This week, Futures is very pleased to bring you Claimed, the first published story by S J Rosenstein. By day she works as a research scientist, by night you can catch up with her thoughts on her blog. Here, she reveals what inspired her tale — as ever, it pays to read the story first.

Writing Claimed

We’ve all had that moment when you come across something you can’t quite believe — learning how big the Universe really is, meeting someone so incredible you want to spend the rest of your life with them, catching your first glimpse of Donald Trump’s hair. Of course, sometimes these things are unbelievable because they’re not real. But other times, the initial shock is overcome by a creeping feeling of unease. If you accept this idea, it means rethinking everything.

And what better vector to pass on an idea than a parasite? I’ve been fascinated by the potential for parasites to control their hosts ever since I was introduced to Leucochloridium paradoxum by David Attenborough’s Trials of Life. The distended, pulsating eyestalks were horrifying, but what was worse to see the snail slowly climb up and up a stalk of grass until it became prey.  As for humans, our immune system seems to be optimised to reject parasites. Yet many people still live with them, and there’s evidence that their presence may change our behaviour.

So if we were invaded by aliens I like to think that the shiny spaceships and exotic appearance would just be a distraction. The real invasion would be going on quietly, behind the scenes, changing us into something new. And if I spotted it, I would definitely flee to Hawaii, and celebrate the apocalypse with a Piña Colada.