By 5PM she was pronounced healthy enough to breed again (though she should cut down on salty foods), and she was released from the clinic to return to her room. Her inbox blinked with three new messages, just as she'd hoped. Within a minute of reading them all she realized that she should have sent them one by one in order of preference, so as not to disappoint the two men she couldn't pick, but it was too late to change things now. She had her man: Paulo, the kindergarten teacher. Paulo had been her favorite from the moment she'd met him. He'd been eating in the cafeteria on the children's level, and it was by chance that she bumped into him. There were few adults on that level, what with it housing nothing but the school houses, and she'd only stopped for a quick bite to eat after a long climb back from the food processing factories. Paulo had been the only person taller than four feet in the cafeteria, and he easily stood out from the crowd.
