THE CHILD INSIDE THE TUBE

Tempéra woke up early to go to the gym and call his family before going to the canteen for his meal. He is surprised to see that most of the other team members also live in the building. Again, Tempéra asks no questions. He only really asks his clients three questions to know if he wants to accept to work for them : their genetic ancestry, what kind of child they want, and how much they are willing to pay for his service. Everything else doesn't really matter in a world like theirs. Tempéra is a man of pleasures who enjoys life as long as there is life. He considers himself lucky. He wants neither more nor less than what he already has: a comfortable life, a job that is fascinating, a wife he was madly in love with long ago, but who is today less than a friend, a child he cherishes for many reasons, admiring clients who supplement generously his monthly income as a university professor and give him a very honourable excuse to keep his couple life at arm's length.

***

When Tempéra arrives at the laboratory, his client is already waiting for him with her husband. Tempéra remembers having accepted their condition too hastily. He regretfully starts realising that they will be on his back the whole time. Yet, the job is simple and doesn't require them watching over his shoulder. They made their end of the bargain: a healthy embryo. The team only has to prepare the growth and the artificial birth of their baby. 

Test tube babies are nothing special these days. This type of conception has been used for more than a century, but artificial birth as it is known today isn't legalised. According to the Global Agreement on Research on Treatments for the Advancement of the Human Race, artificial birth can only be used for the purpose of medical research on human beings. According to this same Agreement, it is forbidden to use artificial birth to clone another human being with or without their consent, or to give birth to a child who could otherwise be born naturally. By no means, should artificial birth become a substitute for the biological or surrogate mother; it should aim at advancing science without infringing on human dignity. However, the artificial birth that Tempéra knows of doesn't care about the human dignity that isn't born yet, as long as the human beings who are already born, can pay. There will never be any obstacle to the advancement of the human race because the human race will always be able to crush into anything by all means and at all costs like a bulldozer. Everything else is just opinion and detail.

In Tempéra's opinion, artificial birth consists of the most beautiful birth in the world: fast, clean, with hardly any complication. Nature itself could never have done so just. Artificial birth is his expertise and for the past few years, artificial birth with genetic manipulation has become his passion. That is why he insisted on returning to live in Africa where black women and the famous Babel gene are plentiful.

Back in his flat, Tempéra takes a shower before throwing himself onto his bed to watch his giant flat screen. He is delighted with this first day: predictable and busy enough to keep his mind buzzing and busy. He appreciates the very pragmatism of these clients: a flat just for him, located in the same building as the laboratory, a canteen and a gym available 24/7. Some clients don't always think about it. Tempéra sits at the edge of his bed to gaze blissfully at the mountainous landscape through his bedroom window. How beautiful! At 49 years-old, the professor has never seen mountains outdoors in his life. Maybe the real mountains weren't as green nor as tall, but these are beautiful; they give him the impression of being free and all-powerful. After the ten hours of flight the day before and two long consecutive days in the laboratory, Tempéra only wants one thing: to feel free and almighty.

Suddenly, his watch phone placed on the bedside table starts to ring. The professor stretches one arm to reach out to his watch. His face softens when his daughter's name appears on the small screen. He turns on the hologram projector.

"Hello Gaëlle," Tempéra says, smiling at the hologram.

"Hello daddy, when are you coming back?" The seven-year-old girl asks cheerfully in Mina language. She has very dark skin. Her hair is braided with coloured thread.

"Soon," Tempéra replies, returning his daughter's smile.

"In how many days from now is soon?" The child insists.

"Fifteen."

"Fifteen days!?" The little girl resumes, widening her eyes and opening her mouth wide for a second, Then, she continues, feigning reprimand: "You work too much, daddy. You never take any time off. It's not fair. You're never home."

"Of course, I'm home from time to time, and I'll definitely be home in two weeks!" Tempéra replies, bursting out laughing.