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125 pages

English

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Human beings need the help of animals, technology and luck to stay alive, to keep being human. People want to do the right things, but it is not always easy to be good. All protagonists struggle with finding their place in a fast-paced world. The challenges they encounter push them to the limits of their ethics, making them feel a profound sense of suspension. Suspension is not always resolved in the stories narrated in this book, but in all choices made for love and happiness the protagonists' good will shines like a gem.

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Short story

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Publié par	Austin Macauley Publishers
Date de parution	31 janvier 2019
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781528944540
Langue	English

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Stories for Posthuman Readers
Michela Arturina Betta
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-01-31
Stories for Posthuman Readers About the Author Copyright Information Part I: Love in Biocracy The Stork I, Clone Virtual Reality Part II: Suspended Lives Posthuman Young Resilience The Fall of Goodness Carletto
About the Author
Michela Betta was born in Italy where she completed her school and started university in Milan. She then moved to Frankfurt in Germany to complete her studies in philosophy and social sciences at Johan Wolfgang Goethe University, where she was awarded a PhD in ethics. Afterward, she worked as an academic in Frankfurt and Melbourne.
She has written several academic books. Parallel to her professional writing, she has cultivated fiction writing and has completed two volumes of short stories in Italian. Stories for Posthuman Readers is her first literary work in English. She now lives in Stockholm.
Copyright Information
Copyright © Michela Arturina Betta (2019)
The right of Michela Arturina Betta to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788489836 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781788489843 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781528944540 (E-Book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
E14 5LQ
Part I: Love in Biocracy

The Stork
Fabiana glanced at her wristop computer to check her day’s to-do list. It was still early in the morning but she wanted to waste no time. She knew she had a number of important errands to run. Above all, she could not forget to change the agreement with the genetic bank where Alessandrina’s umbilical cord had been deposited eight years previously. She could not get her head around the fact that Lou had made it for only ten years. “They’re contracts for life,” she sighed. She thought that Lou’s distractedness had worsened.
“Sooner or later, he’ll forget his own genetic code!” This time Fabiana spoke out loudly as if to reinforce the message in her thoughts.
“Who?” Marianno’s voice caught her by surprise. Fabiana watched her son. He had a strong and serene personality. Strength and serenity were two virtues she had come to depend on more than anything else. Lou would have liked to see in his son more data-driven rationality, “To help him get ahead faster,” he used to say. But she would feel differently. What mattered to her was the ability to act as required by situations, without flinching. She was convinced that only strength of character and serenity of mind could facilitate this. Fabiana held them to be a rarity in any person, and she had worked hard to cultivate them in Marianno. She had started explaining to him the works of great philosophers and writers, hoping they would inspire him and also help him appreciate life to the full. ‘Because what’s the point of having a career if you’re profoundly unhappy?’ When she thought these sorts of things, her eyes would swell with tears. Then her mind would wander to one of her favourite poems.
Technology creates you The present invests you But the future remains Still a project all days
It was a poem about the difficulty in creating a future. There was also a subtle idea in this poem about unpredictability still undermining people’s daily plans despite the promises of technology. Expectations evoked by genetics and biotechnology were such that some people thought humanity would soon be elevated to a new Renaissance, but Fabiana remained sceptical. So she had wanted Marianno not to embrace technology as an end in itself but to learn to ask questions, to challenge official statements. She had wanted him to look for the good and to recognise evil before it struck. “Thus, in addition to strength and serenity people needed self-composure,” she told herself. Only the self-composed can think clearly when dealing with difficult situations. She turned to Marianno. She saw him concentrating on a programme screened on the home device. The programme seemed to be a documentary about cloning. The commentators were saying that the first clone ever was about to be born. And so, immediately after the documentary came to an end, the screen showed a real-time maternity ward. The geneticists moved about with grace. The laboratory that could be seen on the screen was aseptic but, notwithstanding that, the smiles of the scientists added some warmth to it. At one point, the geneticists raised their arms to the heavens, their palms turned outwards.
“What are they doing?” asked Fabiana.
“They’ve succeeded.”
“You mean that the first human clone has been born?”
“Yes.”
“We’ve entered the post-individualist era,” Fabiana whispered.
“In other words?” wondered Marianno, touched by his mother’s serious tone.
“In other words, from now on we can be two, three, five, all identical.” A short pause followed, then Fabiana added, “Clones,” she said it quietly.
“Which is to say?” Marianno asked again.
“That every one of us can have a second self.” Their eyes remained fixed on the screen.
“I’m scared!” said Fabiana.
“Why?”
“Because with science creating clones, we might have lost our distinct human nature.”
On the home screen one could see how the laboratory had been invaded by journalists and other scientists. Thousands of messages started flowing in from all over the globe.
“We’ve managed to do it! The new era of the clone is upon us,” or, “Nothing can stop science ever again.” But it was the following message that aroused in her a profound sense of unease. “Finiteness is finished. We’re on the way to immortality.”
She could not explain the reason for the uneasiness she felt growing within. “What’ll happen to the soul then?” it occurred to her. But she was amazed even at the thought itself. It was a word that had vanished from the lexicon. Not many people used it these days. It was familiar only to historians like her. To tell the truth, the soul had been on her mind for quite a while. She was studying the historical evolution of beliefs that had given birth to the soul long ago , ‘toward the end of the 1200s’ Fabiana thought, reviewing humanity’s history in a flash. But a voice brought her back to the present. In the blink of an eye, she traversed back centuries of history.
“What do you think?” It was Lou, all excited and back from his laboratory where he had witnessed the birth of the first clone. Fabiana and Marianno turned around to look at him. His eyes were sparkling, his cheeks slightly flushed. This surprised them a little. Usually, Lou controlled his emotions impeccably. At times, it was difficult to tell if he was happy or sad, such was his ability at disguising his feelings; something that had often caused him problems. There were those who had criticised him for being indifferent when a situation demanded compassion. But there were also those who called him a pessimist because of his air of moroseness during times of success. Many thought that it was Lou’s strategy or a way of deflecting attention away from himself. In so doing, he never revealed his real nature. Only Fabiana, some fancied, knew his real power or his real weaknesses, and some others gossiped that they were a couple of friends rather than lovers because of his difficult personality.
“Well…nothing to say?” It was Lou again looking for compliments and celebration. So Fabiana and Marianno went over to him and hugged him. Alessandrina came in. She had watched the programme on her device. She was happy.
“Hi, Daddy,” she said, running toward him. “Who are the parents?”
“Ah, no, Alessandrina,” said Lou taking hold of one of the braids that reached all the way down to her waist, “That’s a child of science, not a man’s or a woman’s.”
“Of science?” repeated Alessandrina. Then, after a short pause, she added, “Without Mum and Dad?”
“Well, let’s say then that it’s a laboratory girl with a capital L!” replied Lou.
“A girl?” asked Marianno. “You have created a laboratory girl?”
“Yes,” said Lou. “We have turned the Old Testament on its head and begun with a woman. What do you think, Fabiana?”
“I think it’s a great idea. About time you balanced up human genealogy a bit.”
“Why did you choose a woman?” asked Marianno.
“Why not?” replied Lou. “You see gender is irrelevant in the era of cloning. It won’t be reproductive organs that decide that child’s destiny.”
Lou seemed unstoppable. “The mind, quick thinking and prompt action, emotional balance, intense analysis…these are what will be humanity’s strengths over the next thousand years. We’re the forerunners. And the clones will help us remain strong because through them our fear of dying prematurely will disappear.” He relaxed onto a computerised armchair that could medically body-scan a person in under sixty seconds.
“All vital bodily functions are in perfect working order.” That was the message that appeared on the display on one side.
“You’re in excellent health!” said Fabiana taking note of the computer’s evaluation.
“I must say that I feel extremely energetic. I haven’t felt like this for years!” said Lou, smiling.
“But what does ‘emotional balance’ mean?” Marianno interjected at this point.
“It means that the fears that debilitated our ancestors are now gone. And with them uncontrolled passions. The clones will help establish and maintain that emotional balance. They’ll know how to exercise self-control: to be well in the right measure, to be sick in the right measure.”
“But who d