CHAPTER 211: BIOLOGICAL IMPERATIVE

Mr. Zack was making his morning rounds on the Z1 when he noticed Homer standing out by the front gate holding the baby. Zack pulled over just to see what was going on.

"Mr. Zack, I’m so glad you’re here," Homer began, his voice strained with worry. "Clayton has got some problems; he’s been a little irritable the last few days and I know that the stress the baby brings on its own problems. This morning he didn’t want to let the baby nurse, when I tried to touch him on his shoulder, he growled at me. He’s getting ready to transition, and by the way he’s acting Mr. Zack, it’s not going to be an easy one. If you haven’t seen him in the last week, he’s grown almost 6 inches in height and packed on several pounds of muscle."

Zack put his speeder in park and crawled out, then headed up to the house by himself, leaving Homer and the baby at the front gate far out of harm’s way. When he entered the house, he noticed that Clayton had definitely changed—there stood a young man in the process of transition where a boy had once stood.

Clayton started to cry. "Mr. Zach, what’s wrong? What’s happening to me? I don’t want to be around my own child. I have evil thoughts. Homer came to touch me and I almost bit him—hell, I growled at him this morning."

"Well young Clayton, you’ve started to transition and your reaction is normal," Zack explained gently. "There’s a saying in human terms; we only hurt the ones we love the most. I am going to take you over to the center. Lex is going to check you, then you’re going into the transition cubicle. You will stay in the cubicle for 24 to 72 hours until your transition is complete. Lex will examine you afterwards and will bring Homer and the baby back to you over there in case you have an adverse reaction and actually become aggressive toward them. It doesn’t happen all the time, but some Genmen after transition become aggressive toward a pre-mate. A couple of the young men like yourself that went through the center’s breeding program have become aggressive toward others afterwards, but it took them a little while to calm down and accept their role in life as a dad to a pre-transition child."

"Mr. Zack, it has to be okay. I want my child. Homer is a great father and I don’t want to do anything to mess that up."

Zack held out an aggression jacket for Clayton to place upon himself. After he put it on, his arms would be securely held by his sides so that he could not attack anyone nor harm himself until he could get to the center.

It tore Homer up inside as he watched the person that he loved the most being led out of the house wearing an aggression jacket. Clayton didn’t look up at him, didn’t acknowledge the baby—he just walked by like he didn’t know them.

Zack put Clayton in the backseat and secured the seatbelt down so that he was unable to get out of the vehicle as it moved. He went back to Homer.

"As soon as we get him secured in the transition cubicle, you drop the baby off at Earl’s and come on over to the center. You can observe him through the viewing glass, stay as long as you need to. Lex and the team will take excellent care of him, but I know you’re going to worry—it’s just who you are."

"Thank you Mr. Zack. I’ll get Earl to take care of the baby for as long as he can and I’ll be there at the center as long as I am allowed."

Zack drove off on his way to the center. It felt strange to Zach to be driving himself, but with Madison on birthing leave taking care of Benjamin, it was like old times. He had never thought about how much he depended on Madison and how valuable the young man had become to him. Well, that meant he was going to have to get a raise when he got back. Every time he looked for something, he looked for Madison because the young man knew his job, knew where everything was, and when he was thinking about a pencil, Madison had it in his hand giving it to him.

Zack pulled up at the center, where Lex and a couple of the orderlies were waiting on him. Lex went around to check on Clayton, who was having a little bit of an anxiety moment. Lex went to speak to him and Clayton just growled, not making eye contact.

"Well, looks like we have a live wire here, but not to worry—we’ve handled them before and will handle them again. We will take care of you really good and proper, young Clayton. Tomorrow you’re going to be a new man." The orderlies went to retrieve him from the speeder and he tried to break and run, but when he landed face first in the dirt thanks to a kindly foot being stuck out in front of him, it took a little bit of the fight out of him.

"Okay Lex, I leave him in your capable hands, but just let you know Homer does not intend to leave him here alone. He’s got somebody watching the baby and he will be sitting watching Clayton through the observation window, so please treat them kindly. He’s going to be very stressed out with all that he went through prior to the birth and now this, so you might slip something into his drink that will take the edge off of him."

Lex thanked his grandfather. "Yep, I was planning to do that exact thing, knowing these two and their history."

Lex popped a dosage of calming agent disguised as a sweet into Clayton’s mouth when he went to growl and bite. Within 10 minutes the young man had definitely calmed down and his restraint jacket was removed. He was left alone on the bed lying on his side resting.

Chris stopped by to check on Lex—it was going to be a long day and very long night.

"Baby, you do know that if we decide to have another child, all of these long hours are going to have to be scaled back. I know you’re just waiting for Clark and Stephen to have their child, then you’re talking about conceiving our second."

"Christopher, do you know what I love about you? Everything," Lex replied warmly. "The way you worry over me, the way you watch after me and our son, and yet you still find time to do a full-time job." Lex kissed his partner and the two stood there watching young Clayton as he started his journey into adulthood.

"Boy, do I remember watching you like a hawk during your transition. Heck, you almost tore the room down—you took out five orderlies and you caused a hell of a lot of damage. After you and your transition, the ranch said no more hybrids for them. You stopped a lot of young men from being used as carriers for their new Super Genmen that they were going to graft from your bloodlines." Chris handed Lex a stack of files. "This is what they had planned next, but thanks to you, it didn’t go through."

Lex was shocked and horrified at what he read when he opened the first file folder up. It read: Genetic Manipulation of Genman Subject 4596.

"Does my grandfather know about this?"

"Nope, this has just been declassified by the GBI and since it pertained to you, it’s for your eyes only and the director wanted to keep it that way. Only those that you allow to read this will know what it says."

"Well, this is one for the central vault. I’ll give it to my grandfather and it will be locked away—we don’t want anything like this to get loose on the planet."