Pablo became so busy he gathered committees of volunteers interested in the Library and relied on them to pass on only those requests that no one could discover through regular channels. One of the most popular early questions concerned the lack of procreation.
He found the answer, and once his duties were pared down to a reasonable level twenty years later, he was ready to make his own DNA contribution to the future of the race.
Pablo continued to reside in the modest room configuration based on his Papi's old apartment but did push out some walls to add a nursery playroom. The thought of the responsibility of raising a child frightened him, but he took comfort in the practical wisdom he had found in Papi's journals.
Papi was honest enough when he penned his thoughts to admit to the same feelings when he took over the job of raising his grandson. He had learned from each mistake and always made sure that his motivations were a combination of unquestionable love and firm guidance. Pablo hoped such a plan would allow his charge the best chance to grow into an independent adult.
In many ways, the procreation model imposed by the city's builders removed all the restrictions imposed on family make-up that was formerly dictated by Darwinian social needs. The majority of parents still chose to pair up to share both the burdens and joys, but more and more people experimented with group families of various numbers.
Even those with only two parents were evenly split between same and opposite-sex couples. No one knew how society would change in two or three generations, but Janice and her cohorts were thrilled by the opportunities provided, given their avocation.
~o0o~
"You know, Woogie, my parenting Learning Module doesn't mention any details about my son-to-be's own Personal Database Assistant. I assume he'll have one, at least eventually."
"He will share yours, that is to say, me until he is ready to take responsibility to be out and about on his own. This initial restriction will allow him to observe as you model interaction with the city systems.
He will also be allowed increasing privacy and the ability to countermand your wishes for him when he gains the privilege of his own PDA."
"Hopefully, by that point, I'll have done my job, at least to the best of my ability."
"He will also have more interaction with peers when they gain their own PDA's, which will shape his social growth."
"Okay, enough of that for now, before I change my mind. Let me take it all one step at a time."
Pablo stood in front of his Appliance and stared at the equivalent of the "continue" button. The city already had his DNA, taken from a shallow skin scrape he had not even felt. He pushed the button, and some unseen mechanism began the cloning process.
In six months, Pablo would find a perfect clone of his newborn-self delivered, postage paid. He had been too young when the world changed to entirely understand the significance of that phrase, but the older residents found the saying quite amusing, and it somehow became attached to the act of procreation. He quit his wool-gathering, another antique phrase whose origin was lost to him, and pressed the button.
~o0o~
The sociologist committee used Janice as a liaison between Pablo and his role as Librarian. She became his closest friend, although strictly on a platonic level. She was also something of a loner and was not yet, and perhaps never would be, ready for a cloned child of her own, so she volunteered to help out with Pablo junior.
They both informed their PDA's of Janice's desire to move her rooms so they might share a doorway between their two living spaces, and ten minutes later, they were both in the nursery when a doorway slid open against an outer wall that led to her personal space. They remained doorway neighbors for the rest of junior's childhood.
Pablo half expected the Appliance to deliver the baby through one of its delivery access drawers. When the time came, Woogie led him to a room that contained hundreds of pre-born children hanging in see-through pliable sacks that depended from the ceiling. Woogie led him to a particular fetus and pointed before stepping out of the way.
Pablo scrutinized the tiny figure through the amniotic fluid while he tried to recognize his own features. The baby's eyes were closed, and the face was wrinkled in a frown, so the only feature that was remotely familiar was the color of the black tuft of hair.
Woogie informed Pablo that it was time to decant and directed him to cradle the encased baby within a nearby towel. The fluid drained up a tube to disappear into the ceiling, and the emptied sack deteriorated into a powder that left Pablo holding the new-born child.
The small eyes suddenly opened as the umbilical cord fell off. Junior took his first breath and announced his presence to the world. Woogie had told Pablo to expect this, but even so, he almost dropped the raging bundle in surprise.
Pablo instinctively rocked and cooed to try and calm the infant and finally found success when his little finger played impromptu pacifier as it touched the perfect miniature lips. The liquid-brown eyes opened, and Pablo finally recognized his own younger image as his son looked up with trust and dependence as they bonded as profoundly as any parent and child might.
~o0o~
The city-systems did not place any restrictions on the number of clones anyone could order, and a few megalomaniacs and narcissists took full advantage and created entire communities of their mini-selves. Most people took practicalities under consideration and moderated their instinct for progeny to reasonable quantities.
Pablo followed his own upbringing and raised one offspring at a time. Each child followed in his progenitor's footsteps and became full-fledged Librarians in their own right, which was sorely needed as the population increased exponentially.
Pablo created a new clone once every twenty years, which gave the previous incarnation plenty of time to develop their own social life and personality. He fell into a gentle repeating routine that filled his seeming deathless existence with purpose. Even his relationships with his clones fell into a comfortable pattern.
They always maintained frequent contact for the first decade or two, but after producing a few clones of their own, that contact faltered until he did not hear from the older ones except for the reunion in his honor once every hundred years. He was pleased that they each grew into the Librarians of their own communities over time, as there were not enough hours in a day to interact with each child anyway.
~o0o~
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