Chapter 1

Melody fidgeted anxiously in her seat. She looked back and forth between the comlink processor in her lap, the podium, and the other reporters seated around her. She smiled at the guy sitting to her right. "I've never been part of a Presidential press conference before. I'm Melody. Just graduated from school last year and I'm already here covering the President. Can you believe it? What's your name? What's the President like? How long have you been doing this?"

With a laugh of uncertainty over when he'd have the chance to answer, Stephan patted Melody on her hand. "Call me Steve. President Stanford is a good person, very down to earth. I've been doing this for about five years now. Since President Carrolton was in office. You've got nothing to be nervous about."

"How much longer do you think it'll be before she gets here?"

Stephan glanced at his own comlink. "Probably another two or three minutes. Not long."

They both tapped the screens of their processors to activate the built-in holographic cameras. A message appeared on the bottom of Melody's screen to confirm that the camera was functioning properly.

A disembodied voice echoed throughout the conference room. "Ladies and Gentlemen, The 68th President of the United States, Eileen Stanford." Everyone in the room stood up and aimed their comlinks at the door through which President Stanford strode confidently.

As she took her place behind the podium, she smiled. "Please be seated."

There was a low rumble as the entire press corps returned to their seats.

"Thank you all for coming today. In the year 2000, scientists completed the first successful mapping of the human genome. This research has led to some of the most astounding advances in both our understanding of the workings of the human body and fighting disease in the past 150 years.

"With the groundwork laid out from the original Human Genome project, we have seen the eradication of scores of diseases. Some of them were fatal, such as Tay Sachs or Sickle Cell Disease. Others simply slowed us down, such as arthritis and migraine headaches. We even have means of combatting Down's Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy, even if they have not yet been eliminated.

"In the past fifty years, genetic research has started to make inroads into improving the quality of our lives and not just fight disease. Genetic modification to improve eyesight or hearing are now commonplace. I was reading some archived newspapers from as recently as seventy five years ago where then-current research said that obesity was one of the biggest health issues facing our nation. Genetic Metabolic Treatment has made us all thinner, stronger, and less hungry.

"A disturbing trend has arisen within the past decade, when a team of researchers discovered a simple, cost-effective genetic treatment that augments the size of women's breasts. It is estimated that, in the past five years alone, one out of every four women in our country between the ages of eighteen and fifty, has had genetic breast augmentation."

The President paused as a low murmur filled the room. Melody glanced down at her own breasts, thinking about her appointment the following day to begin the two-week long genetic treatment to increase her own bust size.

"The concept of breast augmentation is certainly not new. About 200 years ago, this was accomplished with a type of surgery. This was both costly and dangerous. On more than one occasion, an implantation device was taken off the market for health and safety reasons.

"The new genetic augmentation appears to be safe. In addition, women who undergo the treatment pass on a larger bustline to their daughters as well. Some advocates of this procedure argue that it improves their overall confidence level, and, by extension, the quality of their lives. Opponents argue that it turns women into nothing more than sex objects, and that, within a few generations, the average woman's breast size will be so large, that it will affect their health in other, unforeseen manners.