The G. M. Os. - 6. Chapter 6 - The Lab Rat

Chapter 6
Ship Clock 261997
Abner 34-793k
The Lab Rat

A few kilometers outside Second City Ring 4 a large complex of multistory buildings lay behind two tall chain-link fences topped with razor wire on either side of a twenty-five thousand volt electric fence. No one was allowed in or out without prior authorization. The largest building, covered an area of over one thousand hectares, was built as a bot operated pesticide and pharmaceutical manufacturing facility. The other four buildings consisted of administration functions, a test laboratory, and two fifteen story residences for teenage girls and boys. The residences, at full capacity, held nearly forty thousand residents in four person rooms. The rooms were arranged in a rectangle around a common area with a food prep that delivered meals according to each person’s dietary requirements.

The teenagers were test subjects for determining LD50 ratings for pesticides and efficacy rates or side effects for potential medicines. The youngsters were available due to a number of methods used by the bots to remove potential test subjects from familial situations, orphanages, or extended sentences in bot detention facilities. The interesting thing about the medicinal tests was with all the bot techniques to produce perfect humans, common diseases and disorders could not be eradicated; mutations occurred naturally and some were carried down to future generations unless the mutants were killed or sterilized. For some reason known only to bots, there were a few mutants at the lab.

The teens, as determined by the bots, weren’t going anywhere so they might as well be of use to their fellow humans by being subjected to materials that early in the testing stages might very well kill them. The bots did set a scale of test successes that would give the teens a goal to strive for, even though nearly one hundred percent never achieved it. Death either came from medicinal side effects or being poisoned by lethal doses of harmful pesticides. There was always the chance for exceptions and those that came through all their assigned tests were given a brain erasure and sent on their way out into world of Hercules III.

Abner, or Abe as he preferred—a thirty-fifth iteration age fifteen or two hundred eighty-four years old—walked out of the shower and toilet room stiff legged after he emptied his bowels of the fourth load of diarrhea since breakfast. He couldn’t imagine having anything left inside of him, but this had been going on since two hours after he took his first dose of a new antidepressant three days ago. As usual, he didn’t even need an antidepressant, but that wasn’t the issue at the test facility. The bots set the rules and when the bots gave you a bottle of pills and a clipboard of possible side effects, you did as you were told. He carefully sat on his bed, picked up the clipboard checked another box in the diarrhea line and checked another box on the headache line. He stood up and went to the mirror over the sink. His eyes were still bloodshot and he still had blurry close up vision; those, too, would be checked off.

He didn’t know if it was luck or not, but this antidepressant was his eleventh test and he was, now, halfway to reaching the freedom level that would permit him to go out into the ship and find a job or someplace where he could live and work, like a commune. He knew of one on Ring 5, but the way his insides were rumbling today he honestly doubted he’d get out of this hellhole.

He lay down on his bed and stared at the sparkly thing in the ceiling. A nano bot put there a year ago to watch him to make sure he didn’t do something to foul up his test, like not taking his doses. There was one for all of the beds, two between the beds, one over the sink, two in the shower and toilet room, anywhere someone might take out an unswallowed pill or capsule and put it down a drain.

He wanted to go down to the gym and at least run around the track, use one of the treadmills or maybe he could just walk around the building, but the way his bowels were rumbling he couldn’t chance it. Though, there was a chance a bot might come to investigate why he wasn’t doing the things he normally did; he doubted that it would happen because they never came before, but this time he really was sick and he couldn’t send a message to the protocol office this soon in the test as he just might get better. That happened before and might happen this time, but he doubted it because of the way he felt. He got up, went to the mini-fridge and took out a bottle of water, no use in getting dehydrated, again, he thought. He went back to the bed and lay back down.

That thing in the ceiling was sparkling, again. He wished it would report that he was sicker than the time before, but knew it wouldn’t. He had just started taking the pills, but maybe this time was to be his last; maybe he wouldn’t stop shitting his brains out, maybe he would die, this time. There was that feeling, again. He got to his feet and went back into use the toilet for the fifth time. It was almost time for lunch, but could he eat anything? What was the use? Whatever they gave him would go straight through and probably provide little nourishment. He sat there waiting for something of substance to happen, but all he produced was a never ending fart, which felt almost as bad as the diarrhea. He wanted to get up, but stayed there waiting. He looked up at the ceiling. The thing up there brightly sparkled, sending data to the lab. The rumbling ceased and he stood up, bent over, touched his toes, and let out another long fart; after five years of having the occasional test that caused diarrhea, he had learned to put a little pressure on his gut to press out any possible remnants of gas or diarrhea.

He stood up satisfied the problem was probably over for the morning and went out into the main room. He decided to chance it and went out into his wing’s common area. Lunch sounded good, but he didn’t want too much and entered his codes into the food prep. Out came a tray with a bowl of chicken noodle soup, two slices of wheat bread covering thin slices of some kind of bird and a light cheese, and a banana. Maybe he did need the potassium. At least that meant the nano bots were sending the correct information and that some system somewhere was concerned about his health. Abe looked at the banana and smiled, which was strange since he’d never felt glad that the bots might care how he was doing.

********

“Well, looky here, you two are certainly back early,” Abe said when the two new boys came into the room. “I take it you didn’t get your introductory briefing or your medicine.”

“No, we just had medical exams,” one of the boys said.

“And, that mental thing,” the other said.

“I didn’t get your names when you came in last night; mine’s Abner, but I go by Abe and your names’ are?” Abe asked.

“I’m David,” the boy with blue eyes said. Abe had never seen a human with blue eyes. Must be a mutant, he thought, and was surprised he was actually alive; maybe, that was why the boy was here, to be killed in the name of experimentation.

“I’m Gerald, but my nickname is Gerry,” the other boy said. He was unremarkable as all other people on Hercules III were: moderately dark skin, straight black hair, brown eyes, and medium height, mutants were too tall, too short, or had some other defect. “What is this place, anyway?”

“Well, it’s a test lab for the bots’ chemical manufacturing facility; that’s the big building behind the medical clinic,” Abe said. “We’re test subjects to determine the safe limit for pesticides and whether breathing in, ingestion, or skin contact is the method of entry to the body. Sometimes they start with low doses and work up to a lethal dose or they start high and work down. Then there are the drug tests; that’s what I’m on right now. You’re given a bottle of syrup or pills and mark down what side effects you experience, if you’re not killed outright. I’ve heard that sometimes happens. I guess you being here depends on whether you’re a threat to the peace of the ship, a convict from a prison or detention facility, or simply a mutant that was allowed to grow up to a useful test age. We get some mutants, boys and girls.”

“You have girls here?” David asked.

“Yeah, but you won’t get a chance to meet any; they’re kept in their own residence and the bots don’t allow any social contact.”

“Oh.”

“So, blue eyes, we guess you know why you’re here. At least you can be thankful they didn’t cart you to the pesticide department right off.”

“We were caught hacking into bot computer systems,” David said. “There was another older boy and he just arrived this morning, but after his physical tests he was taken away. Do you think he went to the pesticide place?”

“Depends on how you look at it. What category do you think he fell in? What was his sentence?”

“Death,” Gerry said.

“He’s at the pesticide lab right now, probably receiving a lethal dose of some new insecticide. Bots don’t fool around with those things. I think if you’re sentenced to death, that’s what you get. If you’re old enough to be sent here, this is where you die. If you’re too young, my guess would be they probably kill you at the detention facility. If you’re too old, they don’t mess around and kill you right off. You have to look at things from their perspective. I suppose both of you just received lengthy sentences.”

“Ten years,” Gerry said.

“Fifteen years,” David said. “Do you think they’ll let me live any longer?”

“No. That’s one of those perspective things. I’ve been here five years and all that happened to me was our family speeder crashed and I was thrown free before the thing burst into a cloud of ions. I spent about three months in a medical center on Ring 2 and then was transferred here. I can only suppose that I’m in the correct age range for this place. I’m certainly not a threat, haven’t been convicted of a crime, and I’m not a mutant; maybe it is just because I was severely injured and two hundred seventy-nine years-old. David, you’re a mutant and a convict, two strikes; I’ll give you no more than five years, maybe sooner, before they ship you off to start testing pesticides.”

“You’re fifteen?” Gerry said. “So am I, but I’m three years younger than you, but at least we’re fifteen. David is sixteen.”

“Just turned, two hundred ninety-one years-old, I feel like an old man, but I’m still just a kid. Now, from what you say, Abe, more than likely I’ll never see seventeen.”

“Sorry, but that’s how it works here. Both of you need to remember one thing, you have to go or they will immediately kill you. That happened right here in this room about three or so years ago to a boy who was going to the pesticide lab and totally refused to cooperate. The bot escort shot him in the heart with a poison dart, dead within a minute. Who knows, David, maybe they won’t start you with high doses; that happens sometimes. Or, maybe they’ll give you a skin test and it doesn’t kill you. You’ll come back here thinking you’re okay, but nobody knows what the bots will do. This isn’t a fun place; kids die here, some horribly, some slowly, some quickly. They’ll tell you tomorrow that there is a chance you’ll get out of here if you successfully complete a certain number of tests, but don’t count on it. Just when you get close, they’ll send you off to start testing pesticides.”

“Do you think I’ll ever have to test pesticides?” Gerry said. “I’m too young to die now.”

“I guess the only rule here is to expect to die sometime in the future because you will, and please don’t make friends. You guys sound like you’re okay, but I’m not really interested in getting to know you. There was a guy, John was his name, he’d been testing pesticides for six months, but nothing seemed to kill him. Two days ago, a bot came and escorted him out the door. He was a decent guy, barely seventeen, and was about as close as I’d call a friend, but he didn’t come back; and, now, Gerry you’re sitting on his bed. Don’t get up; all the empty beds were slept in by dead boys.”

“Abe, do you think we can we get anything to eat?” Gerry asked. “We haven’t eaten since yesterday at the detention facility and I’m starving.”

“Well, the most you’ll be able to get out of the food prep is a snack. Supper isn’t for another two hours and the food prep is programmed to feed us only on our schedules. But, maybe, with you two being so new, you’ll be able to get something. Come on, I’ll show you how it works.”

********

Abe stood looking at the exit door. He’d been here many times with an escort bot on his way to the laboratory to receive a new medicine or to be tested for the efficacy of the medicine his was on; but this was the first time he’d come down here alone. The bot at the counter looked up at him.

“What do you want?” The bot asked.

“Can I go outside and walk around the building? I promise not to try to run away,” Abe said.

“Give me your code card,” the bot said. The card was inserted in a slot on its body and bot’s eyes turn black. After a moment they brightened again. “You are not authorized to leave the building without escort. If you want to take a walk, go to the gym downstairs. There is a track around the outside of the exercise and games area, walk there. Here take your card and step back from the door.”

Abe took the card and turned back toward the stairs down to the basement. His guts started growling. He hadn’t had diarrhea for over a week, but this definitely felt like something was going to happen, soon. There was a toilet room across the hall and he hurried toward it.

After sitting down, he waited for the inevitable, but was surprised he just passed a lot of gas. Though, he stayed there waiting for what might be coming after the gas, but nothing happened. He went out into the hall and was surprised by the bot from the counter.

“Abner 34-793k, are you well?” It asked.

“I was afraid I was in for another bout of diarrhea.”

The bot’s eyes went dark and it stood still. After a moment, its eyes brightened and it said, “Wait here, an escort will be here in a moment.”

“Sure, okay,” Abe said. He hoped he wasn’t in any trouble. All he wanted was some exercise. After all the bouts of diarrhea and explosive gas, he felt maybe taking a little walk would be of help.

Then his gut rumbled, again, and he went back into the toilet to see what was on its way. He sat down and was presented with a thick stream of diarrhea, quickly followed by another. For the first time since he’d been here, he felt woozy and expected he was going to pass out. Another stream of diarrhea poured out and that was the last thing he would remember happening that day.

The next morning he woke up on one of the upper floors of the clinic in a stark room with bars on the windows and a barred door. His was the only bed in the room. There was an IV in his arm, a button to call a nurse, and a nano bot over the bed. Abe laid his head back on the pillow and stared at the brightly sparkling nano bot sending a message, probably to the nurses’ station. His headache was back and his eyes hurt. Even though he heard his door unlock and slide open, he didn’t look up.

“Good, you’re awake,” the nurse, a young man, said. “How do you feel?”

“I have a headache, my eyes hurt, and I’m about ready to shit my brains out, again.”

“I see; I’ll send for a commode so you can relieve yourself. Are you hungry?”

“No. What time is it?”

“Six, why?”

“I have to take my dose at seven and I missed last night’s dose.”

“We are going to keep you here, until your body totally eliminates the medicine. You’ll be eligible for another test two months after you’re released. Try to get enough exercise to build up your body in case you encounter a medicine as difficult as this one has been.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“Don’t worry; you’ll stay on medical tests for quite a while yet. You have a very good record here and the bots don’t want you going anywhere to your detriment for quite a long time.”

“I guess that’s supposed to make me feel good, but if you don’t get that commode here in the next minute or so, somebody is going to have to let me take a shower and change my sheets,” Abe said. The door slid open and a med-tech bot came in pushing Abe’s commode. As the nurse moved the IV pole out of the way, Abe slipped out of the bed and sat down.

Three weeks later, Abe was escorted back to his room by a bot. He felt a lot better and was surprised they kept him so long. In the past, when he had to go to the clinic, they usually only kept him two weeks at the most, but this time they didn’t. He knew better than to ask why, so he tried to be as comfortable as he could. When he got into his room, Gerry was sitting on his bed talking to two new boys, ol’ blue eyes was gone.

********

After six years, Abe had just turned sixteen, and was five tests over what was supposed to be his escape level. The bots still hadn’t sent him to pesticides and he was beginning to wonder when he was going to be sent there. The only thing going for him at the present time was being on an eighth month test for a diabetes treatment, which, of course, he didn’t have.

Gerry was still in the room, but he had started testing pesticides the previous month. It was obvious he was on a low to high cycle, probably due to his low threat to the bots. David hadn’t had that chance, after two weeks he went straight to the lethal level. Abe thought he was a real good guy, but a lengthy sentence put him at risk. There simply was no way to figure out where you’d end up on a testing schedule.

Abe sat on his bed waiting for the time to go to get breakfast out of the food prep, which was going to be a diabetic’s meal, low sugar and fat. The only thing good about the test was the side effects were minimal, just an occasional headache and excess gas. Unexpectedly, there was a knock at the door. Opening it, Abe saw an escort bot.

“Abner 34-793k?” the bot asked.

“Yes,” Abe said.

“You will come with me,” the bot said.

“So, it’s come at last,” Abe said.

“No talking, no resistance, you’ve been here long enough to know that,” the bot said as it backed up and turned toward the elevators.

Abe stood for only a second before stepping out of the room and closing the door. The bot told him to go to the building exit and Abe knew not to question or complain. It was totally obvious he was going to the pesticide department. The only question he might have asked was if he would be given a lethal dose or start out with a low dose skin test. It really didn’t matter; they meant to kill him instead of letting him leave. There wasn’t anything to do but accept that death was going to come sooner rather than later.

They entered the laboratory and went down to the third basement. There was another bot when they got off the elevator. It led them to a room where there were four other boys and five girls. They were told to remove all their clothes and slippers and enter one of ten doors.

Inside his room, a bot gave Abe a face mask and told him to stand inside a circle painted on the floor. He was told to spread his legs out to the edge of the circle and hold his arms out straight. Not unexpectedly, a fine dust was blown down on him from the ceiling. He waited for death to overcome him.

Abe continued to wait and the bot gave no indication that the test was going to end any time soon. The dust continued to fall down upon him and was being blown around him, too. He looked down and saw a fine powder covered all his skin. The bot told him to hold his head up.

Nothing was happening. Abe wanted to look over at the bot, but knew better than that. He stood still as his legs slowly began to get sore from not moving. He wanted to move them, at least just a bit. Knowing the most he could get away with would be to flex the muscles, he started doing that. The bot didn’t tell him to stop, so he continued and then started to twist his arms.

Still nothing happened. There was no feeling of illness or any other bad side effect. He knew all about side effects, he thought he was probably the person to ask about side effects.

Then Abe heard or felt a soft thud as if someone had fallen. Was that one of the other boys or girls who had gotten a lethal dose? Or, did someone collapse from not flexing their muscles? Questions ran through his mind as he heard another thud and another, and another. He continued to do his best at remaining erect, suspecting that if he did fall, the mask would fall off exposing his eyes, nose, mouth, and lungs to the pesticide.

Then the dust stopped falling and the room began to clear. Soon a soft mist began to be blown on him, followed after a few moments by stronger streams of water that Abe assumed was washing the dust off his body. He didn’t attempt to remove his mask, knowing to wait until he was instructed.

So, this was a low dose pesticide skin test. Not that bad, Abe thought. If future tests would be as easy as this one, he suspected there might be a chance he might get out of this place before they killed him. He just needed to remember to go down to the gym and get plenty of exercise to tone his muscles so he could stand for long periods of time.

The water stopped and was followed by warm air being blown on him, drying his skin. He expected the bot to tell him to remove the mask, but the bot remained silent. Abe knew he was risking something detrimental, but he looked over at the bot. Its eyes were dark as were all of the indicator lights on its body. It had turned itself off.

Abe didn’t know what to do, so he remained standing, waiting for some indication that the test was over, which came sooner than he expected. A bot came into the room and removed Abe’s air mask.

“The test is over,” the bot said. “You will follow me. No talking, no resistance, no trouble. Do not complain human, you are incredibly lucky.”

Abe didn’t know what was happening, but when they got out into the waiting room he was told to dress. He noticed there were nine piles of slippers, coveralls, and underwear on the floor. So, he was the only one to survive the test. How many of them received a lethal dose right off? Or, how many fell from not moving their muscles and their face masks were torn off?

“Sit in your chair,” the bot said. “You will be collected.”

Abe watched the bot go out the door and wondered how soon another bot was going to come and “collect” him. But, why did the bot say he was incredibly lucky? Bots never said something like that to humans. They didn’t care what happened to humans. He felt something was going on, but maybe this was just the way they conducted the pesticide tests. As this was his first time, Abe didn’t really have a reason to suspect anything was out of the ordinary. He looked up when hearing the door open. It was a different bot and it wasn’t an escort bot.

“Abner 34-793k, you will follow me,” the bot said. “No questions, no resistance, and no unnecessary talking.”

He stood up and followed the bot out the door. There were two other bots out in the hall, one walked beside him and the other followed behind. Something unusual was going on. Was this his escort to a lethal dose test? After getting off the elevator, Abe immediately noticed they were on the first floor. He went out the door with his escort and they stopped at a six-place covered bot security speeder. They got in and Abe was strapped into a prisoner’s seat. The speeder’s cover moved in and locked. It took off and rose toward the top of the ring where it sped along until coming to the entrance of an exit spoke, where they entered and followed the spoke until coming to the interior of the ship where there was a bot security station.

********

“Abner 34-793k, you are the sole survivor of an in-progress human eradication on Ring 4,” a security bot said. “There was a ring-wide conspiracy to overthrow bot control of the ship, but they were discovered. Unfortunately, we did not know all of the conspirators necessitating the death of all human inhabitants. As the sole survivor, we are granting you your freedom. Where on the ship do you wish to go?”

“There is a commune on Ring 5 I’ve heard about.”

“We are aware of that facility, though you may be too young to join.”

“I could at least ask.”

“Yes, you can ask. We will escort you to that facility.”

Abe was returned to the speeder and strapped in as before. A new contingent of security bots got in along with another bot that Abe was unable to identify. The speeder took off and headed toward a Ring 5 entrance, though they did have to wait for one to come around the central core. The flight across Ring 5 was uneventful and Abe found himself nodding off now and then. He was startled awake when the speeder stopped. He looked up and saw a small single story building. All around were fruit trees and fields of grain. So, this was what a commune looked like, thought Abe. He was released from his bonds and allowed to step from the speeder. The strange bot got down from the speeder, too.

“Follow me,” the bot said.

They went into the building and stopped at a desk where a young man was entering something into a module. He looked up and asked, “Yes, can I help you?”

“We need to see Frederica,” the bot said. “Please call her.”

“Sure, just a moment,” the young man said. He pushed a button on a box and said, “Frederica, there is a bot and a young boy out here in the lobby. The bot says he needs to see you.”

“Let them in, Roger,” a voice said.

They went into an office and Abe was offered one of the chairs in front of the desk. Of course, the bot remained standing. There was a nondescript, older woman behind the desk. She smiled and said, “Yes?”

“This is Abner 34-793k,” the bot said. “He is the sole survivor of the human eradication on Ring 4 and wishes to join your commune.”

“Abner, you’re a bit too young for the commune.”

“Abe, please, and I know I’m young, but I don’t know anywhere else to go. I heard some good things about this place before my family was killed in a speeder crash and I was hoping that I could live and work here. I don’t know what else I can do.”

“As he said, he is alone on the ship and needs a place to live and work,” the bot said. “As a commune, you have the facilities for both. You may refuse, as is your right, but, to be honest, we do not know what else to do with him. He has been at a bot facility on Ring 4 and it has been closed until Ring 4 can be repopulated.”

“Well, if you don’t have anywhere to go, I’m sure we can find a place for you. You wouldn’t have lived on a farm, would you?”

“Fruit and nuts, I can do everything, except apply pesticides, I was too young.”

“Yes, well, we happen to have three orchards here, so I’m sure we can find somewhere for you to work. Okay, bot, we’ll take him on. Does he have any luggage?”

“No, just what he is wearing; we didn’t have time to retrieve his clothes from the residence. Plus, there were issues with entering that building. I will be leaving now. If you should have any trouble with him, be sure to let us know.”

The bot left and the woman looked at Abe. She said, “Well, Abe, are we going to have any trouble with you?”

“No, Ma’am, I’ve lived with bots for the past eleven years; I know how to behave.”

“Frederica, call me Freddy. Well, welcome to our commune. First we need to get you some clothes and then a place in a dormitory; or, maybe we can place you on a new orchard that is only a year into its growth. Would you prefer living with women or men? On the other two orchards, they already have children and may not be able to accommodate you.”

“I don’t understand. But, I guess men, since I’ve lived only with boys for the past eleven years. I don’t remember much about my sister and mother.”

“Good, I’ll try to place you with Peter and Ben. Peter and his business partner will be raising apples, pears, apricots, and peaches. It’s a small farm, but we do not have bots here to help us. Bots are not allowed at the commune except when coming here to pick up overages of the food we produce or delivering new residents. What did your family raise?”

“Apples, pears, cherries, peaches, apricots, walnuts, and hazelnuts,” Abe said. “We also had sixty-five hectares of wheat, but that was tended solely by the farm bots.”

“The orchard I’m referring to is next to a beefalo ranch. I’ll check with the farmers and see what they think. I’m sure you’ll be kept busy on the ranch. Just a moment, I’ll call Roger to help you get some new clothes and appropriate footwear for a farm. Can I ask what kind of facility you were at on Ring 4? And, that eradication, did the bot mean they killed all the humans there?”

“I’d like to say, but I’m afraid of what the bots might do if they found out. Yeah, they told me they killed everyone, but please don’t say anything to a bot that I told you. They’ll kill me, too.”

“I see, I understand, I think I’ve heard of that place; it’s been there for a long, long time,” Freddy said as she pressed a button on a box similar to the one in the reception room. “Roger, will you help Abe get some new clothes? Standard issue, but probably a couple sizes smaller and slippers, shoes, and boots, too. Okay, Abe, when you’ve gotten your clothes, I’ll take you over to the farms I was speaking about. I truly believe you will like it here.”

“I hope so, too,” Abe said as he tried to smile. He couldn’t believe they were actually going to allow him to stay. Yes, he was going to like living here; except, what was the thing about living with men?

Later that afternoon, Freddy took Abe out to the farms where he would live and work. When they arrived, there were two men and two women standing in front of a standard Hercules III farm residence. There was an identical one directly across the road. Abe felt a strange feeling course through his body as he looked at the way the two men were standing next to each other, as were the women. He thought maybe he should have gone to a dormitory.

“Abe, welcome to our farms, we hope you’ll find this a wonderful place to live and work,” one of the men said. “I’m Peter and this is my husband Ben. The two wives there are Dorcas and Charity. Dorcas and I run the orchard and Ben and Charity run the beefalo ranch. At the present you’ll be doing most of your work on the ranch. I’m sure this is all confusing, but we’re sure you’ll fit in okay.”

“Thank you, I guess,” Abe said. Why did that man say the other man was his husband? And, why did he say the two women were wives? This didn’t make any sense at all. Maybe, he should have gone to a dormitory.

“Come on, Abe, let’s help you move in,” Ben said. “We’ve got your room all set up and later we’ll be having a welcoming barbecue. Freddy will be coming over with her wife, Marcy.”

“Sure, thanks,” Abe said. He looked at Freddy, but she gave no indication of what was going on. Yes, maybe, going to a dormitory would have been easier, but there was no backing out of this deal now; at least until he found out how this was all going to work out.

********

Two weeks later, Abe walked into the residence to clean up after working with the beefalos all day. There was that sound, again, coming from the room where the two men slept. He’d heard that sound from the day he arrived here; though, sometimes it was a different sound. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it.

“This is your space,” Ben said when they finished helping Abe move in. “We are not allowed in without knocking and receiving your permission. If you are not here, and one of us is, no one will come into your room if the door in closed. The same applies to our room. This is the primary rule of this residence. If you have questions, please ask. We will be happy to give all the answers you want.”

Abe hadn’t asked any questions that day, but today it was another story. It was those sounds that intrigued him. He couldn’t figure out what they were doing to make those strange noises, but he didn’t want to interrupt whatever was going on. He took off his boots and took them into the mudroom. Coming back to the front door, he took a chair out of the living room and sat down. He was dirty and needed a shower and his lounge clothes, but he wanted to know what was going on here and if he should stay.

Time passed slowly and Abe began to nod off, as was his habit when doing nothing. Peter wanted Abe to get a more rounded education than just reading about how to raise fruit and beefalos, so Peter assigned books that were incredibly boring and, as expected one of the men frequently found him asleep at the module. Suddenly, he was startled awake by Ben standing in front of him.

“You need a shower and clean clothes,” Ben said. “That dust and dirt belongs out with the beefalos.”

“Yeah, I know, but I want to ask you something. I keep hearing strange sounds coming from your guys’ room and I don’t know what they are.”

“Peter! Get your ass in here,” Ben yelled. “It’s time for that talk, you’ve mentioned.”

Abe saw Peter walk around the corner wearing only some sweatpants. He never realized how slender Peter really was. Ben was stouter, but Peter was almost skinny.

“Now? Abe’s still in his work clothes,” Peter said.

“I told him that. But he wants to know what’s going on with the two of us. He keeps hearing sounds coming from our room.”

“Oh, that, and I suppose you want me to tell him,” Peter said. He squatted down and looked at the boy. “Abe, you know Ben and I are husbands, right?”

“Yeah, but what does that mean? I thought only a man and a woman can be husband and wife, but you two say you’re each other’s husband and you said Dorcas and Charity are wives. I don’t understand how that works.”

“Do you know what a homosexual is?”

“No.”

“A homosexual is a person who is sexually attracted to a person of his own sex,” Ben said. “Peter and I are homosexuals, but we prefer being called gay. Dorcas and Charity are lesbians. Does that make any sense?”

“No.”

“Abe, do you know anything about sex?” Peter asked.

“Uh, well, I’ve seen bulls mate with cows before, but I don’t think that’s the same with people. And, how does that work with the two of you? Are you mating in your room?”

“Uh, no,” Ben said, chewing on his lower lip. “We don’t like doing that. Not to say all gay men don’t do that because some men do and it’s not called mating. It just doesn’t work for the two of us.”

“But, if you’re not, uh, sorry, mating, what’s all that noise I hear?”

“Well, I guess you could say we’re making love” Peter said. “There are a lot of ways men can have sex with each other and Ben and I do things we like. Not saying exactly what we do; but now that we know you can hear us, maybe we should try to be a little quieter, do it when you’re not here, and probably move you to the room at the other end of the hall. Does that sound reasonable?”

“Yeah, I guess. I grew up on a farm and went to harvest fairs, I just never heard anything about sex, and I never asked either of my parents when I started going through puberty and there weren’t any boys around my age. I thought it was just what happened to a boy when he grew up, you know, just something natural. I never heard about two men having sex with each other.”

“Are you okay with living here with the two of us?” Peter asked. “Because if you’re not, we’ll have to talk to Freddy about moving you to a dormitory. That would mean being assigned to help out at other farms. I don’t want to sound threatening, but we just want to make it easy on you, do what you want.”

“No! I like living here. I just didn’t know what was going on ever since that first day. I don’t want to go to the dormitories, I want to stay here.”

“Okay, Abe, we’ll find you some reading material about sex,” Ben said. “It’ll probably be some descriptive things, and boring, too; so, more than likely we’ll find you asleep at your module. I, also, think we may be able to find some fictional works about children with homosexual parents. Does that sound okay?”

“Yeah, sure, I guess, and I think I’d better move my stuff to that other room, so you two can have your privacy,” Abe said as he stood up. “I’m going to go take a shower. Do you want me to fix supper?”

“No, we’ll do it and we’ll help you move after eating, okay?”

“Sure, okay.”

Now, he had his answer, but did he? There was something in his mind that he could quite grasp. He still didn’t know what it meant living with two, what they called gay men, but maybe that reading material about sex might help. He’d never really thought about having sex with another person. It was something you did as an adult, wasn’t it? The more he thought about it, the more distasteful it sounded, with a man or a woman. What was his choice, or did he have a choice? After all, he was only first iteration age sixteen; he wouldn’t legally be an adult for another hundred and forty years. Would he know by then?