2125: Consciousness Escaped
sci-fi◐ TeenI followed him into the square. My other two bodies came with me. All around us, shared sources argued with themselves through hundreds of mouths. Some demanded one vote per body. Others held signs: ONE MEMORY, ONE CITIZEN. My hospital fork finally told me why our marcher voted early. The candidate promised a legal path for active forks to become separate people. Me: "You knew?" Her: "Last week I treated three bodies whose decider erased a year they wanted to keep. I didn't know how to tell you I agree with him." And our teacher said nothing. He was backing away from all of us.
The election authority froze every disputed source. Emergency rule: active forks can become separate citizens — but only if ALL of them consent. Until then, our single vote stays frozen. The marcher wants his freedom. The doctor wants reform but is scared of losing our shared life. The teacher finally admitted it: he wants to merge and forget this whole day. And all of them looked at me like the active decider is a parent. Not just another fork. The petition sat on all four of our screens. One source. Four consent boxes. Polls close in 53 minutes. Then the first box checked itself.