Evolution / 24

 

September 12, 2035.   Nearly ten years of political turmoil and unrest seem to have passed as if they were yesterday’s news.   Its work long done, the underground complex at 340 Industrial Street has had no permanent occupants for years; it is opened to the public, as a kind of museum, from ten to four each weekday.   Many of the original inhabitants have been working as counselors, teaching the now well-established seminars, or working on social treatises, papers, and journals on how their previous efforts have changed the world.

Some of the more optimistic views of the women in that complex have come to pass; violence, at least on a world-wide scale, has not occurred, though there have been several disorganized attempts to bomb the underground complex, probably out of rage from the confused males who just can’t seem to understand what’s going on.   Fortunately, the country’s leaders, even though male themselves, had kept their cool through the first part of the “crisis”; their advisors had told them, as the women had projected, that it was futile to fight, as there was no one target to fight against.   Plenty of legislation had been passed in ten years; much of it hotly debated and highly controversial.   Laws passed to prevent genetic experimentation, on the scale that the women had done, were now used by the women to abort research into reversing the evolutionary change the world was facing.   This led to many more legal battles, but the fights were getting tougher and tougher for the remaining men, as more women were being elected to office on all levels.   Ironically, the country’s first woman president hadn’t entered office until the current term, as the last two presidents had shown themselves to be very supportive of both sides.   Now, however, nobody doubted that the shift of power would take place; already there were four female justices on the Supreme Court, the appointments having been made during the last President’s successful bid for re-election.

Some of the statistics hadn’t changed much in ten years; about four of every five children born, worldwide, were female, as sixty percent of the adult women were “wet”.   Over the decade, the numbers had slowly approached this percentage, and it appeared that the spread of the new programming had run its course; everyone who wanted the new powers already had them.   The projections were for a change of around one additional percent per year, until the girls who were now just ten years old began to enter the adult population and started having their own children.   About twenty-five percent of the male population was seeking to be reborn.   Nine percent had already done it.   Most of those on the List claimed worry over their physical age as a reason for wanting it done; and the pressure was increasing.

Many men sought after “dry” women, to have a chance at bearing male children.   A controversial urine test for the new capabilities had been released and withdrawn by the company which created it, for fear of boycotting of its other products.   Most women were honest about their own status, however; but these “dry” women were becoming harder and harder to find; many men thus finally came to terms with the concept that they’d only be having daughters.   Society was being slow, as usual, to accept the concept of families with two female parents.   Eventually, however, it would have to.

Predictions were that, as the number of men in the population began to drop, that an increasing number of the remaining ones would seek conversion–perhaps in another fifteen years or so.   As they aged, the appeal of “starting over” in a new body would have tremendous appeal.   By the end of the twenty-first century, their numbers would be inconsequential.   They were also beginning to find that it was becoming more and more difficult to adapt to a world that was increasingly designed for members of the other sex.

Susan had some problem with this; she felt that some women at the extremes, including some that she had come to know quite well, were all too ready to dismiss these men as unimportant, as a curiosity instead of as fellow humans.   She couldn’t make that leap.   Surely, their bodies were different, but the people inside were just as real as she was.   Some women didn’t share the idealistic view of “unification”, and instead saw what was happening as the climax of the battle of the sexes, despite Lisa’s memorable speech and all the rhetoric which followed.

Fortunately for the planet, the simulations of biological progress had been quite accurate.   There were predictable problems that could not have been overcome easily given the technology of the time–some women who planned to convert a friend would find themselves unable to complete the task; the mechanism of reproduction, though clearly better than their ancestors had it, was still not perfect.   In all but one tragic case so far, when this happened, it left the host and her target complete, but with a single body between them.

There had been some early hope that two people unified in this manner would be able to separate by “normal” reproduction, but this turned out to be nearly impossible–a new human created “from scratch”, so to speak, was very much a normal baby; free of any history, past memories, and such.   As suspected, a “new” baby had not the mechanism to recapture its personality from the mother.

Little of this mattered to Susan now; her destiny had been set, for the most part, ten years ago.   She now sat on the porch of the house where she and Dara had lived for the last ten years; and where Karen had also resided for nine-and-a-half.   Susan’s only “daughter”, Miri, and both of Dara’s “children”, were inside the house, reading.   Phoenix and Sam, Karen’s two daughters, were out shopping; Karen was at work.

Taking care of someone who had been reborn in this manner was an entirely new experience for all involved.   In some ways, it depressed both Susan and Dara a bit, for these children were not children at all.   Miri, and Dara’s older “daughter”, had the appearance of teenagers, but had the wisdom of nearly forty years.   They had needed serious supervision in only the first year when their bodies were unable to handle their own needs.   Even during this time, they grew at at accelerated rate, which explained the fact that the nine-year-old Miri easily looked like a teenager, and in fact was now entering puberty–her first as a girl.   She, as her “mother”, found it fascinating and frustrating simultaneously.   Miri, like the others, enjoyed an interesting life; she had the freedom of a child, the responsibilities of a child, but the capacities of an adult.   This certainly made Susan’s job easier than it would be to raise a real baby, but much of the excitement of being a parent–the nurturing, teaching, sharing of a child’s first experience–was not to be had.   Miri and the others were very independent from their second year on; and, in fact, Susan and Dara had accepted that they could have left “home” at any time.   They remained, for the time being, for only one reason–society was still ill-equipped to deal with them, making even the task of finding work difficult.   Miri made the reasonable assumption that few people would electively choose a young teenage girl–even if they could understand the concept–as their oral surgeon.   She was working at maintaining her knowledge and skills, and eventually would reenter the business.   The next generation wouldn’t have this problem; and it would be accepted to see people of all ages doing all sorts of things, as long as their physical skill was up to it.     Some sociologists had predicted this time–the first ten to fifteen years after rebirth, would come to be a kind of sabbatical–where individuals could explore, or reexamine, their own future; where people would not be held to the “rat race” most adults were chained to, but were free to perform research, to write, to learn, and to have fun; in other words, the life that Miri had right now.

Susan had been very excited to have someone else inside her body; the sensation and the experience was something that she could have only imagined, and couldn’t describe; the feeling of having a tiny human pass into, and, eventually, out of her body was much like she had hoped.   With five “children” already in this one house, none of her friends on the List, and plenty of other things eating at her time, including the start of her own software business, however, she had opted not to host a second conversion when Dara did.

Ten years seemed to show themselves more on Karen and Dara now than they did on Susan, who was physically nearly fifteen years younger–twenty-eight, now–than the other two.   It was no secret that Dara’s age bothered her; she had always had the body and personality of a “young” woman, and didn’t feel comfortable aging.   She had been talking increasingly of being reversed herself one day; Susan and Karen emphatically explained that she didn’t need it.

One good thing about having Karen around, Susan felt, is that some of the affection they had once felt for each other had returned.   Karen had finally been convinced to move in for purely practical reasons; but that which had pulled them apart–Karen’s involvement with Daniel–now held them together as they shared the same experience.   Susan had treated both of her friends, and admitted lovers, increasingly as equals as it became apparent that they all needed each other, though her physical relationship with Dara was still more substantial than anything she had with Karen.   For one important reason, at least temporarily, this was about to change.

Karen awoke, as the late-afternoon sun sneaked through the open window to where she had been sleeping.   She stretched and sat up.   Something familiar inside her stirred; she pursued it.     It was something she had wanted for quite some time.   She yawned again, and then closed her eyes.   Within another two minutes, Karen had ovulated.   She propped herself up against the headboard, in no hurry to wake up the rest of the way.

Susan turned in her chair to face Dara.   She wore one of Dara’s favorite outfits–a light green, foamy bodysuit which had a single, tantalizing zipper that ran from her collar straight down to her crotch, disappearing between her legs.   Black tights emerged from the leg openings and covered Susan’s otherwise-bare feet.

“I hope Karen goes along with this,” Susan said.

“If not, it’ll be your first period in a year.   But I’m sure she will.

We talked about it.”

Susan kept her eyes open, and said nothing.   She smiled a bit.   Already the FSH was flowing through her bloodstream.   Dara knew the look; sure enough, within a few minutes, Susan’s right ovary released an egg into her waiting Fallopian tube.

“Done,” Susan announced.

“You’re so lucky, Susan...   I wish I were a few years younger...”

“Oh, come on, Dara.   You know what I think when you talk that way.   Besides, if this works, I’d consider it our baby; Karen’s, mine, and yours.   After all, at least half my genes came from you.   Or, would you perhaps prefer the term ‘grandma’?”

Dara smiled.   “We should go wake up Karen, so she can...”

“Can what?” Karen asked, having arrived at the doorway.

This seemed awkward for Susan.   “Well, I figured that this was a good time for...”

Karen smiled.   “So that’s what I felt.   About ten minutes ago.”

“What?”

“It’s done.   I just had the feeling when I woke up.”

“So we’re synchronized,” Susan observed.   She took a deep breath.   For the next few weeks she would sleep with Karen, and would be underneath her when they made love; in about a week and a half, when the two women mated, Susan would receive Karen’s fertile egg, and would become pregnant.   It would be a long-term commitment; the culmination of all she was about; a commitment that started over twenty years ago.

Susan smiled.   “You two make life worth living,” she said.   “Again and again.”

[end]

 

Subject:                     Evolution (extras)

Date:     Fri, 24 Jul 1992 19:07:39 GMT

 

Hello again!

 

A few side comments on the original and continued story, that didn’t belong in the disclaimer article, and answers to a few questions that have popped up since the original story ran.

 

Q:   What was the overall reaction to the original series (1-9)?

A:   I got quite a bit of positive email about the story; a few people liked the plot, but two of the “devices” (water sports, and the reverse pregnancy that Daniel goes through) just weren’t their thing.   Several people were disappointed that the original story ended where it did; after all, Susan had yet to really learn what it meant to be female other than biologically, we don’t know what happens to Karen, and Susan never really tries out her new “parts”.

I should probably address those points one at a time–at least one (you’ll see) is directly relevant to an ongoing asb discussion.

 

Q:   What do “water sports” have to do with bondage?   Why was the original story posted here?

A:   Very much, I think.   In the proper context, the ability to pee on someone is a strong, and very intimate discipline device; and one that many authors seem to misunderstand.   I always cringe at scenes where someone asks (other than under coercion) for a golden shower; in those cases it simply happens, the recipient gets his/her wish, and that’s all.   (“Could you whip me tonight?   Please?” is far less appealing than “No... No... Not again!   I’ll be good!”, is it not?)   To be an effective B&D device it has to be something that the “victim” apparently wants to avoid (but gets anyway).   In many ways this shower can become a more powerful weapon than any physical object–it’s directly under the control of, and comes from the body of, the “top”; and can’t be ‘taken away’ or otherwise defused.   The fact that this weapon involves the top’s own genitals has added benefits.

 

Q:   What’s the ‘erotic appeal’ of the reverse pregnancy scene with Daniel supposed to be?

A:   I figured, for the most part, that this would be intuitively obvious; it also happened to be similar to one of people’s favorite parts of “That’s Impossible!” (archived as “bluebox” for some reason), where (in a computer-enhanced, realistic fantasy) Cheryl shrinks her lover to a size which would fit inside her.   He experiences a sensation involving his entire body that only a small portion of him would feel before).   In “Evolution”, however, the sense is different–an ultimate form of simple bondage, where the top’s own body is used to surround, and imprison, the bottom.   Daniel is very unwilling to be imprisoned, of course.   But in a fantasy like this, there simply are no safewords.   It doesn’t push everybody’s “buttons”, of course, but then I can’t hit everyone’s buttons in a single scene.   Perhaps against my better judgement, we visit this kind of thing in the sequel–but watch for some important differences that make the whole thing feel different.

 

Q:   Why did the original end “early”?

A:   Primarily because of a time shift necessary to keep the story going. Almost everything going on at that point in the story had a scale of months to complete–and it’s difficult in storytelling to jump in this timescale simply for a tie-up ending (it sounds corny).   The plan was to conclude when the secret was “out”, and the women’s plan was obviously a success.   The continuation tackles a different set of issues.

 

Q:   There’s no “safe sex” procedure, really, mentioned in this story.   Isn’t that kind of bad?

A:   In the futuristic world that this story inhabits, there aren’t any STD’s to be avoided (optimistic, no?).   Even so, the people involved necessarily have detailed knowledge of each other’s bodies, even though George doesn’t know that at first.   I could have worked in a device where the spread of the new “abilities” also conferred an immunity to known diseases of all sorts, but it was too utopian and the story just didn’t need it (plus, the concept would rip off at least one decent SF story that I know about).   I also presume that readers are very well aware of present-day issues and practices and this regard, and need no “lecturing” masquerading as entertainment.

 

Q:   The story IS entirely fiction, correct?

A:   Well, I do like taking advantage of the “impossible” in a story which is going to be fiction anyway.   The only reality in the story is a bit of actual evolutionary theory which isn’t explained until late in the story.

Near the end of “Evolution / 7”, Susan reads that “A successful species tends to become single-sexed”.   This is, in fact, real (and was discussed at some length in a 1984 issue of “Science News”), but carries far different implications; since in evolution it also means the end of sexual reproduction.   The theory goes that if a species can remain stable long enough, it no longer needs sexual reproduction to remain viable.   The change happens on an evolutionary (“glacial”) time scale, of course, but begins when a single mutation causes a female of the species to exhibit parthogenesis (i.e. becomes pregnant without fertilization).   This unitary event can be the most significant in a species’ existence; it means that her offspring are identical, genetically, to herself (discounting further random mutations), and thus would also be asexually-reproducing females.

Human females who had this ability would find themselves at a significant disadvantage, however, since they would, essentially, be pregnant nearly all the time beginning with their first ovulation.   In nature, this event causes the new, asexual variant of the species to crowd out their sexually-reproducing ancestors.   In humans, this would cause great distress to the females who couldn’t control their own reproduction; and ultimately medical science would be called upon to correct the situation, possibly by allowing the females in question to limit their own fertility.   Nevertheless, these asexually-reproducing females would likely become an increasing part of the population.

If the new subspecies is externally identical to a normal human female, the sexually-reproducing population might eventually dwindle away as some of the males choose, knowingly or unknowingly, asexual “females” for their mate.   They might have no clue that their biological role in their partner’s reproduction is nonexistent, until several (identical) girls are born in succession.   Nature’s full of nasty tricks like this.   (Some will likely make good stories in the future).

One might predict the likely male reaction to this event (“Help!   we’re becoming extinct!   Do something!”), but in reality they’re at no more disadvantage than the sexually-reproducing females, who face the same fate.   Undoubtedly, a great degree of prejudice, persecution, and societal righteousness would likely crop up, with people anxious to identify, isolate, or otherwise “handle” the members of this new species.

But that leads us back to our fictional story, where the women have stretched even this futuristic image to their own advantage.   Realizing the fear that their “new abilities” would instill in their fellow humans, they conduct their activities in secret and conspire to spread those abilities so quickly that no government could stop them in time.   (A story happening at an “evolutionary” pace wouldn’t be very interesting, would it?)

Q:   Is the author male or female?

A:   I should really make you guess... but I won’t.   Given the “militant feminist” tone that presents itself in the story (this is the backdrop against which the domination scenes play out), several people assumed I was female.   They were wrong.

Q:   But do you advocate what is happening in the story?

A:   I wouldn’t be tremendously upset, in the sense that, on an individual basis, all of the effects on the general population (except to George and Daniel, so far) are a matter of voluntary, personal choice.   But I wouldn’t advocate the treatment of men as “evil” or deserving of extinction (despite what the women in the story think).     But one sentiment is real–for men and women to come to understand each other and become more alike, rather than being polarized away from each other as happens now.   In the story, of course, physical “unification” is possible, and is seen as the only way for the women in the story to achieve that goal.   This isn’t actually true, I hope.

 

Q:   Is it better to be male, or female?

A:   I doubt that it makes a difference, though I’ve taken liberal poetic license with that boundary in the story (where Susan learns of the “substantial advantages” of being female).   The story tends to capitalize (unfairly) on the (often undeserved) “bad” reputation men have earned themselves in the media during own own era.   Though it might be nice if everyone could experience all of the wonders of both genders, my belief is that we’re (men and women) much more alike than we usually accept.   Those physical uniquenesses that separate us are easy (and often fun!) to share.

 

Q:   Is there any serious violence in the story?

A:   No.   I’m actually proud of that;   All the feeling with none of the pain, so to speak.

 

Q:   What’s your next project?

A:   Watch for the rewrite of “That’s Impossible”.

 

Enjoy!