“Bad news, sir.”
“What is it?”
“You recall that promising zygote we were going to check on?”
“Oh yes, the one that was a son of someone with a strong family history of athleticism? 1006-288-A? His maternal grandmother was an Olympian and his paternal grandfather was a minor-league player.”
“Well, we had been concerned that the father was unknown but preliminary testing had indicated that it was from someone with a strong lineage as well, perhaps even a current or former player or the son of one.”
“So the bad news is that the sire isn’t as promising as we thought?”
“Oh no. As far as we can tell, they are every bit as promising. When this child is born, they will have the perfect makings of a star player assuming that they have the mental aptitude and proper training.”
“Wonderful news, then, not bad! We’ll arrange for the mother to be approached about placing her son in the player-training creche alongside the candidates from the rest of our supervisory project and the kids from The Farm.”
“Well, the final tests also show a genetic predisposition to Finona-Marante Syndrome.”
“Oh! Well that is bad news, and a shame. So if they did become a player, they would only have a useful lifespan of a few years before the stress of Finona-Marante Syndrome would force them to retire.”
“So it’s not worth our investment, sadly.”
“Sadly not. Keep an eye on the boy after he’s born just in case he shows aptitude as a coach. Assuming, that is, he’s born at all after the Athletic Foundation withdraws its offer.”
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