Book I Chapters 1 and 2 Summary

Claire is fourteen years old. She feels as they put the blindfold on her so she cannot see the baby she gives birth to as Claire goes into labor. Claire was chosen as a Vessel when she was twelve. This means that she is inseminated and is the birth mother of children. Claire thinks about how when she was chosen that she was fed a special diet and moved into a special dormitory for Vessels.

Additionally, Claire recalls a forbidden conversation she had with some of the other Vessels about what it's like to give birth. When the matron overhears the conversation, she warns them on the loudspeaker to watch what they talk about.

Claire is in a lot of pain. She can hear the medical staff talking. She feels something is wrong but she doesn't know...