Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
“I’m not?” Penny tried to sound disappointed. “Oh, that’s too bad! My Forever Mate, V’rex, and I have been trying so hard. We wanted so much to contribute to the Glorious Cause!”
“It’s all right—you have two more chances to conceive before you’re recycled,” the doctor said consolingly.
“B-before I’m recycled?” Penny squeaked, feeling like he’d just slipped an icicle between her ribs. She’d known this was a possibility but having it said out loud made her feel sick and scared “But…but I’m still relatively young and healthy!” she protested. “You wouldn’t really recycle me that quickly—would you?”
“I’m afraid rules are rules.” The NeverBreeder doctor shook his head sternly. But then he seemed to thaw a little and patted Penny on the knee. “Don’t worry, though—I’m sure this is just a fluke. According to your charts, your reproductive system responded extraordinarily well to the compounds in the Mother’s Milk. You should be extremely fertile and well capable of conceiving before your time runs out.”
“Uh…thank you,” Penny whispered faintly. She couldn’t help remembering her very first night with V’rex, when he’d pretended to breed her and had shot his seed all over the outside of her pussy. It was a wonder she hadn’t gotten pregnant then, she thought faintly, if she was so incredibly fertile right now.
“You can get dressed,” the doctor told her. “A nurse will be here in just a minute to show you out.”
“Thank you,” Penny said but he was already turning away, clearly intent on something else.
Penny slid off the metal exam table, shivering, and got back into her blue toga, which wasn’t nearly warm enough for the chilly interior of the Breeding and Conception Center. She was about to try to find her own way out when a NeverBreeder nurse bustled in and gave her a bright, Jack-o-lantern smile.
“Well, now, dearie—time for you to go,” she said briskly to Penny. “I’ve got a note here for you to give to your supervisor at work so you don’t get into trouble for being late.” She handed Penny a folded slip of paper and then nodded towards the door. “Come on then—let’s get a move on, shall we?”
Her smile reminded Penny so much of Mother Toone, that she couldn’t help asking the nurse as they traversed the long corridors where her old NeverBreeder attendant was.
“Oh, Nurse Toone?” the other nurse said. “Why, she was recycled just yesterday, I’m afraid, along with a few others who were due for recycling. She’d reached the end of her usefulness, so she had to go.” She shrugged as though it was no big deal but her words struck Penny like a hammer.
“So…you NeverBreeders get recycled too?” she asked. “I never thought—”
“Oh, certainly, dearie! Why, we only live about twenty-five standard cycles, you know. Which is much shorter than you breeders, I’m sure. But when you account for the fact that we come out of our grow-baths fully formed and don’t have to go through the nasty business of childhood or adolescence, it all evens out.”
“I…didn’t know that,” Penny said faintly. She was still stunned to hear that Mother Toone had been recycled—no killed, because that was what it actually amounted to. She had known that the NeverBreeder attendant wasn’t really on her side, but she had been kind while Penny was in the dorms and always very cheerful which had helped to make a bad situation somewhat bearable.
“Oh yes,” the NeverBreeder nurse said brightly, continuing their conversation. “And of course, we NeverBreeders are stronger and tougher than you humans. Also, we don’t need the whispers to keep us in line, either—we get them in our grow-baths as we develop, which means we never have cause to doubt the perfection of the Glorious Cause or the wisdom of our Glorious Leader.”
“I see,” Penny mumbled. She had often wondered why the Glorious Leader would go to the trouble of creating an army of NeverBreeders at all. With the use of the hypno-whispers, it seemed he could turn anyone to his will. So why not just cut out the middleman and make an army of hypnotized breeders?
But now it made sense. The NeverBreeders might be small but they were incredibly tough and unflinchingly loyal. They didn’t even seem to mind the idea of being recycled—it was just a part of their circle of life, apparently.
Just then, as they traversed the seemingly endless labyrinth of hallways, a voice spoke over the intercom.
“Nurse Zoone,” it said. “Please report to exam room seventeen at once.”
“Oh dear!” The NeverBreeder nurse who had been leading Penny stopped short. “That’s me, so it is! Look, dearie, can you just wait here for a moment? I’m sure whatever they want it won’t take long.”
“Oh, uh, sure.” Penny nodded. “I don’t mind waiting.”
“That’s sweet of you, dearie. I’ll be back in a flash.” And Nurse Zoone hurried off, leaving Penny standing there in the middle of the corridor.