Breeders (Breeders #1) (3 page)

“I
also carry the gene. They hope to breed two carriers to get a human who is
capable of expressing the gene, meaning we have one copy of the gene but don’t
use it.” I raised my eyebrows questioningly at him. Sighing impatiently, “The
gene we carry is recessive; if two recessive carriers mate, they have a one in
four chance of producing a homozygous offspring: a child who will be a true
carrier of the gene.”

“I
don’t want to do this. Do you hear me?” Anxiousness rose in my voice, “You let
me off this train immediately. I will not be part of some science project. This
is cruel. What you are doing is cruel.”

“Ariet,
I understand how you feel. I—”

“No
you don’t!” I shouted, interrupting him. “You have no idea. You were not
abducted and forced into a pairing based solely on manipulation of genetics and
nature.” He watched me closely, analyzing my every move. I hated being
scrutinized. “I want to contact my family. Please,” I whispered.

“No,
I am sorry. You cannot. You can never have contact with them again. Your status
in Quadrant Four has now been changed. You can no longer live the life you were
living. I am sorry.”

“No
you’re not! Stop saying that. If you were truly sorry you would let me go.”

“I
can’t, Ariet. And do not presume to tell me how I feel,” he said harshly. “Even
if you try to escape and make it to who knows where, they will find you with
your implantation device. And they will terminate you.”

“How
does the breeding work?” I asked in frustration, avoiding the escape topic but
not giving up on it completely.”

“I
can’t tell you anymore at this time until you undergo further testing. We would
also like to use your DNA in something called gene therapy.”

“So
basically, I’m some sort of lab mule to you.”

“No,
Ariet, you could be the savior of our existence. We could be.”

And
then the tears started to fall. Crumbling onto the table, I sobbed until I fell
asleep. The last thing I saw through blurry eyes before I drifted off into unconsciousness
was Mason, sitting facing me, with his head in his hands.

Lifting
my eyelids gently, I noticed rays of sunlight streaming through the window, reflecting
off a window chime, sending sparkles around the room like kisses of magic.
Pretty
,
I thought.
I would love to have one of those. I wonder if the market has
them?

Bolting
upright, I realized I was no longer on the train. This room was larger than I
had seen before for living quarters yet was soft and feminine. Streams of
material cascaded over floor length windows. I caught my breath; the view was
exquisite. A wooden door to the left of me was slightly ajar, and I could hear
rustling from beyond. Padding softly across the lush green carpet, my feet
absorbing every comfort along the way, I gently opened the door further, revealing
a beautifully lit corridor lined in soft pastel blues and creams, similar to
the interior of the train carriage where I first encountered Mason.

At
least I’m not confined to my room
, I thought snidely.
Well,
not yet anyway
. I steered myself down the corridor, stepping gently, so as
not to make a sound. Glancing through an open doorway on my right, I noticed
another bedroom, also softly done in pastels, this time blue and yellow. A
large intricately carved desk sat in front of a floor length window. It was the
most exquisite piece of furniture I had ever seen. Entering quietly, running my
hands over the carvings, I noticed they formed an intricate web of children and
flowers, as if depicting a story. A soft tune coming from the end of the
corridor pulled me away from the carvings. Peeking ever so slowly round the
corner, I saw Mason standing with his back to me. In front of him was a huge
window expanding the length of the room, from roof to floor. Through the window
I saw the most amazing view I had ever seen, different to the one that I awoke
to. Fields and fields of greenery expanded through rolling hills. A waterfall was
in the distance, casting a rainbow over its icy beauty. I gasped. How
exquisite, I had never seen anything like it.

Aware
of my presence, Mason turned towards me. “Good morning, Ariet. Would you like
something to eat?” he spoke to me in rather odd, formal clipped tones.

“No,
thank you. I’m quite thirsty though.”

The
Cold Room is at the far side of the kitchen. Please help yourself.” Turning his
back to me, he carried on with the preparation of our meal. “Oh, and welcome to
my home…your home.”

I
closed my eyes and stood silently for a moment, grasping what he had just said.
Trying to fathom with every ounce of my being what was happening to me.
Get
your thoughts about you, Ariet. The Creators have clearly got something else
planned for you instead of the life you were living. You can get through this.
Find a way to escape. For now, do as they ask, and you can get out of this.
My eyelids fluttered open to find him watching me intently.

“Do
you always do that?”

“Do
what?” I snapped.

“Take
a minute to process when you are in a challenging situation. I’ve seen you close
your eyes like that once before.”

“Don’t
pretend to know me, and stop analyzing me,” I growled at him. He shrugged and
resumed his chopping.

“I
wasn’t. It’s just a weird talent I have.” Moving towards a kitchen area, I saw
the Cold Room he mentioned. Pushing the metallic button next to it, the sliver
door slid open revealing the food storage area before me. Cold Rooms in the Quadrants
resembled that of a small cupboard, with just enough space to store your
rations for the week. You could walk into this cold room where steel shelves
lined the four walls. I had never seen so much food or drink in my entire existence.
My hairs prickled as I felt him behind me.

“Creators
get monthly food rations and more, depending on your need and requirements as
dictated by the Elders. We have to scan morning and night to determine what our
nutrient requirements are and a list of suitable foods will appear on that
screen. Please scan there.” He gestured towards an alcove just behind and to
the right of him. I obliged him, putting my wrist in.

‘Welcome,
Breeder 107. Please proceed to the open drawers for your daily requirements.’
Whirring sounds to the right and left of me caught my attention. Select drawers
slid open revealing a variety of food groups.

“What
happened to my name?” I asked him sharply. “I’m just a subject now? A number to
you?”

“I
explained that your Superior status has been removed, and you are no longer
classified as such. You are a Breeder.”

“No,
I am a human being. A person. Not number 107.” Pushing roughly past him I
marched back to my room.

“You
need to eat, Ariet,” he called after me.

“I’ve
lost my appetite.” I muttered in defiance.

I
wasn’t sure how long I had been crying. It felt like hours, days even. I could
feel myself slipping deep into a defiant depression. Mason knocked softly at
the door. Ignoring it, I rolled over, turning my back towards the sound. The door
creaked open anyway.

“Ariet?”
He spoke softly. “Ariet, please eat something. You need to keep your strength up.”

“Please
take me back home.” I begged between sobs.

“I
can’t, Ariet. I’m sorry.”

“This
is not what I wanted for my life either. Believe me. I know this is hard for
you to understand, but this is your new life now, your new home.” He put a tray
down gently on the bed next to me. “I need you to start trusting me. I will not
hurt you. But I will be your life partner. You will learn to be able to talk to
me and even come to rely on me. Maybe even like me. Please eat this.” He pushed
the tray gently towards me.

The
appetizing smell made my mouth water, but refusing to eat was my only weapon at
this point. Maybe I would get ill, and they’d realize they couldn’t use me.
Tentatively, I picked up the tray removing the lid on the plate, curious about
the smell underneath.

“It’s
chicken broth with mashed green potatoes and blueberries on the side.”

“Blue
berries?” I had never tasted those before. He smiled at me gently as I pushed a
blueberry into my mouth, feeling it explode with sweetness. My body, having
been starved for days now, craved more. Mason continued to talk as I slowly ate
the spread before me. Rationalizing with myself that I needed strength to be
able to escape and that I would have to eat every so often.

“I
know this is hard for you and a lot to process.” Wiping my bowl clean with the
last of the fresh roll, I looked up at him.

“You
have no idea what I’m feeling or what I am thinking. My whole world as I know
it is over. I don’t know where I am, I’m trapped in this house…with YOU,” I
jabbed my finger at him, “against my will. And the worst of it is I have no say
in what is about to happen to me. How I live the rest of my life is going to be
dictated from this point onwards by the Creators. I can’t share my life with
you, my bed with you. How do they expect us to reproduce?”

He
sighed, “I was hoping to avoid this question for a while.” Turning to stare out
of the window, he answered slowly, “When it comes to us, uhmmm, breeding, if
you want to call it that, it can happen one of two ways. One, we can do it
naturally, which would be scheduled, of course, to ensure it is during your
ovulation phase, maximizing the chance of fertilization. Or two, it can be done
medically.”

I
gaped at him. “Medically? How?” No one in the Quadrant had undergone medical
procedures in order to produce offspring.

“You
will be heavily sedated and a fertilized egg will be surgically implanted in
your womb. It’s a crude form of technique used before the illness came; it’s called
in vitro
fertilization.”

“Where
do you get the egg from?”

“It
will be surgically removed from your ovary whilst you are awake. I have been
advised that it can be very painful.”

Fear
washed through me in waves. “Can I die from this medical procedure?”

“Not
likely, however it is invasive, and you will require bed-rest for most of the
gestation period. This also means your movements will be highly restricted and
you will be required to stay in the Maternity floor of the Great Tower.”

“So
it’s like imprisonment?”

“If
you want to look at it that way, yes.” He looked at the floor, trying to avoid
my gaze. “We are expected to start the project within the next few weeks. You
will be required to continue to produce offspring until a homozygous fetus is conceived.”

“What
happens to the offspring who are not homo…whatever?”

“They
will be terminated early in the pregnancy, as you will not be required to carry
to full term. The Breeding Project only requires an offspring who carries the
gene from both of us.”

Slowly
taking this all in, “What happens to my baby once it is born, say I do conceive
a child with the correct genetic make-up?”

“The
offspring will be removed from you soon after its first year and remain in an
undisclosed location to monitor expression of the gene and its effects on the
human body.”

“What?
So let me get this straight. You expect me to keep falling pregnant, aborting
those that do not meet this genetic requirement, and then just hand it over to
a Creator and walk away?”

He
gulped loudly, “Um, yes. Something to that effect. Which option of conception
you choose is at your discretion, however I need to report our decision back to
Mother Creator.”

“Mother
Creator? She knows about this?”

“She
is the head of the Creators, a direct descendant of the geneticist who made
life in the New World, for both the Creators and for the Superiors, as we know
it possible. Of course she knows. She is also my Grandmother.”

Chapter
5

The
very next morning I was woken by Mason, shaking my arm quite furiously. “Get up,
Ariet. We need to prepare.”

Rays
of sun were just peeping over the mountains. “What are you talking about?”
nerves showing in my voice.

“There
was a message left for us this morning by the Creators. We have been summoned
to the Great Tower.”

“The
Great tower,” I repeated, acting as if the thought of entering it didn’t
frighten me in the least. Superiors were never allowed access to it, and I had
only seen it from afar. It was well known throughout the Four Quadrants that the
Great Tower was a fortress, out from which Centre Town and the Four Quadrants
radiated; controlling them from one central region. “I want to see the
message.”

Mason
led me to the main living area of our dwelling. Flicking on the plasma located
on the far side of the wall, it flashed red indicating a new message had been
received. An elderly woman with silver grey hair and deep brown eyes greeted
us. She was dressed completely in white, a blue sky as the background making
her look almost surreal.

“Good
Morning. As you have safely arrived and settled into your new dwelling, we
would like to welcome you, Breeder 107, to Centre Town. We have scheduled your
first medical today, due to your next ovulation date being so soon. Please make
sure to report to the medical floor of the Great Tower at 09.00 this morning.”