It was on a dreary night of November when I first thought of a clever idea. People would always ask “why is your child so perfect?” Our child was the definition of perfect, the sole human being to have achieved perfection. Although, the perfection comes with a story. The year was 2030. I had just married the woman of my dreams and we desired to start a family. We wanted to have the all-around perfect child and we felt that if we left it up to random genetics, this would not happen. I wanted to make a machine where you can select which genes for your child that you want and then you could “print out” the child when finished. Later that night I explained the idea to my obstinate wife.
“Martha, I thought of something quite brilliant. The process of child labor is exhausting and pointless if your chances of having a perfect child are insignificant. I am going to create a system and machine where you can customize your own child. No more will society have to deal with imperfect children.” She replied with an answer that I had expected.
“I don’t believe the impractical ideas that are sprouting in your mind. Noah, although your plan is one that would be ideal, I do not believe that it is realistic. This “machine” or “system” would take years to create and we simply do not have the time to wait.” I understood her point of view but I was determined to bring to life an idea. I did not know the negative outcomes of this idea and I did not focus on them because I was too concentrated on the positive effects. The next year would be dedicated to researching and creating. If only I had knew at the time what would transpire.
After the unplanned three years that I used to create this system, it was finished. I sat in the dark, stuffy basement of my laboratory as I finished up the last final touches. I leaned back in my lab chair as I took a deep breath, the longest exhale I have done in years because it was one of relief. The reality of the situation dawned upon me and I could not help but to form a smile upon my face. I rushed to my wife to deliver the news, yet the reaction I received was disbelief. Throughout the next week, after testing it numerous times, we started to form our child. We scrolled through the options of eye color, hair color, freckles or no freckles, body weight, height, as well as personality aspects of kindness, intelligence, happiness, and more. After one week of creating our child, we brought this inanimate human to life.
I had just returned home from my laboratory when the child finished “printing.” The look on my face as well as my wife’s face was utter shock. Out came the most beautiful baby we had seen in our lifetime. I still remember the amount of joy and pride I felt. From then on we started living life normally. No one seemed to know about our genetic hack and that is how we wanted it. One day as we were shopping in a local store, a lady approached us explaining that she “knew our secret.” She told us that she was the sister of our housekeeper, who had wandered downstairs to my laboratory to clean it. My stomach dropped and my face turned as red as a runner after a hard race. The room became much smaller and I felt the beads of sweat drip down my face. She noticed this nervous tension and that was her confirmation that it was true.
In order for her to keep the secret, she demanded for me to make her a flawless child. Due to the fact that I didn’t want the idea to be spread, I abided to her request. Before long, I had created eighteen perfect human beings for different families. After about two years, the total amount of perfect children reached about 100,000 kids. I had not realized, until this point, the depth of what problem I had caused. Most people dream of a society filled with perfect people but the fact that the world’s humans were starting to become flawless was a scary thought to me. After 10 years, almost the entire population of my country had at least one perfect child. As generations continued, the number of “natural” children decreased. People found this process of natural birth wrong and pointless.
    During one normal weekday in November, our child caught the influenza and died immediately. The shock of this event saddened my wife and she moved into a deep depression. I wondered how this could be because my daughter was only thirty two years old. Later that week, I received a hologram from the lady that we had met in the store years before. She explained the tragic death of her son, after catching a stomach sickness. She told me the age of her son, coincidentally being thirty two. That nervous feeling I experienced when I had first met this lady revisited me at that moment. I immediately sent a hologram to the family with the third baby I had created years back, asking them to monitor their son. They told me that no abnormal events have occurred. A week later, I received a message from them, saying their son passed of pneumonia at age thirty two. As I read this, I dropped to the ground, knocking over the test tubes that were on the lab table. My heart started to race as I realized the issue.
    The fact came to me whilst I was recovering from my fall. Each child created perfectly, had a flaw. Their lifespan would only last until the age of thirty two. I suddenly rushed upstairs to my wife, who was sitting in her bedroom in a deep gaze upon the wall. I told her the news and she began to weep. Each time she showed her sadness, my heart tore a little more. It resembled a tight rubber band that had continuous pressure applied. It was bound to break soon. I started spreading the word through the internet, holograms, and more about my discovery. Oppressed parents would approach me, calling me a “walking failure.” I felt horrible for the flaw in my design.
    I lost family members due to this factor. I lost neighbors and friends. I never got to meet my grandchildren. These consequences had not dawned upon me when I made the machine. I did not take the time to be introspective about what can happen. My wife passed shortly after my child’s passing. She died of extreme depression. Everyday I wake up feeling guilty and that feeling stays with me throughout the day. People are dying everyday because of my harm. I am sharing this story to influence everyone to not change what is already...perfect.