By: Helen Mayger.

I keep my chin up while waiting, despite the prosecutor’s uninspired insults: “Gene Freak,” “Derivative,” “AI Fake.” As if every parent doesn’t use AI to cherry-pick baby genes.

My blood swirls in the DNA reader, my fate in a tumble dryer. Hopefully, my genetic code was scraped from disparate sources too difficult to trace. Otherwise… Well, I’ve watched enough friends enslaved under copyright infringements.

The result blinks up at us: 99.99%. An uncreative AI cut and pasted practically my whole genome from Queen Elizabeth II. I watch the smirk drain from the prosecutor’s face. She’s been public domain since 2172.

© 2025. Helen Mayger

Helen Mayger is an avid writer of science fiction, fantasy, and children’s fiction. Her love of writing is rivalled only by a passionate reluctance for creating author’s bios.

Posted March 19, 2025.