Fantasy The People Makers

​

The Story of Ari Kreith​

"I'm not cooperating."

"There are many men for you to choose from," said Bessie.

"Haven't you heard a word I'm saying? I AM NOT COOPERATING."

Ari Kreith was a Resistor. Not all the Test Subjects were equally enthusiastic about participating in the Experiment. Their enthusiasm ran across a spectrum. There were those who were very excited to participate, either because they genuinely were enthusiastic about the idea of their genes being used to produce a new human species, or because they were newly converted followers of the Federationista God Ajuba and thought they were there for a Holy Purpose, to fulfill Ajuba's will.

Then there were those who were willing to participate but not as excited about it. They might be doing it for more narrow, selfish reasons, in the belief (rightly or wrongly) that participating in the Experiment would extend their lives, as it was widely believed that the Federationistas had ways of prolonging the lives of subjects they found useful.

Then there were those who were willing but no longer very motivated. Perhaps they had been motivated in the beginning, but after they participated in the Experiment and got bad score after bad score their enthusiasm waned. They were still, perhaps, willing to participate in the Experiment, were persuadable, but were no longer eager for it.

And then there were those who were resistant to the idea of participating in the Experiment. Perhaps they didn't like the idea of humans being bred like guinea pigs. Maybe they didn't think the human race deserved another chance. Or maybe they didn't fully believe in the Federationistas' good intentions. Some of those who were resistant were persuadable, but those who weren't formed a tight band of Resistors.

Ari Kreith was one such Resistor. On Earth she was the owner and manager of the Happy Good Whole Earth Store in Berkeley, California, which sold a variety of products made from all natural granola, hemp, and Superweed based goods. Ari was a fervent believer in social justice, the inherent goodness of the World Government, and a devoted follower of the She-Goddess Aura. She believed that human beings were inherently destructive to their environment and not deserving of the beauty that the She Goddess had given them. She lived as frugal of a life as she could, reducing her carbon footprint and even using recycled global tampons which had been used by more worthy Women of Color from Africa and Asia.

When she was revived on the Space Station and told the Earth had been destroyed by Man Made Temperature Change she was almost giddy with happiness. Humanity deserved its fate! It had taken a wondrous Garden of Eve and turned it into a shithole. And so when Ari was told that the Federationistas was giving humanity a second chance on New Earth, she had responded by saying, "A second chance? A second chance to do what, to despoil the environment of another pristine planet? No thank you! NO THANK YOU!"

Bessie tried to convince her that humanity was worth saving, that it was her duty to make sure that mankind, and womankind survived.

"My duty? MY DUTY?" Ari gave a bitter laugh. "What, I have a duty to create obese monsters like you who are going to eat their way through half the planet?"

Bessie's jaw dropped open. Her eyes hardened with anger. No one talked to the First One in that way! Not if they wanted to have any hope of participating in the Experiment.

But Ari Kreith didn't give a fuck about the Experiment. That was very clear.

"Well, Fat Thing?"

Bessie abruptly got up, her fists clenched as Ari's bitter laughter filled the room.

Suddenly Hot Dog and Hamburger appeared out of thin air. "Hey there!" said Hot Dog. "You must be Ari! We've heard such good things about you! Are you ready for your tour?"

"What... what are you?" said Ari.

"People call me Hot Dog!" said Hot Dog.

"People call me Hamburger!" said Hamburger.

Ari looked at their cartoonish matchstick black arms, and big white gloved hands and shoes. "You're a crooked manifestation of the meat eaters! Go away! All of you, go away!"

"Perhaps I should conduct her tour," said Frog.

"Yes!" said Ari. "You, a racial minority! I identify with you, Sister. Tell me, do the humans oppress you mightily?"

"We can talk about it," said Frog, gently leading the woman away. Frog glanced back at Bessie, whose fists were still clenched. "She just needs some time to adjust."

"Fuck that! I won't-" but then they were out the door and gone.

Ari jumped up on a table in Oregon, eyeing the three dozen men and women who were in various states of flirtation with each other.

"People of the world! Listen to me!" she cried, flapping her arms like a bird. "LISTEN! We destroyed the Earth! WE DESTROYED IT! Through our greed, our insane desire to reproduce and overcrowd the planet, our evil desire to plunder the resources that Mama Earth gave us, WE DESTROYED IT! And now you are on the verge of doing it again! I say to you! Do not participate! Resist! Do not participate! RESIST, RESIST, RESIST!!!!!'

Everyone stared up at her, flapping her arms like a bird. There was a stunned silence for a moment. Then one person started to clap slowly.

Clap, clap, clap.

Then a second person clapped, and a third and a forth, and then a thunderswell of applause.

Ari, feeling tremendously vindicated, smiled and bowed.

At least until the laughter started.

"We should terminate this Test Subject," said X.

"She just needs a little more time to adjust," said F.

"A little more time? It's been two months," said M.

"What's the harm in giving her a bit more time?" F asked.

"The harm is that she's taking the space of a Test Subject we could replace her with who could be more amenable to the Experiment."

"More amenable, perhaps, but maybe not more successful. What if this Test Subject is the one with the gene code we have been looking for?" F asked.

"But it is obvious she will not participate," said C.

"Let me see to that," said F.

"Good morning gentlemen."

"Hi Frog," said Abner Dune. He was sitting at a table with Survey Service Captain Michael Taylor, Dickie Weymouth, Gavin Ansom, and Craig Cobin. After his disastrous first few pairings Abner had paired with one other woman named Jessica McArdle, but his combined score had only been 540, hardly very encouraging. Ever since then, like the others, he was looking for the "perfect mate", but girls were no longer so hot for him as they once had been when he first arrived.

"Frogster! How you doin', man?" Craig asked, giving an easy grin that only made his large, twisted nose look even more distorted.

"I was wondering if I could ask for your help," Frog asked.

"I got just what ails you," said Craig, rubbing his crotch.

"You'd have sex with a Frog?" Taylor asked.

"Why not? I'd go boldly where no man has gone before. Isn't that the Survey Service motto?"

"No, it isn't," said Taylor. "It's 'We don't leave people behind'."

"It seems you got left behind, Captain," said Dickie.

"Gentleman!" said Frog, his crystal flickering with light as he spoke. "The help is not for me. It's for Ari Kreith."

"Ari Kreith?" said Gavin.

"Kreith," said Craig. "Kreith, Kreith Kreith Krieth. Oh, you mean the crazy girl, the one with the tight vagina."

"How can you possibly know how tight her vagina is?" Gavin asked.

"I have pussyvision," Craig grinned.

"I need your help," Frog repeated. "She hasn't yet paired with anyone. In fact, she refuses to participate in the Experiment." He pointed to a corner of the enormous outdoor lounge where Ari sat, looking grim and determined as she slowly ate her breakfast of granola and birdfeeder mix.

"So? Why is that our problem?" Taylor asked.

"She could have the genes which might make for a viable future human race," said Frog.

"No, she's crazy," said Ansom.

"Crazy, but great pussy," Craig added.

"She's determined. She has passion. Those might just be the successful qualities needed to produce a future human race," said Frog.

"All right," said Abner.

"What?" said Taylor.

"I'll try," said Abner.

"No, you'll never get anywhere with her," said Craig. "This job requires a real man."

"Where could we find one?" Taylor wondered.

"Right here," said Craig, grabbing his crotch again. "I'll do it! I'll get into her pants and bone her real hard. I'll do it for mankind!"

"Craig, you understand I am not merely asking you to have sex with her," said Frog. "The primary purpose is to pair with her to-"

"Save the human race, yah yah yah, got it," said Craig, pulling on his white jumpsuit as he slowly got up. "Don't worry. She and I will create the big bang. The biggest bang you've ever seen."

He walked over to her, his leisurely stride full of confidence.

"Hey there, good looking."

"What do you want?" Ari said, giving him a withering glare. "Have you come to try to persuade me to participate in this terrible experiment?'

"No."

"No? Then what do you want?"

"To give your pussy pounding a real hard pounding," said Craig, in a very casual, matter-of-factly voice.

Ari paused for three seconds as her mind tried to interpret what she had just heard. One... two... three.... "What?"

"To pound your pussy. To fuck you. I figure that's your problem. You're uptight because you haven't gotten any in 500 years. Though from the looks of it, it might be even longer."

"What?"

"Let's fuck, come on," he said, pulling on her arm.

She pulled back. "Get away from me!"

"Was it something I said?" Craig asked, genuinely puzzled. "Say, you got a nice rack on you. Do they jiggle a lot when you bounce?"

"GET OUT OF HERE!" She roared. "NOW!"

Craig shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself. You'll never know what you're missing, though. Best cockmeat in three galaxies." He casually walked back to the others. "She's frigid, guys. Her pussy is protected by an impenetrable forcefield."

"Impenetrable by you, you mean," said Gavin.

"Yeah." Craig looked distracted as he squeezed his groin. "All this talk of fucking has given me an appetite, know what I mean? Where's Weeping? Ah, there she is."

She was called the Weeping Woman. No one knew her real name. All they knew is that she sat in the lounge every day and cried all day, every day. The only other thing they knew about her was that she was pliable. Very pliable.

Craig walked over to her. He watched her cry for a few seconds. "There, there, it's going to be all right." He stared at her crying a few seconds longer. "I know what ails you, babe. You need two pounds of solid loving right between your aching thighs. Come on, Babe, I'll tenderize you with some gentle cockmeat, only the highest quality, Grade A, I promise. " He gently pulled her up, and put an arm around her as he walked her to the exit. He smiled and winked at the guys as he left.

The following day Frog returned and implored them yet again to try with Ari Kreith. This time the audience was a bit different. There was Ardis McDuff the billionaire, Survey Service Captain Michael Taylor, Dickie Weymouth, Donnie Burch and Benny, the big man with wide eyes.

"You want one of us to pee inside of her?" said Benny.

"Not quite peeing as you mean it, Benny," said Frog, her talk crystal lighting up with every word. "I mean pairing. Mating-"

"Fucking," said Craig Cobin, who joined them at that moment.

"How was the Weeper?" Taylor asked.

"Good enough," said Craig, pulling up his jumpsuit. "The crying was annoying, though, she even did it while I was pounding away. I eventually figured out a way to stop it, though."

"What did you do?"

Craig flicked his tongue mysteriously.

Frog tried to reassert control of the narrative. "Is there any one of you who would like to try? The Federation would be most grateful-"

"I'll do it," said Taylor.

"You will?"

"Sure," said Taylor. "It's the Survey Service way."

"Leave no one behind," said Ardis. "What a philanthrope."

Taylor walked with a swagger to the door. As he left, Benny shook his head and said, "He's not going to pee inside of her."

"Of course not," said Ardis. "No one is."

Ari Kreith's quarters was set in the outdoors. As Taylor entered it, his jaw dropped open.

It was a post nuclear wasteland. There was a giant, dark mushroom cloud hovering over the air, stretching for miles. Everything on the ground was ash, dark ash everywhere. On top of a hill was a lone figure, flapping her arms in the wind.

Taylor approached, hearing the wind whistling all around him.

"This is what we did to Mama Earth. This is how we destroyed things." She didn't even face him. "And now they want us to do it all over again. To destroy another virgin planet. That's why you've come here, isn't it? To persuade me to create another greedy, environment robbing race of blind, destructive savages who will Ra*e the Earth, isn't that why you're here? Isn't it?"

"No." The wind whistled ever more strongly. "That's not why I'm here," said Taylor. "I'm here to tell you you're doing the exact right thing."

She turned to face him.

"Don't do it. Don't participate in the Experiment," said Taylor.

"You... you agree with me?"

Taylor nodded.

"Didn't you participate in the Experiment?"

"Once," said Taylor. "But I picked someone I knew wouldn't work. I sabotaged it purposefully."

"Why?"

"Because like you, I feel that mankind has no place in this universe."

As the sound of the whistling wind whipped by them, and the dark mushroom cloud loomed overhead, Ari Kreith managed a small smile.

"I'm sorry, I did my best, but I wasn't able to persuade her," said Taylor.

"You have a reputation as being an irresistible ladies' man," said Ardis McDuff.

Taylor shrugged. "I guess I'm more resistible than some have thought."

"Terminate the Test Subject," said X.

"But-"

"Terminate her," X repeated.

"All right," said F. "The Subject will be terminated.... Right after I try one last thing."

"You can do it," said F.

"Why me?" said Dickie Weymouth.

Because I've tried everyone else. "Because I have great confidence in you," said Frog. "The First One thinks you and Ari would be a fabulous match."

"She does?"

"Yes. Graylor agrees."

"He does?"

"Yes," said Frog. "We all do."

"Well....." Dickie took a deep breath and rubbed his hand through his dark, curly hair. "All right, I'll give it a try."

Grim!

That was Dickie's first thought when he stepped into the post-atomic wasteland that was Ari Kreith's quarters. Her quarters were normally a simple bunk bed that was seven feet by ten feet across, but now it was a giant atomic wasteland which stretched for miles.

He looked around at the dark ash littering the landscape. It was as if he was walking through the contents of her mind. How am I going to get through to an insane woman like this?

The winds whipped at him as he climbed the hill.

"You won't change my mind," she said immediately.

Ah. He sensed a bit of insecurity.

"I understand you," said Dickie. That was a good thing to say to women. That was always a good thing to say to them.

"Do you?" She said.

"You don't think the human race deserves another chance. You think they raped and destroyed the planet."

"Well, didn't they?"

"Yes," said Dickie.

And with that one word her shoulders slumped slightly and Dickie inwardly smiled.

"But imagine a new human race, a new human race led by the most forward thinking, progress people-"

"Women?"

"Of course women. It goes without saying," said Dickie smoothly. "They're more in touch with their feelings and the Earth, aren't they?"

"Of course," said Ari.

"Imagine a new human race, one which is a responsible steward of the environment. One which only takes what it is able to give back. One which lives in caves, fashioning clothes out of fallen leaves and grasses, subsisting on roots, berries and herbs."

"Yes!" said Ari, her eyes shining.

"Imagine a human race which instead of destroying the environment, helps it grows. Imagine a human race truly acting as stewards of the environment, planting trees and natural plants and hemp bushes by the thousands."

"Yes!" Ari repeated.

"We can make that human race, Ari. You and I. An example to the galaxy," said Dickie.

"I...." She took a deep breath, looking out across the wasteland. "I would like to try."

"Great!" said Dickie. He licked his lips. "Can you change back to your room?"

"My room?"

"So we can have a bed. Or... we could go to my place."

Ari's eyes narrowed. "Your place?"

"To, you know, do it."

She put her hands on her hips. "It?"

Dickie felt his mouth go dry. "Well... surely you know that part of the pairing process involves, you know...."

"Sex," said Ari. "You want sex."

"Well, I don't want it, I mean, of course I do, but it's just-"

"That's what this is all about," said Ari. "You're just like the other one, the guy with the crooked nose. You're just not as honest about it!"

"Ari no-"

"Get out! Get the fuck out!" She spun him around, and when he didn't immediately start moving she kicked him in the ass, sending him sprawling. "GET OUT NOW!!!!"

The next morning the guys were enjoying cool drinks in Algeria when the motorized stretcher came by, bearing the white, powdery body of Ari Kreith.

"Goodbye Ari," said Dickie. "I never knew you."

"Not the way you wanted to," said Craig.

As he sipped his drink, Survey Service Captain Michael Taylor gave a little grin.

​

********​

​

A Story about Haggis O'Leary​

Haggis O'Leary blinked under the harsh light as he opened his eyes.

"Welcome."

Everything was bright, bright white. He tried to sit up but felt weak.

"Easy! You've been asleep for 500 years."

"500 years?" he rasped. Even his voice felt weak.

"Drink this."

Haggis drank. When he had taken his fill, his voice was stronger. He looked around the white room. "Where am I?"

The First One explained it all.

"This is 500 years in the future?" said Haggis.

"Yes. That is the length of time it took to travel from your galaxy to ours," said Frog.

"And the Earth is gone?"

"Completely."

"All the colony planets?"

"Gone too. The domino effect caused by Man Made Galactic Temperature Change."

"Man Made Galactic Temperature Change," said Haggis. "I see." He sat up. He felt stronger now. "What is this place?"

The First One explained the great Experiment to recreate mankind, and how a new generation could generated instantly, in their subjective timeframe, and how they could travel forward in time to instantly see the results.

"I see," said Haggis.

"Do you have any questions?" Bessie asked.

Haggis shook his head. "No. It makes perfect sense to me. The Earth was destroyed, I've been asleep for 500 years as I traveled to a new galaxy. A alien race, out the kindness of their hearts, is helping to repopulate this New Earth using genetics and time travel, and I'm expected to participate. It all makes perfect sense to me."

Bessie and Frog exchanged glances. It was a lot for any newcomer to absorb. But Haggis seemed to accept it all quite easily. He would make a most compliant Experimental Subject. He probably had strong Follower tendencies, which could be very useful.

"What did you do in your prior life, Haggis?" Bessie asked.

Haggis gave her a long stare. "You don't know?"

"No. Why would I?" Bessie asked.

Haggis paused. "I don't remember."

"You... you don't remember?"

"You told me that the cryostasis erased certain memories," said Haggis.

"Recent memories of right before you were frozen. Your life experiences should still be intact."

"Well, I remember living in the Scottish Highlands, above Glasgow," said Haggis. "But... I don't know what it is I did there."

Bessie bit her lip. "The cryostasis is not a perfect process. Your memory may return in time."

"I'm sure it will," said Haggis, not sounding very concerned. He was so calm! Unnaturally calm!

"Frog will show you around," said Bessie. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"To ask whom?"

"Well, any of us... or you could ask the Ship itself. Ship?"

"Yes First One," came a modulated voice.

"This is Haggis O'Leary, our latest arrival. Please assist him with anything he requires."

"Of course, First One."

"Your name is Frog," said Haggis, as he looked out a viewport.

"Yes."

"Surely that's not your own name for yourself."

"No."

"What is your real name?"

No one had ever asked that before. Frog paused. "I don't remember."

"Were you frozen too?" Haggis asked.

"No." Another pause. "It's been so long. And it's not important."

"How can your real name not be important?"

"Because when I used my real name I was something else. Someone else," said Frog. "When you've been alive as long as I have, Haggis, you will find that times change you, and what came before is no longer relevant."

They looked out the viewport. "See the flashes? Those are gateways created by the intersection of light and energy of New Earth's two binary suns. These gateways can be used to access different periods in time. First we jump ahead a few hundred years where we created the body manufacturing facility. Then once the new human race is established, we jump even farther forward in time in two hundred year intervals to monitor the progress of the new human race. The goal is to have a stable human race by every sociometric standard we can measure after a thousand year's time." Frog looked at Haggis. "Do you have any questions?"

"No."

"No questions at all?"

"Why would I? Everything you've said makes perfect sense," said Haggis.

"I see," said Frog.

They left the chamber and walked down one of the many sterile white corridors of the Space Station. Suddenly Hot Dog and Hamburger appeared.

"Hey there! You must be Haggis."

"I am! And you are?"

"I'm Hot Dog!"

"And I'm Hamburger!"

Haggis looked at the cartoon like images. "So nice to meet you." he extended a hand. Hot Dog shook it. Hot Dog's big, white gloved hand felt firm.

Frog looked at Haggis. Usually at this point most newcomers expressed intense disbelief that beings who looked like illustrations were real. But Haggis didn't seem surprised as all. It was as if he were used to seeing walking talking illustrations of meal entries with arms and legs.

"We're here to help!"

"Call us if you need us!"

"So nice to know. Thanks very much," said Haggis. He put his finger to his forehead. "Be seeing you."

"And you." They vanished.

Frog again looked at Haggis. He seemed so accepting of the situation. Too accepting. Would he really make a good Test Subject?

Frog showed Haggis his quarters, and showed him how to sculpt alternate environments. When Haggis found he could not just create the Scottish Highlands but actually walk among them, Frog thought she saw the first sense of surprise cross his carefully controlled expression.

"It's multidimensional sculpting."

"Oh of course," said Haggis.

And then Frog took him to Bermuda to meet some of the guys.

"Haggis," said Haggis. "Haggis O'Leary." He looked at the men around him, as if he expected his name to evoke a reaction. It didn't.

"Roland Miller."

"Ardis McDuff."

"Gavin Ansom."

"Craig Cobin."

"Michael Taylor."

"Nice to meet you all," said Haggis.

"You just woke up?" Roland asked.

"Yeah."

"Wild, isn't it?"

"Extremely," said Haggis. "Do you believe it?"

"Believe what?"

"All of it," said Haggis. "Selective memory loss so we have no idea how we got here. 500 year trip to a new galaxy. The human race wiped out. Do you believe it?" He searched the other's faces, as if gauging their inner reactions.

"Yeah," said Ardis. "Why wouldn't we?"

"The Federationistas are here to help us," said Gavin. "We've always been threatened by Man Made Temperature Change."

"But... Man Made Temperature Change, which not only destroyed the Earth, but all the other colony planets as well?" Haggis raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Our science wasn't very advanced, not as advanced as the Federationistas," said Gavin. "They knew all about the interstellar heat vents. We didn't. These subspace heat vents pumped heat through subspace from the Earth to all the colony planets. They all cooked at almost the exact same time."

"And the fact that you have no memory of these events occurring?"

"A byproduct of the cryogenic suspension," said Ardis. "All our recent memories right before we got frozen were wiped."

"And you really believe we are 500 years in the future in another galaxy?" Haggis persisted.

"It took 500 years to get here. What did you think, we traveled in circles?" said Taylor. Craig Cobin smirked.

"You sound like you don't believe any of it," said Roland.

"No," said Haggis. "I'm just trying.... trying to wrap my mind around it. It's a lot to take in."

"It is," said Roland. "I was in shock my first few days. Some people adjust faster than others. I'm sure you'll get used to it."

"I'm sure I will," said Haggis, his face now impassive.

There was an awkward pause.

"So tell us, Haggis, what did you do for a living in your former life?" Roland asked.

"What did you do?" Haggis immediately countered.

"Me? I was a novelist, a bestselling one, actually," said Roland.

"A novelist," said Haggis, giving Roland an odd stare. Why did Haggis look suddenly enraged?

"And you?" Roland asked.

There was another awkward pause. Haggis felt all eyes on him.

"Me? You, the best selling novelist, want to know what I, Haggis O'Leary, did for a living on Earth?"

What an odd way of putting things. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm asking," said Roland.

"Don't you know?"

Roland looked puzzled. "How would I know?"

Haggis made a face. "I'm sorry, I don't remember."

"How can you not remember?" Ardis said.

Haggis looked confused. "Well, haven't you all lost memories?"

"We've only lost our short term memories right before we were frozen. You sound like you've lost a lifetime of memories. That's not possible."

"Not as possible as the idea that we're 500 years in the future in another galaxy and the entire human race has been wiped out?" Haggis asked. He saw their skepticism. "I see what you mean." He turned to Ardis McDuff. "What did you do on Earth?"

"Do? I made money. I was a billionaire," said Ardis. "Surely you heard of me."

"Sorry no," said Haggis. "How did you make your fortune?"

"Social justice," Ardis explained. "Advocating for absolute equality for all oppressed groups."

"Sounds like quite a money maker," said Haggis.

"It was."

Indeed it was. Ardis McDuff had not been a billionaire as he claimed but he had been a multimillionaire. He had created a computer program which churned out messages to people by the millions, generic messages claiming to represent the Global Social Justice Inquisitor Committee and sending out fines for alleged racism, sexism, genderism, assophobia, Laquintaphobia, Vaccineophobia, Classophobia, Sexchangeophobia, or any of a half dozen other randomly selected isms or phobias. Specifics were never provided, but never needed to be provided. If only one percent responded and paid their fine, Ardis would be rich. In fact close to ten percent paid their fine for fear of "further investigation by the Social Justice Committee", even as they had no idea what it was they had been accused of or why. And so Ardis had become a very wealthy man, fighting for social justice... sort of.

"And you?" Haggis turned to Gavin Ansom.​