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Authors: Suzanne Weyn
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replied. “I say she stays.”
“I guess she’s okay, then,” August said.
Nedra grunted and stared down at Kayla’s chunky-heeled black boots. Kayla felt a wave of guilt. Nedra was right not to like her, to be suspicious, but not because of the bar code. She would take Zekeal from Nedra if it were possible. She wouldn’t do it to hurt Nedra. She just simply wouldn’t be able to turn him away if he came to her.
Zekeal disappeared into the darkness outside the circle and returned with two folding chairs, one for Kayla and one for him. They sat as August opened his handheld computer. The monitor up-lit his round face. “Okay, what are we working on for this issue?” he asked the group.
Allyson spoke first. “I want to do an article on cloning.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Nedra snapped.
“In Europe they don’t have the same bans on cloning that we have here,” Allyson explained. “Some of the first human clones are now turning seventeen and are being refused bar codes.”
“Global-1 probably wants to get patents on them,” Nedra sneered. “They have patents on everything else, on human organs, on genes, on chromosomes — why not patent clones? If you looked onthe butts of those kids, you’d probably find the Global-1 trademark stamped there.”
“Probably,” August said with a laugh. “But they’re still people; I wonder why they can’t get the bar code.”
“Nobody in the government is saying,” Mfumbe said. “The parents of the cloned kids are raising a stink about it. They say that not having a bar code makes kids outcasts.”
“That’s exactly what we’re saying!” Zekeal shouted, getting up and starting to pace. “Soon no one will be able to do anything without the bar code. Anyone who hasn’t got it will be shut out of everything — just like in Europe.”
“Soon?” Nedra scoffed. “It’s already happened.”
“I agree. My friend Amber just had to move,” Kayla joined in. “Her parents have bar codes but there’s something in their codes that’s messing up their entire lives.”
“They have no idea what it is?” August asked.
Kayla shook her head. “None.”
“Stuff like that is happening all over the place,” Mfumbe said. “Everything’s getting turned around. But, you know, in some cases it’s all good. My dad used to feel like he couldn’t get a break at work. But since he got his bar code, he jumped right over his boss’s head for a promotion. Now he’s his old boss’s boss. For him, getting the bar code has been great.”
“Nice for him ,” Zekeal grumbled. Kayla was sure he was thinking of his own father. She thoughtof her family and Amber’s. She remembered Gene Drake and his housemates. If the bar code was good for the Taylor family, she was glad — but then why was Mfumbe fighting it?
“Why are you here?” she asked him.
He shrugged. “Principle, I guess. Even though it’s worked out for my father, I don’t like it. And it’s humiliating to be branded like that. It makes me think of the German concentration camps.”
Kayla admired that he was able to think of more than himself. It took intelligence and moral strength, she thought, to act on principle instead of simple self-interest. Not many people could do that. It made her like him even more.
“I don’t trust it, either,” Mfumbe went on. “I don’t want to put something permanent on my body before I know what it’s all about. I don’t think they’re telling us everything there is.”
“What else could there be?” Kayla asked. She thought there was something more to it, too. But what?
“We don’t know,” Mfumbe answered. “But the government is too determined to get everybody tattooed. I just know there’s something more.”
He’s got to be right , she thought. All her instincts told her that he was. A mere e-card, license, and medical record couldn’t be messing up lives like this, could they?
“You’re paranoid,” Nedra said. “It
“I guess she’s okay, then,” August said.
Nedra grunted and stared down at Kayla’s chunky-heeled black boots. Kayla felt a wave of guilt. Nedra was right not to like her, to be suspicious, but not because of the bar code. She would take Zekeal from Nedra if it were possible. She wouldn’t do it to hurt Nedra. She just simply wouldn’t be able to turn him away if he came to her.
Zekeal disappeared into the darkness outside the circle and returned with two folding chairs, one for Kayla and one for him. They sat as August opened his handheld computer. The monitor up-lit his round face. “Okay, what are we working on for this issue?” he asked the group.
Allyson spoke first. “I want to do an article on cloning.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Nedra snapped.
“In Europe they don’t have the same bans on cloning that we have here,” Allyson explained. “Some of the first human clones are now turning seventeen and are being refused bar codes.”
“Global-1 probably wants to get patents on them,” Nedra sneered. “They have patents on everything else, on human organs, on genes, on chromosomes — why not patent clones? If you looked onthe butts of those kids, you’d probably find the Global-1 trademark stamped there.”
“Probably,” August said with a laugh. “But they’re still people; I wonder why they can’t get the bar code.”
“Nobody in the government is saying,” Mfumbe said. “The parents of the cloned kids are raising a stink about it. They say that not having a bar code makes kids outcasts.”
“That’s exactly what we’re saying!” Zekeal shouted, getting up and starting to pace. “Soon no one will be able to do anything without the bar code. Anyone who hasn’t got it will be shut out of everything — just like in Europe.”
“Soon?” Nedra scoffed. “It’s already happened.”
“I agree. My friend Amber just had to move,” Kayla joined in. “Her parents have bar codes but there’s something in their codes that’s messing up their entire lives.”
“They have no idea what it is?” August asked.
Kayla shook her head. “None.”
“Stuff like that is happening all over the place,” Mfumbe said. “Everything’s getting turned around. But, you know, in some cases it’s all good. My dad used to feel like he couldn’t get a break at work. But since he got his bar code, he jumped right over his boss’s head for a promotion. Now he’s his old boss’s boss. For him, getting the bar code has been great.”
“Nice for him ,” Zekeal grumbled. Kayla was sure he was thinking of his own father. She thoughtof her family and Amber’s. She remembered Gene Drake and his housemates. If the bar code was good for the Taylor family, she was glad — but then why was Mfumbe fighting it?
“Why are you here?” she asked him.
He shrugged. “Principle, I guess. Even though it’s worked out for my father, I don’t like it. And it’s humiliating to be branded like that. It makes me think of the German concentration camps.”
Kayla admired that he was able to think of more than himself. It took intelligence and moral strength, she thought, to act on principle instead of simple self-interest. Not many people could do that. It made her like him even more.
“I don’t trust it, either,” Mfumbe went on. “I don’t want to put something permanent on my body before I know what it’s all about. I don’t think they’re telling us everything there is.”
“What else could there be?” Kayla asked. She thought there was something more to it, too. But what?
“We don’t know,” Mfumbe answered. “But the government is too determined to get everybody tattooed. I just know there’s something more.”
He’s got to be right , she thought. All her instincts told her that he was. A mere e-card, license, and medical record couldn’t be messing up lives like this, could they?
“You’re paranoid,” Nedra said. “It
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