“Pree, I just realized something,” Sophie said out loud. “How will we get home?”

Priya smiled. “Good point.”

“I’ll hire some transportation,” Warren thought to everyone. “For now, let’s all walk outside the gate. The weather is okay so we can wait there.”

“Do you think we let them off too easy?” Priya thought to her friends. “I’m still not sure if we can legally have children.”

“I don’t think it’s a promising idea to change laws with force,” Pablo said. “I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me. The bullies aren’t going to give up easily. Also, there’s a lot of fear. AccuPoll indicates 40% still want us sterilized. That’s down from 65%, but it’s still a dangerous number. It’s not dropping anymore.”

Priya got a notification as they began the long wait for transportation.

“Pree, we’ve been watching you. You’re free.”

“Mom! Yes, they let us go. I want to talk to you. I wish we could eat Thanksgiving dinner together.”

“Well.”

“Yes?” Priya said.

“I think we can arrange that. We just made dinner reservations at the top of that new tower in San Francisco.”

“That sounds good, but we’re in the middle of nowhere about two hours east of the city. You’ll take six hours to drive up here from Pasadena. The tube is of no help out here. With all the traffic, how will we get to the City in time for dinner? It’s already after noon and you still must get ready.”

“I found a driver,” Nisha said.

“Bok?”

“Yes, he’s parked in our back yard right now. We’ll pick you up in about 20 minutes. Afterwards, we’re going up to the redwoods to pick up Yoova at her colony.”

“How exciting. Can my friends go?”

“Of course. We know where you are. Stay right there. Talk with you soon.”

They disconnected.

“Sophie, we’re going to Thanksgiving dinner at the new tower tonight,” Priya said out loud. “Don’t ask how, you’ll see.”

“Bok?”

“Yes, he’s, our driver. Warren, Pablo, and Raven, you’re invited too. Ian has to check on his bugs. They’re picking us up in about 20 minutes. After that, we’ll get Yoova. Amy will meet us there.”

Within 20 minutes, they arrived. Priya decided to livestream the event, to solidify the idea that she is backed by the Omanji, without saying a word about it. And to show the importance of celebrating freedom.

“I’m so happy you’re free.” Nisha said as she stepped out of Bok’s racer. Tears were streaming down their faces as they hugged.

“Me too. We’ll talk about his later,” Priya said, pointing at the guard tower behind them.

“I understand,” Nisha said. “Okay everyone, into the racer. Warren knows everyone already. Pablo, and Raven, these are my best friends, Rachel, Bok and Beedee. This is my husband Quinn and my son Sanjay.”

“Hi everyone,” Bok said via his improved translator. “Let’s go.”

Priya waved goodbye to the Mods, crowded at the gate as they waited for transportation back to their homes Silicon Valley and the city.

Soon, they were flying over the bay and heading up the north coast to get Yoova.

“I love gadgets and tech,” Raven said. “This is my dream come true. Is this propelled by anti-matter and plasma?”

“Yes,” Bok said. “It’s also assisted by electromagnetic fields acting against the earth’s magnetic field when taking off and landing or when we are hovering near the ground. Would you like to fly it?”

“Yes!”

Raven sat down. Bok gave her a short training session.

“I’m piloting an alien spacecraft. I can’t believe this,” Raven said as they became weightless. The sky blackened at the edge of space. Within a few minutes, they descended.

Raven managed to land the racer with the auto-assist set on. She felt relieved. They picked up Yoova and soon were back in the air with Bok as the pilot.

“I’m happy to visit with all of you,” Yoova said via Bok’s latest translator. All of the Yoots had one now. “I was worried about you guys when they put you in that prison. Sometimes humans act like the Omanji. They used to treat us that way.”

“Is this true Bok?” Priya said.

“I’ve had a chance to study humans closely. And I’ve seen the Omanji culture as an outsider. Many similarities exist. If you’re not a member of the club and you don’t conform, you’re an outcast. Some things are universal.”

On the way back to the city, Bok gave them a scenic tour of the redwoods, the wine country, Point Reyes, and the Golden Gate before landing at San Francisco International airport.

“Why are we landing here Daddy??” Priya said.

“Bok got permission to land at the airport and he wants to obey the law,” Quinn said. “Then you won’t be harassed because of your association with him. We’ll talk about this later.

“They landed and boarded a BART subway train headed downtown.”

“This electric train is primitive but functional,” Bok said as he stood up to avoid sitting on his shrinking tail. “Humans are still afraid of me. Watch how they avoid us by walking into the next train.”

They arrived at the Transbay station 25 minutes later and took the elevator to the restaurant, 1,400 feet above. The day was clear, and the sun dropped low to the left of the Golden Gate. A few thin high clouds held the promise of a glorious sunset over the city canyons and Mt. Tamalpais in the background. Soon they were seated in a private banquet room with a panoramic view for an early 3 p.m. dinner.

“The Earth might be small, but it’s scenic,” Bok said as he sat and tried to adjust his shrinking tail into a comfortable position.

“I want to propose a toast,” Quinn said as they raised their glasses. “To the future of the new species.”

“I wonder what will happen,” Priya said. “The course of events is never straight. One day, I’m working on shaping DNA. The next day I’m in jail. Now, here I am watching the sunset over the city and Pacific Ocean. I’m not going to try to predict the future.”

“I think we can guess,” Nisha said. “Pree, you give the impression you don’t shape your own future, but you’re wrong. You helped make that chain of events happen because of who you are. Who you’ll be is at least somewhat predictable.”

“You think?” Priya said.

“Yeah. You’re predictable. You won’t back away from a bully and you’re curious. You’ll make discoveries which will help drive future evolution. These two things lead me to predict the world will change more quickly because of you. All of you will accelerate change. This change will lead to a new world, but the old world will attempt to preserve itself.”

“The first attempt just happened,” Priya said.

“Yeah, the first attempt of many,” Nisha said.

Everybody ordered their dinners. Bok and Yoova brought their own food.

“Nisha, you’re the expert. Do you think we’re a new species?” Warren said.

“Yes, all the signs are here. As much as I despise Senator MacArthur, he had a point. Even though you can marry and have kids with an unmodified human, you’ll live to be over 300 years old. The pain of watching someone you love grow old and die while you’re still young will be too much to bear. That makes you incompatible with Homo sapiens. The IQ factor and other talents also make you not compatible.”

“But I don’t feel any different,” Sophie said as she turned to her friends. “We’re the same, right?”

“I still feel the same,” Raven said.

Pablo agreed.

“Me too.”

“Does a gorilla feel different from a chimpanzee?” Nisha said.

“I don’t know,” Priya replied.

“It doesn’t matter,” Nisha replied. “At some point in the past, their common ancestors moved apart, and they evolved. Now the two species aren’t interested in breeding, even if they could make babies, though they can’t. That’s where you’re headed in relation to Homo sapiens. When you’re older, but not aging as humans do, you’ll understand the growing incompatibilities.”

“I’m different compared to you guys,” Amy said. “I used to feel in sync with Pree and Sophie, but they’re way ahead of me now. Now they’re behind in their physical maturity. You’ll watch me grow old and die. You’ll still be young.”

“We’ll always be in sync,” Priya said. “I’ll make sure of it. I’ll push your wheelchair when you’re old. Unless we can make you young.”

Amy smiled. Priya turned to Nisha.

“Why is the President convinced ‘we’ will dominate Homo sapiens?” Priya said.

“You probably didn’t know about this AccuPoll result because you were a little busy,” Nisha replied. “The question was, ‘If you had a choice to have a highly intelligent child with a long lifespan, would you choose that option?’ Guess how the voting went?”

“It seems logical people would want a smart kid who lives a long time,” Raven said. “Who wouldn’t want that?”

“Anybody else?” Nisha said.

“I’d opt for a smart and long-lived child,” Rachel said.

“On Oma, we always opted for longer life and higher intelligence,” Bok said.

“It’s the same here on Earth,” Nisha said. “In the poll, 70% said they would choose to have smarter and longer-lived children if they had a choice.”

“So why is that a problem for the President and others?” Priya said.

“They’re starting to realize if these new kids are born, they’ll out-compete unmodified kids and they won’t get jobs. This would lead to a genetics arms race. Parents will think they need to have modified children to compete. That leaves the human species being marginalized and voting for things like the Equal Access to Jobs Act.”

“I’m a member of a marginalized species,” Yoova said. “The Omanji dominated us for millennia. We ended up living on what you call reservations. Maybe the humans think this will happen to them. They’ll restrict you before it’s too late.”

“You’re right Yoova,” Nisha said. “In another AccuPoll, 75% of humans are afraid of being marginalized. This is like watching two trains head towards each other on the same track. Parents want smart kids, but human society is against it.”

“I understand,” Priya said. “Even the same person can be in the majority on both opposing polls. Technology is pushing the trains together. This might be an unsolvable conundrum. Does anybody know of a solution?”

Silence.

“Warren keeps looking at you with big eyes,” Sophie thought only to Priya, trying to keep a serious face.

Priya playfully kicked Sophie under the table.

“Anybody have a solution?” Priya said.

“One side has to win,” Warren said. “I think the desire of billions of parents to have smart and long-lived children will win out over adults in society being marginalized in the workplace. It’s going to be a battle between society and the individuals living within it.”

“The problem is society is like a big organism which makes laws for societal self-preservation,” Priya said. “Even if the laws go against the majority of individuals in that society. I think the President and others are busy making laws against us right now as we speak.”

“I’m sure of it,” Raven said.

“How can you be sure?” Nisha said.

“Well.”

“It’s okay Raven, you can tell them, I’ll mute this,” Priya said.

“I’m sure because we’re listening,” Raven said in Nisha’s ear.

“Listening with bugs?” Nisha whispered.

“Yes,” Raven said.

“We hear what they say,” Priya said. “They let us go this morning so they can live to fight another day. They want to close the vulnerabilities so we can’t exploit them. Then they’ll go after us again. We need to work to stay ahead of them.”

“I bet they bugged our businesses and homes while we were gone,” Raven said.

“You can count on it,” Rachel said. “We’ll see when we get back and review our hidden off-site security videos. I know the government wants to survive, like any organism.”

“Be careful you guys,” Quinn said. “You’re playing around with people that have the weapons. Never get arrogant, or your attitude will be your downfall. You do realize they could have decided to let you do your damage, sterilize you, and keep you in prison forever. In the end, the guys with the guns win.”

“Or the guys with the money,” Warren said.

“You may be the richest person in the world, but your wealth is a drop in the bucket compared to the entire world,” Quinn said. “And you have no weapons. You may be smart but you’re still young. You’re still the underdog.”

“I might be able to help,” Bok said. “I vowed to not get involved in human politics, but I have friends on Earth now. You’re not just animal specimens on a pale blue dot, orbiting an average yellow star.”

“Thanks Bok,” Priya said. “I was ready to ask for your help as a last resort, but we should learn to take care of ourselves. On the other hand, the Omanji got us into this predicament.”

The waiter served dinner. Bok and Yoova put their own food on their plates. Yoova brought her four favorite chopsticks, a gift from the first democratically elected President of China who saw her eating with four chopsticks in one hand. Bok decided to eat his food with a human fork.

“We’re going to charge you a corkage fee,” the waiter said.

“Corkage?” Bok said.

He paused.

“Ah, even for food. I understand. Are you considered impolite if you bring your own food?”

Nisha smiled.

“Sometimes it’s impolite for humans to bring their own food to a restaurant, but you’re not human. We’ll give you a break.”

Yoova wiggled her nose and smelled the food.

“Can I try some of that?” she said as she pointed to some broccoli on Nisha’s plate. “I still haven’t tried human plant-based food much. I never wish to eat deceased animal flesh.”

“Sure, try this, and this,” Nisha replied.

Yoova picked up a piece of broccoli with her four chopsticks and smelled it with her wiggling nose. She ate a bit of it. Her nose vibrated quickly, and her eyes moved in different directions.

Sanjay smiled and said, “She looks like she ate a lemon.”

“I like it but I better not each much of it,” Yoova said.

Everyone laughed.

“You try it Bok,” Amy said.

He hesitated and picked up a piece with his fork and ate a bite. His tail wiggled and his skin flashed in vibrant blues and orange.

“Yes, it’s strange but good,” he said.

Everyone laughed again.

“Bok, we can all tell you don’t like the broccoli,” Nisha said. “You can’t hide your emotions from us. Now you’re a dark blue. “You’re embarrassed.”

“I might be a little bit embarrassed. I still find it difficult to compare my emotions with those of humans.”

“Bok, are you still thinking of terraforming Venus?” Priya said.

“We’ve been studying the problem for a year now. We’ve decided Mars is a better candidate.”

“What’s wrong with Venus?” Priya said. “I know Venus has no magnetic field like Earth to deflect radiation. I also know that little hydrogen is in the atmosphere because there’s no magnetic field, so I’m not sure how you would make water. I know the surface air pressure is 90 times Earth.”

“Yes, those are some of the biggest problems,” Bok replied. “We would also need to reduce the temperature from 850 degrees F to Earthlike temperatures by blocking the sun with shades at a Lagrangian point. Several difficult physics related issues arise when trying to block the sun using shades. Also, a day on Venus is 114 Earth days long. It’s entering tidal lock, but not for a long time. The planetary rotation needs to be accelerated just like on Oma. Having no oceans means that only atmosphere could spread the heat around once the carbon dioxide is released into space. The sunny side would be too hot, and the dark side would be too cold even though that’s not the case now. Venus has too many problems to make a good habitable planet.”

“What about Mars?” Priya said.

“Mars has slightly more potential. We would add reflectors to make the climate warmer. There’s plenty of water frozen in the soil. Mars has a 25-hour day/night cycle. However, Mars has no significant magnetic field, so radiation and water loss are big problems. We haven’t figured out how to introduce a magnetic field to a planet which has none. You would have to melt the core.”

“I guess you’re stuck here on Earth,” Priya said.

“Earth is close to the best planet we’ve observed, though it’s a bit too small for us. We’re having problems with the weak gravity here. Our bones are getting thin. We can develop ways to fix that, but it’s an inconvenience. Humans will find many Earth-like habitable planets out there. However, each compatible planet has a unique set of smaller incompatibility problems. Native life forms must be considered. Incompatibilities with atmosphere, gravity, day/night cycles, water, star stability, and many other incompatible properties must be addressed.”

“There is a planet about 30 light years from Earth. I described this world to Nisha. The civilization was destroyed, and the planet is still a mess. Plenty of water is on the surface. Other properties exist which can make the planet a good place for Omanji to live. We might move to that planet someday.”

“I’ve always wanted to visit another planet in a different star system,” Priya said. “Maybe someday you can take me there. I guess it would take about 60 years of on-ship time at near light speeds to get there.”

“That might be a one-way trip,” Bok said.

Priya smiled.

“Oh, I’ll have to think about that. If life here on Earth becomes too difficult, we may need to go. So, Yoova, how are you acclimating to the redwoods?”

“We’re doing well, though we’re also losing bone mass. The atmosphere is harsh on my lungs. The gravity here is too weak. We love the redwood forest though. My parents tell me there’s nothing like the redwood forest on Oma. We hold concerts and the humans still attend. We’ve made friends with the humans, but sometimes small groups still threaten us.”

“They threaten us too,” Priya said.

“And us too,” Bok said.

Priya looked around the table. “We’ll stick together. Promise?”

“I promise,” Bok said.

Yoova’s nose wiggled. “I promise too.”

“And we do too, right guys?” Priya said as she stood up. “Raise your glasses. Let’s toast to it.”

The glasses clinked. Yoova held Nisha’s hand. She felt the warm flow of electricity.

Priya looked outside over the cityscape and west towards the Golden Gate. “Hey everyone. The sunset.”

They walked out onto the observation deck, 1,400 feet above the busy streets below. The thin high clouds which earlier held much promise didn’t disappoint. A low November ocean fog crept under the bridge and worked its way between the hills and canyons of the city.

“This planet will be sufficient for now,” Bok said.

Everyone laughed.

“Sophie glanced over at Warren, who was standing close to Priya in the warm glow of the sunset.

Sophie smiled at Priya when nobody was watching.

They spent the rest of the evening planning for the big meeting the next day.

They arose early and ate quickly, to get ready for the meeting.

“Good morning, everyone,” the President said. “The purpose of this meeting is to determine a fair and equitable solution to the Trans-human problem.”

“We’re not a problem, Madam President,” Priya said.

The President stopped talking.

“Shhhh, Pree,” Sophie thought to her silently.

“Sorry,” Priya said out loud.

“Thank you, Priya,” the President said. “It’s clear to me that you, the trans-humans, are a new species. You told me so yesterday. Do you agree Priya?”

“Yes, I agree Madam President,” Priya replied.

“Okay. Now we need to come up with a way for our two species to coexist and thrive together. Right?”

“Yes,” Priya said. “We agree with that.”

“We met yesterday after you left the compound to determine a new set of laws which will protect your species and ours. We call the document, the Human Species Preservation Act. I’ll read the condensed version.”

She read a document from her eyepiece.

“1. Trans-humans will not be sterilized, bullied, or harassed.

2. Trans-humans cannot be incarcerated as a group.

3. The term ‘mutant’ and other hate speech will become illegal.

4. Banning trans-humans from competition is illegal.

5. The restrictions on trans-humans that have patents will be dropped.

6. The restrictions on trans-human employment will be dropped.

7. Trans-humans who live in the US, cannot work for other countries.

8. Trans-human DNA won’t be used in artificial reproduction.

9. Each trans-human couple can have one child.

10. No trans-human can exceed a net worth of $300 billion.

11. No trans-human can monopolize an industry.

12. No trans-human can monopolize real estate in a small area.

13. No trans-human can own more than 10% of any extra-earth planet, asteroid, or Moon in this solar system.”

The President finished talking. Priya and the others turned to each other, not knowing what to think.

“This is just a start. Do you have an opinion?” the President said.

“I don’t like number eight and above,” Priya said. “The others seem okay with us on first inspection. Right, everyone?”

The others agreed.

“Items eight and above are for your protection as well as ours,” the President said. “This will allow people to not be apprehensive about extinction or exclusion. This will lower the fear many people have towards you. These rules will allow people to slowly grow accustomed to you trans-humans. Over time, these rules can be adjusted. I’ll write that into this living document, like the constitution. Nothing will be set in stone. I’ll send you the entire document this evening. Those are the major points.”

“Can we have a day to think about it?” Priya said.

“Of course,” the President replied. “We’ll adjourn this meeting until this time tomorrow. Dismissed.”

Priya, Sophie, Raven, Warren, Ian, Oyuun, and Pablo met in Pablo’s law office.

“What do you think Pablo? From a legal perspective.” Priya thought silently to the group.

“It’s an open-ended document which can help us short-term but be modified to hurt us long term. It’s better than what we have now. I think we can agree to these rules for now and monitor them closely in the future.”

“The part about not owning a big part of a solar system body is just weird,” Priya thought.

Warren laughed out loud.

“Oops, sorry,” he thought silently. “Yes, I think they’ve been reading too much sci-fi. I mean, yeah, I’ve had my eye on Europa for a while but still.”

“Yeah, that’s funny,” Pablo thought to the group. “However, they’re serious.

“These rules are meant to evolve,” Ian thought. “You think my bacteria are gross. Wait till you see what these rules will do to us.”

“Yeah,” Sophie thought.

“I don’t like it either,” Oyuun said. “I’ve seen these sorts of agreements in Mongolia. They never ended well for the minority.”

“Should we agree to it? At least for now?” Priya silently thought to the group and everyone listening in on the telepathic network. “They’ll incarcerate us again if we don’t agree. This will buy us time, even though it buys them time too. Let’s take a poll.”

The telepathic silence lasted for a minute while people voted.

“Okay, the results are in. We’ll live with this document for now. It’s too flexible though. I think they intend to modify the document later to their advantage,” Priya thought to the group. “Our lawyers can deal with this. Right Pablo?”

“Right. Though we have no supporters on the Supreme Court.”

“Okay, that’s it. See you all soon,” Priya thought to everyone.

They terminated the group connection.

“What will become of us?” Priya said out loud.

“I’m not sure,” Warren replied. “Let’s go to JavaNation and talk about it.”

“Okay,” Priya said. She sent an invitation to Amy.

“I’d like to Pree, but I’m tired after all this,” Pablo said.

“Me too,” Raven said. “I think I’ll go home and rest.”

“Sorry Pree, I have to study tonight,” Amy messaged back.

“I have to feed my cat,” Oyuun said.

Priya glanced at Ian.

“Um, my bugs are escaping. Gotta go.”

“Sophie, what about you?” Priya said.

“Oh, well um. I have a terrible headache. I think I’ll go home and relax for a while. You two run along.”

Priya glanced at everyone and shook her head. They smiled at her.

“Okay Warren fine let’s go. I don’t even think Oyuun has a cat.”

They walked out the front door of Pablo’s office.

Sophie smiled, only to Priya.

Priya shook her head as they walked out.