X and X

I have a strong preference for being alive

The room smells like sterilizer and I try not to wrinkle my nose. The sparsely furnished room is coloured in blues and white, meant to convey peaceful emotions. I wait impatiently as the blonde head bends over her datapad, typing my answer to the question 'What is your preference, a romantic walk on the beach or going to see a movie?' Finally she looks up, her lips pulling into a smile even as her forehead crinkles.

"Okay, let's try another. If you could be any animal, what would it be?"

"Is this seriously a question?" I finally demand in exasperation.

"Look," she sighs, "your Mum works in the ROM facilities, you should understand the need for these questions. It's to-"

"Find my perfect match," I breathe out heavily. "I don't want a perfect match though." I have seen countless 'couples,' all so ridiculously perfect for each other that it is physically painful to be around.

"Perhaps you should talk to a counsellor," she begins cautiously, "maybe the can get to the bottom of this."

"Of what? My humanity?"

With a shake of her head she darts her fingers across the screen and clicks it off. "Okay, I've set it for personality clash, let's just go and choose your partner and ROM." I stand and follow her out of the door and into a room opposite. A large screen occupies one wall and I sit down on one of the armchairs facing it.

"Welcome, Doctor Ramsey, Ariana Butler. Please state your request clearly."

"Artificial insemination. ROM and partner X choosing."

"Wonderful, please begin selection immediately." Faces appear, hundreds in neat rows, and with a sigh I order the computer to begin removing those below five-foot nine. At the age of eighteen a file is created for every girl with a genetic copy of their X chromosome that people are able to request. This will pair with their own once they are old enough to conceive a child. As our requests narrowed, so too did the choices for our ROMs. The ROMs were made to look as close to our female partner as possible, in order for the whole process to seem more 'normal.'

Next I remove people with brown hair and lots of freckles. I watch as the lines shift rapidly, thinking how in less than one year I would be pregnant and contributing to the Queendom known as Amasia. This was renamed as there is only one continent still intact enough to inhabit. This supercontinent, once known as Asia, was re-shaped and re-formed during the war and holds most of Earth's population.

After nearly forty-five minutes, a long time by most standards, I am faced with an option that will shape my future forever. Two ROMs show before me, one with black hair, brown eyes, some freckles across the bridge of his nose and a small scar on his left temple, the other with wavy blonde hair, one blue eye, one green and a small chip in his front right tooth. I stare at the two, trying to determine which would best suit me.

With a sigh I say, "ROM A," the dark haired one.

"Are you sure?"

"Ye-" I pause, a strange sensation washing over me. "No, I choose ROM B."

"Are you sure?"

I take a deep breath, "Yes." 

"Wonderful, your ROM will be delivered within the week, please make your way to the Administration room for your annual injection." Because each cell can only multiply a certain number of times before it dies, as more cells are lost or damaged, you start to show signs of ageing. The 'Injection' is an age defying nanobug that helps to create more cells, therefore slowing the aging process. You have to get an injection annually because the nanobugs work so hard that they implode under the pressure forced upon them. As I sit down in the chair I think about my ROM. In the beginning ROMs had been made to perfection, perfect face balance, and impeccable body tone. It ended up at the point where perfection was boring. So around two hundred years ago manufacturers began adding imperfections. Now they could be found everywhere, from chipped teeth to missing fingers, some women simply had weird desires.