CHAPTER TWELVE

I was practically shaking as I entered the Politician’s Meeting Room, where every Politician started his or her workday. There was a designated seat for me in the far back of the small, circular arena. My name was carved into a gold plate nailed on the podium in front of my seat.

I sat down and took a look around the room. There were a couple of people there already. I had come early, because I was so terrified of being late. As the time got closer to nine o’ clock, more and more people shuffled into the room. In the end there were about seventy-five of us Politicians. The last to enter was the director. He sat in the very first row, in the center of the northern part of the arena.

“Let us commence today’s meeting,” he began, once everyone was seated. “First off, I’d like to welcome a new member, Ms. Aleta.”

He motioned his hand toward me and everyone turned to look. I stood and curtsied.

“I’m sure you will all make her first day as a Politician go as smoothly as possible for her. Now, to business. The Scientists have just made a major breakthrough in the Genetics Project. We need someone to begin to supervise their progress on a daily basis. Aleta, would you take the job?”

There was no possible way I could say no. The director asked to be polite, but it was understood that he wasn’t just asking, he was commanding. I had no idea what the Genetics Project was, but I gave a quick nod. “Yessir.”

“Good, good. I’ll want a full report by the end of the week on this new breakthrough and their progress thus far.”

My first report already! What if I did it all wrong? What if they didn’t like it? What if I was bad at it? I started breathing too quickly. I calmed myself down by reminding myself that I was top in my class, and writing reports was one of the many things that I had excelled at. I took a few deep breaths, and returned my undivided attention back to the director.

“Also, we’re setting up a publicist team to help promote the wonders that this Genetics Project will bring, so that the people will back us up one hundred percent. We’re going to need some campaigns, lectures, activities, that sort of thing….”

The director went on to give people different jobs. Most of the rest of the meeting was about this “Genetics Project.” I was starting to get excited about it. It seemed to be taking up all our attention. I had to be extremely important, if all the Politicians and apparently the Scientists, too, were putting all their time and effort into it.

The meeting ended promptly at 9:30. I left the room with the rest of them, but I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to go from there.

“Ms. Aleta?” someone questioned as they walked up to me.

“Yes?”

“Hello, I’m Dr. Farsi, the Scientist in charge of the Genetics Project. I was told you were going to be our new supervisor?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Well, then, just follow me to our lab. Its in the Hospital.”

We left Government Hall and I followed Dr. Farsi silently to the Hospital. The lab was on the eighth floor, and I didn’t appreciate the climb. It was unfortunate that I would have to do it every day.

Dr. Farsi led down a hallway and stopped in front of a door. “Please, after you,” he said.

I opened the door and stepped into the room. Inside were a dozen long lab tables, all parallel to each other. At each table there were about six scientists, some staring at petri dishes, others preparing slides, some staring intently at some unseen object with a magnifying glass.

“They’re busy at work,” said Dr. Farsi. “Some of us spend fifteen hours a day here.”

“That’s absurd!” I blurted out. I quickly recovered. “I mean, they must be so tired and worn out.”

“We’re excited about what we’re doing here,” said Dr. Farsi. “Our research could change the world forever. Please, come with me to my office and I’ll tell you more about the Genetics Project.”

“Thank you. I would very much like to know what it is exactly you’re doing here.”

“Right this way.”

I followed Dr. Farsi into a room on the right. His office was small, with most of the space taken up by bookshelves stacked full. He sat in a chair behind his desk, and I sat opposite him.

“The Genetics Project is quite a revolutionary idea that we’ve been working on for quite some time,” Dr. Farsi began. “We’ve learned how to get the genetic makeup of a fetus before its born. With this information, we can tell, genetically, just how the fetus will turn out. This includes physical characteristics as well as potential genetic defects that can lead to certain illness and diseases.”

It all seemed very interesting. I remembered learning about genetics in my schooling. But I never learned just how far the scientists were taking it. I just wondered one thing. “So what is it that you want to use this information for?”

“We’re going to use this information to tell which fetuses are worth keeping and which are not.”

My stomach dropped. Which fetuses were worth keeping? What happened to the ones that weren’t for keeps? If I had heard this news a couple of days ago, I was sure I would’ve thought it was a great idea. It scared me to think just how naïve I must have been. In just a few days, I had learned so much. Now the idea of the Genetics Project sickened me. Remembering my place, I tried not to show any disgust as Dr. Farsi continued explaining things to me.

The rest of my first day at work did not go any better. The whole project was very alarming to me. Basically, the Scientists were at this point in time ready to tell the whole genetic makeup of any human fetus and determine, essentially, its whole future in the City. If the future wasn’t good, for instance, if a child had a genetic illness that would threaten its health, then the fetus could be destroyed and, according to them, time and energy could be saved.

When my day was done, I practically ran to the Green cave. I had to tell Oz all that I had learned. He was eating at one of the tables in the middle of the cavern. I sat down across from him.

“You’ll never believe what I learned today!” I began.

“What happened?” he asked, looking up from his food.

“They made me supervisor of this science experiment. Its this thing called the Genetics Project.” I was ready to say more, but Oz interrupted me.

“Oh, good, we were hoping one of the Greens would get that position. We really need as many people as we can get to be involved in the project.”

“So you know about it then?”

Oz gave a nod. “Yeah, we know about it. We’re trying to do everything we can to sabotage it. But it’s hard when the Politicians and the Nobles are so bent on making it work. Our numbers have grown a lot in the last couple of years but we’re still the minority.”

I felt a little deflated. I thought I was doing something important, bringing in this amazing news, which was a total surprise to me. But apparently everyone already knew about it. At least maybe now I could have a hand in stopping it.

“The Green who used to be the political supervisor for the project got promoted, so its great luck that another Green replaced her.”

“Who used to be in charge?” I asked purely out of curiosity.

“Evie,” Oz said, going back to eating his potatoes.

“Evie…that name sounds familiar….” I gasped as the information came flooding back to me. “Wait! Isn’t that Magus’s old Partner?”

Oz shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“What happened to her? How come Magus isn’t partners with her anymore?”

Oz just shook his head. “I don’t know all of Magus’s plans, okay? All I know is that he always has one. We just have to trust him. I have to go take care of some stuff. Peni’s in the usual room so you can go train with her a bit, okay?”

I nodded. Oz took his tray of food and left. I was just about to get up when Remlin appeared. He sat in the chair that Oz had just evacuated.

“What now?” I asked. I was starting to get annoyed with him. There were so many new things going on, the last thing I needed was Remlin trying to confuse me and reorganize my priorities.

“You started work today.”

“Yes, I did.”

“You learned a lot about how the City really works.” It was more of a statement than a question. I just gave a nod. “But have you learned anything about this world, down here and how it runs?”

“What do you mean? That seems to be all I’m learning about lately. My whole life revolves around what’s happening down here now.”

“Maybe, but you are not focused on what’s important.”

“Well, can you please just tell me what’s important then?” I asked, getting irritated. “Obviously you know. Instead of giving me all these mysteries and clues, why don’t you just tell me?”

“I know no more than you do,” Remlin said simply. “This is just what I do. I go where I-.”

“-am needed, yeah I know,” I said, finishing his sentence. “Why do you think I need you?”

“I don’t think. I know.”

“You’re always going on about these ‘questions’ I’m supposed to be asking. But how am I even supposed to know what the right questions are?”

“By asking them. If you ask all of your questions, the answers will guide you down the path you should be taking.”

I was getting more confused by the minute. “The path I should be taking?”

Remlin gave a small smile. “You have a destiny to fulfill.”

“What destiny? I don’t have a destiny.”

“You’ll never get to where you need to be if you don’t believe in your own destiny. We all have a destiny, Aleta. Some are more important than others. Right now, yours is the most important of all.”

“Why? Why me? This doesn’t make any sense! I just got here. I know nothing about anything, apparently. Why do you think I’m so important?”

“I don’t think, I know. And soon enough you’ll know too.”

Frustrated, I left Remlin at the table without saying another word and went to train with Peni.

XxSiennaxX- I didn't think that anyone was reading this anymore. Here's a new chapter for you. I'll attempt to continue working on it when I can. Unfortunately, I'm a full time student and a have a job so its hard to find the time to write much anymore. But I will do my best. :)