Genetic Anomaly

Chapter 1

Alike are drawn to alike

The laws have changed greatly since those early 21st century. Now, nearing at the end of the century, new governments and societies have risen and fallen. Many failed. Many are not named. Many are forgotten. But one remains. The Core. The one and only stability in this flimsy reality. The Core created society to be a circle. The Core being the impenetrable centre of the circle and other things cycling out toward the circumference. The formerly known country of Britain is now called Cercilia. British people are now known as Cercilians. The counties and areas of Britain are now called Sectors while the cities within them are called Segments. To give you a rough idea, when I was younger, I lived in Segment Northmeadow of Sector Hallowgrove. Segment Northmeadow, unsurprisingly, was in the north of the Sector.

My parents lived and grew up in Hallowgrove all their lives. They went to the local school at 7 since the new laws were created. My parents were born into the Offspring Act, it restrict people's rights to have more than one child it but also meant that new borns were given special reproductive hormone suppressants. This froze their reproductive organs without effecting the rest of the body. Even though, theoretically, the body shouldn't have been able to function without the balance of puberty hormones produced for the reproductive system, scientists managed to create a hormone substitute, enabling a normal life for all young people, as well as accidental pregnancies no longer occurring. When people want to have kids they must consult a parental counsellor, where they would be evaluated on their personality, financial matters, career and local neighbourhood before they would be given a license to have a child. A parental doctor would then use an anti hormone suppressor to unfreeze their dormant reproductive systems. The first month of the child license, both parents to be are given paid absents for a week while their hormones settled and their reproductive cycles stabilise. People must be over 25 to have a licence because the Core didn't want people under aged to have children too soon but also didn't want people to have children too late because their chances of success diminished.

My parents gained their license at 27 and 29 and conceived me at 29 and 32, it took them a while for their hormones to settle which meant they weren't able to conceive for 3 years. My parents took 3 months parental leave and then waited until I was 6 months before my father returned to work. Originally my father worked as a Norm ambassador, reporting the voice of the Norms to the Core. But when he had his parental absence, he decided to take a new career path and instead became a parental lecturer. Teaching younger generations of the importance and responsibility of the Offspring Act. My mother didn't go back to work for 3 years and when she did, she only worked 3 days a week when my father was home on the weekend and my grandparents on my mother's side could look after me. For all my early childhood, everything was normal and peaceful. I have overly affectionate and protective parents since I was their only child. The Offspring Act did change in 2056, allowing, with only the most responsible of parents, a chance at a second child. My parents did register for a second child in 2089, when I was 5. An appropriate age gap so that my parents could manage both children but also so that the two siblings would have a close connection. However, my parents were denied their registration and so I am their only child.

By the time I was 4 many things had changed. Firstly, my life had been turned upside down by a very unexpected discovery. On the night of my 4th birthday, I woke abruptly as I felt my body change. That was when I first realised that I was no ordinary person. The changes were hard and even harder to hide from both my parents and grandparents. When I started school at 6, I had to teach myself to control my new oddities and appear absolutely normal. I kept to myself distant and tried to be a nobody in the crowd. It worked for the most part. However, during my first day at the local pre-school, another soul called out to me. Someone so different to me that it was a miracle she even noticed me. We became close friends, Freeda and I. She was like an angel with golden hair and blue sapphire eyes that reflected the world in a utopian illusion. Everyone loved Freeda. Everyone called her Free, because of how free her soul was, she was such a carefree child.

It's funny how people say those who are alike are drawn to each other. Free was extremely beautiful and was so unbelievably innocent that everyone around her almost became entranced. So much so that people became suspicious. You see, Free's parents weren't anything like Free. Obviously, people aren't exact copies of their parents, but Free didn't look or even seem related to her parents. Her parents were both brunettes with dark brown eyes and so were both sets of grandparents. When someone gains that much attention, it never ends well.

Free caught the eye of a Core worker. The Core isn't a political body, instead they are a group of Elite scientists that 'advance medical technology in the pursuit of a brighter future'. Although the Core is supposed to be the voice of the people, it is mainly controlled by the Elites. However, there is a division of the Core that is directly involved with the Norms. The Core workers are those who live among the Norms and report any suspicious incidents or activity to the Core, for the safety of all.

Free was approached by one of the Core workers because she was definitely a suspicious case. One day, when Freeda and I were 7, it was the usual end of school and everyone's mothers came to pick them up. I remember seeing from my assigned seat on the bench outside that, when Free's mother came to pick her up, a man in black was waiting to approach her. Everyone took one look at the man and looked in the other direction, knowing very well what would happen if they interfered. I sat there as my close friend and her mother was taken aside and brought to the door of a black van.

There was a rumour weeks later that Ms Carson, Free's mother had acquired Free from an illegal genetic laboratory. Illegal laboratories were known to sell illegal child licenses to people who were unqualified to have children and then, also created children specifically designed for a buyer. This genetic experimentation and then sale of the results were illegal for Norms. Obviously, the Elites were able to do it and it was offered to Norms. But it cost a horrendous amount of money and obviously everyone knew no Norm would ever be able to afford it.

Mr Carson was rumoured to be involved with other illegal businesses, some reported as drug dealing and such. However, I knew the Carson family well, both our families were close. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Core had purposefully fabricated rumours to cover up something, something terrible. Everyone probably knew. But it was the Core and therefore undoubtable true. I realised after that incident that, if I wasn't careful, that could be me. Both Freeda and me were special in unnatural ways. I never knew if she really was genetically altered, but there was definitely something unique about Freeda, and possibly, not the good type of unique. Once she was found out, she was never seen again. She just disappeared like she didn't exist and those who tried to inquire about her and her family's whereabouts, they also disappeared. It taught me the consequences of what would happen if I was ever found out and it further cemented my fears of discovery.