by Melissa Faye
Javi showed me a spot in his document where a few council members joked about the value of Bronze citizens. I couldn’t believe they were so brazen to say those things, let alone include it in their notes. They were making fun of the receptionist in the Chancellor’s mansion, and her affairs with some of the staff. “I’m glad Bronze stays with Bronze,” one councilman had said. The next councilor had said, “Me too. I prefer Gold women. Much classier. And cleaner.”
I felt a boiling rage in my stomach as read it. I occasionally heard bigoted comments here and there, but would not have imagined that kind of language in the council chambers. Javi gave me a furious look that accurately reflected my own feelings. We needed to continue searching, though.
We got through that box, which covered the last four years, and pulled down the next one. I read the minutes from the March meeting seven years earlier. It was written in shorthand and abbreviations, and was more of an outline of the conversation than a verbatim record. It seemed that the secretary at the meeting with the bigoted comments thought those were worth preserving. This was deemed less so.
CHANC: Progress on fertility research?
CHIEF FERT: No solution. Some research promising. [CHIEF FERT SHOWS ANALYSIS, ATTACHED]
MEMBERS REVIEW
CHANC: Reviewed counc minutes from the last year. Let’s cont conversation with everyone present. It was proposed we cancel fertility research. Other comm in region have stopped.
COUNC G: Seconded.
CHIEF MED: Why stop?
COUNC T: Fert solution ends cloning lines. Have discussed importance of cloning lines in continuing leadership of present members. Clones follow jobs.
COUNC G: Immortal life through unending cloning.
COUNC EM: Power.
CHIEF MED: Morally opposed. Need to work on global goal.
CHANC: If opposed, leave. CHIEF FERT, how to stop?
CHIEF FERT: Can alter equipment. Adjust samples. Ensure negative results.
CHIEF MED: Cannot. [CHIEF MED LEAVES]
CHANC CALLS VOTE
UNANIMOUS DECISION IN FAVOR
My eyes grew wider as I read the notes. Javi noticed and read over my shoulder. We clutched the notes in our hands and reread them.
The F-Lab was no longer conducting legitimate research. The data and samples we worked with were fakes, designed to fail our tests again and again. All of the optimism I saw in the researchers’ faces every day...lies.
JAVI AND I SNUCK BACK to our commune and up to my apartment. We reread the minutes until I knew them by heart. Javi’s face was drawn and gray. I felt that boiling rage sitting in my stomach. I spent four years knowing, just knowing, that I would find the solution. So had Laurel. And all those researchers? A lifetime of negative results. Seven years where they weren’t even doing real research.
But even worse: the Chancellor was tricking us all into believing a lie about the solution. Other communities were doing the same. Javi and I were undecided about the immortality part. Clones follow jobs? That didn’t make sense. I didn’t feel immortal because I had clones out there. Then again, I did think of them as an extension of myself. Perhaps Chancellors knew where and who their clones were. That would make for a stronger attachment.
We decided not to risk messaging this information to Omer. The messaging system wasn’t always safe. This was too big not to share broadly, and if we went about it the wrong way, all of us could get in trouble and the information would go down with us. We would have to find Omer first thing in the morning.
WE MESSAGED OMER FROM my TekCast and agreed to meet after middle class graduation, which would be over by early afternoon. I remembered I had scheduled to meet Yami before her graduation, so I showered quickly, pulled on a dress, and ran over to her cafeteria.
Yami went to get us French toast from the vending cylinder while I got us seats by the windows. I looked down and realized what a mess I was. I was wearing sneakers with my dress, which looked absurd. I felt my hair – I had barely brushed it after showering and it was tangled badly. My face must have given away my lack of sleep.
My TekCast vibrated and I pulled up the holoscreen. “BREAK IN AT THE RECORDS ROOM: SEE CHANCELLOR OR COUNCIL MEMBER WITH ANY INFORMATION.” I looked around. Only people with colored insignia were looking at their holoscreens. The information had only been sent to adults. I almost jumped when Yami sat down next to me, handing me my tray.
“What’s going on?” Yami whispered. I looked at the French toast and felt nauseous. I tried eating it, but could only manage a few bites. I looked around. My body tightened Two people had this information right now. Javi and me. Well, the two of us plus all the corrupt leaders from the meeting. Terror passed through me in waves. I didn’t dare send any messages.
I looked at Yami, who looked back at me with her eyes narrowed.
“Yami, I need you to know something,” I said. My voice shook. Was someone going to turn us in? When were security guards coming for me? How long did I have?
“What?”
“I found out something, and I told some of my...friends...but I need someone else to know.” I forced myself to speak evenly, though stabbing a piece of French toast with my fork probably gave me away. “I have friends. They agree with me about all of this. About the community, and how something is wrong here.” Yami looked terrified now, but I couldn’t stop.
“There’s a group. They get together and talk about what they know. We’re trying to find...I don’t know. A solution.”
“A solution? Like a solution to the fertility crisis?” Yami asked.
“No. A solution to...the ideas you and I have talked about. Whatever you want to call it. But yesterday at work I found something out that I’m not supposed to know.” I swallowed bile; I wanted to throw up. “Yami, the F-Lab. It’s not doing anything.”
“Not doing anything? What? You stopped working?”
“No, it’s not doing anything. I mean, it’s never done anything. For years.” I looked around. Where were the people who were coming to take me to...wherever they take criminals? “All the work I’ve been doing there? It’s a waste of time. It’s all fake. The researchers don’t even know, but no one is really researching fertility anymore. The data and samples we look at. The solutions we test. It’s all for show. I don’t know if it’s just a few communities, or just our region, or if it’s everywhere but...”
I looked around again. My eyes kept landing on the swinging doors, and I watched people come in.
“Alexis, I’m not sure I –“
“Yami, quickly. Before anyone comes over here. The government has stopped trying to find a solution for the fertility crisis. The F-Lab data is fake. I heard some things, and found some documents...it doesn’t matter how I know. But I need you to know in case anyone gets to me or gets to my group. This is dangerous, Yami. If I’m right – and I’m certain I’m right – then the community will be furious. The council will do anything to keep this information secret.”
I looked at the doors. Javi entered. He saw me, we made eye contact, and I stood up. My heart leapt; I was relieved I had told him where I was going that morning.
“Don’t worry,” I told Yami. “You’ll be fine. Graduation will be great. I’m so proud of you!” I called it out louder than necessary, then looked back at Javi. “I have to run, Yami, but I’ll see you at graduation, ok? I’ll find you afterwards.” I took my tray of half-eaten toast to the disposal area and followed Javi out of the cafeteria.
“Omer hasn’t reached out,” Javi said as we walked together out of the building. I noticed he was eyeing everyone suspiciously, just like I was.
“What’s going to happen? What will they do to us?”
“No one’s going to tell,” Javi said. “Only the Underground knows. I don’t think any of them will give us up. There’s no way.”
My breath was quick and labored while we found seats for graduation. We scanned the crowd for Omer but he was nowhere to be seen. The Chancellor gave his normal speech, though
I thought I could sense something different in his tone. An underlying anger. Javi and I looked back and forth at each other and said nothing.
I felt myself breath slow while some of the graduates gave speeches. One graduate sang a song. It was sweet; something about the beauty of the trees and the mountains. Why was I so worried? No one would turn us in.
Graduation ended, and I took off to find Yami. I needed to see her quickly so Javi and I could find Omer. “Congratulations, Yami!” I said loudly when I found her. No one would suspect that I was a criminal; I loved my mentee! “You did it!” Yami’s friend took our picture together. I smiled happily.
From far off in the crowd, I saw someone trying to discretely wave to me. It was Bradley. I waved back and walked towards him, hoping he knew Omer. I realized he was waving me away. I looked at his face. He was mouthing something to me. I shook my head. I couldn’t tell what he was trying to say.
Javi came up from behind me and grabbed my elbow. “It’s Bradley’s friend Shazzi,” he whispered in my ear. “She ratted us out. She went to a councilman.” Javi pulled me in the other direction as I looked back at Bradley, whose face had fallen.
I didn’t know where we could go, but I followed Javi. We walked away from graduation as quickly as we could without looking suspicious. There were criminals on the loose, and everyone knew it.
We didn’t get far before I felt a firm hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see a large, brusk security guard standing over me. Another stood over Javi.
WE SAT IN THE CHANCELLOR’S office. The scent of the wood paneling filled my nose and reminded me of a class trip to the council chambers. It was after I had joined the Underground, and being there reminded me of everything the group stood for. The smell sickened me.
Our security guards stood outside the door. Our TekCasts and insignia had been confiscated. I held Javi’s hand. He squeezed tightly and didn’t let go. Neither of us spoke. What could we say?
I heard the door creak open behind us. Someone said something to someone else and chuckled. The door knob turned. Chancellor Lorenzo entered and walked around us to sit at his desk.
“I’m very disappointed in both of you,” he said. Javi held my hand tightly, and my eyes welled with tears.
I never saw Young Woods community again.
Sign up for Melissa Faye’s newsletter to receive a free copy of the short story
CLONE CRISIS: BEGINNINGS
In the year 2107, the last baby boy is born in Sydney, Australia. With fertility rates at 0% and no solution in sight, the Unified Countries comes together to find a way to keep the human race from going extinct.
In this prequel to Clone Crisis, learn how countries around the world decided to use cloning as a stopgap measure until they can find a solution to the fertility crisis.
GIVE ME MY FREE STORY!