Kyle was was short, scrawny, and the most condescending nuisance that plagued Connor's school. His glasses were thick lenses that led people to believe he was almost blind, and his sense of style was more appropriate for the 50s. He wasn't sure if Kyle talked down to everyone because he was bullied, or bullied because he looked down on everyone. Either way, Connor never felt much sympathy for him and due to his attitude.
Connor did not like the idea of merging with him. "Seriously mom? Him?"
"What's wrong?" His mom asked.
Kyle just smiled. "Connor I know we had our differences but it's not as bad as you think." The differences they mentioned was when Kyle made a joke of his intelligence and Connor embarrassed him stuffing his head in the toilet.
Not Connor's proudest moment. Connor stared at him in shocked. "Are you okay with the merge?"
Kyle shrugged. "Logically, it's the best choice. Economically, it's easier to pay for one of us than both. Socially, families who merge the step siblings upon their second marriage are 90% more successful. It removes all potential fighting between siblings who aren't familiar with one another as well as help smooth over parental authority, since neither parent feel that their opinions on child rearing take priority over the other. Practically, Fusion Technologies is able to pick which character attributes are present which allowes us to design a persona that incorporates the best parts of ourselves. We would be able to be much more successful together than on our own."
That last part seemed out of character for him. "You need my help to be successful?"
Kyle laughed. "No, of course not. I'm saying that I would be more successful if we were to pick and chose our best traits." He thought about it for a moment. "Well, me but not me. There is a whole philosophical debate on whether or not we our still us or not after the merge. Personally, I'm a bit excited to find out."
Connor's head was spinning. "Are you series? You just mentioned we could be dying and your excited?"
Kyle waved his hand. "Dying is too simple of an explanation. Evolving would be better." He took out a notebook and began writing. "We should make a list of which traits we would want from the other. Make sure the new us has everything we both want. According to studies, that leads to the most satisfaction among new merges."
Kyle's dad laughed. "Well, that's great. They are already making plans for what to tell the doctor's this Saturday. "
Connor's mom continued. "Its good to discuss this now, since there isn't much time."
Connor froze. It was Thursday night. He didn't even have 48 hours left. Kyle looked up from his notes. "Breath big guy. I knew between us I wanted to keep my intellect but obviously we will need my ability to process emotional stress." He observed Connors athletic build. "We should keep youth athleticism and social skill. Eyesight as well. I'm tired of wearing glasses that people refer to as birth control glasses."
Connor had thought that one up. Since Kyle hadn't even wore cool frames he made fun of the ugly pair he had. "You seriously okay with merging with me."
Kyle calmly looked at him. "You healthy, popular, and attractive. You have all the traits I lack, and I can make up for your deficient. Besides this practice is becoming more common."
"Seriously?" Connor asked.
"Yes. In fact I read a very interesting article on parents who were both on their third marriage. They each had their children merged for both their second and third child. The resulting person is an amalgamation 4 different original people. Counting the merged identities, they lived as 7 different people. Though it losses practicality for a third marriage. At that point you would genetically have 8 parents and custody and visitations could be a nightmare."
"I can't imagine. "
I'm sure you can't. But there is an interesting discussion I think we should have." Kyle continued.
Connor rolled his eyes. "And that is?"
"Boy or girl?"
Connor looked at him. "What?"
"Would you rather be a boy or girl? Traditionally, only people who are merging with someone of the opposite sex can choose but they have advanced to allow at least two boys to pick."
"What? How? Why?
"More options equals more control and theoretically more satisfaction." Kyle answered. "The kid I mentioned earlier was originally two boys and two girls. Each boy merged with a girl and when they were two people, one was a boy and one was a girl. For their second merge they both had a long discussion about which sex to pick and what would be more satisfying. Both had memories of being both a boy and a girl so it must have been an interesting discussion."
"You forgot the how Einstein. " Connor said.
"Please, Einstein wishes he was me." Kyle smiled. "Or should I say us?" Connor gave a low growl. "Calm yourself caveman. Males have both x and y chromosomes. When merging they can chose a x chromosome for both of us and we result in a new female where their used to be two males. Cool right?"
"Right. So cool." Connor said sarcastically.
Connor's mom spoke up. "On one hand I'm glad we are merging you since you obviously would be fighting constantly. On the other hand I'm worried about your psyche afterwards. "
"Not a problem." Kyle assured her. "The only issue would be for the new us finding our new identity seperate from our old selves. Every merger has had that journey and once Connor has my memory of reading their memoirs, we should be able to navigate it."
"How long have you been preparing for this?" Connor asked.
"Three hours since dad told me about it. Over text message I might add." He gave his dad an annoyed glare. "You can get a lot of Intel with proper search parameters and by speed reading."
"This is insane." Connor groaned.
"We live in an insane world. Best to accept it to better live in it. Anyways, I believe with the direction of certain social norms there are certain benefits to being a girl. However, there is no guarantee that those changes will have taken place by the time we are adults so being a boy might be prudent."
"And you want my opinion? "
"It will be your body too. Might as well have a say on it."
"I always wanted a daughter." His mom chimed in.
Kyle's dad shrugged. "A girl might be nice."
Looking at all of them, Connor began to realize this would happen regardless. He might as well take what options were left to him.