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Winner of the 2024 Summer Short Story & Fiction Challenge AITA? - Melissa Hazlitt

Jan 12, 2067

 

Am I the Asshole?

 

My boyfriend (24M) and I (23F) have been together for 2.5 years. I have been asking him for months to get TardGel with me, but he says absolutely no way. I’m not sure if I can I stay with him and said as much. He got so upset and is staying with his brother. AITA?

 

To give you all some background, we live in southern Florida, and, as you know, it’s getting really hot. The SubZero system in our neighbors’ building failed last year and like 24 people died (you might have seen it in the news- that’s literally two buildings down from us). I’m pretty sure our system is even older than theirs. So when I saw the tardigrade DNA upgrades go public, I was super interested. Who doesn’t want to survive 300 degrees F? Apparently my boyfriend.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t immediately get on board when WaterBear announced their launch. I read the same stuff my BF did- the test subjects’ cells popping, someone’s guts dissolving, the mental health problems with ‘gel brain’. But I also read that in the 2.0, this shit almost never happens. 0.9% complications. Of course, he had to point out that’s 1 in a hundred. But babe, that’s better than frying to death. Or, if the Great Freeze happens in the next couple of years, I thought it would be romantic, if we like, survived.

 

I thought because he was in biotech, he would think the whole thing was cool- those cute little tardigrades, with their stumpy little legs holding the secret to our salvation. The biostasis lit seems sound. Just a mod to make proteins in our cells turn into gel in extreme temps and then go back to normal when things are better. The crazy thing is that the BF didn’t disagree! He just keeps talking about ‘if it’s our time, then it’s our time’ and that the world we would un-gel in wouldn’t be worth living in. Which I guess opened my eyes to that he’s always been a pessimist. 

 

He tried to say that he isn’t a pessimist. Don’t they always jump to use the world ‘realist’? He literally said to me, “All we ever do is put bandaids on our open, gaping wounds”. Dark much? He’s fixated on the idea that we’re not fixing things because we have one foot out the door, we’re passing the buck, or other BS. He would just say ‘mm-hmm’ whenever I tried to say anything positive, like the world might be better after the floods or maybe the CarbonCapt would work. He’s pretty low-level at their company, but acts like he’s the lead scientist.

 

Anyway, I don’t want to be with someone who can’t see the good. And I don’t want to die. I’ve seen how those heat deaths go, and it ain’t pretty. There was a guy outside of work who didn’t get into the breezeway in time, and his skin was fried, third degree style. Ya’ll have seen it, I’m sure. That said, I love the guy and wish I could make it work, but I don’t think I can back down on this. AITA?

 


Comments:

 

JusDaTip: Bet you ugly

 

DrTheaPhD32: You didn’t mention the resistance to radiation. Our lab just sent the first dog to space in a thermo-stripped capsule. As you might know, one of the most insurmountable challenges to deep-space travel is radiation exposure. The tardigrades manufacture trehalose (a sugar) which allows for …

 

            JustDaTip: Nerd. Bet you ugly too.

 

GodKnight11: Heresy. Absolute heresy. Sinners invited God Almighty’s wrath and now they’re trying to weasel out of the consequences. Repent now and be invited back into the fold! Or the burns you’ll get in Florida will be a field day compared to Hell!

 

BlondeRose: U can do better!

 

xxXTiTsXxx: Live cam girls. Pics in profile <3

 

EarthGirlsAreHard: He’s right. This is all a show. None of it is real. It’s a distraction from the truth, which is there is no TardGel. Please read the attached leaked report from Homeland Security. It’s population control pure and simple. There are no answers, the world is ending and a few rich bastards are going to get off this planet. Tardgel is just…

 

SammySam212: Not the asshole, but it sounds like you love him. He might be making a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you de-gel and he’s not there, maybe it isn’t worth it. My Miriam died last month and there’s nothing for me to live for anymore. I have my appointment at RIP later today. Thank you all for being my online family!

 

 

Mar 23, 2068

 

Original Poster Update: So we did break up and you won’t believe it! BF started dating some other girl and not only did they get married, they both got TardGel. I tried to meet the BF halfway (didn’t know he was dating) and held off on the upgrade. Well, turns out that the window closed and no new clients are being accepted. It’s 135F today. They stopped the evacuations for the day. Not sure if I’ll get up north to my parents. I guess I am the asshole.

 

Melissa Hazlitt is an Emergency Physician in New York. She is currently an MFA student in Creative Writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Sincerely, Melissa Hazlitt

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2 Comments


Sherring
Sherring
Nov 01

Very creative story. I liked the inclusion of the comments, including spam, to the post.

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rustybluenova
Oct 28

Awesome! I really enjoyed it. I just started reading a book on finding your voice in writing and I think I heard yours in this loud and clear. Well done!

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