Family Tails
A Story of a Mixed Family in the Genetic Age
Names of actual businesses, their products, etc, are the property of their respective owners.
Story and characters © 2013 Ronald J. Lebeck
Prologue
Whether humans liked it or not, it was the beginning of the Genetic Age on Earth. With the discovery of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), scientists eventually found a way to map genomes and then manipulate them. At first, the experiments were simple—modifying plants, inserting the ability of microscopic sea creatures to produce their own light into larger animals, and then inserting a small percentage of human DNA into animals such as pigs and sheep.
Humans have been using selective breeding for countless generations to produce what they thought was better than what Nature had produced—crops, livestock, and even themselves through the eugenics movement. Humans have a long history of vanity, and have done many things—some odd, some even dangerous—in order to “improve" their appearance. When science finally got the hang of manipulating the DNA of things, there was a market for genetic “enhancements" to satisfy the desire for some human's vanity. As expected, there was a certain amount of backlash from the various religious organizations, racial purists, and others, into pressuring lawmakers into putting a stop to the practice. Of course, the initial cost for having such “enhancements" could be prohibitively expensive, and the first trials on test subjects didn't always come out as planned.
In a secret meeting, a group of researchers from around the world decided upon a different idea: manipulate the DNA of lower animals and re-engineer them into more humanoid, anthropomorphic forms. With funding from private and corporate sources, the Center for Genetic Research and Development was created in a secure, undisclosed location somewhere in the state of Texas. They began by mapping out the genomes of different mammals, such as canines, felines, rabbits, rodents, and weasels. Using human DNA as a template, they began to manipulate the genetic information of animals, attempting to make them more humanlike and yet keep their distinctive abilities. Eventually they were successful, and the first generation of G.E.L.F.s (genetically engineered life forms) was created.
The “Gen-1" G.E.L.F.s proved to be quite self-aware, with intelligence comparable to humans. They quickly mastered the ability to speak English, learned how to read and write, and do all of the other things that humans could do. They still had the same abilities of their four-footed predecessors, along with a human-like intellect and personalities, in a two-legged anthropomorphic form. Since the G.E.L.F.s grew and matured more rapidly than their human counterparts mature, the scientists were encouraged to create more. With the success attained by the program at “The Center", other divisions were opened in other countries. When news got out about the G.E.L.F.s, saying that the world's media went nuts with the story would be an understatement. When the Gen-1's became sexually mature, it was quickly discovered that they could reproduce on their own. Some people called for the extermination of the G.E.L.F.s and the destruction of all research material and technologies used in their creation. However, given their numbers (and with the usual greasing of palms of politicians), G.E.L.F.s eventually won their right to continue existing through the landmark reworking of the U.N.'s “Universal Declaration of Human Rights" into the “Universal Declaration of Sentient Rights" covering G.E.L.F.s as well as humans.
The G.E.L.F.s still had a bumpy road ahead of them as they continued their struggle for acceptance and integration into Earth's population. Some humans accepted them freely; many were either uncertain or undecided as to what to make of them. Of course, some humans were against the G.E.L.F.s while some were even openly hostile towards them and their supporters.
Of the humans who accepted the G.E.L.F.s, one man who co-owned a small business in Fairbanks, would soon find his life taking quite an interesting turn when he unexpectedly meets a certain female wolf G.E.L.F. who The Center recently relocated near his home in the state of Alaska.
To be continued... :)
why did they make creatures like that? what kind of medical reasons where they? they only sound like lab experiments at the moment!
I wasn't really planning on going into the "why" it was done, just that it [i]had[/i] been done, since other writers have done so in their respective stories (for example, Style Wager and Greg Older delved into the "why" in their web comic, "Dela the Hooda"). You could read up on the Eugenics movement, as well as the Transhumanist movement, read about Friedrich Nietzsche (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cbermensch -- look at the section "Übermensch as a goal") and others.
This story, as the title refers to, is about a family's tale (I use the word "Tails" much the same was as it was used in the animated movie, "American Tail" -- "tale" and "tail" are pronounced the same in English, and since some of the characters involved have the appendage known as a "tail"...I hope you get the idea). It focuses on the issues surrounding their relationship, day-to-day living in a world that is trying to figure out how to accept and cope with having more than one race now. There may well be some agenda as to why the G.E.L.F.s were created in the first place, though I'm focusing on the relationship between a human male and a G.E.L.F. female, the hybrid family they create for themselves, and what they have to deal with.
http://www.sofurry.com/view/489274
Lupina and Ron will eventually be making a trip to "The Center", so there will be an opportunity for a peek into that. ;)
While I've been working on this story, I did a short story for Swift47 -- his character, Rob Swiftclaw, meets Lore Mistress Fire Weaver, Sky Splitter, Grimm Tooth, and Foxfire. :)
https://www.sofurry.com/view/517318
Oh, and I'm starting today to work on another short story involving some of James Hardiman's "By the Tail" characters, which will be in my usual style, so keep an eye out for that in a few days. ;)
I like it. :D
And i know you have already written it by this point(i am late to this)
But not trying to explain why exactly is also a fresh idea, i am sure most readers can come up with sevral of their own using their brain, all of wich is plausable, more or less. :)
Still will see perhaps how you deal with it all in the story.
(I got such a huge back log of other must read stuff too)
I hope you enjoy it. :)
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But I read until chap 2 and sorry to say, I won't pursue further. It is too detailed for me, seems more fillers than actual story. Maybe it is just the beginning, maybe all have a point for later, but it doesn't make me want to pursue.
I'm curious what, if any, differences exist between Gen-1 and Gen-2.
One critical question. With G.E.L.F.s growing and maturing more rapidly than humans, do they end up with a shorter lifespan?
Gen-1, Gen-2, etc., is short for "Generation Protocol #1, #2, etc." It's sort of like "batch number", though it might also mean tweaks to the "generation protocol" used to create each group of G.E.L.F.s.
At first, it's not known just how long they'll live, and that gets mentioned briefly in the story. However, Atka, Sesi, and Lola [i]do[/i] live longer than their species would normally, so that is sort of a "hint" in the story. By the time the Gen-1s and Gen-2s start dying of old age, the scientists creating the G.E.L.F.s start to get a pretty good idea as to how long they'll live.