Part of the reason the six scientists had agreed to come to the cavern first was because none of them had close family in the world above. The government needed a small team to test the operating systems and make sure the cavern’s environment would be safe for the millions of people who would follow. They worked and waited for daily instructions.
After the messages stopped, they would start each day saying, “let’s wait another day, just to make sure.” This had gone on for forty years.
The desks were empty today. Toby glanced over his shoulder, almost expecting Colleen to be in the hall, thin lips pursed in disapproval. No one was there. He pulled on his shoes.
A goat bleated through the door of the ‘ranch,’ Gramble Lenora’s domain and home to an ever-growing menagerie of birds, rabbits and other beasts descended from the original few she brought when she’d first came. Polly must sense his presence; she was reminding him of her afternoon snack. He would visit his pet after chores were finished.
The hallway widened and led into the main kitchen. Toby climbed on a stool, rolled up his sleeves and began washing the stack of dishes accumulated over the last two days. The elderly people were becoming feeble. His list of responsibilities grew longer, but he wasn’t resentful. He loved his guardians. Gramble Howard had taught him chess. He never scolded him when Toby grew too excited and scattered pieces with a thrash of his tail. Gramble Edward allowed him to play with his stethoscope and the plastic skeletal models lining his doctor’s office. Gramble Gregory and Gramble Colleen tried to reach through their scientific shells with kind words and ideas. But it was Grambles Lenora and Shana who loved him the most. Waves of love flooded from their hearts and followed him wherever he ventured.
Where was Gramble Shana? Most days she would be in the kitchen by now to scrub produce and ask his opinion on a new recipe. He stepped down from his stool and dried his hands on his pants. Murmured voices drifted in from the dining room down the hall and then--Lenora’s croaking laugh. What were they doing?
Lights and sound burst upon him as he walked in the door.
“Surprise!” The grambles rose stiffly from various hiding places around the room. “Happy twelfth name day!”
Colored streamers twisted overhead and a big frosted cake graced the center of the table. Balloons bobbed cheerful greetings from bookcases and chairs. Toby couldn’t keep a slow smile from spreading across his face.
Gramble Shana hugged him, wisps of hair from her pinned-up braids tickling his face. “We were in the storage units all day searching for party things. Looks pretty good, don’t you think?”
“I love it,” Toby whispered.
Everyone gathered around the table and the grambles sang, in voices hoarse with age, a “Happy Name Day” song composed by Gramble Shana for the occasion.
“Born from a glass womb,
on a very special day.
We made you from
human and cat DNA.
The only Trilby in the world,
with cat tail and ears,
Our little Toby,
For twelve wonderful years!
Toby stood with shining eyes, cheeks pink from the attention.
Gramble Edward handed him a slice of cake. “I fixed the replicator today and found a program for chocolate fudge swirl. I hope you like it.” He smiled, causing his bushy moustache to tickle the bottom of his nose. He sneezed.
Gramble Colleen handed him a tissue.
Gramble Shana’s eyes twinkled and Toby could tell she was remembering the day of his birth. Every year she told him the story.
How they waited, breathless, for Gramble Edward to pull the tiny, pink baby from the simulated womb. Gramble Colleen had cut the umbilical cord and everyone listened for his first baby cry. “Everyone had tears in our eyes,” Gramble Shana would say, “Even Colleen. We were all excited to become grandparents.”
Gramble Edward looked through a newborn checklist; nodding as each step went well.
“But then we saw your ears,” Gramble Shana laughed. “Gregory thought the cat DNA wouldn’t make a difference. He only used a few basic cells to fill in the missing slots where the human samples were damaged. But he was wrong, and so you are a Trilby!”
Toby finished his cake, trying to find the right words to share his heart. A desire had been planted there, and he could not ignore it any longer.
“Dear Grambles.” He reached out to them, as though somehow his fingers could filter the words and lessen the pain. “You brought me into this world of Down-Below and care for me with love and tenderness.”
Six wrinkled faces stretched into smiles, and glasses rattled as gray and white heads nodded.
He looked down at the last crumbs of his cake, as though they were tea leaves that could somehow foretell his future. “I would be a Frankenstein’s monster to anyone else. Most would say I was soulless…”
Gramble Lenora looked up sharply, her ginger skin tinged with red. “How can you say that? You are a Trilby. That makes you the most special person in the world!”
“Especially to us,” said Gramble Shana.
“But do I have a soul?” Toby’s voice almost dropped to a whisper, the pent-up tears burning behind his green eyes as he stared into the faces of his creators. They did not answer.
“You pieced me together like a patchwork doll, sewn from pieces of cloth. Who wove the bits of cloth? Who made the first DNA? Who made you?”
Gramble Gregory’s eyes glistened under his thick, caterpillar eyebrows. “No matter how many lectures and universities we attended, or how many books we have studied, we still ask this question, Toby. All we understand is scientific fact.”
Toby stood up on his chair. “Then I have no choice. I must journey to the land above ground. If answers exist, I can only find them out there.”