[#T0ㅣApril 17, 2114ㅣAM 3:01ㅣD+0ㅣ🌃]
At the sound of an irritating alarm, I reflexively sat up and threw on a lab coat before I could even think. 3:00 AM. Outside the window, it was a time when shapes could only be vaguely discerned by the reflection of moonlight, let alone streetlights. Still, I figured I should consider myself lucky for getting even an hour of sleep.

The alarm currently ringing was for a birth—more precisely, the noise made when something, be it human or animal, emerges from an artificial womb. Who was the client this time? Ransacking my memory, I put on a mask, applied disinfectant to my hands, and pulled on latex gloves. My reflection, looking like a surgeon in an operating room about to save a life, was something I could never get used to. After a final air shower, I stepped inside and saw a living creature already emerging from the warm plastic pouch. As I mechanically lifted the child and cut the amniotic sac and umbilical cord, it looked no different from a normal newborn.

Crying: normal. Weight: 3.8kg, normal. Reflexes: normal... Heart rate: normal. Identity verification can be done via message later.

The moment I checked the client's information to verify the phone number, I felt as if I’d been struck in the back of the head with a hammer. Right. I brought this one to life just to observe it. Specifically, to check the cell differentiation process of a mutant embryo. But it was too late for regrets. The child was already born, and I hadn't even observed the embryo's growth process. If I were to discard it now and the police showed up after a report of infant homicide, I’d be the only one in trouble. In the end, there was only one crazy option left. Raising it myself. I'll just drop this parentless brat off at an orphanage once it hits toddlerhood. I'm just doing this crazy thing until then, Orca.

And so, the Killer Whale's solo parenting struggle began.