"Your clearance code, sir?" The guard, dressed in a sleek, professional looking uniform that looked somehow wrong at first glance, spoke in a series of short, clipped words fired out all at once.
"Four-yesterday-One-Eight-Three." The man leaned forward slightly to look at the guard's uniform. He realized the wrongness was because the uniform was missing any sort of identification or organizational logo; it was just a black stormtrooper's suit. Private security then, he thought. It fit - this place could hardly hire actual police.
"Thank you, sir." The guard moved aside, pulling open the heavy steel door behind him as he did.
----
"Hello, there."
The man started at the voice, and turned to see a tall, slim woman in a businesslike suit. She had shoulder-length brown hair, cut in a way that made her look imposing rather than attractive.
"Hello. Uh... I'm not sure where to start." The man stuttered slightly, then recovered.
"Few people are. If you're ready, we can simply begin the showing." The woman's face barely moved as she spoke, and her voice was even and emotionless.
"Sure. Let's go."
----
"Do you know exactly how the process works?" the woman asked, voice flat as ever. They walked down a seemingly endless corridor, dimly lit every few yards by fluorescent lights.
"Not really. I was never told many details of exactly what goes on here." He frowned slightly. That had almost kept him from coming in the first place.
"All right. Well, firstly there is a pill that you take each day. It contains two active chemicals, both of which are transported by the body into the testicles. The first is an identifier, or 'tag'. Each 'tag' is very slightly different from any other 'tag'. This will become important later. The second is a euphoric which is keyed to the tag chemical - that is, it will only work in the presence of that specific tag. Neither of these will affect you in any way - "
"Well, if they won't affect me, why am I taking them?" The man looked slightly irritated. He had not come for a science lecture.
