Malcolm Weston stands ready to dominate the repopulation mandate, his commanding voice masking the terror that his seed might fail to secure the genetic legacy he must claim. Thea Echols submits to the role assigned her and answers every instruction he gives, though the birthmark on her belly reminds him of the vulnerability they both hide from the program.
The chamber door seals them inside the facility's breeding space, and the countdown turns every act of impregnation into a schedule he controls. He takes her by mandate and then by want, and the difference stops mattering to either of them. Professional duty has become something far more possessive, and neither has reported it. The program wants a result by the deadline.
