Cold Constructs

by Oniwanbashu

In 1970, the first artificial birth of a baby was recorded and the concept of ‘Cold Construction’ was introduced to bolster workforces as part of the Third Industrial Revolution and rebuilding efforts worldwide. With one-third of the human population killed between 1920 to 1945 in the two Quintesson Wars and women now an indispensable part of the new workforce, it was believed that boosting the working class population in this manner would negate the need for the government to make what some considered to be arbitrary (in a period of rebuilding) concessions (time off, maternity leave, newborn subsidies, etc). More so, the same way they were genetically altered by the Quintessons, children born in this manner could be genetically altered as well, to a degree, to better fit the work they would be designed for (Miners would have better-developed lungs and eyes more suited to work in the dark, soldiers would heal faster and have a higher pain tolerance, and so on).
The idea was initially proposed in the United States which had, in 1965, delivered the first child using an ‘artificial womb’ crafted from adapted Quintesson tech after its mother died in the seventh month of pregnancy. Further tests revealed the the artificial womb system was capable of bringing a fetus fully to term. The first batch of Cold Constructs, fifty children slated for the mining class, was delivered in Sept 1970.
It was claimed that the genetic material needed to ‘make’ the children were willingly donated by the public, and several donors had come forth to say that they were compensated for said donation, however sealed government records much later revealed that at least 50 per cent of the genetic material in their coffers was illegally harvested from health clinics, prisons and from human trafficking sources.
Those who donated genetic material to the government for compensation were required to sign waivers giving away rights to everything that would be done with it, and to ensure that there would be no chance of accidental inbreeding due to a Cold Construct and its donors not knowing of their lineage, Cold Constructs have always been created sterile.
Despite protests from human interest groups, China, UK, Russia took on the idea as well, followed by other industrialized nations in the race to rebuild, and rebuild better than before.
Depending on the classes they were created for, they would either be trained at private institutes or given directly to a working class community to be trained in their occupation from the time they are old enough to hold tools.
Barcodes on their bodies marked them as members of this class and were used to keep track of them if they were lost or ran off, as their respective governments saw them as assets and did not want to lose the investment made in their creation. Higher-end laboratories placed these barcodes on their creations as infants in painless procedures, however lower-end laboratories often tattooed it into their creations once they were old enough to work. These barcodes are tattooed using ink specific for government use (with blacklight qualities) and are illegal to remove or edit in any manner. Establishments found to be accommodating such requests will be fined and served a notice of closure.

In public, Cold Constructs were often officially referred to as “Ward(s) of the state”. Up until 1996, no major issues had arisen from the introduction of Cold Constructs into the Manual Labour and Military classes, with some even being made for other working classes such as law and medicine.
However an economic crisis in 1996 sparked by the destruction of the Antilla outpost on Mars saw the closure of many raw material processing plants and factories due to the cutting of a major supply chain from the outpost, and with workers being laid off in their thousands, worry and resentment that Cold Constructs were being allowed to keep their jobs as they were able to work in hard conditions for far lower than minimum wage began to rise.
Fueled by fundamentalist groups who saw their creation as sacrilegious, the first mass murder them was committed in Idaho , US, by a group of recently laid-off steel workers who set fire to a Cold Construct dormitory and killed thirty. While the perpetrators were charged and killing a Cold Construct was made a Class A felony, public persecution of Cold Constructs as ‘soulless’ and ‘job thieves’ began to creep into societies around the world to varying degrees.
At the same time however, there was pushback against the persecution by human rights associations and Cold Constructs themselves, who were beginning to unionise, culminating in the 1997 Guandong Uprising in China where the first Cold Construct union with the help of local activists staged a mass strike demanding for better working conditions and fair pay. The strike lasted for month until soldiers broke through their barricades and arrested every person involved.
Exactly a week after arrests, the US clandestinely greenlit the use of Mnemosurgery in psychiatric hospitals as a ‘behavior modifier’, a humane alternative treatment for mental conditions which was carefully monitored; however many believe this was a cover for the abuse of it in Cold Construct training institutes and secret holding facilities to keep wards of the state and political dissidents under control.
Cold Constructs continued to suffer social discrimination and restrictions to education, movements and voting rights up until 2030, when civil unrest over the strict working class stratification saw renewed interest in their welfare, more so with the rumours surrounding the increasingly popular underground social justice publication, ‘Towards Peace’, which was said to be penned by a member of their class.

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

Cold Constructs are made sterile via genetically editing in versions of Klinefelter syndrome (for men) and Müllerian agenesis (for women).  This serves two purposes:

• To ensure no accidental inbreeding, because Cold Constructs nor their donors are made aware of their relationship to one another, and this extends to 'batchmates'.
• To keep Cold Constricts focused on their work rather than familial or child-based obligations

However, they can 'sire' potential children through cloning or the same process from which they were made using their DNA.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Due to their background and the reason for their creation, Cold Constructs often have no social structure outside of the workplace, with the closest things they have to family being their colleagues, and this leads to difficulties forming bonds with those unrelated to their line of work. Those lucky enough to be assigned to a supportive community as children often find themselves protected by their 'handlers' or trainers, who they will latch on to as surrogate parents.  There is heavy pressure to fit in, as Cold Constructs who go 'off model' and exhibit rebellious behavior are usually taken away to be 'rehabilitated' or 'blank-slated' (where all semblance of the original personality is scrubbed) so they adhere to their primary directive as wards of the state working for the government.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Cold Constructs are essentially seen as tools wrapped in human flesh and treated as such; They provide a good chunk of manual and physical labor, especially in superpower countries, and have no way out of the work or class they were brought into (save for the rare and coveted working class exemption).  This makes them highly susceptible to trafficking for everything from slavery to illegal organ harvesting, as there is a pervasive belief that they aren't 'truly' human and will not be missed by anyone due to a lack of family or relations.  Legal (though not necessarily willing) organ harvesting also sometimes occurs when a Cold Construct is no longer able to work due to workplace accidents and are seen to be draining government resources, which the government sees as reclaiming lost assets or covering for debts owed whether it be medical or days of lost labour.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Most Cold Constructs have different capabilities based on the work they are assigned for. Those slated for the mining industry will come with sharper eyesight in the dark and augmented strength, those slated for the military complex will come with augmented strength, healing factors of varying degrees or even a resistance to low-altitude air or oceanic pressures for air force or navy cadets.

Lifespan

90 to 130 if allowed to live that long, however most only live until their 50s due to the high risk and mortality rate of the work they are assigned to.