Breeders (Breeders #1)

by Ashley Quigley

  “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.”

  I looked at Mason in horror. “I thought we had a little while to choose which option we would like and to process this whole ridiculous idea.”

  “As did I, Ariet. We have to attend this meeting. Something must have changed. Please get ready. You need to wear the outfit in your wardrobe that’s labeled Medical Attire.”

  Allowing the soft, jasmine scented water to rush over me whilst I showered; I eyed the metallic navy jumpsuit that I had found in the wardrobe, hanging on the rail. It looked skin tight and uncomfortable. I loathed having to wear such ridiculous clothing, longing for the comfort of my knitted jacket and skirt.

  After snacking on some dry bread, Mason lead me up the pathway leading away from the front door to a silver archway. Looking back to each side of the dwelling, we appeared completely isolated. The metallic and chrome walls of the Great Tower glinted in the distance. Layers of alternating metals overlapped each other forming an intricate pattern, like an armored coating of some sort. It looked cold and clinical. Mason inserted his arm into an alcove in the left side of the archway, motioning for me to do the same. Heavy metal doors slid open revealing a narrow stairwell. At the bottom of the stair well was a relatively large holding area next to railway tracks heading into an underground tunnel.

  “What is this place?” A slow grinding and screeching of metal to the right of me caught my attention.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” he grinned. “Come on, this is how we travel around Centre Town and get to the Great Tower. It’s an underground train,” he explained further. “The Creators managed to keep them running after the Great Illness happened. Over the last century they have been adapted as our technology has evolved and are much faster now. There is a whole network of underground tunnels connecting us to all points of Centre Town.” After only a few minutes, the train slowed to a stop alongside the concrete platform. Stepping off the train, a thought occurred to me, “Do the same travel rules apply here as they do in the Four Quadrants? I don’t think I have enough cumulative points to get back to the dwelling.” I made a point of refusing to call it my home.

  “As part of the Breeding Project, we are given an unlimited supply of points to ensure that we have access to the correct food and can travel at any time we need to, without worry.”

  “How nice,” I answered sarcastically.

  A steel plate extended from the side of the wall slightly to the left of the ramp, illuminating the station. Placing his wrist firmly on the underside of the steel plate, the light shone blue for a few seconds before turning to green. ‘Welcome, Mr. Black.’ He stepped aside and indicated towards the plate. Silently cursing him, I extended my wrist. ‘Welcome, Breeder 107.’ Glaring at him, I walked through the doorway that had just opened for us.

  “How high is the Tower?” I asked walking forward into a cold, sterile, cylindrical room.

  “Twelve stories,” he said.

  “It doesn’t seem very big, considering its purpose.”

  “That’s because the majority of the Great Tower is underground.” He smiled a knowing smile. “You’ll soon see,” he whispered, winking at me. He led me towards another doorway which opened after another scan of Mason’s wrist. The doors slid closed, and the room we were in descended suddenly. Much to my horror, I clung onto him in support. “I need to return my exit pass before we attend your medical.” Doors slid open to reveal a massive hall filled with hundreds of hovercrafts lined neatly side by side.

  A tall, well built guardian in a black jumpsuit met us at the door and indicated for us to follow him. Mason walked toward
s an island in the centre of the room where a square machine sat on top of a clear cylindrical tube filled with multi-colored wires. I watched as he extended his arm into the opening in the metal block. “Thank you, Mr. Black. Your return to Centre Town has been updated. Mother Creator is expecting you,” the Guardian said stiffly.

  “Thank you, Guardian.” Mason replied politely.

  “Follow me.” the Guardian gestured towards the end of the hall.

  “As if I have a choice.” I rolled my eyes, ignoring the hand he held out to me. The black suited guardian raised his eyebrow at us curiously.

  “She has yet to accept her fate, Guardian Sterling.”

  “Aah,” he nodded knowingly. “Will she be a problem?”

  “Hello, I’m here. Could you not discuss me as if I am not even standing right in front of you?” I shrieked.

  “I'll alert the others of your arrival.” Turning upon his heel and ignoring me completely, he walked away to the side of the hall.

  Mason looked furious, “Enough of this. If you do not give the appearance of having accepted your new position as a Breeder, you will not be allowed to leave here and return to our dwelling, where you will have a lot more freedom than you have here. They will keep you in the medical wing and the only people you will see will be myself and a Healer until it’s time to procreate. That is the worst case scenario. I am trying to stop that from happening. Believe you me; I did not want this either. My dream was not to be paired with a selfish, moody brat. It’s your choice Ariet, but know this. Once we enter those doors, I cannot help you,” he snapped. With that, he turned swiftly and stalked toward the glass doors opened in front of us.

  Stunned, I watched him walk away from me. No one had ever spoken to me like that before. I was furious. Yet the distress in his voice was obvious. Perhaps you need to play along and heed what he says a little bit more, Ariet, I chided myself. I walked quietly after him, slipping through the doorway as it closed gently shut.