“The choice is simple: human or android?” Claiborne LeClerc thought it over. Basically, the question could be reworded as “mortal or immortal.”

“I am putting a little pressure on the android option,” said the government official. “It is the smart choice. Think of it as like picking a college to attend.”

Most of the people in New Quebec, as it is called now after The Great Occupation, had become androids and those who had not were quickly becoming androids.

“Any side effects?” Claiborne asked the official.

“Just immortality and a few other things you could not do as a human. You will have increased strength and intellect. You will also have a stun gun implanted in your arm, for emergency purposes of course. Back in the day, America would never let you have that opportunity.”

Claiborne thought it over. He looked at his credit card, embedded in his forearm.

“What about my credit card? It would be a mess trying to get it out.”

“We save the number into the android. You’ll use it like you always have, but your arm would be robotic, of course.”

Claiborne looked up at the fluorescent light illuminating the room. There was no way out now. The government wanted everyone to become an android by the year 2055. That was five years away, anyway. He might as well become one now. But he was still unnerved by the fact that his brain would be taken out and put into a machine.

“Alright,” Claiborne said, making up his mind. “Let’s do it.”


“There’s no excitement.”

“Well, did you think it would be too different from normal life?” asked Claiborne.

Bourne Coupe looked over at his Claiborne, his roommate. They both had become androids around the same time and it had been about six months since they had been human.

“We’re not human anymore, we should be able to do superhuman things,” Bourne pointed out.

“I can’t believe they won’t let us get custom paint jobs,” complained Claiborne.

Claiborne tugged at his black and red armor. As an android, he had a humanoid figure, but no humanoid features like a face, nose, ears and such. For his face he had a black slab of glass, nothing more. No eyes to show feeling and sympathy, no mouth to smile with.

“It was almost a waste of money. You’re essentially a robotic version of yourself. Sure, you have limited super-strength and a stun gun, but other than that, we’re the same,” observed Claiborne.

“And immortality. That was the big feature that the feds were advertising,” Bourne pointed out.

“Why aren’t they becoming androids? Why push us to do something and then not do it themselves?”

“Typical.”

Just then, there was a rumble and an alarm went off. The sky was a hazy green, like it had been since all the ozone was used against Greece in World War IV. The giant crack along Main Street was spewing green gas.

“Get to the mini-shelter,” Claiborne sighed.

But before either of them could react, the fissure in the ground ceased it’s spewing.

“Sick of them,” Bourne grumbled. “They keep happening more frequently now.”

“Not only that, but air is more expensive now than ever. They need to find a way to…put it outside so ALL people could breathe it.”

“Dude,” Bourne said, “why do you think the government wants us to become androids? So we don’t have to breathe air! Among other things.”

“Our brains still need oxygen,” Claiborne yawned. “We should really get out of here.”


Boston was busy this time of day. It was Friday afternoon, and everyone was stuck in air traffic, or whoever was stupid enough hopped into their car and went through the two-million people trying to get home in time for dinner. They were never on time for dinner.

The air store was packed. Everyone needed air for the weekend. That’s when everyone partied, and young androids would stick flash drives into their ports get high off the latest virus.

“You know, we could have gone somewhere else,” Bourne moaned.

“We need air anyways,” Claiborne pointed out.

“The lines not moving at all”

Suddenly, the bright, fluorescent lights in the store flickered on and off. Nobody could care less. Blackouts were completely common. Everyone in the store who was an android started sparking. Claiborne included, but the surge was so strong that it destroyed one his wires.

“Darn it,” he grumbled. “They have enough energy to keep us running for eternity, but they can’t produce enough to keep the power on for twenty-four hours.”

“DON’T SAY THAT!” shouted Bourne in a voice that was not at all like his.

He charged at Claiborne, his hands ready to rip Claiborne’s head off.

Reacting instinctively, Claiborne fired a quick blast from his stun gun. It hit Bourne in the chest, tearing through his metallic tunic. Bourne stopped dead in his tracks and fell to the floor.

Every other android in the store locked it’s eyes on Claiborne.

“Hey!” he shouted. “You saw what he did! I feel bad, but he…just went crazy!”

All of the androids pointed their stun guns at Claiborne.

“Crap,” whispered Claiborne.

The androids simultaneously fired the guns at him. Claiborne rolled out of the way just in time. He had rolled behind a shelf of potato microchips and gathered his thoughts.

“This doesn’t make sense,” Claiborne whispered to himself. “Did that spark fry their brains? No, they wouldn’t be responsive then.”

He looked over to his right and saw the shelf starting to melt right before his eyes. He looked at the door. He was only nine feet away. He could make it. He readied himself and then bolted for the door. He broke the glass and looked at the city in awe. Almost every android in the city was floating in the sky staring at him.

“Stop!” commanded the android at the front of the mob.

Stopping would have been the best thing for Claiborne to do. But, once again, he ran to his right, into an alley. The Jumbotron downtown could be heard from his hiding spot. Claiborne got chills as he heard the person on the giant screen address him.

“Clairborne…Claiborne LeClerc?” asked the person on the Jumbotron. “This is Overlord—I mean “President” Harman LeStrange. Just come quietly with the other androids. We don’t need to make this any more difficult.”

Claiborne LeClerc had never run so fast in his life. He was determined to get out of the city, heck even the country. All he was focused on now was running. All he needed to do was run…run…run…run…


“…and those are all the extra features for the base model, which is what you can afford right now, Mr. LeClerc. Mr. LeClerc?”

“Hm? Oh yes. Sorry, I just dozed off for a second,” replied Claiborne.

“It’s quite alright,” assured the government official. “I know I was boring you by listing all the features, but we like people to know what they’re buying before the buy it.”

“Mm hmm,” nodded Claiborne.

“Alright then. Now, the question is simple Mr. LeClerc: human or android?”

Claiborne thought long and hard. He considered everything. He estimated what impact it would have on his social life, his family. The official leaned forward in his chair, eager for an answer.

After thinking it through more, Claiborne looked at the official and made his decision.