Brave New Worlds

hell?"
    "What?"
    "We've been redirected. We have an appointment with Human Services. Now. "
    "Now?"
    "Yeah, they've even rescheduled my work-shift for this afternoon and notified the office. "
    "Do you think it's about the test results?" I had expected some reaction from Human Services, just not this quick. I folded my hands in my lap to keep from tapping my fingers. Johnnie didn't like to see me get nervous.
    "It doesn't say. "
    "Great. " there was nothing else to do but sit back and enjoy the ride. We were just passengers.
    Central had control.

    "I understand you must be apprehensive," the agent said. He was a small man, this Mr. White, and the huge, empty desk he sat behind made him look even smaller. "Results like these can cause a great deal of confusion. "
    Johnnie started to say something. I squeezed his hand before he could. The last thing we needed was to anger a government official, particularly one as high up as Mr. White seemed to be. It was best to remain compliant until he finished.
    "The important thing to remember is that your baby rated a ten. Your child will be an asset to the Nation. Only one in fifty thousand couples who go through the procedure come up with these results. It's a credit to the two of you as citizens.
    "As such, the state has raised both your rating to eight, effective immediately. Congratulations. "
    Johnnie and I stared at each other. Eights? that was two levels higher than our current rating. Eight meant ten hours of work as opposed to forty. Eight meant no more scraping by between allowance periods. Eight meant a much bigger apartment. Eight meant no more late nights while Johnnie stayed at work to improve his production numbers.
    Eight meant no more looking over our shoulders.
    "Thank you, Mr. White. " But of course, Johnnie couldn't keep his mouth shut. "I've just one question, though. The flag? How can there be a flag with a rating of ten?"
    Mr. White pursed his lips. It was quite an odd gesture, almost feminine and I had to keep myself from giggling.
    Eight didn't mean you could just randomly disrespect government officials.
    "Well," he said, "there is that question. To be perfectly honest, I've never seen it come up before. But in your case, I don't think it's something to worry about. Your child rated a ten and you are now eights. I don't see how there could be a problem. The government won't, of course, stand in the way if you decide to invoke your option. "
    "What if we do?" Johnnie asked. I squeezed his hand tighter but he just pulled his away from my grasp and continued, "What would happen to us?"
    Mr. White smiled. There was little humor in it. "Happen, sir?"
    "If we use the option to terminate the pregnancy, what would happen to us?"
    "Why would you do that, sir? Your child is a ten. He or she will be a great credit to the nation and improve life for all of the citizenry. What citizen would even consider that?"
    Johnnie shook his head. "Well, the flag. I'm worried about it. "
    "Worried about it?" Mr. White picked up his pen and scribbled something on his tablet.
    "Yes," Johnnie answered.
    "Your child is a ten, sir," Mr. White repeated. "that should be enough to make you forget about the flag. "
    "Well, it doesn't. It certainly didn't keep Central from issuing the flag. Why would they have issued a flag unless there was some concern?"
    Mr. White tapped his pen on his desk a few times, and leaned forward. "How much do you know about the CDP test?"
    "Central looks into the future and determines the baby's community viability," Johnnie said. "that's really all there is to it, right?"
    Mr. White chuckled. "Well, that's not really accurate. Central can't look into the future. That's impossible," he said, chuckling. "What it does do is predict the future based off of the child's cellular past, the parent's cellular past and other environmental factors. You see, once you can witness the cellular history of an individual, you can predict future activity through sheer computational power. Central has an over ninety-nine percent success rate with this test. We don't question the results. "
    I knew Johnnie wasn't going to take the hint so I cut him off before he could do more damage. "It's just so confusing, Mr. White," I said, smiling as wide as I could. "Aren't flags usually reserved for children with. . . well, problems?"
    "Actually," he said, "the flag is just an indication that the parents will have to make a sacrifice. Sometimes it means that the child will be