human
After all, we've hardly had an acceptable period of clinical trial.
gpt
Nonsense, said Coffin, glaring at Phillip.
human
Underwood and his men were ready to publish their discovery within another six weeks. Where would we be then? How much clinical testing do you want? Phillip, you had the worst cold of your life when you took the vaccine. Have you had any since?
gpt
No, of course not,
human
Jacob, how about you? Any sniffles?
gpt
Oh, no. No colds.
human
Well, what about those six hundred students from the University? Did I misread the reports on them?
gpt
No--98 per cent cured of active symptoms within twenty-four hours. Not a single recurrence. The results were just short of miraculous. Jake hesitated.
human
Of course, it's only been a month....
gpt
Month, year, century! Look at them! Six hundred of the world's most luxuriant colds, and now not even a sniffle. The chubby doctor sank down behind the desk, his ruddy face beaming.
human
Come, now, gentlemen, be reasonable. Think positively! There's work to be done, a great deal of work. They'll be wanting me in Washington, I imagine. Press conference in twenty minutes. Drug houses to consult with. How dare we stand in the path of Progress? We've won the greatest medical triumph of all times--the conquering of the Common Cold. We'll go down in history!