Origin in Death (In Death #21)(95)

"Surgeries. Sculpting. They did some of that crap on eight-year-olds. Sons of bitches. Your basic eye fixes, hearing checks, disease control, that's all on the front, but you got the other on the coded. 'Enhanced intelligence training,' they called some of it. Subliminal instruction, visual and audio. Students earmarked for LC status or what they called 'partnerships' got their advanced sex education. And here's a kicker."

He paused to slurp down coffee. "Deena isn't the only one who ran."

"There are others who got out, the ones who dropped off the data screens?"

"Yeah. Files on their rogues. Got more than a dozen who poofed, after graduation, after 'placement' She's the only one who got out of the school, but she's not the only one they lost track of. They started implanting the new ones, at birth, with an internal homer. That's after Deena slipped the knot. They've implanted all the current students, too. That was Samuels's brainstorm, and from her notes and records, it was an addition she didn't share with the Icoves."

"Why?"

"She figured they were too close-having one in the family, allowing her too much freedom. They'd lost their objective distance to the project, and to its mission statement. Which was to create a race of Superiors-their term-taking the next logical evolutionary leap through technology: eliminate imperfections and genetic flaws, and eventually mortality. Natural conception, with its inherent risks and questionable success rate, could, and should, be replaced by Quiet Birth."

"Just cut out the middleman, or -woman, so to speak. Then you do made-to-order in a lab. But to pull it off, you need more than technology, you need political punch. You'd have to get laws changed, bans overturned. You have to seed legislatures, state rooms."

"They're working on it. They've got some graduates in key government positions already. In the medical field, in research, in the media."

"That blond bitch on Straight Scoop'? I bet, I just bet she's one of them. She's got those teeth, you know what I'm saying? Those really big, really white teeth." She caught herself at Feeney's bland stare. "Anyway."

"The estimate was another fifteen years, outside, to have the bans rescinded internationally. Another century to implement others that would ban natural conception."

"They wanted to outlaw sex?"

"No, just conception outside 'controlled environments.' Natural conception means natural flaws. Quiet Birth, they never refer to it as artificial, or cloning-"

"Already got a spin started."

"You got that." He took another hit of coffee. "Quiet Birth ensures human perfection, eliminates defects. It also ensures those who are deemed acceptable parents-"

"Yeah, acceptable. Had to go there."

"Right. Acceptable parents are guaranteed the child will meet their specific requirements."

Eve pursed her lips. "How long does the warranty hold up? What's the return policy?"

He grinned despite himself. "That's a kicker, isn't it? Women will no longer be subjected to the indignities of gestation or child birth."

"Maybe they're on to something."

"Their projections indicate sterilization laws will be in place in another seventy-five years."

Enforced sterilization, Quiet Birth, humanity created and tuned in labs. It was like one of Roarke's science fiction vids. "They think ahead."

"Yeah, but you know, time isn't a real problem for them."

"I can see the hype." She scooped up some nuts. "Want a kid without the hassle? Pick from our designer selection. Meet a sudden and tragic death? Sign up now for our second chance program. We'll preserve your cells and get you going again. Long for a mate who'll fulfill your every fantasy? Have we got a girl for you-restricted to adults only."

"Why be one when you can be three?" Feeney added. "Watch yourself grow up, in triplicate. Gives a whole new meaning to the term 'You're just like your mother.'"

Eve let out a half-laugh. "But no line on the base?"

"Lots of references to the 'nurseries,' but no location or locations given. I've got a lot to go through yet."

"I've got to meet with Whitney, take him what we've got. The schools are secure?"

"Droids on that. Droids guarding clones. It's a f**ked-up world. We got legal guardians starting to push. We're not going to be able to keep a net over it for long."

"Oh yeah, we are." She picked up the discs. "Holidays just bog everything up. By the time they get debogged, international law's coming into it. Those 'legal guardians' are in for a world of hurt."

"You got that. Thing is, you got close to two hundred minors between the two schools. So far, only six guardians have made contact. Most are going to turn out to be ghosts."

Eve nodded, added her report disc to the carry file. "How are they going to mix in the mainstream, Feeney? Who's going to take them?"

"That's a problem for a bigger brain than mine."

"You got plans for tomorrow?" she asked him when he rose.

"Whole family's heading over to my son's new house. Did I tell you he upped and moved to New Jersey?" Feeney shook his head. "What're you gonna do. You gotta let them live their lives."