Prologue

     This is the prologue to my novel Mind Runners that I'm writing for Nano. Enjoy and please comment. :)

Prologue

    The heartbroken sobs of an almost-mother soaked through the steel passages of the hospital. Dr. Fields sat in his office, his ears once again annoyed by the sound he heard nearly every hour. They were pathetic, these women sniveling over something that was never theirs to begin with. His disgust at them built up behind his eyes, shading the pupils’ color to a discomforting black. These women were utterly devastated and yet the procedure was so simple, he mocked. He had been there, so many times. A woman came in, needing a doctor for the delivery. He would, as always, have to take an examination of the child and then tell the mother of the alleged disease. So easily convinced their child would die without an immediate operation, the women were always eager to proceed with any recommended treatment. Then, it was just a matter of removing the child, a quick cut and snip.

     It was rather fascinating, Dr. Fields thought, to watch how each mother handled the news of the death of her child. Some were strong and held their face calm as they were fed the information, but they all broke. Eventually, they would all break down. He’d been known to stand outside the closed door of the operating room and wait for the sounds of tears.

     It was always an annoyance to have to show the body of the child to the mother. Why the women didn’t simply leave, he would never understand. They all insisted to be shown their child. They were all shown a child: a mock-up of a child, a silicon fabrication placed safely behind a wall of glass so the truth was never discovered. It was the created disease that required the glass. No, the women were never allowed to hold their children. But, this mattered nothing to him. He needed the children. The women provided the children, and he in turn provided them with a reason to live without the child they had carried in their womb. He needed nothing else to suffice his conscious. It was enough.

     The clack of footsteps disturbed Dr. Fields reverie, and a young man dressed in a gray coat appeared at the open door.

     “Excuse me, Dr. Fields.”

     Dr. Fields eyes flicked to the man, without turning his head.

     “The operation was successful, and the contributor has been informed. The next embryo has already been prepped for enhancement.”

     A few minutes later, Dr. Fields stood in front of an operating table. Before him lay the pasty, gurgling newborn. His tiny hands were closed into precious fists as he wriggled on the table, his white skin painfully contrasting to the inhuman silver board on which he lay. Dr. Fields picked up a syringe and stuck it into a vile. Slowly, the suction pulled up a thick, mercury colored liquid. Without ceremony, he turned, placed a hand on the infant’s chest to keep him still, and slid the needle into the child’s forehead.

     A cry fit to strangle the heart rang through the room as the baby lashed out, but the vice of the doctor kept him in place until every drop of serum had been pumped into the helpless infant.