FUTURES SCIENCE FICTION WELCOME TO THE WORLD, TRILBY FREEDOM It’s the age of enlightenment. BY MARCELINA VIZCARRA have to suffer the child-hostile public spaces, Jared had chosen the name in panic after his the nanny drones following them through rival neighbours announced their twins, Sari he whole cul-de-sac had been invited. supermarkets and shopping centres. and Knickerbocker. At least he’d never force Arabella lifted the visor to reveal her “My gripe: the backyard playsets,” Ara- his son into friendships with the snobby twins. daughter’s chubby face, fresh from her bella said. “My mom used to send me outside Gone were the days of the shoving, pinching, Tbirth-year quarantine. “Her name’s Trilby by myself every afternoon.” sticky touch of childhood, the adhesion Libertas. It means Hat of Freedom,” Ara- “Me too,” Seattle said. “Once, I of germs and bad decisions and bella said. The other parents at Jared’s table played with cat faeces for an parental disinterest that used JACEY moaned in approval. It was a good coup in hour before she came out- to form bonds between the clothing-name trend. You couldn’t take side and told me what kids. Perhaps the parent- two steps anymore without passing a Vesta or it was. Toxoplasmosis, ing enlightenment had a Helmet, a Buckley or a Blazer. But a Trilby anyone?” accomplished some- ranked up there with past icons like Snobia, Bangle rolled over thing after all, Jared Anavrin and Chyme for uber unique. for a portion of gluten- thought. The party noise triggered the audio-con- free, nonallergenic, “A toast,” the elderly tamination warning on Trilby’s second womb. free-radical-blasting man said, lofting a Arabella adjusted the baby’s acoustic-foam vitamin pulp. Jared tumbler of carbon- and headband. “Anything higher than 85 deci- leaned as he shifted in politic-neutral banana bels can damage hearing,” she announced. his chair, setting off the splash, “to the little lady on The parents murmured in agreement. girl’s proximity alarm. her first birthday. Welcome The kids at the indoor park lolled inside “Christ, I had no idea I was to the world, Trilby Freedom.” their transparent filter-suits like unhard- that close.” He apologized profusely Arabella winced. ened vegetables. When Jared was a child, to Bangle’s mother who, being gracious, “Hear, hear.” They quaffed their juice the dome’s climbing walls and tunnels were recoded the alarm. while Trilby chewed on her crib mentor, a attempted with bare hands, the bacteria-and- “Don’t worry. I know you’re not a perv.” plush kangaroo translating their every word sugar mucilage an inevitable, occasionally She laughed. She’d checked him against the into Mandarin and Japanese. welcome, form of traction. He’d used the gunk registry two weeks earlier when he compli- “And,” Jared said, rising to his feet in a rare once to grease Arabella’s ponytails. The next mented Bangle’s dress. “Meet Trilby, Bangle. fit of self-promotion, “to the sacrifices we’ve day at school, she’d appeared with a fresh pixie Not so close, honey. Stay behind the sensor.” made for our children. Thanks to modern cut and a zero-tolerance policy in her hand. Too late. The womb pulsers discharged, understanding, they can pursue real friend- “Swimming lessons!” Merit’s voice flared delivering a preliminary, non-lethal shock. ships, based on respect instead of proximity.” with mock-indignation. “Right! One life- “I got bit once from my great-grandson’s His neighbours blinked and paused, then, guard per ten kids.” carrier,” an old man said. One of the relics pleased with Jared’s epiphany, self-attributed Enlightened parenting. Jared’s least- from the cul-de-sac. “Remember when you’d it in their diaries. Panto hugged himself, sig- favourite default conversation. Better to shock your fingers against the doorknob nalling Bangle to hug herself in response. pitch in, though, than to allow his silence to after walking across the carpet? It’s about like They finished with an air high-five, deliv- be mistranslated throughout cyberspace as that.” He made a buzzer sound and poked ered, by the push of a button, with a cymbal aloofness again. And end up on the apathy- Jared in the shoulder. clash. police’s radar. Talk about creepy fora. “We The others regarded the man with pity. He On cue, the sandwiches arrived in their can’t blame our folks,” Jared said. “They coughed into his fist. On cue, they pulled out own dome. The server detailed the chicken didn’t know any better.” their pocket sanitizers and masked them- salad’s previous incarnation as animal and “Society wasn’t ready.” selves, effectively ending the chat. vegetable and offered to list toxin exposure “Exactly. My mother was ridiculed for Arabella narrated into her diary for the for each ingredient. Arabella waved away the putting me on a leash.” benefit of her 8,000 followers. “Having a server. “We’re not fascists here. I mean, we “Speaking of inhibitors, what about those blast. Trilby’s met everyone except Panto.” survived our parents’ menu.” car seats!” Seattle said. “Remember those? She raised her eyebrows at Jared. He shuffled “Back in the day, before free-range food.” Like our backs were somehow more impor- through the apps on his diary to summon his “‘Honey, your dinner was clinically tant than our organs.” son from the pretzel slides. The action posted depressed. Enjoy!’” “Those harnesses caused my lactose intol- online, where half a dozen people including Jared relaxed. Free-range food, air and erance.” a retired couple in sunshine. At last, something everyone could A chorus of beeps alerted the parents NATURE.COM Montana and Jared’s agree upon. ■ to the passage of time, and they turned in Follow Futures: mother in Florida unison to monitor their children. At least, @NatureFutures reposted the event. Marcelina Vizcarra lives in the Midwest here, with the kids safely herded, they didn’t go.nature.com/mtoodm Panto wheeled over. with her family. 134 | NATURE | VOL 514 | 2 OCTOBER 2014 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.