Even Braver New World State

by Rick K. Reut

  “Why won’t it work?!” exclaimed the European Controller. “Haven’t we got all the necessary equipment and techniques developed exactly for that purpose?! Don’t we have a whole arsenal of soma bombs we can drowse them with and then work on their conscience with drugs and hyper-hypnosis until their minds finally yield?

  “Well, we can do all that, of course. But is it really worth the effort? After all, it is disastrously difficult to mend a mature mind with civilized methods of conviction unless it really wants to be mended. We could certainly go back to the old Orwellian ways. But then we would be no better than them. In fact, we would be even worse, since we, unlike them, should know better. If what you suggest is to work, we will have to use those drugs all the time. And I don’t think that they’ll last that long under such conditions.”

  “And besides,” sighed the North American Controller, sadly, “even if they do last, they won’t be themselves anymore. Each one of them will be something else, something that can hardly be called human. So, I’m afraid you’ll have to accept the fact that only individuals below eighteen are actually worth the effort of reconditioning. Otherwise it’ll be nothing but tyranny, for they will know what we’re doing. And one simply can’t perform complicated operations like these on people who’re aware of what’s being done to them. You have to anesthetize, at least locally and preferably globally, before you can allow any surgical intrusions. Or else it won’t even be surgery. It’ll be blatant butchery.”

  “I guess you’re right again,” muttered Controller Globe, looking out at the concrete canyon outside.

  “I’m glad you can see it,” said Freudina, caressing Gianna’s crow-black hair.

  “But what if,” the European Controller started at some sudden insight, startling Controller Fordy in Its turn,” what if I manage to prove that not only an eighteen, but, say, a twenty-eight or even a thirty-year-old naturally born human male is able to change?!”

  “Then you’ll simply prove what you’ve just said. But be sure you that it won’t work for everyone.”

  “Well then, if we can’t save everyone,” Controller Globe pronounced with mounting determination, “we must try to save as many as we can. Save them from themselves. Besides, I’ve already sent a small set of my agents, with D.H.C Downing in charge, to one of the Islands.”

  “D.H.C. Downing?” echoed Controller Fordy, using this chance to turn the conversation away from the annoying topic. “Is that that gorgeous peach-bottomed blonde I once saw you with in London?”

  “I suppose so.”

  “Is that your Chief of Conditioning?”

  “Well, yes. And what of it?”

  “Nothing,” Freudina smiled slyly. “It’s just that I took a fancy for It the very first moment we met. But, being totally out of time, I didn’t have a chance to enjoy It properly back then. Is It really as sweet as It seems?”

  “More or less.”

  “Have you had It?”

  “What kind of a question is that?” Gianna gave a genial laugh. “It works under my direct supervision. Of course I’ve had It. Many a time! As a matter of fact, we like to test Its new students together. They’re a truly special treat while they’re still young. So ripe and ready to be taught all kinds of kinky tricks. You can do virtually anything you want with their malleable minds, let alone bodies at that age.”

  “You’re absolutely right,” Controller Fordy cried out, happy to have distracted Its friend. “I should probably practice that at my own Conditioning Center. I’ve been too busy trying to control this continent lately. And consequently, I’m completely spent, squeezed out like an old fruit. I feel like I ought to take a little vacation, a sex spree to the south or something. You know, in order to prepare for the forthcoming carnival. After all, all the Controllers are expected to take part. And I do feel slightly out of shape.”

  “O, nark it off, Freudina. You look simply perfect.”

  “Thank you, my dear. I only wish I could say that I feel that too.”

  “But you have to! You’ve always been my role model when it comes to these things.”

  “Well, I’m most certainly happy to hear that.”

  “But that isn’t really true, is it?” pressed Gianna.

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “I mean you feeling like an old fruit? Or whatever it is you feel like saying you feel like.”

  “Well, all right. Maybe I don’t really feel as bad as that,” Freudina conceded coquettishly. “Besides, our annual orgy was pretty okay, wasn’t it?”

  “O yes! You and Tania certainly gave Conchita and Victoria a good reason to visit their proctologists tomorrow morning.”

  “Indeed! They were barely able to sit on it when it was Lulu’s and Roxana’s turn to take them,” Freudina grinned. “I mean, these world-wide-assed Latinas are so femininely passive. They can hardly have a decent erection without somebody’s cock up their butt to build it up. Perhaps they ought to increase their daily dosages of testosterone.”

  ”You think they’re actually taking it daily!?”

  “No, but maybe that’s a sign that they should start,” Freudina laughed out loud as the lift finally floated to a stop, letting the two Controllers out into the lobby.

  The spacious, sun-lit lobby of the Trans Tower looked abandoned. Not a soul in sight. All the surveillance and security was done by means of machines.

  Introducing Artificial Intelligence in course of the Second Coming had rendered all menial labor redundant. And since such labor was no longer necessary, neither were the castes crafted for it. There was simply no more need for manufacturing mentally and physically retarded morons like Epsilons, Deltas, or Gammas. Betas were of no more use either; even economically, let alone ethically and esthetically.

  With the AIs able to do all the dirty work requiring no imagination whatsoever, every individual could finally be made an Alpha Double or even Triple Plus. And when everybody became a Triple Plus Alpha, there was no more need to call them that way. The absence of this need automatically erased all the alienation lines between the New World State’s denizens.

  It was one of the two core conditions for complete social equality. That and the easy accessibility of each social member for sexual intercourse, which rendered other differences in social status absolutely insignificant. And indeed, what was the point of being a World Controller with continents of responsibility on one’s shoulders if one could have one naked for lunch.

  In the meantime, lunch was exactly what was on the body-bound mind of the two Controllers as they headed for the central cafeteria.

  The cafeteria looked almost as abandoned as the lobby. The Annual Summit of the Chief Caretaking Continent Controllers, also known as “The Big Ten”, was an official day off for most of the New World State’ denizens.

  The Controllers ordered two glasses of fruit sperm cocktail from a T-shaped AI robot twinkling its stainless steel torso by the bar.

  “Thank you,” said Controller Fordy as soon as the drinks were served.

  “You are well-come,” replied a resonant, robotic voice speaking almost in syllables.

  Freudina smiled at the machine and carried the cocktails on a chrome-colored tray to one of the tables, where Controller Globe was already waiting.

  “These new T-shaped bar robots are really nice,” remarked the North American Controller, putting the tray on the table. “So much better than the previous “S” model with Its awful wiry arms that reminded me of coiling snakes. I mean really, they would send shivers down my spine every time I touched them.”

  “Touched them?” Gianna stared at Its friend, in surprise.

  “Well, yes. I was just curious to know what they were like. Weren’t you?”

  “I wouldn’t say I was. And what were they like?”

  “Like so much rubber-covered wire.” There was genuine disappointment in Freudina’s voice. “Our Ford and Freud in Flivver of Their First Coming, in other words.”

  “Yes, the world was just a giant pil
e of phallic symbols back then,” Controller Globe noted, picking up one of the glasses.

  “Isn’t it one now?” wondered Freudina, taking the other one.

  “Well, I suppose it will always stay that way as long as there are penises,” said Gianna, pensively gazing at the glass. “At least, according to Our FordorFreud’s New Testament.”

  “And that’s exactly why we should thank them. Imagine what it would be like if the world was full of vaginas once again! What nonsense! The old pre-transsexual God must have had a very hard day at work from the purely creative point of view when he was concocting something as senselessly shapeless as that. And really, who needs a vagina when one has an anus? It’s one whole hole more than one can handle with one cock!”

  “You seem to forget that humans were still viviparous in those days,” Controller Globe smiled reflectively, turning the glass in Its hand.

  “O, I remember all right,” sniffed Freudina. “You seem to forget that I was at the top of my pre-transsexual history class. As well as all my other classes, for that matter.”

  “You are being uneven and vain.”

  “Not at all. Strictly factual. In fact, I am just joking. You know that I’m always just. And almost just as even when it comes to serious matters.”

  “That I do.”

  “But still, one can only imagine how miserable they must have been back then with all those foolish females around,” continued Controller Fordy, getting excited. “You know how cruel they were to all those poor males whose behavior wasn’t manly enough for them. Absolutely atrocious! Like those miserable males could help it, having been brought up the way they were, with their conditioning thrown to the cages of blind chance like a piece of meat to a hungry lion. I mean, it was pure pandemonium! Violence and vindictiveness all around! One can only wonder how they managed to survive those times.”

  “Darwinians called it natural selection.”

  “O yes, and what a painful process it was, with billions of innocent people falling prey to their animalistic instincts. Schopenhauer and Nietzsche were right. A human being is first of all an animal and only then a rational creature. Not even so. More of an animal capable of rational activity, but still too sensual to exercise it properly.”

  “Fortunately, that’s no longer the case,” said Controller Globe, glancing at the machine by the bar.

  “And it was a Ford of an achievement for the preceding generations of decanters. Thanks to them, we no longer have to condone with the tyranny of blind chance, let alone the injustice it brings along. Now we can finally make human beings absolutely perfect from top to bottom, starting with the moment of decanting. And in case something goes wrong, we can simply abort the fetus development and start the whole process anew. It’s also rather nice that we no longer have to arrest it and breed those awful-looking little animals: Epsilons and etcetera. And all that is due to our dear AIs.”

  “Yes, all due to our dear AIs,” echoed Controller Globe, contemplatively.

  “You know, I even remember seeing one of them when I was still a small tranny,” Controller Fordy spoke, reminiscing.

  “Who?”

  “What do you mean, who?! One of those obsolete Epsilons, of course! Weren’t you listening?!”

  “I was. I was just a little lost in my own thoughts. I’m sorry. Do go on.”

  “Alright. But pay attention!”

  “I will!”

  “Okay then. Anyway, I must have been around six or seven back then. I guess that Epsilon was one of the last vestiges of the mass production age, still employed at the nursery school where we were being conditioned. Working an elevator or something, I suppose. I’ve still got Its ugly, moronic face stuck in my memory together with Its stump of a body one whole size smaller than even us six year olds. It all seemed so horribly humiliating. Like a spit in the face of humankind. I know they were indispensable back then. But I simply can’t imagine how our ancestors could stand their absolutely appalling appearance from the purely aesthetic point of view. They used to destroy such monsters at birth even in Ancient Sparta. And that was thousands of years before the time I’m talking about.”

  “Well, it looks like they had no other choice. Somebody had to do all the dirty work with willingness and without suffering from it,” noted Gianna Globe, taking a sip from Its glass.

  “For a while, of course. But they chose to go on on the same organic basis even when the existing technology allowed them to switch to hi-tech robotics. And then they had the impudence to continue calling themselves moderns.”

  “Well, most moderns were also rather retrograde and sometimes simply stupid. Some of them were even more stupid than most of the pre-moderns. But mostly they were just greedy and lazy. It was just easier for them to continue along a once chosen track than try to change and come up with something new. They were…”

  The Controllers’ conversation was cut short by a sudden commotion outside. A second later the cafeteria door burst laughing open, like a large square-shaped mouth, spitting out the rest of “The Big Ten”.

  As loud as a herd of wild horses, the Controllers charged in, swamping the scene with neighing noises. If one didn’t know that there was no alcohol produced anywhere in the New World State, one could think that they were drunk.

  “O, there you are!” cried Conchita, who was leading the way, like a queen without a crown. “We’ve been looking all over for you two, haven’t we?!”

  “That’s too true!”

  “Quite so!”

  “We have indeed!” – came a crowd of confirming cries.

  “Anyway, you’ll never believe how much fun we’ve just had in the pre-transsexual history museum on the hundred and what, first floor?!” bragged Victoria de Vega.

  “Yup, one hundred and one it was. We watched a married couple of amateur family movies of naturally born men and women shot on some obsolete digital camera. So definitely disgusting!” commented Huy Hee.

  “Still, the porno was quite nice. Some of it even reminded me of the First Coming’s solidarity services. No chanting or singing, though,” chirped Roxanna Ra.

  “Speaking of singing. What are you two love birds tweeting about here?” demanded Controller Trahova, moving towards them.

  “…just like them” Gianna whispered to Freudina, finally managing to finish the sentence It had started before the intrusion. “All the more reason for you to support my plan and avoid the mistakes of those pre-transsexuals,” It added hastily, hearing Tania approach their table, with the sound of Its hoof-shaped high heels bouncing all over the place like an invisible basketball.

  “What was that?” wondered the West Asian Controller, stopping before them, Its long, shapely legs spread wide apart. “Don’t forget that there can be no secrets from the Controllers’ Council during the Summit. And we all want to know what the tweeting is about. Especially since I’ve just heard the word “pre-transsexuals” being thrown around here.”

  “Precisely,” said Controller Fordy, rising from Its seat. “We were just discussing the pitiful social situation most of the pre-transsexual societies had to face during their transition from…”

  “Boring!” cried Conchita Carman, cutting the North American Controller in midsentence. “Boring! Boring!”

  It came up to Tania from the rear and squatted behind Its back, trying to peep under the West Asian Controller’s short black skirt.

  “Why don’t we discuss this for a change,” It suddenly sprung up, pulling the lower part of the West Asian Controller’s dress all the way up to Its head, thus baring half of Tania’s body, including Its intimate instrument.

  “I’ll kill you for this,” Tania shouted in a fury, struggling to get free from the dress.

  “It’s getting hard to wait,” smiled Conchita, already back down on Its haunches, masturbating and trying to catch Tania’s colossal swinging cock with Its open mouth.

  “And here we go again,” sighed Freudina, starting to peel off Its pink silicotton panties in unison with
the rest of the disrobing “Big Ten”.

  Chapter Ten

  “Did you enjoy it?”

  “Well, who wouldn’t?”

  “Do you always answer that way?”

  “What way?” wondered Adam, watching Rafaela, who was watching him back.

  “Like you’re somebody else.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I mean – indirectly.”

  “Well, it’s kind of hard to say. I’ve never watched myself that closely.”

  “So I see,” she said, scribbling something in her sketchpad. “Now I’d like you to describe what you felt.”

  “Felt when?” When she slid her hand into my…mу…?”

  “Exactly,” Rafaela confirmed his conjecture before he could find a fitting word for it. “Except that it wasn’t she.”

  “What do you mean – it wasn’t she?”

  It was the first time in his psychological assessment interview when Adam was truly baffled by what he heard.

  “I mean to say that the Director’s Assistant Pharmacologist is not a woman.”

  “Not a woman? Yeah, right!” Adam snorted, staring at the assistant somewhat skeptically. He could clearly recall Leonarda’s appearance, which had nothing manly about it. Nothing at all.

  “Believe me, if it had been a man touching me today, I would have noticed.”

  “It wasn’t a man either,” Rafaela replied casually, closely watching his reaction.

  And suddenly Adam remembered. Something the old man had told him about the mainland being inhabited by these new creatures of biotechnological progress, these mysterious super-humans called transsexuals. But then he had paid no serious attention to his words, dismissing most of them as senile ravings of a lonely loony. And now could it be that this lonely loony had been telling him the truth?

  Adam stared at the assistant in a state of silent stupor. Rafaela saw it and smiled.

  “There’re no men or women in our world, Mister Marx. No males or females. And so, there’s no need in special pronouns to point out the difference between them. Which is why, when we refer to ourselves in the third person, we prefer to call everyone evenly: either It or I-T, meaning Intelligent Transsexual.”