Herbicide

Author: lamuella

Temporarily bearded cantabridgian.

The guard in front of the incubator chamber checked Alan's ID carefully, moving it to see the holograms dance. Mother as always hired the best. For herself.

“Sorry for your loss,” the guard said.

“She'll be back soon,” Alan replied, staring at the seedpod in the chamber.

The guard left him alone after that. Cameras in the incubators would have been seen as crude, so nobody saw Alan take the vial from his pocket and sprinkle the salt around the base of the womb-plant. It wasn't the quickest way to kill it, but the salt was cheap and naturally occurring. Alan looked up at Mother growing in the pod.

“I love you,” he said. “That's why I have to do this.”

He walked out and headed home. In a day they'd tell him the resurrection crop had failed. It happened sometimes. They'd have to regrow Mother from seed. Specifically from the seed Alan would give them, a carefully edited version of Mother, less histrionics, less biting sarcasm, more unconditional love.

Alan didn't think of it as murder. Just... bonsai.