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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Science Fiction
- Subject: Culture / Heritage / Lifestyles
- Published: 01/29/2022
Interview with a Natural.
Born 1951, M, from Wilmington NC, United StatesSarah was nervous. She had heard about “Naturals” but this was her first time meeting one face to face. Although a slight smile came to her face as she realized for them to be face to face with her…she would have to be sitting…and they…standing. Naturals are short. Many of them less than six feet tall. She thought about the smallest of her friends. Twiggy was the smallest of their Batch Birth, and she was seven foot even. Although to be honest few of us “Modified” are more than seven foot four. So the range is much smaller among us Modified than the Naturals.
But here she was, about to meet not one, but several “Natural’s. She hoped to Interview them as part of the ongoing Study…a Study she was reminded of by Doctor Glever; that has been going on for more than three centuries. Apparently Naturals are hard to convince to change their minds. It boggled her mind though. Who would want to be short, squat, filled with disease, illness, deformities as mild as needing glasses, to genetic minefields that lead to crippling or fatal diseases. By choice. Sheesh.
Sarah had been carefully schooled to hide her emotion, her biases, and her opinions. She was there to listen, not to talk. She was privileged that the Council thought she could handle this semi-century Interview process, after all, she was only one hundred and three years old. Barely into adulthood among the Modified. But she was sharp, empathetic, and able to read non verbal cuing better than anyone else they selected.
Sarah was a Modified, as such, she could see into both the infrared and ultraviolet; that alone made reading a “Natural” more easy. Sarah could also hear sounds that would have escaped the ears of any Natural…even their so called “Musicians”. She was told that Musicians had the best ears of any Natural. Some even had an ability called “perfect pitch.” Sarah called it “selective pitch.” After all, how good is your pitch if you can’t even hear whale song, or the sweet squeal of a dog whistle?
Okay, the shuttle had landed. The Naturals all lived around what used to be called “The Great Lakes.” Nobody is really sure why, but some say Climate Change in the 21st Century herded them all to fresh water. Sarah wondered at how any species could survive with two pitiful kidneys and a small liver as your filtering system. Sarah, like all modified, could drink any fluid, and her body would distill out the H2O and filter out any toxins, viruses, or bacteria. Oh, and salt. She kept forgetting that Naturals can’t drink Sea Water. A fact she found profoundly disturbing. Why? Because sea water and human blood are almost identical chemical solutions. Imagine dying of thirst on a raft out in the Ocean. Irony in all caps, thought Sarah. And yet another reason why she couldn’t understand the Normals. Even after three centuries of Study.
The door opened. And there they were: Three Normals. One of their Females, and Two Males. One fairly tall, maybe six foot six. The other one, well, he couldn’t be five foot four at the most. By far the shortest being Sarah had ever seen. Until she looked at the female. She almost gasped. An even five foot tall. Cute as a button, with a pleasing proportion to her curves and such. Sarah thought she would make a good Doll figurine. In fact, Sarah mentally stored every detail about that female Normal. She was sure it would be a big seller among the Modified Children. And she was right.
After a few seconds for everyone to take stock of each other, Sarah was guided to a chair. Thankfully it had been built for her specifications and for that she gave the Normals a few points for courtesy and doing their homework. It made sitting to talk to these creatures much easier on her. She wouldn’t be looking down at them after all.
“Questions?”
That was the opening Gambit from the small Natural Female, who, it turns out, was both their Leader -and along with the shorter male- one of the two smartest people among the Naturals. The taller male was for security. Sarah quietly laughed to herself. She was more than a match for any Natural who still had to count on reflexes and training. Violence was almost unheard of among the Modified, simply because altruism worked better for Society. If she hadn’t been selected to meet the Naturals, she would have had no need for Martial Arts Training at all. And she sure wasn’t going to keep studying it after the Interview. Even the thought of striking another individual just to prove your were right…made her sick to her stomachs. (Yes, Stomachs. How did you think the filtering system worked?)
Sarah didn’t clear her voice. She didn’t have to. Her voice sprung naturally from her throat with the complete control of a Virtuoso Opera Singer. Naturals found Modified’s voices…angelic. Sarah found Natural’s voices…rasping.
“Yes. Why would you choose disease, short life spans, limited intellect and spotty (at best) immune systems, when you could, well, join us?”
“David, do you want to handle her question?”
The small male nodded.
“Sarah, may I call you Sarah?”
“Of course! That is my name.”
He smiled wryly.
“Of course. Well Sarah we believe that Nature is the Great Designer. Some (pointing to the short female) believe that God is the Great Designer. ( The shorter female smiled back benevolently). Humans are fallible, ego centric, selfish, and competitive in Nature…and therefor it is up to Nature…or to God, to decide our fate as a Species. Until we can better ourselves and our basic warlike human nature, it is not our business to outwit Nature…or God. Is that clear?”
Sarah held back her opinion. Thank the Stars for the strict training regimen she had to go through after Selection for the Study, or she would have lost it right there and then. Can the Naturals not see the false logic in their own thinking? Can’t they take one look at one of us Modified people and see that we have - and very long ago- erased those very stumbling blocks in becoming Civilized?
“Yes, thank you. I noticed that you have a slight limp…I hope I am not being intrusive, but have you been injured somehow?”
David grimaced. He knew what the Modified thought of diseases that no longer exist among them. But it was the Interview…the first one if fifty years…so he answered honestly.
“No Sarah, I am just old. I am sixty five years old, and the Arthritis has spread to my hips. I had one replaced six months ago…and the one that is making me limp is scheduled for next March. I just can’t take the pain anymore. I can’t even put my own socks and shoes on.”
Sarah had to do a quick mental search for the words “Socks” and “Shoes. She glanced down at the three Naturals…all wearing foot gear. Again, her training held. She did not reveal that Modified’s got rid of shoes and socks centuries ago. The Human foot was not designed to be encapsulated. Once it gets strong enough, it works well on any surface like grass, rock, sand, or slimy tidal pools. The human foot is a marvel of engineering and one of the few parts of a Modified body that hasn’t had any…well, modifications. Every Modified was barefoot. All the time. Cold weather is simply a matter of determining where to supply extra blood in any extremity. No Frostbite among Modified’s.
“I am indeed sorry for your pain (and all three Naturals nodded appreciation because they could feel her empathy). We…well…we could help…with…that… the…the pain. “
She could see all of them stiffen up as if she had insulted them or slapped them. She knew she had made a mistake, even as innocent as it was. Unintended.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to impose. It is just that our Doctors could regrow your own bones, from your own cells, and just delete the arthritic component.”
“There you go with your damn superiority already!”
The Security Guard tensed. He reached in his pocket. He had a gun. Sarah Glimpsed it. She triggered the signal that put a force filed around her. A good thing too, because the Security guy fired several shots at Sarah. Sarah leaped to her feet, forcing all three Natural’s to scramble backwards. They never even saw Sarah move. One minute she was sitting the next…standing. Towering over them all.
“We won’t fall for your Devil Tricks, or your toying with Nature! Go back. Get out of here. I don’t know why we even agree to these damn Interviews every fifty years. You can all go to hell with your Magic and Long lives! “
Sarah was mad. A feeling she had never experienced before. She snatched the gun from the Security Man, and before he could even register her movement she returned it to him. He looked down at his hand stupidly. The barrel had been twisted like a pretzel. The grip was shattered, all three remaining round lay on the grass. He never even felt her take the gun. For the first time in his life…he felt fear. And hate. She had just disarmed and dismissed him like he might dismiss a three year old who attacked him with a baby bottle... and with even less effort.
Sarah calmed down. She apologized to the three cowering Natural’s. Each glaring at her with undisguised hatred. The female yelled out one more epitaph at Sarah as she turned to walk back to the shuttle:
“You Modified’s think you are so darn special. Well, you’re not. You're genetic freaks. You don’t have Mothers. Or Fathers. You are noting more than pond scum grown in a petrie dish! I hate you…I hate you all. You think you are so perfect!”
Sarah got on the shuttle and answered the call from the Institute.
“How did it go?”
“Not well. I only got to talk to them for a few minutes.”
“No no, Sarah. You were brilliant. That was the longest Interview in over two hundred fifty years. We recorded their thought processes while they were angry. Their thoughts were unshielded because of the strong emotions. We learned a lot from them…and you. Thank you.”
Sarah looked down at her hand. The gun had burned her palm. She would get that treated when they landed. Until then, she let the pain remind her of how scary the unknown must seem to people who don’t know.
Back at the landing field... people burnt the chair that Sarah had sat on.
Interview with a Natural.(Kevin Hughes)
Sarah was nervous. She had heard about “Naturals” but this was her first time meeting one face to face. Although a slight smile came to her face as she realized for them to be face to face with her…she would have to be sitting…and they…standing. Naturals are short. Many of them less than six feet tall. She thought about the smallest of her friends. Twiggy was the smallest of their Batch Birth, and she was seven foot even. Although to be honest few of us “Modified” are more than seven foot four. So the range is much smaller among us Modified than the Naturals.
But here she was, about to meet not one, but several “Natural’s. She hoped to Interview them as part of the ongoing Study…a Study she was reminded of by Doctor Glever; that has been going on for more than three centuries. Apparently Naturals are hard to convince to change their minds. It boggled her mind though. Who would want to be short, squat, filled with disease, illness, deformities as mild as needing glasses, to genetic minefields that lead to crippling or fatal diseases. By choice. Sheesh.
Sarah had been carefully schooled to hide her emotion, her biases, and her opinions. She was there to listen, not to talk. She was privileged that the Council thought she could handle this semi-century Interview process, after all, she was only one hundred and three years old. Barely into adulthood among the Modified. But she was sharp, empathetic, and able to read non verbal cuing better than anyone else they selected.
Sarah was a Modified, as such, she could see into both the infrared and ultraviolet; that alone made reading a “Natural” more easy. Sarah could also hear sounds that would have escaped the ears of any Natural…even their so called “Musicians”. She was told that Musicians had the best ears of any Natural. Some even had an ability called “perfect pitch.” Sarah called it “selective pitch.” After all, how good is your pitch if you can’t even hear whale song, or the sweet squeal of a dog whistle?
Okay, the shuttle had landed. The Naturals all lived around what used to be called “The Great Lakes.” Nobody is really sure why, but some say Climate Change in the 21st Century herded them all to fresh water. Sarah wondered at how any species could survive with two pitiful kidneys and a small liver as your filtering system. Sarah, like all modified, could drink any fluid, and her body would distill out the H2O and filter out any toxins, viruses, or bacteria. Oh, and salt. She kept forgetting that Naturals can’t drink Sea Water. A fact she found profoundly disturbing. Why? Because sea water and human blood are almost identical chemical solutions. Imagine dying of thirst on a raft out in the Ocean. Irony in all caps, thought Sarah. And yet another reason why she couldn’t understand the Normals. Even after three centuries of Study.
The door opened. And there they were: Three Normals. One of their Females, and Two Males. One fairly tall, maybe six foot six. The other one, well, he couldn’t be five foot four at the most. By far the shortest being Sarah had ever seen. Until she looked at the female. She almost gasped. An even five foot tall. Cute as a button, with a pleasing proportion to her curves and such. Sarah thought she would make a good Doll figurine. In fact, Sarah mentally stored every detail about that female Normal. She was sure it would be a big seller among the Modified Children. And she was right.
After a few seconds for everyone to take stock of each other, Sarah was guided to a chair. Thankfully it had been built for her specifications and for that she gave the Normals a few points for courtesy and doing their homework. It made sitting to talk to these creatures much easier on her. She wouldn’t be looking down at them after all.
“Questions?”
That was the opening Gambit from the small Natural Female, who, it turns out, was both their Leader -and along with the shorter male- one of the two smartest people among the Naturals. The taller male was for security. Sarah quietly laughed to herself. She was more than a match for any Natural who still had to count on reflexes and training. Violence was almost unheard of among the Modified, simply because altruism worked better for Society. If she hadn’t been selected to meet the Naturals, she would have had no need for Martial Arts Training at all. And she sure wasn’t going to keep studying it after the Interview. Even the thought of striking another individual just to prove your were right…made her sick to her stomachs. (Yes, Stomachs. How did you think the filtering system worked?)
Sarah didn’t clear her voice. She didn’t have to. Her voice sprung naturally from her throat with the complete control of a Virtuoso Opera Singer. Naturals found Modified’s voices…angelic. Sarah found Natural’s voices…rasping.
“Yes. Why would you choose disease, short life spans, limited intellect and spotty (at best) immune systems, when you could, well, join us?”
“David, do you want to handle her question?”
The small male nodded.
“Sarah, may I call you Sarah?”
“Of course! That is my name.”
He smiled wryly.
“Of course. Well Sarah we believe that Nature is the Great Designer. Some (pointing to the short female) believe that God is the Great Designer. ( The shorter female smiled back benevolently). Humans are fallible, ego centric, selfish, and competitive in Nature…and therefor it is up to Nature…or to God, to decide our fate as a Species. Until we can better ourselves and our basic warlike human nature, it is not our business to outwit Nature…or God. Is that clear?”
Sarah held back her opinion. Thank the Stars for the strict training regimen she had to go through after Selection for the Study, or she would have lost it right there and then. Can the Naturals not see the false logic in their own thinking? Can’t they take one look at one of us Modified people and see that we have - and very long ago- erased those very stumbling blocks in becoming Civilized?
“Yes, thank you. I noticed that you have a slight limp…I hope I am not being intrusive, but have you been injured somehow?”
David grimaced. He knew what the Modified thought of diseases that no longer exist among them. But it was the Interview…the first one if fifty years…so he answered honestly.
“No Sarah, I am just old. I am sixty five years old, and the Arthritis has spread to my hips. I had one replaced six months ago…and the one that is making me limp is scheduled for next March. I just can’t take the pain anymore. I can’t even put my own socks and shoes on.”
Sarah had to do a quick mental search for the words “Socks” and “Shoes. She glanced down at the three Naturals…all wearing foot gear. Again, her training held. She did not reveal that Modified’s got rid of shoes and socks centuries ago. The Human foot was not designed to be encapsulated. Once it gets strong enough, it works well on any surface like grass, rock, sand, or slimy tidal pools. The human foot is a marvel of engineering and one of the few parts of a Modified body that hasn’t had any…well, modifications. Every Modified was barefoot. All the time. Cold weather is simply a matter of determining where to supply extra blood in any extremity. No Frostbite among Modified’s.
“I am indeed sorry for your pain (and all three Naturals nodded appreciation because they could feel her empathy). We…well…we could help…with…that… the…the pain. “
She could see all of them stiffen up as if she had insulted them or slapped them. She knew she had made a mistake, even as innocent as it was. Unintended.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to impose. It is just that our Doctors could regrow your own bones, from your own cells, and just delete the arthritic component.”
“There you go with your damn superiority already!”
The Security Guard tensed. He reached in his pocket. He had a gun. Sarah Glimpsed it. She triggered the signal that put a force filed around her. A good thing too, because the Security guy fired several shots at Sarah. Sarah leaped to her feet, forcing all three Natural’s to scramble backwards. They never even saw Sarah move. One minute she was sitting the next…standing. Towering over them all.
“We won’t fall for your Devil Tricks, or your toying with Nature! Go back. Get out of here. I don’t know why we even agree to these damn Interviews every fifty years. You can all go to hell with your Magic and Long lives! “
Sarah was mad. A feeling she had never experienced before. She snatched the gun from the Security Man, and before he could even register her movement she returned it to him. He looked down at his hand stupidly. The barrel had been twisted like a pretzel. The grip was shattered, all three remaining round lay on the grass. He never even felt her take the gun. For the first time in his life…he felt fear. And hate. She had just disarmed and dismissed him like he might dismiss a three year old who attacked him with a baby bottle... and with even less effort.
Sarah calmed down. She apologized to the three cowering Natural’s. Each glaring at her with undisguised hatred. The female yelled out one more epitaph at Sarah as she turned to walk back to the shuttle:
“You Modified’s think you are so darn special. Well, you’re not. You're genetic freaks. You don’t have Mothers. Or Fathers. You are noting more than pond scum grown in a petrie dish! I hate you…I hate you all. You think you are so perfect!”
Sarah got on the shuttle and answered the call from the Institute.
“How did it go?”
“Not well. I only got to talk to them for a few minutes.”
“No no, Sarah. You were brilliant. That was the longest Interview in over two hundred fifty years. We recorded their thought processes while they were angry. Their thoughts were unshielded because of the strong emotions. We learned a lot from them…and you. Thank you.”
Sarah looked down at her hand. The gun had burned her palm. She would get that treated when they landed. Until then, she let the pain remind her of how scary the unknown must seem to people who don’t know.
Back at the landing field... people burnt the chair that Sarah had sat on.
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Gail Moore
01/29/2022wow,
That's a great story Kevin. I don't know about the no shoe bit. I have a shoe obsession hehe.
Imagine a future as a normal regular person. It leaves you thinking where we are all headed though.
:-) :-)
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Kevin Hughes
01/30/2022Good morning Gail,
Thank you for your kind comment. And I lived in Hawaii I want time got to go to the house where the former Filipino First Lady was living. She had like 1000 shoes in a closet. And I traveled with a lady on a cruise ship who brought 100 pairs for seven days at sea!
So you are not alone. Lol
Smiles Kevin
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