Testing

Jane and Robert were both quiet as they drove to the testing center the next morning. The previous night's conversation had given them both plenty to think about, and Robert had struggled to shut off his mind and sleep.

They pull into the center a few minutes later, check in on the tablet at the front desk, and find seats to wait.

"I didn't expect it to be this busy already." Robert says.

"Just wait til the end of the testing period." Jane says. "I bet a ton of people end up waiting until the last minute."

Their names are eventually called, and they are quickly swabbed and moved to a secondary waiting room to await their results.

"They are taking this seriously." Jane says, nodding at the exit door, which has a guard on it.

"They probably don't want anyone bolting if they get unexpectedly bad results." Robert says. "Although this isn't exactly a diverse group."

"That's to be expected." Jane says. "Would you show up for testing day 1 if you were a minority? Or would you hide in your home and try to enjoy the last few days of freedom? Or try to run away maybe, if you had somewhere to go?"

As names were called,people would come up and get a new state issued ID card. Robert noticed the cards were in different colors, and one man started crying loudly as he was handed a red card, and was told to go through a different door back into the building. He was clearly in shock, and the guard had to approach and order him again to go through the door. The man's wife was speaking quickly to the attendant, clearly trying to understand what was happening. She begins to argue with her, and the security guard has to escort her out the door.

"Fuck." Robert whispers to Jane. "I don't think I would survive if they just took you from me like that."

"Not going to happen." Jane says. "We wouldn't be here today if we hadn't already tested. Remember to keep your composure, honey. We don't need any negative attention in here."

A few minutes pass, with Robert watching the interactions. "The ID cards appear to be color coded." He tells Jane. "Any idea what the colors mean?"

"It didn't say anything on the BAA site, but we'll have to ask when we get our results." Jane says. "Most people seem to be getting white and yellow, right?"

"That's what I've noticed." Robert says. "The guy that got pulled back got a red card, and I noticed one woman getting a green card."

The interior door opens, and a guard walks in leading a short dark haired woman.

"Sit here please." He tells her, and goes to talk to the other guard, pointing at her. The other guard nods, and then he walks back past the woman, and through the interior door.

Robert leans over to Jane, and whispers. "Hispanic?"

"Hard to tell with her head down, but probably. Why else would the guards be paying special attention to her?" Jane asks.

Just then, the woman looks up and scans the room, noticing almost everyone staring at her.

Jane whispers to Robert "She could be an option. She's kind of cute."

"If you like the 'Might knife you in your sleep' kind of girl." Robert replies.

"She's just nervous and scared. You can hardly blame her for that." Jane says, squeezing his leg.

"I don't blame her for anything, but that doesn't make me want to trust her enough to bring her into our home." Robert says. "Besides, we can't just latch onto the first person you see. We also have to be careful to find people that can get along with both of us, and not draw unwanted government attention to our house by doing anything stupid. That's the last thing we need."

"It was just an idea, honey." Jane says somewhat defensively. "We can just drop it."

Robert's name was called next, and he noticed the attendant was holding out a green card, along with some paperwork.

"Congratulations!" She says. "You got the jackpot."

"What?" Robert asks. "I'm sorry, I have no idea what the color codes mean."

"You scored 100%, so you get a green card. White card is 99-99.9, Yellow is 95-98.9, and below that is Red, which means getting detained. Each card has different rights and responsibilities, so make sure to read the documents before leaving. If you have questions, you can come up and ask, or go to the website on the paperwork. Good luck." The attendant says, seeming genuinely happy for him, which makes him feel rather disconcerted.

"What did she say?" Jane asks as he sits down.

Robert starts to summarize the conversation, about to hand over the paperwork so she can read it, when Jane's name is called.

He watches her walk up, but can't see what color she is getting. He decides to read the paperwork while he waits, but doesn't get far before Jane plops down next to him.

"I got green!" She says, a little more loudly than was necessary, clearly excited.

"I'm still not sure I understand what that means." Robert replies quietly, uncomfortable with the fact that most of the waiting room, including the young Hispanic woman, are now staring at both of them.

"I asked the attendant, and she asked us to read the green paper before we leave, and to come ask her if we have questions." Jane says. "It sounded like she expected us to have questions."

Robert and Jane grab their copy, and begin reading.

"Is this saying we can just walk up to a woman we think will be a red card, and claim her as our property?" Jane asks.

"Keep reading." Robert says. "It sounds like we can claim two, because we are both green cards. See down here: If a husband and wife are both green cards, the husband may use the wife's green card slip to claim a second concubine. We need to read all of this before we leave, I wasn't expecting this to be this real this fast."

"I'm glad we discussed the possibility of taking two women last night." Jane says. "What do you think of that girl? I think she's cute, in sort of a tomboy way."

"You are getting way too caught up in this." Robert replies. "First I agreed to one girl, then two, after we take two weeks to assess the situation. Now you want to bring a girl home with us, right now. What's next, buy a set of triplets at an auction and have 5 extra women in the house?"

"Keep reading, honey. It doesn't sound like this is optional. On the next page it says: Green cards who don't make claims will get assigned women, starting on auction day. We definitely don't want some rando assigned to us. We could end up with someone that is an awful fit. We are going to have to use the claims before that happens, to make sure we get someone compatible for both of us". Jane says, much to Robert's chagrin.

"Ok, that's it. I need to read the rest of this thing now, and find out what other traps are in this." Robert says, already beginning to read with much more urgency.

Jane is a bit frustrated. She had been hoping Robert would get into this a bit more, like she was. She imagined this could be good for the two of them, she could have women in the house to keep her company and be her friends, and Robert could finally have the kids and large family he had always wanted, all while feeling like they were doing a good thing. She skims the paperwork, ignoring the legalese parts, and trying to focus on the important parts.

"Alexia Sanchez" The attendant calls loudly, leading everyone in the room except Robert to immediately look at the Hispanic woman, who begins to cry as she gets to her feet. Jane is relieved that Robert is still reading, and resolves to keep him away from these types of situations in the future until he is a bit more prepared to deal with the new realities of the world.

The guard at the door gestures towards the woman, and she slowly moves towards the attendant's window. The attendant's face softens as she talks to the woman, taking much longer than she had with any of the previous people. Alexia appears to ask a question, and the attendant points in the direction of Robert and Jane.

Alexia turns to face them, and appears to be coming to some sort of decision. As she begins to slowly walk towards them, making eye contact with Jane, the guard steps forward, clearly ready to move her out the door for detainees. The attendant waves him off, and he goes back to the door.

"Hello, My name is Alexia" She says to Jane, sniffling a bit, but managing to keep her composure. Robert comes out of his reverie, too caught up in reading the paperwork to notice her approach.

"I'm Jane, and this is my husband Robert." Jane replies. "What can we do for you?"

As she prepares to speak, Robert gets up and offers her his chair, getting a nasty look from the guard as he does. "Robert, sit back down, Alexia doesn't need any extra attention right now." Jane says. "Go ahead Alexia"

"Rosie at the counter tells me you both are green cards." Alexia says. "I work.. worked for the state, that's how I ended up here on day 1. We were all told we had to be tested immediately, before returning to work. On the way over, our boss explained a bit what the card system means. Your green card means you can claim someone, right?"

"Actually, since we are both green cards, we can claim two women." Jane replies. "Are you asking to be claimed?"

"Not me, my cousin Lucia. She is waiting at home. I told her not to leave the house today. Rosie says that because I got a red card, they are going to pick her up for testing. I don't want her to go through that, and I don't know anyone who is likely to get a green card that I can ask to help her. She's only 18, being dragged out of the apartment by random people would terrify her." Alexia sniffles, the emotions starting up again. "I can't ask you to use both of your claims on us, but if you could claim her, I would at least know she is ok. Maybe you could let me record a message you could play for her, so she knows that I sent you."

Robert starts to reply, and Jane stops him. "Honey, let me handle this please. You and I can talk before we give her a definite answer."

Robert doesn't look thrilled at this, but shrugs and sits back, waiting to hear whatever Jane is going to say.

"Tell me about your cousin. How old is she, does she have any skills, what is her personality like? I have to make sure that anyone I bring into my home will work well with both of us." Jane says.

"Lucia is 18, very sweet, a bit shy with strangers, and she loves kids. She just finished high school. She is very smart, she's been looking for a job until she can start college for nursing, though I suppose that isn't going to happen now." Alexia pulls out her phone, showing Jane a photo of her. Jane takes the phone, surprising Alexia a bit, and asks her "And what if we wanted to claim both of you?"

"I would be extremely grateful, but if you only are going to claim one of us, please claim her. She's never even had a boyfriend, being sent to an auction would really mess her up." Alexia says, tearing up a bit more thinking about it.

"Give me a minute to speak to my husband, and then I'll let you know what we've decided." Jane says gently.

Alexia retreats a few steps, just far enough to give us a bit of privacy without being far enough to attract any response from the door guard.

Jane turns the phone screen towards Robert. The girl in the photo is very cute. Pale for a Hispanic girl, long hair, maybe a bit skinny, but with a captivating smile.

"You want to claim them both?" Robert says, nervously.

"I wanted to claim Alexia initially." Jane says. "I think her cousin sounds perfect for you though. A sweet, kind girl like she is describing is exactly what you've always wanted, plus Alexia should be very grateful if we claim her cousin. Claiming both seems like the right move for us, and them."

"This is all moving very quickly." Robert says. "How do we know they are going to be a good long term fit?"

"Look at the last page of the paperwork. It essentially says you can trade any woman who isn't pregnant, or send her back to auction. Once she has kids, that becomes more complicated though. I honestly don't think it will be an issue, I'm getting good vibes off Alexia." Jane says as she eyes up Alexia. "I do have one more question for her. Are you good with us claiming them both? I don't feel comfortable just taking one or the other."

"I'll have to trust your judgment, honey." Robert says. "If you weren't here, I would have said yes the moment the tears started anyhow."

"I know, honey." Jane says, giving him a kiss. "Finish reading the paperwork while I talk to Alexia. I love you!"

Jane walks the few steps to Alexia, and quietly says "We aren't interested in splitting you up, so if we claim you, it will be both of you." Alexia's expression quickly brightens, but before she can say anything, Jane continues "First, I want to make sure we are on the same page. My husband's happiness is the most important thing to me. You will do what I say, when I say it, when it comes to Robert, and remember that we are in charge. We both want kids, and I will treat you and any future children with respect as long as you follow the rules and don't cause trouble. If you or Lucia become a problem though, I won't hesitate to have you both sold. If you think this is going to be an issue, please tell me now, so we don't all have to go through that."

"Yes Ma'am, thank you so much." Alexia replies. "I promise, you won't regret taking us."

"I hope not." Jane says, hoping she was making the right decision for both Robert and herself. "Let's go get you registered so we can get out of here and pick up Lucia before the goon squad arrives."