For thousands of years, mankind had been influencing the circumstances we had been given by nature. Some of the results, such as pollution and climate change, had been detrimental. But many had been beneficial as well. Thanks to selective breeding, we domesticated animals to serve as pets and working animals. In crops. selective breeding, and later, genetic modification, had led to crops that could sustain the ever-increasing human population, with higher nutritional values, agricultural yields, and better quality in the produce. Humans had been tampering with nature since the beginnings of civilization; it was only a matter of time before we started tampering with our own nature as well.

The development and perfect of genetic engineering technologies had been one of the major miracles of the 21st century. The vast majority of the human genome had been mapped since 2003. And for many years, genetic engineering had been used in dozens of medical applications that saved and improved the quality of millions of lives. Thanks to the roots of this technology, insulin and human growth hormone could be produced on a massive scale, vaccines could be produced and perfected, and dozens of diseases could be treated. Before long, gene therapy, which involved directly replacing human genes with functional copies, was helping humanity cure cancer, Parkinson's disease, and a whole other host of genetic-based illnesses.

When we started screening children for genetic disorders, and ultimately altering the child's DNA to prevent such conditions as Cystic Fibrosis and Tay-Sachs disease, only the “crazy, anti-progress” people, the same types of people who had once opposed vaccinations, were really up in arms about it. Surely modification of the human genome would cut down on medical costs, improve lifespan, and help more people live happy, productive lives.

But who could establish the line between what was preventing a disease, and what was altering the traits of humanity? The line between what was a “flaw” and what was a simply a unique personality trait became blurred. We gradually increased the definition of what would be “screened” out, and we began to select for more “desirable” traits. In 2047, the first “Pizza Baby” clinic opened up, catering to the very rich and allowing parents to select the exact appearance, best traits, and even the blueprints for the personality of their children. As the technology became more commercially available, even the lower middle class could afford to “start their children off right,” not only without diseases or disabilities of any kind, but with increased musical and artistic ability, better athletic ability, and higher natural intelligence. It was understood that environmental factors played a role in many of these, but as long as the genetic predisposition was there, parents could know that they were starting their children off on the best possible foot.

This was all well and good, and slowly but surely, the physical standards for certain professions went up. To train as a pilot, you had to have far better than 20/20 vision in both eyes. To train as an astronaut, you had to be in top physical condition that no one could have achieved without being born with the Genetic Procedure. Soon enough, health insurance companies would screen DNA sequences and could deny people coverage based on their predisposition towards disease or certain behaviors. Essentially, health care was universal, so long as you were not genetically altered. Soon enough, laws were in place, allowing DNA screenings to become an integral part of a job or college interview. DNA information was supposedly private, unless an individual had any desire to function in society. Airports and other high-security buildings, verified your identity by simply taking a painless blood sample. You could pay for groceries at the store in much the same way.

It was not long before those unlucky enough to be born in what was once “the natural way,” and was now considered “the backward method,” were stigmatized, discriminated against, and relegated to the jobs no one else wanted to do. Such individuals were called derogatory names such as “in-valids,” “degenerates,” “god-children,” and “accidents.” What had once been a miraculous technology, was now just as easily used towards greed, intolerance, and the subjugation of those based on what their parents had or had not provided them as embryos.

Ethan Morrow was unfortunate enough to be one of those children. In the year 2093, his parents had birthed him “the old way,” and he had suffered most of his life because of it. He was was shorter than the average male now, and was bullied through most of his school life because of his eyesight, appearance, and the general knowledge that he was an in-valid. Bullying was nothing new in the world, but children like Ethan were just the newest trend.

But the eighteen-year-old male thought little of that right now, his backpack slung over his shoulder as he walked leisurely to his Robotics meeting, one of the few places in his life where no one cared that he was weird or different. He crossed the suburban center carefully, heading from his in-valid dominated suburb to a more middle-class one where his robotics team met. Like many teenagers for many generations, he occupied the time engrossed in his (a few generations old) cell phone, listening to music and reading random articles on the Internet while his feet took the familiar path to his destination. As a result, he did not notice that he was approaching one of the frequent hangouts of one of one of his greatest tormentors and his friends, and that they had noticed him from a fair distance.