Excellent - and you're right, this could not have been cut down to a 3k, it would have been ruined. This isn't a new concept necessarily, but you've taken the emphasis off the individualism vs the Minder, oh-no-big-brother's-gonna-get-you crap that's such a cheap way to add drama to a narrative and placed it instead on the internal, existential conflict - which of course puts it right up my alley. Have you ever noticed a tendency in your main characters, both here and in other stories I've read of yours, to be fascinated by fragility and impermanence, both in their conflicts and in the objects of their attraction?

:O World building is amazing. I was lost in it for the last 20 minutes. For some reason, the tone reminded me of Gattaca (which is, incidentally, almost 20 years old. wow.). I would have much preferred this to be your contest entry.

-There's someone that I realized I need to speak with - Is that suppose to be included in the speech mark?