m1_6

The spidery steel-work of gallery above gallery faded away in all directions into the dark.


Near them three red ghosts were busily unloading demijohns from a moving staircase.
The escalator from the Social Predestination Room.
Each bottle could be placed on one of fifteen racks, each rack, though you couldn't see it, was a conveyor traveling at the rate of thirty-three and a third centimetres an hour.
Two hundred and sixty-seven days at eight metres a day. Two thousand one hundred and thirty-six metres in all.


One circuit of the cellar at ground level, one on the first gallery, half on the second, and on the two hundred and sixty-seventh morning, daylight in the Decanting Room.
Independent existence–so called.
"But in the interval," Mr. Foster concluded, "we've managed to do a lot to them.
Oh, a very great deal." His laugh was knowing and triumphant.
"That's the spirit I like," said the Director once more. "Let's walk around. You tell them everything, Mr. Foster."
Mr. Foster duly told them.
Told them of the growing embryo on its bed of peritoneum. Made them taste the rich blood surrogate on which it fed.
Explained why it had to be stimulated with placentin and thyroxin.
Told them of the corpus luteum extract. Showed them the jets through which at every twelfth metre from zero to 2040 it was automatically injected.
Spoke of those gradually increasing doses of pituitary administered during the final ninety-six metres of their course.
Described the artificial maternal circulation installed in every bottle at Metre 112; showed them the resevoir of blood-surrogate,
the centrifugal pump that kept the liquid moving over the placenta and drove it through the synthetic lung and waste product filter.
Referred to the embryo's troublesome tendency to an.mia, to the massive doses of hog's stomach extract and foetal foal's liver with which, in consequence, it had to be supplied.
Showed them the simple mechanism by means of which, during the last two metres out of every eight, all the embryos were simultaneously shaken into familiarity with movement.
Hinted at the gravity of the so-called "trauma of decanting," and enumerated the precautions taken to minimize, by a suitable training of the bottled embryo, that dangerous shock.
Told them of the test for sex carried out in the neighborhood of Metre 200.
Explained the system of labelling–a T for the males, a circle for the females and for those who were destined to become freemartins a question mark, black on a white ground.
"For of course," said Mr. Foster, "in the vast majority of cases, fertility is merely a nuisance.
One fertile ovary in twelve hundred–that would really be quite sufficient for our purposes.
But we want to have a good choice. And of course one must always have an enormous margin of safety.
So we allow as many as thirty per cent of the female embryos to develop normally.
The others get a dose of male sex-hormone every twenty-four metres for the rest of the course.
Result: they're decanted as freemartins–structurally quite normal (except," he had to admit, "that they do have the slightest tendency to grow beards), but sterile.
Guaranteed sterile. Which brings us at last," continued Mr. Foster, "out of the realm of mere slavish imitation of nature into the much more interesting world of human invention."
一层层蜘蛛网样的钢架长廊从各个方面往黑暗里模糊了去。
他们身边有三个红色幽灵正忙着从传送梯上取下小颈大肚瓶。
从社会命运预定室来的电梯。
每一个瓶子都可以往十五个架子中的任何一个上面搁。虽然看不见，每个架子却都是一条传送带，以每小时三十三点三厘米的速度运动着。
每天八公尺，二百六十七天。总共两千一百三十六公尺。
地下室的巡回线有一条在地面高度，有一条在一阶长廊高度，还有半条在二阶长廊高度。第二百六十七天早上日光照进换瓶室。
所谓的“独立生命’便出现了。
“但是在这个阶段，”福斯特先生总结道，“我们已经在它们身上下了很多功夫。
啊，非常多的功夫。”他带着洞察一切的神态和胜利的情绪笑了。
“我喜欢的就是这种精神。”主任再次说道，“大家一起走一圈，你来把所有的东西都向他们介绍一下吧，福斯特先生。”
福斯特先生照办。
他向他们介绍了在腹膜苗床上生长的胚胎，让他们尝了尝给胚胎吃的浓酽的代血剂，
解释了必须使用胎盘制剂和甲状腺制剂刺激它的理由；
介绍了妊娠素精；让他们看了从零至二千零四十公尺之间每隔十二公尺就自动喷射一次妊娠素精的喷射口；
介绍了在最后的九十六公尺过程里分量逐渐增加的黏液。
描述了在一百一十二米处安装进每个瓶里的母体循环；让他们看了代血剂池；
看了驱使液体在胎盘制剂上流动并驱动其流过合成肺和废物过滤器的离心泵。
向他们谈了很麻烦的胚胎贫血倾向；谈了大剂量的猪胃提取素和胚胎马的肝——人的胚胎需要用马胚胎肝营养。
他也让他们看了一种简单的机械，每一个胚胎每运行八公尺到最后两公尺时，那机械便对它进行摇晃，使之习惯于运动。
他提示了所谓的“换瓶伤害”的严重性，阐述了种种预防措施，用以对瓶里的胚胎进行适当的训练，把那危险的震动减少到最低限度。
向他们介绍了在二百公尺左右进行的性别测试。
解释了标签体系。T表示男性，O表示女性，而命定了要做不孕女的则是白底上的一个黑色问号。
“当然，因为”福斯特先生说，“对绝大部分情况而言，多产只是一种多余。
一千二百个卵子里只须有一个多产就已能满足我们的要求。
不过我们想精挑细选。当然还得有很大的保险系数。
因此，我们任其发育的女性胚胎多到总数的百分之三十，
剩下的便在以后的过程里每隔二十四米给予一剂男性荷尔蒙。
其结果是：到换瓶时它们已经成了不孕女——生理结构完全正常（‘只是’，他不得不承认，‘她们确实有一种很轻微的长胡子的倾向’），但是不能生育。
保证不能生育。这就使我们终于，”福斯特先生继续说，“走出对大自然的奴隶式模仿的王国，进入人类发明的世界，那就要有趣得多了。”