Unity
The
problem of overpopulation hit a new high. The entire solar system was populated
to the maximum with numbers of humans stretching into the hundred trillions (by
scientific estimates). The gas giants were the last to be populated mainly due
to their absence of a solid surface. Floating platforms were developed in which
cities could be built and the atmosphere of deuterium and helium was converted
into breathable oxygen. It was a feat of engineering and scientific immensity.
The day the solar system was fully populated was approximately 5000 AD. Now
food production will soon reach it’s limit. Potable water is becoming scarce.
Still
on Earth a group of two scientists and two engineers work together to perfect
human fusion. The previous team developed a combined human, but the size of him
was that of two humans, not helping the overpopulation problem. The new team
must be able to fuse two or more humans into one normal sized person. The team
was finally ready to test their hypotheses. A group of subjects were brought to
the lab, their collective name was code name Jom, a mix between Tom and Jane.
The group consisted of ten individuals, five men and five women.
The
test subjects were crowded into a fusion tank and subjected to uranium at a high
atmospheric pressure. Two hours later they emerged as one, androgynous looking
person, who, remarkably, was only five foot nine and 165lbs.
Tests
were performed for months to see if there were any health risks to Jom as a
result of the procedure. Jom broke all
records for the fastest sprint, marathon and longest jump. It had the highest
documented IQ of any human to date, and for some reason, unbeknownst to the
team, Jom only needed approximately 2,000 calories of food a day. The team
observed Jom in public. It could carry on several conversations at once,
remember everyone’s name.
Soon it
was brought to the workplace. Jom could perform the job of ten people and
multitask with ease. Quickly it’s superiors realized the value of Jom and paid
it ten times an average person’s salary.
When
all experiments were complete and Jom appeared healthy, the team of scientists
and engineers installed fusion tanks across the planet, to start. Once the
success of them was established, they were soon installed throughout the solar
system.
The
human population was condensed to one tenth of it’s size. Over the years the
condensed humans were condensed even more, with seemingly no side effects.
Years
later Jom was scheduled for a checkup to see if there were any long term risks
or complications for it’s survival. However, researchers found that Jom died
the year previous to their check up. Apparently when ten individuals are
combined they take a toll on the single heart, thus reducing life span.
That
means the combined humans who are already fused will die exponentially sooner
than the individuals who are fused only once. The team quickly performed more
tests and have yet to find an answer.
