Chapter 10

           ThehandsofallthefourthousandelectricclocksinalltheBloomsburyCentre’sfourthousandroomsmarkedtwenty-sevenminutespasttwo."Thishiveofindustry,"astheDirectorwasfondofcallingit,wasinthefullbuzzofwork.Everyonewasbusy,everythinginorderedmotion.Underthemicroscopes,theirlongtailsfuriouslylashing,spermatozoawereburrowingheadfirstintoeggs;and,fertilized,theeggswereexpanding,dividing,orifbokanovskified,buddingandbreakingupintowholepopulationsofseparateembryos.FromtheSocialPredestinationRoomtheescalatorswentrumblingdownintothebasement,andthere,inthecrimsondarkness,stewinglywarmontheircushionofperitoneumandgorgedwithblood-surrogateandhormones,thefoetusesgrewandgrewor,poisoned,languishedintoastuntedEpsilonhood.Withafainthumandrattlethemovingrackscrawledimperceptiblythroughtheweeksandtherecapitulatedaeonstowhere,intheDecantingRoom,thenewly-unbottledbabesutteredtheirfirstyellofhorrorandamazement.

           Thedynamospurredinthesub-basement,theliftsrushedupanddown.OnalltheelevenfloorsofNurseriesitwasfeedingtime.Fromeighteenhundredbottleseighteenhundredcarefullylabelledinfantsweresimultaneouslysuckingdowntheirpintofpasteurizedexternalsecretion.