Dysfunctional -- Chapter 33

Disclaimer:  The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Alec, Biggs, Renfro, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me.  No money is being made off of this fic.  I only own the original characters (X5-121, etc.).

Notes:  Spoiler-ish stuff for “Designate This.”

“It would be nice if they actually told us what these assemblies were about in advance,” 494 remarked a few weeks later as he and the rest of his unit sat in one of the lecture halls in the facility. “If this is just going to be some reminder about how we should play nice with everybody since the whole gang is here and had I found out that this is indeed to be the case when they told me about this lovely gathering yesterday when I got our schedules, then I would have sat over in the last row so I could catch a quick nap.”

“Very funny,” 908 snapped. “How about you quit it with the funny remarks, 494?”

494 sighed. “Duly noted, 908. Now shut up.” He grinned when he heard 511 and 121 both snicker softly next to him.

“Grow up,” 908 retorted.

“Get some,” 494 replied. By this time, 511 and 121 both had their hands over their mouths in an attempt to muffle their laughter somewhat. “You can joke all you want about it, but it really does get those endorphins going.” 908 just rolled her eyes and then she, 786, and 714 got up and sat in another section of the room. “I knew that would do the trick.”

“Thank goodness we’re so early,” 511 agreed. He stretched his arms and watched as other transgenics started to enter the lecture hall. “Hey, there’s some X4s here.”

“Whoop-de-doo.” 121 rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’m sorry, sweetie, I’m just so damn bored right now." She turned her head to face 494. "Why the hell were we so early getting here, 494?”

“To brighten up your day,” 494 said cheerfully.

121 flipped him off. “Oh yeah. Silly me, I forgot about that. That was very considerate of you.”

“I try my best,” 494 replied.

“Well, since it looks like nobody is bothering to sit with their own unit,” another voice said jokingly. 849 laughed as she sat down next to 121. “What’s going on, you guys?”

“Same old, same old,” 121 told her. “Where’s the rest of your bunch?”

849 waved her hand around. “Here and there, just like everybody else seems to be. I know, I should keep better track of everybody and I honestly do. Everybody just seems to be in a ‘getting to know you’ kind of mood since the people from Gillette and Syracuse got here a couple of weeks ago, you know what I mean?”

“Tell me about it,” 511 agreed. “I think I might have run into New York’s version of 786 the other day.”

“How many pieces did 121 leave her in?” 849 wondered.

“Unfortunately, there were cameras in the hallway. We were in A wing at the time,” 121 answered. “I mean, when we happened to run into her again when we were passing through B wing on our way to a class and she happened to accidentally trip and break her nose, that was just bad luck. It sometimes gets so crowded in here these days, you know what I mean?”

“You are one vicious woman,” 849 commented.

“Only when it comes to my man,” 121 remarked. She sighed. “Damn, I’m bored. When the hell is this thing going to start?”

“It’ll start when Director Renfro wants it to start,” 494 said in a mock patronizing tone of voice. 121 flipped him off, but 494 just grinned at her.

“You just have to get a rise out of everybody, don’t you?” 849 noted. “Even your own best friends.”

“That’s my job,” 494 said cheerfully.

“I’m willing to bet that you’ve got some new targets picked out among the newbies, huh?” 849 guessed.

494 nodded. “Of course I do. Let’s run down the list. There’s 778, this X4 from New York. He’s dumber than an ordinary and almost as weird as an X7. He falls for whatever I do every time, so it’s not really that much fun anymore. 260, this X5 from Wyoming, is another great new target of mine. I tried to pick her up once and she took me up on my offer, but lucky for me she revealed herself to be completely neurotic so I canceled our ‘date.’ It would have been too much like sleeping with 304 or 532, neither of which I’ve banged and I’m grateful for that fact. But like the other females in our bunch, she’s great to annoy. And my favorite new target…” He grinned wickedly. “405.”

“405?” 511 repeated. “As in X6-405? The girl that 941 has a huge crush on? Are you high? Both she and 941 can kick your ass.”

“I know,” 494 said. “I already apologized in advance to 941. He’s cool with it, though he pretty much agreed that I’d be taking my life in my own hands. It’s a blast with her because she’s such a challenge. I ran a few weeks ago as she was getting her unit settled in, it was the day before she went back to Russia, and she didn’t get pissed off. I’m pretty sure that I annoyed her, but she’s not easily baited no matter what, whether I tease her or pretend to flirt or what. It’s great.”

“I would say that Psy Ops loosened a few screws up there, but the sad thing is that you were like this for your entire life,” 121 said. “You scare me sometimes, 494.” She raised an eyebrow as she noticed the number of people that were entering the room. “Damn, this is going to be one hell of a big assembly.”

“They seem to be in favor of getting everybody together to tell them at the same time lately,” 511 noted. He shrugged. “Whatever.”

“I’ll tell you one thing, there’s plenty of great looking guys from New York and Wyoming,” 849 observed, looking around the lecture hall. “Check out that X5 over there sitting in that corner. I know a lot of the guys here are really built, but this guy…damn.”

“Are you going into heat, 849?” 494 asked.

849 shook her head. “No. I’m not supposed to get my next heat for another month.” She rolled her eyes. “What is it with you guys? I happen to appreciate some of the fine male specimens that happen to be here now and you automatically assume that I’m going into heat. Oh, for crying out loud. Besides, if I was going into heat, you’d be all over me like ants on a picnic and there’d probably be the mother of all melees while the guys try to get with me.”

“I know,” 494 said.

“Could have fooled me,” 121 teased. “What a dumbass.”

“That stings,” 494 said. He glanced around at the now nearly-full room. “Threes…fours…fives…no sixes, sevens, or anybody else. This is interesting.”

“So? Maybe it’s something that they only want to tell us big kids,” 511 guessed.

“That doesn’t happen all that often,” 494 reminded his friend. The last time…He shuddered as a memory came to him. Yikes. That was an ugly time.

“Earth to X5-494,” 511 said. He waved a hand in front of 494’s face. “Come back to the planet, buddy.”

494 blinked. “Sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

“What?” 849 asked.

“A—“ 494 stopped suddenly when the door to the lecture hall opened and Renfro walked inside and up to the podium at the front of the room. “Phew. Saved by Director Renfro.”

“Thank you all for being here,” Renfro said. “You all know about the destruction of the DNA lab at the hands of some of the rogue X5s.” 494, 511, 121, and 849 all exchanged a look and rolled their eyes. Luckily, nobody caught them and Renfro continued to talk. “There had been talk about constructing a new DNA lab here in this facility. However, that would take time and a great expense and while that remains our goal to have a fully-functioning DNA laboratory running in the future, that project has been put on hold until further notice.”

“Get to the point,” 511 muttered irritably under his breath.

“When the explosives had been set off, all of the DNA samples were lost, as well as all notes and samples pertaining to what was supposed to have been the X10 generation, which had been in the planning stages at the time of the incident. However, it has been decided by my superiors that not only will the production of new soldiers continue, but it will be continued sooner than had been originally planned,” Renfro continued. “The original X10 generation has been scrapped, but a different X10 generation, as well as the X11 and X12 series will be created.” She looked out at all of the transgenics. “Effective tomorrow night, we will be implementing a new breeding program.”

121 went pale. She looked to her right and saw that 849 looked similarly frightened. She grabbed 511’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “This can’t be fucking happening.”

“I hope she’s joking,” 494 said grimly.

“I wouldn’t count on it,” 849 countered quietly.

“This breeding program, unlike the first one years ago, will solely be between transgenics,” Renfro informed the gathered soldiers. “You will not all start on the program all at once, but rather be phased into it over the next several months. Each transgenic will be paired one of the opposite sex of the same generation. X3 males will be paired with X3 females, et cetera. The pairs will be chosen at random by myself and my staff and the pairings will be posted on various boards throughout the facility. Otherwise, this program will be structured very much like the previous one. The males will report to the cell of their partner at 2030 hours and they will remain there until lights out and he and his partner are expected to copulate during that period of time. If the female goes into heat, however, the pair will be uninterrupted and the male will be allowed to leave the cell when the female’s heat has finished. The trainers will be getting reports from the X3 and X4 pairs every following morning and I will personally be getting the reports from the X5s. Unlike the previous program, no written report will be required. The participating females will be taking pregnancy tests once a week. Once a female has been placed into the program, they will be put on restricted duty. The first pairings will be posted early tomorrow morning. Any questions?” The transgenics were quiet and Renfro nodded. “Dismissed.”

494 got up and he led 511, 121, and 849 out of the lecture hall. Everybody else seemed to be hanging around inside, discussing what had just happened. He looked at 121 with concern. “Are you going to be okay this time around, 121?”

“I don’t know,” 121 confessed. “This is still sick. This whole fucking breeding program concept is absolutely disgusting.” She took a deep breath. “I can handle it this time. I know that I can do it. I was only fifteen when the first program started and now I’m almost twenty-three. I’m an adult. I can pull it off.”

“Are you sure?” 494 asked skeptically. “You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself.”

“Don’t stop me,” 121 admitted. “The hardest part is going to be…” She shuddered. “How can I cheat on my boyfriend? I don’t give a rat’s ass that I’ll be under orders.”

“You won’t be cheating on me,” 511 said. “This is completely forced. It won’t be cheating.”

121 nodded. “You’re right. That still isn’t going to make it any easier when the time comes, though.”

“I know,” 511 agreed. “Damnit.”

“This is going to be hell,” 849 commented. “One way or another.”

“Whatever happens, let’s just cross our fingers and pray,” 494 said. “Come on, cheer up. We’ve survived worse. We got out of the first breeding program fine, didn’t we? The two of you didn’t even get pregnant then.”

“Yeah, but only around sixteen percent of all of the females who’d been a part of it the first go-around actually got pregnant,” 849 reminded him. “I know that 121 and I, and 228 as well for that matter, were part of the lucky eighty-four percent, but that was with ordinary humans. This time she and I will be paired up with fellow X5s and you know the stats. Estimated ninety-eight percent chance of conception when in heat and we’ve got to figure that the conception rate when not in heat is at least as good as an ordinary female’s, if not better. We’re gonna get knocked up out of this deal whether we like it or not.” She managed a small smile. “At least this time we’ll be sort-of around the kids, you know? I don’t know what happened with the children from the first program and I don’t want to know, but at least these babies will be in the same building as us. It’s a start.”

“I just hope that I get pregnant before I go into heat again in the beginning of June,” 121 said. “There’s only one person who’s ever going to sleep with me when I’m in heat, and that’s going to be you, 511. Nobody else.”

511 smiled. “I love you, sweetheart.”

“I love you, too,” 121 replied.

494 smiled sadly. I-- He mentally shook his head and looked back towards the lecture hall’s entrance. “We should be getting back in there to collect our units and to get to our next activities.” He held out his hand to 849. “Good luck, 849. We’ll see you later.”

“Thank you,” 849 said. “Good luck to you guys as well.”

“Thanks,” 494 said. They turned around and went back inside the lecture hall.