Chapter 2

Dan, along with many other men, sat waiting in a testing room. Tests like these had become common in this age of job scarcity. Having to jump through hoops like a schoolboy just for the chance at an in-person interview boiled his blood. But because of his slim choices, he accepted it.

They gave all the job applicants a single sheet of paper with multiple-choice questions. Dan looked around the room and saw that, like himself, the other applicants gave themselves headaches trying to give the best possible answer. Schooling taught him to be wary of easy answers. Trick questions were common on tests.

He took a breath to steady himself. Then he got on with it, knowing that while they stated no time limit, they could end the test at any time.

First question: What to do when a drunk girl finds you. 1: take her home 2: hit on her 3: make love to her.

The stated job position was security. Dan got no more detail than that, but it put some context to the question. If a security guard found a drunk girl, it made sense that they would want to know how that man would behave.

He looked around the room again and checked and confirmed that indeed, all the applicants were men. All of them were also in his age range.

What bothered him was the structure of the question. It raised several questions that in his mind made the answer less obvious.

For one: why would a girl find him drunk? If so, what did that mean? He made the tough call and went with the nonstandard answer.

The next question asked why women should have equal pay. Another odd one. Women already have that since the strict new equality laws came into effect. Did they want him to justify it?

This question only had two options: Because of the law. or Why should they?

The question required more detail than the two options allowed so he chose the second answer.

Then they asked: What are a man’s ideal traits? They gave him many options, nearly twenty. What they didn’t provide was clarification on how many to choose.

A teen in front of him raised his hand, and the instructor made a point of ignoring him. That told Dan everything. The question was another trick.

Dan supposed security guards needed to problem-solve, and they wanted men who knew themselves. He filled in only one trait. Less was more in his opinion.

The last multiple-choice question stumped him: What do you want in a woman? It made him think of his recent breakup with Maya. A smart girl with a hot body that had no real interest in him. She only wanted his dick.

Dan was no romantic, but it would be nice to have someone who actually enjoyed spending time with him. Fucking was fun, but not a life goal. He knew he was in the minority in that opinion.

It was the last question of the test and the one that took him the longest to answer. He risked failing the test. All the others had handed in their papers by the time he finally, chose: I don’t know.

Like the previous question, it had many choices. Most having to do with looks or wealth and personality. Dan should have picked one that had something to do with the heart or soul or something equally vague. Somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

It felt like a lie. The type of lie Dan’s father would tell his mother.

The instructor came by and took Dan’s test and handed out another. The other’s test-takers gave a collective groan, not caring if it made them look bad.

Dan understood their frustration. Their potential employers were moving the goal post, but the test-takers had invested time already and wouldn’t back out. The corporate bastards knew it, too. It was another bad sign.

After they completed the written tests, they moved everyone to a physical test. Dan expected push-ups or a weapons test. Instead, he entered a room with a jaw-dropping sight.

A naked girl stood in the middle of the dark room, illuminated only by a ghostly white light next to a bed. The girl said nothing. She only stood, motionless.

What purpose could this test serve? Given the contents of the first question on the multiple-choice test, Dan assumed they wanted to know if he would live up to his answer. But the answer he gave on that test felt wrong.

For one, the girl didn’t appear drunk or under any influence. And once he removed his attention from her petite, busty figure, Dan could see her blush-tinged cheeks.

Of course, she was nervous. Dan stripped naked.

Her head shot up and her mouth opened slightly. Saying nothing, Dan handed her his clothes and motioned her to sit on the bed.

She complied after putting on his clothes; the looseness making her look even smaller, while giving the illusion of an even bigger bust. And because she said nothing, he chose to remain silent as well. He made the motion to put a single arm around her, but only let his arm hover, not actually touching her.

After an unknown amount of time, the instructor entered the room, gave them the once over, and told Dan to follow her to the interview room. They would either send Dan home as a creep or to the police as a pervert. Whatever, he did his best.

Dan twisted in his chair while he waited for the interviewer. They didn’t keep him waiting long. A couple minutes after entering the room, two people, a man, and a woman stood before him.

The man moved with confidence and a hint of swagger. He had broad shoulders and would fit in with any of the jocks from school. The woman really caught his attention, she moved the same way the jock did, but it made her every movement erotic.

She gave Dan a knowing smile that caused him to blush. The man admonished her with a look, but she just shrugged, again doing so in an eye-catching manner. Dan wasn’t the type to get tongue-tied; but if any woman could make him lose a step, it was this one.

“My name is Jason and this lovely lady is—”

“Just call me Red.”

“Really?” Jason questioned.

Again, she shrugged. “Got used to it.”

“Fine then, Red.” Jason turned back to Dan. “We would like you to provide more detail on the answers to your test.”

“I didn’t cheat.”

“It’s not the type a test you can cheat on. That is not what we want to know,” Jason said.

“Tell us about your first answer about the drunk girl,” Red said, leaning closer to Dan.

“Well, it was written oddly.”

“Not oddly, precisely,” Red corrected.

“Yeah, OK. Well, the question ‘as asked’ made it sound like the girl would be coming on to me. So, I thought you wanted to know what I would do if a willing, but drunk girl, approached me.”

“You said you would make love to her.”

“Yes. If guys can have sex drunk, then girls should too.”

“So, you are not worried about consent issues?” Jason said.

“Of course, I am. All guys are now of days. But she also has the right for wild drunk sex. I thought one trumped the other. What I’m trying to say is, maybe she took the drink as liquid courage to approach me.”

Dan felt like he was digging himself into a hole. The two stared at him for an uncomfortably long time before speaking again.

“That was the right answer. Not what the question on the test stated, but the reasoning you just gave,” Red said. Dan relaxed.

“Sometimes guys take the consent issues too far. It has gotten to the point that guys avoid women altogether for the slightest of reasons,” Jason said. “It actually takes options away from the woman. Do you understand?”

“Sure, I guess,” Dan said, not really understanding.

“And the next question on equal pay. Are you against it?”

“No, I’m all for it...”

“But?”

“Is it always a good thing? What if trading pay came with other benefits? My last job paid for my travel to work and sometimes I could get away with personal drives. It’s not like the automated driving system will look too hard into where I’m going or how I’m getting there.” Then Dan hastily added, “Not like I would cheat your company out of money. I was just trying to get the maximum benefits. I am also aware that many women don’t get benefits for their lack of pay.”

Red laughed softly and waved him off. “Calm down. We understand. The question was more about seeing if you would regurgitate talking points. Next question about the ideal male traits. You only picked one answer.”

“Motivation. In my eyes, without motivation, a man has, and will be, nothing.”

“Oh? What about confidence, athletics ... charm?” Red eyed him up.

Dan twisted in his chair again. “Motivation can help with all that.”

“You could have picked more answers.”

“Maybe I should have picked self-worth as well, because I don’t need countless traits. Being a man with motivation is ideal for me.”

Jason and Red shared a look. They seemed to approve of his answer. Not for the first time, Dan doubted this was a security position, but his interest was raised so he waited for more questions.