Breeders!?

“Breeders!?” You say. “What are you talking about?”

“Baby makers, breeding stock, healthy fertile females.” She chuckles. “What do you think I’m talking about?” Nuzzling into your neck she gives it a suck. “Zoey fits the bill, don’t you think?”

Her words made your skin crawl, and not in the good way. Breaking from her embrace you step away from her and look at her aghast. When she sees the shocked expression on your face she saddens.

“Jesse…” She begins to say before you interrupt her.

“Fiona!” You hiss, keeping your voice down so Elsie couldn’t hear. “Breeder? Are you fucking serious? You sound like a crazy person.”

Her features harden for a moment and you wait for the normal old Fiona to show herself. But she surprises you. Taking a breath her face softens again and so does her voice. Keeping her tone calm and soft she says. “Do you want me to be honest with you or don’t you? I’ll lie to you, if that’s what you want. If that makes you more comfortable.” She sighs and you see a flinch of frustration. “You said I had to treat you guys nice now. I’m trying, okay? I don’t claim I’m any good at it.”

“Well…fuck. Of course I want you to be honest.” You feel your tense shoulders relax a little as you realize that your sister was genuinely trying to be better. “But breeders? Do you know what that sounds like?” You glance back toward the hall then back to your sister. “Breeding stock? Fertile women? Zoey fits the bill? Jesus Christ! Zoey is white, blond hair and blue eyes, a real prime breeder, huh? A real Aryan poster girl.”

Fiona blinks a few times, looking a bit puzzled, before she connects the dots. She lets out a laugh. “Do you honestly think I give a shit about that?” She shakes her head as she might when trying to explain something to a small child. “She is young and she is healthy and I think she likes Elsie, that’s why I say it. White, brown, black, I could care less. They are all still them.” She takes her mug and has a sip before carefully placing it down again. “Jesse, before we came along how many species of human were there? I mean currently.”

“I…don’t…”

“One.” Fiona answers for you. “One species. There used to be more but now there is one. The winner of the human race. Homo sapiens. Have you seen a Neanderthal walking around? I haven’t.” She licks her bottom lip as she studies your face before continuing on. “But now there’s competition again. Evolution never stops. The race is on again and we’re the competition, this family and these wonderful genes of ours.” You see a fire light in her intense hazel eyes. Stepping toward you she grabs you by the shoulder. “Aunt Peg tells me there are wonders she can achieve. Untapped potential, new realms of human possibility. She said she can make permanent changes that could be passed on. Cures, immunities, power in body and mind that can only be dreamed of right now.” Unconsciously you look down toward your body and think of the ‘tweaks’ Peggy had given you. Fiona nods. “Don’t worry brother. You are one of us. A rare jewel in our glorious future. IF there is a future. History tells us there can only be a single winner.” You look back up to Fiona’s passionate expression. With her charisma and dynamism it was so easy to picture her standing and giving this speech at raised podium surrounded by thousands of fervent disciples. “The dominant humans got to where they were by out thinking, out hunting, out fighting, and most of all out breeding their competition. Right now we have the advantage of secrecy. But realistically how much longer can that possibly last? We need numbers Jesse. We need to become more than a weird family, a scientific oddity for them to study. We need to become a minority. A community. From there the bleeding hearts will protect us long enough for us to become established. To get our gift out into the world. And once that happens there will be no stopping us. Peg says us and them breeding will 100 percent of the time result in an us. If we can survive it is just a matter of time before we ascend to dominance. But we need to kick start that exponential growth…and that means babies. Lots of them. The soil is fecund but we gotta start planting seeds if we want this garden to flourish.”

“This…this is too much.”

“It’s just the beginning.” She replies with a smirk. “One of my…erm…nighttime friends happens to run a sperm bank…”

“STOP!” You put your hands up. “Fuck! Can’t you hear yourself?”

With a shrug. “I told you I’m no good. But bad shit needs to be done for the greater good. So people and you and El can enjoy your lives, even as you look down on people like me.” She whispers. “I love you two.”

There is a moment of silence as Fiona gazes into you, urging you to understand her point of view.

Very slowly you bring your hand up to separate her hand from your shoulder. The bigger picture was too much to take in, you focus on the immediate. “Zoey is Elsie’s friend. She is a person. A person who needs our help. She is not some pawn in…what it is you are talking about.”

The fanatic gleam in Fiona’s eyes dim and a warm smile brightens her face. “We are all pieces in this game whether we like it or not. Knights, pawns…Queens.” She nods. “But I take your point.” She sighs and steps back again. “I don’t want to hurt her Jesse. That’s the last thing I want. I honestly want the best for that girl. Our breeders…”

“DON’T…” You exclaim before lowering your voice. “…call her that!”

“Sorry.” Fiona says. “Our…partners ought to be treasured. Taken care of. Even loved. Zoey seems like a sweet kid. I truly do want to protect her. Like you guys I want to help her, get her up on her feet, for her own sake. Buuuuut, if El can knock her up, hell, then she becomes part of the family. Doesn’t she? Can you imagine how happy that would make Mom? A new baby in the family?” Fiona crosses her arms. “And who knows? Maybe Zoey wants to be a mom. Perhaps she wants a big family. Is it so bad if we help her with that? Could she do much better than us? We’re a pretty awesome family all in all.” She then concludes. “Listen, I don’t want to **** anything, but I’d certainly encourage it. And I will encourage it.”

You are still weighing up your response when Elsie returns to the kitchen, now dressed in a skirt and short sleeved blouse. “Encourage what?” She asks brightly.

Fiona looks at her little sister with a big honest smile and without missing a beat says. “Encourage Zoey to stay with us a bit longer. Maybe even for good.”

After a guarded moment Elsie smiles too. Looking at you she quips as she thumbs toward Fiona. “I don’t know what you said to her last night, but I hope you say it more often!”

The pair of them laugh and share a quick hug as you continue to reel from Fiona’s disturbing manifesto.