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“Jimmy, what can I do for you today?” Gary asked.
“Remember that favor you owe me? I’m calling it in,” Jim answered.
Gary’s face tightened. “Jim, you can’t just waltz in her and—”
Jim glared and growled, “I can and I am.”
Gary backed down. He may have been nearly twenty to Jim’s barely sixteen, but he knew better than to cross Jim. He’d done it before and Jim was pleased to say that it hadn’t ended well for Gary.
Jim knew that people had two perceptions of him. The first was a poor kid with a dead daddy and an alcoholic mommy and an abusive stepdaddy and trauma from Tarsus. The second was much more satisfying; the people who didn’t know his real name saw him as someone dangerous, someone who could do anything he wanted and was smart enough to get away with it.
Gary was one of a very few people who knew his real name but still believed he was too dangerous to pity.
“Fine. What do you need?”
“James Kendall needs medical records,” Jim answered. “Nothing elaborate, just enough to get me into a medical study for people who are at least eighteen.”
Gary looked ready to object, then nodded. “Anything important I should mention to Dylan?”
Jim handed him a list of allergies. “My body doesn’t get the memo that it’s no longer James Kirk. And I don’t particularly want to die.”
Gary nodded and held the list up. “But this squares us.”
Jim shrugged. “For now. Until there’s something else you need me to do for you.”
§§§
Jim flipped through the packet of information he’d been given.
Synthetic Uterine Implant (SUI)
The SUI will permit a partnership of two men to have children without the help of a surrogate. A Sperm-to-Egg Conversion System (STECS) will permit the patient to get pregnant without the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF), although IVF will remain an option. Although the SUI is primarily intended for same-sex couples, it also has potential for heterosexual couples who are otherwise unable to conceive or carry to term.
Jim threw the packet down onto the table. He didn’t really care. What was important was that this study was offering the largest monetary compensation for the time. He’d also get some free meals and showers out of the deal.
He moved on to filling out the form. Most of it he breezed through, filling out lies where he could, truths where he had to.
He stopped when he reached the question Please write your sexual orientation in the blank provided.
Jim hesitated. This was more of a ‘who is wanting the procedure’ question. Something as insignificant as that didn’t need to be lied about. So he quickly scrawled bisexual, slight preference for men and moved on to the next question.
§§§
Jim thought he should be a bit nervous about going into surgery, particularly because he had done so much lying on his medical records. But he wasn’t. If he died, there was no one around to miss him and at least he’d be out of this hellhole they called life. And if he didn’t die… well, he’d be several thousand credits better off for it.
The procedure was short, painless. There was a bit of discomfort, but when Jim asked, the surgeon replied that it was to be expected. Apparently even with the anesthetic he could still feel the slight adjustments they were making to the positions of his existing organs.
It wasn’t long before they pulled out the regenerator to patch him back up.
“Bed rest for the next twenty four hours,” the surgeon said as he helped Jim into a hoverchair. “Your doctor will determine how much physical activity is appropriate following that. All things considered though, your body adapted to the implant remarkably well. Congratulations.”
§§§
The next few weeks were a revolving door of clinic visits. Jim didn’t mind. Each visit was accompanied by a hot meal—sometimes two, if he timed it right.
The visits involved a lot of injections, fake embryos designed to cling to the uterine wall in the same way a real embryo would.
Jim couldn’t help but be pleased with himself when all but one of his embryos attached.
“I should warn you that no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t match the synthetic embryos exactly to real ones,” the doctor noted. “These lab generated ones still attach slightly better than natural ones.”
Jim shrugged. He didn’t plan on ever actually using the SUI, so it really didn’t matter.
The other, far more enjoyable part of the program was the freely provided porn. Really, how often did you get to jack off in exchange for money? But Jim did, so the lab geeks and the doctors could be sure the STECS was functioning properly.
At the end of the program, they provided all of the participants—well, those who hadn’t had the implant removed, at least—with a prescription for birth control, should they want it. Jim took it without hesitation. He didn’t want kids and he never would. He sure as hell never wanted to get pregnant.