Friday 26 February 2016

Abigail Tan's Final AA (draft 5)


Abigail Tan
S1-01 (1)
03 February 2016
No. of words without SWBTS: 550
BUG WAR
Draft 5 

       Reaching for the door, Jim, the mad scientist, wearing a laboratory coat and safety goggles, tried multitasking by opening the door and conducting an experiment at the same time. Mark, his assistant, who wore nerdy spectacles and a laboratory coat identical to Jim’s, was strapped to a chair as a test subject in the laboratory. It was Joe, Jim's brother, a farmer whose messy brown curls hung over his sky blue eyes. Nasty pests had wreaked havoc on his crops. Jim understood and saw it as a challenge to help his brother. Challenges were his middle name. "Yes! I will see to it and find a solution." 
    Excited, Jim fished out a pen, notepad and magnifying glass. The three of them went to inspect the ‘crime scene' in the sweltering afternoon heat. Plants were scattered all over the garden, not one surviving the attack. After observation, Jim grinned from ear to ear. He had been working for years on a superbug that could be used in this scenario. Joe sighed. He needed this to work. His career depended on it.
    Jim had genetically modified a bee, manipulating its genome using biotechnology. He changed the genetic makeup of the cells, as well as the transfer of genes to produce an improved organism. Jim added poisonous liquid in the superbug's body that will transfer to the pests that it stings. When the pests die, the decomposition serves as fertiliser for the plants.
    First, the trio replaced the damaged plants with new seeds. While waiting for the seeds to grow, Jim manufactured more of the superbugs to have enough. Jim released the superbugs and watched with a sense of pride and accomplishment as the superbugs scampered around, looking for pests. For a few weeks, Joe was delighted as his plants were growing better than before due to the superbugs killing the pests effectively. 
    However, Joe's happiness was short-lived. Joe found a sheep lying dead on the ground. Jim and Mark, who had experienced many failures before, were not disappointed but proceeded to check it out. Mark pointed at something next to the sheep. It was a superbug! It was feeding on the sheep's stomach. Mark also saw two little holes at the sheep's neck where it was bitten. When Joe and Jim went into the barn, Joe's jaw dropped. The superbugs were all over the barn, instead of the garden, feeding on Joe's cows. He was on the verge of fainting. It was too much loss for him to handle. Jim swiftly caught a few of the "drunk" superbugs and took them to the laboratory for further investigation. 
    Jim later found out that the blood of the pests affected the superbugs' programming and caused them to malfunction. He tweaked an antidote and fed it to the surviving cows; fingers crossed that his hypothesis was correct or Joe would yet again suffer loss. When the superbugs feasted on the cows, they were cured and re-modified by a relieved Jim. Blood would not affect them anymore. Jim still felt guilty that he had to use Joe’s materials because of miscalculation on his part.
    Not only did Jim manage to sell his invention of superbugs but also compensated for all the loss that he had caused Joe. He did it. He had won the bug war. 

    SWBTS: Jim wanted to help Joe kill pests but caused Joe's farm animals to die.
So he had to stop it, then fix the problem.

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