Masters of Science Fiction2007

Bedzyk:
Did you ever wonder why you were discarded, Annie?

Annie:
Yeah. Yeah, I do, but... It's that thing about Malthus. At least that's how they always explained it to me. Too many people on Earth. No place to stand. The sheep look up.

Bedzyk:
Yeah, that's what they always say. It's too crowded. Somebody's gotta go. Why not send the infected ones? I don't buy it.

Annie:
So what is it, then? Hm?

Bedzyk:
You ever hear of Father Damien?

Annie:
No. Who's he?

Bedzyk:
He was a priest. He worked with lepers. They used to send people with leprosy to this island to die, okay? Like they shipped us up here - the "Gulag."

Annie:
Where are you going with this? Hm?

Annie:
The real reason they sent us out here, Annie, is because they can't stand to look at us. It's the ugliness that scares the hell out of them, not the infection. We're just like those lepers.