The Waters of Life
Someday the rains will come and wash it all away
The heart of the wasteland will awaken on this day
-Miracle of Sound
1
It didn't matter whether or not he was ready; It was time. Was anyone ever truly prepared to have a child? James thought not. He'd tried to busy himself in the rotunda until Catherine was ready. He halfheatedly looked over the instruments and papers strewn over the tables, not doing any meaningful work.Nervous aches wracked his body. His hands shook and sweat stood on his brow. The buzz of the intercom was both a burden and a release as Madison's voice came throught the speaker.
"James, it's time," She spoke matter-of-factly, the speaker buzzing afterward to inidcate the end of her transmission.
He tossed aside the clipboard in his hand nonchalantly, turning and briskly descending the metal staircase that led up to the lab surrounding the great statue. This building had once been the Jefferson Memorial. The notion of constructing such "memorials" always struck him as odd. Dedicating such immense time and resources to the dead seemed so dangerously frivolous in concept. Still, he was thankful for the refuge the concrete and steel provided. It made the ideal home for Project Purity. The mutants that inhabited the deeper parts of the DC ruins rarely ventured this far, those that did being run off or killed by the Knights that Lyon's Brotherhood of Steel had tasked with guarding the site. Safe though it may have been, it did less than he would have preferred to put his mind at ease.
Heavy footfalls reverberated through the basement as he rounded the corner and the last section of stairs, incedentally following the conduit than ran along the concrete walls. His stride carried him to the clinic room. Perhaps the only thing that felt natural was the donning of this surgical mask and gloves before approaching the bed of his very pregnant wife. Her cries echoed into the very bottom levels of the complex, her body determined to expel the miniature human that had been growing inside.
James nodded as stolidly as he could to Madison as they attempted to guide their colleague through her first birthing. Hell, it was everyone's first. No amount of books and holotapes could properly prepare one for this, James found out. Terror and wonder fought over his mind as Catherine continued to cry in pain while the head and shoulders of their child met his eyes. After an eternal instant, it was over. Madison set the baby down on the second, smaller table, clearing its eyes and mouth. James peered over her shoulder to see his son.
"It's a boy! We have a son Catherine! A beautiful, healthy baby boy!" Excitement had one out over both fear and terror as he turned to his wife, brushing a sweaty lock of her tarnished gold hair to kiss her forehead.
"Oh James, we did it!" She said turning her head to see her own blood manifest. "Our beautiful son..." The little one didn't cry but for a moment, instead taking in the world around him with wide eyes, alert and curious.
"I think he has a bright future ahead," James said, addressing no one in particular. "Lets see what you'll look like when you're grown," he continued as Madison wheeled over the screen showing the gene projection, approximating the future appearance of an individual based on the genetics of their parents. The circular screen showed a man roughly 20 years old. His face was like James,' though with the green eyes and golden hair of his mother. It was fascinating, if a little unnerving to see. "See that Catherine?" he said, turning to his wife.
She turned toward the screen, ending the final look she would take at her son. "Aww... he looks like his father," she said taking said father's hand in hers, chuckling in a sweet, but tired way. Her heart felt heavy in her chest as it began to beat irregularly. She thought little of it at first, soon unable to ignore the growing pain within. "James... James... something's... somethings wro-." Breathy and weak words began to fade away as the instruments monitoring her offered warning beeps. Catherine tried and failed to see her son as he was wheeled away. Everything turned to black as James scrambled to help his dying wife and the warning beeps coldly dissolved into a single, haunting drone.