Ellie Eleven did not know her biological parents. They gave her to the orphanage soon after she was born. Her last name was given to her by the orphanage being the eleventh child given to them that year.
In a letter given to her years later, left by her parents, it explained how they couldn't afford her medical treatments and the United Earth Nations was obligated to help her. Ellie had cried when she read the letter.
Growing up in the orphanage was both fun and hard. Fun because Ellie could learn anything she wanted. Hard because the other kids fought and were mean to each other through a few were okay. Ellie learned early to speak loudly and dominantly to get her way.
“Ellie why don't you come and play with the other kids?” Rosa said encouragingly. “But I'm almost finished!” Ellie protested loudly. She loved Rosa, one of the few sentient AI's in the UEN. It had given her a love for learning that started with the robots Rosa used to help the kids.
“You can finish it latter. You can't keep locking yourself in your room.” Ellie sighed dramatically having heard the soft demand before. There was just so much to learn!
“You know what the other kids are like. They call be Sickly Ee!”
“Now, Now, you just have to found common ground with each other. Sarah Five and you had fun with that shooter game. Though I discourage such violent games.” Rosa chided softly.
Ellie hated to admit that Rosa had a point, a small one. Sighing dramatically she gave in. “You win this round Rosa, but you will not win the next!” Rosa chuckled. “Yes dear. Now come.”
Ellie walked out of her room and made her way up to the game room, slash, dining hall. The orphanage was in a small bunker located underground at UEN's star port city. It was one of the only truly safe places on Hemwell. Nobody was stupid enough to attack the port.
Ellie had grown up with daily news of different corporations fighting, of devastation brought about for a few more tonnes of metal that made Hemwell the largest manufacturing center in the galaxy. Entering the game room she looked over the cluster of kids. Some few had been here as long as Ellie. Others went and got adopted. Few would adopt sickly Ee.
Ellie frowned at the name. One of the older new arrivals followed Ellie thoughts. “If it isn't Sickly Ee! Come out of your hole finally!' Ellie snarled and lunged at the girl. She was promptly caught by one of Rosa ever present bots. “Now Jessica I have told you not to be mean to other girls and Ellie how many time do I have to say fighting is not allowed.” Still stewing Ellie grounded out an apology. She quickly turned and found Sarah hunched over a game display.
“Hey Sarah! You want to play a game?'
A few weeks later Ellie was receiving her monthly injection of Tier 5 medical nanites. Tier 5 nanites were the most basic and lowest Tier of nanites used, usually for minor injuries. A few days in a medical tank with Tier 2 medical nanites and they could fix anything. Better and faster than the Tier 5s. Almost anything.
Ellie Eleven had a dormant gene that activated causing her DNA to break apart. A hundred years ago a bioweapon was released targeting a specific geno type. Racial genocide. Genetic engineering cured 99.99% of the population but it still left a recessive gene in a very, very, few people, one in several billion, that could become active.
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If her luck wasn't bad enough, Ellie's birth parents had received advance genetic upgrades. Usually a good option to pass to your kids but both her biological parents received upgrades form different corporations. Corrupt corporations that engineered their upgrades to be genetically incompatible when combined with other companies DNA upgrades.
It almost made her parents two different species. Almost, but not quite, as bad as trying to interbreed a dog and a cat. It was technically illegal but too much money was involved for the senate to take action.
To correct both illnesses a computer needed to run for months analyzing her DNA and create a new stable DNA base. That also involved running millions of simulations to double check the new recombined DNA would remain stable, not mutating in a few years, and that she could safely reproduce with the rest of humanity.
With her luck they would mess up and she would mutate into a frog! Ellie did not want to become another species! It also made sure that if she ever did have a child, and that child had a child, that in the 10 th generation, a few hundred years from now, her many times great grand kids did not mutate into another species.
After everything checked out Ellie would need to spend months immersed in a regen tank. The cost totaled hundreds of thousands of credits, something the orphanage couldn't afford on UEN miserly budget, to many other kids to feed and support.
Her injections were a cost saving crux, it 'cured' her so long as she keep receiving them and that was good enough for the UEN, though not what her parents had in mind. It did not cure her permanently; it just stopped the DNA destabilization.
Rosa cleared her throat, a very human gesture. “Ellie I hate to say this.” She paused. “Know that I protested as strongly as I could, but it was out of my hands.” She said sadly.
Ellie sat up straighter concerned. “It has been decided that in a few months you will be old enough, and mature enough, to be an adult. Injections well be halted.” She said in a rush. Ellie could almost see her tears.
“But I'll only be ten! Majority is sixteen! Even on Hemwell!” Ellie protested.
“I know love. I know.” Rosa pushed on. “You are far ahead of your age group and with your test sores it was used by the budget committee to show how mature you are and to stop your costly treatments. Maybe you can get a job? ” Rosa asked not really believing what she said but trying to be supportive.
Ellie know her prognosis was grim but this was so sudden. Those bastards had just decided her death to save a few credits! Ellis didn't know how to react. “It's okay, it's okay Rosa.” Trying to sooth the AI, the closest thing to mother she ever had.
Rosa laughed bitterly. “Here you are trying to comfort me!”
“We know someday this would happen. I have been studying hard for years! I will think of something.” Ellie tried to be positive, despite the death sentence handed to her.
“Ellie please look at your pad.” Ellie looked down at her commpad. The device she had learned to reprogram and encrypt with Rosa's patient guidance. A secure message flashed.
'Tier 5 nanites have been lost’ a string of letters and numbers followed. Ellie breathed deeply and tried not to react as the message self deleted. She wanted to cry at Rosa's selfless act, an act that could get her deleted.
“Thank you for the job openings. I will look them over.” Ellie called out to cover for Rosa.
On Hemwell kids could get a job at any age but many were too dangerous. If they were not jobs working in the mines, they were for far more sinister proposes. On the dark sub net Ellie had read stories about illegal experiments done to kids, or kids sold to off world colonies for slave labor, if they were lucky.
Ellie shuddered at some of the stories out there about what happen on a few of the worlds. Ellie had hoped to enter the military at sixteen, the youngest she could join. She could have volunteer for the cyber soldier special warfare unit that would have spent the money to cure her.
All soldiers got DNA and cyber upgrades but the cyber unit went further. A lot further.
“Well I better get back to studying.” Ellie said brightly maybe too brightly. Don't overdo it she admonished herself. Getting up from the small med bay she exited and went to her room. She had a lot of studying to do.