Spider Moon national Laboratory...
Ellen watched the tank with a mix of fascinations. The sample they'd given Etienne wasn't the only one they took. Elizabeth's damaged ovary contained more viable ova than just what was given to the University after a long period of argument with the Duchess.
The major difference, was that Ellen had the assistance of Natalie. This was part of the payment, a partial payment-a means of producing new Humaniform bodies for Cylons, and the Centurions insisted on patterning off the Duchess.
While Ellen had been systematically blocked from the Eugenics program in Clan service, her contributions mostly done at the basic sequencing levels that were the scutwork of the business, she had her own theories, and with the material gleaned from Etienne's publication of Clan methodologies, she even had the tools now.
She also had bits and pieces 'repurposed' from Etienne's project.
"They're viable." she said, looking up at her Cylon colleague.
"How long will it take?"
"To get full adults? oh...fifteen to twenty years."
"That's...very long. The Five did it in much less time."
"it's the limits of what we have, and what we know, Natalie." Ellen said, "There are ways to speed it up, but you wanted the ability to evolve, not just exist, you even specified the ability to breed with humans." she tapped the console, "This is what you get, following the B pattern from Etienne's work, plus the hints you've given me so far. fifteen to twenty years from now, you have Cylons that not only pass as human, but can interbreed with them freely, or with other, older models like...well, the twos, or for the boys, you."
"What will they be like?"
"No way to tell. Who you are is a product of how you're raised." Ellen said, "they'll be remarkably resistant to disease, I can tell you that their potential strength and endurance will be at or above peak human norms, they're going to have great reflexes, especially the ones cooked from a mix of Ngo and Roshak. DNA...but what they'll be like as people?" she shrugged. "Not a clue."
"How much Cylon will they be, physically?" Natalie asked.
"About fifty percent, trimming the defective genes from the Ngo samples left a lot of gaps, I filled those with Cylon strands and structures, some of the sub-mitochondrials that show viability, and then patched that to Roshak coding. Came out to forty-six and two for the pairings, which is really close to what's swimming around inside your cells. the ova fertilized on time, embryonic development rates are bang-on normal." she said it lightly, then scrawled on a sheet of paper, "It's a Girl!" and "It's a Boy!"
"Children.."
"Well, that's what we're aiming for, isn't it?" Ellen asked, "Children, healthy, presumably will-be-happy kids. I'll tell ya, I love this kind of work. I gave up my ability to have them the normal way years ago... it's like being a mommy twelve times over."
"How did you lose it?" Natalie asked, drifting around past the former Clan Scientist's back.
"Longevity treatments, without those, I'd have died of old age twenty years ago, but there was a cost for them-I lost the ability to bear children because there are some things stem cell treatments don't fix, running dry is one of them. I didn't have kids when I could have. Too busy...oh I think this one's going to be a cutie!"
"how old are you, Doctor Ellen?"
"Clan records say forty, but I've passed that almost five times. eventually I will get bored and stop the clock, or stop being able to learn new things...Vaun would love this guy..." she looked up from the scanner, and turned to Natalie, "Or, you could pull that trigger and finish me off, but if you do, well...can't develop your fast-growth techniques, now can I?"
