Generation M

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to real people, events, and organizations are used fictitiously. All dialog, names, incidents, and characters are drawn from the author’s wild imagination and are not to be construed as real.

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“I am a seed of the new society.” The man had a gruff, but friendly voice.

Lisette wrinkled her nose in frustration as she carefully adjusted her headphones. They were too big and kept slipping below her ears.

“I am a seed of the new society,” she repeated in her deepest tone.

“Science is the way forward,” Mr. Gruff-and-Friendly said.

She stretched her arms and legs and pointed her toes upward to form a little tent under the bed covers. “Science is the way forward.”

“We are the seeds of the new society.” The voices that came through the headphones changed often. This woman had a stuffy nose.

Lisette pinched her nose. “We are the seeds of the new society.”

In the dim light, she could see the other girls sitting up in their beds, reciting the phrases of the morning spirit drill. Unit 2A was a long room, and the beds were against the walls. Most of the girls were five years old, like she was. Lisette was glad to see that all the Emotion Meter lights were green. This meant that everyone was happy. If all the EM lights stayed green throughout a spirit drill, they would earn fifteen extra minutes of playtime at recess.

The Emotion Meter fit comfortably over her index finger, and Lisette pushed it down, making sure it was snug. Chandra, her favorite scientist, had explained how it worked.

“The EM measures your skin moisture and pulse. A racing heart indicates you are afraid or anxious. Clammy skin means you are sad. Those are times when the light turns yellow or red. Every Emotion Meter sends a signal to the central control room. If your light changes color, a scientist will turn off the recording and speak to you directly. The signal is also sent to the monitoring station, so I can tell how everyone in the unit is feeling.”

Chandra was on duty at the monitoring station now.

Many of the scientists at the colony asked you to call them “Doctor,” but Chandra was a little different. She had introduced herself as Doctor Ramanathan when they first met and added, “You can call me by my first name, Chandra, or even ‘Mother.’”

Lisette’s mom had died on the night of the purple moon, so she had decided to call her Chandra.

“The future is bright.”

Lisette yawned. “The future is bright.”

She gave a little wave to one of her best friends, Zoe, who was sitting up in the bed beside her. Zoe’s brown hair was long and silky, and she could run like the wind. Zoe could outrun every girl in the unit and even the older boys in Unit 2B.

Lisette kept waving the EM light back and forth because it reminded her of Castine Island. Abby and Jordan would let her stay up past her bedtime so they could all go outside and watch fireflies blinking off and on. She missed home.

“The scientists care for us,” a woman sang.

Lisette lifted her chin high and warbled, “The scientists care for us.”

Just then, a wad of paper landed at the foot of her bed. The “Duck Game” was on. The loser was the one left holding the crumpled drawing of the duck when the spirit drill ended.

Lisette glanced left, thinking it had come from that direction. She saw Emily trying to hide a grin and knew immediately who had thrown it. Emily was a giggler. Making sure Chandra wasn’t looking, Lisette tossed the duck across the aisle to Chloe, the tallest girl in the unit. Chloe flipped it to Lydia, the shortest girl, and Lydia tossed it to Molly. Molly, who could be mean, flung it back to Emily.

“I am Generation M,” the woman said in a voice swelling with pride.

M stood for Mendel. Gregor Mendel had studied genetics over a hundred years ago. That was what Doctor Perkins, the scientist in charge of the colonies, had explained on television. “Mendel’s work inspires us. Our ability to effectively manage the gene pool will help us optimize society for years to come.”

Doctor Perkins liked to use big words, and Lisette rarely understood him.

“I am Generation M,” she said proudly.

“The epidemic killed my brother and sister,” the woman said.

Lisette swallowed the lump in her throat. Images of her sister and brother tumbled through her mind: Running and jumping into Abby’s outstretched arms. Jordan lifting her onto his shoulders, then splashing around in the icy ocean water as they both howled with laughter.

A new woman spoke. “Nine four four …” Lisette’s colony ID number. “… please respond.” Her tone was cold and stern.

Lisette let her muscles go limp, trying to slow her heartbeat.

She fixed her eyes on her Emotion Meter light and mumbled, “The epidemic killed ….”

Abby and Jordan are alive
, Lisette told herself.

She gasped in horror when she saw her EM light was yellow.

“Nine four four, pay attention!”

Lisette dragged a pajama sleeve across her damp brow, hoping the light would turn green. She buried her hand under the covers, only to remember that her Emotion Meter was sending a signal to the control room and the monitoring station. Chandra glanced over with a concerned expression.

“Abby and Jordan are dead,” the woman snapped.

Lisette peeked under the covers and her stomach dropped. The light was now red.

“Abby and Jordan are ….” She stopped before saying something that wasn’t true.

Or was it true?
Shards of terror tore through her body. Lisette didn’t know where her sister and brother were. Something terrible could have happened to them.

The duck landed on her bed just as Chandra rose from her seat. Lisette snatched the crumpled paper and squeezed it in her fist.

With a sympathetic look, Chandra removed Lisette’s headphones and unclipped her EM.

“Come with me,” she said, holding out her hand.

Lisette took Chandra’s hand. Together, they moved toward the door. Lisette tossed the crumpled duck behind her back, onto Molly’s bed.

As they passed the monitoring station, Lisette felt a chill. All the tracking lines were green, except one: hers. She figured the other Generation M kids had been at Atlanta Colony for so long, they no longer cared about their older brothers and sisters.

Doctor Ingard, who the girls called “Auntie,” entered the unit and took a seat at the monitoring station. Auntie wore her hair parted in the middle and a perfume that Lisette liked.

After a brief word with Auntie, Chandra led Lisette down the hall to the counseling room, where they sat on a couch together. The sun was just coming up.

Lisette squirmed next to Chandra, worried about having to face her friends. Because her EM light had turned red, they would only get forty-five minutes of recess time.

“I know it’s difficult to stop thinking about your loved ones, but you must,” Chandra said.

Lisette folded her arms. “Abby and Jordan are alive! We caught fireflies together. They let me stay up late, and they call me Toucan. I don’t like to be called 944!”

Chandra stared into space for a long moment. “You know what Doctor Perkins says, ‘Happiness is the best state of mind for learning.’ He wants to make sure that every member of Generation M can make an important contribution to the society of the future. If you are happy, your test scores will gradually improve.”

Lisette took a test every day, it seemed. Even while she recovered from the AHA-B illness in Medical Clinic 3, the scientists had made her take tests.

“We’re measuring your IQ,” one scientist had told her.

Lisette looked straight at Chandra. “I want to go home. I want to be with my family again and Timmy, Danny, and Cat!”

Chandra’s brow furrowed. “All families change. Children grow up and follow their own paths. We are your family now. The girls and boys in Unit 2A and 2B are your brothers and sisters.”

“They are not! That’s a lie!” Lisette growled through gritted teeth. “Abby is my sister. Jordan is my brother.”

Chandra pulled her close and danced her fingertips across her new stubble of hair. The scientists had shaved Lisette’s head many times in Medical Clinic 3 so that the sticky pads with wires coming from them would stay in place on her smooth scalp. The cold band of Chandra’s gold ring slid across her scalp, and the stitching of the lab coat scratched her cheek.

“I want to tell you something, but only if you promise you won’t say anything about it to anyone,” Chandra whispered.

Lisette held up her pinky. She liked sharing secrets.

“Pinky swear.”

She and Abby had done pinky swears all the time.

Chandra nodded and locked fingers with Lisette. “If they restore communications with Colony East, you will be evaluated today. Doctor Perkins will review your entire profile.”

Lisette scrunched her eyebrows. “What’s a profile?”

“Your test scores, the observations made of the way you interact with the other members of Generation M, and how you’ve done on the spirit drill. Doctor Perkins will decide whether you should remain in the colony.”

A chill rippled down her spine. Would they put her outside the fence? Three weeks ago, they put a boy from Unit 3C outside the fence. Everyone in her unit had heard him crying. It frightened Lisette to think she might be alone, so far from home.

Just as suddenly, a thought popped into her mind that made her smile again. “If Doctor Perkins doesn’t like me, will someone take me home to Castine Island?”

Chandra shook her head with sad eyes. “Our resources are limited, and the planes only fly between the colonies. Please, Lisette, if Doctor Perkins asks if the epidemic has claimed Abby and Jordan, say yes, even if you believe that it’s a lie.”

Lisette pressed her ear hard against Chandra’s chest, which made the beats of her heart sound louder.

“Abby and Jordan are alive!” Her own heart was thudding faster.

“You can be very stubborn,” Chandra said.

Lisette pushed back. “Abby says our family has a gene for stubborn.”

Chandra narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together. Creases formed in her forehead. Finally, she looked up at the ceiling and let out a small sigh. “If I let my hair down, will you promise to lie?”

Lisette’s eyes shifted to Chandra’s black hair tied in a bun, shining in the sunlight coming through the window.

She loved to see the long hair spill below Chandra’s waist.

She folded her arms. “No.”

Chandra had already removed the clips on top of her head and started to unfurl her hair.

Lisette reached out and sifted her fingers down through the thick coils, pretending that her hair would grow that long someday. She hoped her red curls would grow back enough to hide her ears by her sixth birthday. By the time she was seven, she pictured her hair coming down to her shoulders. When she was Abby’s age, the curls would tumble to the middle of her back.