Donnalors checked the door viewer - it was Roxie and Nealie, two of her friends. Roxie was her black haired lover. Nealie shaves her head bald. 'Come in - sit down'. Roxie embraced Donnalors. 'On' she said, and the Phemera turned on. 'Did you want anything?' 'Oh Donnalors, why bother. You hardly ever have anything. How do you get by without losing any weight'? 'I know - I just rarely get hungry. I was thinking of visiting a supply center or a store...' her voice trailed off. Donnalors just stared away from Roxie and stared at the Phemera view.
'What is it'? You're acting stranger than usual. I must say you're getting odder every day. How did I ever fall in love with you'. 'You told me it was because I'm so beautiful'. 'Yes, you are'. They kissed briefly. 'If you two or going to start lovemaking, I'm getting a beverage', said Nealie. 'I think theres some in the unit'. Nealie got up.
'I think I'll be pregnant, soon'. "Really, that is big news. Historic'. 'Yes, it really is. You haven't told anybody?' 'I think I know better than that'. Nealie came back in with a green beverage. 'Well this calls for a celebration'. Nealie 'I guess I'd better finish this off'. 'Hold on, I've got secrets to tell - under the threat of death'. Nealie and Roxie both lifted their eyebrows. 'What do you mean'? They both said, and then said 'Aha!' and crossed their pinkie fingers.
'I've been visited by members of The China Party'. 'Go on', said Roxie. 'The leading member told me she was authorized to terminate my life if I repeat this, so just hear this and shut up. Just shut the hell up, or I could be a dead person'. 'You know I don't kiss and tell'.
'Well, I don't think they'll terminate me for this, but do keep it a secret. I've told I'm going to conceive a boy'. Nealie and Roxie raised their eyebrows again. 'But, that's illegal, isn't it?', Roxie looked questioningly at Nealie. Nealie merely shrugged and said, 'Sexual reproduction is - of course - illegal. Its just that, its just that...well, its impossible for the environment to support male reproduction. Or so I thought'. Nealie looked at Donnalors.
'Still - that's what I've been told. I've also been told that I am the only one selected to bear a boy. They haven't told me how this is to be possible. Imagine, 20 plus trillion people and I'm the only one - its staggering'. Roxie and Nealie just looked stunned. 'Nealie, you're the expert. Do you think they have listening devices in here?' 'Its possible. I'll check'. Nealie was in communications and was expert in tracking hidden communications and devices of the same. She checked her loop. 'I'm not finding anything. But, I don't believe that they don't have some kind of listening device or the ability to eavesdrop. Where can we go that's safe'. 'I don't know. Everything is so crowded with people'. They all stood up and looked at the teeming masses of people down below, through the viewscreen. People standing on people, just everywhere.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Donnalors' World
The world of Donnalors, the world of 3084 was a very warm, wet and cloudy place. As she looked out her viewing screen (glass had been almost totally replaced in all living structures due to the high rates of suicide...) she looked out at the teeming masses from a very high floor. She rarely left her dwellings as she did not like to go out and face the crowds. Instead, she preferred to look down at them from above whenever she got bored - which was frequent - or when she turned off the Phemera.
As she looked out, it was raining lightly, which was almost constant due to the warming. Sunshine was a very, very rare thing. She saw some rays poking out of the clouds. Every one hundred years or so, the skies - so it was said - that they had cleared and the sun ruled the sky. She hoped to live to see such a day. But, with the creation of the Inception Laws and the Inception Centers people tended to be short-lived anymore. It was extremely rare for a person to live past 40. But, Donnalors had heard - mainly from her lover and her friends - that some people had been "engineered" for a longer life span. She wondered at this. And, she wondered how long she would live.
Morbidly curious, she thought of activating the Phemera and searching out some information. She had a reader (which had virtually replaced all print publications) and some print literature about the subjects. But, feeling a little indolent, she gave up.
The landscape was covered with other, huge living structures and supply centers. She could not recall easily when she last visited a supply center. She did not care to pass through the massive crowds or into the nearest supply center. The supply center was huge - like an Inception Compound. The supply centers had taken place of virtually all stores and shops. Non-party run shops and stores were virtually unknown. And, currency was no longer a form of legal tender. The readers usually supplied virtual cash from a huge party account. The account had been formed on her behalf and others - which was a shared account -by the Parties.
Because of her misgivings, she rarely made use of the reader account. Which wasn't much, as all foodstuffs (if there were more than one) were generally available at the Inception Centers. Most of humanity's future meals consistent of microbial life and edible forms of algae. These were created - in great variety it was said - at the Inception Centers. However, it was the case that a variety was rarely available due to the unending demand for foodstuffs from everybody. It was a hungry world. One the Inception Centers could barely keep up. The society of her time was mainly occupied with creating more Inception Centers, Processors, Space Colonization and dwellings. Some of the dwellings were deep underground - but she had never been in one of the underground dwellings. The thought of it made her shiver.
But, today she was thinking of visiting one of the Inception Centers and stocking up. In case what Zo Li had told her - that The Free Party might actually shut them down completely.
However, she did not have much room for food storage due to the size of her dwelling. She was fortunate, as most people were forced to live together. Her and her lover had thought of applying for a larger space and moving in together. But with her coming pregnancy, she feared there might not be enough room for all of them. Her dwelling was quite large by future standards, about 8 m x 10 m. She wondered how she had been able to get such a large space. Luck, she thought.
Donnalors was also different than other people. Her skin coloration had been engineered to mimic that of the ancient Caucasians. With the blending of the races so long ago and environmental exposure, most people had a somewhat darker complexion. Reports had been made that the Inception Centers were engineering people with lighter skin coloration to match the environment. Donnalors didn't believe that.
Hundreds of years ago - when most species, including humanity - had lost the ability to reproduce sexually. The Parties had unified with the common goal of cloning people with a high genetic variation - that was the origin of the Inception Laws and Inception Centers. Why then was the world so crowded? Due The Free Party's campaign on "the right to inception". The goal had been to maintain population growth as it had been. But, now things were beyond crowded. The mood of the Parties - and the world - had changed. There were just too many people. Many of them were seeking to go off-world, underground - many just found ways to commit suicide even though the ways and means had been virtually engineered out of the world.
There had been some rumours that the Processors - not all - had started accepting applications from the living. This, too, made her shiver.
As she looked out, it was raining lightly, which was almost constant due to the warming. Sunshine was a very, very rare thing. She saw some rays poking out of the clouds. Every one hundred years or so, the skies - so it was said - that they had cleared and the sun ruled the sky. She hoped to live to see such a day. But, with the creation of the Inception Laws and the Inception Centers people tended to be short-lived anymore. It was extremely rare for a person to live past 40. But, Donnalors had heard - mainly from her lover and her friends - that some people had been "engineered" for a longer life span. She wondered at this. And, she wondered how long she would live.
Morbidly curious, she thought of activating the Phemera and searching out some information. She had a reader (which had virtually replaced all print publications) and some print literature about the subjects. But, feeling a little indolent, she gave up.
The landscape was covered with other, huge living structures and supply centers. She could not recall easily when she last visited a supply center. She did not care to pass through the massive crowds or into the nearest supply center. The supply center was huge - like an Inception Compound. The supply centers had taken place of virtually all stores and shops. Non-party run shops and stores were virtually unknown. And, currency was no longer a form of legal tender. The readers usually supplied virtual cash from a huge party account. The account had been formed on her behalf and others - which was a shared account -by the Parties.
Because of her misgivings, she rarely made use of the reader account. Which wasn't much, as all foodstuffs (if there were more than one) were generally available at the Inception Centers. Most of humanity's future meals consistent of microbial life and edible forms of algae. These were created - in great variety it was said - at the Inception Centers. However, it was the case that a variety was rarely available due to the unending demand for foodstuffs from everybody. It was a hungry world. One the Inception Centers could barely keep up. The society of her time was mainly occupied with creating more Inception Centers, Processors, Space Colonization and dwellings. Some of the dwellings were deep underground - but she had never been in one of the underground dwellings. The thought of it made her shiver.
But, today she was thinking of visiting one of the Inception Centers and stocking up. In case what Zo Li had told her - that The Free Party might actually shut them down completely.
However, she did not have much room for food storage due to the size of her dwelling. She was fortunate, as most people were forced to live together. Her and her lover had thought of applying for a larger space and moving in together. But with her coming pregnancy, she feared there might not be enough room for all of them. Her dwelling was quite large by future standards, about 8 m x 10 m. She wondered how she had been able to get such a large space. Luck, she thought.
Donnalors was also different than other people. Her skin coloration had been engineered to mimic that of the ancient Caucasians. With the blending of the races so long ago and environmental exposure, most people had a somewhat darker complexion. Reports had been made that the Inception Centers were engineering people with lighter skin coloration to match the environment. Donnalors didn't believe that.
Hundreds of years ago - when most species, including humanity - had lost the ability to reproduce sexually. The Parties had unified with the common goal of cloning people with a high genetic variation - that was the origin of the Inception Laws and Inception Centers. Why then was the world so crowded? Due The Free Party's campaign on "the right to inception". The goal had been to maintain population growth as it had been. But, now things were beyond crowded. The mood of the Parties - and the world - had changed. There were just too many people. Many of them were seeking to go off-world, underground - many just found ways to commit suicide even though the ways and means had been virtually engineered out of the world.
There had been some rumours that the Processors - not all - had started accepting applications from the living. This, too, made her shiver.
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