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have the option.”
“Why are artificials sterile?” I asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a definitive expla-nation.”
“There isn’t one, so far as I know,” Jenna said. “Some stories say we have built-in ste-rility to keep us from outnumbering the nat-urals and taking over the world. Other say it’s a flaw, and geneticists have been working for decades to try and get around it. All I know is, I’m not likely to have any.”
“Adoption?” I said.
She grimaced. “I think it’s legal, but it never happens. Only naturals can have ba-bies, so only naturals can raise babies.”
“Cloning,” I said. “I know a woman who has a cloned daughter.”
Jenna raised her eyebrows. “Hardly the same thing.”
* * * *
Dr. Magarian, the chief coroner, was a woman today, as I prefer. Their male per
