Juniors

 

 

Photo by Charlota Blunarova on Unsplash

Juniors 

"We want you to feel comfortable...Are you comfortable?"

"Yes..."

"Good. It's very important that you are very comfortable."

Earlier, a family of four had walked into the waiting room of the Breakthrough facility. Jeremy Sr. had been with his wife Emily Sr. and their two children, Jeremy Jr. and Emily Jr. Almost all people with children named them their junior—it was just easier this way. Emily Sr. had appeared nervous, and Jeremy Sr. made attempts to soothe her. The juniors, Jer and Em, had entertained themselves while their parents argued. After a short time a neutral voice had called Jeremy Jr. to the operation room. His mother had led him in and helped him onto the operating table in the center of the room. She had kissed him and said she loved him and then left the room. She wiped a tear from her eye, which should have been more uncommon than it was.

"Jer, your comfort is very important to us."

"Thank you."

Jer was laying on an over-cushioned operating table more akin to a bed than anything medical in a warmly lit room maintained at a cool 70.3℉. A gentle breeze simulated wind blowing and was created via two ducts that were located on either side of the room. The airflow made no mechanical whir but instead sounded like trees swaying in the wind. The walls displayed photo-realistic projections of trees waving in the breeze, which was perfectly synchronized to the artificial breeze. The air ducts, of course, were not actually visible to Jer—nor could his family observe him from in the waiting room.

Jer had a grin plastered onto his face. This was brought upon and enhanced by the drug cocktail dripping at a steady rate from an IV bag and into his veins. The IV bag and its accompanying pole were made to look like a banana tree and vine, lest the sight of surgical equipment make Jer feel apprehensive or anxious. The tube seemed to be a vine that had stuck to him as he made his way through the jungle. Jer was quite serene.

"Are you comfortable, Jer?"

"Yes, really comfortable, thank you."

"Good, we always want to make sure you are as comfortable as can be."

The voice that spoke to him sounded exactly like his mother's, but it came from no mouth—instead, it emanated from the walls. Research had shown that the patient was more likely to be calm if he heard his mother speaking to him, so the artificial voices were designed to do just that. There was no more soothing voice than that of a boy's mother, and Jer was still very much a little boy.

The IV drip was silently and remotely altered to adjust the drug cocktail Jer was receiving. It added one more layer to the tranquility that was overcoming Jer in a way that made his eyelids grow heavy. Sometimes the drowsiness was too sudden, and he may have felt just a moment of the slightest distress because he said, "I feel sleepy."

The machine with his mother's voice responded in accordance with the questionnaire his parents filled out, using his nickname, "Yes, Jer-Bear, you are supposed to feel sleepy. That's good, now just rest your little eyes and we can play when you wake up."

Jer was nearly twelve years old, which had been determined to be the optimal year for the procedure; although, most would have preferred it to have occurred at a later age in early adulthood. His life was nothing but constant fun, entertainment, and play. All children lived a life of pure joy ever since the Breakthrough had been successful. With the Breakthrough, education was no longer a concern and schools were dismantled. As a result, Jer's parents never bothered with books or alphabet magnets or shapes or colors or numbers or any of those "toys" children used to learn the necessities of the world. It's nearly the 23^rd-century now, and all educational technology for children is a relic of the past.

Jeremy Sr. gave his son cars, trucks, balls, blocks, and an impressive array of electronic devices to keep him from ever feeling bored. Devices were pressed into kids' hands as early as they were able to hold them. Their infancy was a world of omni-present screens and colorful videos. Children were incapable of long, focused thought, and this was considered a success.

Intellectually, Jer was the equivalent of a 21^st-century three-year old. He could communicate well enough to express any simple wants or desires that he had, but that was about it. Again, this is not a problem ever since the Breakthrough, first successful in the year 2157. It has since been improved to a near-zero failure rate in the intervening 40 years. Jeremy Sr. was born in the year 2156 along with his wife Emily Sr. and had grown up in a world that had nearly always known of the Breakthrough.

"Are you comfortable, Jer-Bear?"

Jer murmured a "Yeah, thanks" and snuggled deeper into the pillows of his operating table. The artificial trees swayed in the artificial wind as Jer fell deeper into his artificial stupor.

Like any major medical innovation, the Breakthrough was hotly contested and discussed by many talking heads. Billions protested its implications and laid down their lives to make a political stand. However, the innovation prevailed, and it was virtually unheard of for someone to abstain from undergoing the Breakthrough procedure. The quality of life was too hard to argue with. Yet, there were still those that resisted in their own silent way. However, their numbers were small and were growing smaller with each passing year. Soon enough, no one would remember the world from before the Breakthrough, and everyone would finally live in agreement with one another in all their collective wisdom.

Jeremy Sr. was standing outside the room containing Jer, looking at his wristwatch. He asked Emily, "Should it take this long? I mean, is this normal? It's making me nervous..."

Emily responded, "Remember Jeremy, the procedure has been updated since we had children. They explained that longer wait times were to insure optimal conditions. It's best if he is as comfortable as he possibly can be."

Jeremy let out a sigh and went back to pacing the small room. Em, Jer's twin sister, tugged on her Mom's shirt and asked, "When Jer is done, can we play ball with each other?" Emily crouched down and smiled at Em and said, "Of course, you and Jer can play ball when you get home."

This made Em happy, so she smiled. However, Jeremy cut a sideways glance at Emily and called out to Em, "Don't you think we should let Jer rest when he gets home?"

Em responded, "No, I think he will want to play. We always play."

Jeremy handed her a device and said, "Here, Em, go entertain yourself. Jer will probably want to rest when he gets home. He might not be feeling like himself."

Em harrumphed and walked over to the video wall where the device automatically connected and projected the screen on the wall in front of her—enveloping her in its comforting glow.

Jeremy saw she was occupied and turned to his wife and said, "Emily, she should be getting the procedure, too. You know that."

Emily didn't reply at first and looked at her daughter playing games and giggling to herself. Emily asked, "What do you think it will be like?"

Jeremy said, "Oh, it'll be an adjustment for sure, but it's for the best. I just wish we could do it when they're older."

Emily looked at her daughter and said, "I hope so. It is so early, yes."

Jer looked through heavy eyelids at the swaying canopy overhead, unaware that it was not real. He said, "I'm in the jungle. I love the jungle!" and tried to clap, but his arms would not move. This did not bother him. He was very comfortable.

"Yes, that's good Jer-Bear, now go to sleep that you're so comfortable."

Jer shut his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep. The wall outside pinged Jeremy and announced in a cold robotic voice that it was time for him to enter. Jeremy looked at his wife and daughter and said he'd see them soon. He entered the room to be with his son. The voice told Jeremy in its cold tone, "He is comfortable now; we can proceed." With that, Jeremy sat down in a chair beside Jer and the Breakthrough commenced.

In the morning, Em woke up to see Jer in the bed across from her. He had the blankets wrapped tightly around him as if he were freezing in their warm, cozy room. Em didn't remember him going home with them, and, now come to think about it, she didn't remember her Dad coming home either. But she never remembered much. She did remember that she wanted to play ball with him. She walked to his bed and nudged him awake. Jer turned his head toward her and opened his eyes. He said, "Just give me a few more minutes honey, I'm so tired." Jer never called Em, honey.

Em looked closer at him, inspecting him, and said, "You seem weird, Jer."

Jer responded with a shrug and pulled the covers over his head.

Em asked, "Will you play ball with me?"

Jer groaned and said, "Go bother your Mom. I need some more sleep."

Em never had Jer refuse to play with her. Tears started to well in her eyes, and she ran to her Mom and Dad's room. Jeremy was not in the room, but Emily was sitting up in the bed lost in thought. She saw her tearful daughter and wrapped Em in her arms and asked, "What's wrong, honey?"

Em said, "Something is wrong with Jer."

Emily's voice caught, "And what's—that, honey?" Emily gulped.

Em said, "He doesn't wanna play ball."

"He's probably just tired."

"I don't think Jer is Jer anymore."

Emily looked up to the door frame and saw Jer standing there with a disapproving look in his eyes directed straight at her. She hugged Em close and smoothed her hair as she tried to comfort her daughter.

Em asked, "Where's Daddy?"

Emily said, "He's on a trip?"

Em asked, "When will he get home?"

Emily said, "Soon."

Jer walked up and handed Em a device and told her, "Go play with your toys, and I'll come play ball with you soon."

Em ran off, and by the time the screens enveloped her, she had already forgotten that she was sad.

Jer said, "I don't know what to think."

Emily said, "What don't you know? Huh, Jeremy, you said you wanted this." She stared at what she knew to be her husband inside Jer's body, but all she could see was her little boy. But he wasn't there anymore, Jer is still in that artificial jungle somewhere.

Jeremy said with Jer's voice, "I know, I know. But it's weird. You should have had the Breakthrough with me."

Emily asked, "What did you think it would be like to take your son's body?"

"Emily, don't start that again. You know they aren't really our son and daughter. They're clones. That's all they are—clones. Clones clones clones clones clones."

Emily slapped him and then hugged him and told him she was sorry, and then she pushed him away from her again, unsure of how to feel toward her husband in her son's body. She said, "I don't think I will be able to go through with it."

Jeremy said, "You can't start up with that now. You agreed."

"She is her own person. I'll regret it for the rest of my life. For forever."

"She is not a person; she is a shell waiting for you. You can't expect me to pretend to be her brother until you make up your mind."

"She feels like my daughter. I think I feel how Mom's used to feel. I miss my little Jer-Bear already..."

"This is how it works now; we grow a clone and then move in when they're ready."

Emily said, "I think I'd rather die."

Em listened to her Mom and who she thought was Jer talk to one another, and she grew increasingly confused. Her head hurt as it thought about things it was never intended to think about. She began to think about some of the words she had heard. What was a clone? What was regret? What was die? Was she a shell? She did not feel like a shell. Turtles had shells. She was not a turtle. She walked to her mom and cried, "Am I a shell?"

Emily cried with her and said, "I just can't do it Jeremy—I just can't."