Dome of Souls (Book 2 of 2, after Story Less Told)

Ch7: Story Time with Grampa Greg

"Humans are way more messy." nodded Mari

"You have no idea. Shameless troglodytes with their unsanitary fluids. Now unlike those easily offended humans, we don't require a male and female sample to make a baby. We can use as little as a single sample or as many as 3 in some cases, to properly blend the genetics to optimal results. None of that gender judgment bullshit and adoption nonsense. Accidental pregnancy isn't a factor because all Osirians are now Lab-grown and assembled and intentionally sterile, except me, and a few of us old gummers from the dark and mystical time before internets and wikis."

"Savage times." Mari said dramatically.

"You guys are retarded" muttered Rika.

"In the joyful land known as Assembly Cryo-lab 63, where most of my kids were born, on a lovely artificial moon orbiting a high mass gas-giant named crudely after a god of tits and wine, that's where the real fun stuff happens. First, a base gender is selected, intentionally left slightly androgynous for ease of correction later on if needed, then the vial of parent gel is subjected to a form of radiation and nuked to perfection to get rid of all that pesky bacteria garbage those earthlings carry on them. They are scanned before being bombarded with regenerative cells and heated to a toasty 523 degrees Celsius, the ideal internal body temperature for a healthy baby Osirian. In another part of the lower floor, newborn skeletons are made in the absolutely fucking creepiest part of the entire factory. Nightmare fuel. A polytanium alloy is electroplated over a fine mesh of alloy E118 fiber, in a manner vaguely similar to how humans make carbon fiber bicycles. The key difference being that the bicycles are babies, and there are no bicycles. This creates a very durable yet reasonably priced skeletal frame with interlocking joints and extendable bones.

An infant Osirian skeleton is designed to be exactly 5 foot and around 100 pounds after flesh is added and finished. Makes you suddenly glad traditional birth is not in our practices, lets just take a moment to visualize that mess."

"Gross" she whispered.

"Gross indeed. The Newborn Osirian skeleton is then cryogenically frozen and chemically sterilized before the bio-gel is blended and cooled to around 343 degrees Celsius, and sprayed over the skeleton. A series of layered printing heads 3-d print muscles and connecting tissues through the bio-snot, until the body is nearly formed. Each Infant skeleton is designed to have expandable bones, so as they develop, the body grows with them to adulthood. The frame is designed to grow to the standard Osirian adult height of 6 foot 3, or whatever the individual decides is enough. This adjustable bone structure allows some wiggle room to experience different perspectives based on preferences." Greg yawned.

"I like being short." she shrugged.

"I have no idea what that feels like. Before the blank is shipped to the last stage, a series of tests and quality controls are done, meticulously ensuring no defects at this point, then a thoroughly tested and standardized positron bio-mech brain is installed, and the skull securely fitted, sprayed with a protective sealant and then a download port is fitted to the base of the skull. Like a tiny terminator with blue meat on its bones, the unconscious former carcass, is sprayed with more life-snot and a layer of polymer artificial skin of random color. Your daddy got black, the humans had soooo many questions on that subject. He wasn't thrilled at first but it landed him a wonderful wife, so he can't complain about that anymore, now can he?"

"Nope." Mari shook.

"Uncle Christophe doesn't let us make jokes like that." Rika scoffed.

"Well, Uncle Christophe has a stick up his ass, so he doesn't see the humor in life. Charlie laughs about it and it's his skin, so it's okay, and Uncle Christophe can just go have a flying fuck all by himselves and him other-selves." Greg informed.