[ WP ] 100 years in the future , the Human Genome Project is complete . Everyone has their genome mapped out from birth , and has it printed on their ID . People can be determined `` unfit to breed , '' and discrimination based on genome is common .

My hands began to shake. My heart was aching, unsure of what my husband just said. 
 
 92.3 %. Ninety-two point three percent of the people of this planet were unfit to breed. Just like cattle, our DNA was assessed and those of us who could became the birthgivers of the government. 
 
 `` Wait... what?'' I whispered. 
 
 `` I'm'unfit'.'' He said. `` They sterilized me.'' 
 
 `` Oh.'' 
 
 `` Is that all you can say?'' 
 
 I looked up at him. His face was haggard from the radiation he had undergone; the assessment of his DNA, and then the sterilization process. All men who turned 20 in the last year had their assessment today; tomorrow the women. 
 
 `` I do n't know what to say.'' 
 
 `` Are you nervous about tomorrow?'' 
 
 The day I'd be assessed. `` I just want to be unfit to breed. So we can live in peace.'' So the government could leave us well alone. Where it would just be us and the cat. Maybe apply to adopt a child. 
 
 But the world has different plans. 
 
 Both of my parents had been fit to breed. Obviously. That's how I was here. 
 
 `` Fit.'' The woman who assessed me said, checking something on the clipboard. `` Congratulations ma'am.'' 
 
 It felt like my heart was sinking. A small part of me was excited for the prospect of being able to reproduce- have a simple, rich life, get fat on the finest foods and watch my belly get swollen over and over. But I'd have to bear as many kids as I could until I hit menopause. For the human race. Like the other 7.7 % of the planet, I'd be isolated from the rest of the people by the simple fact of status, the parties and luxury. But everyone else was free, and I was the cow. 
 
 My husband looked at me with haggard eyes. I hugged him as tight as I could, unable to cry. 
 
 `` Anxiety, a family history of schizophrenia, and pancreatic cancer.'' He murmured in my ear. 
 
 I hugged him tighter. `` I love you.'' I murmured. `` And I'll miss you.'' 
 
 _____________________________________________________ 
 
 The man who I was paired with was a man with high cheekbones, coffee-brown skin and a large smile that could reach his eyes. When I first met him he was n't smiling though. We sat in our house, on opposite sides of the bed from each other. On the television screen was the display of our potential children. They were all beautiful and healthy. 
 
 `` What was her name?'' I asked him. 
 
 `` His name was Mark.'' He replied. 
 
 `` Oh.'' I murmured. 
 
 `` Who did you leave?'' 
 
 `` Timothy.'' I breathed in. `` What's your name?'' 
 
 `` Nico.'' 
 
 `` I'm Miyako.'' 
 
 We were silent for a long time. I could n't say anything to reassure him; the idea was probably mutual. But we'd have to get along eventually. It was for the human race, after all. The population had dwindled yet again this year. Only 1 billion people left. 
 
 `` I do n't know if I can be bisexual.'' Nico said, semi-jokingly. I turned towards his direction, letting out a small puff of laughter. 
 
 `` I think that's okay.'' I said. `` We barely know each other, after all.'' 
 
 Nico started to snort, then to laugh in a sort of hopeless manner. `` This situation is ridiculous.'' He said. `` I always imagined myself being fit to breed one day, and being able to sire a hundred children. I even looked it up- there are less men that are fit than women.'' He looked at me. `` I do n't know how long we'll know each other before I'm moved to another woman.'' 
 
 `` Maybe there'll be another woman living with us.'' I said. There were three empty bedrooms in this flat we were given. I walked through the large apartment, counting the rooms. Running water, electricity, a refrigerator, shower and bath. Plus hot tub. 
 
 Nico snorted. `` I do n't know how I'd be able to live with that much pussy.'' 
 
 I began to laugh. `` Let's get a cat then, and see what you think.'' 
 
 _____________________________________________________ 
 
 I'm not quite sure how time passed. Nico and I rescued two cats together. We would sit and drink wine and talk like friends. I think somehow in there, I became friends with Nico. A lot of the others too. But I was closest with him. We could talk all night, just laugh and enjoy each others' company. I think somewhere in that time I might have fallen in love with him, Timothy becoming a distant memory. His face began to fade. 
 
 Of course, what the government expected of us did happen. I wo n't go into details, but Nico became comfortable with me. He was kind. He wanted to use IVF at first but then he got better. 
 
 I was assessed every month, my blood pressure and hormone levels all checked and ready to go. They knew I was expecting about a week after the embryo had implanted itself in my uterus. 
 
 Apparently it was rare this soon in the pairing that the couple would conceive. A small flicker of pride flared in me, and Nico seemed pleased as well. We muted our true sorrows with the parties, the people as masked as we were, and we saved our crying for when we were in bed together. 
 
 The Fertility Bureau began to stock our fridge with more and more food. I had a doctor's appointment every day. `` With luck, every year will be like this.'' The OBGYN said to me. `` Wo n't that be wonderful?'' I nodded excitedly. `` Make sure to keep gaining, sweetie.'' 
 
 It was weird honestly- I had always wanted to lose weight as a young woman but now I had to eat for someone else, someone who would contribute to humanity someday. Someone who would hopefully be fit like I was. 
 
 I grew. I got bigger. It was weird. Nico began to touch my stomach. I think he was excited. The OBGYN said it'd be a boy in the first two months. Then she said it was twins. the OBGYN got worried- me with my small frame. But genetics showed- we both had the allele for conceiving multiple offspring. That's why we were chosen. 
 
 I think it became a race. The couple a few floors below us was expecting quadruplets. I think Nico and I decided there what we were going to do. 
 
 The day I turned 21 was dreary and wet, three weeks before the next assessment. I was measured and they were pleased that my stomach grew, my weight was higher. I was told that it'd never go back down by some of the older women. Better for the babies. And it was true. They were all kind of pudgy. 
 
 Three weeks later the next girl moved in. Her name was Alyssa. She was terrified, she had left her mother and father a few floors below. She was the lucky child, the final child before her parents' menopause that they got the privilege to keep. 
 
 When I first met her, she took one look at my stomach and her eyes got huge. `` Wow.'' She said. `` You're really pregnant.'' I was nine months by then. It was uncomfortable, the feeling of my organs getting squished and moving up, the constant need to pee. It was hard to move as well. 
 
 `` Do you need help settling in?'' I asked, waddling into her room and changing the subject. 
 
 `` Nah, I'm good.'' She smiled at me. 
 
 The boys were born by C-section an hour after we talked. I stayed in the hospital for a week, then brought them home. We had nurses to take care of them and I fed them. That was the most annoying part. But I had time to myself- lucky Alyssa got pregnant quickly so I could relax while they partied. 
 
 Nico and I decided to do IVF next. It was weird. But this time, we were determined. We could win this stupid competition. Repopulate the earth. Have these freaking fit kids so everyone could be fit- so everyone who wanted to could have their own kid.
