Chapter 12

After gym, the three teens found each other and began to compare notes about what they had learned. Neither Cynthia nor Ayame had showered; they said that their volleyball exercise had been so perfunctory that neither had broken a sweat, despite how hard the teacher had tried to push them.

“Say, did you hear anything about cameras in the locker room?” Roger asked. “No one said anything about them getting replaced.”

“No,” Cynthia said. “I saw the broken ones were still there.”

Then a group of kids passed going in the opposite direction, escorting a Program student, but they couldn’t see who it was.

“So you heard there were only eight?” Roger asked. “No wonder we didn’t see anyone before this. Since we have about 2000 kids here, eight is such a tiny number.”

“And about 500 seniors. Davis said they were taking eighteen of them a week. They’ll never get to select all of them, you know. There’s what—fifteen weeks left before graduation, less a break week. That means only a bit more than half can get picked,” Cynthia said.

Roger was thinking. “Also, you know, something like a third of the senior class must have turned 18 between last September and November and most of us will turn 18 during our senior year. I think maybe three-quarters of the seniors must be 18 by now,” he said. “If that’s right, then fourteen of the eighteen seniors they picked today will be older than 18,” he laughed. “None of them can be compelled to participate.”

The bell rang to start the period and they sat down.

“Yeah,” Cynthia agreed in a whisper. “I’m gonna text that to my friends. Even if their parents signed them up, when they’re 18 they can revoke their parents’ permission, I’d think. And the Supreme Court ruling about minors would no longer apply.”

They turned their attention to the teacher who was beginning the class.

After class, as they walked to lunch, Cynthia suddenly spoke. “Hey, I just thought of this. Ayame, you didn’t have a Program person in Civics, right?”

“No. I’m happy for that, too.”

“And in Anatomy there was that one girl who refused and Mary in gym; you had two in swimming. I forgot to ask Mary if any of her teachers asked about Relief. Let’s see if there’s anyone in the Program in the lunchroom we can talk to,” Cynthia concluded.

They found two friends of Roger’s and Ayame saw Devin on the lunch line, but no naked kids, so the six found a vacant table in one corner. After a few minutes, Roger felt someone tap him on the shoulder and he turned around. There were three naked girls holding trays standing there.

“Roger and Cindy, right?” one girl said. “Could we please sit with you guys? I want to talk to you if it’s okay.”

The group at the table shuffled themselves around to make room.

“I remembered that you were in this lunch,” the girl said. “Last week I saw you guys sitting with the other Program kids and you were very nice to them. We’re all upset about this and don’t know how we’ll get through the week. You’re Marine family kids, right? I wish my parents would have fought to keep me out of the Program,” she said. “Oh, my name is Robin. I’m a senior.”

“Hi, Robin,” Cynthia said. “Roger and I were talking—we were wondering in classes whether the teachers asked you about Relief at the beginning.”

“Ugh. Yes, but like I would really do that?” Robin said. “Sue, did your teachers ask?”

“Yeah, they did. I’m Susan, everyone. Also a senior. There was a Program boy in one class and he had a hardon but refused Relief too. Hell, he was soooo embarrassed! Andy, were you asked?”

“Yeah, I was. What a turn-off. Not only do we have to display our bodies, they want us to display solo sex acts? This Program shit is the best anti-arousal experience I could possibly imagine, and I can’t wait till it’s over. A whole week!” she groaned.

“Say, you’re a senior ... are you 18 yet?” Cynthia asked.

“Yes, my birthday was in January.”

“So you know you can’t be forced to be naked? You’re an adult now and your privacy is guaranteed by the Constitution,” Cynthia continued. “Even if your parents agreed, it’s up to you now.”

“Oh, wow, I never thought of that!” she exclaimed.

“Neither did I,” both of the other two girls chorused. “I was 18 in November,” said Robin.

“I was 18 last September,” Susan said.

“What do you want to do, girls?” Robin asked. “You want to get dressed?”

“YES!” one exclaimed and the other said, “Me too, but our clothes were taken away until after school...”

Roger said, “Let’s see if we can help. Hey guys, do you have any extra clothes these gorgeous chicks can borrow? I hate to see you gals cover your beautiful bodies, but I’m a gentleman and I’m trying not to stare—too much, anyway.”

Susan giggled, “You’re sweet. I feel so exposed, though. My boyfriend’s been trying to get me to go to the nude beach. I refused, and then this happened. Life is so unfair.”

Meanwhile, Roger’s friends had pulled several tee shirts out of their backpacks. “These two are clean,” one of the boys said.

“I have a clean extra, too,” the other one said.

Then another said, “Hey, I have some gym shorts in my locker but they might be big for you.”

Susan said she had some safety pins, so he ran out to fetch the shorts.

Then Cynthia said, “If you don’t mind wearing my gym shorts—Ayame, yours too—we had a real easy gym period so they’re still clean, you can take them.”

Between the whole group, the girls were able to get tops and shorts to wear for the rest of the day. The clothing was handed over and the girls quickly slipped the garments on. Someone must have noticed what was happening at their table because less than ten minutes later an angry Cirota appeared at the lunchroom door, looking around the room.

His eyes lit on the Denisons and he stormed over to their table.

“I heard a rumor that some Program students were getting dressed. Yes! You were in the morning group. And you!” He pointed to two of the girls. “You’re in violation of the Program rules, young ladies. Get those clothes off, and you’re punished by having an extra day added to your week.”

Susan retorted, “No sir, I’m 18 years old and remembered that as an adult, I can’t be forced to be in the Program, no matter what permission my parents gave nor what that law says. Also, if you touch me, I’ll charge you with assault. You can’t physically touch an adult without their permission.”

Robin added, “I’m an adult too, and so is Andy. We’re not in your Program any more.”

“You just can’t leave it,” he cried. “You have to complete it. You won’t graduate.”

“Like I care about that,” Andy said. “When school’s over, I’m spending a year in Europe and thinking of going to university there. I speak German and want to study international relations.”

Susan put in, “I’ve been accepted in college already. You don’t know where, either, and you can’t stop me from going.”

Cirota was beet red by now. He turned to look at Roger.

“Denison, this is all your doing. And your MPs arresting me, and your interfering with the Program on the swim team, and fighting me last Monday. Oh, your little cousin here, you also thought that she’s exempt from the Program. Well, I took care of that, and we’ll make sure she participates too,” he growled.

Ayame covered her face with her hands as Roger instantly leapt to his feet and grabbed Cirota in a judo hold.

“You deliberately added her name to the list, didn’t you?” Roger snarled. “The selection is supposed to be random, but you used your position to subvert the rules. Listen to me. If anything happens to any of the kids in the Program, Ayame included, you’re a marked man. If I get to you first, I’ll castrate you personally, got that? But I’d have to get on line behind a lot of actual Marines who will hurt you even worse. Now go crawl back under the rock you came from, you hear? Get outta here!”

Roger pushed him away and glared at him. “I’m waiting...”

“You’ll be punished too. You think you’re so important, an international judo champion. You’re no match for the power of the federal government,” Cirota spat. He turned and left.

“Guys, I’m not dropping this. He’s a loose cannon,” Roger exclaimed to the others. “I’m happy that you girls decided to resist the Program; that takes a different kind of bravery than the kind you showed when you first got naked in public. That took a huge amount of courage, you know. Maybe more than I have, I think. So never forget how you made yourselves do that, you hear? What you’re doing now, resisting, shows that you care for your honor and morals as highly as your sense of obedience. And following your sense of honor will never lead you astray. That’s what my dad always says.”

The three girls just grabbed Roger and hugged him, thanking him and telling him how much he had helped them in making their decision.

Roger said, “I’m going to see Davis about Ayame’s being on the Program list now. Cyn, if I don’t show up in about a half hour, contact Dad and tell him what happened, okay? See you later,” and he strode out of the room.

Roger got to the office and asked to see Davis; the secretary told him that he wasn’t in his office just then.

“Then please contact him; this is urgent.”

Several minutes later Davis came in. “Oh, Denison. Are you the urgent call?”

“Yes sir. Have you spoken to Mr Cirota in the last fifteen minutes?”

“No ... I take it you have a Program problem, then.”

“No sir, not me. You do. Can we go into your office, please?”

When they got into the office, Davis sat down and Roger took a seat too. Davis told him to continue.

“Cirota came into...”

“Mister Cirota.”

“Sir, the man lost the right to be referred to using that title. I will give respect to those who respect me. He came into the lunchroom, why doesn’t really matter, and began talking to me. He told me that he holds me responsible for his arrest last week, for the students’ resisting cooperating with the Program, with my interfering with the Program in the swim team, and with my own resisting too. Of course I accept full responsibility for my own resisting, obviously, but you know from our conversation last week about the general resistance among the students. And he brought on his own arrest by making that incredibly stupid decision to bring in his own police force.

“Then he admitted, with witnesses present, that he personally added my Japanese cousin to this week’s Program list. You had assured the student body that the selections were made entirely randomly, yet this so-called official said he’s adding names himself and added Ayame’s to it in his own personal vendetta to try to punish me in some way. You know that Ayame isn’t a ... um, she’s not registered to graduate? Matric something...”

“Matriculated. Go on...”

“Okay. She isn’t really a student here and she’s also a Japanese citizen. So she’s not really a student; you can’t withhold graduation since she’s already graduated high school, so why was she put into the Program? Was she on the list of students who could be selected, even?”

“No, and my assistant told me about her this morning, but I didn’t get a chance to check further. You’re right, she shouldn’t be on the list of students that the selection program uses.”

“That’s why I wanted to see you, sir. That man is dangerous and has already precipitated two riots here.”

“Oh yes, this morning’s incident. I’ve heard from several teachers how you broke that up. You’ve got several grateful teachers for that. I’m not sure of what to make of you, young man. You’re so opposed to the Program yet you come to the rescue of teachers who are trying to enforce the rules.”

“Sir, this may sound trite, even self-serving, but I’m not being deliberately oppositional. I try to do what I’ve been told is right, and the kids who went after those teachers weren’t right so I had to stop them, but man, were those kids so angry! Something about the Program here has caused such intense anger—oh, hell, yes—that’s what it’s about! You know, I think it’s about fairness! That must be it. Suddenly there are two new groups, like class differences, created in the school. The privileged and underprivileged. The kids from the Marine families who seem to be exempt from participating and all the rest who don’t have that protection. Isn’t that what triggered the French Revolution? A class divide? Maybe even the Spanish Civil War and all its atrocities too? Sir, if this is true, you’ve got a terrible problem. It’s a tinderbox and I think that Cirota’s lit the fuse.”

“Those are some serious charges, uh, Roger. I don’t know how to react, but I do feel the tension in the school and it’s affecting the staff too.”

“Also me in a way I don’t like. When Cirota threatened Ayame, I’m afraid that I overreacted, grabbed him, and actually threatened to cut off his balls if he hurt her. I’ve never lost my temper like that before and I’m ashamed that I did it. For that I apologize, but to you, not to him. He doesn’t deserve any apology. The man has no honor.”

Davis shook his head. “No comment about that. Roger, I need to ask you about the swim team. Mr Cirota told me that the Program students on the team won’t compete naked. I was going to ask the coach; perhaps you can tell me what happened.”