Mallory gave her name to the uniformed woman at the reception desk. The sleek, white-and-chrome antiseptic modernism of the bunker's interior contrasted sharply with its craggy brutalist crust. Outside felt like a last outpost of a war; inside was the future.
In a small voice, she told the official that she'd come for the experiment. The official studied her for a moment, showing a ghost of a smirk, and then worked her keyboard. Choice or mandate? she asked without looking up.
Mallory's attendance had been mandated. Even as it crumbled, the authority had the power to deny basic necessities to the non-compliant. Just a moment, then, the official told her, and read something on her screen. She hit a key and sat back. Remove your clothes, she said.
Mallory was stunned. What, is there a consulting room? she said. No, said the official. Here. Where you're standing. I'll take your things. She came out from behind her desk with a large pouch. Some of the people passing through the lobby turned to look, sensing that something was happening.
The official's look was implacable, her extended arm unmoving. At last Mallory understood she had no choice and started to unbutton her top. A number of the passers-by stopped to watch. She removed her top and put it in the pouch. Her shoes followed, then her skirt. She stopped at her underwear.
Everything, the official said. You can't-- Mallory stopped when she saw it was useless. Her head dropped as she reached back and unhooked her bra. She dropped it into the pouch, and then slipped her panties off and stepped out of them. They joined the rest of her clothes. The lobby air was chilly.
Pretty girl, the official said in a voice entirely without appreciation. We don't often see girls with hair between their legs these days. Mallory self-consciously put a hand over that hair and one arm across her breasts. Here's your escort, the official said, as a uniformed man approached.
Your things will be returned to you after the procedure, the official said. Now the escort will take you to the professor. The uniformed escort looked Mallory over, assessing her nude body, before telling her to walk with him. They crossed the lobby, moving through the onlookers.
The escort used his pass to take them through an automatic door, the other side of which was deserted. He directed Mallory to walk ahead of him. So you've been sent for the sex test thing, she heard him say. I'm not sure what it is, she said.