Sex Culture in the 23rd Century Ch. 02

"Yes," said Manu. "From what little I saw of your buildings from the air, they look incredible. I would love to design one of them some day."

"Why wait for some day? You can start right now," said Maoina.

"I can?" said Manu. "But I've never been trained as an architect. I certainly don't knauw about your standards of building."

Maoina waved a hand dismissively. "We don't concern ourselves with standards here, only the expression of intrinsic humanism." She gave him a bright smile. "I'll tell you what. I'm going to assign you to Happy Prime Ethnic Architecture Institute. We have a subworkgroup there composed of vertically challenged Africans, genial Pacific Islanders, and bisexual Japanese I think you'll fit in quite well with."

"Thank yew, thank yew," said Manu gratefully. And then, with an afterthought, "You're not going to suggest I date othar wimen, will yew?"

Maoina laughed. "No, of course not. I can see how much in love with Miss Rowenka you are." After reassuring Manu, Maoina turned to the last visitor she had yet to speak to.

"And that leaves Miss Rowenka. Or do you prefer Miss Jovanka, or Mrs. Enterami?"

"Rowenka will be fine, your..."

"Just call me Maoina," said Bin Laden. "Miss Rowenka, you grew up in Oundjo, New Caledonia, with your parents. You are an only child. You are 19 years of age, are 93% Pacific Islander, Variant Four, 5% ethnic Han Chinese (Sichuan Variety Two), and the other two percent is truly global. You too are in excellent health, and you would make fine breeding stock, with wide hips, good ovaries, and, if the test results are accurate, a truly resilient birth canal." Maoina smiled appraisingly at Rowenka, as if she were admiring her potential for reproduction.

"Thank you... I guess?" said Rowenka, suddenly blushing.

"Yes, Mr. Enterami could help you bear fine children," said Maoina. And then, as an afterthought, "Or any other man, for that matter."

"There won't be any othar man," said Rowenka, grasping Manu's hand tightly.

"Of course! As a trained psycho-geneticist, I was merely using a figure of speech. Yes, you are well suited to have children. The charts suggest you are well optimized to have one child, or perhaps even two."

"Thank you, I think," said Rowenka.

"Children will come, undoubtedly, after you have fulfilled one or two minor Community obligations, of course," Maoina said, rather quickly. Too quickly. Maoina checked her screen again. "Now, let's see here. You were in the process of getting a degree in basic science at a place called Felp Tieta, and your goal is to become a scientist, something you realize, quite rationally, is impossible to do on New Caledonia."

"That's true, your- Maoina."

"Now Miss Rowenka, we do have some professional opportunities I think will excite you. You could go right to work in our science division."

"Right to work?" Rowenka looked confused. "I expected I would have to go to school, for some years, to catch up to your obviously advanced level of technology."

Maoina gave a short laugh, shaking her head. "No, no, Miss Rowenka. We have gone beyond all that. We believe in learning by doing. Your records indicate that you are quite bright and can pick things up easily."

"So, I can work in mechanical or electrical engineering?" Rowenka asked incredulously.

A cloud passed over Maoina's face. "No, we don't have much need for that. I'll tell you what, though, we have an opening in our Earth Sciences division that I think you would be perfect for."

"Earth sciences?"

"Aren't you even a little interested to find out the mysteries of the Earth? Where storms come from? Why the weather changes? Why sea levels rise and fall?"

"Yes, that sounds interesting," said Rowenka. She had never considered such things.

"Good, we'll put you right to work, then."

Maoina pressed a button on her desk and spoke, "Send her in."

A shapely blonde woman in her early 40's entered the room.

Maoina introduced her. "This is Janet Taco Bell. She is to be your... guide. Yes, that's a word for it, that's as good as any." Obviously she was also something else, something too complicated for them to understand.

"Hello everyone!" said the woman, with a bright smile. "Hi, how are you? I'm fine!" She was about the same age as Maoina, but looked even prettier, with straight hair, a cute button nose, and perky breasts, in excellent shape, for her age.

"Janet will show you to your assigned quarters and mess hall," said Maoina. "We have a number of rules here, and I realize it can be overwhelming. But we have programmed your user profiles with a certain elasticity, so the rules will gradually take effect over a period of time, to make your assimilation easier."

They all murmured their thanks.

"Before you go, do you have any questions?"

Fredrik spoke up. "Is this... San Francisco?"

Maoina gave him an odd look. "In a matter of speaking. It was formerly called that. When the revolution in social consciousness came, it was decided that the old names, based frequently on conquerors or absurd notions of royalty, was no longer appropriate, and instead names representing advanced societal self-actualization were selected. What was known as New York City became MakePeace, Los Angeles became PassionHug, and Miami became ScissorLove. And yes, here the city of San Francisco became OrgyFree. I think you'll enjoy it here."

"I think we will too," said Manu.

They said their goodbyes, and let Janet Taco Bell escort them out of the room.

When they were gone, Maoina's smile faded like a rapidly dropping curtain.

She turned to her assistant, Madison Alibaba. "Have you gone over their profiles?"

"Yes, Controller," said Madison.

"And what would you recommend?" Maoina asked. She fully knew what she intended, of course. This was just her way of testing Madison.

"The male Fredrik has high obstinacy ratings."

"Not so high that we can't handle them," said Maoina. "But indications are that if we permitted him to reproduce, there is a 72% chance he could pass on that obstinacy to his offspring. That's not something we need in the gene pool. We need to discourage that."

"We could set him up in the Senior Female Executives Rewards Program," Madison suggested.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," said Maoina. "All we will need is the proper psychological engineering to redirect his attraction to women with more mature bodies. From looking at his psychographics, I think that's very achievable."

"His first selection will have to be a very attractive, worldly woman with a very sophisticated manner who can manage his conversion properly," said Madison.

"Do you have someone in mind?"

Madison pressed a button, and a profile appeared on the screen.

"Madeline Toxophilia? Oh yes, she'll do quite nicely. And she has over forty thousand accumulated virtue points. Very impressive! She deserves a younger man to please her," said Maoina. "Very good. And what of the female, Laura Ngo?"

"Reproduction is not ideal for her either, but for different reasons. She is only five feet and zero inches in height, which is suboptimal by two inches. Genetic testing of her eggs indicate she is highly likely to produce offspring of similar height."

"I saw that as well. Recommendation?"

"If we pair her with another man, the same problem may result. But if we turned her to women, she could lead a quite satisfied life, while satisfying a socially powerful constituency of the Community," said Madison.

Maoina considered that proposal. "I like that line of thought. Yes, let's try that. At the moment we have a four percent sexual deficit imbalance of lesbians in the Community, so Ms. Ngo could help fill the gap quite nicely." Maoina sighed. "We always have more heterosexual women than we need. I always tell the Central Genetics Planning Commission that, and they always produce too many heterosexuals in the next generation. But do they listen to me? No. We have women programmed to please men, women programmed to please unicorns, but we can't produce enough women to please women. Frankly, if I achieve a little more seniority in the Central Genetics Commission's Policy Planning Directorate, I plan to put a few reforms into effect."

"I'm sure you'll handle executive decision making with admirable grace and skill," said Madison.

"Thank you," said Maoina, noting and appreciating the touch of sycophancy. "But now back to Ms. Ngo. Let me look for a moment at her examination scores." Maoina studied them for a moment. Then she said, "Laura has encouraging malleability scores, but given her unprocessed background and her rather strong preference for men, specifically Mr. Diem, I think her first female will have to be someone rather... persuasive," said Maoina.

"I anticipated your request," said Madison. She pulled up a profile

"Mary Elizabeth Coca Cola. Ooooooh. I know her." And Maoina said the word softly, with raised eyebrows. "She's highly skilled. And she's had a very successful record in conversion therapy," said Maoina.

Madison said, "Anticipating your... approval, I've taken the liberty of creating a cover identity for Ms. Coca Cola in the Global Consciousness Women's Painting Collective. Everyone will say that she's been in the Collective for the past two years. If I put the script in their SleepTalk by tomorrow, they'll even believe it."

"Of course," said Maoina. "But can she paint?"

"Does it matter?" Madison asked.

Maoina laughed. "Probably not. All right. And what of the male, Manu Enterami, and the female, Rowenka Javanka?"

"The female is quite suitable for reproduction. She has the fresh genetic heritage that justifies your beacon project. There is nothing wrong with the male, but..."

"But what?" said Maoina.

"Breeding one with the other won't accomplish very much. Their genome will remain separate from ours. The best use of them is to break them up and pair them with individuals from within the Community."

"Quite right," Maoina nodded appropriately.

"I have brought up some profiles of some men we might pair her with while we disentangle his romantic interest in her."

"No, I think we have to take a different approach here," said Maoina. "Their love for each other is strong. We're not going to be able to simply seduce them apart from each other. I think there is a third way of going about it, gradually switching them over to a tripartite relationship, with an intervening male who will gradually assume dominance over the both of them. Then, once he's established, Mr. Enterami will end the relationship of his own accord."

"I'll cycle some profiles through the analyzer."

"Do that. We'll need a real alpha male type," said Maoina. "One who is outwardly non-threatening, but will subtly establish control."

"When do you want their drugs and SleepTalk conditioning to start?"

"Immediately, but gradually," said Maoina. "Start the harmony drugs at ten percent, and increase them by the same amount every day until we reach normative levels. We may have to keep an eye on Mr. Diem, he may require a higher dose."

"And the SleepTalk?"

"Start them on Community conditioning for a few days, stressing the importance of serving and satisfying the Community. Also put them on the beginnings of the specific paths we want them to take, and over time have that assume a larger and larger percentage of their SleepTalk sessions. Set them up for two hours a night of SleepTalk, followed by three after a week."

"Isn't two hours of SleepTalk a bit much to start with?"

"I think they can handle it. There is a lot of indoctrination that needs to take place in a short scope of time, if we are to make their psychological transition as seamless as possible. And while you're at it, start programming the Mindtech holovids to show them subliminal messages reinforcing the pairing matches that we have assigned for them."

"Very good."

Maoina looked happy. "If this experiment is successful, we can start to assimilate the odd corners of the globe which have escaped our attention, bringing civilization from one corner of the world to the other."

"It will be true joy, and true bliss," Madison smiled. "The Community just keeps making life better and better."

She smiled at Maoina. Maoina smiled back. Something sparked between them.

"Would you like to take an Unrest Room break?" Madison asked.

"Perhaps later," said Maoina. "You still have a lot of work to do."

********

"You all are so lucky," said Janet Taco Bell, as they walked on the slidewalks. Above and around them were the gleaming crystal buildings of OrgyFree, under the giant crystal dome which encompassed them all.

"To be hear, yes," said Manu, trying and failing to take in all the strange sights around him.

"That too, but that wasn't what I meant," said Janet. "You have a very rare and unique honor to have Maoina Bin Laden be your Controller."

"Why?" Laura asked.

"Because Controllers at her level don't usually manage individual citizens," said Janet. "They're more concerned with the needs of the group."

"Then why is she doing this?" Rowenka asked.

"It appears she has taken a special interest in your well-being," said Janet. "The Community cares. The Community wants you to be happy. Remember, community is you and me, us and we."

"I don't understand her title," said Fredrik. "She's called a Controller. I don't want to be controlled."

"Oh, it's not meant in that way," said Janet. "Think of Maoina as your helper. She helps you find your way to happiness. Anything you want, you can get through her."

"Anything?" said Manu.

"Anything," said Janet definitively. As they slid on the slidewalk, they passed by someone Janet knew.

"Hello, how are you, Samantha Home Depot? I am fine," said Janet.

"Hello, how are you, Janet Taco Bell? I am fine too," said the young woman as she passed them on a slidewalk heading in the opposite direction.

"Why do you have such unusual names?" Fredrik asked.

"Unusual?"

"Home Depot. Taco Bell. What kind of names are those?"

"They are names from the past," said Janet. "They were names that had power and influence in their day, in an economical, sociological, ethical, or even gastronomical sphere."

"Gastronomical sphere?"

"Food assumed an oversized important in the lives of pre-civilized cultures," said Janet Taco Bell. "In some subcultures, food was all people talked about. We assumed those names to culturally appropriate their power into the Community."

"What kind of... person was Taco Bell?" Rowenka asked.

"I do not know. Knowing is a burden for others," Janet smiled. "Let others do the thinking, we'll do the living."

As they travelled, Fredrik looked at other people. They all looked healthy, even the older citizens. At first he thought that men were mostly dressed in blue tights, like he was, and that women were dressed in pink tights, or dresses and skirts of different colors and sizes. But then he saw first one man, and then another, dressed in a pink dress, and he laughed.

"What?" said Manu.

Fredrik pointed to a third man, this time wearing a pink blouse and a pink skirt and pantyhose and high heels. Manu laughed too.

"Hey, what's going on?" Fredrik asked Janet. "You've got guys hear dressed lyke girls!"

"There is no 'girl' or 'guy' way of dressing here, Fredrik Diem," said Janet sternly. "That sort of gender stereotyping went out almost two centuries ago. "

"Why are they dressed lyke that?" Manu asked.

"It's probably their pink day," said Janet.

"Pink day?"

"It's part of their gender reparations," said Janet.

They looked puzzled, understanding every word she had said, but none of the meaning.

And then Laura noticed something odd. The women, all of them... they had something odd in their pants!

Everyone wore very tight pants here, so every curve was in display. And the women... the women had things, things that made bulges in their pants, things that seemed to pitch little tents between their legs. It looked like... it looked like... the women not only had penises, but they all had erections!

And then Laura looked at Janet Taco Bell and realized she had one too, what looked like a little pole in her pants, sticking out between her legs. It wasn't prominent, but looking directly at it, it looked very much like the imprint of the head of a penis.

She giggled and whispered something to Fredrik. Fredrik grew wide eyed and Laura laughed.

"What's so amusing?" Janet asked.

"N-nothing," Laura stammered.

"It looks like you've noticed my Chikdik," said Janet, giving an easy smile.

"Your.. your whot?" said Laura. Oddly enough, she was the one who felt embarrassed! They never talked about things like this in New Zealand.

"My Chikdik. Would you like to see it?" Janet's hand suddenly reached into her pants.

"No!" Laura cried, even as Janet's hand came out of her pants, holding a rubbery black plastic phallus.

Everyone stared at Janet's hand with fascination.

"What is that?" said Manu.

"My Chikdik," said Janet Taco Bell. "All women wear them."

Sure enough, every woman around them seemed to have a permanent erection.

"Whot are they for?" Laura asked, holding on to Fredrik's arm tightly.

"To promote gender equality," said Janet.

"Gender equality?" said Fredrik.

"Yes," said Janet. "In the past, men have walked around with bulges between their legs. They have used their anatomy to intimidate women. By wearing chikdiks, women strike a blow for anatomical equality."

"Anatomical...."

"Equality," said Janet. She slipped her Chikdik back into the snug pocket in her pants. They saw the illusion of an erection between her legs as she stood tall, squaring her shoulders, and speaking with confidence. "Don't I seem more commanding now, more authoritative?"

"Yew certainly seem more something!" said Rowenka. Manu laughed.

"That's all because of my Chikdik," said Janet.

"But your thing is different from ours," said Fredrik.

"How so, Fredrik?" she said, stepping towards him as Laura gripped his arm more tightly.

"Your thing is always....."

"Erect?" said Janet. She smiled with confidence. "It's another part of reparations. To compensate for all the centuries of oppression when we had nothing between our legs. The program, patterned on Affirmative Action, is called Affirmative Erections."

"And... yew oll have that in yer panties?" Laura asked.

"We all do," said Janet. "And soon you will too, Laura."

"Knauw," said Laura, shaking her head. "I will nevar-"

"We'll see," said Janet, giving a little smile as she turned away. "You must all be hungry after seeing my Chikdik. Come, let's have dinner."

Janet and her entourage arrived at a very futuristic looking cafeteria. There was an enormous wall filled with images of food. Literally dozens of different kinds of food.

"What....?"

"Just tell it what you want," said Janet.

"Anything?" said Laura.

"For now, anything," said Janet, smiling.

For a moment, they were paralyzed by choice. There were so many different kinds of food! Most had names they had never heard of.

Finally they made their choices.

"I'll have the roasted mole cauliflower with chickpeas," said Laura.

"I'd lyke the spinach quinoa cakes with garlicky yogurt," said Rowenka.

"I'll take the chicken skewers with tzatziki," said Fredrik.

"I'd lyke the golden curry lentil soup surprise," said Manu.

"A good choice," Janet smiled. She raised her voice. "I'll have the same."

"How long will it take to prepare?"

"No time at all," said Janet. They walked forward to a counter and found five steaming trays filled with food, waiting for them.

"How is that possible?" Rowenka marveled.

"Autosynthesis."

"Where are the forks and knives?" Manu asked.