Chapter 8: Morality Commissioner Liu

Which sort of brings me back to the start of this story, where, as you may recall, I was accosted by a security robot as I dashed off the pedestrian strip, and I was running a bit late for school, because it turned out Ziggy had a few friends in the Space Dragons, and those guys knew how to break the rules without being caught, and everyone knows about Marines and girls.

They had a few cubes here and there, scattered around New Beijing, and Ziggy borrowed one now when we dated, the Space Dragons that were his battle-buddies, they were cool with that, and we’d gone there after the movie, and it’d been a hot finish to that date with Ziggy last night, and his tentacles had done some just totally amazing things, and I was just about hoarse from screaming, because oh my god!

I’d had no idea a girl could climax from just a tentacle up her butt, but Ziggy had said he’d read that human girls could, so we’d tried it, and he was totally right, I could, and I did, and I wanted to try that again tonight, but with one in my sex as well and maybe another in my mouth, and Ziggy had said sure, so I was, like, totally unable to think of anything else, and I’d got home a bit late and I was short on sleep, but I didn’t mind at all.

So I was late for school and just about running, when that security robot asked me to step aside, and you already know I did, and I waited. And waited, wondering how long this was going to take and what the mistake was, and wondering if I should call Chewy now, because calling Dad was, like, a last resort.

“Comrade Citizen Stardust Wong,” he said, and his identification scanner beeped, so he knew exactly who I was and it wasn’t a question. “I’m Public Morality Bureau Agent Luong. Yesterday at your High School, you had your quarterly medical check sample analysis carried out. Is that correct?”

Shit! What was this about? This wasn’t a Security Patrolman. This was a Morality Bureau Agent, and they were the ones that ... oh my god, they must’ve found out about me and Ziggy, you know, doing things, and I kind of wanted to faint, because that sort of thing really was the Dark Side of the Moon if they wanted to be nasty about it, and it wasn’t like my track record was clean. There were some databases even my Mom would have to work to hack, but I’d never had an actual encounter with the Morality Bureau before.

“Uh ... yes, that’s right, I had the quarterly medical check,” I stuttered, thinking oh no, have I got that new Chungking Virus they were all freaking out over, down dirtside. Who’d I been in contact with that’d been dirtside recently? But they could have already done contact tracing if they needed to, and that was Medical, not Morality. Shit. Shit shit shit. What was this all about?

“Please come with me.” He checked his pers-com unit again. “We are scheduled for a Morality Review assessment at the Bureau’s Offices in Number Ten, Chairman Xi Plaza, Floor thirteen, in two hours.” He looked up. “Anything you say from this moment will be recorded, and may be used as evidence in your assessment, Comrade Citizen Stardust Wong. Your school has been notified that you have been detained.”

“Uh ... can I call my parents?” I asked, totally freaking. What was this about? Morality assessment? And I was back to me and Ziggy again, or crap, maybe me and those cute fascists, and I better call Chewy right away, but I hadn’t dated any fascists since I met Ziggy. Well, only a few, before I made up my mind that I was totally Ziggy’s girl.

“Your parents have already been summoned to the hearing, Comrade Citizen Stardust Wong,” Morality Bureau Agent Luong said, not quite tonelessly, but close.

“May I make a phone call?” I asked, just freaking. If it was about dating fascists, I knew who could cover my ass, and my parents might not like it, but if it was a choice between my parents being mad at me, versus the Morality Bureau, I sure knew who I was picking. Being grounded versus Dark Side of the Moon? What do you think? I knew I was in deep shit. But for what? I hadn’t done anything, had I? I mean, I’d dated a couple of fascists but I had a get out of jail free card for that.

I’d given that really horrible teacher who wouldn’t give me an A Plus a blowjob, so that I’d get an A Plus, but I was sure nobody knew about that, and besides, that wasn’t the sort of thing that would involve the Morality Bureau. That’d just be an infraction notice and some social credit points, and Mom could fix that. I knew she could, so that didn’t worry me, and besides, that was from before I met Ziggy too.

“May I make a phone call?” I asked Agent Luong again, and he looked at me and nodded.

“Chewy,” I said, as soon as he answered. “I’ve been picked up by the Morality Bureau, I’ve got a hearing in two hours, at the Bureau’s Offices in Chairman Xi Plaza.”

“Wait one, Stardust,” Chewy said, and when he came back on, he sounded puzzled. “Someone’s jacked with you, Stardust. Don’t know what it’s about, but I’m on my way. I’ll be waiting for you when you get there. I’m alerting Colonel Tran and I’ll have a Security Reaction Squad backing me up in case they get stupid about this.”

“Thanks, Chewy,” I said, totally relieved.

Security-Major Chu was waiting at the entrance to the Moral Bureau offices, and one look at his face, and I was stressed all over again! Maybe Dad was being, you know, purged for incorrect thinking or something, and I kind of swallowed, and tried not to cry. Not my Dad. Please no.

“Do you know what this is all about, Chewy?” I managed to whisper, walking beside him, and I probably did look really scared, because I was.

“No idea, but I found out whatever it is was initiated by Morality Commissioner Liu, and that guy is a total reactionary, as old fashioned as they come, but don’t worry, I’ve got you covered, Stardust. If your Dad can’t deal with it, I can.”

“Please enter, Comrade Citizen Stardust Wong,” Agent Luong announced, holding the door open for me, and I guess I had no choice but to walk in, and at least Chewy was with me, which made me feel a bit safer, because I’d seen the Security Reaction Squad in the foyer, thirty of them, all in black and armed to the eyeballs. No-one but no-one tangled with a Security Reaction Squad, so I walked in, Chewy followed me and the door closed with Agent Luong on the outside, and my Mom and Dad were there.

“Morality Commissioner Liu,” Chewy nodded, and he didn’t sound too friendly. “Medical Doctor Chiang. Perhaps you can tell me why you wish to talk to Comrade Citizen Stardust Wong?”

“They haven’t told us yet,” my Dad growled, and he sounded pretty jacked.

“Very simple,” Morality Bureau Commissioner Liu said, smirking, and that smirk said, yeah, this was all aimed at my Dad, and I was the ammunition, somehow, and I had no idea how, but I was glad I’d used deodorant this morning because I was really sweating.

“Yesterday, Comrade Citizen Stardust Wong had her quarterly medical check sample analysis carried out, and as per regulations, the Morality Bureau was advised where results are anomalous with the relationship status of the Citizen.”

“What are you talking about, Liu,” my Dad snapped, and me, I was trying to think if there were any tests that’d show that I’d been, you know, having a sexual relationship with Ziggy, but I couldn’t think of any.

“Comrade Citizen Stardust Wong is not married, there is no flag on her personnel records indicating that she is engaged to be married, and her medical tests have flagged that she is pregnant,” Morality Bureau Commissioner Liu said, rather blandly. “As such, a Morality Assessment is a requirement. If pregnancy is confirmed, and there is no reasonable defense, the Morality Bureau will determine any moral reeducation required.”

His façade slipped, and he grinned. “You little slut of a daughter’s going to the camps, Wong.”

“What?” my Dad snarled, half rising from his seat.

“What?” I screamed, bouncing off my seat and almost hitting the ceiling, because I’d grown up dirtside, and those old autonomous reflexes kicked right in, but Security-Major Chu snared my ankle and eased me back down, and he was speaking urgently into his headset at the same time. “How?”

“You little slut,” my Mom wailed. “How could you? Who was he?”

“I’ll have him castrated,” my Dad said.

“That should be possible,” Peoples Morality Bureau Commissioner Liu said. “I understand Detainee Stardust Wong is a minor.”

“I am not,” I said indignantly, but I did gulp. Detainee? Oh crap. “I am almost nineteen. I am NOT a minor.”

“You’re not married either, Detainee Wong,” Peoples Morality Bureau Commissioner Liu said, rather drily. “And you have been reported on a number of occasions to the Peoples Morality Bureau.”

“What?” my Dad said, and yeah, he was really upset about that. I knew my Dad.

“Stardust Wong!” my Mom said, and she had her com-unit out and her fingers were flickering.

“Comrade Citizen Stardust Wong has been of great assistance to the Security Directorate,” Security-Major Chu said, rather unexpectedly, studying the fingernails on one hand, and he’d surprised both my parents too, I could see that, and I could see they weren’t pleasantly surprised either, and this assessment was not going well. “All such reports have been nullified by the Security Directorate, as you well know, Morality Commissioner Liu.”

“What was she doing for you?” my Dad said, very coldly, and I could just tell he was thinking about Security-General Zhao, and nope, this assessment was not going at all well.

For me.

“You can’t nullify a pregnancy, Chu,” Peoples Morality Bureau Commissioner Liu snarled. “But the Morality Bureau can. And will.”

“Pregnant! Aiyaaaaah, how did this happen?” my Mom wailed. Distraught, and I wasn’t too far behind her. I mean, I’d never, not with a guy. Only with...

“Oh my god! Ziggy!” I gasped, pale with shock.

“Ziggy?” my Dad looked at me, and now he looked distraught. “That heptapod you’re friendly with? Stardust!” His voice rose. “Please tell me you’re joking?”

“I’m not,” I sobbed. “I never, not with a guy, not with a human guy, I mean, and, I mean, a heptapod isn’t human. I can’t be pregnant ... I can’t...”

“The medical scans do not lie,” Medical Doctor Chiang said, rather blandly. “I just ran another set of diagnostics while you were talking. You’re pregnant. Confirmed. I’ve run the diagnostics three times. Zero chance of error.”

“How could this happen?” my Mom wailed, and I kind of felt the same way. How? I mean, Ziggy was a heptapod. Heptapods and humans shouldn’t be able to interbreed, so I hadn’t worried about it at all, and it felt so good when he, you know, ejaculated. Actually, it felt amazing, and just thinking about it made me feel better.

“How? How could this happen?” my Mom wailed again.

“How? One assumes sexual intercourse of some type occurred,” Medical Doctor Chiang said. “That is the usual method. One wonders what a heptapod uses as a sexual organ. They’re not overly communicative about their reproductive habits, although we know they are similar to us, in that there are males and females.”

“Male hetapods use their tentacles,” I said, sniffling wetly. “All of them can function as sexual organs. They have a distributed nervous system, each tentacle has its own brain, with the central brain acting as a coordinator, but the tentacles can think and function semi-independently, and they taste with their suckers as well, and those tendrils are sort of like fingers, and they can actually ejaculate from the tip of each tentacle, there’s a special gland there that’s usually hidden, but it extrudes when they’re sexually aroused, it’s a sort of penile extrusion, and it’s very adaptable and sensitive, and it feels really good...”

Everyone was looking at me.

“Daxiang baozhashi de laduzi!” my Dad exclaimed. Explosive diarrhea of an elephant! “Stardust! How could you bring such shame on the family? And with an alien?”

“Stardust! How could you?” My Mom was crying. “The disgrace! The shame! My daughter pregnant, and unmarried. Not even a fiancée.” She buried her face in her hands and wailed. “And to an alien. It’s almost as bad as a hāakgwái.” She looked up, and I could tell she was horrified, and I did feel bad for doing that to her. “What are we going to do?”

“This is very interesting,” Medical Doctor Chiang said, eyeing me speculatively, and I sought of knew how a frog on the dissection board feels. “Perhaps an abortion? We can dissect and study the hybrid to determine how this occurred. No-one has even speculated that a human-heptapod cross-fertilization is possible. I checked all the literature.”

“No way,” I screamed, hiding behind Security-Major Chu, because he seemed about the only person here who was interested in protecting me. “Abortions are illegal here, and you can’t make me. It’s my baby!” Well, mine and Ziggy’s I guess, and abortions were only illegal if you were married.

Oh my god. Pregnant? Me?

“Nobody ever contemplated that a human female would even consider having sex with a heptapod,” Peoples Morality Commissioner Liu commented, and the way he eyed me, he was thinking an example should be made, and that I was it.

“No-one, under any circumstances, will make an example of my daughter,” Dad said, rather coldly, and he was obviously thinking the same thing as I was.

“I report to the Peoples Morality Bureau,” Commissioner Liu said, equally coldly, glaring at my Dad, and I swallowed rather sickly. “And pre-marital sex is under our purview. Pre-marital sex with aliens will be under our purview soon,” he added. “As soon as we can update and backdate the regulations.”

“There will be no backdating,” my Dad said, and his voice could’ve frozen helium on Pluto.

“If I make a suggestion, Party Secretary Wong, Chief Scientist Wong, Peoples Morality Commissioner Liu,” Security-Major Chu coughed discreetly. “I believe we should consult with the Bureau of Aliens, and Aliens Commissioner Xi is currently in New Beijing in an official capacity, meeting with the Heptapod Ambassador and the commanders of the military assistance mission. I have requested both Commissioner Xi, and the Heptapod Ambassador, as well the alleged father, Tentacle Leader Ziggy Yai!lith, to join us urgently, in the interests of furthering amiable relations between ourselves and the Water Paths of the Heptapods. They will be here shortly.”

“An admirably intelligent suggestion, Security-Major Chu,” my Dad said. “Unlike some that have been made.” And he glared at Peoples Morality Bureau Commissioner Liu.