Chapter 20

Elsa Myerson looked at the classroom in front of her. This was a special class that would meet three times, and it was only open to seniors. This one had an equal number of twelve boys and twelve girls. It was almost one twentieth of the girls in the senior class, and every boy from it. Elsa wasn’t sure how the next version of this class would work out. There had been talk of including the same group of boys every time, but that was still being debated.

“Alright, let’s get started. I know this class was a surprise to you all, but the school board decided that this was a good idea, and I agree, since I presented it to them.”

Elsa turned and walked to the white board, where she wrote, “PCA and PMB” across the top.

“Okay. This will be an interactive class that requires everyone to participate, and the integrity sensor will be on so we will know if you’re less than honest.”

The integrity sensor was, in effect, a lie detector. It was not allowed to be used for law-related issues, but it worked great in a classroom.

“Has everyone seen all of the Dark Times movie that came out last year?”

Every head nodded. It had been the hottest topic under the sun for a while, especially after President Melville’s announcement that it was a propaganda piece. The ethical issues of doing propaganda had been analyzed every way they could be, but generally, it had been accepted that this was a legitimate path to go down.

“Tammy, what are your thoughts about the PCA?”

Tammy twitched slightly at being called on, but she spoke up gamely.

“I think it’s a necessary evil. I mean, the famine is coming, right? We have to do what we can to blunt the population curve, or we will all starve to death, and the world becomes an apocalyptic hell.”

“Okay, but how would you feel about being selected, knowing that means you would be killed and eaten for the good of humanity?”

“Ugh. I mean, the thought is mixed. One the one hand, losing your life other than to natural causes when you are old after a full, rewarding life would suck. On the other hand, knowing that your death would help others would be a way to make the pain less. It’s like being an organ donor, right? Even if you die, others will benefit.”

“Good comparison to organ donation. I don’t think I’ve heard that one before.” She paused.

“In the slaughterhouse, you will be asked to strip naked in front of others, including the unknown men that will kill you. How does nudity in that situation make you feel? Trisha?”

“It’s no big deal. You’re going to die in the next few minutes anyways. Modesty is overrated anyways.”

“How so?”

“It’s just skin. There is so much of it, and even outright, explicit sex, on movie screens, and even on broadcast television now. And the Puritanical values that dominated and ruined the sex lives of entire generations has finally been ripped out of our society, and every other country in the First World. And certain public nudity and public sexuality acceptance laws are required to be a part of the First World Trade Block anyways.”

Head nods from almost everyone came in response to the last statement.

“Are you all comfortable with public nudity and even public sex? You are all eighteen and older, correct?”

Two female students shook their heads and stated that they were seventeen.

“Still, are you two comfortable with public nudity and public sex?” she asked, to make sure consent and acceptance was firmly established.

Both girls verbally answered yes when prompted.

“Well, what’s the age of consent in this state?”

“Fifteen,” someone spoke up.

“How did that number get chosen?”

“It was a compromise. The European Union decided it, and since they started and control the World Trade Block, they required all members to accept it.” Another student said.

“What about compulsory nudity?” She asked.

“Well, I don’t think anyone cares. I don’t.” One of the seventeen-year-old girls said. The others all nodded.

“Why don’t we all strip then.” Elsa said as she went over to the door and activate the privacy mode of the glass set into the door, then she set the electronic door access control to privacy mode so that no one other than an authority person could come in, and even then, they would get warned about the privacy setting and asked to badge in again to confirm that they had a good, valid reason for overriding the lockout. Then she came around to the side of her desk where everyone could see her and began to disrobe.

Everyone else stood and got naked as well, piling their clothing under the seats of their desks. Elsa then handed out towels for everyone to sit on.

“Natalie, come up front, please.”

She did so, standing there with her hands at her side, completely at ease.

“Notice that she has no body hair. Was that a choice, Natalie?”

“Yeah. I just like it. It’s more sanitary.”

“Is that the only reason you like it?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged.

The integrity sensor in the corner pinged, reminding everyone that they had to be completely honest.

“Alright, it also makes anything sexual feel so much better, and I like it when I jill off.” She blushed very slightly as she turned and looked at the integrity sensor, but the highly advanced device stayed silent, and the indicator light was green this time.

“Fair enough. Are you physically aroused right now?”

“Nope.” She shook her head.

“Class, any visual indications that she is aroused? We all know how to spot physical arousal signs in a human female, right?”

No one disagreed, so the teacher turned to the desk and pulled out an envelope from her drawer.

“This came for you today. Can you open it and read it to the class?” Elsa briefly whispered something in Natalie’s ear, and the student nodded in response.

Natalie opened the letter, and she began to read.

“Natalie Elaine Schultz, by order of the Missouri Population Management Board, you have been randomly selected for processing. You will report to the location listed below no later than—”

“Okay, stop there. Class, does anyone see visual signs of physical arousal now?”

Several hands went up.

“Jun-Yi?”

“Her nipples poked out, and her clitoris did, too. And I think she is lubricating.”

“Yes. Natalie’s fight or flight adrenalin response kicking in, and it’s making Natalie’s body ready for any course of action she might want to undertake. The sexual responses are something of a by-product of the overall systems kicking in. Natalie, how do you feel right now?”

“Scared. Terrified, actually. I want to run out of here. My breathing is faster, and my vision seems different somehow.”

“I am not going to go into the physiological changes, since this is not a science class. Now, class, watch closely.

“Natalie, this is a fake notification. You have not been selected, and you will not be processed. I told you that a second ago when I handed it to you.” Elsa took the notification and walked it over to the shredder, which turned it into something closely resembling slightly chunky powder. “Don’t want that to get into the wrong hands.” She turned back to the class.

“Why did Natalie’s body still respond the way it did? Anyone?”

It was silent for a while before Geo spoke up.

“Because death is a huge event? One might say the ultimate life event?”

“Exactly. Even though the letter was a known fake, she still instinctively reacted to it. It comes from what the scientists call the animal-brain, the primitive portion of the brain that is most in charge of instinctual and involuntary actions, like pulling your hand away without direct thought when you accidentally burn it.”

She turned and looked at the classroom. “Everyone, please stand up, hands by your sides.”

After they did, she asked another question.

“Did anyone else feel at least slightly physically aroused at this? I am going to require each of you to answer that out loud. Remember the integrity monitor is on.”

Everyone in the class answered that they did feel at least a little physically aroused at the thought that Natalie had been selected, and that she was going to be killed within a week.

“There is nothing wrong with you for that. It is pretty universal in the human population to feel that way. It’s like a brush with death or watching someone or standing next to someone who is suddenly killed in a violent manner. It’s also the reason horror films are so popular, especially now after Reaper. You would think that Reaper would have turned us away from that, but the physiological response in nearly every human past puberty is actually stronger now.

“The scientists feel that because we have seen so much death, the fight or flight response is stronger as the will to live exerts its influence to try to save you for reproduction to further the species.”

Heads nodded in understanding at that as people processed the information.

Elsa walked over to Natalie and ran the tips of her fingers down Natalie’s back, eliciting goose bumps and a greater level of physical arousal from the beautiful eighteen-year-old girl.

“The sensation is not going away, is it?”

“Definitely not. Ugh!”

“What would make the sensations subside for you?”

“Honestly? Getting a good hard fuck right now. As soon as possible.”

“How do you want to handle this? Do you want to do that here, now, in front of your classmates? The topic will continue to be relevant afterwards.”

“Sure. Can I get someone to do me?”

“Are you protected and fully vaccinated against STIs?”

“Yeah, I got the vaccines and I get the shot regularly. It keeps me from having a period as well, so that’s a plus.” A quick glance at the integrity monitor verified it, but a tone would have sounded if it wasn’t mostly true.

“Is everyone else in here protected and fully vaccinated? Answer yes if you are fully protected and vaccinated or no if you are missing something, starting here and going front to back, please. Slowly, so that the integrity monitor has a chance to respond.”

Everyone said yes as Elsa went around the room and asked each one individually, and no tones were heard from the corner equipment.

“Has everyone completed the comprehensive sexual education course and the training sessions required for graduation?” That meant that the students had all experienced sexual intercourse during the training sessions, and no one was a virgin.

The ‘hands-on training’ courses every student was required to go through at age fifteen in order to graduate and be eligible for government assistance in the future if needed, destigmatized sex and got every student familiarized with having actual intercourse, something the sociologists had proven decades ago was better for reproduction and relationships. Student sexual preference didn’t matter, although opposing preference was respected before and after the course work was completed. Mechanics of heterosexual sexual encounters were the overriding objective, since it was recognized that at some point any person of any preference might want to become a parent. That was the point of the class: to get the student to the point of being able to at least tolerate an encounter with the intent of reproducing.

By the time the class was over, everyone in it was no longer a virgin, having had sex with both more than one classmate and, to start with, a specially trained sex instructor to make sure their first time was not a complete disaster that turned them away from sex. It was a successful course nearly every time, having been refined for years in other countries in Western Europe first, then in this country when it was eventually implemented here.

And any failures in the course objectives for each student were flagged for additional support and work until each student was as close to successful completion as possible.

Still, once in a while a student showed up from out of nowhere having not had the course or the experience from the training. That meant they had to schedule a special session for the student, most likely with an adult sex therapist and surrogate trained in youth sexuality, who was brought in to bring the student’s graduation requirements into compliance.