Sex Culture in the 23rd Century Ch. 04

"Power?" said Rowenka. "Our first day hear, we flew on jetpacks, and in a hotrod car, and a supersonic jet which must have consumed a ton of power."

"Well, you're very lucky then, because those are activities reserved for the Community elite, the tiny percentage of those whom do so much for the Community that they have access to such rare rewards," said Liam.

"Oh," said Rowenka, taking it all in. "So what do we do hear?"

"We study the problem. We produce papers showing the effect of Temperature Change, and come up with solutions to live more sustainably, consuming ever less resources and energy."

"Well that sounds... intresting," said Rowenka. It was a lot to absorb. She wasn't sure she really believed it.

"Well, come, let's get you started," said Liam. "I have a good pet project for you. We want you to debunk the false history of the so-called "ice-ages" of the past, using modern past projection analysis which we've found are much more reliable than so-called 'recorded history'."

"All right," said Rowenka tentatively.

Rowenka worked through much of the day. There was a lot of data to go through. But she had a firm, analytical mind and soon found a way to organize the data in a way in which she could write a coherent report.

Around mid-afternoon Liam came by to see how she was doing.

"Fine," said Rowenka. "I can have this report for you by tomorrow, is that oll right?"

"Tomorrow?" said Liam, as if she had said something offensive. "What's your hurry? It should take at least a week!"

"Oll right..." said Rowenka.

"In the meantime, I was wondering if you'd like a break."

"Sure," said Rowenka.

"Would you like to Connect?" Liam asked, ever so casually.

Connect? What did he mean by that? Professional networking? That's what he must mean. That could always be helpful, to meet other scientists. "Sure," said Rowenka.

"That's great!" said Liam, smiling broadly. "Do you want to use the Unrest Room here, or the one downstairs? The one downstairs is nicer, but of course the one on this floor is much closer."

"The rest room? I don't need to-"

"Come on," said Liam. She followed him. Sure enough, he took her into a room called "Unrest Room."

Unrest Room?

There were a series of couches there.

"Oh, it's empty," said Liam, seemingly disappointed. "I always enjoy it more with others watching. Oh well," he said. He turned to Rowenka. "Clothes off," he said.

Liam's clothes started to split into two. In a flash, he was nude!

"What are yew doing?" said Rowenka, taking a step back. Suddenly, she was alone in a room with a fat, bald man with a very hairy penis.

"I... thought you wanted to Connect."

"THIS is what it means to Connect?" said Rowenka. "You mean sex?"

"Of course," said Liam. "But it's more than just sex. We also share feelings too. It plugs us into the Community together. Why be you and me, when we can all be us and we?"

"No," said Rowenka, taking a step back. "Noah," she said definitively, her accent coming through. "Ay'm a married woman."

"What does that have to do with anything?" said Liam. He saw her reluctance, and sighed. "I apologize. I guess we had a misunderstanding. Clothes on!" His clothes reformed themselves. Liam looked much better with clothes on. He said, somewhat awkwardly, "I hope this doesn't bother you."

"Noah, we're fyne," said Rowenka, edging towards the door.

"Good," said Liam. He walked past her to the door. "Let me know when that report is ready. And remember what I said--take your time!"

********

That night at dinner, they all shared their experiences of their first day at work. Fredrik showed them his article about the new city being built in Houston, which was now the lead story in the Community Newsfeed.

The others were suitably impressed.

"My first day!" said Fredrik. "I broke the story about a whole new city being built! This one story is more important than all the articles I evar wrote for the West Coast Times back home!" At the moment, he was feeling very good about his decision to leave New Cal.

"How did yew get such a good assignment?" Manu asked.

"I really don't knauw," said Fredrik. "There's this important lady at work. Her name is Madeline." He shuddered inwardly, just saying her name. Those legs! "An older lady," he added hastily, looking at Laura. "She put this story right in my lap." He suddenly realized he had used a poor choice of words. "I mean, she gave it to me."

"Well congratulations, Honey," said Laura, reaching over to give him a hug."Do yew know what my favorite part of your story was?"

"What?"

"The part that said, "By Fredrik Diem, staff propagandist," said Laura, giving him a kiss. And they all laughed.

Then Manu told them about his first day at work, and they were even more impressed.

"You're doing what?" said Rowenka.

"I'm building another Golden Gate Bridge."

"What happened to the furst one?" said Laura. Come to think of it, when they landed at OrgyFree, they had seen no sign of the iconic bridge.

"It was removed for environmental reasons." said Manu. "I was told that the bridge cast a shadow over the wotar, which deterred some fish underneath from having sex or something. So I told them I would design a new bridge, made of the tough crystal they use hear, that would let lyght pass ryght through it."

"And they're letting yew do it? They're letting yew build a bridge?"

"Yes!" said Manu. "I can't believe it either."

"This is truly an amazing place," said Laura.

"What was your furst day like, Laura?" Fredrik asked.

It was a casual question, but Laura was caught off guard. Should she mention Mary Elizabeth? Something inside her told her not to, not yet.

Instead, she said, "Listen to this. They paint things holographically hear. I have a wand, and a holographic canvas, and I can use it to paint any color, any texchar, any size. I can even erase what I painted!"

"What did you paint?" Rowenka asked.

"Grimault Island," said Laura. "Fredrik took me there last spring. It was so beautiful."

"I'd love to see it," said Fredrik softly.

"I'll call it up," said Laura. "Ted?

"Yes, my dear, dear friend, Laura?"

"Bring up the image of the painting I did today."

"It will be my pleasure, my good friend," said Ted.

The image of the painting of Grimault Island appeared floating above them. Rowenka clapped and squealed. Fredrik and Manu were very impressed.

"They lyked it so much, they even had an impromptu party where they showed it to everyone at the studio!" said Laura.

"You're brilliant, Honey," said Fredrik, giving her a kiss.

Manu turned to Rowenka. "And how was your furst day?"

"It was... diffrent," said Rowenka. "Evidently there is some terrible climate catastrophe that these people are fighting. I have a lot to learn about it. But it's quantitative, very analytical. I think it could be interesting." She omitted all mention of Liam's attempt to Connect with her. She knew Manu wouldn't like it.

"That's great," said Laura. "Say, remember what Maoina told us, about writing home? We should all write lettars home tonight. Janet said that Ted could automatically record messages from us and route them to the ryght place."

"Yes, let's do that," said Manu eagerly.

After dinner, Manu and Rowenka composed messages to their families. Manu had two brothers, so he not only left a message for his parents but to them as well. Rowenka got a bit tearful when she recorded a message to her parents. She knew they must have been heartbroken when she left without saying goodbye. She told them about all the amazing things she had seen since she had come to the US of the A's, and closed by saying that she hoped to hear back from them soon.

At the same time Laura composed a message to her parents. She had Fredrik with her, to show her Ma and Pa that they were still together. Ma and Pa liked Fredrik, which might soften the blow of her leaving New Cal without telling them in advance.

"It's a wondrous place here, Ma and Pa," said Laura. "I feel like Ay'm being an artist for the first time. There are people who appreciate my work, and I've joined an artist's collective, and they liked my first work so much that they hosted a party in my o-nar! Everyone told me how much talent I have. It feels great to finally be appreciated for doing something I love. I miss yew and hope to hear back from yew soon."

Fredrik was the last to record his message. "It's me, Nana. I know you must have been furious when yew learned I was gone. I'm so sorry I had to leave that way. But life was strangling me on New Cal. I had to leave to see the outside world. And I have. I'm a real journalist now. I'm writing real stories, important stories, that thousands of people are reading. It's what I always wanted. Ay'm so happy here. Please don't be angry. Send me a message, I want to hear from yew. I love yew," he added.

Fredrik said, "Yew can stop recording, Ted. You'll make sure the messages get to Maoina?"

"Yes, my dear friend," said Ted.

"I'm glad we did that," said Laura, giving him a kiss.

"And I'm glad yew did that," said Fredrik, kissing her back. They fell into each other's arms, and enjoyed the moment.