The G. M. Os. - 26. Chapter 26 - Macho Tendencies

Chapter 26
Ship Clock 262947
Thomas 01-997s1
Tomas 01-997s2
Macho Tendencies

 

When Ben’s speeder approached the parking area for the six residences, he saw a Bot Security speeder sitting in the main area and three security bots standing beside it. He was tempted to just fly away, but where would he go. If they were here for him, he knew they would follow right behind. He coasted down into his parking spot and climbed down. Thomas jumped down from his side directly in front of the security bots. They didn’t move.

“Benedict 02-933g, we have come for your son, Thomas 01-997s1, is this the boy?” one of the security bots asked.

“What did he do?” Ben asked.

“This is of no concern to you.”

“But, he’s my son; whatever happens to him does concern me.”

“This is of no concern to you. Please step away from your vehicle.”

Fearing for his life, reluctantly Ben moved over to the steps and then went up to his porch.

“Dad, what are they going to do?” Thomas asked.

“Boy, you have two choices, you can come peaceably or we can bind you. Which do you prefer?”

“Dad, help me!” Thomas exclaimed, and then he slumped to the ground.

“What has the boy done to himself?” a bot asked.

“He’s fallen asleep,” Ben said. “He will do that if he gets overstressed. We were at the med center in Central City for an overnight sleep study. He has been diagnosed with narcolepsy.”

“4276, that data is correct,” one of the bots said.

“We were sent to pick him up. What would you suggest we do?”

“Well, okay, try waking him, otherwise pick him up and put him in your speeder. I wish you would tell me what he’s done.”

“We do not have that information. We were only sent to pick him up and deliver him for interrogation. This matter does not concern you.”

“4276, the boy is unresponsive; we will place him in the vehicle.”

“Benedict 02-933g, you will be notified of the results of the interrogation. Have a good life.”

Ben watched the bots carefully pick up Thomas and place him in a seat. They strapped him in and the speeder flew away. Bewildered over what had just occurred, he turned, went in the rez, and went to his favorite chair, where he sat down and stared at the vid screen on the wall.

Meanwhile, down at Commune Center at the day school, there was another Bot Security speeder sitting in the parking lot. Inside the school, three security bots were at the secretary’s desk.

“In what classroom, may we find Tomas 01-997s2?” a bot asked.

“In middle grades classroom three,” the secretary said.

“Thank you.”

The bots turned and went down the hall. They stopped at classroom three, opened the door, and went in. Whatever had been happening in the room stopped. All the children and teachers stared at the bots.

“We have come for Tomas 01-997s2, which of you is he?” a bot asked.

“Me, sir,” Tomas said, worriedly.

“You will come with us.”

“What did I do?”

“You will come with us, peaceably or otherwise.”

“But, what did I do?” Tomas cried.

Two bots came over to the boy and produced plastic bindings which they applied to his arms, wrists, legs, and ankles. One placed a black bag over his head, and then one of them picked him up and they carried him to the door.

“Where are you taking me? What have I done?”

“No talking, you have resisted, no more talking, all will be revealed in time.”

Tomas began to cry.

********

In the first speeder, Thomas woke up and saw that he was inside the bot speeder. He didn’t know what to do and, as he didn’t want to anger the bots, he didn’t ask where they were taking him. It was a long trip, but he couldn’t tell in what direction they were going. The only thing he did know was that he had never seen this part of the ring, so, obviously, they were not going to Central City.

Finally, the speeder slowed, dropped its nose and flew down toward a large hole in the ground that got bigger the closer they came. Then they were inside and Thomas looked back and saw the opening begin to close. He turned back and watched their progress down a long tube. They entered a large room that looked like a hangar and the speeder landed beside a structure similar to a loading dock. There were six unidentified bots standing at the edge of the dock.

“Thomas 01-997s1, please leave the vehicle,” a bot said.

Thomas unstrapped himself and climbed out of the speeder onto the loading dock.

“Two steps forward, please,” a bot said. “No talking, no resistance, no attempts at futile escape.”

Thomas walked forward and two bots came up behind him. One pulled his arms behind him and he felt metal rings attached to his wrists. His legs were forced apart and when he looked down he saw metal rings attached to his ankles. There was a metal chain between the rings. He tried to move his hands apart, but they wouldn’t move. He had no idea what was going to happen next.

“Walk forward, follow us,” a bot said. It turned around and walked away from Thomas, who tried to walk, but the chains made that difficult. He could only shuffle along.

They went through the doors and down a hall to a bunch of elevators. They got on one and Thomas felt it going downward. When it stopped, the doors opened and he followed the two front bots down a hall. They came to an open area where there were other bots. The rings on his wrists and ankles removed, but Thomas didn’t move.

“Come over here, human,” a bot said from inside a room.

Thomas walked over there and stopped in front of the bot. To him it looked like a med-tech bot, but since he’d rarely seen one he couldn’t be sure.

“Removed all your clothing: shoes, socks, shirt, trousers, and underwear,” the bot said.

“You want me naked?” Thomas asked with a quivering voice.

“No talking, remove your clothes,” the bot said.

Thomas started weeping as he slowly began to undress. All these bots were staring at him, making him feel embarrassed, he didn’t want to do this, but what choice did he have? Finally, he was naked and tried to cover his genitals with his hands.

“Put your hands at your side and open your mouth,” the bot said.

Thomas opened his mouth and was shocked that the bot put a finger-like appendage inside. It felt around almost making him gag. The finger came out and it said, “Turn around, bend over, lower, stay there, do not move.”

Thomas was shocked when he felt another finger enter his bottom. He couldn’t imagine what the bot was looking for. Whatever it was, it definitely felt uncomfortable. The bot pulled its finger out and told him to stand up and turn around.

“What is your height, age, and years?” the bot asked.

“One hundred thirty-two centimeters, age twelve, one hundred eighty years old.”

“You are small and too slender for your age group. Do you have a medical history?”

“I was just at the med center in Central City.”

“What is your ID?”

“Thomas 01-997s1.”

“You are a male-to-male twin, yes?”

“Yes.”

The bot powered down, came back, and said, “You are narcoleptic, you have an undescended testicle, and your penis is close to miniscule. Medicine has been prescribed for the narcolepsy, but you have not ingested it as of this moment. You are scheduled for an operation to move your testicle to its correct location in your scrotum. In puberty, if your penis does not extend, you will be given hormones to increase its length and the overall size of your body. You are unwell. We will take that into consideration during your interrogation process. Wait here; I will acquire clothing for you.”

Thomas didn’t like it when the bot said they were going to interrogate him because he didn’t know what he had done. He couldn’t think of anything that he had done. Well, there was calling people names, but was that a crime?

The bot came back with some gray coveralls, underwear, and a pair of slippers. He told Thomas to dress, which he did. Then he was told to go back out into the hall where bots put those rings on his wrists and ankles. He followed them back to the elevators and this time it felt like they were going up. Once the door opened, he was led out into another hall and down past solid metal doors set into metal frames. There appeared to be a little door down at the bottom of the doors and another little one in the middle. Thomas did not like this at all. They stopped at one of the doors, it opened, and he was told to go inside. They removed the rings from his wrists and ankles and left him alone.

Thomas looked around the little room and to his right he saw a metal bed attached to the wall. There was a thin plastic mattress on it and two blankets on top of the mattress. There was a small pillow on top of the blankets. In front of him there was a metal toilet attached to a metal structure that had a sink in it and one faucet. There was a shelf above the sink that had a metal cup with a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste in it. There was another metal door to his left.

He always wondered what a jail cell looked like and this was obviously a jail cell. He went over to the bed, spread out the blankets, and slipped under them. He was asleep in a moment.

********

The other speeder came into the interrogation center hangar and settled down next to the dock. One of the security bots picked up Tomas, took him over to where the guard bots were standing, and laid him on the floor.

“He resisted arrest. He had to be restrained.”

Tomas wasn’t paying the least amount of attention to what was happening to him. He continued to weep, but wished some bot would remove the black bag from over his head. He felt himself being picked up by his arms and then laid down on some kind of soft surface. There was the sensation of rising into the air and then being moved. He didn’t know what was happening.

After a while, the thing stopped and he felt as if he was being put on a floor. Then metal hands picked him up by his arms and stood him up. He felt the bindings being removed from his ankles, legs, wrists, and arms. The black bag was removed. He was standing in a room with a bot in front of him.

“Remove your clothing,” the bot said.

Tomas was hesitant, but this was a bot so he did as he was told. He was told to open his mouth, which he did. He felt the bot stick a metal finger in his mouth and feel around as if looking for something. He was told to turn around and bend over. Another finger went into his bottom and he felt it moving around inside of him. When it was removed he was told to stand up and turn around.

“What is your ID, height, age, and years?” the bot asked.

“Tomas 01-997s2, one hundred forty-nine centimeters, age twelve, one hundred eighty years old.”

“You are of normal height and body structure for your age group. Do you have a medical history?”

“Not that I know of.”

“You are a male-to-male twin, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Wait here; I will acquire clothing for you.”

The bot came back with some gray coveralls, underwear, and a pair of slippers. He told Tomas to dress, which he did. Then he was told to go out into the hall where bots pulled his arms behind him and he felt metal rings being put on his wrists. He looked down and the same things were being put on his ankles.

“No talking, no resistance, no delaying your progress to your cell,” a bot said. “This is an interrogation center. You are suspected of committing a crime and will be questioned to determine your guilt or innocence. Do not fear human, we do not torture children here unless they do not cooperate. We hope you do cooperate. You are too young to be tortured. You will find it to be extremely painful.”

He followed the bots to some elevators, got on, and it felt like the elevator was going up. Once the door opened, he was led out into another hall and down past solid metal doors set into metal frames. They stopped at one of the doors, it opened, and he was told to go inside. They removed the rings from his wrists and ankles and left him alone.

Tomas had read about prison cells on his module and this looked like such a place. To his right he saw a metal bed attached to the wall. There was a thin plastic mattress on it and two blankets on top of the mattress. There was a small pillow on top of the blankets. In front of him there was a metal toilet attached to a metal structure that had a sink in it and one faucet. There was a shelf above the sink that had a metal cup with a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste in it. There was another metal door to his left.

He went over to the bed, spread out the blankets, and slipped under them. He wept, unable to go to sleep.

********

Questionable material occurs in this section.

After an indeterminate amount of time Thomas woke from the sound as his door opened and two bots came in. He was told to stand facing the toilet and put his hands behind his back. Those metal ring things were put of his wrists and ankles. They told him to go out into the hall and stand still. When the bots came out, the door closed. One stood in front and the other stood beside him, holding his arm. They walked to the elevators and went up. When the elevator stopped, they got out and went down another hall. Thomas could hear screaming. He stumbled.

“What is wrong with you?” the bot beside him asked.

“What’s that screaming?”

“Someone is being tortured because they chose not to cooperate in their interrogation. We hope you chose to cooperate. There is barely enough of you to torture.”

They continued down to a door, which opened and he was told to go inside. There was a table with a chair on his side and another on the other side. The bots removed the rings and he was told to sit down. The bots did not leave the room.

After a short while someone came into the room and went around the table and sat down. It was a man about the age of Ben or Peter, which made Thomas feel comfortable.

“State your ID, please,” the man said.

“Thomas 01-997s1.”

“I am Derek 89, your interrogator. After I am through, you will be given a test, then speak with a psychologist, if necessary you will be given another test, speak with the psychologist again, and then, if necessary, speak with me for a final time. If at any time you refuse to cooperate with this process, you will immediately be given a series of very painful experiences that we hope will bring you back in line. If not, do not expect to leave this facility alive. We have a mission here to determine whether you have macho tendencies due to your constant verbal disparagement toward others you feel are below yourself.

“You have been observed calling adults queers, faggots, poofs, and perverts. You have been observed calling or referring to other children as being retards, dummies, queers, faggots, poofs, and perverts. All of these terms are frequently used by those with macho tendencies that are not welcome on this ship. If it is determined that you have those tendencies, due to your age you will be given a partial brain erasure, mental rehabilitation, and then reexamined for macho tendencies. If it is determined the brain erasure was not successful, you will be humanely euthanized.”

“What’s humanely euthanized?”

“Good question, it means you will be killed in a nice way. You will be surreptitiously drugged and then in a state of sleep you will be injected with chemicals that will cease your vital life functions. But it is very important for you to understand at this moment in your interrogation that at any time you do not cooperate either, voluntarily or through torture, you will suffer a most uncomfortable death. Do you understand what I have said?”

“Yes, but I didn’t mean anything by that. I didn’t mean any of those words.”

“We shall see if that is true. Now, when did you realize that you were different than others in your community?”

“Well, I suppose it was when I realized that I was smaller than other boys in my school and I kept passing out and falling down on the floor. They made fun of me because I was different than them. And then that man called Pablo started talking to me and at first he seemed to understand me. He said he knew what I was going through. He said he could help me understand how I was actually very special, unique, much better than the other boys. I liked him, at first.”

“How did he do that?”

“When he was working for my dad, Peter, and I was out in the orchard, too, he would take me out into the trees away from the other workers and we would talk. Then after some months he would touch me and the then ask me to touch him. Then after a year he started kissing me and putting his tongue in my mouth. Then he made me open my coveralls and push down my underpants. And he did things to me. He made me touch his penis and he touched mine and then he put his penis inside me! Do you hear me? He did things to me! Do you understand? He did things to me! Because I’m different! Because I’m not like other boys. Because I’m different! Don’t you see? I’m different!”

And, then, everything went black and Thomas didn’t notice he went to sleep and fell off his chair.

“The boy is narcoleptic,” one of the bots said. “He was obviously stressed, overreacted, and fell asleep.”

“Yes, it’s plainly obvious that his abuse contributed to his language problem. Take him back to his cell. We will continue tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir, but do you think that maybe being different from other boys in his age group also might have contributed.”

“Yes, we will have to explore that further.”

********

In another interrogation room, Tomas sat in the chair at the table waiting for what he did not know. After a short while someone came into the room and went around the table and sat down. It was a man much older Ben or Peter, and that made Tomas feel uncomfortable.

“State you ID, please,” the man said.

“Tomas 01-997s2.”

“I am senior interrogator Evgeny 44; I will be your interrogator. After I am through, you will be given a test, then speak with a psychologist, if necessary, given another test, speak with the psychologist again, and then, if necessary, speak with me again. If at any time you refuse to cooperate with this process, you will immediately be given a series of very painful experiences that we hope will bring you back in line. If not, do not expect to leave this facility alive. Your twin has been identified as possibly having macho tendencies. As you are his twin we must discover whether you also have active macho tendencies or whether they are latent and will be expressed at a later age. If it is determined that you have those tendencies, due to your age you will be given a partial brain erasure, mental rehabilitation, and then reexamined for macho tendencies. If it is determined the brain erasure was not successful, you will be humanely euthanized.”

“That means you’ll kill me, right?”

“Yes, but it is very important for you to understand at this moment in your interrogation that at any time you do not cooperate either, voluntarily or through torture, you will suffer a most uncomfortable death. Do you understand what I have said?”

“Yes, but I haven’t done anything. I don’t understand why I’m here. Thomas is the one who calls people bad names, not me.”

“What we need to discover is whether you do act on feelings of superiority toward others, either adults or other children. Or, we must discover whether you have latent macho tendencies. These have to be determined to ensure the safety of other humans on this ship. Now, what is your relationship with your brother? Is he nice to you? Are you nice to him? Do you fight? Do you call each other names? Tell me about your brother, the suspected macho.”

“Well, he’s smaller than me, like he’s age nine or ten. He’s like a little kid, always mouthing off at kids at school. He calls them bad names. Names that make him sound like he is a macho. And he’s always falling down like he’s asleep or something. Our teacher thinks he’s just goofing off and sends him to the office to get swats. My dad took him to the med center in Central City to find out why he does that falling asleep thing. I think he’s just trying to get attention because he’s little.”

“You don’t like your brother?”

“No, I didn’t say that. He is my brother, but he’s little and he’s not as smart as me. I don’t have to like him a lot, but I do like him because he’s my brother.”

“He calls a lot of people queers, faggots, and other derogatory names. Do you know why he doesn’t like gay men or lesbian women?”

“I don’t know why he would do that because our dads are gay, the women across the lane are lesbians, their next door neighbors are gay, and their next door neighbor is gay. Our next door neighbors are gay and their next door neighbors are lesbians. They’re all homosexuals and three of those homes have children our age. We all get together, but they don’t like Thomas because he’s little and falls down pretending he’s asleep.”

“Do you feel sorry that your brother isn’t as big as the other children in your neighborhood and that they don’t like him?”

“Yeah, kinda. He can’t help it. He’s just little. His penis is tiny, too.”

“When did you last see it? Maybe it’s gotten bigger; he is older, like you.”

“No, that was last month. He was getting out of the shower when I went in the bathroom to potty. It’s so tiny. There’s hardly anything to it. I kinda feel sorry for him. If it stays like that, he probably won’t find anyone to have sex with him when he older.”

“You worry about your brother, don’t you?”

“Yeah, kinda. I don’t know why he’s so little. We’re twins. We should be alike, but we’re not. We’re not at all alike. It’s kinda like we’re not even brothers. Maybe they made a mistake at the birthing center and we’re not really twins.”

“That’s interesting. I don’t think we’ve considered that. Maybe we should check that out, just to be sure. Okay, Tomas you can go back to your cell now.”

The guards cuffed and shackled Tomas and took him out the door. He hoped he had done okay because he didn’t want to be thought of as a macho. He wasn’t like that, he couldn’t be like that, and he liked people. Back in his cell, he lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He noticed there was one of those nano bot things up there. He wondered when they were going to feed him. It certainly was boring here in prison.

Unexpectedly, his door opened and two bots entered. One was a med-tech and the other was a guard. The med-tech told him to stand up and open his mouth. It stuck something in his mouth and rubbed it against his cheek. He took it out and told him to shut his mouth. They left and Tomas lay back down. He wondered what that was all about.

********

Thomas sat in the interrogation room waiting for the interrogator to come in. He hoped he wasn’t going to pass out this time, but when he had to talk about Pablo he got mad. He got mad when he talked to that child psychologist, too.

The interrogator came in and sat down. He looked at Thomas, who looked away. He was afraid the interrogator was going to ask him about Pablo, again. He steeled himself against the coming onslaught.

“State your ID, please.”

“Thomas 01-997s1.

“Now, let’s explore your difference from other boys. We’ve been talking with your twin and he said he worries about you being so little in relation to other boys at your school. How do you feel about that?”

“He said that? I’m surprised he would do that. I don’t think he likes me because I’m little.”

“It bothers you doesn’t it, being little?”

“Yes, it’s like Tomas isn’t even my brother. We’re so different.”

“He said your penis is tiny. How do you feel about that?”

“He said that? Why would he say something like that about me? Don’t you see? He doesn’t like me and will say anything about me being little. I can’t help it if my penis is tiny, but you know what? When I …”

Thomas slumped in his chair and one of the bots said, “The child fell asleep, again.”

“Yes, I’ll have to be careful in what I say to the boy, he has had a very traumatic childhood,” the interrogator said. “We will wait.”

After about ten minutes, Thomas opened his eyes and saw that he was still in the interrogation room. He was somewhat disappointed that the guards hadn’t taken him back to his cell.

“Aw, good, you have rejoined us,” the interrogator said. “You were talking about the size of your penis.”

“Oh, yes, when I was at the med center I saw a doctor and they’re going to give me injections to make my penis bigger. Make it like other boys. He said he was an, uh, endo something, endocrin something.”

“Endocrinologist?”

“Yes, that was it. He said I was too small. Doctor Don said I was too little, too.”

“Who is Doctor Don?”

“Oh, he’s our neighbor. He’s gay like my dads. He is the primary care doctor at the commune clinic. He’s nice to me, but he asked me to push down my undershorts when he examined me a while ago. I think he wanted to touch my penis. I told my psychologist what he said. I hope the bots came and got him for asking me to do that. Men aren’t supposed to touch little boys like that man Pablo did.”

“I thought you said Doctor Don was nice to you. How can he be nice to you and still want to examine your privates when you’re seeing him about something?”

“Well, maybe it was because of what that Pablo did to me. I don’t like men who might do that to me.”

“That’s understandable. Well, I want you to know we have a record of your examination with Doctor Donaldus 00 and he didn’t do anything inappropriate to you. He was just being a good doctor. But, we still have a problem with you saying things to the other children. So, we’re going to proceed to step two and give you that test. You can go back to your cell for lunch and this afternoon you’ll be taken down to the psychology section where you’ll take the test and speak with a psychologist. Okay?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

“Personally, I think you’re a good boy who just has physical problems that get in the way of how you interact with other people. Okay, guards you can take Thomas back to his cell.”

********

Tomas sat in the interrogation room looking at the interrogator who was looking at a piece of paper. Now and then he would look up at Tomas, who wondered what that paper said about him. There wasn’t much he could do except wait for the interrogation to begin.

“State your ID.”

“Tomas 01-997s2.”

“Thank you Tomas, good morning, how are you doing today?”

“Oh, okay, I guess, I’m in prison, being questioned if I’m a macho. It can’t get much worse than that.”

“No, it can’t unless you really are a macho. First of all, luckily we had a record of your brother’s genome. You know what that is?”

“Yes, it’s his genetic makeup.”

“Then yesterday afternoon, we retrieved yours when we took that swab of your cheek. Do you know what we found?”

“No, don’t have a clue.”

“Thomas is not your brother. He’s not related to you at all.”

“We’re not twins?”

“No, we checked with your birthing center. It seems they made a number of mistakes in your birthing cycle and made up combinations to make it look like parents were getting twins. You had a sister who was killed in that process. Those responsible are being replaced. So, that means we’re moving you to step two. When you leave here you will be taken down to our psychology department where you’ll be given a test and an interview with a psychologist. If all goes well, you will be taken home this afternoon at the earliest. Okay, guards you may take Tomas.”

They cuffed and shackled him and took him out in the hall. They went to the elevators, got on one, and got off on a different floor. They escorted him down to a room where they took him inside and took off his cuffs and shackles. A young man told him to sit down at a table.

“State your ID.”

“Tomas 01-997s2.”

“From this point forward in your life you will no longer be Tomas 01-997s2. Due to your birthing error, you have been reassigned a new ID. You are now Tomas 01-997u. Can you remember that?”

“Yes, I think I can.”

“Good, now, before you is a standardized macho tendency identification test. You will use the portable module to answer the questions. The test has multiple choice questions in the beginning and true and false questions at the end. Although there is no time requirement, it would look better if you do not take too long to answer the questions. We are looking for your immediate response to a question not a thoughtful attempt to get the right answer. One question does not determine whether you are macho or not. I will sit over in that chair and you may ask for my help if you do not understand a question. You may begin. Good luck.”

Tomas looked at the first question:

You are standing on a lane and you see a person walking toward you. You see that he has lighter than normal skin and is limping. What is your reaction?

A Nothing

B Revulsion at his mutation

C Revulsion at his disability

D A desire to eliminate this affront to society

E An interest in getting to know this person

Tomas entered “A” on the module. Then he went to the next question and the next. About an hour and a half later he came to the last question:

You see a young woman who has a large, red splotchy mark across her left cheek from her ear to the corner of her mouth. You are sickened by the sight of her.

A True

B False

Tomas entered “B” on the module, hit enter, and waited. The young man came over, took the module, and told Tomas to wait for the psychologist.

“Is there somewhere I can use a toilet?” Tomas asked. “I need to pee.”

“Oh, yes, guards, please escort the subject to the toilet. You do not need to bind him, but please supervise his actions in the toilet room. Bring him back here when he has finished. Thank you.”

“At your service, sir. Come, human.”

When Tomas returned to the testing room, there was an older man sitting at the table. Tomas went over and took his seat.

“I am Dr. Menus 41, I am your psychologist. What is your ID?”

“Tomas 01-997s2, no, Tomas 01-997u.”

“Habits are hard to change; you’ll get used to it. Does it bother you that you know you are not the brother of Thomas 01-997s?”

“No, he’s still my brother. We’ve been together long enough for our bond to stick. I guess, I feel different about him now that I know we’re not really related as twins, you know. It’s kinda like we’re still just like we were, but now I can see why he’s different from me. We’re not twins, but we’re still brothers. You know?”

“Yes, I can see how you might feel. Would you like to go home, now? You’ve passed your test and I can see no reason to go further in the interrogation process. There’s no evidence of macho tendencies in your psychological makeup. We are sorry we had to bring you in, but we had to be certain you weren’t a danger to the human population on the ship.”

“I hope Thomas comes through just as well. I don’t want him to die just because he’s small and is picked on by other kids because of that.”

“Well, now that we know he’s different from you, we’ll just have to see. I can’t make any promises. I hope you have a good life. Guards please escort this boy down to processing and arrange for transport to his residence. Goodbye, Tomas.”

“Goodbye, sir.”

The flight home was definitely better than the trip to the interrogation center. This time Tomas could see where the security speeder was taking him. It coasted down onto the parking area of the six residences and Tomas jumped out.

“Thanks for the ride,” he said.

“Have a good life,” a security bot said. The speeder took off and flew away.

Tomas ran inside the house, but there was no one there. He went up to the ranch office, but no one was there either. He went over to the orchard office, but it was empty, too. He looked at the clock in the office, it was 13:03. He looked around the office to see if there was anything indicating what fruit was being picked. There was a printout showing a projected crop of freestone peaches. Tomas went over to the orchard map and located the peach section. It was over two klicks away. He sighed and went outside. There was nothing to do except head up the lanes.

It took a while, but finally he could hear talking. He hurried up and came upon a dormitory worker picking peaches and dropping them roughly into his bag.

“Hey! You supposed to be careful with those,” Tomas said. “Don’t you know how to pick peaches?”

“Fuck off, kid,” the man said. “Don’t you know about those two kids that got arrested from this farm? They were machos.”

“Well, I’m not, they released me because I’m not a macho and if you don’t stop dumping those peaches I’m telling my dad and you will never work here, again. In fact, it might be better if you just left now.”

Tomas strode off down the row pissed at the dormitory worker. Finally, he heard Peter and Ben talking. He ran up to them and said, “Hey! Look at me! I’m home! Aren’t you happy to see me? Is Thomas back?”

“Hi, Tomas, you don’t know how happy I am to see you safe,” Peter said. He pulled his son into a hug. Ben came over and joined in on the hug, too.

“Is Thomas back?” Tomas asked, again.

“No, we haven’t seen him, did you see him?” Ben asked.

“No, but I know he’s there, my interrogator kept talking about him like he was there. Have they told you that Thomas and I aren’t really brothers?”

“No, who told you that?” Peter asked.

“My interrogator, they tested our genomes and we’re not the same. I’m now Tomas 01-997u. Oh, that man down at the end of the row, he was throwing the peaches into his bag. I told him to stop, but he swore at me. I told him to go back to the dorm.”

“Peter you’d better go check that he’s gone,” Ben said.

“I’ll do that. Tomas don’t go away.”

“I won’t, Dad.”

********

After lunch, Thomas sat on his bed waiting for the guards to come and get him. He was worried that he would mess up on the test, but there was nothing he could do. The door slipped open and two guards entered. Thomas stood up and went over to them and turned so they could put those ring things on his wrists and ankles. He followed them out and one got on his side and held his arm as they walked to the elevators. He paid little attention to where they were taking him and he wasn’t surprised they entered a room on a different floor. They took the rings off and waited by the door.

A young man told him to sit down at a table.

“State your ID.”

“Thomas 01-997s1.”

“From this point forward in your life you will no longer be Thomas 01-997s1. Due to your birthing error, you have been reassigned a new ID. You are now Thomas 01-997s. Can you remember that?”

“Yes, I think I can, but what do you mean there was a birthing error?”

“Your brother Tomas is not your physical brother; you are not related. The birthing center switched you at birth. They killed your female twin and put you with Tomas.”

“Oh, okay, I guess.”

“Good, now, before you is a standardized macho tendency identification test. You will use the portable module to answer the questions. The test has multiple choice questions in the beginning and true and false questions at the end. Although there is no time requirement, it would look better if you do not take too long to answer the questions. We are looking for your immediate response to a question not a thoughtful attempt to get the right answer. One question does not determine whether you are macho or not. I will sit over in that chair and you may ask for my help if you do not understand a question. You may begin. Good luck.”

Thomas looked at the first question:

You are standing on a lane and you see a person walking toward you. You see that he has lighter than normal skin and is limping. What is your reaction?

A Nothing

B Revulsion at his mutation

C Revulsion at his disability

D A desire to eliminate this affront to society

E An interest in getting to know this person

Tomas entered “E” on the module. Then he went to the next question and the next. About an hour and a half later he came to the last question:

You see a young woman who has a large, red splotchy mark across her left cheek from her ear to the corner of her mouth. You are sickened by the sight of her.

A True

B False

Thomas entered “B” on the module, hit enter, and waited. The young man came over, took the module, and told Thomas to wait for the psychologist. After a long time, an older man came into the room and sat at the table.

“I am Dr. Menus 41, I am your psychologist. What is your ID?”

“Thomas 01-997s.”

“Does it bother you that you know you are not the brother of Tomas 01-997u?”

“I guess not. It kind of explains why we’re so different, but he’s still my brother. It doesn’t matter to me that we’re not twins.”

“Would you like to go home, now? You’ve passed the test and there’s no point in keeping you here. There’s no evidence of macho tendencies in your psychological makeup. We’ve determined your language problem is based on your abuse by that worker at the commune and your physical condition. We are sorry we had to bring you in, but we had to be certain you weren’t a danger to the human population on the ship.”

“Thank you, I knew I wasn’t, it’s just that other kids call me names because I’m smaller than them and I go to sleep and fall down. They laugh at me. I can’t help it if I’m narcoleptic. I just wish somebody tells my teacher that I can’t help it if I fall asleep in class.”

“Well, now that we know of your problem, we’ll be certain your school is informed of your situation. I will send a referral to your child psychologist at the commune. I’m sure she can help you deal appropriately with the name calling. I hope you have a good life. Guards please escort this boy down to processing and arrange for transport to his residence. Goodbye, Thomas.”

“Goodbye, sir.”

When the security speeder landed at the parking area at the six residences, Thomas climbed out. He looked around and was happy to be home. He made a promise to himself never to call another person a bad name, no matter what someone might call him because he was different.

“Thanks for the ride,” he said.

“Have a good life,” a security bot said.

The speeder flew away and Thomas went up to the rez. He went in and walked back to his room. He lay down on the bed, got on his side, put his head on his pillow, and went to sleep.

********

That night there was a little barbecue party with Ben and Peter and their boys, Don, and Freddy and Marcy. The adults chatted amongst themselves while Thomas and Tomas talked to each other.

“I’m going to change my name to Tommy,” Tomas said. “I think I’ll like that better than Tomas; that sounds so adult. You know what I mean?”

“Yeah, like I’m always Thomas. Maybe I can shorten mine to just Tom. What do you think?”

“That sounds cool. Tom and Tommy, yeah I like the sound of that. Come on let’s go tell the adults. Tom? Hey, Tom. Oh, shit! You’ve fallen asleep, again. I’ll certainly be glad when that medicine starts working on you.”

Tommy got up and went over to the adults. He nudged Peter and said, “Excuse me Dad, but Thomas and I have decided to have nicknames. I’ll be Tommy from now on and Thomas is just Tom. Okay?”

“Sure, son, we can do that. What’s with Tom?”

“He’s asleep, again. Do you know when that medicine is going to start working?”

“Maybe tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay, can I go in and play a game on my module?”

“Did you finish your homework?”

“What homework? I’ve been in jail for the past two days.”

“Okay, Tommy, go on inside.”

“How’s Tomas doing?” Don asked.

“He’s Tommy now,” Peter said. “He went inside to play a game on his module.”

“May I make a suggestion?”

“What?”

“Give him a few minutes, say fifteen or twenty, then go in and see how he’s doing.”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“Because he told me he erases the history and cache when he leaves it so you and Ben can’t see where he’s been. He might be looking up things you might consider to be adult in nature.”

“Are you telling me my sons are going through that stage?”

“I think so. Anyway, be interested in what they do. It’ll make you a better parent. Be informed now, so there won’t be any surprises later.”

“Good idea, thanks, oh, and Thomas has decided to be Tom.”

“Tom and Tommy, that’s nice, they’re getting to be a little independent now. What’s Tom doing? Is he asleep?”

“That’s what Tommy said. Oh, we got a message from the bot interrogation center. It seems kids are calling Tom names because he’s little and falls down asleep. They said his name calling is a defense mechanism and they said they’re sending that information to his psychologist.”

“Good, well, at least one good thing came out of this. I just wish somebody would have seen what Pablo was doing with Tom. Child abuse is such a horrible thing. I hope Tom comes through the counseling okay.”

“I do too. Can I get you another martini? I’m going to have a rye.”

“I’d come with you, but I want to check on Tom first.”