Ultimum Carceron

Europa Colony 1

Anyone could have been quoted as saying the Europan Colony of America was a Utopian masterpiece, a flawlessly constructed haven where dreams were bred and nightmares were extinct. The outlines of the colony were like a rainbow of neon, with the structures themselves ranging up to three thousand towering feet in height. The colony, among thousands on the moon, spanned an enormous radius of a hundred miles.

The endless expanse of cities was visible from the view of Theodore Arkight, a handsome, white, American engineer, though his appreciation was currently dimmed; waiting in the hospital lobby, with nothing to do but gaze out the windows at the newly perfected Europa Colony, only allowed his stress to grow without mercy.

As he gazed down through the window and at the surface below, he was able to see the shaded field of rock contained a field of penitentes, spikes of hard ice that ranged up to a hundred feet in height. Seeing them had stimulated his acrophobia; it was too easy to imagine himself falling through the window and down into a pit of spikes that looked not unlike stalagmites. Their presence didn't surprise him, however; they were to him what trees were to someone who lived on Earth.

A foot's distance away from the window, Theodore saw a rectangular shape of golden light reflect, and knew that a doctor had entered the room through a doorway. They were ready to lead him and Juniper to an office to see the recommended professional. As he turned around to face the doctor, his suspicions were confirmed.

"Mr. Arkight, Ms. Gavin," the doctor called out without passion.

He rubbed his hands gingerly, as if his anxiety was like a cold treatable through warm contact. He walked forward towards the doctor, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Juniper, too. When he stretched out his hand to her, she beat him by quickly taking his hand first. Her thumb was gently pushing onto the already active veins on his hand. This was her subtle method of comforting him, not that she wasn't worried. Her face definitely didn't indicate any anxious feelings.

Juniper was about five-foot eight inches. Her skin was deep brown and seemed immune to aging, as several people actually were now, but for her, it looked natural. An exceptionally attractive woman (to Theodore, at least), she was thin, curvy and sexy, but the most noticeable thing about her, regardless of your sexual preference, was her hair. Several colors were blended in together, all of them a mix of dark and bright, upbeat and depressing.

She was six years younger than him, at twenty-nine, and for about seven years they had been together happily. For the past three months, they had debated on whether they wanted a child. Although their agreed answer was unquestionably yes, the procedures in the Europa Colony were complicated. Creating a child at all was illegal and socially inappropriate unless you were confirmed to not carry any genetic or sexual diseases.

Two days ago, he and Juniper each collected their own DNA samples from saliva, urine, ect., and sent them to Funim, the medical subsidiary of the company Theodore worked for. Today would be the results from the DNA sent.

All the hallways looked mundane but were brightly lit. The last door slid open to the right, and both of them were surprised by the displayed screen in the center.

"Hello. I'm Dr. Ryan Llamo. I'll be here explaining your results. Please sit down."

Once they sat on his bright green couch, he tapped the screen. It showed a list of traits, categorized by genotypes and phenotypes.

"This program with its results is available online, accessible only to you. Now, your health from both of you is great."

Theodore and Juniper both congratulated each other with looks as Llamo continued.

"Some of our patients do this part online...the questions, I mean...but if we answered them now, we could avoid doing them later."

"That sounds fine," Juniper said.