Births: Prologue
Posted By: coldflame<coldflame14@hotmail.com>
Date: 25 September 2002, 9:57 am
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On the 10th of October, 2527, at 1:37 in the morning, Laura Elizabeth Halsey gave birth to her first child. The delivery and the stages of labour had all been clean, simple and painless, though she had not been in a hospital bed. No one witnessed the birth, except herself and the silent metal boxes that sat all around her. There was no father. No anti-natal classes, not for this mother and child. No fussing about prams and nappies and whether her breast-feeding technique was as good as her sister's. Nothing. Just a minute sigh escaping from the mother, as she watched her daughter come to life.
And strangely, in this moment of moments, the most inane thoughts occupied Laura's head.
I am so very, very tired. Pregnant for three years, and no one noticed, hahahaha. What a joke. Mind of ones and zeros, flesh of silicon and titanium alloy. My baby. Wait, no, titanium and ....compounded ....compounded....what? Ah, screw it. Wait....compounded plethynium? Yes, that's right. I was never good with metals. What will she look like when she is my age? What if she becomes a reject AI, and sent to the ports? Maybe I should call Mom. Who will her little soldier boy be? I think I should at least be allowed to pick her name before they, they, shunt her off to training.
One sentence poked itself through the sleepy garbage like a shard of bright crystal.
I will never care this much again. I will never care this much again. * * * * * * * "No."
"You consented at the moment of conception, Mrs Forager."
"No."
"Please understand that this only recertifies your decision."
"I understand only that I consented to nothing. Understand? I consented to nothing. My dearest, darling husband was the one who consented enough for both of us."
A hand was flung with disgust into the corner of the square little white room towards a brusque-looking suit. The hand seemed to be the signal for the Suit to reanimate. It strode across the room and grabbed the woman in the bed by the shoulders.
"Sign the damn screen, Peta." Venom in a whisper. The other Suit in the room averted his eyes.
"You sick, twisted, son of a bitch."
"This is inevitable. You knew it was inevitable. And your selfishness is truly beyond comprehension. You know that this boy is destined for greater things. Are you going to rob him of that chance, the chance to be great?" A strange crack in his voice at that, a widening of the eyes. A demented half smile.
"Dear God. You've actually, you've actually convinced yourself of your own lies. Hypocritical, sadistic little - "
"Peta - "
" - cracked BASTARD. My son is going nowhere with you." But her voice had a wobble to it now, furious tears grew in her eyes. She knew she could yell and thrash and curse at him all she liked, but it was only a matter of minutes now before some kindly nurse would come in to give her a fresh pain-killer. Yes. That's what the nurse would say and what he would say. Just something for the pain, dear. He leaped onto her fear now like a shark latches onto a wounded fish.
"Our son will be coming with me. You know it, I know it, so why the silly protests now?" His voice changed to soft, comforting. His children voice. The Suit's hand gently smoothed away the one traitorous bead of water that had escaped, and slipped down her cheek.
The other Suit left the room. The Nurse entered.
It would be a militant neurological drug, the kind that loosened the inhibitions, and left the victim without any conscious mental function. It was used mainly in "necessary military interrogation situations". It turned people into living puppets. Under the influence of it, she would sell her own baby to the Devil if he told her to. But she had lost a lost of blood during the delivery. The drug wouldn't disperse properly through her system. It would probably leave her brain-dead.
"So be it. My son will become the greatest soldier that humanity has ever seen. And he will find out about you. About us. And he will hunt you down, and kill you, and relish the fact that was the one to do it." No poison now. Merely simple finality. Fact. His hand jumped off her face, as if it had burnt him. He straightened up with steel set to his jaw. Turned and picked up little bundle of blankets lying in the crib next to the bed, and gestured the Nurse towards his wife. She held up the underside of her arm as he left the room.
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