Skin Trials

by S Y Humphrey

  Seren watched her father exchange tense glances with Lieutenant Scarborough, who spoke up. “Better yet, we shouldn’t use the military. This sounds like a job for the Cavalry. We can send them. They’ve got plenty of boys down in Missouri and Kansas who can ride out tonight. We can call it a mashup among discontented citizens.”

  She didn’t even know what the Cavalry was. Her eyes brimmed with hot tears at all she didn’t know. But one thing she was certain of. She’d always smelled alcohol on Lieutenant Scarborough, and always suspected there was another, darker side to him.

  “That’s right. The government will have nothing to do with it,” Spence thought aloud. “No bad press. And no blood on our hands.”

  The president looked at Seren. “Stephen, what about that space ship Seren is developing at Wyoming Premium? How close is it to being flight-ready?”

  Stephen Jernigan’s eyes finally met hers.

  His gaze was solemn, half-apologizing and half-pleading, and he swallowed. Seren glared at him now, feeling the heat rise in her face. She held in all she would not say in front of his friends.

  “Sweetheart…”

  “Don’t.” The word catapulted out of Seren’s mouth before she could stop it. One of the men walked over and squeezed Seren’s shoulder. It was Agnethe’s father, Jack Sharpe, the architect who had designed the Aerospace Dome in Wyoming, and many of the high-tech buildings in Denver. Someone else’s hand continued to swipe her back. She realized it was Agnethe. Seren gripped Agnethe’s arm to stop the relentless swiping.

  “Of course, the ship is flight-ready,” Seren snapped, glaring at the man she loved more than anything. “Have I ever disappointed you?”

  Her mother squeezed her hand, and she and her parents all swapped angry stares.

  Agnethe’s father broke up the silent fight. “We don’t need a spaceship. You don’t think we can contain this situation? A few rabble-rousers just trying to shake us up some?”

  President Spence answered, “Of course we can handle this, but this has been our backup plan. Not it looks like we might need it sooner than we thought. Won’t hurt to make sure this space thing is good to go.”

  Spence’s eyes meandered toward Seren. “Seren, darlin’, you’ve always been and you always will be one of us.”

  What did that mean? What did he know about her? Was it more than she knew? He had to. He was the president. He could look at the VScan whenever he wanted, and know everything about the entire history of her DNA at a moment’s notice. Still swirling in her thoughts, she felt her hand and shoulders being squeezed. Lyndon and Agnethe tried to comfort her. Mariel Jernigan sat stoic, and Seren watched her mother’s eyes burning holes into her father.

  Agnethe’s father eyed Seren and her parents, motioning for Agnethe to get up. “If all is clear here, then we should probably get going.”

  The officials rose to exit the Jernigans’ underground bunker, leaving only Seren, Lyndon, and their parents. Lyndon’s mother cleared her throat and shifted. Seren anticipated warm comfort from her soon-to-be parents, the way they’d always offered. Instead, she watched Lyndon’s parents exchange nervous, tense glances.

  Lyndon’s father started. “Seren, dear, our hearts go out to you. It could’ve been any one of us tonight. But maybe for now, until all this stuff about genes blows over...” His voice trailed off. Seren watched his eyes fall down to her now-sparkling finger. Seeing his stern expression, it dawned on her that he wanted her to to pull off the four-carat diamond, which hadn’t been sitting there an hour.

  “Kenneth! I made you a signor to the new Declaration of Advancement,” Stephen growled.

  “I know, Stephen, and we’re sorry. We really are. But that ring includes the stones from my grandmother’s and great-grandmothers’ rings. Until we know what all is going on here, we’ll just hold onto it.” Lyndon’s father reached out and squeezed Seren’s limp arm. “We’re sure this will all blow over soon. Your daddy will be walking you down the aisle in no time.”

  “Babe, I’ll beam you in the morning, first thing,” Lyndon whispered kissing her cheek before rising from the couch. The warmth of his hand disappeared. A chill replaced it as she watched everyone walk out.

  Seren remained with only her parents again.

  Numb, Seren stared down at her futuristic dress, unsure if she wanted to look at their faces. For the first time in her life, she feared what came next.

  She heard Stephen Jernigan’s footsteps cross the floor. Sounds of glass clinking filled the space as she heard a crystal decanter opened, before liquid poured. A glass appeared in front of her face. The smell of strong liquor entered her nostrils.

  “Go ahead. We all need it,” her father’s voice said.

  Seren took the glass, and her fingers hugged the crystal, bringing it to her lips. The drink burned her throat, and she wanted it to. Glass crashed into the wall a few feet from them, causing Seren and her father both to jump.

  “Tell me the truth already!” her mother screamed. “What have you done?”

  Stephen Jernigan continued to look at Seren.

  “I had you corrected. Starting before you were born.” Her father’s voice broke the stupor. “We had you tested. Doctors told me you had mental deficits. I kept it from Mariel, and hired the top geneticist in the world to start feeding you gene editing treatments.”

  Seren’s mother began to hyperventilate. Her hand, thin and laced with veins, clutched the bodice of her gown. She started to shake her head.

  “No. No. No,” she whimpered. “Not my baby.”

  “I had the doctors lie to you, Mariel. Told you the shots were new, advanced prenatal medicine. I am sorry.”

  Seren couldn’t see. The room grew too blurry with her own hot tears.

  “You stole… genes… from somebody else? Whose genes did you put inside me?” Seren asked simply.

  He looked at her, tears of his own tripping down his cheeks. “Why does it matter?”

  “Whose genes did you put in me?” She repeated more forcefully.

  “It doesn’t matter. You’re sitting here. Happy and healthy. About to change the humankind. That’s how it should be. We didn’t need the stain on our family.”

  Her mother shot up and screamed at the top of her lungs, every vein she possessed popping out of her neck. “Stain? You can’t just treat people like rags, Stephen! To suit your stinking whims!”

  “You wanted a perfect life. A perfect world. With perfect genes. I gave it to you. And you didn’t complain. Not when you had the perfect daughter in your arms. A genius, no less. At your side. In your photo ops. You never asked a single question. And you knew.”

  “Why would I have doubted you?”

  “Come on! You’re a Senator. A prosecutor. Prenatal genetic shots? There were any number of ways you could have checked it for yourself. You never asked the obvious questions, because you didn’t care what I did, as long as it made you look good,” he fired back.

  “I never thought for a second you would lie to me about human life!”

  “You benefitted from my lies, the same as I did. Let’s be honest, Mariel, you’re not upset that I did it. You’re upset that now it might be over. But you don’t have to worry. I’ll make sure it’s never over,” her father said.

  Seren sat listening to the two of them discuss her like she was a purchased product. She didn’t have strength to intervene, and was too confused.

  “Mental deficits? Like what? What was wrong with me?” Her brain raced through the remaining defects that could set a citizen behind in Perfect Society. And mental defects did not explain the blemish on her leg. “My intellect did not qualify me for Tier One? I am only a Two?”

  “Stop trying to overthink it,” he said reaching for her.

  She snatched her arm away, staring up at the man she had always adored and never questioned. Even now, she very much wanted to go to him, and let him make everything right again.

  “Come on, rocket scientist. Don’t be foolish. Have I not protected y
ou? Kept you safe? I would have done anything to make your life absolutely perfect. It’s all been for the best,” her father said, somewhere in the background of her reeling mind.

  Mariel Jernigan got up and slapped her father hard.

  “For the best, Stephen? We’re hiding from our enemies under a mountain. The best? That’s your Perfect Society?” her mother pressed.

  Seren watched her mother withdraw into her own thoughts, to another place, beyond the present. She seemed to disappear, trying to recall something. Her eyes snapped open wider, as if mentally recovering some fact that once was lost.

  Horror then entered her mother’s face.

  Realizing something, she turned back to Seren. Before her mother could blurt this new truth, Seren cringed. She sensed this new information would be too much to handle.

  Almost as if her mother knew, she reached out and pulled Seren to her. They crumbled in one another’s arms.

  5

  Anthistemi

  Hours later, at sunrise, Seren and her mother still held one another.

  Her father was likely back in the War Room with his aides, or likely even at The Pinnacle, which had replaced the White House as home to the president. He had said their family possessed cancer traits. But diseased citizens belonged in Tier Three, not Tier Two. The hackers did not disclose Three. They disclosed Two, average working citizen. What her father had said still didn’t add up.

  Seren’s wrist vibrated. It was Lyndon, her first time hearing from him since he and his parents had left the bunker.

  Seren slipped away from her mother, into the hallway. “Wow, you actually bothered to check if I’m still alive.” Seren was sure to make her sarcasm apparent.

  “Babe, I’m sorry. My parents kind of flipped out.”

  “And you? Did you flip out?” Seren asked, glaring at his small image. His face twisted with discomfort.

  “Look, we don’t know what to think. You know I love you. But, what does this mean? What will our children be? Will they be… what are you?”

  “Why does it matter? I’m still the girl you’ve loved for years, right? And that’s unconditional, isn’t it? So why would you care what genes I have?” she challenged.

  Now that she might be… something else, she wondered if the love would disappear. What else would disappear? Her parents’ love? Her classmates’ respect? The world’s respect?

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that,” he said. “I must sound cold as a snake. I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I wish I was there to hold you right now.”

  She didn’t need it. Not while she couldn’t decide what was real and what wasn’t.

  “Babe, they’re releasing a new name right now!”

  “What?” Seren asked, stunned. “How?”

  Just as she asked, the 3-D image in her watch changed, replaced with strange masks and army fatigues.

  “Daxton Gray, son of Dalton Gray, was born a hermaphrodite, and has been genetically altered to secure his Classified Access Grade of Tier One.”

  “Oh, my God,” Seren breathed. That’s why he didn’t care about the treatments. [INSERT DAX QUOTE]

  “American elitist establishment, we remain undeterred. You cannot stop us. We will not be silenced, or threatened, or oppressed. Release the original Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution back to their rightful place. Return our political institutions back to their original homes. Reopen the financial centers and government offices back to the people, to whom they belong. Or we will continue to reveal the names of you masters of hypocrisy, who impose high standards on the poor while you steal the privileges of liberty and freedom for yourselves.”

  “Dammit!” Lyndon said, pounding his desk.

  “Seren! Seren!” she heard her father’s voice coming up the stairs, until he stood at her door. “That’s it. You’re leaving now!”

  Her mother entered, and the three of them ran to one another, without thinking of the anything else. Terrified now, her father threw his arms around them.

  Lyndon’s image now maximized, switching to Seren’s 3Vision, and projecting in her room. His parents also entered the frame now.

  Mr. Baxter interrupted, “I agree, Jernigan. It’s time we sent the kids out now.” He looked to Seren. “Now, Seren, you’re absolutely positive on this whole space thing, right? It’s all set to go? No problems. No bugs whatsoever. I’m putting my kids’ lives in the hands of your team.”

  Seren’s father answered for her.

  “Ken, I’m sending my best folks out to back Seren up. Nothing but Ones, all from Tier One labs and facilities. Not that she needs it, but out of an abundance of caution in these circumstances. They’ll be checking and double checking that ship over the next few hours to make sure they’ve missed nothing.”

  Seren bristled. “Dad I already—”

  “—And Stephen,” Lyndon’s mother butted in, “stick to the rules. No charity passengers. Why don’t you just keep the engineers working on the ship to good, intellectually superior people only?”

  As she said it, her eyes passed across Seren. Mrs. Baxter had never looked at her that way.

  Seren’s mother thrust forward, finger jabbed at the projection. “I beg your pardon, Libby! Don’t you ever look at my daughter that way again! My daughter is doing your shallow-end-of-the-pool son a big favor just by being with him, let alone putting him on her ship!”

  Stephen Jernigan turned to Seren. His voice shook. “This is it. You’re up, Sweetheart. There is no question now. Things will might ugly and you shouldn’t be here. Get the ship ready. Lyndon and your other Ones will leave with you.”

  “Dad, there’s no way you can negotiate with this… this…” she couldn’t even remember the name of the outfit “… Anthistemi?”

  “You don’t think we’ve been trying for years? Giving them land, food, medical credits? They won’t stop until they see us destroyed,” he replied. Though she still felt pangs of anger in her chest, she saw him forcing a brave face. His eyes were already red-rimmed. “We’ll get you packed.”

  On their private plane, she and other Tier One kids listened to an emergency security briefing en route back to the Aerospace Dome in Medicine Bow.

  CRASH COURSE ON MATTERS ABOUT WHICH THEY’D NEVER HAD TO WORRY.

  When they returned to the Dome, all the Twos were gone.

  “Where’s my crew?” Seren messaged to her father through her watch, though she already anticipated the answer. “Are they okay?”

  “They’re fine. But Twos don’t need to know what we’re doing now.”

  Her father brought in his own Tier One crews. Seren knew her Twos would never trust her again now. She didn’t know why she cared. But she remembered Trane’s lone figure standing in the doorway, staring at her right after the professor’s arrest.

  For the next fourteen hours, Seren worked alongside Ones flown in from other approved aeronautics programs and space schools, as well as the Air Force, the former NASA, and the major space jet companies. Scanning, rescanning, and running repeated tests, they found exactly three zero-day hacks for tracking the spaceship’s location, scrambling communications, and shutting off its network. Working in shifts, they switched out for the next team to move in and conduct the second round of testing. All Tier One Premium staff, whose backgrounds were continuously being verified as originating from military, upper class and patriarchal families who were deeply committed to Perfect Society.

  “It’s time. Dr. Placer is here. I’ve packed your things. Lyndon, Lance, Agnethe and the others are arriving. You just need your treatment.” The sleepless woman reached out and touched Seren’s neck. They pulled one another in for a hug. “Please don’t hate us. Don’t hate your father. He only tries to protect us.”

  Protect us. Seren wanted them to stop saying that. It was just another way of saying they shielded themselves from the truth. From all the ugly truths on which they had built their beautiful lie.

  But she didn’t have time to process any of
it as they hurried to the facility where they met her father and Dr. Placer waiting for them in one of the laboratories.

  “Good to see you again, Seren, congratulations on all the wonderful work you’re doing. I know you’ll make your folks proud.” The old doctor smiled warmly as he always had. He stepped aside.

  Behind him awaited the machine. She would lay inside it for a while after he inserted long needles in different parts of her upper and lower body. Though she had seen it numerous times before— forty-nine exactly — this time it seemed a giant creature ready to consume her.

  “What is all that?” It had never entered her mind before. Until now, this process had always been standard, so she could remain healthier than most. But the bluish white light flared out so bright it could have powered up all of Denver. Long tubes crawled through both sides of the metal box, with needles attached on the inside, seeming ready to drill as deep as her soul. She felt both her parents’ hands at her back, stroking and caressing, as they faced what now looked like a long, silver coffin. “Is this really necessary?”

  “Sweetheart, it’s no different than before,” her father said. “You don’t have much time. It’ll only take a couple of hours, just like all the other times. Then you’ll be off on your spaceship doing what you’ve waited to do your whole life.”

  Forcing her legs forward, Seren lifted one at a time. One of Dr. Placer’s nurses put the shades over her eyes. They gave her a few minutes for the anesthesia to kick in. Plenty of time for her to wonder if she should jump out of this silvery, high-tech coffin. Instead of attempting to escape, she lay in place, reminding herself this was necessary to do what she loved. So she could continue being perfect. The way she always had.

  She felt one needle inserted into her shoulder, and she winced because she could still feel the dull pain as it entered. Tears squeezed out of her eyes. She felt more needles enter each of her legs, then her hips, and slide into her bones. The box began to close over her.