The first zygotes were finally ready. They were but a few of the hundreds that had been put in the nutritive bath a few hours earlier and allowed to grow freely. The others had grown feebly, but these grew strongly and soon started dividing to form clusters of cells called blastulas. The Master was pleased; this was a critical step. These zygotes were strong and if left undisturbed would quickly develop into the first members of the new race.
Instead each healthy blastula was plucked in turn from the solution, gently ripped apart into its individual cells, and put into a regenerating solution. Many of the cells perished from the shock but most survived and became new zygotes. These were put back in the nutritive solutions to grow again. Some of these were ripped apart again, others were moved to embryo development tanks and allowed to mature. Thus was the Master’s helping race conceived.
The process imitated nature but was not constrained by it. In nature the bipedal anthropoids that this race was based upon could only carry their young for about nine months before the skull became too large to pass through the birth canal. In the development tanks there was no such limit; the embryos developed in vitro for twelve months or more, letting the nervous and immune systems develop to levels unattainable by the natural species.
Even after removal from the developing tanks the young developed quite slowly. They would learn to toddle in three to six years but the supporting robots would not wean them from their baby food for six or seven. Puberty was rarely reached. Physically the race seemed destined to remain perpetually childlike.
But in return for such slow development and comparatively undeveloped little bodies, the creatures gained certain blessings that made them ideally suited for the Master’s work. Their highly developed immune system made them practically disease-free; their childlike bodies could heal any wound or bone break that didn’t kill them on the spot; given time even nerves could heal and rebuild. Moreover, their brains and nervous systems never grew old—they could learn as long as they lived.
The Master had used his clay to create a race of immortals.
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As they drove back Mary and Tarna debated whether or not they should let Ned buy them off that way. They finally decided they should, at least to the extent of introducing their father to Ned and letting him make up his mind from there.
When they drove in they were surprised to find their father waiting in the living room.
“Don’t you girls listen to the weather?” he replied when they asked him why he was home so early in the week. “This storm is forecast to be bad and last three days. There was no point in waiting it out at the site so we buttoned it up and came back for a long weekend.
“And maybe next time you’ll keep that in mind before you borrow the car for a night of gallivanting around,” he gently kidded them. He reached up to tickle Tarna in mock anger as he continued, “Dr. Jones’s wife had to drive almost two whole blocks out of her way to take me home because of you.” He settled into his chair again.
“Tell me about the rally. Mom tells me that’s where you spent the evening.”
The girls told their father about the rally and Ned and the wonderful things he was trying to do to protect the environment. After a five minute build-up they popped him the question about coming to meet Ned. Professor Threshmore thought again about the rotten weather forecast and agreed to meet with him in the afternoon the next day.