Josef’s pondering about Gamma 37’s potential advanced cognition got the best of him at work. He searched in his data for Gamma case study interviews. He was able to find almost 50 interviews in the database. He spent the morning running the artificial intelligence program for synopses of the interviews. For the most part, the descriptions of interviews produced an underlying theme. Gammas were infatuated with gray or mulberry clothes—the clothes of Alphas and Betas respectively.
Josef came across one interview that involved a Gamma that had become infatuated with an Alpha. Josef pulled up the interview and was shocked to discover that the Gamma in the interview had bright green eyes just like Gamma 37. He listened to some of the dialogue with the Gamma. Josef discovered that the Gamma used such antiquated terminology as “love”.
Josef has aware of the word “love” but had never heard it in the context of infatuation. To Josef, love was a word used before the Reformation to describe an obsession with another person. The word had been long banned from the lexicon of society. Its use and meaning had disappeared from knowledge. Josef cross referenced the interview with a dictionary and an historical reference to find out more information about this word.
Love, it seemed, was a destabilizing emotion. Many rebels during the Reformation sighted their love for another person as a driving force to resist the ideals of modern society. Those that used love as a motivator refused to adhere to the communal nature of society. The idea that everyone belonged to everyone was preposterous for those in love. To those individuals, their love was expressed towards only one person—not all people. Love for only one person was a direct rejection of the tenets of the World State philosophy. The historical references cited that individuals would often “die for” one person.
Josef wrinkled his nose at this idea. How was it possible for a person to be so infatuation with one person that they would subject themself to termination? What was the draw towards one person? What he found more perplexing was that this word, love, was uttered by a Gamma. How was it possible that a Gamma could utter such a high cognition? Gammas were conditioned to serve Alphas and Betas. Service was a Gamma’s life goal. They were conditioned not to have higher cognitions. How did a Gamma have room in their simple mind for such concepts?
Josef reviewed the creation files for the Gamma in the interview. O-10-10-15-0633-G-7/72. A female Gamma created in A.F. 633. Gamma 7 was unassigned and worked in the laundry detail of a building a few blocks from his own building. Gamma 7 had “fallen in love” with an Alpha male. The unnamed Alpha male lived in her building. She stated she would often find ways to encounter him in the building despite her work detail in the basement of her building. She was terminated because of her constant abandonment of her detail in search of the unnamed Alpha. Whenever she mentioned this Alpha, the sparkle in her green eyes illuminated the screen. The interview ended with a narrator stating that Gamma 7 was taken to the Termination Bureau after confronting the Alpha about her feelings.
Josef watched the interview again and tried to make sense of it. Why would a Gamma go to such risky extremes out of love? It was not stated in the interview, but, surely, the Alpha did not reciprocate her feelings. The tone of her voice reminded Josef of Gamma 37. He would often have what seemed like a wistful tone to his words. He had the same facial mannerisms of Gamma 7. It was as if there were some higher cognitions behind the eyes.
Josef reviews the creation file again for Gamma 7. One word caught his attention in the file. In the processing description, the word “Reassigned” stood out. What did that mean—reassigned? He decided to pull up the creation file of his Gamma—T-13-02-15-0636-G-37/72. He was shocked to find out that in the processing description, he also saw the word “Reassigned”.
He rubbed his eyes and looked up from the screen. Reassigned. Bernard was deep in an equation.
“Bernard,” Josef said. Bernard marked his page and looked up. “I have a question.”
“Okay,” Bernard replied.
“In a creation file, what does reassigned mean in the processing description?” Josef asked.
“Reassigned in the processing?” Bernard said and gave a perplexed look.
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“Yeah, reassigned during processing. What does that mean?” Josef asked.
“Hmm,” Bernard put his finger to his full lips. “I think it means an embryo is reassigned a class.”
“I’m not following,” Josef pressed on.
“Sometimes, the embryo is different, defective,” Bernard said.
“Defective?” Josef asked confused.
“Yes, too much of hormone X or not enough of hormone Y,” Bernard continued. “The embryo is still viable, so it is given alcohol numbing to class it down a level.”
“So, a Gamma is numbed down to a Delta?” Josef asked.
“Yes,” Bernard said. “The Gamma is given greater levels of alcohol and reassigned to a Delta. It is then conditioned as a Delta.”
“A Gamma is intentionally made a Delta,” Josef confirmed.
“Yes,” Bernard replied. Josef took a moment to digest this concept. Reassignment equals making an embryo a lower class.
“Does it only work downward?” Josef asked.
“Of course,” Bernard replied. “All the conditioning in the world cannot make a Delta a Gamma. A lower-class brain cannot comprehend such concepts.”
Josef thought for a moment again. He then came to a startling conclusion. Gamma 7 had to have been a Beta and intentionally made into a Gamma. If that were true, then Gamma 37 was also a Beta that was downgraded to a Gamma. A chill went through his body. It could be possible that those instances of clarity that he observed in Gamma 37 were the thoughts of a Beta. That would explain why Gamma 37 was slightly different from all the other Gammas. He was intentionally downgraded in the hatching laboratory. He was intentionally damaged. Josef let out a gasp of shock.
“Is everything alright?” Bernard asked. Josef turned off the monitor of his computer.
“Yes,” Josef nervously said. “I did not know reassignment happened.”
“It does not happen often and has to be approved by the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning,” Bernard said.
Someone high in the ranks of the Hatchery had signed off on allowing a technician, probably a Beta, to damage one of their own.
“I was reviewing old interviews and came across a case of yearning in a reassigned subject,” Josef quickly said.
“I see,” Bernard said. “I would not give too much time to that theory. Reassignment is such a rare occurrence that I doubt the Bureau would want to pursue any further research.”
“True,” Josef made a note. “It’s worth a notation in the research however.” Josef knew it was more than a notation in a research briefing. He had been serviced by an altered Beta this entire time. That poor creature robbed of his inherent potential.
Josef took his lunch break a little late. His research had led him into a rabbit hole. He lost all sense of time. Late lunches were acceptable for certain staff at the Bureau. Luckily, Josef was one of them.
Josef sat down with his lunch of protein and vegetable rations. There was no one in the lunchroom except a couple of other employees. Josef was fine with having a quiet lunch. He and Bernard almost always had lunch together. Today, he did not feel like dining with someone that blindly accepted biological tinkering. Today, he wanted to brood quietly even though he could not openly show his emotions on his face.
He finished his rations and got up from the table. Gammas assigned to lunchroom duty quickly cleaned up after him. Before he went into the restroom, he caught a familiar face. He ran into Fran on her way to the bathroom facilities.
“Hello, Josef,” Fran greeted as she approached Josef.
“Good afternoon,” Josef replied and smiled. He had not seen or heard from Fran since their encounter after the social.
“What have you been doing with yourself?” Fran asked eager to hear about Josef’s day.
“I have been deep in my research,” Josef said catching a glimpse of the small gap between the buttons of Fran’s gray blouse.
“So have I!” Fran replied as she placed a lock of hair behind her ear.
“I meant to thank you for taking me to the social,” Josef said putting his right hand in the pocket of his gray trousers.
“I did too! We will have to do it again sometime soon,” Fran replied pleasantly.
Josef looked nervously to the side. “Do you have any plans tomorrow night?”
“Well, I do,” Fran replied. “I have a few dates lined up with different men. I will not be available until next week.”
“Oh, I see,” Josef replied looking down at the floor.
Fran let out a little laugh. “Oh, Josef. You silly man! I never see the same guy twice in a row.”
Josef laughed quietly. “Oh, right. I should have known that.” How could he forget the social expectations? It was foolish for him to assume that Fran was not as promiscuous as everyone else.
“Don’t be down about it. I just have a reputation to keep up,” Fran said placing her hand on his shoulder.
“Of course,” Josef said. Fran gave him a little smile and walked away. Josef remained where he was for a moment. Fran stopped and turned towards Josef.
“I’ll look you up when I have made the rounds,” Fran said and walked away.
Josef entered the bathroom. Josef was upset. He was not upset that Fran was seeing other men. He was relieved that he would not need to attend an erotic feely before a date with Fran. At least for a while, he would be off the hook.
He was upset at the expectation that society placed upon him to be promiscuous. He was upset that he would never be given the luxury of being with someone familiar. It would be impossible to ever experience what the Gamma in the interview was talking about—love.
