I like, I like!
And your avatar is staring at me ...

I liked it too... and yes I do have real concerns for our people when they finally do show up on the scene... and yes I really believe it will happen eventually.

V.

I think it may happen, but personally I don't think the results are going to be nearly as cuddly and elegant as people imagine...

absolutely in agreement there... I think it will be very secretive at first, and then turn violent and bloody in the end game. Think about it... the gengineered will be the one focal point that all religions in the world will feel free to hate.

V.

True. I also think we're not going to wind up with typical bipedal "furries", but a variety of mutations that we probably can't even imagine, let alone desire.

*shivers..... shades of Atlantis

Yeah, because the first-gen genemorphs will change themselves by choice - and then the kids won't have a choice. And you know how religions hate people making "choices" to sin *eyeroll*

I feel bad for the kid in the story. Victim of parental conspiracy.

Very nice. My only nit is that I didn't know what species Percy was, but maybe I just missed it...

Percy was going to be a German Shepherd caniform, but I forgot to put it in. On my first full read through, I realized this but decided it wasn't really important.

The "Do you have a birthday or inception date?" question is quite simply FUCKING with my mind. There's a lot going on in this, and curse you for making it so short. >:| I wanna know more!

*laughs* That's a notion I took from one of S. Andrew Swann's 'Moreau' series. A rabbit had thoughts of bearing a fox's offspring but knew she would have to go to a clinic to have them 'made', since they were two different species. Such offspring would likely have 'inception dates' rather than birthdays since they would be artificial from conception to 'birth'.
To be honest, this one doesn't work for me. It has too many holes in it. If you start thinking about what's going on in any real detail, it stops making sense. But it went fast and the sloppy paint job looks good from a distance. :)

Okay, now I really have to read that series. :O

I highly recommend it. It's one of the most well thought out anthropomorphic stories you can find. I base a lot of what goes on with my 'genemorphs' on what Swann has written because it just makes sense.

Reminds me of the saying/warning "I'm from the government, I'm here to help." *shudder*

Thinking about it more, I wanted to add another comment -- even if it is full of holes (which I don't see, but I didn't construct it, so I know how that goes), there's so much hinted at here, that you could probably take this as a starting point for a few other stories.

I mean, if the genemorphs (I'm very jealous of that word, by the way) have turned it into a rite of passage, I wonder if they've altered any human religious ceremonies to mark this coming of age, and what other kinds of traditions/gifts/rites might be used.

And it also begs the intriguing question -- what about unregistered genemorphs? Are there perhaps colonies living in secret, preteen or teenage runaways who never got the procedure or whose parents chose to keep them hidden?

This piece was intended to hint at how genemorphs view the world they are forced to inhabit as humanity's creation. To allow oneself or one's child to be 'registered' would be roughly akin to 'registering' an appliance. You surrender personal information (in our case, address, phone # and whatnot; in their case, retinal scans, DNA swabs and being 'chipped' like a pet) for the benefits provided by those offering them. For a genemorph, the benefit would be becoming a full citizen. A registered 'morph would be able to vote, drive a car, seek employment, etc. Unregistered 'morphs would be roughly the same legal status as illegal aliens. A parent bringing their child to a registration center would be essentially be letting that child move from being 'free' to being tracked and monitored by the government.

Keep in mind this is intended to represent how 'morphs would live in the U.S. I've had it in mind for some time that genemorphs would not be welcome in places like the Middle East. One of my unfinished story outlines has one character saying to another, "You do know that there are countries in the world where genemorphs are put to death as an insult to God, don't you?" America helped create them and tolerates them, but only for a price.

As for the term 'genemorph', it just seemed natural to me. I've actually been surprised that no one else chose that combination of words to represent genetically created anthropomorphic beings.

I disagree that this is the way the "Genemorphs", as you call them, would be treated in this nation. The ACLU will be howling against such legislation, libertarians would be up in whatever arms they could get their hands on, and most conservative talk-show hosts would object to the violation of basic human rights.

Conservatives may attempt to ban the practice of genemorphing, but would be appalled by the idea of actually depriving them of their basic, fundamental rights. We are still a free nation, despite the way we seem to be shifting away from that vision. I blame modern-day liberals for that problem.

I won't presume to address the current woes of the USA, but I will say that I suspect this is about as good as genemorphs could expect to be treated while living among humans.

Keep in mind that there would be the initial shock of introduction. I would expect moralists of all stripes to be outraged beyond words at the creation of an atrocity such as a 'sub-human' creature like a 'morph. Their very presence would make most people uncomfortable. Few would want them assimilated into society and fewer still would be willing to consider it unless some strict form of control were in place. Remember, these genetically modified animals are actually military weapons with brains. Not many people would want that living next door to them and their children.

Once enough violence had been committed on both sides and some form of truce struck, then the issues of rights and freedoms might eventually be discussed. But after such a difficult transition period, 'morphs would never really have a 'place' among us. I doubt either side would fully trust the other. As a minority, however, 'morphs would probably grudgingly agree to the mild forms of control that I suggested here.

Of course, we must remember that this is all fantasy and I, as author, claim the entitlement of being completely wrong in my opinion. :D

The comments reminded me of some sci fi book I read a long time ago that I don't remember well..a virus unleashed on the populace killed a lot of people; some survived but were (in some cases) horribly deformed, or not so horribly deformed when they became human-animal hybrid looking beings (the Jokers); some didn't change at all on the outside, but their minds changed, giving them neat powers (Aces). I think it was a series called "Wildcards" but I really don't remember...what I do remember was a world tour, where a group went around the globe to document how Jokers were being treated in different countries. Usually, it wasn't so well.

Great little story. It was interesting how the lady and the 'morph had a certain culture barrier between them. And I remembered how I hate to fill forms. I enjoyed reading this.