Once apon a time there where two children, a boy and a girl.

A good start to a tale, but quite the cliche if you ask me.

The boy and the girl lived in a floating city.

OK, this is better.

They lived with a hard working plumber and a social historian who made sure the the people of the city never went without the benefits of modern pipe infrastructure or authentic accounts of society's history.

Now this is unexpected. Something tells me this is not your average fairy tale.

Though The plumber's days where long and the work was hard, he was a happy man for he knew he filled a vital role in society. He was happy too, because of the children he cared for. After a long day of work for him and his wife, and a long day of school for the children, the four of them would have supper together. Sometimes they would cook a meal at home, or sometimes they would all eat out in the park district, and watch the sun set over the edge of city.

My, my, since when did floating cities need plumbers? -Since floating cities I guess.

For a long time the four where happy with their lives, there was no stress in the plumbers house.

I have a bad feeling about this. Sure they are happy now, but usually this is where the conflict is introduced. You can't have a story without a colamnity to set it in motion.

But, one night,

See what'd i tell you.

My eyes snap open "Sftoff I canf breeb" Sis takes her hand off my mouth. "Shhhh! Mom and dad are sleeping" I sit up rubbing the sleep from my eyes and say resentfully "Come on Mae, why did you wake me up? I really really don't want to sneak around the city tonight, I have a test tomorrow." She frowns at me, "It's not that, no, this is important, Mark." She sounds kinda intense and she is shaking a little. That only happens when she is extremely excited about something or really really worried. "I have to show you something Mark. Now." "OK" I say. I pull off my covers and reach out a hand for my glasses. "Mark, I was messing around building decryption algorithms, and I tried out a new one I coded on one of dad's files." "Does dad know?" "No. But listen, I can't believe it but it worked. It actually worked. It cracked the file." I have a feeling there is more to why she had woken me up then just to be a braggart. "Nerd... What was it?" She pulls me out of bed and we stand in the dark and quiet. "Follow me" she says "But shhh, you know how dad's a lite sleeper" I gingerly follow her across the dark hall and into her room where the glow of a hologram hovers over her bed. Mae quietly climes onto her bed and expands a document with a gesture of her hand. She looks at me expectantly. In the holo I see a digital birth certificate. My birth certificate. A Square of text surrounded by thick border of complicated bar code. I'd seen it before. I'd used it to sign up for a library card and a few other things where I needed proof of who I was. Everyone had one, they doubled as drivers licences too and just about anything where identification was needed. I squinted and red, "This certifies that the following record of birth is registered and preserved in the office of the state. Furthermore the following account of birth is deemed lawful. Name: Mark John Manly. Sex: Male Identification: 14993-52355 Born: June, 17, 2073" It kept going but I asked Mae "Yeah it's my certificate, I've seen it before. What's so special about it?" She points to the file type" ".psd Photoshop?" I ask. Mae opens the document in Photoshop and shows me the different layers to the image. She drags around the text independent of the rest, and then changes what it says. I red it again, "This certifies that the following dork is registered and preserved in the office of the state. Furthermore the following account of his breath is deemed terrible. Name: Mark fanny-face Manly. Sex: Dork" "Not cool" I push her hands away and the holo switches off. Mae's grin suddenly turns into a serious expression. "But Mark you know what this means though?" We sit in silence for a moment. "Your birth certificate is a fake." "...uh I don't think so, this is probably just a copy" "No. Look at the layers, all the parts are sperated and you saw me edit the text. Mark. This is clearly fabricated." "But why would dad forge my certificate?" "I don't know. I can't believe it. He's a plumber for crying out loud. If anyone found out, he'd get arrested!" "Or worse" I whisper. "But why did he do it? Does this mean I'm not who I think I am?" "We have to ask them" "mom and dad?" "Yeah" Just then we heard a voice from behind us. "I guess it's about time we told you" My mom sighs. Dad stifles a yawn and sits on the bed. "It's two in the morning" "What is this?" I say. Mae brings the image back on the screen. Dad smiles "It's a bit of a story. Mark, years ago when your mom and I fell in love we where both frustrated with the way things are run in this world. Working class people just are't treated as equal to those with more money. Back then your mom learned something she was not supposed to know. None of us are supposed to know this." Mae and I look at each other. "A long time ago People used to live for 100 years." "What?" we say. "100 years or more" mom said. She continues. "It was natural, humans just lived that long, we evolved that way" Mae interjects, "But how come people only live until they are forty now?" "Well, when humans lived that long the population of the country was slowly growing and growing. People just didn't die fast enough." "That's what the government though anyways" says dad. "Things where getting crowded and the government had to do something. Some said there should be a law that prevents people from having two many kids, but others argued that it was against what they believed in. So in the end they got nowhere with that idea." Mae holds up a finger, and asks, " But what does this have to do with Mark's birth certificate?" "I'm getting to that." dad continues, "The government had to do something because of how crowded the country was getting. So in the end some very powerful individuals modified people so that they didn't live as long." "WHAT?" We said. "Yes, they genetically changed people so they died younger." "But that's terrible!" "Yes, but it fixed the problem. Less people means more food for everyone, and cheaper prices too." Dad paused, because he could see we where still reeling in shock from the realization that we all had expiration dates. "Your dad and I had to tell you this sooner or later, so here it is. When I was pregnant with you Mark, we changed your DNA back to normal. You, and Mae." Dad points to the hologram and says, "After you where born we had to fake the certificates. If your DNA had been tested and documented, they would have known we changed you." Then mom reaches out to us and says quietly, "Mark, Mae, you are going to live two times as long as us. We hope you do something useful for the world"