-Chapter 13-
162 years and 3 days before the Collapse
No matter the occasion, being in a church always made Graham feel uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the thin layer of dust or the antiquated furniture. Maybe the stone-eyed statues and relief sculptures gave him the creeps. The spacious cathedral was always swarming with elderly reverants who dressed up with their gold-hemmed white robes sweeping across the floor, their footsteps echoing endlessly in stone corridors. Graham thought the dedication to old practices was barbaric, but at least the medical staff didn’t shy away from technological advancements.
Jaylen lay on a padded cot, holding Graham’s hand as he sat next to her in a rickety chair. Her bloated stomach was bare in front of her, and a robed reverant doctor rubbed a cool blue gel over it. Graham could practically feel her excitement as she squeezed his hand.
“What do you think it will be?” Jaylen asked, barely containing her smile, “A boy or a girl?”
“Well, I hope it’s a boy,” Graham answered, eyeing the dusty stone relief scans lining the shelves.
“Really? Why is that?”
“Sol knows I don’t understand women.”
Jaylen gave him a look, “Well, I’m fine either way, she’ll still be our child.”
“She?” Graham said, his eyebrow raised. Jaylen giggled at her mistake.
“Whoops,” Jaylen smirked, “I’m biased too.”
“Are you ready?” the old gray reverant asked. Jaylen nodded, and he set to work, connecting wires between a square device in his hand and a bowl of metallic liquid on the table. He rubbed the square device across Jaylen’s belly, iterating on positions until he found the right spot. Graham watched in surprise as the liquid in the bowl jumped to life.
It started vibrating as if there was a sharp frequency phasing through it, and then it settled into standing waves on its surface. The bumps shifted and clumped together until a mound formed in the middle of the bowl.
The Doctor twisted a knob on his device, and the standing waves split into smaller, finer waves. In between blinks, a fetus appeared in the bowl. Graham could only see it if he looked at it right, but as the doctor continued increasing resolution, it became impossible to miss. There were tiny arms and legs curled up beneath a large round head. It was a rough image with many imperfections, but it was unmistakable.
“It’s a girl,” the doctor noted. Jaylen gave an excited gasp. The reverant set down his instrument and returned to the bowl. He flicked a switch, and it began to heat up. The flickering liquid image hardened in place, and its metallic sheen dulled. With tentative fingers, the reverant tapped the bowl, testing for heat before picking it up and relinquishing it to Jaylen.
Tears glistened in her eyes before it was even in her hands. She handled it as if it would shatter from the slightest touch. Her thumb twitched as she caressed the child’s face.
“Graham,” she said tearfully, “It’s our child…”
Graham leaned over, put his arm around her shoulder, and kissed her on the cheek, tasting her salty tears. He smiled. “There she is.”
Jaylen turned her head to look at him. “Touch her, Graham. She’s your daughter.”
Graham reached down to touch the figure tentatively. His finger met a dense, cold stone. All that lay before him was a sculpture, a shadow of something real. He felt nothing for it. He had expected something to awaken inside of him. He thought he would instantly fall in love, as Jaylen had. He was counting on it. But now, with this lifeless cold figure in his hands, all of his fears were realized.
It looked identical to every other scan on the shelf. Graham watched Jaylen take back the image of their child with love in her eyes. All Graham felt was fear.