- AD -

Ysadora was sipping her coffee and distractedly eating her pasta salad while looking at the midday news on her computer, when Abraham sat on the chair opposite hers, setting down his plate with an apologetic expression on his face. She looked around at the half-crowded cafeteria, and turned back to Abraham, her eyebrow raised in a silent question.

“Sorry about that; but that brunette woman over there was trying to sit with me ever since I entered the cafeteria,” Abraham explained. “I thought I’ll escape her by sitting with you, and finally enjoy a silent meal.”

Ysadora discreetly looked over Abraham’s shoulders, and saw the woman in question, helplessly looking in his direction but averting Ysadora’s authoritative stare.

“Oh, her. Don’t mind it, she’s harmless. I only know her last name, Williams. She’s the receptionist since about four years; and her attitude has nothing to do with you specifically. She just gape at every man that walks past her.”

Abraham smiled at her disgusted tone.

“Well, whatever she does, she’s terrified of you; so if you don’t mind, I’ll be commandeering this seat with you during our lunch breaks, when I can.”

“… Sure,” Ysadora said, lightly blushing at his frankness.

They resumed eating in silence, both of them casting tentative glances at each other in-between reading and eating. After awhile, Abraham considered her curiously.

“So why are the girls frightened by you? The men are simply intimidated, but the women?”

Ysadora shrugged.

“I don’t get them, and they don’t get me. Simple as that.”

Abraham smirked.

“I guess that explains the lack of Mr. Dawn,” he motioned at an absent ring on her finger.

She threw him a cold stare, and he smiled back, raising his own left hand.

“Don’t worry, it’s the same here. I don’t get them, and they never got me.”

Something in Ysadora’s eyes stirred.

“I’m sorry,” she softly said.

“Why?”

She looked sideways, almost ashamed.

“You look like someone that deserves being understood.”

“So do you,” he simply replied, smiling softly.

They blushed, and returned to their computers, trying to ignore what had just been said.

After a long time of reading, Abraham’s annoyed voice broke the awkward silence.

“Come on, it’s not that hard a decision!”

Ysadora looked up in surprise.

“What?”

Abraham smiled apologetically.

“Oh, nothing. Sorry for disturbing you.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m curious,” Ysadora said, amused.

Abraham lowered a little his computer screen to skeptically seize her; but she was genuinely curious, her body leaning in toward him, one hand gallantly supporting her chin, her turquoise eyes eager. He looked back at his screen, feeling his cheeks reddening under such truthful attention.

“It’s just something related to the science of genome. A technique called ‘Genetic Continuity’.”

“What is it?”

“Something that the ethnozoologism field developed seven years ago. It relates primarily to the survival of endangered species. Basically, in such a program, upon an offspring’s birth, they test its genome. If they find it to contain chances of infertility, or any other genome dysfunction, they remove the offspring. Such an action retriggers the parental instinct of procreation, and the parents immediately create another offspring to replace the missing one.

» I find it ingenious, because we no longer need to wait until the baby grow into sexual maturity before determining if it will be either strong or fertile enough to continue the survival rate of the endangered specie. Before the acceptance of such a technique, waiting for such a long time resulted in a high risk of the previous generation dying off before procreating again. With this technique, one ascertains right away the usefulness of the offspring in the context of the continuity of species, and creates not only healthier offsprings, but offsprings with a stronger gene pool. The success of the pigeon messenger’s rehabilitation from extinction was attributed to the Genetic Continuity technique.”

He paused to finish his last bite, and couldn’t help but smile at Ysadora’s interest, and his own passion. Apparently, teaching was an instinct that he could not shed behind. He looked back at his screen, as if to dig better the information out of the text.

“Although its success has been proven within the realm of endangered species, the Gaea Health Committee is debating whether this same technique should be implemented upon humans, in relation to fight off the genetic transmission of incurable diseases, deficient and/or socially impotent diseases. One half of the Committee argues, as usual, that such actions are morally unethical. But the other half follows my own opinion, upon observation of Nature’s own laws, that if such babies would grow into humans that not only can be of zero service to the whole of humanity, but also become a nuisance and waste of precious resources, why should we allow them to pollute the gene pool? Strength in terms of genetics is what we need to further the species continuity of humanity toward a better balance with Nature; so why are we still arguing about whether or not it is ‘ethical’ to remove a cancerous cell before it grows to contaminate the rest?

» Especially that discussed diseases and imperfections are incurable and impotent to society, such as Down’s syndrome, Progeria, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, etc... I mean, let’s not pretend that it’s a hard decision to come by.”

“Isn’t this going a bit far?”

Abraham lowered his computer, and looked in surprise as Ysadora glared at him. She calmly put down her coffee cup, her hand shaking lightly. Abraham still looked in surprise.

“How? We’re nearly eleven billions now. Twenty percent of the population are afflicted with diseases that will never allow them a fruitful and meaningful life toward society.”

“What makes you think they can never grow to contribute?” Ysadora hotly countered.

“Miss Dawn, we’re at a threshold in our relation to Gaea. We need to carefully select how our specie will healthily continue itself. Can you honestly say that an adult with Down syndrome will not only contribute in a healthy way to Nature, but contribute in an healthy way to our gene pool? Progeria, hopelessly feeding a being that will ultimately die within twelve to thirteen years. What good comes from people with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease other than dementia, memory loss, speech impairment, personality changes? Or Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, having your body’s muscles and tendons literally turn into bones? Will they ever be useful to society? Or are you all just blinding yourself to the fact that their uselessness wastes precious resources, resources we can no longer afford to waste.

» Anyone who claim differently, who protects such genetic failures, who cling to the fruitless and supposed virtue of caring, loving, accepting, being ethical, is only hiding themselves from the truth: that they are utterly egoist. That their emotions is more important and worthy than the survival of humanity, than the health and conservation of Nature and Gaea before it too becomes extinct by our recklessness.”

Abraham paused to take a breath. Ysadora simply glared at him, then pushing roughly her chair away, she stormed off the cafeteria, her heels clinking violently upon the stone floor. The other clients turned around to look at her, then toward Abraham is an accusatory stare. Abraham simply looked blankly at her empty chair.

After a few moments, he laid back in his chair and passed his hand in his hair. Nothing had beforehand suggested that she would react so badly at his opinion; yet, he realized, he knew nothing about her or her past. How could he have known that such a subject was close to her heart? More puzzlingly, she had never struck him as someone who would react that way in the first place; certainly not with a boss such as Randall Redspear, who just like Abraham, valued the necessity of a human’s existence over its sentimental value.

Abraham sighed as he closed his computer and rose to leave. For someone usually at ease with people, he wondered how he could’ve made such a faux pas with someone like Ysadora, whom he judged as straightforward.

Realizing the situation and the glaring around him, Abraham chuckled upon leaving the cafeteria. He could only too well imagine the workers’ thoughts, as they mirrored his own: what a catastrophic first date it turned out to be.