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Sutopia

Ch 2, Sfox: A Space Fox

The walk out of the sterile clinic room led to a sterile clinic hallway. Exactly as the room which they just left, the only eye-catching component was the collection of windows, which took up the entire right wall from hip-height to ceiling. Despite the lack of features in the hallway, Logan was surprised that there was a surprising lack of echo to it. "Hey... um... Star?"

Several steps ahead of him, the young man was forced to follow the softly swaying hips and pleasantly wagging, puffy tail. She didn't even slow down, speaking over her shoulder to answer his call. "What is it, hon?"

Slowing down to stare at a shuttle floating noiselessly past the window, Logan had to take several steps to catch up to his guide, almost jogging for a half dozen steps as he finally addressed his question. "So... we're on a space station?"

She chuckled during her one word response, the tone increasing in octave at the end, as if she were expecting a follow up question. "Riiiiiight?"

He continued the thought. "And I guess that means if humanity--"

"Trans-humanity."

He paused at the correction but adjusted his question accordingly. "If Trans-humanity lost Earth for a few hundred years, it didn't spend all that time in space... right?"

Star slowed down further until they were walking side-by-side. Sliding her arm into the crook of his she smirked demurely. "No, hon. The terraforming initiative on Mars transitioned from a Class II planet to Class I over fifty years ago and the established colonies expanded by more than ten times since then."

Logan nodded as if he knew what she was talking about. "Wow."

She picked up on it quickly. "You don't know much planetary habitability classifications, do you?"

The young man smiled sheepishly. "Well... I know that there was a colony there back in... uh... my time. They were trying to get an atmosphere and stuff."

Star seemed to have near infinite patience. Tittering, she rested her head on his shoulder as they continued strolling down the hallway which, Logan noticed, had an ever-so-slight consistent leftward curve to it. "A Class I planet is a planetary body on which stellar and geophysical conditions allow liquid water to be available on the surface, along with sunlight so that complex multicellular organisms can thrive."

The technical description surprised him. "Wow... you're really smart!"

The Vixen repeated her earlier giggle. "I can tell that you and I are going to have to work on your metanet skills."

Logan paused, and was surpised when she did too. Turning to regard her, the young man was astounded at just how luxurious her hair (mane?) was; it glimmered faintly in the light shimmering through the window. As soon as he realized he had been staring too long he quickly added "I... uh-- what's a 'metanet'?"

Her smile turned into a smirk. "Let's see... back before you were uploaded did you use the internet or extranet?"

THOSE terms he knew. "Extranet. The internet was more from my parents' and grandparents' time."

Star offered a decisive not. "Right. Well, the metanet is to the extranet what the extranet was to the internet."

"Wow... cool. So... how do I use it?"

Star slowly began walking again and Logan quickly stepped into pace with her. "Do you remember how you accessed it on your visor?"

That was an easy question. "Sure. On the VAN-4 it was voice command, but I heard the VAN-6 upgraded to eye tracking and cognitive input."

Logan missed a step, very nearly tripping over himself when a command prompt came up over his vision; the only reason he didn't fall flat on his face was because Star stabilized him. "Let me guess: you have a menu screen?"

Steadying himself, he turned to her. "Wow... okay... so how do I get it to--" the moment he thought about trying to browse the 'net he immediately got an input prompt, letting him know that his connection was awaiting his query. "--oh... never mind. I got it... I guess. This is really easy!"

Star's tail swished behind her, flicking the back of his calf. "It was designed with ease of use in mind. You missed the early years while humanity was focused on finding alternate places to live. Trans-humanity has been developing THIS technology in the last hundred or so years but it's spread rapidly and is as common as omnifabricators these days."

Logan was once again stumped. "Omnifabricators? Are those things that make other things or something?"

She winked. "Close enough."

They walked in silence past numerous, unlabeled doors as Logan managed to work his way through the interface to access the metanet and managed a search on omnifabricators. He was astounded to hear that the device could create almost anything so long as the blueprints and raw materials were available. Hearing Star snicker next to him helped him realize just how non-responsive he had been. Searching for small talk, he tossed out the first thing he could think of. "So... where are you from? The Milky Way, right? Huma-- Trans-humanity hasn't explored outside our own galaxy yet... or have we?"

Offering up something of a sour face, Star shot him a condescending look for all of a half second before she responded flatly "I'm from Toronto. I was born into trans-humanity, Logan. We still haven't found any 'aliens'. Not yet, anyway."

Logan felt even more foolish, coughing and clearing his throat before trying to restart the conversation. "Oh... then I guess they changed your body or something? Like... modified it with a reverse evolution thing?"

She flicked an ear. "Just like you had your Sum transferred into a clone of your old body, I transferred my Sum to this Corpus."

He offered what he hoped would come across as a welcoming smile. "Oh. Cool... so we're both in new bodies."

Star nodded, continuing their walk onward. "Something like that. The main difference being that your Corpos Verto moved you to a clone vat Corpus and mine moved me into a custom model sliced by a Corpus Artist. You're in a new version of your old body and my Corpus is a unique piece of art."

"...oh."

Rather than walk numbly without any hope of following what Star was saying, he used the silence to start sifting through some of the terms she used on the metanet. Originally surprised at the ease of access to the metanet, he was further encouraged to learn that assimilating the information was near instantaneous; no wonder Star seemed so intelligent. "Corpus Verto", he learned, was the name for the procedure that placed a Sum into a Corpus and that a Corpus Artist was responsible for custom creating bodies for individuals who wanted something unique. He used that as a jumping off point. "Well... yeah... that, uh-- that CORPUS sure is unique."

The statement got a smile out of Star and she took her arm out from within the crook of his, sliding her paw down until she was touching his hand. The Vixen raised both arms above them and did a little spin as if they were dancing. "I know. I've been pleased with it ever since the last 'Verto... only took a little getting used to because it was gene sequenced so the assimilation period was lower than usual."

Logan did another search regarding assimilation periods, learning it was the time a Sum took to get used to a new Corpus and he was astonished. "Wow... I bet that probably cost a FORTUNE to order!"

Rolling her eyes, she reached up and patted his head. "Do a search for the Utopia Project, Lucas... this is a post scarcity society. There's no such thing as a 'fortune' anymore so no, it didn't."

Doing as she requested, the young man was astounded to discover that, with the introduction of omnifabricators resources were no longer of any concern. He rolled the realization around in his mind at least three times. "So... there's no money?"

The Fox woman laughed. "Not exactly... monetary systems are just WAAAAAAAAAY to useful to do away with, but... well... look at it this way." She turned to regard him. "The poor in the 21st century were generally richer than the wealthy in the 16th, and the poor in the 27th are generally richer than the wealthy in the 21st."

Logan leveled his gaze at her. "I doubt I could buy a small country, thanks."

Star winked. "Well... considering inflation... plus the fact that countries don't really exist like that anymore--"

The youg man held up a hand. "Waaaaaaait just a minute... When you say countries don't--"

She didn't give him the chance. "You'll get the BIG picture when you start orientation. One question at a time. We were discussing MONEY, not politics... or lack thereof."

Sighing, he humored her, circling back to money. "Okay... so you're nobody has to pay for anything,or they DO?"

Star smirked. "Most things: the base foundation of life like housing, food and local transportation is all covered. If you want a larger house or high quality food or some special kind of transportation--"

He interjected "Like a 'unique piece of art' Corpus?"

The Fox rolled her eyes. "Cheeky... but yes."

Logan felt his heart beat speed up as the implications of a 'zero upkeep' lifestyle settled in his mind. "Then... people don't have to work anymore to survive?"

The Vixen smirked. "HAVE to? No... depending where in the solar system you live, anyway. Here, most people choose to do what they love to do with their time, and that means creativity, research, study... people add their own value to their time without being forced to fight for survival. And, for things people WANT, they always have an option of spending some of their credit on it."

It still didn't completely register. "Wait... but what about all the raw materials for the omnifabricators?"

Star shot him a glance that suggested that the question wasn't worth answering but, for his benefit, she added "Metanet."

Logan took her advice and, within thirty seconds he came to understand just how far autonomous drones had come since his time. "So manufacturing, mining and industry is all handled by machines?"

The Fox motioned to the side as a door opened and she signaled him through. Following after him, she clarified "Almost. There are some members of trans-humanity that enjoy physical labor, or like working with machines or even like the scientific aspect of resource acquisition but, yes, for the most part, right: all the day-to-day labor is handled by machines, computers and robotics... hence the term 'Utopia Project'.

Logan offered a smirk. "If we left Earth and spread out into space, shouldn't we call it the Sutopia Project then?"

Star shot him an inquisitive glance. "The what?"

The young man answered "Sutopia... you know-- combining Space and Utopia... it's a--" he paused for a moment, quickly using the metanet to look up the word he was thinking of but didn't know "-- a portmanteau."

She offered a playful smile. "Good save."

He realized she must have presumed he used the metanet. "This thing really IS handy."

Pushing him down a non-descript white hallway she chided him. "It's even better when you don't stand there numbly while you're running a search."

Spinning around to face her, he asked "I don't really do that... do I?"

Star responded by staring at him blankly, her muzzle obviously exaggeratedly open. After about two seconds she 'snapped out of it' and stated "Yes."

Laughing despite himself, he rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

The Vixen led him into what looked like one large void of a room beyond the door. The space itself looked like it was half the size of a football field-- a large, open, very pale white space. "And this is your apartment."

Gesturing around in the large, open area, Star seemed relatively pleased by it but Logan was flabbergasted. "Um... all of this? It's... like... uh... one big room. Is this what homes are like now?"

The Fox glanced back his way with a subdued smirk. "Oh? What were you hoping it would be?"

Logan paused, wondering the purpose of such a silly question. "I dunno... at least, like, a bathroom or something."

She folded her arms across her ample breasts. "Okay... and where would the bathroom be?"

Still not exactly sure why she was making such nonsensical conversation, the young man looked around, getting a feel for what his parents' house looked like compared to the empty space. He let out an inadvertent cry of surprise as the floor rippled and, before he knew it, the pale white, barren floor suddenly sprouted a thick, dark grey carpet just like his parents had installed back when he was finishing high school.

That wasn't the end of it however as walls began to emerge out of the sides of the room, spreading out until the sections of the large, open space were divided into their own compartments. Doorways appeared in the walls, quickly occupied by doors which seemingly sprouted out of nothing. Before Logan realized what was happening he found himself standing in the entryway to his parents' house. Star was apparently very good at guessing. "Your parents' house."

The young man wasn't entirely sure what had happened and he didn't answer her question right away, choosing instead to run his hand along the textured wall beneath an old painting his parents had received for their wedding; he'd always hated that picture yet, for some reason, staring at it, he couldn't help but feel that it made the place feel more like home. Spinning back to look at Star, Logan asked "Whats going on?"

The Vixen leaned against one of the newly created walls, reaching a paw back to rap her knuckles against it. The structure sounded quite solid. "A combination of smart materials and premanufactured components. I figured you'd want something familiar so I had them designed based off of your Sum imprint. The residential program responds to your implant and can change it to suit your needs."

He wasn't really sure what to say. In the end, he started with incredulity. "Everyone lives like this? They can just... make a FOUNTAIN appear in their living room?"

No sooner had the thought entered his mind that several carefully concealed panels opened in the walls and a small number of Frisbee-sized automated... were those robots? The drones emerged, some rolling out and some seeming to levitate. Before his eyes he watched as they carefully positioned what looked like a combination of vacuum hose and garden hose; within a minute they had created a large marble statue appeared, complete with a little statuette of what was so embarrassingly close to resembling Star.

Logan stood stunned through the whole process but, as its features took shape couldn't help but blush, mind caught somewhere between wonder or surprise at the drones and embarrassment that the statue had very distinct features. If Star noticed the similarity she thankfully did not let on. "They CAN make a fountain, yes... but I hadn't programmed that asset so, as you can see, they had to construct it for you. Also, you'll note that there's no water. That's because you apparently didn't include plumbing in your directions to the builder bots."

Not particularly worried about the presence or absence of water, Logan focused on figuring out how best to get the fountain to go away; it was a little too gaudy (and embarrassing) for him. It sank back into the floor such that water-less water feature disappeared completely. He walked over and knelt down, running his hand across the carpet which had once again grown to replace it; the material felt indistinguishable from real carpet. "Wow."

Star was much less impressed. "That should be your 'catch phrase' at this rate." Passing by him, she walked into what he knew was the kitchen, continuing the conversation as she went. "As for everyone living like this? No. We're in a post-scarcity society but production isn't limitless. Given another ten or twenty years smart materials will be as common as metanet implants but for now only about 25% of households have access to it and, even then, there are limitations and pre-programming is an important step if you don't want to be in a construction zone."

Logan followed after her. "But I can still control everything with just a thought?"

Turning to face him as he stepped into the kitchen with her, the Vixen leaned back against the counter (seductively, he thought). "Not all at once. It's a neuroprocessing trick and you need to prepare before hand. The smart material can only move so fast so it builds the rooms around you and in the direction you're going, giving you the impression of it already being built, but that all falls apart if you don't have it planned out. This is advanced science but it still takes longer than a second to make an entire residential unit, Logan. This isn't MAGIC, you know."

Something about her statement felt simultaneously enlightening and condescending. Shoving that thought off to the side for the benefit of improving his understanding, Logan focused on another piece of information she'd supplied. "Why do I get this technology exactly? I'm a nobody, right? I just got 'remade' or whatever? Why doesn't someone else get it before I do?"

Star winked. "There just might be hope for you yet, hon... finally starting to ask the right questions." Pushing herself off the counter, the Vixen walked around behind it to the counter where Logan's parents kept the cups. She opened it and pulled out a drinking glass. "Do you remember how I said Sums were being pulled off of old records and reinserted into a cloned Corpus?"

Logan nodded. "Yeah... I was pretty curious about that... like... why?"

The Fox went to the sink and set the cup beneath the faucet; the young man was surprised when a sand-like powder poured out instead of water. Setting it on the counter in front of Logan, she finally replied. "Trans humanity needs more people. Right now we're spread out across the solar system and, even before that, our numbers were diminished greatly due-- well... you know."

He did indeed, or, rather, he put the pieces together. "You said descendants could request family members be brought back. So people are having family members from, like, a half-dozen centuries ago brought back? Couldn't you just do the easy thing and have kids?"

Star smirked. "Having children isn't EASY, Logan... it takes almost two decades for them to grow up and, while some people do choose to go that route, others make us of resources that are already available. After all, Class Ones like yourself take a lot less time to be productive members of trans-humanity."

Logan looked up from the glass full of 'sand'. "Class One?"

The Fox filled up another glass and held it in her paws. "Right. A Class One is any human who had the initial scan and DNA coding done between 2120 and 2125. After that, an updated form of brain scans came out and those people were Class Two, but there aren't many of us left. Class Three came out around the same time as humanity transitioned into Trans-Humanity and--"

The young man interrupted. "Wait. You said 'like us'."

"I did."

Logan took a step closer. "You mean you're a Class Two?"

The Fox flicked some errant mane (hair?) out of her face. "Mmm-hmm. That's right. Anyway, Class Ones outnumber the rest of us by a LOT so there's no shortage of Sums to rejoin to a Corups so long as there's a family member to claim them and help get them set up with a residence and access to reintegration and social education."

The young man definitely didn't like the sound of that. "So.. like... school?"

Star tittered. "Not like the school you knew of. There are a few uploads and an afternoon orientation. You should be good to go by the end of the week."

That was a relief. "Oh. Cool. Um-- what day is it anyway?"

The Fox rolled her eyes. "Check your interface."

The answer came to him as quickly as he could think of it. "Oh. Wednesday."

The Vixen nodded and brought her glass down on the counter with a firm smack. The sound surprised Logan, catching his attention and he watched as the sand dissolved in a wave from the bottom of the glass upward, replaced by crystal clear water. She took a sip, her bubblegum pink tongue licking the rim after she wet her lips. "Mmm hmm... and late enough that you can take some time getting settled into your hab. Would you like me to stay for awhile so we can have sex?"

The young man had been so absorbed in looking at the water in her glass that he almost missed her statement and, even as he processed what he'd heard it took several seconds for him to process it. "S-sex? With... you?"

The Fox rolled her eyes playfully. "Unless you'd rather have it with yourself." Logan stood there stunned as she began to undo her blouse, then paused; he could only imagine the expression on his face. Star let out a soft sigh. "Oh right.. twenty second century morality. I suppose that was a little fast for you-- here in the twenty seventh century we are a little more relaxed about things like this. I didn't blow your mind beyond recovery, did I?"

It was a little too difficult for Logan to recover after that in a way that could in any fashion resemble suave so he just went for honesty instead. "I... well... I mean-- I really need to get my bearings first before I mess around with anyone... you know? Kinda... figure myself out before getting into--"

Star didn't seem to mind his hesitance in the least; even worse, she apparently didn't have any qualms playing off of it. "Oh, of course... it was presumptuous of me. After all, maybe you might prefer someone with a different Corpus configuration."

His brain idled for several seconds until he could catch up to the conversation (he was still focused on the thought of seeing the Vixen's fur up close and uninhibited. "Different Corpus configuration?"

The Fox winked. "One with male genitalia, or maybe both working parts. With or without breasts... you know, options abound, after all."

Feeling his cheeks flush, Logan had to backpedal. "Wha? No! I mean... guys are okay but I like ladies. I-- I mean I'm fine with all of it. What's between your legs isn't an issue I--" he paused to take a breath and try again. "This is all just really new and everything. I need a little time before I start looking at relationships."

Star out-and-out cracked up, laughing so hard she bent over, one arm on the counter while the other held her abdomen. She tried three times before she recovered enough to talk. "Oh... I forgot how uptight people from the twenty second century are. I'm not talking about a relationship-- I just mean sex. But it's okay, Hon... I get that you aren't ready just yet, but feel free to consider it an open invitation for when you are. It's been awhile since I had a man from the twenty second."

He really didn't know how to answer that statement. "Uh... thanks?"

Dismissing his response with a casual wave of her paw, the Vixen proceeded through the arch which led out of the kitchen to the right, moving toward the living room. Logan followed after her and, as expected, everything was exactly as he remembered it. Not even slowing down, the Fox woman went straight for the door leading down to the basement. Glancing over her shoulder, she called to him. "One more thing I want to show you."

The young man joined her, taking each step one at a time. He didn't remember there being any steps leading down in the blank, open area he saw before the house was spontaneously 'created' and he contemplated exactly how everything worked to create the copy of his parents' house but he promised himself he'd look it up on the metanet when he had a spare moment. He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't even realize he'd stopped on the staircase. Star, who had already reached the bottom was looking up at him. "Well?"

He took the last several steps two at a time until he was in the basement with her; it was almost exactly like he remembered. His father had transitioned it into something of a 'man cave' including a well-padded armchair and an ancient billiards table. Everything that should have been there was, yet something else was too. Placed in the middle of the game table (which was missing its usually setup of balls) was an AR visor. At first Logan thought it was his VAN-4 but when he stepped closer he could tell it most certainly wasn't.

The visor was old-- very VERY old, and yet it was far more advanced than his VAN-4, and in surprisingly good condition despite the obvious passage of time affecting it. Reaching down, the young man picked it up and turned it around in his hands twice, looking it over until he saw the stamped logo on the side. "VAN-8? They made a VAN-8?"

Star tittered at his astonishment. "It was the last model they released before the war. Your sister said that you placed a custom order for it when you got your research study check. As soon as it arrived you never took it off... not even for family pictures-- not even at her wedding. It drove her crazy, so obviously I had to save it."

Logan ran his fingers across the headband, a sense of severity weighing him down as he examined the relic of times long past... times that, for him, hadn't even happened. He continued staring at it for several more seconds until something Star said made it through his haze of confusion and frustration. "Did Susie... you know... leave some kind of recording or something talking about all of that or whatever? Can I hear it?"

The Fox sat on the corner of the table, running her paw across the raised edge. She shook her head. "No... no recording... but she talked about you all the time. I didn't remember you at all because the war happened before I turned two, but sometimes I hated that Mom would never shut up about her crazy older brother."

Everything finally clicked. "You're... you're Susie's daughter?"

"Mmm-hmm."

The gears continued turning. "You're my NIECE?!?"

She cocked her head to the side, playfully stating "Well, that WOULD stand to reason."

His next statement came out more like an accusation than an acknowledgement. "You're the one who signed me up for a new body!"

Star flicked an ear. "Corpus."

Logan didn't even register her answer as something else immediately came to mind. "You asked if I wanted to have sex!!!"

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "You don't have to make such a big deal out of it!"

He definitely made a big deal out of it.