Chapter 2:



Lily pulled up to the Nurturing Center right on time. She parked her bike in her spot, and headed inside. Even at the entrance there was a flurry of activity, as the night shift workers changed positions with the day shift workers. Lily headed to the administration desk, and waited to be assigned to her duties for the day.

"You are to attend the twin birthing today," the administrator told her. "After that it is care as usual."

"Thank you," Lily replied, and headed upstairs, to the birthing floor.

Lily entered the young birthmother's room quietly. The young birth mother smiled.

"Is it time?"

"Yes, it's time to prepare you." The birthmother wasn't much older then Lily was, maybe two, three years at most.

"Is this your first?" Lily asked while putting sedatives into the syringe beside the woman's bed.

"Yes. I'm so excited. I'm getting my life partener today as well."

"Really? I am too."

There wasn't any more conversation after that. The young woman slipped into a heavy sleep. Lily wheeled her Gurney into the birthing room, where specially trained Nurturers and the Surgeon awaited the young mother. It took only a matter of minutes before the twin cries of the newborns pierced the room.

Lily cleaned up the two children swiftly, and handed them one by one to the Surgeon. He hooked them up to machines. Lily had never learned what the machines were called, as it wasn't part of her Assignment.

"Take them to the Weighing Room, Nurturer. They are identical twins."

Lily put each boy into their own basket, and started down the stairs. She knew what to expect. She would hand the children off to a senior Nurturer, and would be told to return to her duties. Since Jonas had been lost, there had been new policies that only Nurturers had to earn the right to be allowed to Release. Lily wondered why.

Much to her surprise, Lily's father met her at the Weighing Room. He looked grim.

"Come on in, Lily. You have been awarded the ability to preform Releases from now on." Lily wondered why he looked so grim. He should have been proud of her.

"I thank you for your confidence," she said, placing the two baskets on the examination table. Her father smiled thinly.

"I always knew you could do this, Lily." He turned serious once more. "You examine the left boy, and I will examine the right. Only one of them will get a number today."

Lily examined the boy, taking x-rays, and checking his reflexes.

"No physical defects on this boy."

"None on this boy either," her father said grimly. "Please weigh your child, Lily."

Lily placed the boy on the very precise scale.

"He weighs 7 pounds, 3.21 ounces."

"This one weighs 7 pounds, 4.01 ounces. I will take Number Twenty-Seven to the Nursery."

"How do I Release him?" asked Lily, cradling the baby.

"There is a syringe filled with sedative next to that wooden transport device. Push the seringe into his main vein on his forehead, and send the sedative into him. Place the sleeping boy in the transport device, and send him down the chute to Elsewhere. Can you handle that?"

"I assure you I can," she replied. "I will see you later."

Lily watched her father leave, then she lay the little boy in the wooden transport device. She picked up the syringe, and cooed to him softly. As the syringe pierced the boy's skin he let out a howl of pain. Lily fought the urge to cry.

"I'm sorry little one," she whispered. "I'm sure it will be alright soon." Sure enough as soon as the liquid had drained from the syringe the baby's eyes began to droop closed. His cries abruptly stopped. His eyes, half open, half-closed, stared up at her blankly.

Lily's breath caught in her throat. She touched him. She could not feel his heart beating. Memories of the dream, of war, of the dead boy, it all came back in a horrifying rush. She knew within her that she had just killed an innocent baby. He was dead, and she had killed him!

Steadying her hands, Lily shut the box, and let the dead child go down the chute marked Elsewhere. She left the room, walking slightly unsteadily. She managed to hold herself together, and suppress her emotions. She searched for the word of what she felt as she fed one of the babies. It was called Guilt, but it was different then when they were made to feel guilty as children. It rocked down all through her, and she wanted to curl up in a ball and die, just like the little boy.

Lily put the baby she had been feeding back into his crib, and started to change another one's diapers. It was then she saw the twin brother of the boy she had killed. Lily could not stand any longer. A deep darkness descended around her, and she gave herself over to it willingly.