Sleepers Part 1

Chapter 1                   Mr. and Mrs. Talbot sat nervously in the waiting room of the GenLife Clinic.  It was a relatively newer research facility that housed all its medical based resources under one roof.  Harvesting, fertilizing, insemination, prenatal care, and delivery.  All the patient’s needs from before pregnancy to long after giving birth were handled completely on site.  They had a wide range of the best trained in-house medical staff as well as the highest success rate to date.  It was the best fertility choice for couples having trouble conceiving.  They were the Talbot’s only option.                 The shaky couple jerked in surprise when a nurse came to retrieve the two of them.  She deposited the pair inside a sterile room.  The lack of any personal touches or comforting colors left them on edge.  It was only a few minutes after being left alone that the nurse was back carrying a tray of things with her.  She handed Mr. Talbot a specimen cup and motioned him in the direction of the soundproof room he had already used at several appointments previously.  Mrs. Talbot was handed a gown to change into.  She had been given a series of injections prior to the last appointment where her eggs had been harvested.  Today was the day they would inseminate.  As the nurse left her alone Mrs. Talbot repeated the mantra, ‘Today’s the day’, to talk herself out of leaving the frigid place.                 Upon leaving the wife in the examination room the nurse looked across the hall at the man standing outside Mr. Talbot’s room.  He stood by stoically while he waited patiently at parade rest.  His partner was coming down the hall with the doctor as they conversed in hushed tones.  While the doctor looked like any other over educated pompous authority figure the other two did not.  Both of them were built like hulking paid muscle dressed as bad impersonations of lab rats.  How any of their patients never caught on was beyond the nurse’s imagination. It was just as well since the general populace would no doubt take issue with what they were doing.                 The nurse nodded in acknowledgement of the doctor as he approached her station she was standing behind.                 “Call me as soon as specimen 426 is made available.”                 “Certainly, Doctor.”                 He gave no inclination that he had heard her response as he strode away to his office nearby.  The nurse sent an alert down to the lab letting the rats know it was almost time.                 In the depths of the building hidden away from prying eyes a message from upstairs flashed across a terminal.  The tech at the workstation went to work pulling up file after file.  She glanced towards the clock on the wall noting the time.  By her estimation when the samples reached her, she should be ready.  The unnatural blue glow from the screen illuminated the facsimile of a giddy smile.  This specimen was proving to be her best work yet.                 Two hours later a brute of a man fulfilling the role of lab gopher for the case she had entered the room.  The tech was all business typing in the last of the data she needed before it was done.  He approached the little scientist warily as he offered Mr. Talbot’s latest sample.  The man shifted slightly as she continued to ignore his exceptionally large presence behind her.  Setting the sealed cup down on the table next to where she was working he moved to the side to wait her out.  A machine whirled to life bringing with it the only sound to penetrate the chilly air of the dim space.  The laboratory felt more like a morgue than a workspace.  It always made the men uneasy to endure.  That was the sole reason the man’s partner was waiting out in the hallway for his return.                 The seal on the machine released, sending a trickle of fog raining past the lid.  Placing the gloves beside her onto her hands she retrieved her completed specimen.  The almost loving gaze that adorned her face as she admired her work sent shivers of disgust through him.  Resealing the containment lid, she gently placed the tube in a pan before finally turning to him.                 “Do not drop it.  If you hurt my baby there’ll be hell to pay.”                 He gave her an odd look before glancing at the sample cup he had come in with.  She followed his gaze curiously.  As her eyes landed on the item revulsion carved a gruesome face upon her.  Marching over she picked up the cup making as little contact with it as possible.  Taking it across the lab she opened a door to a small incinerator before carelessly tossing it in.  The man’s eyebrows shot up at her action unable to school his features.  She took in his reaction while noting the questions lingering in his eyes.  She made a displeased scoff regaining his attention that had settled on her masterpiece.                 “There is no way I would ever use such vile stock in my creations.”                 Bile rose in his throat at the implications of her words.  Having said her peace, she waved him off dismissively no longer interested by him.  Cautiously he backed out of the lab relieved to finally be rid of the place.                 The nurse was startled from her paperwork as a metal pan was unceremoniously tossed onto her desk.  Glancing beside her she noticed the disgruntled man that had deposited the sample before skulking away.  Reaching out she picked up the phone receiver pressing the number for the doctor’s office.  Popping filled her ear as he answered his phone.                 “Specimen 426 has been brought up.”                 The resounding click let her know he was on his way.  Sighing in resignation she retrieved the pan to add to her cart of instruments.  As it sat there innocently nestled among medical equipment that resembled torture devices she couldn’t help her wayward thought.                 “There has never been a more fitting spot for Frankenstein’s little monster.”