Chapter 2: Background, The Program

This story is fiction. Actually, the setting of an artificial world in Space and the year being 2109 should have been enough to clue you in about that.

I don't care how old are. I don't care how young you are. However, the law does care, so if you are too young, go away (or at least try not to get caught).

If this story is against the law where you live, then like the young folk, go away. Or at least...

Anzu James: Naked in Orbit, Part 02 (Background, The Program)
by Coach Michaels

(nosex, several possible squicks mentioned in passing)

It turns out that you, my dear readers, are reading this exactly one year before the Naked in School Program started. Now, if you who are Americans follow politics in this election year, you'll notice that the candidates are sometimes asked about it, and that they never give solid answers. Not Glouster, not Burlington, not Nadara.[1] But it won't be until October of next year that Karen Wagner makes history as the first participant in the NiS Program, which will be called simply "the Program" from then on. Certain things just keep their simple name but gain a capital letter, like the Bomb or the Pill.

Now much of the world was still pretty conservative when it came to sex, and in many places, especially America, nudity was invariably linked to sex. But the elimination of HIV/AIDS in the early 1990's, followed by all other sexually transmitted diseases by 2000[2] (your year, remember?), caused a sexual revolution to sweep the planet like none before. Instead of asking "how do we get teenagers to stop having sex" (an impossible goal in any era), the question now was "how do we get our kids over the inhibitions that we heaped on them in the age of AIDS?" There were many different approaches to this, but what finally took shape was a combination of comprehensive sex-ed, free anonymous birth control for all, and the Program.

The Program is simple in concept, though not always in application. Each week, a high school student is randomly picked to attend school in the nude. This student has to be naked, and I mean stark staring buck-ass nude, whenever in school, or at any school function, such as a sporting event, play, or dance. She or he is not allowed to cover up, even with hands. The student is also encouraged to be nude outside of school, but not all communities require this.

Guess what? Mendocino does. Yep, I have to be starkers all day and all night, in school or out. Lucky me.

The student is required to honor Reasonable Requests (capital letters again), though he or she has some discretion as to what is and is not reasonable. Only a true wuss would try to claim that "please turn around so I can see you from different angles" is not reasonable, but "can I fuck you?" is turned down by most, unless it comes from a lover. Some do accept such requests as reasonable, however, and it isn't considered slutty as long as it's just Program sex. I'm glad the Island Council showed some sense and mandated that Reasonable Requests are only for school.