The Merge

by Grace Walker

I kept track of the new rules governing the UK. Some, like the mandatory monthly pregnancy tests, were inescapable, relentlessly repeated in advertisements, plastered on the walls of the Underground stations and train carriages.

“The Moral Operation,” Lara says. “Don’t worry about remembering it, Lor. There’s nothing moral about it. They take your womb and pay you for it.”

We’re the misfits of society. If they find a way to successfully merge us, to get rid of our problems, then they’ll do it to anyone with an ailment. Soon, only the healthy, rich ones will be left. Just like they want.”

The good people, the people who would never think to do otherwise, don’t feel kindness is something that needs to be taught. It’s the people who preach about being a good person, Amelia. They’re the worst ones out there.