Incubators - 1

Betsy looked into the mirror. It'd been a week since she'd been selected as a maintainer. Not that she really could complain. She'd been lucky to make it to the age of nineteen before her time came to step back into the 'graveyard'. Most people were chosen at the age of fifteen, that way training would be more productive... They'd be better for the rest of their five year service on the 'graveyard' shift.

She splashed her face with the cold water found in the female maintainers room. Before staring back up and meeting her large blue satin eyes. She recognised the tiredness there. How people kept this up for five years... She'd never know.
Grabbing a paper towel, she dabbed the water off of her face before discarding it and entering the Life room.

A part of her would never quite adjust to seeing what she did every time she entered that room... Thousands and thousands of humans in electronic virtual incubators, maintaining the world they know, love and created...

The incubators maintained their world. Her job as well as hundreds of others aged between fifteen and twenty was to maintain the machines. The life they knew put on hold to ensure that the lives everyone knew would keep going...
Really she'd struck lucky twice. Being a maintainer just meant watching... Watching for the changes in the real people. Life death, illness and even pregnancy. It was other people's jobs to take care of them after she'd spotted the changes. She was sort of glad not to have the responsibility.

Betsy walked over to a short white blonde girl who leaned leisurely against one of the incubators.
"Janey. What did I tell you about leaning on those ones? The elders will have a field day if you take a particular interest in one person whose showing no signs." Janeys eyes and face didn't move, in fact no part of her did. Betsy tapped her. But she just remained glued to the incubator. She grabbed hold of her, feeling the coldness of her skin sink through the shirt Janey wore.

Not again. Not another one. Something was going on on the 'graveyard' shift and Betsy had the strange feeling it was why so many older ones like herself had been called up lately... They were needed, something was killing the shift workers off, and had been for a year now. Question is what it was...

©Odd