[ WP ] Technology has advanced greatly , allowing parents to edit and customize their unborn children using a character creation menu .

Today, Mary and Jake make their babies. It ’ s a simple process really, they pay a few grand to design the perfect baby they want. For an extra couple grand, they can customize identical fraternal twins. A boy and a girl who mirror each other but not quite. 
 
 Mary wants the perfect girl, so she opens the menu. She wants her child to be resilient, yet obedient. She will have perfect posture, able to learn a multitude of crafts. Mary links obedience with fun, so her baby won ’ t ever act out of line. She will have no problems doing anything. She will adapt. That is what Mary wants for her child. 
 
 Jake makes the perfect boy. Strong, tough-skinned, a leader. Jake adds a penchant for rebellion, the boy must be reasoned with effectively to be convinced of any task. He will have high empathy, knowing exactly how to place himself into others shoes, to experience their lives. On his own, he will develop a code of ethics unlike any other, but he will have tempered it with world experience and his father ’ s guidance. Jake gives the boy depression with a swipe of a button. Jake had it and it made him stronger for it. The boy will be forced to look inward to find the true path. Linking exercise, self-improvement, and the ability to guide others to happiness, Jake completes the creation of his child. 
 
 Mary ’ s and Jake ’ s children are born at the same time. Joshua is a shy kid, stutters a lot. Anne is a social grasshopper, going from social group to social group. As they grow older Anne has to look after Jake. His disagreements with teachers, friends, everyone causes him immense suffering. Thirteen is his first suicide attempt. Jake begins to doubt the creation program. Begins to doubt Josh. That doubt in Josh causes him to run away at fifteen. 
 
 Anne begins college at 17. Being away from her parents realigns her moral center, obedience. Her teachers, acquaintances unknowingly take advantage of this. She is the perfect activist. She is the perfect cog in the machine. 
 
 Josh ’ s journey starts to turn around. His introspection begins to bring about action. A quiet resolve begins to grow. He asks the question, “ How do I make this world better? ” 
 
 Seventeen and he ’ s convinced a CEO of multi-million dollar industry to donate half of their networth into mental health facilities across the globe. Eighteen, he ’ s started several companies with very promising futures. Twenty, they ’ ve all failed. Twenty-one, he goes back to square one. He goes to a local community college. He majors in philosophy and communications. They laugh, but Josh knows what to do. He can not give up now. Giving up would be to resign himself to the worst of his being thirteen. 
 
 Josh and Anne meet again nine years later. They ’ re both 22. Josh recognizes how much skill Anne truly has and she recognizes within him the ability to guide by example. Together they start one more company. Josh holds no illusions of grandeur. It will most likely fail. But to not try would be the ultimate failure. And he ’ s done feeling like his actions bear no weight upon the world. Josh drops out of college and begins his journey once again. 

