Paradise Reclaimed

by Raymond Harris

  “Wolfgang?” asked Jules sharply, using his full name in a formal rebuke. “Achten, ich rede mit dir.”

  Wolfgang looked up immediately, startled to hear his own language. “Entschuldigungen. The talk about procreation is boring.”

  “Okay, we’ll talk to you later. You can go.”

  They all said goodbye to him, but he cut them short and his screen went blank. Alice continued unperturbed. “Lisette, you’re entering puberty. Would you be prepared to conceive?”

  Lisette was staring directly at Alice; unable to quite believe she was having this conversation with someone younger. “I’m six months in, but I had rather thought I would be human rights lawyer.”

  “The old Earth professions will have no meaning on Eden. You will bear children and do manual work: farming, labouring, exploring, mining, fishing. The basics,” said Lars. “You up to it?”

  “At the men’s behest?” Lisette objected.

  Lars laughed. “No, it’s the girls who control this. We are just sperm donors.”

  “We would have no choice?” asked Rasim.

  Alice sighed. “It only concerns boys who have entered puberty, but yes, you have a choice.”

  “But you would assign us girls, to, um, impregnate?” asked Salah.

  “Yes, but only if they agreed and only when you are old enough to take on the responsibility of being a father, this is not a game,” said Anaïs.

  “And you have agreed to this?” asked Lotte, who was both scared and fascinated by this turn of events.

  “We have already begun the process,” said Freja.

  “Naturally?” asked Frantishka, her eyes wide with shock and curiosity.

  “Oui, we must move fast,” said Anaïs.

  “We have no objection,” said Ari looking at his sisters.

  They nodded their heads in agreement and replied in unison. “No, it seems perfectly logical.”

  “Our mother has always told us our genes are valuable,” Ari added calmly. “We agree it is senseless to waste valuable genetic material.”

  His sisters nodded in agreement.

  “Well, I’m certainly not ready. I’m not even sure I like boys,” Frantishka complained.

  “Me too,” said Amina. “I want to become a doctor.”

  Alice rolled her eyes. “See, this is why we didn’t want to discuss this. Most of you aren’t ready, either conceptually or physiologically. It’s a waste of time discussing it.”

  “Yes, what we really wanted to discuss is your plans for the future,” said Jules. “Your study plan. Each of you has the capacity to achieve a very high standard. We will be able to help you with scholarships to the top universities: Oxford, Caltech, Princeton, Cambridge.”

  “Harvard Business School?” asked Salah.

  “Yes, certainly, it would be our hope that Crickets enter business,” said Jules.

  “If we are to run the world,” laughed Lars, “we must control the economy.”

  “And if we are to run Eden, we must control the genome,” said Lisette.

  “Yes,” said Alice. “That’s the idea.”

  “And there will be more of us?” asked Lotte, catching on quickly.

  “Yes, soon, an exponential growth,” Anaïs replied. “We are just the first wave.”

  “This actually brings us to an important point, the real reason we wanted to talk to you,” said Jules. “Our opposition, the dark overlords…” He gave a small smirk at his private joke.

  “The dark overlords?” objected Salah. “A bit dramatic…”

  “Have started their own program of enhancement. They will start producing genetically enhanced heirs…”

  “If they haven’t already,” said Tal.

  “Of course,” Jules continued. “And they will be sent to the same universities as you…”

  “I see,” said Rasim. “You want us to get to know them, become friends…”

  “And radicalise them?” Lisette concluded.

  “Yes, ideally,” said Anaïs. “Or infiltrate. Become friends, lovers, spouses. Get yourself on the inside…”

  “And spy,” smiled Lotte. “You want us to spy?”

  “More than that,” said Freja. “It may be necessary to disrupt or even takeover. Perhaps in just one or two generations we will have Crickets in key positions within the elites.”

  “A long term strategy,” said Rasim.

  “It’s what they used to do, politics through marriage,” said Lisette.

  “It’s what they still do,” said Alice.

  “Far better than war,” Anaïs replied. “And we have one major advantage. We know about them but they do not know about us.”

  “For now,” said Ari.

  “It depends,” said Jules. “Whilst it might be apparent that we are the beneficiaries of good genes, they will not necessarily know we share the same political agenda.”

  “But do we?” asked Gila. “What if they convert us to their worldview? Being a genius doesn’t make you immune from corruption.”

  “You miss a vital component,” said Alice. “When my mother and I analysed your genomes we looked for the known indicators of psychopathology. Empathy and social conscience are a matter of both upbringing and genomics. Salah, you had a sequence that inclined you to psychopathology but we adjusted it. That’s the key difference between us and them. The elites will not consider being a psychopath a problem. They will see it as virtue.”

  “So that’s another reason for spreading the Cricket genome?” said Lotte. “To eliminate certain negative traits.”

  “Covertly?” said Lisette thinking aloud. “If we got to know these people we could hack their genomes, maybe even eliminate negative sequences through gene therapy.”

  “Well, I suppose fucking them guarantees we can hack their genome,” said Lotte, surprising them with her bluntness. “It’ll be easy for us girls. We could collect samples any number of ways.”

  “Yes, exactly,” said Alice.

  “It’s just as easy if you are same-sex attracted,” Jules corrected. “Our aims will be best achieved if you cultivate an open sexuality. Your target might be someone of the same sex.”

  “And you and Lars?” asked Frantishka intrigued.

  “Of course,” Jules said. “We cannot ask you to do something we would not.”

  “Oui, and Li Li and Freja and myself,” added Anaïs proudly.

  “Doesn’t this have moral implications,” asked a nervous and shocked Amina. “I mean, my parents are progressive, but…”

  “Amina, you would not be part of the program otherwise,” said Jules.

  “It’s just that I haven’t even thought…”

  “Of course not,” said Alice somewhat dismissively. “Neither have I. There really is no point in worrying about it until you are fertile. But in the end it will be a free choice. In your case Amina, your genome indicates a healthy sexual appetite. I would be very surprised to hear you hadn’t already started your sexual education.”

  “Alice, you could be a bit more delicate,” Lars protested.

  “Why? This is basic biology. I masturbate and I’m not ashamed to say it. I bet all the females do, and especially the fertile males. And if they aren’t already, then they bloody should. It is unthinkable that a transhumanist might ignore the sexual aspects of human potential. Am I wrong?”

  There was silence from the girls.

  “See,” said Alice. “These girls have a healthy sexual appetite. We checked their genome.”

  “But still, the moral problem,” objected Frantishka.

  “It depends on what you consider the moral problem to be,” said Anaïs. “The elites have been interbreeding for centuries. There is a joke regarding the inbreeding of European royalty, but it has been happening amongst the rich too. A Wall Street banker passes his psychopathology to his daughter who marries the son of a powerful industrialist and the psychopathology is amplified in the next generation. Some of the elites have mixed with organised criminals. Any offspring conceived
in such a union may very well carry genes predisposing them to violence and cruelty.”

  “Yes, you are right,” said Lotte. “The issue of conventional sexual morality is the lesser concern. The higher order moral issue is the elimination of socially destructive sequences from the human genome. I mean, depending on your moral philosophy. I’m inclined to consequentialism at the moment, although virtue ethics…”

  “Lost me,” objected Frantishka.

  “You’ll have to get up to speed with this stuff,” said Lotte. “I mean, you and Amina raised the issue of morality. It indicates you are still transitioning from a conventional moral understanding.”

  “Look, again…” said Jules. “These are decisions you don’t have to make now Amina or Frantishka, but you should understand the larger plan.”

  “Why wait until university?” asked Tal.

  “Yes, couldn’t we hack their genes in high school?” asked Gila, effortlessly reading her sister’s mind.

  “High school?” asked Anaïs sitting up straight.

  “Of course,” said Lotte. “Why wait until Oxford? Why not get Crickets into their private schools, get to them while they are still horny teenagers, eager to spread their seed?”

  There was stunned silence as they contemplated what they had just said. “We hadn’t thought…” said Jules. “I suppose… It would be more difficult but many of the top schools are becoming co-ed.”

  “Even so,” said Freja. “They mix socially with private girls’ schools…”

  “It would take some funding. These schools are not cheap,” said Lars.

  “We already have a scholarship to Aiglon, we start next year,” said Tal.

  “And I am going to AIS-Salzburg,” added Lotte.

  “But what better way into the upper echelons?” said Lisette. “I mean, if you want to execute your plan with maximum efficiency. Think about it. You could go to a party, get Lord Muck or Sir Banker’s son drunk, blow him and you’ve got his genome. Who would suspect a schoolgirl of espionage and gene hacking? I mean, I could start now. I’ve already given my first blow-job.”

  “Lisette, really?” Amina blushed.

  “Think about it. Adolescent affairs are short-lived. You could hack several notables during your time at high school, even inject them with new sequences. It’d be so easy to trick them.”

  “I didn’t realise you were so cunning Lisette,” said Lars, impressed.

  “Neither did I,” she replied, clearly flirting with him.

  “Okay, well, seems we have a lot to think about. And, as always, this is voluntary. Amina, Frantishka, if this makes you uncomfortable you know you can leave the Crickets,” said Jules.

  “What? And lose the opportunity to go to Oxford?” Amina protested.

  “Well, anything else?” asked Anaïs.

  There was silence.

  “So, lots to think about,” suggested Lars. “You can sign off now if you wish.”

  Goodbyes were exchanged and the screens started to go blank, all except for Lisette, Lotte and the triplets.

  “Yes?” asked Freja.

  “Just wanted to say I have no objection to conceiving. I mean I assume it’ll take time to arrange anyway,” said Lisette bluntly.

  “Me neither,” said Lotte. “We enter puberty early in my family. I’m showing the first signs, swollen nipples and a few pubes. My mother was quite developed by the time she was twelve.”

  “Are you angling for a place on Eden?” asked Alice.

  “Well, if the pre-requisite is signing up to your breeding program then I don’t have a problem. My guess is that any man going to Eden is going to be prime genetic material anyway, better than the average, gawky, pimply youth here on Earth,” Lisette replied.

  “It’s only logical,” Tal added, with her siblings nodding in agreement. “And philosophically justifiable, improving the human genome is a moral imperative that overrides lesser moral objections.”

  “Well, we can put you through the selection process. No guarantees,” said Anaïs. “But you must realise it could be permanent. There might be no return.”

  “Is it a beautiful planet?” asked Lotte.

  “Like a tropical island,” said Freja.

  “So, you’re going, obviously,” said Lisette.

  “Well, it hasn’t been…” said Lars.

  “When?” asked the triplets, excited.

  “Soon,” said Anaïs. “Soon.”

  They retired to the kitchen to make hot chocolate. Marie-Louise had retired to her study to read and Hugo had his headphones on, listening, no doubt, to jazz, his favourite way to relax.

  “What do we think?” said Anaïs as she rummaged in the cupboard for her supply of Belgian couverture chocolate to melt into the hot milk.

  “Makes sense,” said Jules reaching into the fridge.

  “How many are ready to go online?” asked Freja.

  “Don’t know, papa has the latest figures,” said Anaïs as she unwrapped the chocolate.

  “I’ll go ask,” said Alice.

  “Lisette was a surprise…”

  “So was Lotte…”

  “And the Israeli triplets…”

  “Good physiques from what I could see…”

  “I think Lotte plays hockey, Lisette plays football and skis, and the triplets study classical dance…”

  “Pretty too. The elites go for beautiful women…”

  “Good for the mix on Eden…”

  “Make me one too,” said Hugo who had followed Alice into the kitchen. “How did it go?”

  “Interesting,” said Jules.

  “The triplets suggested we implement the infiltration program earlier,” said Anaïs.

  Hugo frowned. “Sooner?”

  “Earlier and sooner,” said Alice. “High school. How many can we get online as soon as possible?”

  “High school?” He seemed confused by the suggestion.

  “Yes, to take full advantage of adolescent sexual experimentation. We could start building a database sooner than we anticipated.”

  “I’m not sure I follow.”

  “Papa, you are showing your age. Many adolescents experiment with sex at an early age. We can use that to our advantage.”

  He was genuinely shocked.

  “How many papa and how soon?” Anaïs pressed.

  “But…”

  “Papa, time is critical. How many generations do we have before things are totally fucked? We don’t have the time to indulge the old moral code.”

  “Um, if we open the Monte Carlo clinic. We have a waiting list of twenty from all over Europe…”

  “And mother’s clinic?” asked Alice.

  “If we ask her to prioritise, another thirty, mostly Asian…”

  “We’ll have to ask Akash to provide funds…” said Jules.

  “For what?” asked Hugo, the conversation going faster than he could manage.

  “Scholarships. How soon can we get our hands on the list from the Swiss clinic?”

  “It’s difficult… Maybe a few weeks.”

  “The Americans and Chinese?”

  “Longer. We haven’t identified the location. What is this all about?”

  “Papa, we intend to place adolescent Crickets in the paths of these genetically modified brats before they mature. It will be relatively easy to extract their genome and intervene…” said Lars.

  “Before they grow up to be arseholes,” said Freja.

  “So can you provide names so we can start planning the program papa?” asked Jules.

  “But Eden?”

  “That’s why this is urgent papa,” said Anaïs, placing her hand tenderly on his arm, playing the loving daughter.

  “We’ll need to assign some Crickets to oversee the program…” said Alice.

  “There’s a lot to do,” said Jules as the milk began to boil.

  “Papa, didn’t you say you got your hands on some local weed? asked Anaïs. “It goes well with hot chocolate.”

  “My desk t
op drawer, I was thinking of it myself… It always goes well with jazz.”

  “Didn’t they call marijuana a jazz cigarette?” said Alice.

  “Yes, amongst other things.”

  “Can I try?” she asked.

  “Of course,” said Jules.

  Anaïs returned with a paper bag filled with sweet smelling marijuana, a plant that grew wild in Bhutan (and was used as pig food). “Here, Freja, you show Alice how to roll a joint. I’ll prepare the hot chocolate.”

  A short time later they retired to Jules’s bedroom to play music and get stoned. When Anaïs kissed Freja, Alice blushed. When Jules kissed Lars, she didn’t know where to look.

  “Come now Alice,” said Anaïs softly. “Isn’t this what you’ve been wanting? To no longer be treated as a child? You can have a boy or a girl, or both.”

  “Yes, you have been quite forceful in your advocacy, let us see if it has all been hot air,” said Lars with a cheeky smile.

  She did not hesitate.

  86

  Nuku, Prax and Biyu

  Saphira was waiting for them on a broad field of purple-grey grass not too far from the mountain base. They were nervous as they entered. Things were now moving very quickly, in less than half an hour they would be descending into Earth’s atmosphere. Biyu thought there was no point in dallying and lead the way at a brisk pace. Prax and Nuku followed, trying to maintain a false sense of calm, their stomachs churning with a mixture of excitement and fear. When Biyu was settled into the gel she commanded Saphira with all of the authority she could muster, mainly to bolster her own confidence.

  “Okay Saphira. You have the flight parameters. Let’s do this as quickly as is safe.”

  Saphira lifted and immediately began to pick up speed. She tilted and accelerated into supersonic then hypersonic, pushing them back into the gel with the g-force. When she was at a safe enough distance from the ground she jumped. Biyu gasped as the blue orb of Earth appeared suddenly below them.

  “Okay, take us down, a little slower so we can admire the view.”

  Nuku studied the planet below her. She had seen many vids of Earth so it was all very familiar. She could name all the oceans, continents, islands and major cities, but it was still awe inspiring to see it in real time. They entered the mesosphere above Antarctica and as they descended into the stratosphere, the continent of Australia appeared below them, the northwest region obscured by a large cyclone and the yellow/brown of the desert clearly visible on the edges. Nuku recalled that the continent had suffered a great deal from the effects of climate warming, with the cities of Perth and Adelaide largely deserted due to savage summer heat waves, the remaining populations moving to a narrow strip on the southeast coast. From her reports Australia was now part of a maritime coalition (with its capital in New Zealand) that exploited the remaining resources of the Antarctic.