“PLEASE NOT AGIN BB, CAIN’T CHU DO SOMETHIN’?!” SARAH PLEADED AS IT clawed the threshold before being pulled through. “Ah’m sorry Honey. Ah wish ah could,” Tiffany whispered sadly as the tall husky escorts pulled its SB down the paint-chip-peppered hallways with the worn carpet. Its eyes welled up with tears knowing that in about nine months its SB would produce for the fourth time in eight years. Sarah was only twenty-two years old. It could produce another sixteen times before year forty unless it was fortunate enough to lose its ability. Forty is the cut-off age when the risk of abnormalities becomes too high. At age thirty-one, Tiffany had undergone a full hysterectomy. By that time, it had already produced six times and had three consecutive fails. Five of its babies were healthy non-bators, so had it not lost the ability to hold, it would have produced at least another nine times. It was a Frequently Used Bator (FUB), often selected by couples due to its desirable features. Tiffany spent most of its life between sixteen and thirty occupied. Life for the FUB was difficult physically and emotionally. For Tiffany, the OB benefits didn’t outweigh the toll. Tiffany and Sarah were bators, both born in a local TF. Once Tiffany was categorized as broken, it was permanently assigned the job of custodian. The job involved the use of hazardous chemicals with only the protection of flimsy, ill-fitting masks and plastic gloves that frequently slipped off. Bators in these 1 RANDI MARX positions frequently suffered from burns and respiratory injuries including lung cancer. Physical and emotional abuse was routine for bators, still Tiffany felt helpless. The prevailing belief was that bators lacked feelings, desire for knowledge, or the capacity to love. Tiffany knew that its life would likely end the way it began—at TF. Giving away five babies to the outside world wasn’t supposed to affect the bator, but it did, and Tiffany wasn’t the only one that was heartbroken. Sarah was also in anguish. Animals wailed when they lost their young; why should bators respond differently? Why should anyone expect them not to suffer? Why were they considered less than human? Bators ate like men and women. They needed rest, like men and women. They hurt like men and women. The outside world felt threatened by bators. Tiffany knew that was the real reason they were isolated. The bator possessed a gift that no man or woman had—the power to produce life. Even though fear of reprisal prevented it from voicing this opinion, Tiffany knew that this fact was no less true. The outside world was terrified of the bator’s power to disrupt dreams and that was the driving force behind TF. The world had to control the irrefutable dominance of the bator. It had attempted three times to force a fail before finally succeeding. The winning scheme involved forcibly vomiting after each meal, denying nourishment to the baby and eventually causing a fail. After the first successful attempt, Tiffany repeated this action during its next two occupations, knowing it would result in a TF category of broken. No one had figured out what Tiffany had done. Sharing this information with Sarah was risky. If anyone found out, not only would Tiffany be severely punished, but it would also be placed back in the database for possible selection since it was only thirty-eight years old. Once a year, bators were photographed, a day most saw as special because they were sent to TF’s groomer to get their hair styled and makeup applied. Afterward, they were given clothes to wear, and the photograph was subsequently placed in the selection database. When a couple decided they were ready for a baby, they would make a 2 JUMPING BATORS bator-selection appointment. It was the responsibility of TF counselors to keep the database current. The couple was the priority. Their happiness took precedence over everything else. If a couple selected a bator that was unavailable because it was already occupied, was recently unoccupied, or had been designated expired or defective, the counselor could be punished. Some couples chose a bator who looked similar to them, while others selected a bator with characteristics they wanted their baby to have. Once a bator was selected, it underwent preparation for IVF. After the transfer, the bator was moved to a controlled area for monitoring against sabotaging the process. If, after three cycles, the bator remained unoccupied, the couple had to make a new selection. The bator would be evaluated to determine if it needed to be reclassified. This was how families were formed in 2074.