by M. M. Perry
The two girls moved swiftly back toward the newborns while Jeremy and Naomi followed Administrator Spock. They walked into an area that looked much more familiar to them, the set up similar to General Leisure where they had been staying until now. Two men were sitting on a semicircular couch watching an old Earth show on the screen in front of them.
“Hey, Jeremy! I thought I recognized the name when it came up. I was too busy to look it up to be sure,” the fair-haired man said, standing.
He had light blue eyes and skin even paler than Naomi’s. His hair was almost white. When he came up to give Jeremy a hug, Naomi smiled at how different the two men looked in just about every way. Jeremy’s latte-colored skin looked darker next to Brian’s paleness.
“Hey, Brian. It’s been a while, yeah? And Jamil. Funny how we all ended up back together again.”
Jamil was slightly lighter skinned than Jeremy. His dark straight hair was cut short and tidy. He hugged Jeremy as well.
“This is Naomi,” Jeremy said. “We’ve been friends for about eight years now. I met her when I was twenty-three I think. A few months after I moved out of your unit. I just now realized you two have been together for a long time.”
“Yes, we have,” Brian said, briefly sharing an inscrutable look with Jamil before returning his attention to Naomi. “Hello Naomi. It’s nice to meet you. The computer matched us all up, so I expect we’ll be friends pretty quickly.”
Administrator Spock smiled and moved to leave.
“I’ll let you all get acquainted, and re-acquainted as it were. Jamil and Brian will go over Family’s rules. I look forward to seeing you around. I hope you enjoy your time here.”
They waved goodbye to the administrator and Jamil motioned they should join him at the table in the center of the room. They all took a place around it and sat.
“I guess I’ll get this tedious business out of the way before we get to know each other,” Brian said with a tight smile. “It’s not too much to know, but it’s important. You risk not only demerits, but possible banning from Family if you break the rules. And, worse. Most aren’t hard to follow, but a couple can be accidentally broken if you, well, let me just get into them.
“First off, you aren’t ever to be with the youths alone. You must always be with another adult. But you have to be careful. If you’re in the common room alone, and children come in, it’s obviously an issue. We were told, and it’s a good rule of thumb, just don’t go into the common room without someone else. It’s pretty easy to do. Most people are ready to go into the common room after their shifts anyway.
“Second,” Brian said robotically, “don’t talk about your shifts with the children. They’re curious, and Family tries to encourage their curiosity, but they don’t want them developing desires for jobs outside of their genetic determination. The kids can tend to become admirable of you. It makes them feel like they want to grow up to be like you. We aren’t supposed to do that.
“Third, and this is more for us, if you see the kids seeking comfort with each other in the way that post Intermediates do, you’re to report it to a counselor immediately. I’m sure you both remember what it was like to be twelve going on thirteen. They give them a lot of activities by this age to try to keep them busy, but you guys know, it happens. You feel like kissing so and so. If the kids complain about it, remind them they just have to wait a little bit longer. When they’re fourteen, they join Intermediate. Two years later, General Leisure. And, we all know the rest.”
They all laughed and Brian continued.
“Fourth, related to the third, no comfort around the kids. If you need to be with someone, take it out of the common areas. We don’t need to exacerbate the issues with these guys.
“And finally, don’t try to teach them things. If they have a question, you’re supposed to direct them to their teachers. I know, this is pretty hard. When you know the answer it’s hard to tell them to wait until their classes. But, it’s about conformity. They need to all learn exactly the same. They don’t want their lessons to vary.
“And in our case, there’s an unwritten rule. Our kids are getting close to being teenagers. Getting close to being allowed to do the things they’re imagining. They can sometimes develop strong attachments to us that go beyond caretaker. Let a counselor know if you think this is happening. You don’t want to get yourself cornered by a love sick student in the common room.”
Jeremy winked at Naomi and she punched him in the arm.
“Ow!”
“Some joke we need to tease out?” asked Brian.
“She had a crush on a teacher. Stalked him a bit even,” Jeremy teased.
“I did not!”
All but Brian laughed. Brian watched Jeremy and Naomi with a melancholy look. He caught Naomi’s eye and she looked away, uneasy under his gaze.
“I know,” Brian said in a serious tone, “right now everything is exciting. You’re new here, and there are so many things to experience. But just make sure to follow the rules, okay?”
Jamil patted Brian on the shoulder.
“We remember Jeremy, Brian. He isn’t a rule-breaker. I think things will be great. I’ll take over the introduction from here.”
Brian nodded curtly and plastered the same nervous smile on his face from earlier while Jamil talked.
“Tomorrow you’ll have your first chance to meet them. We don’t dine in the general cafeterias, not unless we want to. There’s a small one close by you can use if you aren’t feeling like dining with the kids. We dine in the common rooms. It’s smaller, and allows more interaction with them. If you’re wondering with all the rules what you talk to the kids about, ask them what they’ve learned. We play games. The approved ones are all located in the common rooms. We watch films and shows from the approved lists. We talk about them. You’ll see, it’s easier than it sounds with all the rules. It comes naturally.”
“Really, though, as glad as we are to have you join us, it’s unfortunate you got stuck with our group. For your sake. You don’t get the same experience when they’re this old. When they’re younger, you play a greater role in socialization. Because that’s what we’re here for. The teachers give them knowledge, the nurturers give them love, and we’re there as kind of an extended network. More social interaction for them to grow from.”
“Spock said they’d be easier for us,” Naomi said.
Brian and Jamil smirked.
“Family does a good job, so I wouldn’t want to contradict them. But I think it’s only been getting harder for us. We started with this group when they were six. They were so much easier then. Now, they’re ready to get out of here and start their lives. We’re just the adults that don’t let them do what they want,” Jamil said.
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Jeremy said. “We just thought it would be fun to change things up a little. Something to focus on with all the excitement of Mission’s End arriving soon.”
He rubbed Naomi’s shoulder absently.
“I think I know exactly what you mean,” Brian said, his gaze unfocused. “Looking after the kids certainly helps fill the hours when you might be worrying about something else.”
“Yes, but this is a lot of dark talk. We’ll end up with a counselor in here if we’re not careful,” Jamil said stiffly.
“Right,” Brian said, quickly putting his hand on Jamil’s arm. “You’re right. Let’s get the unit specifics out of the way. Either of you thinking you need to declare exclusivity? Nobody ever says yes, but… I have to ask. Rules of declaration and all that.”
Both Jeremy and Naomi shook their heads.
“Great, uh” Brian looked around at the group, “Naomi, you want to declare first?”
“Sure. I prefer men. I’ve dabbled with women. It’s not my preference, I don’t seek it out, but if it’s a close companion, I’m receptive.”
“Great! Alright, I think I remember yours, Jeremy, but we always ask again,” Brian said.
“I prefer women. I’ve also dabbled w
ith men. My dabbling days are done, I’m afraid,” Jeremy said.
Brian and Jamil both looked surprised.
“Well, well, well,” Jamil said smiling. “You have settled down. You were quite the pod hopper back in the day.”
“I was, wasn’t I?” Jeremy mused, chuckling. “My new lifestyle is one of the reasons I thought Family would be a better fit. I thought the people here might be more focused on other things.”
“For the most part,” Brian said, “though, it’s still strange for the computer to match you here considering Jamil’s preferences.”
Jamil rolled his eyes.
“He says, like I still pod hop on the regular,” Jamil said, giving Brian’s backside a squeeze.
For the first time since she’d met him, Naomi saw a genuine smile cross Brian’s lips.
“Alright, alright. Fair point. Let’s do ourselves and finish this up so we can play a game or something. I,” Brian said, smiling warmly, “am more than a dabbler in both directions.”
“And I,” Jamil said, “have never found myself interested enough to dabble with women. I’m only interested in men.”
“Well, that seems to be all set,” Jeremy said. “Shall we do something fun to end the night?”
They sat around and chatted for a while, easing into a life with a new set of unitmates. They moved to the circular sofa to get more comfortable. Naomi found herself warming quickly to Jamil. Brian was more intense than she felt comfortable with, but Jeremy’s and Jamil’s presence diluted his personality somewhat. The topic turned quickly to their tour of Family.
“Did you repeat the damn chant?” Brian asked. “I can’t help myself. Every time they say it, I have to say it, too. It’s been twenty years since I’ve been in Childhood Learning, and I still say it when prompted.”
Jeremy and Naomi nodded uncomfortably. Talking so angrily and openly about the teachings was something normally reserved for the pod. Jamil smiled broadly and shifted the topic when he saw Jeremy and Naomi’s faces.
“You remember in Intermediate when they talked about how comfort can also include something more physical?”
At this they all genuinely laughed.
“I think half my class had figured it out on their own by then,” Naomi said, grinning, her unease ebbing away.
“Right?” Jamil continued in an officious voice. “What we haven’t told you up until now, the greatest comfort comes in the form of two bodies joining at the hips. When brought to completion, the comfort you will experience will sweep away all your anxieties as the body fills with positive endorphins of happiness.”
“They make it sound so terribly clinical,” Jeremy said. “I actually think the teacher had the worst of it. Mine looked so awkward describing it.”
“I once looked it up,” Jamil said. “See if it was different on ancestral Earth. They called it sex education if I remember that right. Sounds just as awkward.”
“It’s weird,” Brian said musing. “They practically train us to get close enough to each other that everything can be solved by sharing a pod, yet punish us when we begin to depend on that connection too much.”
Jamil patted Brian on the back.
“I think we should start up a game. Something fun and distracting from all this darkness.”
“Yes,” Naomi said quickly, eager to move the conversation away from emotionally charged topics.
Naomi stared at the ceiling of her sleeping pod, concentrating on her vitals. She had retired from the game early, unable to focus. Brian’s words and general attitude had unnerved her. Jeremy had offered to join her, but she didn’t want him to end his night early simply because she was. She watched the numbers tick up and down as she recited her mantra.
Names flew through her mind as she counted them. Her vitals fell closer to normal range when she concentrated on counting. Brian’s melancholy thoughts had disturbed her more than she expected. She wondered if it was the pressure of Alphea’s request that she lead the party into the Tereshkova. She heard a light tap on the door to her sleeping pod. She slid the door open and as the seal broke, air rushed in around Jeremy. He smelled of soap and damp skin. He was dressed in only a towel.
“Would you like some company in there?” he asked softly.
The lights in the room were off. Naomi realized she’d stayed up into the rest hours. She scooched over to make room for Jeremy. He dropped his towel and climbed in.
“The decibel meter in this unit is way more sensitive than in Leisure. I asked the lads if they were all that sensitive in Family, and they said yes,” Jeremy said, spooning up against Naomi.
“Must be stricter because of the children. You didn’t get a demerit, did you?”
Jeremy kissed her ear. His warm breath brushed her face, a hint of mint in it.
“No, and I still have enough credits for the Gardens. Don’t you worry. Brian warned me as I was getting a little too loud. But, I was winning. It was hard to contain my enthusiasm. I never won when we played with Todd.”
Naomi giggled.
“Todd is very serious about his gaming.”
“Yes he is. He once woke me up four hours into our sleep cycle to scold me for cheating. He’d been thinking about it in his pod all night.”
“Had you cheated?”
“Well, not exactly. It was more of a conspiracy against him. Maria and I were tired of losing all the time, and before we started, we agreed not to go against each other. I mean, it was rather underhanded.”
“Devious even.”
“I’m never devious. A scamp perhaps.”
Jeremy looked up at the ceiling. Naomi’s vitals were still beating away in a soft white glow.
“Watching your vitals?”
“Counting.”
They were quiet for a while longer.
“Is it the Tereshkova again?”
Naomi nodded.
“And Brian. He’s… He says a lot of dangerous things. I don’t know if I can see another person counseled.”
“I know. But maybe he’s not as close to counseling as it seems. Once we played the game, he was as right as I ever remember him. But something has happened to him. He was never that risky when I knew him,” Jeremy said.
Naomi let out a breath to see if her vitals rose any. They remained steady.
“Tomorrow I meet with Alphea again. She…”
Naomi stopped herself. Normally she’d tell Jeremy everything that was bothering her. He helped her through her anxiety so many times. But she remembered the children’s lesson they had seen earlier in the day. Comfort goes both ways. She had been leaning on him too much. The stress of her leaving the ship on the mission bothered him. She couldn’t add to that burden by telling him Alphea had all but asked her to report directly to her, like a spy in the old movies they sometimes watched. That would be too much for him to have to think about. She held it back.
“Yes?” he asked, sensing something unsaid.
“She’s sure the shuttle will be ready in a few days.”
Jeremy watched Naomi’s heartbeat for a while before touching the ceiling and turning off the readout. He put his hand back around her.
“Mi,” he said, trying to steer her somewhere happier before sleep, “the final communication drop is tomorrow night. Until Brian mentioned it during the game, I almost forgot.”
Naomi smiled.
“That’s where we met. At a drop party.”
“Yes, we did. I remember how that night ended.”
“It was a good party. I’m glad I went,” Naomi exhaled contentedly, remembering the night.
“We should go. Remember all the good years in between. Maria and Todd might be there, too. Be a chance to catch up,” Jeremy said, nestling into a pool of Naomi’s hair.
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
Three
They were startled awake by a gentle alarm. Jeremy disentangled himself from Naomi and opened the pod door. Both Brian and Jamil were up and dressed. Brian was tidying up the table and Jamil was com
bing his hair.
“Alarms?” Jeremy asked, crawling out of the pod and walking over to a drawer where his jumpsuit had been cleaned and stored.
He pulled it on, hopping around to pull it up. The seam up the front knitted together as he ran his finger over it. Naomi climbed out after him and got her own jumpsuit ready.
“Yes,” Jamil said, setting his comb down. “It’s a Family thing. And one of the last things you’ll get used to. It’s for the kids mostly. We’ve all figured out how to set our own alarms.”
Naomi closed her suit, the fabric molding over her to provide support where she needed it. She moved to the mirror and picked up her brush, running it through her shoulder length hair a couple times before she was ready.
“To breakfast?” Brian asked.
They walked together to the common room. It was arranged like a smaller version of the cafeteria Jeremy and Naomi normally ate at. It looked to seat no more than thirty people. The edges of the room were surrounded in cabinets that were, at the moment, closed. The tables were larger than those in the cafeteria, and instead of four, sat six. Jamil used his foot to signal a table to rise. Once the seats rose, they sat.
“The food will come after the morning announcements,” Brian said. “You’ll be introduced as part of that. The kids may or may not come to our table to eat. Don’t worry about it if they don’t. They tend to mill about afterward to chat. Breakfast isn’t the best time to get to know them in any case. They’re pre-occupied with lessons.”
Only twelve adults sat in the room. Another door opened on the opposite side of the common room from where Jeremy and Naomi had entered. Fifteen adolescents entered the room, noisy and raucous.
“Big group,” Naomi said.
It seemed a lot considering she had only seen three babies in the nursery. Her own class only had nine people in it.
“Oh, you saw the nursery,” Jamil said. “At any given time, there aren’t that many babies, they raise them in clusters of three or four. These are all the kids born twelve years ago. But, it’s the biggest group their age on the ship, right?”
