Hornence looked up from his work pad as he glanced over the new subject. The young female held a twenty-centimeter chef’s knife in her right hand, and though she held the kitchen utensil the correct way, she was struggling with the simple task of chopping a carrot into small rounds. It was almost painful to watch.
“How is she performing?” asked Margriss.
Hornence gave a brief glance toward his “coworker” and sighed. Margriss was definitely more than just a coworker, but…he didn’t want to think about that right now. No, she’d asked him a question, so he was going to answer her, but in his own way.
He spoke into his work pad instead of replying, as this particular act would double as data and an explanation.
“Subject 4H12B5 struggles to perform basic domestic tasks,” he stated into his pad. “Cooking, cleaning, and household maintenance are behind standard, but she is quickly learning. I believe she can be up to par within one month.”
He took his thumb off of audio and then addressed Margriss directly.
“It’s like she’s never worked before,” he sighed.
The immaculately clean and white kitchen they were in was their current testing area. The kitchen was, in fact, fully functional, but it was still a lab setting, so protocol had to be followed.
This setting would have been a dream for literally any other subject, but 4H12B5 was proving to be…difficult…in transition. The young female was twenty-two, the perfect domestic age for a number of reasons, and she was gorgeous, a pure Caucasian with striking blue eyes and a seductive, hourglass figure likely to bring in a magnificent ton of credits, but her actual household viability was…questionable.
“And this has nothing to do with disorientation after retrieval?” asked Margriss.
“No,” frowned Hornence. “I believe it’s just this particular generation of subjects. They are—for lack of a better word—stupid. It’s like they…they’ve lived entirely without practical skills or critical thinking. I don’t even think they can read. I swear, the human race is getting dumber as a whole.”
“Mmm, hmm, mmm, hmm” nodded Margriss. “Well, I don’t really care. However, this one should not be sterilized. Don’t even think about it, Horn. She has a magnificent breeder’s rating, over ninety-percent, and that is a jackpot for us…No, she’s way too valuable for sterilization, and I know you have the final say on that, but like I said, don’t even think about it. I’ll make your life a living hell if you do.”
“I’m surprised you would say that,” chuckled Hornence. “Where’s the inherent jealousy all women have, eh?…Especially you. I’m surprised you haven’t slated her for a pleasure center or…or are planning on having her balls in a jar as a keepsake.”
“Sexist,” said Margriss with a frown. “Completely unsurprising you would say that. And that’s gross, Horn. Don’t say things like that…I do my job, you smart ass. I’m not going to waste a product like this one.”
“Better to be a smart ass than a dumb ass,” smiled Hornence.
“Har, har,” replied Margriss dryly.
She shook her head in disgust.
“You know what?” she asked, and her tone was not kind.
“What?” asked Hornence in growing confusion. “What? What did I say?”
*****
“Where are the keys to the Porsche?” asked Daisy. “Why in the hell does Daddy even put up with you?”
“I apologize, Miss Holiday,” said Sotherby in an old and tired voice. “The Porsche is currently being detailed. Your father would like for you to take the Ferrari instead. He’s giving you permission for today.”
“I don’t want the Ferrari,” scowled Daisy. “If I’d wanted the Ferrari, I’d just get Daddy to hand me the keys to the Ferrari. The Ferrari is red, the Porsche is silver. I’m wearing silver, Sotherby. You’re now telling me I have to go back upstairs and change just so I can match the car.”
“Yes, Miss Holiday,” sighed Sotherby.
“Don’t patronize me, you old fossil,” glowered Daisy. “You’re lucky Daddy doesn’t take you out back and shoot you.”
The old butler simply bowed politely and handed her the keys to the Ferrari, though Daisy most certainly did not want them.
*****
Margriss walked up to 4H12B5, rested her right hand upon the young female’s right shoulder, and gave the subject the necessary command.
“Cease current household task,” said Margriss.
She spun 4H12B5 around and studied her for a second.
The young female subject was wearing white scrubs, so her figure was not so easily identifiable with a quick glance. However, her face was absolutely gorgeous, and Margriss could not help but feel that jealous spike of pure envy strike her in the heart, because she, herself, was a rather plain Caucasian in comparison.
Margriss reached up and ran her hand along 4H12B5’s cranial dome. The plasti-steel dome that made up the top part of the young female’s head was transparent, the small pink brain clearly visible within that dome, that dome a replacement of skull that began just above the eyebrows. There were quick flashes of brightly-colored lights along the small pink brain, as the nano-coating over that brain was reacting to Margriss’s immediate instructions.
“Take a good look, Hornence,” said Margriss. “I want you to see this one yourself. She is an absolute money pot.”
“What do you mean?” he asked. “I already know she’s valuable. I couldn’t afford to buy her.”
Margriss directed her attention back upon 4H12B5. She stared the young female in her striking blue eyes and gave the next command.
“Disrobe, 4H12B5,” commanded Margriss. “Disrobe and then spin slowly in place in order to show Lab Director Crenshaw your value.”
“Oh, don’t do this, Margriss,” frowned Hornence. “I don’t need this.”
Margriss ignored him. She was feeling particularly “ornery” at the moment. Hornence had somehow gotten under her skin, and she was not going to let him live in her head rent free.
“Do you understand, 4H12B5?” asked Margriss. “Follow my commands.”
The young female slowly removed her scrubs and then stood for a moment, naked, upright, and somewhat stiff.
“I said spin,” commanded Margriss.
The young female subject turned slowly in place to show off her magnificent nude figure, but this only made Margriss’s hands shake. She realized she was jealous, and she realized she was being petty, but honestly, if Hornence hadn’t said anything, then maybe she wouldn’t have felt this way, so…it was all his fault anyway.
“I shouldn’t be seeing this,” said Hornence unhappily. “I don’t own her. There are rules against this, Mar—”
“I don’t see you giving her the command to dress,” frowned Margriss.
*****
“Don’t stand there like a fat cow, Juanita,” snorted Daisy. “Hold the dress up higher.”
The middle-aged woman tried not to frown as she held up the new red dress Daisy’s father had just bought for Daisy, but honestly, Daisy was beginning to wonder if wearing red was even going to work. Penny would be arriving soon, and that girl was one-thousand-percent a beeyatch, but you kept a close eye on your frenemies, or they would eat you alive.
“Is this high enough, Miss Holiday?” asked the pudgy Hispanic woman in her pudgy Hispanic accent.
God, she was such a heifer. This was obviously why she was stuck as a maid. The powers that be had some justice, after all.
“Hold it right there,” frowned Daisy. “What is wrong with you?…Higher!…Right there…Hmmm…No, I think I’ll go back to the silver. We’ll just take Penny’s car. I don’t feel like driving if there’s no Porsche.”
“Yes, Miss Holiday,” replied Juanita, but the older woman rolled her dark eyes.
It was subtle, but Daisy noticed it, and this did not sit well with her…Not…at…all.
“Don’t you give me an attitude!” hissed Daisy. “Daddy was kind enough to take you in, and you even have your own room, so don’t you show me ANY disrespect; am I clear!”
The older woman’s attitude turned on a dime, and she quickly nodded in eager understanding.
“Y-Yes, Miss Holiday,” she stammered. “I wasn’t disrespecting you, Miss Holiday.”
“You’d better not be,” scowled Daisy. “Daddy won’t put up with any nonsense, and neither will I…Besides, you don’t have to deal with Penny. She is just the worst sometimes. When she starts talking about her love life, it makes me want to bar…b-barf…”
She blinked twice as she suddenly felt lightheaded. She wanted to complain more about Penny, but she felt both hot and wobbly at the same time. She teetered on her designer heels as she held her forehead in her right hand.
“Miss Holiday?” asked Juanita in audible concern.
“I…I jon’t feel sho…goosh…” slurred out Daisy.
Darkness crept in on her vision from all sides as she toppled backwards, and then everything went blank as the back of her head hit the wood floor beneath her.
“Madre de Dios!” cried Juanita. “Somebody help! Miss Holiday! Miss Holiday, can you hear me! Somebody call 91—”
Daisy could still hear Juanita for a few seconds, but even that faded out as a terrifying nothing took her.
*****
“Stop this, Marg,” warned Hornence. “You don’t have to do this. I just made an offhand joke, that’s all. I don’t need to see this. It was just a joke.”
He stared down at the black QR code printed across subject 4H12B5’s otherwise flawless skin of her bare right buttock.
“Really?” asked Margriss. “Well, then why are you staring at her ass, Horny?”
“Don’t call me that,” sighed Hornence. “This isn’t the second grade, Marg. If you must know, I was concentrating on her QR code so I don’t have to look at the rest of her.”
“Oh, really?’ asked Margriss again. “Turn around, 4H12B5. Let’s show Horny your other QR code.”
“Marg, please don’t call me—” he began.
“Shut up,” scowled Margriss. “Follow my command, 4H12B5.”
The young female subject spun slowly, and Hornence’s eyes were, in fact, drawn to the large QR code printed upon the flawless bare skin of 4H12B5’s left breast, right across the top of it. Unfortunately, this also drew his attention to the rest of her, and that was…not good.
“I shouldn’t be seeing this, Marg,” he said unhappily. “This is your domain, not mine.”
“Admit it,” frowned Margriss.
“Admit what?” asked Hornence.
He had no idea what she was going on about.
“You want to breed her,” scowled Margriss.
“I don’t want children, Marg,” said Hornence quickly. “We talked about this…”
“That’s not what I meant,” frowned Margriss. “You want to hammer her like a nail…All men are the same. It’s disgusting.”
“You were right in the fact that she’s worth a lot and shouldn’t be sterilized,” replied Hornence as he shook his head. “She’s gorgeous; I’ll admit that, but this…this anger of yours…isn’t about that.”
“Oh, really?” asked Marg in her snippy voice.
“Yes, really,” warned Hornence. “This isn’t about her; this is about you and me. We aren’t together anymore, Marg…You know that.”
“Of course, I know that!” spat Margriss. “I’m thirty-six, Horn, and you…you abandoned me.”
“I didn’t abandon you, Marg,” frowned Hornence. “We split up, remember? It was irreconcilable differences…Besides, I’m ten years older than you. You don’t need me. You need a younger man…Didn’t you buy a house slave?…As I recall, he’s young and virile.”
“It’s not the same,” winced Margriss. “I need you, Horn. I need that emotional connection…I need the companionship, the reciprocation…I need someone I can count on.
“I wanted to have babies with you. I don’t want to be one of those women who pops out a kid from a mindless slave…It’s like having a baby with a sex toy…Ugh…My sister did that. She might as well be a single mother…My children need a real father, not a…a living dildo…It’s so trashy, so…so porno. I hate it.”
Hornence held his head in his right hand and sighed. He released his hand and looked her in her brown eyes.
“We talked about this,” he explained. “This is my life…I love the science…the experiments…the testing…the job. I know what you want, Marg, and more importantly, I know what you need…and that’s not me. You need to go out and meet people your own age…or younger…who have your interests…who want kids…You don’t need me, hon.”
It broke his heart to see her cry. He was not sure what to say in response to that visible emotion.
She wiped at her eyes and shook her head no.
“I’ll…I’ll try…” she choked out.
He lowered his head, frowned, stared back up at 4H12B5, and then…stopped.
“What?” asked Margriss. “What is it?”
“I thought I saw…” answered Hornence. “There was something in her eyes…”
*****
“What do you mean, ‘There’s no cure’!” yelled her father. “You’re supposed to be the best of the best! Why am I paying you people!”
“The cancer is too aggressive,” explained Doctor Ellison. “If we remove the tumor, your daughter will be a vegetable…if she survives the operation.”
“There must be something you can do!” raged her father. “Money is no object. You can have whatever you need right at your fingertips. You…You can slowly break down the tumor…Yes…Yes, we can slowly break it apart rather than surgically removing it…We have the technology to save her brain from—”
“We already took that into account,” said Doctor Ellison with a shake of his head. “If we do that, she’ll end up permanently blind and deaf…and…and mentally handicapped…I’m sorry, Mr. Holiday…I’d say she has…six months at the most, and that’s being generous.”
Daisy broke down and sobbed into her hands. She was going to die; they were going to let her die, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Her father grabbed the doctor by his white coat and shook him.
“There has to be something, dammit!” yelled her father into Ellison’s face.
“We don’t have the technology!” cried Doctor Ellison. “Not yet…We don’t have it yet…but…”
“But what?” asked her father.
“But there is something we can do to prolong her life until we have the medical expertise and technology to eliminate the tumor with no side effects,”
“What? What is it?” asked Daisy’s father. “I’ll pay anything! What is it!”
“Have you heard of cryopreservation?” asked Doctor Ellison.
*****
“What is it?” asked Margriss. “What did you see?”
She sniffed as she wiped her eyes clear. She needed to get her head together. This whole situation was stupid and unprofessional anyway.
“I thought I saw…Almost…It was…” stammered Horence. “I’d swear I saw some emotion in there.”
Margriss sighed. She was going to have to get preachy this time, because he was beginning to sound like one of those idiot protestors.
“That’s not how it works, Horn,” she said. “You know higher-level reasoning and thought processes are shut down during nano-conversion. They just go to sleep, and they never wake up. It’s like they’re always dreaming…I…I guess critical thinking could come into play, but you know rote memory of motion is more important.”
“I know that,” sighed Hornence. “I feel kind of bad, though.”
“Why?” asked Margriss. “You, yourself, said you love the science…She’s not dead, Horn…You know this is humane, right?…You know that, right?”
“Yeeeeaaah, I know,” sighed Hornence. “I just know what I feel…It’s just…That look in her eyes freaked me out…”
“They don’t…They don’t think anymore, Horn,” explained Margriss. “It’s called a nano-lobotomy for a reason. You know, you know, she’d be in prison if we didn’t have this. This is way more humane. There are no thoughts up there, Horn. She’s not conscious of herself. She gets to live, and she gets to be productive. That’s all there is to it.”
“I know,” sighed Hornence again. “I feel bad for her, though.”
“Don’t,” frowned Margriss. “I don’t feel sorry for the four-percent who belong in prison. Seriously, she’s bad to the bone. This is her sentence rather than life in prison. This is better for her.”
“I…I guess,” frowned Hornence. “Yes…Yes, you’re right. It would be awful for her to rot in prison. This is definitely better.”
“See?” asked Margriss. “I told you. She gets to live a productive life, and she’s a prime breeder. She gets to have kids.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” nodded Hornence. “Anyway…Marg…I’m going to take my break. If you want to talk…like really talk…you can call me tonight. I’m not looking for a partner, Marg, but…we can talk if you want.”
“I understand,” said Margriss quietly. “Go on then.”
*****
“Lay down, honey,” said her mother. “Just lay right down. It’ll all be over soon.”
“I’m scared,” said Daisy.
“I know, but this is the only way,” said her mother.
“I don’t want them looking at me,” said Daisy. “I don’t want you looking at me. Not like this.”
“It’s okay,” said her mother. “I’ve seen you naked, honey. I gave birth to you.”
Daisy laid down on the not-so-comfortable grey interior of the pod.
“It’s not that,” she replied. “I don’t want Daddy seeing me naked, but…did they have to do this?…I’m bald. I’m as bald as a baby, and I’m freezing because of it.”
“You heard the doctor,” said her mother. “They remove all body hair so the freezing process doesn’t kill you. It has to act instantaneously. It’s going to get a lot colder, but you won’t feel it…Here, let me cover you with this blanket for the moment so you can say goodbye to Daddy…It’s silver…your favorite…your favorite c-color…”
Daisy watched as tears spilled from her mother’s blue eyes. The woman covered Daisy’s nudity with a thin silver tarp-like blanket, though this did nothing to dry her mother’s clear distress.
Daisy waited, naked and cold under that thin sheet of silver nothing as her mother left and then returned with her father.
Her daddy walked in and stared down at her, but he also had tears in his eyes.
“Good night, sweet heart,” he said gently. “Everything will be all right. You’ll just go to sleep, and then when you wake up, your tumor will be gone.”
Daisy swallowed hard and then nodded a couple of times.
“Good night, Daddy,” she choked out.
“Close your eyes, sweet pea,” he said in a wavering tone. “Close your eyes, and I’ll leave the room. Your mother will take the blanket, the lid to the pod will close, and then…you’ll drift away into sleep.”
“Yes, Daddy,” nodded Daisy.
She closed her eyes, she felt his warm lips upon her forehead, and then she heard him walk away.
“Good night, honey,” said her mother.
“Good night, Mom,” said Daisy.
Daisy felt her mother’s lips on her forehead, she felt the thin sheet of a so-called blanket pulled from her, and then she heard her mother’s footsteps echo away.
Daisy shivered as her teeth chattered in her head. She heard the hiss of the pod-lid close, she took in one deep breath and released it, there was an automated voice speaking out a countdown, and when that voice hit “one,” there came a louder hiss, a blowing of some kind of freezing steam, a paradoxical enveloping of sound and—
*****
Hornence had taken his leave.
Margriss shook her head. Now that he was gone…she still felt bad. She still wanted him, though she knew that was not going to happen.
She turned and looked over 4H12B5 and shook her own head again.
“It’s just you and me now, gorgeous,” she said unhappily. “Why did you have to be so damned good-looking?…Ugh…I’m thirty-six…I’m a childless old hag. Here you are, twenty-two, beautiful, and ready for a long and happy life with a lot of kids.”
Margriss shrugged. Fate was fate, and fate had clearly pissed on her. She was here alone with 4H12B5, so maybe a little self-therapy was in order. It wasn’t like 4H12B5 was going to tell anyone what Margriss said anyway.
“Well, I have my own slave at home,” she said. “He’s twenty-six and built like a Greek god, and the sex is great, but I don’t want kids with him. He’s fully functional like I wanted, and he cost me a pretty penny for that, but…he can’t be a father. No, he’s a brainless biological machine like you…
“I do envy you, you know. You don’t have to feel jealousy or loss or emotional pain…You get to have kids, too…You’re just happy in there, aren’t you? Just feeling nothing and going on about your day…
“Maybe I should just go convert…I could be someone’s slave, but since I’m an old hag now, they’d just sterilize me and send me out to work in a farmer’s field or something. I still wouldn’t get to have kids…but I wouldn’t have to feel this hurt inside anymore.
“You’re really lucky…Not like Hornence. He’s starting to sound like those protestors…I tried to tell him, but I don’t know if he heard me or not. It’s better to have nano-slaves than robots, not since the AI uprising of 2122…
“That reminds me…I didn’t have the heart to tell him that you’re not a convict. You’re a popsicle, beautiful…Well, you were…You’re almost two-centuries old, aren’t you?…I guess it would be shocking to be pulled out of a long-forgotten storage facility and sent here, but holy cow, are you a prize. You would have died without us anyway, and this isn’t your time period, so here we are. It’s not like you can process what I’m saying anyway. Not on a deeper level…Not like me…
“Nano-slaves are cheaper and far easier to control than the robots ever were…but that uprising was long before my time, so there’s that.
“Anyway, I’m jealous of you, and I know it, and now you know it, but you can’t say anything or even retain that bit of information, so it doesn’t matter. I wish I was your age, I wish I was beautiful like you, and I wish I could be a mindless zombie like you…That last one’s weird, but it’s so true. I don’t want to feel this pain anymore…
“It doesn’t matter. Put your clothes back on, 4H12B5…Ugh…I hate those cloth scrub shoes, but you’ll get proper shoes soon enough.”
The young female subject quickly put her clothes back on without a hint of resistance.
“That’s odd,” said Margriss as she raised one eyebrow. “You didn’t hesitate at all putting your clothes back on, but you sure gave me hell taking them off…Hmmm…I wonder if Hornence really did notice something? I wonder if there really is something wrong in your nano-matrix? I’d better check your Bios…Hold tight…”
Margriss brought up her work pad and went through a five-minute-long process of connecting it to 4H12B5’s core nano-matrix. She stared down at the information and then shook her head no.
“That’s not right,” she said unhappily. “The wave reach is off…It’s supposed to regulate any displayed emotion…Here…we’ll just take off the safeguard while the matrix fixes the problem…”
She punched in the command and waited, but she was interrupted within seconds.
4H12B5 immediately backed away toward the kitchen counter and shook her head no, a look of pure, utter horror etched upon her beautiful face.
“Where am I!” she cried. “Where’s Daddy! Why are you making me do these things! Why did you make me get naked in front of that old guy, you weirdo! Why couldn’t I move on my own! Why couldn’t I talk! What’s all that science-fiction stuff you keep talking about!
“You kept calling me brainless, but I can think! I can feel! I’m not stupid! Why are you doing this to me! I’m not your toy! I’m not a slave! Why do you keep talking about making me have kids! I don’t want kids! I want my Mom and Dad! Where is everybody! Where are the doctors! What have you done with—”
4H12B5 suddenly stiffened and straightened up. Her expression went into a deadpanned stare, her gorgeous blue eyes gazing out a million miles, and she was silent once more.
Margriss stared down at her work pad. Whatever the issue had been, it was now repaired, but now there was another issue, a much deeper one, a catastrophic one involving a sudden and intense revelation, and it was not going away any time soon.
Her hands trembled as she walked over and set the work pad down on the kitchen counter. She breathed in and out as she tried not to hyperventilate. She shook as she stared at her warped reflection in the shiny chrome kitchen sink…She was as white as a ghost.
BONUS STORY…TIA
Kat sat down upon her brother’s spotless white couch, her frown only deepening as she made it very clear how terribly disappointed she was in him.
“I can’t believe you did this,” she chastised. “Just because it’s legal, doesn’t mean it’s right. You know better than this!”
Her brother frowned as he handed her a cold drink before sitting down across from her.
He was thirty, and Kat was twenty-one. Though that was a big difference in age, she and Karl had always gotten along as best as siblings could hope to…But now he had gone and pulled this, and the whole of it was just…rotten.
“I think you may be overreacting a little,” said Karl.
“Oh, no,” said Kat as she shook her head in defiance. “I know the difference between right and wrong. Where is she, huh? Is she naked and in your bedroom? Do you have her in chains? God only knows what you make her do for you…”
Karl frowned and shook his head.
“You’ve been watching too much Net,” he said unhappily. “It’s not like that…Tia! Tia, come in here! I want you to meet someone!”
Kat turned to see a tall young lady enter from the kitchen area.
Contrary to Kat’s fears, this young lady was dressed in jeans and a pink shirt with long sleeves, but she couldn’t have been older than twenty…Kat doubted that Tia was even older than herself.
The next thing Kat noticed was the metal band around Tia’s neck, just underneath her flowing black hair. It was her slave collar, the device that controlled her mind.
“Oh my God, Karl!” gasped Kat. “She’s barely as old as I am!…How did she end up in a collar, huh? What could she have possibly done that landed her…”
“I robbed several banks,” smiled the young woman named Tia. “They called me the ‘Blanket Bomber.’ It was all over the news…but that doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t feel like robbing banks anymore, if you’re wondering…I just want to help my master and my master’s friends…Would you like me to get you something? I can, if you want.”
“Master?” asked Kat in horror. “You have got to be kidding, Karl!”
“Look,” sighed Karl. “I did this because her mother begged me to. I was her attorney, you know. If I hadn’t taken her in, then someone else would have, and with that collar, you know she has to do everything she’s told…and some of those things wouldn’t be very nice.
“She’s only eighteen…It was either this or be in prison for the next twenty-five years. There are cameras all over the apartment, except in the bathroom, in case you’re wondering, because I film everything she does and log it in a file. That way, people like you know that I’m not doing anything nasty to her…What was I supposed to do, anyway? I don’t like this, but it’s a little something called mercy, Kat.”
Out of Time Copyright © 2026 bloodytwine.com Matthew L. Marlott
Tia Copyright 2017, 2018, 2020 © 100 Tall Tales Matthew L. Marlott
Tia Copyright © 2026 bloodytwine.com Matthew L. Marlott
Note: The image for this story was generated via artificial intelligence courtesy of OpenAI and modified courtesy of Canva.com.