**Brain (in a calm, calculating tone)**
Okay, everyone, gather up. We’re not in the best shape today.

****

**Skin (dull and stretched thin)**
I’m feeling _stretched_. Everything's too loose. I keep tearing, and it’s not just me. The whole surface is under pressure. Can someone tighten this up?

****

**Collagen (weak, a bit apologetic)**
I’m trying! But, as you know... I’m not as strong as I should ...

The wind stirred gently through the orchard, rustling the leaves of the old apple tree where Daniel and his little brother, Eli, had spent every summer of their lives. The sun hung low behind the hills, casting long shadows across the golden fields. It was the kind of evening that made time feel slower, like the world itself was holding its breath.

Daniel sat on the wooden swing they'd built toget...

By 2050, the state had abolished the family. The _Child Optimization Directive_ declared human affection inefficient and dangerous. All infants were harvested at birth and delivered to massive government complexes known as _Nurseries_, where artificial intelligence reared them for obedience, productivity, and silence.

Facility 17 was a prototype. designed to raise ten thousand children in perfect ...

I step out of the sterile cold building for the first time in what feels like centuries.. maybe it has been. No. That couldn’t be right.. people don’t live that long.. years probably. Yeah.. years sounds right. The air is damp but warm, thin whispy clouds litter the sky and the trees lightly rustle in the light breeze.. “gods I can finally breathe” I think to myself as I step further out into what...