Prolog A thirteen year old boy lives in the suburbs with his family. Their neighborhood has a community pool where the local families often spend their free time. This spring is the first year that mom and dad have let the young boy and his older brother venture to the pool without their supervision. Seeing this as a great leap of freedom, they endeavor to spend every Saturday at the pool that they can. ...
Amanda’s guttural scream of frustration could have woken the dead. It sure would have been heard throughout the ship… if the ship had air in it… or a crew. As it was, her exertion only served to momentarily fog her visor before the exo-suit’s system blew a puff of air in front of her face to clear the condensation. Amanda heaved several strained breaths, then lolled her head back in her helmet. “No no no nnnnhhhhh.” Her eyes rolled back in her head as she convulsed to several more involuntary orgasms. Then her tongue gagged out of her mouth as her stomach bulged another several inches outward between her hands. ...
Sabrina was giddy with excitement as she fumbled to get her keys into the lock of her apartment door. The package she had waited for so long was finally there, laying at her feet. The small yellow padded envelope was unassuming, but she knew the box inside was the beginning of the future: and she would be one of the first to try it out. Sabrina burst into her apartment making a hobbled path to the kitchen island as she removed her shoes mid stride and threw them towards the bedroom. Reaching the island, she unceremoniously tossed her purse and keys onto the counter and began to tear into the envelope. The small box she found within was no bigger than a wedding ring box, black, and non-descript. A folded piece of paper was the only other thing in the envelope. She unfolded the paper and began to read. ...
Laura’s eyes blinked open. Her vision was blurry, but then there wasn’t much to see on the grey ceiling above her. Her instincts told her to sit up, but she quickly found that she couldn’t. After pondering for a moment, she began checking her body and its degrees of freedom. Her head and neck were free but her back seemed held to something between her shoulder blades. Her arms were free, though she noticed a pair of tightly fitted wrist cuffs, one on each wrist. Approximately 3 inches long, seamless, and appearing to be made of some polished metal, each cuff stuck to her wrist almost as if mounted to her wrist bones, though they were not connected to anything but her body. She noted, with her improving vision, a small blue LED blinking on the underside of each. Lifting and straightening her legs she found similar devices at her ankles. ...
Clara’s brow furrowed slightly as she answered the questions on the touch screen in front of her. Have you had any children? – No. Are you on any hormonal birth control? - No Do you live alone? - Yes Any family or siblings? - No siblings. Parents passed when she was a teenager. Do you have any piercings or body modifications? - No Have you had any severe injuries or surgeries? – No Any fears or phobias? – Can’t think of any. ...
My name is Sara, I am 18, and I have accepted appointment to the population continuance program. We have lived underground here on Mars for 200 years after the great war decimate the earth. We were left isolated and alone on our own. Our early settlements were on the surface and were inadequate for long term settlement. We eventually developed the technology to move underground, but not before exposure to the surface radiation reduced the fertility of our population to less than 1%. Hence, the population continuance program was created to ensure the continuation of the human species on Mars. Those of us who are fertile and of good genetic quality are rare and highly valued. To turn down appointment to the program is unheard of. ...