Prompt: When a child is born, its parents may pick one skill that their child, without a doubt, will be talented in.

Carrie and Luke had been sweating over the last form for so long now the doctor was beginning to grow impatient.

"You can only select one," He reminded them for the umpteenth time, and they nodded absently back, a pencil clutched so tightly in Luke's hand it looked as if it were beginning to bend.

It was a choice their parent had selected for them at their births, and their parents' births before them, but why was it so hard to choose now? They obviously wanted the best for Bronson - Luke was not fond of the name, but Carrie had insisted - but how could they know the choice they would make was the best?

Carrie's tired eyes scanned the document again from top to bottom, perusing the words that had haunted her days before Bronson's birth.

Magnum Opus

Thank you for choosing Magnum Opus, you child's talent selection guide!

Below are a list of previously selected and frequently used talents based off of our 2028 survey. If the talent you desire is not listed, please write it down under 'Other.'

The list was fairly standard, large categories with many sub-sections.

Music: Piano, Violin, Guitar (acoustic, electric), Cello, Flute, Trumpet, etc.

Sports: Soccer, Football (American), Volleyball, Baseball/Softball, Golf, Tennis, etc.

Academics: Academics on the Whole (OTW), English, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, etc.

Art: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Mixed Media, etc.

Various Skills: Mediation, Instruction, Organization, Therapy, People Skills, etc.

Luke's brain felt numbed simply staring at all of the options. Of course he wanted Bronson to be a good student, but what if he needed good manners in his future jobs? What if he was destined to be an athlete? Academics were of the utmost importance, too, but how would he know what to choose?

The doctor began to tap his foot, hoping the noise would startle this couple into making a choice. He had dealt with the general time-waste of waiting for parents to choose their kid's talent, and he was sick

and tired of it. If he ever had a kid his talent would be making decisions fast, and by now the doctor was thinking that this talent would be a unique one.

"Mr. and Mrs. Brandt, I don't like to rush you, but your decision needs to be made soon otherwise Magnum Opus won't take effect." He droned, every bit of his tone suggesting he would like nothing more than to rush them.

Luke felt himself begin to sweat as he looked over the options again, and Carrie squeezed his hand. "What do you think?" She asked nervously.

"Let's talk it through." Luke said, beginning to pace. "We want to give Bronson the best opportunity he can possibly have, right?"

"Yes." Carrie nodded fervently, holding Luke's hand tighter.

"Why don't we rule out athletics? They're good and all, but he could be injured."

This made sense to Carrie, and she nodded again. The doctor groaned on the inside, knowing the process-of-elimination route could take hours.

"And what about music? It's good to be musically gifted, but difficult to make a career out of."

"That's true, and I'm sure lots of parents chose music." Magnum Opus users usually strove to have a different talent for their child than anyone else, holding individuality above all else.

"So can we eliminate that?"

"But what about classical music stimulating a child's brain? I read that in the parenting books!" Carrie cried out.

"He's not going to be playing Beethoven yet, though."

"Right." Carrie replied, blushing slightly.

"Now what?" Luke asked, pausing in his pacing for a second. "Look at the various skills, are there any really good ones?"

"I mean, a lot of them are good, but none are crazy good. Mediation is a good one, and so is Instruction. Oh, we haven't even considered his career - we were so blind going into this!"

Luke shook his head and consoled Carrie, but the doctor couldn't agree more.

---

In another room a lone woman lay on a bed, cradling her newborn baby girl in one arm and the Magnum Opus clipboard in another. A nurse stood by her side, offering advice while the woman contemplated the options silently.

"Virginia down the hallway said one family chose for their child to be able to talk to animals, but there are lots of things Magnum Opus can't do. It can't determine test scores or jobs or affirm wealth, but it can give talents, hence the options. What was your talent, miss? Mine was Science, so here I am today! For your little girl, I can give some recommendations, if you'd like. Virginia said she had two couples in a row pick Violin, think of the odds of that one, she must have broken a world record! It's hard to get new gifts when there are people all over the world thinking up the same things you are. Besides, there's a glut of violinists now, they could be a whole country. Anyway, what was I saying? Have you made a decision, miss? I've been blabbering on for so long now..."

There was a silence as the woman lifted a hand and began to write on the form, and the only sound you could hear was a pencil scratching on the paper.

---

"I think I know what it is." Carrie announced, and the doctor had to resist the urge to throw up his arms and shout finally!

Luke leaned in and she whispered something into his ear. His face transformed as emotions played across his face - shock, confusion, and then joy as a smile spread from ear to ear.

"Carrie, my dear, you're a genius!" He shouted, planting a kiss on his wife's forehead, who laughed and teasingly kissed him back. Luke reached for the form, sat on the hospital bed where his wife could see, and began to write.

In seconds the doctor had the sheet in his hands and he read the talent under the 'Other' section. His brow furrowed and he looked questioningly at Luke and Carrie.

"There is a possibility this isn't compatible with Magnum Opus. Are you sure you would like to proceed?"

Beaming, Luke and Carrie nodded.

"I don't think you understand - you run the risk of canceling out your child's talent. He could be talentless. Are you sure you would like to proceed?"

Again, more nods, more smiles.

Muttering about imbecile parents and talentless kids, the doctor walked out of the room and into the Magnum Opus administration area, where baby Bronson lay, dressed in blue pajamas and sleeping quietly in the hospital crib. Typing the talent into the machine, the doctor sighed and prepared the injection.

"Here goes..."

---

"Martha once had a parent that wanted their child to be able to shapeshift, and of course Magnum Opus can't do that, so the poor kid was talentless. Martha tried to persuade her, saying that it wouldn't work, but the parent was adamant. Then George, he's on the same floor Martha is, he said he had five Pianos in one week, but I think he's lying. Who would choose Piano anymore, there's so many of them? Same with the sports - no talentless kid could make any school teams. And Yvette once had a parent that chose for their kid to be talentless." The nurse gulped, them shivered. "Imagine that, choosing for a child to be talentless!"

The woman ignored the nurse's chatter as she continued to write out her carefully lettered choice, then handed the clipboard to the nurse when she was finished. The pencil trembled in her slender-fingered hand.

"Thank you, ma'am..." The nurse began cheerfully, then her voice trailed off as she read the request. "Oh, oh, my. Are you sure, ma'am? There's always the risk of talentlessness, especially with choices like these..."

"I'm sure." The woman said, speaking for the first time since the nurse had met her, and her voice was weak, yet proud.

"Right." The nurse said, picking up the baby in her arms, and carried it out of the room and into the Magnum Opus administration area. Inside was another doctor, who was about to deliver an injection. The nurse set her baby in the other crib in the room and began to key in the woman's request.

"Parents these days, huh? Always trying to get something new. I told them he'll be talentless, but they didn't seem to care. How about you, Pat? Do you have a decent request?"

The nurse only shrugged and continued to prepare for the injection.

"I told them, I said, 'It won't work.' Did they care? No!"

The nurse flinched as the she heard the Magnum Opus inject into the other child, but she didn't hear the crying that usually followed.

"Huh. The tyke's out for the count. Probably because the shot didn't work, now, did it? Who wants a talentless kid these days? Only the homeless have 'em, and the activists."

The nurse took the injection gun and placed it against the baby's forehead and pressed the green thumb button to inject. The gun kicked back ever so slightly in her hand, but the baby only yawned and opened her eyes, jewel-bright blue eyes, and didn't cry. This startled the nurse even more, but she set the gun aside for sterilization and used a cotton swab to wipe away the tiny drop of blood on the injection site. Still, the baby made no sound, simply blinked its eyes and watched.

"Never seen kids these calm - like I said, it'll be the injection. Did you see that one kid Phil had in the other day, that boy was a monster! Bawled through the entire procedure, his parents picked football for his talent but they should have made him a preacher with lungs like those."

"It is odd..." The nurse replied to the doctor, then picked up the baby and carried it out of the room.

No one noticed the two babies as they looked at each other, extended their small arms, and touched each others' fingers for the briefest second, or the identical talents on their forms.

I want my child to find their soulmate, and I want them to fall in love.

Because, as their parents understood, and as so many never will, love is the greatest gift of them all.