The little fetuses jumped around in their blue goo as their bodies formed under the lights. Lucy, Janelle, Lucian and Greg Riker were in their growth group of four lined up next to their future breeding partners Stacy, Amy, Jeff and Mike Thompson. Speeding up gestation was a choice in all of the fetal breeding chambers, but they only used it on the animals. Rapid cellular generation produced unstable outcomes such as extra limbs or eyes. These problems can be fixed in the pods but the procedure would be distressing on any fetus. Extra body parts for animals was typically a bonus for meat or milk production. When the first chick hatched everyone watched their screen as the little chicks were gathered and floated down the throughway and marched into the chicken farm. They had debated on tying down the chickens, or putting them into a box, but they chose to transport the animals in zero gravity to not aggravate their nerves.
Jessica found it difficult to let go of the animals she knew were bred for slaughter. Seeing all the creatures as babies tore at her heart knowing they were only bred for food. Looking at the little piglet she had to remind herself that their species had survived, so they could have bacon. It was an ugly and a beautiful thing. She pet the little piglet on the head and sent it off with the Thompsons, who had been making more of an effort in their friendship with Tom and Jess.
"Do come by for entertainment later. Tom got some new films from a memory transfer of some of the ones he hated. He also said something about Bobby from the lab made something fun for us to try before the babies are born." Jess told the newly enthusiastic Danielle.
"Bobby always has the best stuff. Wherever you go, there's always a Bobby and he's always got the stuff." Danielle replied smartly. Jess giggled, finally feeling her way around her new friends.
Bobby worked in the lab that her husband often visited for his own experiments. The new successful experiement D14.6 or D14, replicated the effects of marijuana. In large doses it would put the user directly to sleep mode. The vials would be dropped directly into their bloodstream through the chemical ingestion sites under the tongue, reacting to but not hurting their mana memory cores. Each of the group christened their last child free night with a dose each.
The group giggled and watched comedies as the night wore on. The mundane worries of their human lives were something they ached to have return but also something they were glad to be rid of. Shaking the mortal coil really put things into perspective. When the end of your life is forever, consequences become futile. Thier programming was supposed to prevent that.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Face flushed with D14, Jess thanked her new friends for the night and ushered them out of the pod. Turning around Jess eyed her new husband up and down. He quirked a brow. His body was angular and soft. He was warm and comforting and hers. She often caught him gazing at her out of the corner of his eye. Everything she did made him proud and lit him up. And tonight he looked like a popsicle on a hot day. Jessica smiled slowly walking toward him as she slipped off her white skin tight space suit, dropping it on with a thwack as it hit the floor with Tom's jaw. He fumbled with his zippers like a schoolboy on prom night. Jess kissed his neck and helped him out of his clothes. Leading him to the bed, she climbed on top of him easing herself down. They spent the night learning eachother's bodies riding out the crashing waves of their neural networks against their manacores. Cycling between Earth gravity and zero gravity, Tom taught Jessica all the sounds a wife should make.
After a beautiful night and a goodbye full of longing, Jess entered the DNA room to a handful of dead fetuses, including her boys Lucian and Greg. The blue goo had been measured improperly and the gestations for the failed fetuses needed to be restarted. This meant these eight fetuses would have to be rapidly generated to match the growth of the rest of the children, or a child would be left without a breeding partner as an adult. Without a breeding partner, they were not allowed to raise children.
Parents would stop by the DNA room every day to look at thier growing children. Each chamber was labeled with the childs name and timer until birth. The parents began visiting more and more as the day of birth drew close until Jess and her work partner Aaron had to close the doors of the DNA room so they could better monitor their work. The trouble with letting the parents greet their children was the risk of contamination. Weighing the risks of retaliation from the new parents not being able to see thier children or the risk to the fetuses Jess deemed the risk was worth it. Unfortunately all the training in the memory transfer didn't prepare her for peer pressure. Closing the doors to the DNA room the new children began their rapid generation, speeding to be born alongside their peers.
Saddened by the loss of their children, the android mothers held a service for their children one by one sending them off into the airlock, shot into the frozen emptiness of space, never having the chance to take a breath. Feeling guilty for thier role in the children's demise, the appointed council of The Andrian ruled that no one outside of DNA lab workers would ever set foot inside the DNA room before birthing again. The children were birthed from their pods a few weeks later.