Introduction

In the late 22nd century, the genetically enhanced d-humans who control the world are considering a proposal at the UN to make the unenhanced humans extinct. It’s a hearing like no other… our human race is on trial. The blots on our history become evidence against our continued existence.

Eusebio Franklin, a school teacher from a small community, is faced with the most terrifying dilemma imaginable: should he carry out an act of mass terrorism in order to save the human race?

Eusebio has been chosen to defend our human race in a special session of the United Nations. It’s the late 22nd. century, and most people are genetically enhanced; Eusebio is among the minority that remain unimproved, known as Primals, consisting mostly of the impoverished global underclass. The UN is on the verge of implementing a “Proposed Extinction of the Primal Species” and Eusebio’s been picked to represent his race in a last ditch legal effort to save the Primals from extinction.

But as the hearing progresses, Eusebio is faced with a terrible decision. He’s secretly visited by Yusef who represents the Rejectionists - a renegade group of Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus refusing to accept the d-humans’ genetic optimization because it prevents them from knowing God. Yusef urges Eusebio to take the only meaningful action to save the human race from extinction: detonate a nuclear bomb hidden in the UN building in New York where the session is taking place.

As the story develops to its dramatic climax, Eusebio finds himself increasingly alienated from the d-human world, while Yusef’s plot places him in an agonizing moral dilemma: whether to engage in an act of nuclear terrorism to preserve the human race.

In this novel, the reader faces challenging questions about spirituality, history and society: Could our race “evolve” itself to a higher plane? At what cost and benefit? If we lost what is now the “human race” as a result, would that be so bad, given our sordid and shameful history? On the other hand, is there something special, our soul, worth keeping at any price? Ultimately, the novel forces the reader to grapple with the fundamental question: what does it mean to be human?

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Excerpt

1 Harry Shields

Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
And where have you been my darling young one?

I'm making my way down a corridor in the United Nations building in Manhattan. My heart pounding out of control. My temples beating so hard against my brain I can hear nothing else but their thud-thud. I'm carrying in my pocket a little metal object which will bring utter destruction to everybody around me in just a few moments. I am the bringer of doom. I am the savior of my human race. I am a confused, desperate man who knows what he needs to do. I find the right door. I enter. I am about to unleash a destruction on a greater scale than the world has ever seen. I am about to save my race. How did I get here? How did I get here? ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

From the author:

1. Is the world of the late 22nd century described in the novel obviously a dystopia – a bad future to be avoided at all costs? Or is it more ambiguous? How realistic does it seem as a scenario for our future? To what extent is it an extrapolation of trends that are already happening today?

2. Harry Shields, prosecutor for the d-humans, bases much of his case for the extinction of the Primals on the fact that we unenhanced humans have made such a mess of the world through the 21st century. Do you think he has a case? Are we as a society acting irresponsibly with the power that technology has given to us? Are we really doing such a bad job, or is Harry’s case overstated?

3. Different characters in the book have conflicting views about the human soul. On the one hand, Dr. Schumacher sees the soul as organically arising in each of us from billions of years of evolution. On the other hand, the Rejectionists hold a more conventional, monotheistic view of the soul as our link to the infinite. Are these views reconcilable? Could there actually be more than one soul? What view of the soul are you most comfortable with?

4. Each day, when Yusef secretly visits Eusebio, he pulls him inexorably into a conspiracy to commit a horrendous act of nuclear terrorism. At first, Eusebio is horrified at the idea, but as he gets increasingly alienated from the d-humans he realizes that the future of the Primals is truly at stake, and he begins to believe it’s the right thing to do. If you were Eusebio, how would you deal with his dilemma? Is there anything that justifies murdering innocent people … even saving the human race from extinction?

5. On one of his virtual field trips, Eusebio is awed by his visit to a recreated African nature reserve. However, he’s then disgusted to find out that every creature in the reserve is monitored and controlled by the d-humans’ technology. As our society increasingly destroys the natural environment, is it right to try to recreate Nature even it requires extensive artificial intervention? At what point does Nature stop being “Nature” and become something man-made?

6. The novel is interspersed with four magazine articles, each roughly a generation apart from the next, showing how society gradually shifts its moral values with respect to human genetic engineering. As you consider the articles, where do you think a line is crossed which differentiates the values of the 22nd century from our present values? How realistic do you see the “slippery slope” to the d-humans of the 22nd century? What protections could we (or should we) put in place now to avoid slipping down that slope?

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