2732
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It all started one morning when I woke up with my insides churning and my stomach longing to empty itself all over my sleeping room's floor. Well, really, I suppose it started a few months prior, but this was when my condition was first noticed. The year was 2732, a fairly uneventful time period in human history. Life was lived as it always had been lived, long and monotonously, and all was average besides my rocketing into fame. At the age of twenty two, I was nothing but a small child to most. My parents, like many parents, were middle aged, both being seventy four. They'd tried their best to raise me correctly, just as any other parents would, but they'd failed miserably, it seemed. Some time in between my awakening and my coming of age, they'd messed something up and I'd turned to a life of vices. Alcohol, music, sex, drugs, you name it, I was a part of that scene. Of course I always detoxified myself the next day like everyone else, but something about me was special. The detox meds have only been proven to be 99.9999999% effective, which means that there's still a slight chance that they wouldn't work. I was that slight chance on the evening of my twenty second birthday, when my partner and I engaged in the atrocity of sex. It was apparently used as a form of reproduction centuries ago, but now it was just a depraved act performed by the few who did too much and thought too little. Children were now grown in a sequence of ever-growing tubes until they reached a weight of exactly seven pounds and ten ounces, at which point they were given to caregivers to raise for the first year, then finally the mothers and fathers that their genetic material was combined from. I, on the other hand, was special. My pregnancy detox was faulty, causing me to develop another being inside a long forgotten cursed organ. All around after people found out, holoprojectors and eyescreens read out "Holden Jones, 28, and Aerona Todd, 22, soon to be first natural parents in over 400 years".
When I had first realized that I was not in perfect health, I went to the detox center at the corner of Gerard Street and Main Court. There used to be specific places to go when you were feeling ill, but after all disease was eliminated, the medical profession had faded to nonexistence. They were replaced by the trauma and detox centers, where all physical injuries could be checked and all toxins could be wiped from your system. At first the clerk believed I was suffering a hangover, but when the detox didn't work, he was at a loss. He suggested I go to the police station, who suggested I contact a local government official, who suggested I contact a scientist. The scientist, although slightly helpful in nature, couldn't find a thing wrong with my physical being, but noted that I was slightly higher than my average weight. He then contacted a team of others, they contacted even more, and soon every scientist was flocking to find out what was wrong with me. After two months of tests, they concluded that I was, in fact, pregnant with a male child. By this point, I had no choice but to keep it. All eyes were on me, scrutinizing and gossiping and congratulating and wondering. I didn't have a say in his genetics. No one knew what kind of diseases he could have, what color his hair would be, if he would be susceptible to any mental health issues or not. He was a mystery that we would name Oliver. My fame faded slightly as I wore on, struggling with the back pain and headaches of my ancestors. It picked up a bit after Holden and I were wed, but ebbed further away until the day came. They had told me there might be a burst of fluid or simply ways of pain, but to just reach out to Dr. Aadams, the lead scientist, when I felt the child was to be born. The media exploded with news of his birth, and then I was supplied gifts by many generous rich families after I revealed that we would raise him from birth. We were the first new parents in centuries, and the public eye was trained directly on us. Honestly, I just wished that it was all over, that I could go back to the carefree life I lived with my vices. But responsibility had taken over, and I had to grow up faster than anyone at the time. I was special.
When I had first realized that I was not in perfect health, I went to the detox center at the corner of Gerard Street and Main Court. There used to be specific places to go when you were feeling ill, but after all disease was eliminated, the medical profession had faded to nonexistence. They were replaced by the trauma and detox centers, where all physical injuries could be checked and all toxins could be wiped from your system. At first the clerk believed I was suffering a hangover, but when the detox didn't work, he was at a loss. He suggested I go to the police station, who suggested I contact a local government official, who suggested I contact a scientist. The scientist, although slightly helpful in nature, couldn't find a thing wrong with my physical being, but noted that I was slightly higher than my average weight. He then contacted a team of others, they contacted even more, and soon every scientist was flocking to find out what was wrong with me. After two months of tests, they concluded that I was, in fact, pregnant with a male child. By this point, I had no choice but to keep it. All eyes were on me, scrutinizing and gossiping and congratulating and wondering. I didn't have a say in his genetics. No one knew what kind of diseases he could have, what color his hair would be, if he would be susceptible to any mental health issues or not. He was a mystery that we would name Oliver. My fame faded slightly as I wore on, struggling with the back pain and headaches of my ancestors. It picked up a bit after Holden and I were wed, but ebbed further away until the day came. They had told me there might be a burst of fluid or simply ways of pain, but to just reach out to Dr. Aadams, the lead scientist, when I felt the child was to be born. The media exploded with news of his birth, and then I was supplied gifts by many generous rich families after I revealed that we would raise him from birth. We were the first new parents in centuries, and the public eye was trained directly on us. Honestly, I just wished that it was all over, that I could go back to the carefree life I lived with my vices. But responsibility had taken over, and I had to grow up faster than anyone at the time. I was special.