by ID Johnson
Gathering up all of her clothes, she stuffed them inside of her bag and brought them with her, only leaving her shoes behind in her locker. She knew she could leave all of her belongings there, but it just seemed like a good idea to carry her clothes with her, so she often did. The reason behind her precaution eluded her, but she did it just the same.
Dressed in her short black gown and little else, she walked back through the changing room, hearing a few giggles from the others, but not as loudly as before. She imagined some of them were in a hurry to get on with their sessions.
As she walked down the hallway, she passed a few Military Mothers. Rain didn’t look them in the eyes. The Military Mothers were usually cold, the only emotion they seemed to know disdain--or maybe even anger. The one nearest her caught her eye, though. She seemed to be staring at Rain for some reason. Rain had no idea why. As far as she could remember, she’d never seen the woman before. She looked to be high-ranking, someone important. Rain blew out her breath slowly and pulled her eyes away, catching the name on the women’s uniform. Mother White.
Trying to shake the idea that the Mother had been staring at her, Rain stepped up to the selection board. Choosing wasn’t usually that difficult. She had a few that she liked and a few she knew never to try again. With this many girls coming to IW at once, she was afraid she might get stuck with a number she hadn’t tried before, but when she saw 24C was available, Rain went with him, pressing the number before even giving it a second thought. It wasn’t as if 24C would be able to see her and know it was the same woman coming back again and again. Besides, he was probably just thankful he’d been chosen. From her understanding, that’s what the men of IW lived for--to have their numbers selected so they could spend a few minutes with a woman. Who knows what they did after that, but she imagined this must be the highlight of their day.
She gave 24C a few moments to get locked into his seat and then went and stood outside of the door. The light was still flashing red, meaning she couldn’t enter. He was taking his time today…. Eventually, it went to green, and Rain entered, sticking her bag on a shelf toward the back of the room before she approached her spot on the floor where she was to wait. The lights went down almost completely, and then an opening in the wall appeared, and 24C’s chair was rocketed out to meet her.
His face was completely covered with the black, knit mask they called a shadow sock, his hands strapped to the seat, and his ankles corded so that his movements could only be the subtle thrusts and arches required for Rain to complete her practice. With a sigh, she hiked up her dress and mounted him, eager to get her insemination practice over with.
Chapter Nine
Nothing about IW was at all enthralling to Rain, yet it was a requirement, one she’d been taught not to take lightly. There was lubricant available from a pump on the wall near the chair where 24C was presented to her, but she didn’t use it. With some of the other men, she had to. With him, she could usually find enough pleasure to go without. Something about rubbing the oily substance on her private area before she went about her duties seemed even more vile than the practice session itself.
With her knees on either side of his hips on the chair, she took a deep breath and pushed up, grabbing hold of his manhood and working it inside of her. It took her a few moments as she certainly wasn’t aroused, and it had been a few days since she’d visited IW, but after about a minute, she had him entirely inside of her and let go with her hands so that she could take hold of the two handles on either side of his shoulders. She had heard some of the women liked to touch the men, to run their hands down their bare chests while they thrust, but she preferred to keep her hands on the chair and her mind elsewhere as she worked her pelvis up and down on top of 24C, praying he’d had enough dosage of the medication the men were given to shoot his seed quickly and get it over with. Thank goodness this wasn’t the real thing and she was protected by her implant. Once it was for real, and there was a chance she could actually end up a Mother at the end of all of this, she had a feeling that the fear of conceiving would leave her so uninterested that she wouldn’t want to move her hips at all and would just sit there for hours until the medics came in to check on her.
Occasionally, Rain would come down in such a way that 24C’s manhood would rub her in a pleasurable way. She generally didn’t try to duplicate that sensation, though, once she found it. Obviously, the smiles on those other girls’ faces were due to their ability to consistently feel the tingling sensations brought on by the perfect stroke, but Rain had never felt comfortable moaning and groaning on top of a man the way some of the other girls did. She’d heard them discuss it, heard them say how it showed their dominance. To Rain, it just seemed like a sign of weakness to let a man know he was capable of providing such pleasure, especially if all he was doing was sitting there.
Men always enjoyed it, though. Rain was certain of that. All girls were taught that from their very first lessons about IW, at the age of twelve, even though they wouldn’t actually start taking part in the practice sessions until they were eighteen. The Mothers were very clear about how to tell when a man was enjoying himself. “If his manhood is hard and thick, he is happy. If he grunts or groans, he is happy. When he shoots his seed, he is happy.” Essentially, there wasn’t anything about the process men didn’t like, and for a moment, she wondered what it must be like for the men in IW waiting to have their numbers selected. She knew that they had to be chosen so many times per month or else they would be considered undesirable, which meant they’d be taken to the Bridge, so they had to be somewhat competitive for that reason alone, she figured. How they celebrated getting their number called, she imagined, was something akin to the dances the women did when they did particularly well on an assignment at school or received a promotion.
Rain checked the time and saw that she’d been in the room for eight minutes. The red glow from the clock didn’t radiate from off the wall, so it did nothing to cut through the darkness. She wished it would. She didn’t want to stare at the outline of 24C’s head beneath the shadow sock, nor did she want to look at the muscles of his chest as they contracted and retracted with each of her thrusts. It wasn’t that he wasn’t an attractive man. He was definitely well-built. All the men of IW had to be. In fact, of the several dozen she’d been with, he was, in her opinion, the most attractive. It was simply that she didn’t care to stare at someone who couldn’t see her back, and doing so almost made it seem as if there was more to 24C than a large manhood attached to a dark outline strapped to a cold, leather chair.
At ten minutes, he made a soft moaning sound. She’d been with him enough times to know 24C wasn’t very vocal, and this meant he was almost done. Glad she could soon head home and talk to Mist about the situation that had unfolded the day before, Rain concentrated, tightening her muscles around his manhood and rocking harder and faster until 24C grunted again and then the familiar feeling of warm liquid spread inside of her.
Relieved, Rain dismounted as quickly as she could, waiting until 24C was pulled back through the wall to grab the wipes supplied to them on the wall next to the lubricant and clean herself up. She wiped down her hands as well and then threw the wipes in the bin, pulling her gown down around her and heading for the exit, glad that was over for a few more days.
The bright lights from the hallway stung her eyes slightly. She looked around, half thinking she might see Mother White standing nearby. Glad that she didn’t, she rushed into the changing room, thankful not to see anyone else at all. As she went, she looked down at her hands to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. The last thing she wanted was a man’s sticky seed staining her hands. A sense of relief washed over her as Rain saw her hands were perfectly clean.
Chapter Ten
Opening the door to her shared room, Rain paused in the doorway as Mist turned and looked at her over her shoulder, her tablet propped on the pillow at the head of her bed. “Hey,” Rain said, not sure whether or not Mist was still angry at her.
Relieved that at least her best friend was speaking to her again, Rain hung her backpack up on a hook, not bothering to take her tablet out, and kicked off her sneakers, moving them over to the spot by her dresser where she kept them. She walked over to her bed and sat down across from Mist. “How was your day?”
“Fine.” Mist attempted to smile, but it was so forced, it looked more like a snarl. “Yours?”
“Ugh,” Rain groaned, lowering her head and shaking it slowly. “I was almost late to labs, which sucked. But class was pretty cool. Cloud and I didn’t kill any fetuses.” She decided not to bother to mention the weird look from the Military Mother. It was probably just her imagination anyway.
“That’s good.” This smile was more genuine. “Did you just get back from IW?”
Rain’s head rocked back and forth as she met Mist’s eyes. “At least that’s over with until Monday.” She ran a hand along her braid and pulled aimlessly at the end. “Did you do anything interesting in class?”
“No, not really. Just more mammal anatomy.”
“You like that, though.”
“I do. It’s just… we didn’t talk about anything I didn’t already know.”
A fond grin pulled up the corner of Rain’s mouth. “That’s because you’re always working ahead.” She gestured toward the tablet with her head, assuming that Mist had been watching more nature films.
“True.” She didn’t seem to want to talk about her studies, which was typical. Mist was probably the smartest woman Rain knew, but she was very humble about it.
Scooting back on to the bed so she was propped on her elbows, Mist asked, “Who did you pick?”
The last thing in the world Rain wanted to talk about was IW. But it wasn’t often Mist actually asked her questions about her day, since Mist didn’t really like to talk, so she decided to take advantage of the opportunity to actually carry on a conversation with her friend, which was a huge change from yesterday when Mist seemed like she never wanted to speak to her again. “I chose 24C again,” she said, trying to seem nonchalant. “He’s pretty predictable.”
A soft giggle escaped Mist’s lips. “You pick him a lot. Do you like him?”
Her forehead puckering, Rain swung her legs around and lay down on her elbow. “Like him?” she echoed. “What are you talking about? He’s a man. An Inseminator at that. What do you mean?” She hoped her tone wasn’t too accusatory, but the question had caught her off guard. What in the world was Mist getting at? How could someone like a man?
Mist shifted around so that her position mirrored Rain’s. “I know he’s a man, but so what? He’s still a person, isn’t he? I’m sure there are men you’ve encountered in IW that you’d quickly say you don’t like. So… why can’t you like one?”
Rain had never considered whether or not she liked or disliked any of the men in IW. She hated IW in general, and there were some Inseminators she’d never request again. But she hadn’t chalked that up to mean she disliked the men, only that she’d been more uncomfortable than usual when she was with them. “I guess… I hadn’t thought about it that way. I don’t dislike him. He seems like a… perfectly capable Inseminator, I guess.”
This time when Mist chuckled at her, it was louder. “It’s okay to tell me you like him, Rain. I’m your best friend. Aren’t I?”
“Yes, of course,” Rain said, rolling her eyes. Some noisy girls walked by in the hallway, and for a moment, Rain thought it might be the other girls who shared their room, but the noise continued down the hall, which meant the conversation could go on. “Of the men I’ve selected… he is the one I most prefer.”
“Very well,” Mist said, as if that answer was satisfactory to her. She laid down on her back and picked up her tablet.
Rain felt challenged. “What about you? Do you like any of the Inseminators?”
“I do have a favorite as well,” Mist said, setting her tablet back down and turning to face Rain again. “I like 37W. He always makes me feel like I’m flying. And he smells good, too.” She shrugged, like nothing she’d said was a big deal, and started to reach for her tablet again.
Sitting up and putting her feet on the floor, Rain reminded herself to keep her voice down. “Makes you feel like you’re flying?” she echoed. “You sound like those goofy girls who always walk into IW in packs, laughing and carrying on like they’re going to one of those amusement parks we read about in history class. IW is not Nisdeyland.”
“I believe it was called Disneyland, Rain, and I don’t think there’s anything goofy about enjoying ourselves when we are IW. That’s the whole point of it right now. It’s not as if we are capable of becoming Mothers.”
Not able to believe what her friend was saying--yet again--Rain stared at her for a moment. “No, it’s not. The purpose is to get used to it so when we are required to do it for real, it’s not so foreign to us.”
Shaking her head, Mist said, “I disagree. But it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to enjoy it just because I do. Are you sure you’re not….”
Rain narrowed her eyes, her eyebrows knitting together as she tried to guess where Mist was going with the question. “Not… what?”
Mist studied her for a moment. “A Samey,” she said, her tone gentle and not at all accusatory. Rain’s eyes widened but no words came to her lips. “I’m just asking because you aren’t interested in men at all, and most of the girls our age at least like IW a little. You don’t seem to like it one bit, and I don’t think it has anything to do with not having found a man capable of making you enjoy it--if you wanted to. If you were capable of doing so. Maybe you don’t like IW because you prefer women.”
As soon as Rain’s brain began to function again, she shook her head. “No, I’m not a Samey, Mist. Sometimes I wish I were. But I don’t find women attractive. I don’t want to kiss them the way that the Marrieds do.” Kissing had seemed interesting the first time Rain saw it, but she couldn’t imagine sticking her tongue in another woman’s mouth. “It’s not that.”
“Okay.” Mist didn’t seem to quite mean that. “Because if it was, that would be cool with me, you know. It’s just… I’m definitely not a Samey. So… we couldn’t get married or anything.”
“Darn,” Rain said, rolling her eyes and falling back onto her pillow again. “You’ve figured me out.”
Chuckling erupted from the other bed, and Rain assumed part of that was her friend’s relief that she didn’t secretly want to marry her. “Well, if you decide you do want to be a Married, I’ll help you find a wife.”
“Thanks, but trust me, Mist, there’s no way in the world I could keep something like that from you.” She sat up. “Even though you and I sometimes argue, you’re still my best friend. I don’t keep secrets from you. Just like you don’t keep them from me.” Rain thought about the item Mist had smuggled into their room the evening before, hoping this was the perfect opening for Mist to confess. “Right?”
“Right.” Mist gave her a tight smile and picked up her tablet, turning the on the video she’d been watching before Rain came in.
Watching her friend for a few seconds in disbelief, Rain contemplated telling Mist she’d seen that she’d taken something from that cellar and demand that she tell her right now. But she didn’t want to have to be ugly to get Mist to tell her what it was--she wanted her best friend to trust her.
Staring up at the ceiling, Rain went over a few of their most recent conversations and realized the two of them had divergent thoughts on many topics, and if Mist had found something that could potentially be problematic for either of them, Rain had given her no reason lately to believe she could be trusted. Swallowing hard, Rain contemplated the possibility that perhaps her friend was right not to trust her.
Chapter Eleven
The next few days went by without much discussion between Mist and Rain. Most non-school days, the
y would go out into the woods and walk around, but it had rained on Saturday, and the ground was still muddy on Sunday, so Rain had declined Mist’s invitation. It hadn’t deterred the nature-lover, though, so Rain had spent the day studying and reading in her room. Thoughts of the points Mist had brought up recently about the way the Motherhood viewed men kept coming back to her, leaving an unsettled feeling in her gut.
Monday morning, she went to class as she always did. She had an hour of her history course before she’d report to Mother Swan’s anatomy class. Having the same Mother for all of her medical classes was helpful because she got to know each of her students so well. Rain had thought it was great only having one instructor until she considered that also meant she’d only hear one person’s interpretation of everything. But then… didn’t all of the Mothers tend to think alike? She’d never heard any of them say anything contrary or disagreeable with what the others said, and she certainly never heard any of them say anything controversial. The only women Rain heard speaking divisive thoughts were her own roommate and her lab partner.
It made her question if the Mothers ever allowed themselves to think about the sort of topics Rain and Cloud had brought up. Or did they all just accept what they’d been taught, blindly? Were they like the animals the Slaughterers brought through the lines at the processing plant on the far side of town? She’d never been there, but Rain had always heard that job was reserved for men who weren’t strong enough to be Constructors, were too smart to be Cleaners, and too ugly to be Inseminators, but not disabled or mentally deficient enough as children for the Bridge. Rain began to question why men were so closely scrutinized. It hadn’t ever occurred to her before that it didn’t seem fair, but sitting in her history class, her mind went to places it never had before. Listening to Mother Indigo discuss how women in the last century invented glastic and a number of other products womankind would never have had if it weren’t for the Claiming, Rain started to wonder what might’ve happened instead. What if men were also capable of coming up with inventions, solutions, and ideas? Hadn’t they been before the Claiming? Why were they limiting the advancement of humanity to the thinking of just one of the two sexes? Perhaps men thought differently than women and would’ve had different ideas--not necessarily better, but not worse either. Were there men in other countries coming up with inventions and new ideas? They weren’t allowed to learn about other countries, and the Mothers always eluded to the fact that the rest of the world was uncivilized, compared to Michaelanburg. Rain couldn’t help the thoughts circling her head, and she was thankful to have made it through the class without Mother Indigo calling on her and finding out she was no longer paying attention to her lecture.