Parallel Lives Pt. 01

"Well done, Mr, Stephens," Alice commented as she examined the freshly ejaculated contents of the pot. "That's a nice, healthy looking sample."

The machine came to a gradual halt as Rupert's climax faded. Once it had come to a complete stop Alice disconnected the sealed sample bottle from the rest of the catheter assembly and placed it on the table ready to be taken up to the laboratory on the top floor of the building. She then instructed Rupert to withdraw himself from the machine, taking the tube of the catheter that still dwelled within his penis with it.

"Right, one down, two to go," Alice announced as she temporarily sealed the end of the catheter that dangled from his penis with a small rubber bung. "You can put your pants back on now and go and rest for a while in the lounge before the next collection. Have a drink of water, sit and read for a while and I'll come and get you in an hour or so. But on no account are you to urinate, okay?"

"Yes, er, thanks, um..."

"Alice," she reminded him.

"Yes, thanks, Alice."

"You're very welcome, Mr. Stevens," she chuckled as she wrote his details on the sample pot's label.

Freed from the machine but with the catheter still dangling free from his now flaccid penis, Rupert retrieved his underpants and slipped them on, leaving the free end of the catheter poking out from the top. He made his way out of the room and along the corridor to where he knew the lounge area reserved for men undergoing their semen evaluations was located. John and Kevin were already there, both as himself in only their underwear and with catheters poking out of them. Once more in the company of the attractive Kevin, Rupert felt his ardour rising. With so few adult men in the world, gay men like Rupert were scarce - if it weren't for "Rainbow", a global LGBT social network, finding a partner, or even just a casual hookup, would be almost an impossibility. If he was straight, like he was certain young Kevin was, he would be able to have sex whenever he wanted. There was no shortage of sex-hungry women out there, and all he'd have to do would be to click his fingers and he'd be surrounded with eager ladies all keen to get into his pants and fuck him senseless. But as a gay man, life could be rather lonely.

"Managed to get hard this time?" he asked John in an attempt to divert his attention away from the obviously as straight as an arrowKevin as he sat in one of the faux leather armchairs.

"Yes, thank goodness," the older man replied, clearly grateful to have avoided the dreaded serum injection and the prolonged tumescence it resulted in.

"I don't expect it ever gets easier, does it?" Kevin asked his more experienced elders. "That machine, it's just... oh, God it's like... horrible and pleasurable at the same time."

"I'm afraid it doesn't get any easier," Rupert said with a sigh. "All these years since my first time it still feels exactly the same - I just fucking hate it!"

"Don't we all," John huffed As he looked down at the catheter that protruded from his bright yellow boxer briefs. "But it's just something you're gonna have to get used to, m'laddo."

"With so few adult men, and with even fewer fertile ones, we have to make sacrifices," Rupert said with a sigh. "It's our lot in life - we're fortunate to survive to adulthood, but the price we have to pay is that we have to go through this rigmarole every six months."

That last statement of Rupert's caused the three men in the lounge to reflect upon their lot in life, and of the plight of men in general.

Due to the ravages of Anderson-Swift's Disease, male humans were technically classed as "endangered" and it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that without the efforts of the IMRHC to take positive action in establishing a formal breeding program, the male population would become extinct entirely, eventually taking the female population with it once the global sperm banks had run dry, thus causing the extinction of the entire human race.

"Did either of you have any brothers that didn't make it?" Kevin asked them both.

"I had a twin," John said with a sigh. "He died just short of his tenth birthday."

"I never had a brother," Rupert added. "Just an older sister. So of course you can imagine what my childhood was like - if my mother could literally have wrapped me up in cotton wool she would've done. And I was spoiled rotten too, which made my sister intensely jealous of me. But on the flipside, she was allowed much more freedom than me - I wasn't allowed to play outside with friends, not that I had many in the first place, I wasn't allowed any of the tasty sweets and treats she let my sister have, she literally never let me out of her sight until she was certain that I'd survived long enough to outgrow the threat of dying from Swift's."

"Sounds almost exactly the same as my childhood," Kevin said a little sourly. "Once my older brother died my mother treated me like some kind of precious artefact, never to be let out of her sight or to come to any kind of harm whatsoever."

Their conversation about life as men in a world in which they were greatly outnumbered by the opposite sex went on for some time, until John, and Kevin shortly afterwards, were called by their assigned Evaluation Technicians for their second of the three semen collections they were being subjected to that day. And shortly afterwards, Rupert was called by Alice for his second visit of the day to the "Ol' Suck-o-matic".

* * * * * * *

Several hours later and still clothed in only his underwear, but fortunately with the catheter at last removed, which had been as unpleasant being pulled out of his penis as it was when it had been inserted into him, Rupert sat nervously opposite the office of the Evaluation Centre's manager where he would be informed of the results of his semen evaluation. Already both John and Kevin had been and gone before him, presumably back to their everyday lives if it was confirmed that they were both still infertile of course.

"Mr. Stephens?" the manager asked as she opened the door to her office.

With a sigh, Rupert stood and followed her in - the moment of truth had arrived.

"Please take a seat," she instructed him.

Rupert followed her instruction and sat on the chair, wincing momentarily as his bare skin made contact with the cold hard plastic of the back of the chair. Is it too much to ask for at least a nicer seat to sit on? Rupert thought as he sat down. She spent a few moments tapping on her computer, calling up the results of all the tests he'd been put through that day.

"Well, the good news is that you're as fit and healthy as you were the last time you were here six months ago," she continued after a few moments. "You clearly take very good care of yourself, Mr. Stephens, so keep up the good work."

"Thanks, Ma'am," Rupert responded.

"The even better news however, is that all three of your semen samples tested positive," she went on with a smile. "Congratulations, Mr. Stephens, you're currently fertile!"

All the blood instantly rushed from Rupert's face.

"I... I'm not... I'm not infertile?" he stammered in disbelief.

"Not at the moment," the manager confirmed. "As you know, Anderson-Swift's Disease is a troublesome virus and sometimes it causes adult men to temporarily start producing viable sperm once again. This window of fertility rarely lasts longer than a year however before the disease renders you infertile once more."

Rupert simply sat there, nearly naked and utterly dumbfounded by what he was hearing. No, it can't be! He thought to himself, feeling panic rising within him. I can't be fertile! I can't spend the next year locked away in a Fertility Centre! What about my career? I'll lose my job for sure!

"So, as I'm sure you're aware, this means that you now officially become automatically enrolled into the Global Repopulation Program," the manager went on. "Which means you are to be taken to the nearest Fertility Centre for the statutory minimum period of twelve months.

"During your time at the Fertility Centre you will be required to engage in regular sexual intercourse with women who have volunteered to be a part of the program, and you will also have your semen collected daily to be taken and stored in the Global Sperm Bank's European facility in Switzerland.

"Once your twelve months is up you will undergo another formal semen evaluation - if your semen is still of the required viability you shall be retained for a further six months minimum and you will remain at the Fertility Centre until your fertility eventually declines. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes, Ma'am," Rupert stuttered. "But... what about me? I have a job... I have friends... I... I have a life."

"We all have to make sacrifices in order to keep the human race alive, Mr. Stephens," the manager said, having clearly heard it all before. "Your employer will be compensated for twelve months, as will your landlady. You will also be receiving a compensatory grant to make up for lost earnings once you are released. As for friends and any family you have, they will be permitted to visit you at the Fertility Centre.

"Look, Mr. Stephens, for whatever reason the virus in your system has temporarily weakened, giving you the precious gift of fertility, it must be exploited for however long it lasts. There is nothing you can do about this, you will be taken to the Fertility Centre, and you will spend at least the next twelve months in service there as a donor. If it's of any consolation, you won't be going there on your own."

"How do you mean?" Rupert asked her.

"You're not the only man to have produced three viable samples today," the manager continued.

Taken To Parkhurst

Rupert, still reeling from the news that he'd tested positive for viable sperm and therefore automatically conscripted into the Global Repopulation Program, was permitted to return to the changing room where, under Alice's watchful eyes, he was allowed to put his clothes back on before being taken down into the basement holding area where he was to remain until a van arrived to take him to the nearest regional Fertility Centre.

"You ought to be pleased," Alice said brightly as she watched him dress. "Just think of all the sex you'll be having."

"Oh yeah," Rupert huffed derisively as he buttoned his shirt. "Sex with women - I'm sure it'll be fun, fun, fun all the way for a gay guy like me."

Rupert glared at her as he picked up his trousers. Clearly, it appeared as though trying to be jovial with him wouldn't work, so Alice went back to being officious rather than friendly.

"Sorry, I forgot you mentioned that you're gay," she said apologetically.

Rupert simply huffed and continued getting dressed. Alice meanwhile just stood and watched him.

"Got everything you came in with?" she asked him once he'd finished dressing.

"Yes," Rupert sighed.

"Good, follow me."

Alice beckoned him to follow her down a flight of stairs into the building's basement.

"You're to wait here in the holding room for the time being," she told him over her shoulder as they descended. "You'll be allowed to make a few phone calls, to your mother and your boss and your landlady or whatever, to explain that you've been tested positive for viable sperm and are being taken to the Parkhurst Fertility Centre on the Isle of Wight. You don't need to worry about arranging for compensation for your employer or your landlady - the Repopulation Program will take care of all that. Look, just try to see the positive in this, okay? You're fertile right now - only a few men will ever get the chance that you've been given to help keep humanity alive."

Rupert declined to answer.

Alice unlocked the door into the holding room and ushered him in. There, much to his surprise, he found Kevin looking dazed and utterly befuddled in one of the hard plastic chairs.

"Roo?" he exclaimed as he looked up. "Is that you?"

"I look a lot different with my clothes on, huh?" Rupert replied dryly. "So, they found out you're firing live rounds too, eh? It came as a shock to me, I can tell you!"

"There is a van on its way to collect you both," Alice said as she prepared to leave them. "But it won't be here until tomorrow morning, I'm afraid. I suggest you both get some rest in the meantime."

She closed and locked the door as she left, leaving Rupert alone in the windowless room with only Kevin for company. It was austerely furnished, with only a few plastic armchairs and a low wooden coffee table. Through a door was located a small toilet room with washbasin, and fixed into the far wall of the room was a TV screen. The only illumination came from a single overhead fluorescent strip light that emitted a slight continuous buzzing sound.

"I can't believe this is happening to me," Kevin said, clearly panicking a little.

Rupert, though he shared his younger companion's anxiety, decided that as the older of the two of them he ought to try to keep Kevin's spirits up as best he could and to take on a sort of older brother role.

"You and me both, Kev," he said as he sat down opposite the attractive nineteen year old. "But whether we like it or not, we're going to have to get used to it."

"I... I don't want to go!" Kevin said, his voice trembling a little. "I... you see, I'm..." The younger man sighed deeply. "I'm a virgin," he said eventually. "Mum wanted to sell my virginity to one of her friends, but I refused - I wanted to find a girlfriend to share my first time with, rather than some older woman. Now I'm going to have some random woman taking my virginity whether I want it or not."

"Well, at least that's something you and I have in common," Rupert replied.

"You?" Kevin responded in mild disbelief. "You're a virgin too?"

"Well, with women at least," Rupert conceded as he sat in one of the chairs. "I've had sex with a few guys - well, quite a lot of guys actually - but I've never done it with a woman before. And I'm not exactly relishing the prospect of being made to do it."

"So... you're gay then?"

"I knew from the very first time I showered with the other boys in my class after PE that I was gay," Rupert explained. "Of course I tried experimenting with straight porn to see if the sight of naked women did anything for me, but it just didn't make me feel anything at all. Now, pictures of naked twinks on the other hand..."

"Twinks?"

"Yeah, they're... er... well, they're young guys, a bit like yourself really," Rupert explained the gay community's term for young barely-legal boys in porn. "I was a twink myself once, believe it or not."

"You?" Kevin queried in disbelief.

"Yeah, I was," Rupert replied. "It's not something I'm proud of, but I did a few photo shoots when I was your age. I was a young gay guy finally free from my mother's overprotective ways and I... well, I embraced my new found freedom. I went to university and got involved in the LGBT students association there, met a guy who ran a website that hosted twink porn, and he convinced me to throw caution to the wind and go for it."

"So, did you...?"

"Pose nude?" Rupert anticipated the rest of his younger companion's question. "Yes, I did. And a lot more besides."

"You mean, you...?"

"There are videos, somewhere out there in the online ether, of me masturbating and being fucked by older guys," Rupert confessed. "It was fun at the time - the sex was fantastic and it all helped to pay for my studies at uni, but like I said, it's not something I'm particularly proud of."

"Holy shit," Kevin gasped.

"I was a "bottom" most of the the time," Rupert went on. "But sometimes I was asked to "top" another twink. I preferred being fucked rather than being the one doing the fucking though."

"Does... does your mother know? That you're gay? Or about what you did?"

"Oh, she knows I'm gay alright - I came out to her when I was thirteen - but about my porn career, holy fuck, no!" Rupert guffawed. "She'd literally have killed me if she found out! Ironic really, given her efforts to keep me safe when I was growing up."

"But aren't you afraid she'll find your photos one day? Or stumble upon one of the videos online?"

"Unless she suddenly starts taking an interest in young barely-legal naked guys being fucked by other older hairier guys, then definitely not!" Rupert chuckled. "That whole world is totally alien to her, thank goodness!"

"Then your employer then?"

"Ah, well my boss Lynda knows," Rupert replied honestly. "On my first day working for her I decided to come out with it, and I told her all about the things I'd done to get by through university. I pretty much expected her to fire me on the spot, but she surprised me."

"She let you stay?"

"She said that though she disapproved of my two year career as a twink porn star, she understood why I had been drawn into it. She also said that I deserved a second chance in life, as long as I put my past well and truly behind me - which I have. Like all too many women she had a son who died from Swift's - he was only twelve when he succumbed to it - and she told me that I reminded her of him and that she wanted to give me the chance to make it in life that her son never lived long enough to have."

"Why did you do it?" Kevin asked him. "What made you tell her about your days as a gay porn actor?"

"Well, I guess it's pretty simple really - I didn't want her to find out about it from someone else," Rupert answered honestly. "Being outed like that would have been far worse - it makes me shudder just thinking about how humiliating that would have been."

"Even more humiliating than going through all this?" Kevin asked, waving his hand in a gesture to draw attention to their current surroundings and the semen evaluation they'd both been subjected to, and to whatever new humiliations lay ahead of them over the next twelve months in the Fertility Centre.

"Maybe," Rupert replied.

Just then, the door was unlocked and a woman entered, pushing a trolley into the room.

"Looks like supper's arrived," Rupert remarked.

"At least neither of us will have to cook for ourselves during the next year," Kevin said as he eyed the viands on the trolley.

"Got to look on the bright side, huh?" Rupert added drily. "At least I won't have to pay for a holiday this year."

"I hope you both like pizza," the woman said as she exited the room.

"Love it," Rupert answered.

"Me too," Kevin added.

"Good, then I suggest you make sure you enjoy it - once you'll be at the Fertility Centre it'll be healthy salads and low-fat food every day!" the woman chuckled as she exited, locking the door behind her.

* * * * * *

The next morning they were roused abruptly by the light above them flickering on, filling the room with harsh brightness that almost burned into their bleary eyes. The woman who'd served them their evening meal had returned, this time with breakfast.

"Rise and shine, boys," she announced cheerily as she entered. "Breakfast is served - the van will be here to pick you up in half an hour."

No sooner had she entered with the trolley, she left the room and locked them in once more. Rupert groaned at being so abruptly roused - it reminded him of a documentary series about life for raw recruits in the military that he'd once seen. They'd tried sleeping by pushing the plastic chairs together to form a couple of improvised beds, but it soon became apparent to them that they were far too uncomfortable, and in the small hours they'd resorted to sleeping on the floor instead.

"Ugh! Muesli!" Kevin recoiled as he saw what was on offer on the trolley. "Bloody rabbit food!"

"Well, like it or not we're going to have to be good bunnies and eat whatever we're given," Rupert yawned, his whole body aching from a night on the hard floor.