Sometime after the year 2200 the world will be in the midst of an ice age. The oceans will recede and the over all climate will become drier and colder. Land bridges will be revealed between Britain and France, Alaska and Russia, most island chains will become peninsulas of the nearest continent. The polar ice caps will expand to reach around 45 degrees latitude north and south.
The bulge in the caldera called Yellow Stone National Park has been growing ominously larger.
There has been a Third World War and many other smaller wars, about one per decade, usually because of the scarcity of food. The mutations caused by the radiation from the few nuclear bombs used in the World War has stoked the fires of scientists who's interests were sparked by genetic research.
Stem-cell research had been legalized awhile back due to a strange bacterial virus hybrid, also caused by radiation, that destroyed the cells of people with certain genetic traits. Scientists had to do a huge amount of the research to find out what traits the disease went after. After the disease was defeated the scientists had all this seemingly useless research on human genetics.
Starting in the army, the program code-named Splice, was used to speed up the perception of jet-fighter pilots. A part of their DNA that had to do with perception, was mutated using radiation, to match that of a fly. The project was a success. The changes weren't very noticeable at first, the people would look like a completely normal human being they would just have very fast perception, very good eye site, or be very strong. Later though the changes started to become more noticeable, such as some mechanics having tails or extra arms to help them out.
When the public saw this the reactions were very mixed. A lot of the middle-aged and senior citizens were appalled. The children and juveniles, though; thought that Splice should be open to the public and not just the army. Finally, in a record breaking turn out for young voters, a bill was passed making it legal for anyone over the age of 18 to be "Spliced", anyone under 18 had to have their parents consent in the form of a signature.
Now seeing someone who is "Spliced" is as commonplace as someone with double pierced ears. It has become the latest fad in high schools and colleges despite the controversy.

Feature Presentation

Seven months ago we, meaning my seven friends Candice, Cassie, Josh, Melissa, Sarah, Krista, and Skye and I, had all decided to get spliced, as a sort of "graduating from high school gift" to ourselves. We all pulled our money to buy an appointments at the Splicing clinic for the morning after our graduation and get an aiding program called Splice. Splice helped virtually reconstruct ones DNA and then show a physical appearance and give statistics. The program had provided some genetic blueprints of animals but not nearly enough for what I had planed. Yes it gave the basics like if you wanted a tail or wings or better overall senses but it didn't give anything remotely dangerous or incredibly useful like poisons, or claws, or the ability to regenerate, or change colors, and that's what I wanted, not to harm anyone but mainly for self defense. So, some serious hacking was required but hey what is the latest technology for? So, the last seven months had been, shall I say, tedious. Late nights, spare time, and sometimes time I really should have spent doing homework were spent researching different types of animals and their abilities. I was already somewhat of an expert on animals, for my grade level, since I had taken three types of biology classes and zoology. I wanted to be either a veterinarian or a naturalist, like the ones you see on TV, let's just say I'd watched one too many nature shows.
Finally, these seven months of preparation would pay off. I printed the eight application forms off my computer, making sure to save them in a place that no one could gain access to except me, then packed the forms into a slim, silvery-blue, laptop-looking, aluminum briefcase.
I receiving a phone call from Cassie that said she had no more room in her car and told me to pick up Candice.
As I rushed out the side door of the garage to get into my jeep liberty my parents said good-bye and asked me when I was going to get back. I stopped short and thought for a second or two. No one had ever attempted combining as many animals as I was going to, at least not on record. "About a month," I said finally, "and I'll call if I'm going to stay longer or come home sooner. Bye!!" I turned around and continued on my way to my car.
As I got in I threw the briefcase in the back seat. It slid across the seat, hit the door, and exploded. Damn! Oh well, I couldn't stop to organize the forms now, I was already running a little late, I hadn't planed on picking up Candice, but she could organize them on way to the Splicing clinic.