“No, the Bokanovsky’s Process was not for Betas. Betas are produced from original fertillized ovums, not cloned. After the X-Ray check, they will go to their own individual incubators.”
“But then, how are the Alphas born differently from Betas?
“You will know it in the next step.”
He used red marks to edit her notes. Seychel got her notebook back, asked again with a tiny voice.
“When should we educate those……infants? ”
Her professor gave her a strange smile. It made her uncomfortable.
“It depends on which group you want to take charge in the future.”
“I don’t know, sir. I haven’t decided my major.”
“Well, you’d better make up your mind as soon as possible, or the division will decide it for you.” He pressed the bottom “3”, and stared at his student. “How about we take a look at the Epsilon pre-workers? It is the easiest one.”
She obeyed, as every upper classmates told her. Several seconds later, they arrived at the Epsilonian Training Room. Compared to the fertilizing room, this room was so hot and bright. There are twenty big glass cabinets with a total of five hundred compartments and a round conveyer belt (like the belt in an airport to transport luggage) in the middle of two long experiment tables with computers and control boards. Arthur yelled a command; those Beta workers stopped their works and lined up beside the left table. He nodded to Seychel and ordered with authoritative tone.
“Show me what you learned, my dear.”
All the rules she remembered now became useful. She typed the code into the software and chose “1”. The belt moved, and a white incubator was sent out. Seychel opened it, took the infant out, and put the empty incubator back on the belt. The body of an infant was small and warm, dressed in khaki clothing—the colour of Epsilon. She pressed the button, and one of the little compartments, No. (7×9), opened its door. She put the infant in the transport box near by that column and typed instruction codes to control it. The transport box translated it and sent the infant into that empty compartment in the ninth tier. The door closed. Seychel sat down, opened the monitor system to find the settings and monitor video of that compartment inside. After the check, she announced loudly,
“Temperature: 37.3 ℃. Stability: A level. Gender: male. Oxygen content rate ratio: normal. Object’s condition: fine. Treatment will start in five seconds. ”
The infant slept serenely. Seychel pressed the red key and watched the video carefully. The temperature inside increased 0.25 ℃ per second. A sweet gas filled the small space: the mixed fragrant of candy and milk. The infant woke up and cried sharply—he did not bother anyone, for the glass was soundproof. The little hands were exposed to the fervent air. The temperature and oxygen ratio became a side-opening relationship. The compartment started shaking after fifteen seconds, with inconstant frequency. There was less and less breathable air for the infant. He breathed sorely and tried to get more oxygen. Looking at his face, Seychel trembled: it was the first time she treated a real infant. In school, the infants were a 3D illusion. They did not cry nor feel pain. She even felt like she heard the whine from the compartment, which made her whole mind drop into culpa. But she could not stop. Her professor was watching every movement she made. She was an Alpha, the kind of person who needed to always live for their tasks. This was the first day of her job, and she could not escape.
“Endure it, please,” she told the infant soundlessly. “All those challenges are for your future. You will live happily after you have adapted to this condition……”
She was not lying. Alphas created the specific process to treat Epsilons since they were in cradles, so when they grew up, they could be strong and involved in all the hardest jobs. It was as fair as the fate.
Before the alarm rang, she ended this treatment stage and returned all the settings back to their original level. The whole period only took one minute, but her nervous expression appeared like she had suffered for a century. She recorded the physical condition data in the data table, and listed out when and how long the following five treatments should take. Those theories have been memorized hundreds times. She gave the first trap to this child. Since then, he would connect the painful experience with the gas and sweet fragrance. Later, the fragrance would change into food, shiny toys……the presents changed according to their age and work. Every Epsilon would be thankful to the work.
“Fabulous. Incredible.”
She heard Arthur’s praise. Suddenly, applause flooded. The Beta workers clapped with the same concurrent smiles on their faces. She nodded and walked back to Arthur’s side. She was so tense that her steps were still shivering.
“I……I think I’m not suited for this station.”
She stammered. Arthur did not show any surprise.
“Then, what station do you want to go next?”
Seychel speculated. She tried to figure out what she wanted. She wanted humanization. She needed to work for civilization. That was what Alphas should do.
“May I go to see the intellectual Betas, please?”
“Say it correctly.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I mean Neo-Pavlovian conditioning.”
“Yes, certainly you can. ”
