“Eighty-seven,” she boasted proudly, as if she had anything to do with its construction. I stifled a laugh.
“How do you run this place with electricity? Our generators would never keep up.” The doors slowly creaked open and Chloe stepped in first, followed by Elsa and then Joshua and myself. The elevator looked well-kept and I grabbed the railing inside as the doors closed. Chloe pressed the button for floor forty-seven. My ears popped as I felt us being catapulted faster and higher, watching the numbers rushing past, until we slowed to a stop at our floor.
Chloe gave me a funny look as if I was an idiot for not knowing the answer. “The entire building runs on solar energy. There are panels on the roof. Much like your homes back in Shadow.” Chloe was either observant or someone had explained to her how we'd run our town. Either way I wasn't impressed by her knowledge. Instead, it made my stomach somersault, wondering what else she'd figured out about us.
Chloe and Elsa stepped out onto the forty-seventh floor and Joshua followed behind her. I took a minute to glance around before I heard a sudden ding and jumped out past the closing doors. I didn't want to be left behind.
“Where are we going?” I questioned, walking cautiously down the long corridor. I had no idea what awaited us in Torv.
Chloe didn't so much as glance back at me. “Just follow me.” She knew where she was heading and kept the pace as we walked past closed doors. My eyes scanned over the plaques on the doors. They looked new considering the age of the building. I wondered who these people were, and why there was a room with their names attached. Was it a hospital of some kind? I was aware Chloe would take us by to see the pregnant women, but I had hoped for a quick shower and change of clothes first.
We rounded a corner—I could only presume we had been in the other side of the building—as a huge window to my left overlooked the city of Torv. “Wow,” I gasped. It was beautiful here. Past the city walls I couldn't see another town in sight. I wondered how they kept the government from interfering in their way of life.
“Quite the view?” Chloe smiled. “We're almost there.” She pushed open a door on the right side of the hallway. “My lab is in here,” she explained, leaving the door open. I hesitated for only a moment before stepping inside the white, sterile room. One long metal table was situated in the center. White cabinets covered the walls.
“What's all that?” I couldn't help but feel curious. The only lab I'd been in was Elsa's back in Shadow. Machines and electronic devices I didn't recognize littered the metal counter. Slowly I approached, my fingers grazing over one such device with a slight hole at the top.
“That's a microscope.” Chloe laughed softly. “It helps you examine incredibly small things by making it so you can see them.”
Elsa came up beside me, resting a hand on my shoulder. “We have one of those, it just isn't in my lab.”
“We do?” I glanced from Elsa to Chloe, giving a faint smile. “Of course we do.” I shouldn't expect any less of our town. Even though it's not nearly as fancy, Shadow is technologically superior to most cities. Was Torv more advanced than Shadow? I couldn't know for certain but the fact they were becoming somewhat successful in impregnating women made me think it was possible. “So what else do you do in here?” I smiled weakly at Chloe as I decided it was best to keep my hands off the equipment. She hadn't scolded me yet but I didn't like feeling talked down to either. It wasn't my fault I didn't know what a microscope was!
Chloe offered a warm smile. “Well, in here I do the lab tests and analyze samples but our scientists can determine the genetics that make up a person.”
I nodded, pretending I knew what Chloe was talking about.
“The building blocks of humans,” Chloe elaborated, glancing at Elsa. “Remember how I told you I used to work in Genesis Beta?”
Elsa's faint smile disappeared at the mention of Genesis. “Yes, I remember.”
Chloe continued, “I'm not on the genetics team but our research has indicated that scientists in Genesis are choosing genes for a child. It's how they're eradicating diseases and keeping the majority healthy.”
“Is it safe?” I didn't fully understand what Chloe said.
Chloe sighed, thinking it over. “Messing with natural selection probably isn't safe but what exactly is natural when children are created in a lab?”
I didn't answer her. I had no idea what she was talking about! Joshua stepped into the room and I glanced at him, hoping he'd offer some insight or something to keep Chloe from asking me twenty questions. I hated school, was glad to be done with it, and right now I felt like she was the professor and I was supposed to know the right answer. Well, I didn't.
Joshua cleared his throat. “What about other genetic factors? Things like hair color and eye color?” I turned towards Joshua, wondering what he was thinking.
Chloe gestured for us to follow her as she closed and locked the lab. “It's not unreasonable to think they could choose any genetic traits they wanted. We have to agree that the government determines the sex of newborns. It's the only way the marriage ceremonies work perfectly. To be quite honest, I suspect the arrangement in the marriage ceremonies and the lottery itself are rigged. It's the only explanation on how they can ensure one hundred percent accuracy in impregnating women and having a zero percent mortality rate.”
I just stared at Chloe, confused.
Elsa chimed in. “If you're right, Chloe, and you could find proof, that type of knowledge could bring the entire system down. More women would know the risks before they married and whether or not their partner was a good match.”
I shuddered at the thought that matches would be determined based on whether a child could be born. Although according to Chloe that might have already been the case. I chewed my bottom lip. “Suppose you're both right,” I countered. “Then why do scientists need to intervene at all?”
Chloe smiled weakly. “Because right now, as far as we can tell, women can't conceive naturally and the human race would become extinct without intervention. Our hope is that one day, scientists won't have to get involved.”
I nodded faintly, turning towards the panel window and examining the city below. The view was breathtaking. I'd never seen anything quite so beautiful in my life.
“Impressive,” Joshua murmured and I turned seeing his gaze on me.
“That's an understatement.” I nodded. In the short time we'd stayed in Haven, I never ventured this high up in any of the buildings. The view was spectacular.
“Will we have time to shower?” I didn't know where we would be expected next but I knew from the open vehicle and the thirty-hour drive I stunk.
Chloe nodded, shoving the key into her pocket as she led us back around the way we came and to the elevator again. “Yes. Right now I'm going to take you to your rooms on the twenty-eighth floor. You'll each be provided a key for your sleeping quarters. You'll have your own bathroom and shower.” As we approached the elevator I noticed not one but two buttons now and pushed the bottom one, assuming it was to go down. A few moments later, the elevator dinged and we stepped inside. This time I pressed the button for floor twenty-eight and held on as the elevator descended. It felt less intense than it had rushing up forty-seven floors. Stepping off the elevator, the floor looked entirely different. Instead of a narrow hallway there was a giant room with several sofas and tables. “What's this place?” I asked.
“The recreation room. It's where we have games and books for everyone to gather in the evening and relax.” Chloe gestured for us to follow, and we walked through the space and down to the left. Chloe was leading us through a hallway once again. “Every bedroom here has a window,” she explained. “The rooms on the left will be where your sleeping quarters are. Across the hall are the bathrooms and showers. Your bedroom key will give you access to your private bathroom and shower. Although they're not attached, they are exclusively for you while you're in Torv.”