Chapter 48

Seven months later...

Time: November 2, year 204,883 7:00 PM Peruvian Local Time

In the month of October 204,883, Brianna and Isabelle and 1,679 other Peruvian girls passed their ninth-year control gates. The graduates began using their chosen names, and on the first afternoon of November they were all allowed to begin touring the male puppy farms, entering the pens and playing with the boys and choosing which ones they would like for pet-mates. By the end of the second day, over sixteen hundred girls had made their selections. Brianna and Isabelle were not among them...

The two girls returned to their dorm room after dinner. Brianna went to her desk and popped up her mathematics workbook on her monitor. She was soon lost in her studies. Isabelle went to her own desk and pulled up her work lessons in civics. The time passed quietly...

Speaking out loud, Brianna said after a while, "So, what did you think of Gregory?"

"Gregory? Uh, which one was that?"

"What?! Isabelle! How could you forget?! The cute sandy-haired puppy in the south pens, in the same pen as Anthony. You know, the one with the dimple on his cheek. He's so playful! And cute! And did you see his legs?! Very handsome! I like him a lot. Isabelle! How could you forget?!"

Isabelle shrugged, and did not look up from her civics studies. "Well... These last two days, we looked at an awful lot of puppies..."

"None of them were as cute as Gregory!" Brianna started to whine, "There aren't many puppies left Isabelle! I had no idea you and I had such different tastes in boys..." Brianna frowned and added, "Maybe we shouldn't have volunteered to double up..."

"Yeah... Maybe not..." Isabelle sighed and went back to her studies...

The normal practice for the WFM was to have 20% or 30% more boys than girls for the girls to choose from, using the surplus for replacements for older children and adults, for medical research, and culling the rest. But in the year 204,874, there was a worldwide problem with the ova quality used for male breeding, and there were only about an equal number of boys born that year as girls. The problem temporarily disappeared, and only a few high-level commanders and genetic e-techs realized how serious the issue was.

As a means to cope with the shortage, the girls had been offered a choice to "double-up" and share a single pet-mate. There were not many volunteers...

Isabelle looked up from her studies. "Mark was nice..."

"Mark?... Which Mark?"

"Mark 49, the one that"

"That Mark?! Isabelle! He was so short! He's shorter than I am!"

"So?"

"No way!"

"He was nice! And did you see how he likes to cuddle?"

"No! No! No!"

"Hey?!" Isabelle looked exasperated. "Okay, I give up! Let's just go with your Gregory then!"

"Really?!''

Isabelle sighed heavily. "Yeah, it'll be okay."

"Thank you Isabelle! You won't regret this!" Brianna started typing on her console happily. "Excrement!"

Isabelle looked over frowning. "Now what?"

"Norani picked him an hour ago!"

"You're kidding?! I thought she was looking for something more athletic."

"This is all your fault Isabelle! If you just would have listened to me yesterday, Gregory could have been playing with us right now! Now... Oh Isabelle! There are so few left!"

"Hey! This shortage is not my fault! Stop blaming me!"

"Fine!"

An hour went by before the girls spoke again. "Isabelle?"

"Uh huh?"

"I'm sorry."

Isabelle leaned back in her chair and sighed. "I forgive you... Pull up the breeder's web site. Let's see what's left."

The girls stared at the puppy web pages for several minutes. "Sixty-three left, not much of a selection," murmured Brianna.

"Midnight tonight, our first choice status disappears. Research will probably pick up the lot. I doubt if any will be culled... Want to wait for next year?"

Brianna shook her head vigorously. "No, I want a puppy now!"

"Well, see any boy you like?"

"Not really... How about you?"

"I wouldn't mind waiting."

"Oh heck, you're no help..." Brianna flipped through several more pages in silence. "Sorry... I know this isn't your fault."

Isabelle leaned over and lightly kissed Brianna's cheek. "It's okay. Really, pick any boy you like."

"Really?"

"Well, any cute one..."

"Yeah..."

Brianna browsed for a while, considering. The picture of Kyle came up and she stared at it for a surprisingly long while. "Isabelle, what about the talking boy?"

"Yeah, right! Click on next."

"There is no next. Kyle's at the end of the list."

Isabelle shrugged her shoulders. "So why don't we wait for next year? There'll be a plentiful supply, not like now. We can even have our separate pet-mates..."

Brianna kept staring at the last picture. "Why don't we take Kyle now?"

Isabelle stared at Brianna. "You're serious?"

"I think so... yeah..."

"It would be novel, having a boy who talks! But can you imagine cuddling with him?! Brianna, what are your thoughts?"

"I've been dared, so many times... I think I'd like to do it."

"Brianna! Taking care of any puppy is a big responsibility! Don't take a talking one because someone dares you to!"

"Oh, I know. Still... Please?"

Isabelle stared at the picture. "He is cute... Nice athletic body... I remember he waved at me and smiled when I passed his pen... He certainly is friendly enough... and I like his eyes. Look at his eyes Brianna! Such beautiful soft blue puppy eyes... Okay! Let's take him!"

"Thank you Isabelle! You won't regret this!" Brianna kissed Isabelle and entered the selection web-page...