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Candidate

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Andrew

It had never been easy managing the population of New Chicago – the undersea colony deep in the Mariana Trench about 1,000 miles north of the Challenger Deep, but as an essentially self-sufficient biospshere it had become necessary to do so in the two decades since the outpost had come online.

As Human Resources coordinator for the entire complex, Matt had the unenviable task of ensuring that everyone on board had sufficient food, water and energy – the finite resources that were so carefully managed by him and his small team.

Matt glanced down at the morning report – three births and two deaths had occurred in the previous 24 hours; this was a typical scenario – with health being greatly improved in this hermetically sealed environment people were living longer and the attrition rate was dropping.

Settling in his chair, still sipping the first coffee of the morning Matt pressed buttons on his console and the computer deep in the bowels of the structure whirred and clicked as it carefully calculated a new report; facts and statistics combined with random numbers to ensure fairness – everything was precisely determined; there could be no errors.

Matt picked up the report and casually looked at it for a moment before his heart dropped to the floor as he saw his wife’s name on it; before the day was over there would have been three births and three deaths – the population was being managed perfectly.

 

Lillie McFerrin

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18 thoughts on “Candidate”

  1. LupusAnthropos says:
    November 1, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    Love it! Shirley Jackson with a futuristic twist!

    My story is at http://wp.me/p24aJS-4n

    1. Andrew says:
      November 3, 2012 at 9:36 am

      Thanks for stopping by. Let’s hope that we find another way to manage population growth! Thanks for the link 🙂

  2. ninotaziz says:
    November 2, 2012 at 9:54 am

    I know it’s cliche. But this needs to be a book.

    1. Andrew says:
      November 3, 2012 at 9:37 am

      Haha – thanks!!

  3. Mark K says:
    November 2, 2012 at 1:46 pm

    Excellent piece – didn’t see that bit coming at all. Bravo! 🙂

    1. Andrew says:
      November 3, 2012 at 9:37 am

      I appreciate your kind words Mark. Thanks for visiting!

  4. JazzBumpa says:
    November 2, 2012 at 7:49 pm

    Lupus done stole my comment.

    Oh, well. Snooze and you lose.

    Cheers!
    JzB

    1. Andrew says:
      November 3, 2012 at 9:38 am

      Great minds… Thanks JzB 🙂

  5. Britton Minor says:
    November 3, 2012 at 8:22 am

    I’m not sure I could handle such a job without offing myself upon realizing the morbid truth. You do have a dark side Andy!

    1. Andrew says:
      November 3, 2012 at 9:38 am

      Someone has to do it Britt. My dark side? Surely not! 😉

  6. Sisyphus47 says:
    November 5, 2012 at 9:21 am

    Terrifying: is this our future? A beautiful story, and now what to do: a perfect world? 🙂

    1. Andrew says:
      November 5, 2012 at 1:23 pm

      Ah yes, the lure of utopia. Thanks for visiting!

  7. Lisa Shambrook says:
    November 7, 2012 at 3:00 am

    Brilliant, your scene was perfect, and my mouth dropped with his… Not only do I want this as a book, but I want the movie too! I desperately want to know what he does next…I want him to fight!

    1. Andrew says:
      November 7, 2012 at 6:36 am

      Thanks so much for the very kind words Lisa. A movie huh? I wonder who would play the protagonist?

  8. Rossandra says:
    November 7, 2012 at 2:48 pm

    Other than a lovely surprise ending, I found the fourth sentence quite brilliant with its particulars,rhythm and economy. Bravo!

    1. Andrew says:
      November 10, 2012 at 8:10 am

      That’s very kind of you Rossandra. Thank you!

  9. josie2shoes says:
    November 8, 2012 at 6:21 pm

    Ouch! This is when the reality of the situation indeed hits home. No longer just a number or a statistic, but a living, loving human being. What will happen now I wonder, will it go as planned?

    1. Andrew says:
      November 10, 2012 at 8:11 am

      Great questions Josie. We’ll have to wait and see.

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