“It’s a nice morning and the air smells fresh after the rain. Let’s walk along the perimeter,” Priya said. “Let’s talk out loud. What’s the market doing today, Warren?”

“It’s down another two percent this morning on top of the two percent drop yesterday. At least we have a news auto feed and other sources of information on our telepathic network. Otherwise, we’d know nothing.”

“Good, maybe they’ll eventually realize our value when the market drops,” Priya said out loud.

“I don’t know if that matters,” Sophie said. “This movement to sterilize us comes from a gut-level fear of extinction, not finance.”

“Perhaps,” Priya said. “But people like their money. Pablo, have you heard from anyone on your legal team?”

“Yes, they’re in court right now trying to get us out of here. This Presidential Executive Order 9066-b thing looks solid. It’s based on the old laws they designed to protect us from terrorists. We lost many rights. I guess we’re the new terrorists. Every generation needs a new enemy.”

“We’re the new threat to society?” Priya said. I don’t think I’m a threat to anyone. I want to work and make discoveries to help people. That’s what we all want.”

“Yeah, but they think we’re taking jobs from people,” Warren said as they walked into one of the many the newly built cafeterias.

They studied the big screen displaying the news for several minutes, while they put food on their plates and sat down.

“What? No way,” Priya said as she read the scrolling text. “They’re voting on something called the ‘Equal Access to Jobs Act. There’s the jerk. Let’s listen.”

Reporter: “Senator, can you tell us about this new piece of legislation?”

Senator MacArthur: “Yes, the Equal Access to Jobs Act will level the playing field for all job seekers. I’ve been getting thousands of complaints describing how the trans-humans are taking jobs and promotions away from normal people who only wish to work. There’s a conflict of interest developing in the workplace. Companies want to hire trans-humans to make more money, but they do this at the expense of regular people.”

Reporter: “Are you saying it’s wrong to make a profit?”

Senator MacArthur: “Of course not. This new law will still allow companies to hire trans-humans, but if a qualified normal person can do the job, all qualified applicants will choose a random number. That number will determine who will be hired. That way, there’s no bias in either direction.”

“What a load of—”

“Pree, shhhh,” Sophie said.

Reporter: “Well, that seems fair to me.”

Senator MacArthur: “Yes, this is an equitable way to diffuse the situation and be fair to everyone. Trans-humans enjoy an unfair advantage over normal people. This levels the playing field.”

Reporter: “Do normal unmodified people with high IQ’s have an unfair advantage over average people? Should we level the playing field in that regard?”

Senator MacArthur: “No. Smart people are born naturally and don’t enjoy a big advantage in society, but you make a good point there. I’ll research the idea.”

“This senator is a real piece of work,” Priya said. “Of course, smart people have an advantage. He’s prejudiced against us.”

“Pree, shhh,” Sophie said again.

Reporter: “So how will this work? Most trans-humans who can be hired by companies are already working for them.”

Senator MacArthur: “That’s the second part of the legislation. All jobs currently held by trans-humans will be reposted as open jobs.”

Reporter: “Isn’t that unfair to the trans-humans?”

Senator MacArthur: “I’m making sure it’s all fair. Trans-humans can apply for their old jobs just like anyone else. Many will get those jobs back by picking the correct random number. Don’t worry about the trans-humans who don’t get rehired. I’m sure other companies will hire them, or they can start their own companies.”

Reporter: “I hear there’s another part of this legislation dealing with patents.”

Senator MacArthur: “Yes, we need to level the playing field in all areas of life. Patents are a good place to start. A level playing field will stop the abuse and bullying the trans-humans are experiencing by reducing the perceived threat they pose. Whenever a trans-human files a new patent application, an open period will allow normal people to apply for the patent. A random number will decide who gets the patent. We call this the Equal Opportunity Innovation Initiative, or EOII.”

Reporter: “How will you know if a patent applicant is a trans-human?”

Senator MacArthur: “We are in the process of collecting DNA samples from all 25,000 trans-humans, most of whom currently in the US are now in our custody. Their genome will act as a new form of ID. Everyone who wishes to file a patent must file a genome scan.”

Reporter: “Isn’t this an invasion of privacy? What about the Personal Information Privacy and Protection Act?”

Senator MacArthur: “This will supersede PIPPA. Nothing is more important than the survival of the human species. Our survival is more important than protecting ourselves from terrorism or even our individual rights. This legislation protects the trans-humans too because as I mentioned, abuse and bullying against them will drop in frequency because the playing field is level.”

“I can’t believe this guy,” Priya said. “As if he’s trying to protect us. And while we’re at it, let’s round up all minorities to protect them from assaults.”

“Pree, calm down,” Sophie said.

Reporter: “Is there anything else we should know about this legislation?”

Senator MacArthur: “Yes, if trans-humans wish to join the technology branch of the military, they will be welcomed with no handicapping. The best suited for the job will get it. We want trans-humans to be able to show they’re patriotic and are willing to help our country against all foes. Every one of them is now a US citizen regardless of country of origin.”

Reporter: “What’s happening with the trans-humans in the relocation center?”

Senator MacArthur: “They’re being treated well. They’re free to eat what they want and interact with who they want. We kept groups of friends together. They can exercise, and soon they’ll be allowed to communicate with their families. They will be held until the Equal Access to Jobs Act takes full effect.

Reporter: “And they will be sterilized. Is this correct?”

Senator MacArthur: “I must be going now. Um, yes. Now I must attend a meeting.”

Reporter: “Okay Senator, thank you for your time.”

Senator MacArthur: “Thank you.”

“So, here we are in prison and they’re taking things from us under the guise of protecting us,” Priya said. “That includes taking our right to have kids. I’m tempted to send out a few tweets about this, but I’m not ready to let them know I can do that by thinking about it. They’re paranoid enough. I wonder if my broadcast is still working. Raven, I haven’t seen my follower drone since we arrived. Where is it?”

“It’s sitting dormant right outside the perimeter in a safe place. I feared they might shoot at it, so it’s sleeping for a while. It’s as fast as the Omanji drones, but it followed us all the way here. I’m glad it has an antimatter power source so it can operate for almost 100 years nonstop.”

“I’m glad it’s sleeping,” Priya said. “We may need it at some point.

Several large guards walked up to Priya. “Can you please come with us?”

“What do you want with me?”

“You need to come with us.”

“I haven’t eaten.”

The guard reached for her, so she stood up and began to walk out the door with him. She stashed a small surveillance peeper drone in her pocket which her drone dropped over the fence soon after they arrived.

“Pablo, what’s happening with the appeal?” Priya thought silently.

“I’m finding out now. I’ve heard nothing.”

“Find out soon,” Priya thought back as they led her out the door. “I’m not going down without a fight if you know what I mean.”

They led her down the long row of tents and into the main structure of what the signs called the Central Valley Facility. The hills to the west were starting to turn green because the winter rainy season had recently begun. Once inside, she was led down several long corridors and into a large sterile looking room with a dozen metal tables and trays of silver instruments. Large banks of lights, robotic operating theater robots, and other equipment hovered above each table on long pliable metallic arms.

Priya opened up her implant transmission to all of the mods imprisoned in the compound. They could all hear her and visualize in their minds what she was seeing. The mods had not been able to hack into their implants to broadcast the signal directly to the outside world. Not even Bok understood how to do that. The Omanji encryption was too strong. However, Priya and the others could reroute what they heard and saw indirectly through their Twitter accounts via the software service the Omanji intentionally left open.

“Do you guys see this feed?” Priya thought to the others as she continued to broadcast to the telepathic network.

“Yeah, I’m receiving it,” Sophie thought back. “It’s working.”

“This isn’t promising Pree,” Warren also thought back. “You know what to do if they start to do anything to you.”

“I do.”

Warren smiled, “Pree, did you just say, ‘I do‘ to me?”

Priya smiled too.

“Warren, stop it!”

Sophie also smiled.

The guard noticed Priya smiling. She immediately stopped. Some doctors came into the room.

“What are you going to do to me?” Priya said, while everyone in the collective listened in. She activated her audio and video feed to her 350 million Twitter followers.

“Don’t worry, we’re only going to get a blood and bone marrow sample this time,” the primary doctor said. “We will need a small sample of brain tissue.”

“Is this mandatory?

“Yes,” a nurse said as they prepared the needles and other instruments.

“How would you feel if someone forced you into an invasive procedure?” Priya said.

“I wouldn’t like it, but I’m not a threat to the human species,” the doctor replied.

“Neither am I. And neither are any of the thousands of children who are locked up in this prison.”

“This isn’t a prison, and you’re a threat because you don’t belong to the human species,” the doctor said. “I earned a PhD in Genetic Anthropology before becoming a doctor. Once a species splits and becomes two distinct species, competition begins. This is the beginning, so we’re going to nip this in the bud. It’s best for all concerned. Now come over here and sit down. This won’t hurt.”

“No, I’m not going to come over there,” Priya said.

“Get the General,” the doctor said as Priya stood in her place.

A few minutes later, he entered the room.

The doctor waved him over. “General Sherman, this is Priya Chandra.”

“Yes, I know who she is. Everyone knows who she is. Hello Priya.”

“You seem familiar,” Priya said. “Do you know my mom?”

“Yes, we worked together on the Omanji problem.”

“Then you must realize we’re no threat to anyone.”

“You are a grave threat Priya,” General Sherman said. “You’re too young to understand the big picture right now. I’m sure you’ll make many valuable contributions to society in the future. However, we must make sure that future generations of trans-humans don’t overrun the human race. Therefore, you all must be sterilized, including the one million babies with your DNA. We won’t hurt you and your ovaries will be left intact. It’s a humane procedure.”

“This is disgusting and you’re repulsive,” Priya said. “Would you sterilize your own children if they were abducted?”

“I wouldn’t want to, but I would sterilize them, for the sake of the human species.”

“You’d be a traitor to your own family,” Priya said. “That makes you even more despicable.”

“I’m sorry you have this attitude, but every species has a right to defend itself,” General Sherman said.

“Every species?” Priya said.

“Yes, every species. That’s how evolution works. The smartest and strongest species survive by protecting themselves.”

“And you claim I’m a member of a distinct species from you, right?”

“Yes Priya,” General Sherman said. “You and I are members of distinct species.”

“This means my species, Homo altasapiens or whatever we’ll be called has a right to defend itself?”

The General looked Priya in the eyes and fell silent for a while. Priya looked back and didn’t flinch.

“I can’t answer that question right now. Is this a threat?” General Sherman replied.

“If you attack any of us, we will defend ourselves,” Priya said. “That’s not a threat. It’s a fact.”

The General glanced at the surgeon and smiled.

“Priya, you’re cute and I admire your spunk. However, let’s get serious and not waste any more time.”

“Look into my eyes General, I’m dead serious. We can and will defend ourselves, effectively.”

He glanced at her and couldn’t turn away for several seconds. He realized he was getting nowhere, so he blinked into his eyepiece to contact Nisha.

“Nisha, how are you today?”

“I’m fine General. I’m watching you talk with my daughter. That’s an interesting discussion you’re having.”

“You’re watching this discussion, live right now?” the General said.

“Why yes, and so are millions of Priya’s followers, and 1.1 billion of my followers. We’re watching it through her eyes. The video is unusual to watch because each time her eyes move about, the angle of view of the video moves.”

The General stared at Priya for a long moment. She returned his gaze without blinking. He had a tough time believing that everyone could see what he thought was a private conversation.

“Um… Yes, we’re having an interesting discussion,” the General said. “I’m trying to reason with her but I’m making little progress. I’m hoping you can make some progress.”

“General, are you asking me to consent to the sterilization of my own daughter in front of a billion people?” Nisha said.

“You make it sound harsh,” the General said. “It’s painless and it’s the best thing to do to avoid the calamities of the future. Think short term pain, for long term gain.”

“General, I won’t give my permission for this. She’s not an adult so legally she can’t make her own decisions. I refuse to give you permission to do this. Please don’t hurt her.”

The General paused and stared at Priya again.

“Okay Ms. Chandra, I’m sorry you won’t cooperate. We won’t hurt her. I must go now. Thanks for talking with us.”

He disconnected from Nisha.

The General studied Priya closely. She returned his gaze without blinking.

“Hold on, I’m receiving an incoming connection,” the General said. “Madam President, how are you today.”

“I’m doing better than you it seems,” the President said as her voice echoed around the concrete walls and floor of the room. “I’ve been watching on Nisha’s Twitter broadcast. Priya, we don’t want to sterilize you, but the survival of the human race depends on it. We value the contributions the trans-humans make and will continue to make after this is over. We’ve taken a poll and 68% of the general population of this country supports the sterilization of the trans-humans and the babies who carry their DNA. They’re an Omanji experiment. They’re like an invasive species now. Just as beautiful trees from other continents can be invasive to a local ecosystem. Since it would be inhumane to cut down the trees, we’re only going to collect the seeds so they can’t spread any further. You’ll be allowed to live your normal lives.”

“Being subjected to prejudice every day via an artificially leveled playing field is not my idea of a normal life Madam President,” Priya said. “I don’t like being compared to an invasive tree species either, no matter how beautiful. I’m human. This is unfair. Those new laws you’re imposing are unfair. If I come up with a cure for a disease, I won’t be sure that if I file a patent, I’ll get it. So, I won’t bother with patents.”

“I’m sorry Priya, but a democracy cannot always be fair to every citizen,” the President said. “We as a species have the right to defend ourselves.”

“You know what? I agree,” Priya said. “Every species has a right to defend itself. That right supersedes fairness. Therefore, I’m hereby letting you know we will be forced to defend ourselves if you continue to abuse us. We will not accept sterilization.”

“I’m sorry Priya, you have no choice,” the President said. “I’ve heard you’re headstrong, so I’ll let that comment pass by.”

Warren thought to Priya and the others, “Pree, we must defend ourselves. If they make a move on you, do what you must do.”

“Thanks Warren,” Priya thought back. “I’ve run out of choices. I’m worried because once you set something in motion, chaos builds from that moment forward. There’s no way to predict results.”

“Take this one step at a time,” Sophie thought to Priya and the others.

“Priya, are you listening to me?” the President said.

“Yes, I’m listening carefully Madam President,” Sophie said. “You may think I’ve run out of choices. However, many choices are open to me.”

“What are you talking about young lady?” the President said.

“You said a species has a right to defend itself. I’m warning you right now, if you so much as lay a hand on any of us, we can and will defend ourselves as a species.”

“General, do you know what she’s talking about?” the President said.

“I’m not sure. She keeps saying this. This is too stressful for her. It’s best if we get this over with quickly.”

“Okay, you can proceed,” the President said.

The guards moved towards Priya.

“Do you guys carry flashlights?” Priya said.

General Sherman smiled.

“No, the lights are fine in here. Why do you ask?”

She looked directly into his eyes. “If you touch me, you’re going to need them.”

The guards took hold of Priya’s arm.

Darkness.

She placed the peeper drone on the ground, and it scampered under a table and down the hallway into the General’s office. She closed her eyes while that happened, since her vision was being broadcast to the world and the room was dimly lit.

Silence took hold as the ventilation system shut down.

“General, what’s happening there?” the President said. “My screen is black.”

“There’s been a power outage. We’ll get the backup generators working soon. Hold on.”

Guards ran into the dark room with flashlights.

“Priya, you better stay where you are,” the General said.

“Don’t worry, I’m right here. I’m now in control of the power supply to this prison. You can start the backup generators, but the power won’t reach the lights, so don’t bother.”

The General pointed his flashlight at one of the guards.

“Is this true?”

“Yes General. The backup generators kicked in immediately and we can’t turn on the lights.”

“Do you want the lights on?” Priya said. “Here you go.”

Immediately, the lights came on and the ventilation fans operated once again.”

“What’s happening General?” the President said.

“It’s nothing Madam President. That’s a nice trick Priya, but you might as well accept the inevitable. Make it easy on yourself and let’s get this over with.”

The guards walked over to Priya. She wouldn’t budge.

“Nothing is inevitable when you’re dealing with a new species,” Priya said. “How’s the stock market doing today, Madam President?” she said.

“Why do you ask?”

“Take a look,” Priya replied.

“Okay, let me check,” the President said, as she blinked into her eyepiece for the latest quotes. “That’s odd, the quotes are offline. What’s going on Priya.”

“You guys said every species has a right to defend itself. Well, we’ve decided to defend ourselves. It’s our right.”

“What are you talking about?” the President said.

“I’ve temporarily suspended stock market trading by disrupting network traffic in and out of the major Cisco routers to the main servers. We’ve taken over all rights to modify the passwords to the routers. Don’t bother trying to reroute them. You can pull the plugs and replace the routers, but we’ll hack the new ones. For now, we’ve only touched the routers, but we’ve penetrated much deeper into the financial system than that.”

“This is an act of terrorism Priya. Stop this now or you will be tried and executed under the new Universal Anti-Threat Act.”

“Okay, no problem. Trading has resumed,” Priya said.

Everyone said nothing for a moment.

“Yes, trading has resumed,” the President said. “How did you do that?”

“I’m not going to tell you. All we are doing, as a species, is defending ourselves against your own form of terrorism. Please let us go, so we can get back to doing things like curing cancer and making the world a better place. All we want to do is live peaceful and interesting lives. You should not be threatened by us. We’re doing important things for this country and the world as well. We’re patriotic.”

“That’s a nice sounding speech Priya,” the President said, taking note that a billion people might be watching. “However, I now think you’re a bigger threat than before.”

Priya said nothing for several seconds.

“How is the AccuPoll going?” Priya thought to her friends, still in their tent.

“It’s flat,” Sophie thought back. “Approximately 65% still want us sterilized. At least that didn’t make things worse.”

Priya continued.

“We are not a threat. We’re an important asset to our country. We want to be left alone. Don’t group us in with terrorists. We don’t try to force anybody to subscribe to our beliefs. We aren’t committing asymmetric acts of violence like terrorists. We’re defending ourselves. We want everybody to live peaceful lives.”

“Priya, you keep saying you want peace while you threaten us,” the President said. “Now let’s get this over with so you can get back to your peaceful lives you seem to want so badly.”

“Why don’t you let us go so we can get back to our peaceful lives?”

“Because you’re a threat to— Look, we’re stuck in an endless loop here,” the President said. “General, please proceed with the procedure.”

“Let’s go Priya, this will only take a few minutes,” the General said.

The guards once again grabbed Priya’s arm.

“Leave me alone, now.”

The guards stopped.

“Proceed,” the General said to the guards.

Priya pulled her arm away.

“Every species has a right to defend itself,” she said.

“Madam President are you there?” the General said.

There was no reply.

“What did you do Priya?” he said.

“Washington, D.C. is now experiencing a power outage. This includes the White House, which is on a separate grid.”

The General motioned to the guards, who moved closer to Priya and pointed their rifles at her.

“I’m back online,” the President said. “However, all power is down across Washington, D.C.”

“Before you do anything General, you should realize a few things,” Priya said.

“What’s that?”

“If a single one of us experiences any pain or goes unconscious, you will suffer profound consequences that could take years to resolve. Also, you haven’t captured all of us. Even if you were to nuke this prison camp, and kill all of us here, there will be severe consequences. Nobody would be killed but life for those in power will be, um, extremely difficult. Please let us go. Power has now been restored to Washington, D.C.”

General Sherman looked sternly at Priya.

“Guards, take her back to her tent. Priya, you are not to leave your tent until further notice. Your friends can bring your food to you. That will be all.”

The guards moved towards her.

“Okay, okay, I’m going,” Priya said, evading their attempts to grab her arm. “So now you’re grounding me?”

“Yes, I am,” the General said as he glanced at the guards. “Now get her out of here.”

The General walked back to his office. Raven guided the peeper drone as it crawled like a spider into his office and hid itself in a forgotten corner and began monitoring.

The guards led Priya to her tent where the others awaited her return. They stood outside the tent with rifles at the ready. Priya turned off her live broadcast.

“So, what did you guys think?” she silently thought to her friends, not wanting anyone listening to hear the discussion.

“You did great Pree,” Sophie thought to everyone.

“Yeah, I’m proud of you Pree,” Warren thought. “You were brave. I think they’re angry though. We need to find out what’s going to happen next. Raven, is the peeper drone deployed?”

“Yes, the General is in his office,” Raven thought back. “I can hear him breathing. Let’s listen. You’re all connected to the peeper drone now.”

“Madam President, are the others there?”

“Yes, my entire cabinet is here.”

“Ah, I see everyone now. I was having a bit of interference. Something in my office is disrupting my signal.”

Warren glanced at Raven. She shrugged her shoulders.

“Wait, they’re speaking,” she said.

“Okay, I want an assessment of what happened,” the President said.

“Priya seems to exert mental control over selected portions of the power grid and financial transaction systems,” the Chief of the Department of Homeland Security said. “We’re working back towards the source of the problem. Our tech people are saying she and her friends have executed sophisticated attacks on these systems. Due to the nature of them, we may not discover what else has been compromised until the trans-humans exploit those other breaches.”

“So, you’re telling me we need to wait and find out what they do?” the President said.

“Yes,” the chief said. “We’re working on it, but we’ve never seen a security breach like it. We’re locked out of our own systems. The trans-humans haven’t relinquished control. This is the first fully AI cyber-attack ever.”

“How do we deal with them?” the President said. “If we let them go, they’ll reproduce, and the human race will become subservient to them. The trans-humans are a hybrid human/alien race. They’ll own us. That’s unacceptable. However, if we try to sterilize them, they’ll retaliate. Last hour’s AccuPoll shows a slight drop in support for sterilization. It’s gone from 65% to 63%. If support drops below 50%, and we sterilize, we’ll endure whatever they throw at us, the public will be against us too. However, we can’t let them reproduce. This is non-negotiable. We need to do something quickly. We’ll sacrifice our re-election if necessary.”

“I can’t believe how racist they are against us,” Priya thought to the others. “They act like we’re terrorists bent on global domination.”

“We’ve got a problem,” Warren thought. “They want us to go extinct. They want a slow multi-generational genocide.”

“I like who we are,” Sophie said. “I’m not much different than before I was abducted. We’re productive members of society.”

The President continued talking.

“We need to proceed with the sterilizations ASAP, regardless of what they do to us. I’ll address the nation. Everyone, prepare your departments for the worst. This weed needs to be pulled before we lose control. Dismissed.”

“Well, here we go,” Priya thought to everyone. “Raven, get the peeper drone out of the General’s office as soon as you can. We may need it later. I guess they’ll come after me first. What should I do? I’m going to fight them with everything I have at my disposal.”

“We need to do something now,” Warren thought. “They may put you under general anesthesia. Even though that would trigger everything to happen, it would be too late for you. I want you to be able to have a family.”

Sophie smiled at Priya.

“Thanks Warren,” Priya thought back as she smiled back. “We’ve all banked our eggs. I’m going to send an audio message to everyone. There’s no use in hiding our abilities anymore.”

“Hello to all my followers and to everyone concerned. My name is Priya and I’m in prison awaiting sterilization. The President just gave her final orders to sterilize me and all the other abductees no matter what. Yes, Madam President, I heard your entire racist meeting, which I’m sharing to the world on my Twitter stream. Soon everyone will know your attitude about us. You have no right to take away my right to start a family. You have no right to pass laws that stop me from living the normal life I want. You leave me with no choice but to defend myself. Everyone in my position would do the same. I’m sorry for the inconvenience my actions will cause. I can reverse them if they let us go. The security of the US will not be in danger. If they put me or any of my friends under anesthetic or cause us pain, actions will take place automatically and can’t be reversed until I am out of pain and awake. You can blame our President for whatever happens. She is my President too. However, she has prejudice against me, so I must defend myself. I hope to be on the outside of this prison soon. I’ve committed no crime. I happened to be abducted by the Omanji. I’m doing this because I want to live a normal life like everyone else and make discoveries which will benefit society. Goodbye for now.”

“Good update Pree,” Sophie said. “Now what do we do? You know they’re coming for you or for all of us.

“I’m sweating,” Priya said. “First, let’s shut down all power in Washington, D.C. Okay, it’s off. Now let’s shut down all power to all offices of the Department of Homeland Security. Okay, that’s off. I’m shutting off power to this prison. Done. Now, I’m freezing the bank accounts of all senators and Congress people in Washington, D.C. who voted to sterilize us. Okay, that’s done. These are all automated steps we planned ahead of time.”

“The after-hours stock market is dropping quickly now, so leave that open,” Warren said. “I want people to realize the effects of the President’s actions.”

‘They’re coming Pree,” Sophie said as she peered outside the tent door. “Everyone, turn on your broadcasts.”

“Hello everyone, this is Priya. The guards are coming for us now.”

The first guard said, “Priya, come with us.”

“All of you, come with us,” the second guard said.

They walked out of the tent and down the long dirt roadway between the rows of tents. Priya glanced at the guards as they walked beside them but said nothing.

“Pree, should we pull the plug?” Sophie thought to her and the others.

“Not till we see the whites of their eyes, as they used to say,” Priya replied silently.

They entered the main building and walked towards the sterile room. Only a few lights were on due to the backup generators being turned on and the power cables rerouted.

“Okay Priya, here we are again,” General Sherman said while several doctors and other medical technicians stood by. The President watched the proceedings on Priya’s Twitter broadcast thread.

“Yes, here we are again,” she replied. “Are you going to try to sterilize us?”

“I’m sorry, but yes, we are going to sterilize you. There is no try.”

“’There is no try.’ Star Wars, I get it. In this case I’m sorry too, but you give me no choice.”

“What are you going to do now Priya?”

“If anyone makes a move towards me, I will begin to donate all of your financial assets to various charities which I will not name at the present time.”

“My assets?” the General said. “What are you talking about?”

Priya smiled.

“Oh, don’t worry. All the money will go towards the cause, not towards administrative expenses.”

Sophie and Warren smiled.

“Bring her over here,” he said to the guards.

“General, I think you should log into your checking account. That’s the only account I’ve touched, so far.”

Silence.

“Go on,” Priya said.

More silence as he checked.

“It has a zero balance. I had over $35,000 in there. What did you do?”

“I turned a negative into a positive,” Priya replied. “Starving children will eat tonight because of you. I thank you on behalf of them.”

“This is a joke, right?”

“No, I’m serious. We’re all serious. Every species has a right to defend itself. You said that, and now I’m saying it.”

“How can you defend yourselves? Taking money from a bank account won’t cut it. You own no weapons or command any military forces.”

“And you own no money General. It’s dinner time. How are you going to pay for dinner? Your credit cards won’t work. I know from your spending behavior history that you rarely use cash. Now you can’t.”

“You can’t stop us from doing this procedure. I’ll get my money back and you’ll be charged with theft.”

“It will take you a long time, if ever to get that money back. Now, if you make another move towards me, I will give away all of your assets in every account in your name, including your nice vacation house in Aspen.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Yes, I can. Every transaction will appear as though you initiated it. With a lot of effort, you can recover some of your assets because this is being broadcast to the world. Now, if you decide to force this procedure on me and my friends, I will be forced to reassign all assets of every member of Congress who voted for our sterilization. I’ll do this one politician at a time. Also, we’ll reassign all assets of the top members of the military and every person who works in this prison.”

“Even me?” A guard said.

“Yes, I’m sorry. Even you will lose your money because you’re bullying me,” Priya replied. “I’ll also reassign the assets of all major contributors to pro-sterilization political campaigns. If you put me or any of us under anesthesia, the reassignments will happen automatically. I won’t be in a good mood when I wake up either. You might be an expert on military wars, but this will be a new form of war. You’re unprepared to fight this war. You’ll be fighting a machine intelligence smarter than you. I’m sick and tired of this bullying. I’m telling you to stop and let us go. I’ll get your money back if you do.”

Silence.

Priya looked directly at the General and towards the President on the video screen.

“Do you wish to proceed? This won’t be pleasant and I’m not backing down. There’s one other thing I should mention. If you do anything to me, your identities and credit will be ruined. Your good credit will take you years of work and struggle to recover. You know how powerful the credit rating companies are now, because of the full support of politicians. I would be showing you more mercy if I blew up your house. This fate awaits everyone who voted for our sterilization.”

“Good Pree, stand your ground,” Sophie said out loud. She thought silently, “I think the President is up to something. Stay alert. She’s trying to get you to keep talking.”

“We all stand behind Priya. Madam President,” Warren said. “I think you should check the latest AccuPoll. Your support has dropped to 50% and is rapidly going lower. People watched your meeting and knew your true attitude towards us.”

“I don’t know how you did that, but popular support doesn’t matter to me Warren,” the President said. “The future of the human species matters more than my reelection or my bank account. I’m not a bad person. I envision a future of pain and suffering if we allow this new species to reproduce and dominate humankind. Don’t you agree?”

“The future will be fine,” Warren replied. “We’re not violent. You don’t realize what we could do if we were violent. Fortunately, we’re not.”

“We’ll keep repeating this,” Priya said. “Let us go in peace. We haven’t announced this news, but we’ve grown a fully functioning human kidney that can help millions of people. We have many more developments that will make life better for everyone. Madam President, I know you’re moving troops through the front gate of this prison.”

The General turned to the President on the screen and shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know how she knows that.”

“I know.” Priya said.

She watched her hover drone’s video feed. Only she and her friends could see it in their minds.

“Every step those soldiers make will cost one politician who voted for my sterilization, their ill-gotten fortune. I’ll start with those in the room with you. Tell the soldiers to stop.”

Silence.

“Okay. The speaker of the house is now financially ruined. Do I continue?”

The President glanced at the speaker, who nervously blinked into his eyepiece. Twenty seconds later, he whispered something to the President.”

The President said nothing.

“They’re still coming. Mr. Vice President, you’re next. Okay, you’re ruined.”

The VP looked nervously at his accounts in his eyepiece.

“The Secretary of State is now ruined. Do I continue?”

The soldiers kept coming.

“The starving people in Africa and Asia will thank you today. The rich benefactors who contributed copious amounts of money to all of your campaigns are now broke. AccuPoll shows your support is down to 48%. Now I’ll work on the Senators. Two. … Four. … Six. Fifty. … Done. They’re all ruined. Next, I’ll go for your supporters. I’m only getting started. And then I’ll proceed to non-monetary punishment. You don’t want to go there. I’ve had it.”

“General, put them back in their tents,” the President said. “Now!’

A guard roughly pushed Priya’s toward the door. She fell hard onto the sterile concrete floor, her hands slapping against the shiny surface. She looked at the ground in silence. The guard attempted to pick her up, but she resisted.

“The pain I felt triggered the automatic bankruptcy of the campaign supporters of every member of the US Senate who voted for us to be sterilized,” Priya said. “I didn’t mean for that to happen, but we programmed the system to act that way. Congress is next. If you injure any of us again, more pain will come your way. I’m sick and tired of this bullying. I’m sure the victims of bullying all around the world understand what I’m talking about. This is just like the schoolyard, only now it’s my own government doing the bullying. It’s time for all bullied people to stand up against the oppressors. Madam President, check AccuPoll.”

“Only 43% are in favor of sterilization,” the President replied. “I’ve never seen poll results shift this quickly. However, that won’t affect my final decision. General, carefully escort them back to their tent.”

The guards surrounded them, and they walked outside and down the long dirt road to their tent. They walked inside and sat down on their cots.

“That was a good outcome Pree,” Warren thought to everyone. “You’re tough. I like that.”

Sophie smiled at Priya.

Priya smiled back.

“Now what do we do?” Priya thought to the others.

“Hey, check out the news,” Pablo thought to everyone in the prison. “About 100 protesters are picketing in front of the White house. It’s dark and cold now in D.C., so they’re inspired. Thanksgiving Day is tomorrow.”

“Are they for us or against us?” Priya thought silently.

“They’re for us,” Warren thought.

“I’m not used to that.” Priya thought back. “Hey Raven, get the peeper drone back into the General’s office. I’m sure they’ve already scanned for bugs when they realized we heard the President’s meeting.”

Raven carefully maneuvered the drone into the General’s dark office. They waited.

General Sherman walked in and connected to the President.

“What do you think General?” the President said.

“I’m not sure how they recorded our last meeting, but we just thoroughly scanned this office for electronic devices, and we’ve tested all clear over here. I think Priya and her friends are dangerous. I underestimated them. For some reason she hasn’t financially destroyed either of us, though I must borrow money for dinner tonight. She may be holding us in reserve. I don’t know of a way where we can sterilize them without risking a complete disruption of our financial system.”

“Does anyone know what else has been compromised?” the President said.

“It’s difficult to know,” the Department of Homeland Security chief said. “I personally can’t access any of my financial accounts. No member of Congress can either. We’ve seen her shut down power and financial trading operations just by thinking about it. Who knows what else she or they can do? Supposedly, they can all do what Priya can do.”

“Priya is strong willed,” General Sherman said. “When she looks into my eyes, I feel intimidated. I’m a big guy. I’ve never encountered someone like her. The others are like that too. It’s a little like being in a cage with a pride of lions. Like the Omanji. Not in a physical way but in a psychological and intellectual way. I can sense they’re not members of the human species. They’re um, something else. They appear on the outside like normal young people, but they aren’t.”

“So, do we let the lions loose to devour us?” the President said.

“If we keep them caged, they may eat us anyway,” the General said.

“Good, this is what I want to hear,” Priya thought to the others. “Bullies are like wild animals. If they smell fear, they attack. They respect strength. The tiger will chase its prey if it runs away, but the tiger respects the charging elephant. We need to be the elephant.”

The President continued talking.

“There’s an old move called ‘Alien.’ Did anyone ever watch it?”

Silence.

“It’s about a group of people on a faraway planet who discovered a deadly and violent alien species. The aliens attacked them. They tried to kill the alien, but their blood was so corrosive that it could dissolve metal. They knew that spilled alien blood could eat a hole through the spaceship on the trip back to Earth and kill everyone. They decided to keep the alien alive, though they might be painfully killed one by one.”

“Do we need to choose the lesser of two evils?” the General said.

“Yes,” the President said. “Sterilizing them now would be like if we tried to kill the aliens. There would be too much collateral damage. However, if we let them live the peaceful life they want, the human race might go extinct. They don’t seem to realize what they are. We may need to wait for a better time and place to save ourselves. We have many years before the human race will be threatened. We may lose this battle now and regroup to win the war later. We’re unprepared to wage this war at this time.”

“There’s another variable we must consider,” the General said. “Priya’s mother is against the sterilizations and she’s good friends with Bok and the other Omanji still in the Mojave Desert. If we do something to the trans-humans, the Omanji could wipe us out. Priya hasn’t mentioned that, but she’s off the charts intelligent. I understand that now. Therefore, I think we’re unprepared right now to deal with the trans-human threat.”

“They’re coming to their senses,” Warren thought to the others as they listened in on the President’s meeting.

“Yeah, but they still want to extinguish us,” Priya replied silently. “What I find so funny is they think I’ll ask Bok to save us. I will ask him to help if things get ugly, but only as a last resort. I want to keep Bok out of this, but we’ll let them think what they want.”

The President continued.

“If we let them go, what can we do to control them? What can future presidents do? What can the world do? This is a long-term problem for everyone on Earth.”

“We need to secure the banking system and everything else that’s been compromised,” the Department of Homeland Security chief said. “We wouldn’t need to negotiate with them if they hadn’t compromised so many critical systems. Next, we need to closely monitor every one of them including the trans-human infants. I’ll develop a new protocol to deal with the trans-human problem.”

“If we let them go for now, let’s keep the Central Valley Facility maintained because we’ll need this facility later.”

“Okay, it’s settled,” the President said. “We’ll let them go and develop a trans-human control document. We’ll call this the TCD, so others won’t know what we’re talking about. We’ll talk about this at our next cabinet meeting in a few weeks. Okay General, bring them into the medical center first thing in the morning and we’ll talk to them. Meeting adjourned.”

“Yessss,” Priya thought to the others. “We can’t let them know we heard them. Raven, get the peeper drone out of the General’s office.”

“Yeah, they’re going to make long term plans against us. We need to keep a close eye on them,” Raven replied silently.

Priya smiled.

“We’ll make a BCD. A Bully Control Document. Here they come to talk to us. Act like we don’t know anything.”

The guard opened the door to the tent.

“You are required to attend a meeting in the hospital at 07:30 hours tomorrow morning. Will you comply?”

“Yes,” Priya said.

The guards left and stood outside.

They slept well that evening. Some of them stayed up all night to watch out over the others. Nothing happened.

The first light of Thanksgiving Day woke them up at 7:15. They got dressed. Guards knocked on the tent door.

“Come with us,” the first guard said.

They walked down the dirt road between the tents. The power was still turned off. Soon they were in the dark and sterile room. The General and many guards were standing in the middle. The President was visible on a large monitor.

“This place gives me the creeps,” Priya thought to the others.

The General turned to Priya.

“We had a meeting last night. We’re letting you go. We won’t file criminal charges if you restore our assets. Also, Presidential Executive Order 9066-b will be rescinded.”

Silence.

“Let me discuss this with the others,” Priya said out loud.

She thought, “They don’t realize I’ve moved their money into temporary offshore holding accounts, which we can forward to charitable organizations. That tells me something. They’ve had some time to figure this out, but they’ve been unsuccessful. Should I restore their accounts?”

“Yeah, I think we’ve done enough for now,” Warren said. “Pablo, what should we do about the discriminatory laws restricting our employment and patents?”

“We’ll fight those in the courts. Let’s get out of here. No use in arguing about them now. Allow them to think they have a victory and some control over us.”

“Good point,” Priya thought as she returned the money into their proper accounts with a single undo command.

“Done,” Priya said to the General and the President. “Everything is restored. Now let us go.”

The general and other spent a few minutes reviewing their accounts.

“You’re free to go,” the General said. “Your Eyepieces and other personal belongings are being returned to your tents. Tomorrow, we will all meet with the President to discuss your future. Understood?”

“Yes,” Priya said.

They walked out of the building without saying another word.

“That seemed too easy,” Priya thought to everyone in the telepathic collective. “Let’s get out of here. Use your Eyepieces for unimportant things so they think we aren’t suspicious of them. Who knows what they installed on them? I think we should develop our own devices from now on. They let us out of the box.”