Chapter Text
Just a tiny bit of housekeeping before we start.
Yes, this is part of the ‘Dead Dove Collection’ for reasons I will already have tagged or that will become quite clear as you start reading.
Tris and Eric are my main couple, they are the reason I started this story two years ago. BUT you will also read about other people having sex while we figure out what the other DNAs are that Jeanine used in her attempt to preserve mankind.
Those other encounters will depict the species’ specific ‘traits’ and, as it all occurs around the same time, we will be jumping around the timeline a bit.
Tris POV
“As you learned in school, we are the last of our kind. The sole survivors, the only enclave of mankind still in existence on this planet,” Jeanine starts and I barely manage to hide my yawn by bending down to dig a notebook out of my backpack.
Veronica nudges me and I nod imperceptively. I will try to do better but I was on call last night and I got called on more than once.
“You may have noticed the classroom sizes getting smaller…”
I finally pay attention to what Jeanine is saying.
“… and that the crèches are empty.”
“What?!”
Jeanine stops to look at Veronica while I am trying very hard to remember when I last saw a pregnant woman or baby. I can feel the frown settle in when I realise I can’t remember.
“There seems to be neither pregnancies nor toddlers in the whole of Chicago,” Jeanine states, choosing different words this time around.
“You can’t be right,” Veronica exclaims before pinching her lips.
“Ronnie, I don’t remember seeing any babies or toddlers since coming to Dauntless,” I admit.
Jeanine nods while Veronica looks deep in thought.
“We actually noticed the dwindling numbers a while back and looked for possible reasons. We concluded it must be a multitude of factors but they all lead to the same end result. We have become infertile.”
Jeanine lets us absorb her words but they just sound too much like a doomsday scenario to be believable.
“How,” Ronnie asks the same time I utter “what’s a while back?”
“A while back is about ten years ago. I was just made a leader so this topic wasn’t brought to my attention right away. Other matters took precedence for me, so it took them a while before they urged me to listen. This also plays into the ‘how’. We believe it is a mixture of things but it is us who created the perfect weapon to destroy ourselves. We use genetically modified crops for our food and became dependent on serums. The long time exposure, over many generations, is what caused this. It was not even sudden but nobody seems to have noticed early enough. The decline was steady enough to have been attributed to other factors but we now know this has been going on for well over two hundred years.”
“But how did you conclude infertility,” Ronnie demands to know.
“We tested every single Erudite that has reached puberty. We started off over a decade ago when some doctors noticed couples having more and more trouble conceiving. Tests came back showing not only low sperm quality and viability but also, uh, inhospitable uteruses and inadequate eggs. It has only gotten worse and this is for every single human in Chicago. They even managed to get samples from Factionless and they show the same concerns.”
“Why are you telling us all this now? Why not when you first learned about it,” I dare ask.
“Because I was hoping for a miracle of sorts. Someone to fall pregnant, you know,” Jeanine sighs, looking grim. “We also worked on finding remedies without having to tell everyone.”
“So you came up empty handed,” Ronnie concludes.
“We tried and we think we found some solutions. For example, Johanna has had her most skilled gardeners working on trying to fix our seed supply. It does take time to breed strains they deem worthy and it is taking longer than we have. She is using what some of the established families use for their own garden. The seeds from plants used by their ancestors, those left untouched by our modified crops for generations. Not much has been found, to be frank. We have been working on the serums but there is no alternative. It is up to each faction to decide whether or not you continue using them.”
“Initiation,” Ronnie gasps in horror.
“Soon we won’t have initiates coming in,” I state matter of factly and I can see her swallow hard before she nods in acquiescence.
“We did some research and experiments for the erectile dysfunction issue amongst the young,”
“Fuck, no,” Ronnie gasps in horror. “You are pulling my leg now, I would have heard about that!”
“Tris, did you have sex?”
“What?! No,” I stammer.
“Tris doesn’t count, she is former Abengation,” Ronnie all but shouts.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I hiss.
“Did you ever feel the urge to masturbate?”
“That’s personal,” I growl at Jeanine.
“I am just trying to prove my point,” Jeanine counters.
“I never felt the urge,” I admit.
“Veronica?”
“It has been a while,” Ronnie admits, equally as reluctant.
“How long do you reckon?”
“Too long to remember. I have a demanding job, it is keeping me busy,” Ronnie defends herself needlessly.
“See, you are making excuses, just like everyone else. None of our test subjects were able to produce an erection. Some stated they had some when they first entered puberty but nothing since. That is the whole age group up to twenty. Those up to thirty remember having sex but the lack of sex drive made them not even realise how much time has passed. Those beyond thirty are the ones who have the remaining school children. It is surprisingly equal between the factions.”
Jeanine pauses and takes a sip of water.
“Well, what I called you here for today is to explain that we have been doing more research and experiments, and we think we are onto something. We believe we can alter people’s DNA, specifically targeting sex drive, reproduction, sex organs, and those things that make us who we are, intellect and physical appearance, for example, would not be touched. We believe this is key to buying us time and maybe this will prove to be the game changer. Darwin was a smart man but we are smarter and better equipped.”
“So you want to turn us into mutants,” Ronnie asks, staring Jeanine down like she doubts her sanity.
“We want to alter just a small part,” Jeanine argues.
“Right, and next I am a fish flopping on dry land. No, absolutely not an option!”
“Veronica, it won’t be like that and what I asked you here for is to help us find volunteers. We need people who are willing to give this a try,” Jeanine urges.
“You know that this means we have to tell the faction,” I double check.
“If that’s what it takes then by all means. Maybe you can convince them to take it easy and not do anything that requires more than a pill to fix. We already ramped up paracetamol and ibuprofen production,” Jeanine states proudly.
Ronnie and I look at each other and shrug.
“How many volunteers do you need and how much can you tell us so we can tell them?”
“We would love to have at least a hundred from each faction but there is no upper limit. The procedure includes proper analysis of each individual’s personal history and assessment of their reproductive organs. The DNA change itself would be attempted via bone marrow transplant and multiple injections.”
“And you have done this on humans before, right? Did they turn out fertile?”
“It’s too early to tell but nobody died.”
“Fuck!”
“We are hoping for that,” Jeanine deadpans and I laugh out loud upon seeing Ronnie’s face. It is absolutely priceless. “Look, I know this is a big ask and I take some responsibility for not approaching anyone sooner. I inherited a mess here in Erudite and have been working ever since to restore faith into leadership and to assure our members that they are safe under my rule.”
I can feel myself freeze and Jeanine notices too.
“Norman, my predecessor, was someone obsessed with people he called Divergents. Anyone who showed more than one aptitude was a threat to society in his opinion and he tried to do some horrible things. I worked very hard to make sure everyone knows that this mindset is unacceptable and not welcome here.”
While she doesn’t say it, I know she is telling me that I have nothing to fear.
“Every faction has a dark chapter, just like mankind before we were left to our own devices,” Ronnie states. “I need something in writing to give to people, can you make it happen, Jeanine?”
“Of course, it will be waiting for you when you return to Dauntless,” she promises.
While Ronnie gets ready to leave, Jeanine looks like she wants to say something else.
“Jeanine, would you be able to give me a copy of your research leading up to this point,” I ask and she beams at me.
“Of course, I have some in my office. Would you like me to fetch one for you?”
“I’ll run over with you real quick,” I offer.
“Veronica, thanks for coming,” Jeanine states and shakes Ronnie’s hand in goodbye.
“Spill,” I demand as soon as the door closes behind us.
“I mean you no harm, Tris.”
“Yes, I heard that part. What else is there?”
“We believe there is a chance Divergents might be more adaptable and we are hoping they will bring better success rates to our experiment,” Jeanine admits, not beating around the bush.
I hiss but stay quiet as we walk down the corridor.
“That’s more than an uphill battle to get their trust,” I state harshly.
“I am more than aware of the rumours still circulating. We lost good people to other factions because of that.”
“I am not volunteering.”
“I didn’t expect you to.”
“Good.”
“Just a moment.” Jeanine heads to a cabinet and digs around, coming up with a stack of folders and hands me two. “I am sure there are more people who want to dig deeper. It’s only fair.”
“Thank you.”
For those wondering, I kind of envisioned the treatment to be an advanced version of Zolgensma.