Cycle D

“Please awaken, #1370-D,” The voice inside Ben’s head said.

“D?” Ben muttered, “So it’s a new cycle?” Ben noticed something about his voice. It was much higher pitch than he expected. Sure, a little bit was expected. After all, a new cycle meant he was 20 years old again. That was just how it worked.

At the start of the first cycle, several thousand volunteers were shot into space to reach the nearest inhabitable planet. Due to the long journey, they would be in statis for most of the time and only awoken for a single day each year to prevent brain deterioration. When their bodies hit fifty years of age, their memories would be transplanted into the next generation of twenty year old bodies that had been grown on the ship. Each new body was considered a new cycle.

New cycles were always difficult as it took some time for the brain to adjust to a new body. But it was different this time for Ben. Everything was feeling very weird. And as he started to regain his senses, he realized why...he was a woman!

“Computer? What the heck is going on here? Why am I a woman?” He demanded.

The voice in his head replied, “#1370 and #0045 merged genetic codes for cycle D. No male offspring were viable. Overall gender balanced on ship maintained.”

“Sh*t,” Ben muttered. He didn’t want to be in a woman’s body. But he also knew he would only have to do this for thirty days before the next cycle began again, so maybe it wouldn’t be too bad.