Nexus Parental Planning Office, Hawaii. 2014.
“So you want the deluxe?” said Dr Benjamin Schultz as he looked up from the computer. The middle aged Jewish doctor was better on the business end of a microscope than dealing with clients, but when Mandy, Leilani and Jacinta had called in sick he was on the desk.
“Is there better than deluxe?” The man was excited, almost methamphetamine excited. He had good reason to be, he was Thomas Orwell “The Luckiest Man Alive”. Thomas was a nobody until three years ago. He was just one of the vast numbers that make up a population, a face in the crowd, a background player. He bought a ticket in the Super Mega Jackpot and the Millionaire Ball lotteries. And he won both! The sole winner of $924,755,200.12 after taxes; an almost instant billionaire.
Thomas was hounded by the press, everyone wanted a piece of him. So he did what any sensible person would do; he ran. He moved to the Cook Islands because no one their cared who he was and they were a tax haven. He then put all his money stupidly into a little company called In-Gen which was on the cutting edge of genetic testing and after a $900,000,000 investment saw the company boom and Thomas made even more money. He sensibly pulled out and watched as In-Gen merged with Beyond Tomorrow and eventually became Nexus, the pharmaceutical company that could make designer babies.
“If you have the money you can have whatever you like” said Dr Schultz, totally oblivious to who his client was. Dr Schultz had chemical compounds on the brain.
“Okay I want them to be sporty like Federer…no Nadal…no Connors, Connors at his peak was good…maybe Sampras with seven Wimbledon’s but Federer did five in a row…hmmm? Can you do that?”
“I don’t know who you are talking about?” replied Dr Schultz, tapping his pen on the desk
“What can’t you do is probably a better question?”
“Mr Orwell…”
“Thomas. Or Tommy”
“Mr Orwell” continued the doctor looknig over the top of his glasses “The sky is the limit. If you have the money I can design whatever you like”
“Really?” Thomas had a big smile on his face
The Animal Farm, Avarua, capital of the Cook Islands 2028
Fourteen year old Blair Orwell stood on the surface of the swimming pool. She didn’t know what to do. She’d run after her younger brother Arthur and he’d dodged away and Blair ran out onto the water like it was solid. Arthur looked at her in shock, awe and amazement
“WOW!” exclaimed Arthur
“Go. Get. Dad” said Blair petrified at the fact she was doing the impossible
“Okay” said Arthur who ran off into the mansion “DAD!”
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