First Arrival:
The in-vitro women had been living at Manticore for some months now. Well, you could hardly call them women -- most were between 16 and 19 years old. Sad in a way. I pitied them. But they were getting paid a hell of a lot to be here, and I didn't hear a lot of complaining. Funny, looking back at all my years at Manticore, only one of those women ever stood out in my mind, and that was only because she was the only one who ever tried to escape.
They weren't treated like soldiers of course - but they were put on a very strict routine of daily exercise, gene therapy, psychiatric evaluations, a specialized diet, and group activities. It was made very clear to these women that the science projects they were carrying belonged to Manticore, not to them. They were just a womb to the scientists who hovered over them.
I learned from Lydecker, who was anxiously awaiting the first arrivals, that the X1 generation, as is had been dubbed, had minimal feline DNA -- they had mostly tweaked their human chromosomes to maximum capability. When I asked why, Lydecker said, "we're still developing the research," in his usual evasive tone. I didn't ask for more.
The first X1 was born on a dreary, early spring day. The mother went into labor and 8 hours later the very first Manticore prototype was brought into the world. That was the first time I ever saw a true smile on Lydecker's face. He was smiling like a proud papa.
The mother of the new arrival was given some meds to recover, sent to the Pych Unit for evaluations and was discharged from the site within 15 hours of giving birth. I've often wondered what became of her and the others...
The child, a male, was taken to another room in Sector 9. Tests and analysis were stared immediately. He was allowed to cry right after he was born, but after those first few moments, all crying was ignored. Classical Conditioning -- only reward positive behavior, ignore all others. He learned quickly -- baby wails were rarely heard in the halls of Manticore. I looked in on the little guy with curiosity whenever I could, at a week old he already seemed like a tough, determined little thing.
"Follow me Jones," Lydecker said a week later. I followed him to Sector 9 and into the nursing room.
"This is the future of Manticore," he stated with a smile, peering down at the red-faced young' in.
"He's gonna be one hell of a soldier sir," I commented in reply. Lydecker nodded his agreement. I could already see the wheels turning in his mind - plans for the future no doubt.
"What's his name?" I asked as Lydecker slowly reached out and picked the little guy up.
"Name?" His tone was almost scornful. "They won't be given names. They'll need to relate as a team, names give too much individuality. No, they'll have numbers." He explained, speaking as if to a toddler.
He gently turned the baby boy over, showing the back on his neck. A barcode.
"The barcodes are etched into their gene sequence -- it's a built in tracking and identification system." He continued.
"Ingenious." I said, though internally I was fighting shock. After all, I was human, raised with certain traditions. This seemed so science fiction it was almost unreal, and definitely disturbing.
"Of course, 12 numbers is a lot to memorize and use -- so we'll use the last 3 -- this one will be known as X1-122." Lydecker said, smiling at the boy as he laid him gently back into his little bed.
"Why not make the barcodes in order? X1-111, then X1-112, X1-113, etc.?" I asked, confused. Lydecker raised an eyebrow.
"It's a random computerized system of numbering. If they're ever captured or killed, the enemy wouldn't be able to identify them. They'll have no idea which level of Manticore technology they're dealing with. Added security." Every once in a while the strategic part of Lydecker's thoughts popped up, I was willing to bet this was one of those moments.
The in-vitro women had been living at Manticore for some months now. Well, you could hardly call them women -- most were between 16 and 19 years old. Sad in a way. I pitied them. But they were getting paid a hell of a lot to be here, and I didn't hear a lot of complaining. Funny, looking back at all my years at Manticore, only one of those women ever stood out in my mind, and that was only because she was the only one who ever tried to escape.
They weren't treated like soldiers of course - but they were put on a very strict routine of daily exercise, gene therapy, psychiatric evaluations, a specialized diet, and group activities. It was made very clear to these women that the science projects they were carrying belonged to Manticore, not to them. They were just a womb to the scientists who hovered over them.
I learned from Lydecker, who was anxiously awaiting the first arrivals, that the X1 generation, as is had been dubbed, had minimal feline DNA -- they had mostly tweaked their human chromosomes to maximum capability. When I asked why, Lydecker said, "we're still developing the research," in his usual evasive tone. I didn't ask for more.
The first X1 was born on a dreary, early spring day. The mother went into labor and 8 hours later the very first Manticore prototype was brought into the world. That was the first time I ever saw a true smile on Lydecker's face. He was smiling like a proud papa.
The mother of the new arrival was given some meds to recover, sent to the Pych Unit for evaluations and was discharged from the site within 15 hours of giving birth. I've often wondered what became of her and the others...
The child, a male, was taken to another room in Sector 9. Tests and analysis were stared immediately. He was allowed to cry right after he was born, but after those first few moments, all crying was ignored. Classical Conditioning -- only reward positive behavior, ignore all others. He learned quickly -- baby wails were rarely heard in the halls of Manticore. I looked in on the little guy with curiosity whenever I could, at a week old he already seemed like a tough, determined little thing.
"Follow me Jones," Lydecker said a week later. I followed him to Sector 9 and into the nursing room.
"This is the future of Manticore," he stated with a smile, peering down at the red-faced young' in.
"He's gonna be one hell of a soldier sir," I commented in reply. Lydecker nodded his agreement. I could already see the wheels turning in his mind - plans for the future no doubt.
"What's his name?" I asked as Lydecker slowly reached out and picked the little guy up.
"Name?" His tone was almost scornful. "They won't be given names. They'll need to relate as a team, names give too much individuality. No, they'll have numbers." He explained, speaking as if to a toddler.
He gently turned the baby boy over, showing the back on his neck. A barcode.
"The barcodes are etched into their gene sequence -- it's a built in tracking and identification system." He continued.
"Ingenious." I said, though internally I was fighting shock. After all, I was human, raised with certain traditions. This seemed so science fiction it was almost unreal, and definitely disturbing.
"Of course, 12 numbers is a lot to memorize and use -- so we'll use the last 3 -- this one will be known as X1-122." Lydecker said, smiling at the boy as he laid him gently back into his little bed.
"Why not make the barcodes in order? X1-111, then X1-112, X1-113, etc.?" I asked, confused. Lydecker raised an eyebrow.
"It's a random computerized system of numbering. If they're ever captured or killed, the enemy wouldn't be able to identify them. They'll have no idea which level of Manticore technology they're dealing with. Added security." Every once in a while the strategic part of Lydecker's thoughts popped up, I was willing to bet this was one of those moments.