The Cage of Zeus

by Sayuri Ueda

  “Oh, both of you…” Arino said, his face clouding. “Well then…”

  “A Round couple can love as a man and be loved as a woman in a single act of intercourse. Not every act leads to pregnancy, of course, but repeated intercourse eventually stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete gonadotropic hormones. You are voluntary ovulatory animals. We, on the other hand, are reflex ovulatory animals.”

  “What is that?”

  “Monaural women have a menstrual cycle,” Tigris said. “Women ovulate once a month to prepare for pregnancy, whether they’re sexually active or not. This is called voluntary ovulation. Reflex ovulation, on the other hand, is when ovulation is triggered by some physical stimulation to what Monaurals call the cervix. When that stimulus reaches the brain by way of the spinal nerves, the pituitary gland secretes gonadotropic hormones triggering ovulation. Hares and felines on Earth employ this method of ovulation.”

  Hares. Felines. Arino blinked in disbelief.

  Tigris continued, matter-of-factly, “Just how long after the cervix is stimulated the body begins to ovulate differs depending on the animal. For example, it’s ten hours for hares, but in the case of Rounds, it’s about a week after the copulatory act. When that act isn’t entirely consensual, sometimes ovulation doesn’t begin until a month later. Since the pituitary gland is vulnerable to psychological influences, stress can delay ovulation. But as we continue to have sex with a compatible partner, both Rounds experience synchronous ovulation, making possible dual pregnancy. That’s why children are always born in pairs. On rare occasions, one Round may have twins, in which case one couple can have three children at once. Four if both Rounds have twins. Five or six in the case of triplets.”

  “So it’s always two or more. That must be quite a strain financially,” Arino said.

  “But an efficient method of creating offspring. Our bodies have been engineered for that purpose. A Round’s pregnancy lasts five months. Some give birth at four months. Everything from the efficient insemination method, the short gestation period, to the swift maturation rate is expressly engineered so we can adapt quickly to any nonplanetary environment. Adaptation is our lifestyle.”

  For Shiohara and Ogata, the figure of this attractive masculine-looking Round talking about ovulation and pregnancy as if it were his own experience was enough to give them goose bumps.

  Ordinarily, men couldn’t fathom what the sensations of ovulating and being pregnant felt like. It was a difference between the sexes that could not be bridged no matter how women might try to explain. There was nothing anyone could do about that.

  Men simply couldn’t experience the pain and agony associated with female reproductive functions in the way women like Shiohara and Ogata could, nor did women have the right to expect them to. The reality was that Shiohara and Ogata couldn’t understand the troubles associated with the male body either.

  Their understanding of sensations relating to male sexual function was limited to imagination.

  But the Rounds were different.

  One Round was capable of knowing what it was like to both impregnate and be impregnated. Not just for a limited period but for a lifetime. That alone was enough to transform the worldview of the Round.

  From the perspective of the conservatives on Earth and Mars, the Rounds were indeed strange beings. But from the Rounds’ perspective, the Monaurals were a far more strange and restrictive race. Absolute hermaphrodites such as snails and sea slugs existed in Earth’s natural world, and fish that changed sex depending on their social environment, such as clownfish, were also not rare. The incubation temperature of the fertilized eggs determined the sex of a lizard called the red head agama. The ciliate known as Euplotes crassus was not necessarily sexually compatible with every mate. These ciliated protozoa had something resembling sexual distinctions—only the possible sexual types numbered thirty-eight.

  Thus, the binary system in which one’s sex was predetermined before birth and remained fixed for a lifetime was nothing more than one variation among many in the natural world.

  Calendula picked up one of the babies from the cradle and looked at Arino. “Babies are sweet whatever their subspecies, no? Would you like to hold em?”

  “May I?”

  “You look like you might have a way with children.”

  Arino took the baby and held em in his arms like he would his own. “You’re very perceptive. I have a family back home.”

  “You left your family to come here?”

  “That goes for all of the security staff. Since the job demands discretion rather than bravery, the department doesn’t hire anyone who is single. Their thinking is that we won’t act recklessly with a family to think about. The antiterror task force selects its members in much the same way.”

  “Your family must be very worried.”

  “We train and sharpen our skills daily so nothing will happen,” Arino said. He gazed at the child in his arms. “Ey really is very sweet. Makes me homesick for Mars.”

  Calendula took the baby from Arino and offered em to Shiohara. She happily cradled em in her arms, while Ogata beamed as she peered at the child’s face.

  “The regulations prohibit us from having kids until the interior of our house is completed, but it just sort of happened,” Tigris said, a bit bashfully. “It’s been difficult building the house and caring for the children at the same time. We were looking for some people to help us. We’re grateful for your help.”

  “Don’t you have anyone in the special district to help you?” Ogata asked.

  “We were planning to ask some friends at first. But then the doctor mentioned ey had some people in mind.”

  “I wonder if our helping was a good idea. I hope we didn’t ruffle any feathers.”

  “Don’t worry,” Calendula said. “Most of the Rounds would rather be spared the trouble. I have a feeling they’re relieved not to have been asked.”

  “By the way,” Arino said, changing the subject, “I’ve been meaning to ask.”

  “Yes?”

  “The other day, I ran into someone who might have been a Round in the corridor outside the special district. Ey was tall and thin—someone who might pass for a Monaural woman—and ey had a baby with em. I spoke to em, thinking that ey might be one of the station staff, and scared em off. If it’s possible, I’d like to see em again and apologize. Do you know who it might be?”

  “If you saw em outside the special district, it’s probably Veritas. Sometimes ey goes to the infirmary for a counseling session with the doctor,” replied Tigris, speaking of Tei.

  “Why the infirmary outside the special district?”

  “I offer to see em here inside the special district, but Veritas won’t listen. When ey’s agitated about something, ey comes straight to the infirmary to see me. I don’t discourage it since I don’t want to aggravate eir condition.”

  “Ey was very frightened,” Arino said. “Ey said that ey’d be reprimanded if any of the Rounds or staff saw em talking to me.”

  “Yes, Fortia is strict that way. While it’s true Monaurals aren’t allowed inside the special district, there’s no rule forbidding the Rounds from leaving it. Fortia is the one who looks down upon it.”

  “Why is that?”

  “It’s complicated,” said Tigris. “I can understand how you must feel, but it’s best you don’t see Veritas. Ey was separated from eir partner not too long ago and is raising a child on eir own. The separation has taken a harsh toll on em. Even we can’t seem to console em, so I doubt you’ll be able to help. Ey also had some trouble working with the station staff and has grown a little suspicious of Monaurals since.”

  “So that’s why the doctor’s been counseling em,” Arino said.

  “You have a family, so you must understand. Sometimes, it’s best for outsiders to leave well enough alone.”

  “I didn’t know there was such a thing as divorce in Round society,” said Arino. “I understand. But please give em my regards.”

&
nbsp; “Thank you. I’ll be sure to pass on your kind sentiments.”

  A moment later, the door of the assembly hall opened.

  A Round whom the security staff did not recognize stood in the doorway. It was Fortia.

  Fortia took one look at the scene and glowered. “Doctor, what is the meaning of this? I informed Commander Shirosaki that Monaurals are not to come here.”

  Tei stood and answered, “It was my decision to bring them here. I don’t work for the commander. I am an intermediary and a staff member of this station. I don’t take orders from anyone, even if that person is you.”

  Fortia fixed a stern look on Tigris and Calendula. “Why did you agree to such a thing without consulting me?”

  “Since the doctor brought them here,” Tigris said softly, “I assumed they were authorized to be here.”

  “I authorized nothing of the sort. I’ll ask the Monaurals to leave at once.”

  Tigris and Calendula looked each other in the eye. Tigris nodded as if to relent. But before Calendula could open eir mouth to protest, Shiohara spoke up.

  “We won’t stay where we’re not welcome. We didn’t come here to start any trouble.”

  “Then you’ll leave here, now.”

  “You don’t have to tell us twice.”

  Shiohara patted Tigris and Calendula on the shoulder. “I’m sorry we couldn’t finish the interior with you.”

  “Please, you were a great help. Thank you.”

  “We enjoyed our time here,” Arino said. “We hope to see you again.”

  “Perhaps we can visit you sometime,” Calendula offered.

  “It’s all right,” Ogata whispered. “Something tells me your leader won’t approve.”

  The security members said their goodbyes and left the assembly hall.

  After sending Tigris and Calendula back to their residence, Fortia confronted Tei.

  “What were you thinking? You know as well as I do the Monaurals are not to enter the special district.”

  “It’s unnatural for us to be living apart on this tiny space station. This physical distance does nothing but exacerbate everyone’s stress. As a doctor, I’ve observed this firsthand. The human psyche isn’t so strong as to be able to completely put out of mind something that it knows exists.”

  “By human, are you referring to the Monaurals or the Rounds?”

  “Both, of course,” Tei said. “I’m not saying we have to get along. But all of us should be able to come and go as we please, like it used to be.”

  Fortia’s eyes narrowed. “Have you forgotten what happened to Veritas? Do you want something like that to happen again?”

  “I haven’t forgotten. Neither has anyone on the station. We’re only pretending that we have.”

  “Precisely the reason for maintaining this separation,” Fortia said.

  “I know that. But this isn’t working anymore. The new security team knows nothing about the incident. They should be able to repair the relationship with the Rounds without any preconceived notions.”

  “The station’s supervisors were the ones to prohibit access to the special district. Everyone agreed to it. Why should we change that now?”

  “Every rule needs changing after a while.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Lanterna.”

  “Don’t call me by that name,” Tei muttered. “I am an intermediary. I have a different name now.”

  “In any case, this can’t happen again. I’ll look the other way this time, but if there is a next time, I’ll have to take more drastic measures.”

  “What? Will you exile Calendula and me to Station 2?” Tei asked. “I suppose that’s exactly what you would do as superintendent of the special district. That’s how you tried to segregate me from the others when you found out that my body isn’t normal.”

  “You’re wrong. We were trying to consider your feelings.”

  “Living apart will only serve to deepen the rift. Monaurals will grow to hate the Rounds, and the Rounds will scorn the Monaurals even more. The only difference between us is our physiology. Whatever technology was used to create us, we are essentially intelligent beings. In that sense, we’re no different from the Monaurals. It’s absurd not to be able to communicate with them.”

  “We will eventually leave the solar system,” Fortia said. “We’re destined to sever ties with the Monaurals altogether. Communication is meaningless.”

  “They have a culture we don’t have in our society. A culture sustained by thousands of years of history. There are countless things we can learn from the Monaurals.”

  “Meaningless. We have nothing to gain from their history of wars and bloodshed.”

  “I’m not saying we have to embrace everything about them,” said Tei. “But forbidding people from interacting with one another is wrong. They should at least be free to know more about the other if that’s what they want.”

  “Is that what you want? Do you want to befriend the Monaurals?”

  “They have many things we lack. I am a Round. A new breed of human. But I also respect the Monaurals.”

  Fortia fell silent for a long moment. Then ey muttered, “It was a mistake to appoint you as an intermediary.”

  Tei did not answer. Ey gripped both arms with eir nails and bit down hard on eir lips.

  3

  UNLIKE THE OTHER security members, Shirosaki had been assigned to a room of his own, albeit a small one. The tiny space could barely accommodate a communication terminal, desk, and bed. Nevertheless, he was afforded a modicum of privacy that the members of his security team were not.

  The communication terminal bleeped.

  Shirosaki tapped on the control panel, and the image of Fortia appeared onscreen.

  He was taken by surprise at the sight of em, having been informed of the restricted access to the special district.

  “We have to talk,” Fortia began abruptly.

  “What is it?”

  “I thought we agreed there is to be no contact between the Rounds and Monaurals. Some of your people have already violated that agreement.”

  “Someone on my team?”

  “Do you mean to tell me you haven’t heard?” A look of irritation crept across Fortia’s face. “You’re their leader. How is it you’re not aware of what is going on under your command?”

  “I’m not privy to what goes on during private hours.”

  “This isn’t an issue of privacy. Just what did you tell them about the special district?”

  “That they’re not to go there. None of the members’ information has been entered into the system, so they couldn’t have accessed the special district on their own. Even I need an escort to get in,” Shirosaki said. “They must have gotten someone to take them. Who was it?”

  “Dr. Tei.”

  “I see. Then it seems to me the breach in protocol is on your end, not mine.”

  Fortia scowled indignantly.

  “What happened?” asked Shirosaki, his tone calm.

  “Three Monaurals on your team entered the special district and assisted with unit building.”

  “Unit building—what is that?”

  “A task shared among the Rounds.”

  “Maybe they were just lending a hand.”

  “It’s nothing for which we need Monaural assistance. I can’t dispute the doctor’s role in this, but your people must have coerced em into bringing them here.”

  “I’d appreciate some time to look into it.”

  “Spoken like a Monaural. You’re covering for them.”

  “As their commander, I have an obligation to find out the truth.”

  “Have you heard about Commander Harding?” Fortia asked.

  “What about him?”

  “He is the reason why we’ve confined ourselves inside the special district. He disrupted the order on this station. I don’t want your team to repeat his mistakes.”

  “What happened with Harding?”

  “He very nearly killed one of my colleagues.”
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  Shirosaki knitted his brows. Nearly killed a Round? Harding? Surely Captain Hasukawa would have mentioned it in the report if anything that serious had happened.

  Fortia’s face was ashen and tense.

  Something terrible had apparently befallen one of the Rounds for some complicated reason.

  “We’re here to protect you,” Shirosaki said. “Regardless of what happened here in the past, my team and I don’t want any trouble, I assure you.”

  “It’s too late for that. Since the doctor was also involved, I’ll let you people off with a warning, but if we have another incident like this again, there will be a severe penalty.”

  “I’ll talk to the doctor. I need to find out what exactly happened.”

  After ending the transmission, Shirosaki sat on the edge of the bed.

  Damn it. They were here on a critical mission to stop a terrorist attack. Who the hell had pulled a stunt like this?

  After mulling over his next move, Shirosaki threw on his uniform and left his quarters.

  The infirmary, located in the residential district, was where doctors oversaw the physical conditions of all the staff and Rounds in shifts. Inside the busy station, the doctors were responsible not just for medical care, but had other duties as well. When the four doctors on staff were not seeing patients, they were involved with conducting generation and growth experiments on various organisms.

  Shirosaki waited until Tei would be going on call to pay a visit to the infirmary.

  There was no one in the room other than Tei.

  Shirosaki said hello and stepped inside. “I received a transmission from Fortia,” he began. “I understand some of my people put you in a difficult spot.”

  “It’s all right,” Tei answered. “It was my choice to take them.”

  “Fortia wasn’t all too pleased.”

  “That’s the way Fortia is—imposing order is all ey has in eir head. Isn’t ey a bore?”

  “I’m afraid my staff only wanted to visit the special district out of curiosity. If you’d known that I doubt you would have complied.”

  “Yes, I was quite aware. I am a man and a woman, after all.”

  Tei offered Shirosaki a seat.