In the Sixth circle, loud, deep booms ran through the narrow corridors, and into the colorful rooms, shaking each woman inside awake. Some dreaded the day to come and wished for death to end their monotonous lives. Others dedicated their brief moment of calm to praying to whatever being or god they believed in to bless them with a visit from the Stork, and as a result, freedom from this dreary life. 

Thundering footsteps echoed down the halls, breaking each woman and girl from her thoughts. The Guards were here, and now, their fleeting moment of peace was gone. The women who had remained unlucky for months were silent and docile, resigned to their fate. The new, young, viral girls fought tooth and nail, trying their mightiest to break free from the ironclad arms of the Guards who escorted them room to room.

There was a new shipment of girls that morning, the most recent graduating class from Circle Seven Layer One (C7L1), who had all gotten their period and were now of use to the Spire. Their ages ranged from eight to sixteen, the younger girls clinging to the older ones for protection and safety, a futile action as any innocence and safety would be ripped away from them by the end of the day.

The day would be spent in observation rooms, surrounded by Obstetricians, or in lab rooms, getting tests done and vial after vial sent into their arms, legs, stomachs, each a different part of the process to bless them with a child. The new girls would have every inch, inside and out, examined, making absolutely sure their bodies and most importantly, their wombs, were ready for a child. 

The women and girls who were at, or about to be in the ovulation stage would be taken to private rooms where the insemination process would begin. Forced impregnation was a thing of the distant past, now it was all very artificial and sterile. Each woman and girl would be routinely injected with hormones to promote egg production, and those who were ready would have their eggs removed to be artificially inseminated in a petri dish. If the insemination was a success, the fertilized eggs would be returned to the woman’s womb, and she would be taken to a special holding room to be guarded. The Guards in these rooms were not there to protect her, they were there to protect the child growing inside her, and to prevent her from aborting it. They would stop at nothing to preserve the child, even murdering the original mother. After all, many mothers within the C7L1 area were still young, fertile, and available to grow and care for another child.

The sperm used in these inseminations were specifically chosen from a bank made up of the highest quality seed, donated by the Lords, Head Researchers, and even some lucky Scientists. As a result of having very limited donors, many children were distantly, or not-so-distantly, related. Thankfully, for the health and prosperity of the Spire, Obstetricians and Researchers had found ways around any resulting issues in the children, and could deal with these issues quickly and painlessly for the child involved.

The women who failed every single test, rejected every single product, and whose eggs were no longer fertile were escorted by a fleet of Guards to the nearest elevator instead of to the lab rooms. From the elevator, they would be moved up to a holding area within the operating rooms. They would be held there until any useful parts they had were needed, guarded all the while.