Breeders (Breeders #1) (4 page)

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 towards 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.

“Ready?”
he asked without turning towards me. A silent nod was all I could manage at
this point. The salty tears stinging my eyes were the one thing at this moment
that felt real, that reminded me I was not a test subject but a human being.

“This
way,” he gestured with a nod of his head. Three corridors spanned around us.
Each corridor was lit in a different colored hue. Blue, pink and yellow lights
lined the corridors, creating a peaceful ambience. He picked the yellow tunnel
to the right and walked down the long corridor towards a heavy metal door at
the end. A large ‘Restricted Access’ sign covered the top half of the door.

“How
many times have you been here?” I asked gently.

“More
than I can count. I was born here.” The hint of sadness in his voice concerned
me.

He
moved towards an alcove station to the right and scanned in. The heavy door
slid across revealing a huge white room bustling with people. I moved slowly
forward. A sleek, immaculately groomed woman breezed past us. “Morning, Mason.”

“Morning,
Sue,” he replied politely.

Mason
steered me through the sea of bustling Creators carrying charts and files and
clipboards and monitors. “Off to see the Mother Creator?” someone nudged Mason
gently. I turned to find myself staring into the most beautiful elfish face I
had ever seen. “Good luck,” she whispered and hurried off.

“What
is this place?” I asked him.

“This
is the Medical Research Centre. Mouth agape, I scanned the room.

“Are
they all genetically selected?” I asked him slowly.

“Not
really, few are. These are Carers; all selected due to a variety of different skill
sets. They monitor the Breeding and other Genetic programs. You will be
assigned a Carer in the upcoming months if you choose to reproduce naturally,”
he added.

“There
is nothing natural about this,” I whispered.

A
rectangular white desk stretched out in front of me. A large chair swiveled
around to face us. In it was an elegant, immaculately presented woman I had seen
on the screen earlier that morning. Long wisps of grey hair framed her aged but
glowing face. She stood to greet us. “Mason, my dear boy,” she extended her
hand courteously. It surprised me to hear that her hard, clipped voice did not
match her elegant and warm appearance.

“Grandmother,”
Mason said, taking her hand across the desk. I lowered my eyes, but felt her
scrutiny as she embraced him.

“Mason,
dear, how was your trip?”

“Um,
okay, Grandmother. Happy to be back at home.”
As I, too, would be
, I
thought, glaring at him. He grimaced, perhaps realizing the insensitivity of
his words. “Grandmother, meet Ariet Langley.” Stepping back, he pushed me
forward slightly.

We
scrutinized each other whilst in the pretense of a meet and greet. “Hello,
Ariet, even more beautiful in person.”

I
raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Mason. He shrugged helplessly, a look of
guilt sweeping his face. “Hi,” I whispered.

She
continued to look me over. “You can call me Evelyn. How was your trip?” she
asked tersely. I silently threw daggers at her. Her cold blue eyes piercing me
with every question. I could see where Mason inherited that trait, although his
face resembled nothing of her. His was kinder, I noticed. “Are you happy with
your dwelling?”

I
said nothing. I couldn’t, I had frozen in the unnaturalness of the situation.
Mason answered for me. “Yes, she has settled quite nicely in her room and has
already made use of our new walk-in scanner.”

“Don’t
answer for her, Mason. I would like to hear her speak. Do you like your new
dwelling, Ariet?”

“Yes,”
I whispered, a wave of defiance coating me in protection.

“Good.
I’m aware that your purpose here has been explained to you. Here is the Breeder’s
manual which the Creators expect you to go over in the next two weeks. For this
period, you are not to leave the area of your dwelling. After today, failure to
adhere to this will result in lock down of you here, at this facility. The
perimeter of your dwelling will be explained to you by Mason. Do you understand
me?”

“Yes.”

“Lastly,
you need to be scanned every day, twice a day. Mason will assist you when you
need to come in for the medical after the two week period. It is absolutely
essential that you do this. All of which is detailed in the manual. I need you
to be very clear on this last point, Ariet. Remember what happened the last
time you missed a scan?” I blinked rapidly in alarm. Mason looked between the
two of us in confusion, clearly unaware of this incident on my part. “Ariet,
you need to answer me. Are we clear?” I nodded slowly. The threat was unmistakable.
A chill swept across my back and I knew in that instant this was a woman not to
be trusted but a woman to be feared.
What did that make her grandson then, my
new partner?
I mused fearfully.

“We
can walk around here for a bit, and you can meet some of the Carers and make a
few friends, if you want. We could maybe have lunch here?” Mason trotted beside
me, chatting light-heartedly.

“I
want to go home. Now,” I replied sharply.

“Okay,
we will go back to the dwelling then. You can relax and we can discuss things
further over dinner.”

I
clutched the manual hard against my chest, the pages digging into me, burning me
as if it was made of fire. I closed my eyes and let him guide me back down the
pale yellow corridor towards the exit. We boarded the train and sat across from
what appeared to be a “new” family. A mother sat nursing her newborn, the
father gazing down lovingly at the offspring, his arm protectively around his
mate. I looked away sharply, tears springing to my eyes. That is the path I would
have chosen, now I am forced, the term Breeder floating around my head,
spiraling me into the depths of despair.

“This
is our exit,” Mason whispered, gently maneuvering me out onto the platform. I
just managed to keep the tears at bay, hoping the new family in front of me
could not see my utter desperation. I wished that their moment was mine. The
realization that it would never be buckled my knees. Tears left my eyes,
flooding my face until I was doubled over in wretches, sobbing uncontrollably.
Mason tried to guide me up the dark tunnel towards the stairs.

“We
are almost there, please walk for me, Ariet,” he requested patiently. One foot
in front of the other, he led me slowly up the stairs. Scanning his arm, I
heard the automated voice ‘Welcome, Mr. Black.’ He gently lifted my arm for me
to be scanned. ‘Breeder 107, entry accepted.’ The door slid open and he walked
me out into the sunlight. If I wasn’t in such despair, I might have taken note
at how warm and inviting our dwelling actually was, how flowers of every color
lined the pathways, how the front door glittered in a rainbow of colors, nothing
like the pastel tones that I had seen in Centre Town before. All I noticed was
how isolated it was, with not another human in sight. This was my new prison.

Chapter
6

The
Breeder manual slammed down on the table beside me. “You need to read this,
Ariet. You cannot mope around here forever. It’s been almost two weeks. Your
medical is tomorrow, after which there is another meeting with some more of the
senior members of the Creators, where they will question you about our
partnership. This will happen every week for the next four weeks. You need to
be aware of this. Ariet, Ariet, I’m talking to you!!!” Mason leant down to my
height and roughly shook me by the shoulders. “Ariet, it is not you, or me even,
that determines whether Option One or Two is chosen for conception, it is the Creators
decision. You need to take a stand regarding your future!”