A Dar Future

Morning comes too early for everyone in the house. Jane's alarm jars Robert from sleep first, and gradually Jane, and then Alexia emerge from their blankets. Robert slips out of bed, going around to turn off the alarm before leaning down to kiss Jane.

"Time to get ready." He says, before going to the bottom of the bed, reaching under the covers, and tickling Alexia's feet, causing her to squeal and curl up into a ball.

"Too early for those noises." Jane grumbles, trying to hide her head under the pillow.

Robert goes to turn on the shower, realizing that the best way to get Alexia moving was to start moving forward without her. A moment later she practically runs into the bathroom.

"Sorry, Master." She says. "Are you ready for your shower now?"

"Is Jane actually up?" Robert asks.

Alexia pokes her head back out the door, and says. "She's out of bed."

"Good, then yes, we can shower now." Robert says. "Just a shower, we don't have time for anything else, and you've gotten more than your share of attention over the past two days."

Alexia blushes, remembering the events of those days. "Yes, Master."

Once the shower is over, Robert heads downstairs. Kissing Lucia good morning, he continues to Jane's office.

"So what's the verdict?" Robert asks. "Let me guess: 20?"

Jane laughs. "Nothing that bad. Our minimum is 6, and maximum is 12."

"That's surprisingly reasonable." Robert says. "Or maybe you've just been hitting me with high numbers so long that my expectations were not realistic."

"Either way, I'm happy we can just accept it and move onto more important things." Jane says. "There are a few new orange profiles since we last looked, I'll look them over, and see if any are worth strong consideration. There is something else we need to discuss first though."

"That sounds ominous." Robert says. "What now? Another card class? All women losing citizenship? Nothing would surprise me with these guys."

"Nothing like that." Jane reassures him. "But they've finalized some of the rules, and posted them. Some of it we already suspected, but now it's official. Let's move out to the breakfast table, and at least read it to Lucia, and she can brief the other girls if they aren't eating with us, or we can go over it all together again when we get home with the new girls."

Heading out to the kitchen, Jane grabs her old laptop the girls have been using from the couch. "Lucia, we have a few things to go over, if you would join us for breakfast."

Jane spends a few minutes pulling up the BAA site, and when Lucia finishes bringing out the food, Jane says. "So there are new BAA rules, some of which we expected, and some we didn't. We may need to adjust things a bit based on these."

"Let's just hear them first, and then we can figure out how to adapt." Robert says. He notices Lucia pull out her phone, and assumes she is taking notes.

"Ok. Lucia, feel free to go over this with the girls whenever they get moving, but we should probably go over it with the new girls as well when we make it home." Jane says. "So first is the 'birth quota'. Each household is expected to have one birth per year minimum. If you have two in one year, one can credit towards the next, but any extra are just extra. Each yellow, white, and green card is expected to have a minimum of 5 children total, or 1 per adult in the home. Once you reach the limit, the yearly 'quota' is suspended until and unless you no longer are at your quota."

"Hang on a second." Robert says. "That last bit. Does that mean if kids grow up, we have to keep having more? Or is that referring to the household growing?"

"It's... unclear..." Jane says. "We should probably assume the worst though. So our minimum concubine count is 6, which means that with you, me, and Amber, we are at 9. If we have 9, and then they grow up, and don't leave home, does that mean we suddenly have to start having a kid per year until we have 18 kids in the house? At some point the math doesn't work, and it's just a kid a year no matter what."

She breathes in for a moment, and continues. "I'm hoping what they mean is that if you add extra concubines, your quota goes up. So if we start with 9 people, and add a concubine next year, our new quota is 10. I suspect they also mean that if you lose a child, you have to replace it..."

"That's fucked." Robert says, getting angry.

"I know." Jane says. "And it doesn't say it explicitly, but I think we know these people don't care about feelings, or what is right and wrong."

"You are certainly right there." Lucia says, scooting her chair over to hug Robert. Robert puts his arm around her, and asks Jane. "So what happens if we don't meet the quota?"

"The oldest concubine in the house who doesn't have a child is removed from the home. If she's over 40, she goes to the labor camps. If she is under 40, she gets sent to a new household." Jane says. "If the man is proven to be fertile, a replacement concubine is placed in the home. It doesn't sound like we would be able to pick the replacement, it would just be them shuffling concubines between homes."

"What if the man isn't fertile?" Robert asks, dreading the answer.

"All concubines get re-distributed." Jane says.

Lucia inhales sharply, and haltingly asks. "Is that a possibility?"

Jane shakes her tongue. "We did fertility testing, Robert is fertile, or at least, he was when we tested a few years ago."

"I'll feel better when we have one confirmed pregnancy." Lucia says.

Robert nods in agreement. "Me too. I think we need to start trying with at least two or three girls. Once someone is pregnant, we can stop, of course."

"Once two are pregnant." Jane says. "Miscarriages happen, and we don't want to put ourselves in a bad position."

"Well, I'm obviously trying." Lucia says. "And I think Alexia will be willing, knowing how important it is."

"I'm sure she will." Jane says. "And if Amber were healthy, I would ask her, but she's not ready."

"No, definitely not." Robert says. "Maybe year two, or three. We still need to build that relationship, and work through her trauma. I know she's doing well, but I fully expect bumps in the road to recovery."

"What about Mei?" Lucia asks. "I know you guys don't really KNOW her, but she may be willing, and at least she isn't a stranger."

"Maybe." Jane says. "We'll see who we end up with. One of them may volunteer. I don't plan to ask anyone unless we don't have volunteers that we feel good about."

"Agreed." Robert says. "It's a big ask, and I don't want anyone doing it if they aren't sure, unless we are desperate."

"Were there other rules we should know about?" Lucia asks.

"Most of it is what we expected. It looks like auctions will happen every evening over the next two weeks, and it did mention a quarterly auction of girls who are being raised in the camps who have recently turned 18." Jane says, and then adds. "It also mentioned auctions happening spontaneously if a man loses the right to his girls, either by infertility, death, or imprisonment."

"You are not allowed to die." Lucia says, grabbing Robert's arm.

"I second that." Jane says.

"I'll do my best." Robert says. "I need to get back to my exercise routine, I haven't gone for my evening walk since the night this all started."

"Maybe you can take a few of us with you." Lucia says.

"Sure." Robert says. "We can work that out later. Jane, is there anything else we need to know?"

"I don't think so." Jane says. "We need to leave within the next thirty minutes, if you want to finish getting ready. Lucia, can you go through the few new profiles, and text the girl's chat if any of them are worth considering? I need to go get ready, and then we should get going."

"Girl's chat?" Robert asks. "How long have you four been talking behind my back?"

"Only since the day they got their phones back." Jane says with a smile. "Don't worry, we don't say bad things. Think of it as a place we can discuss things you don't want to hear about. Not everything requires your input, after all."

Robert just shrugs, and gets up to finish getting ready. Giving Jane and Lucia a kiss, he heads upstairs. Stepping into his bedroom, he finds Alexia back in bed. Slipping into bed next to her, he kisses her on the forehead, and says. "Wake up, sleepy. You've got a lot of work to do this morning."

"Want to sleep, Master." Alexia says, clutching the covers tightly.

"Don't we all?" Robert says. "You can sleep in tomorrow, if you want. I need you to finish getting the last set of bunk beds assembled, help Lucia with the new pantry shelves, and then get the house tidy before the new girls arrive. All of your chores went undone yesterday, so I'm sure you've got lots to do that I don't even know about."

"Amber did some of them." Alexia murmurs, not quite ready to let go of the comforter. "15 more minutes?"

Robert just kisses her on the forehead again, and heads into the closet to start getting dressed. When he is ready, he comes back out, but finds Jane in the bedroom instead of Alexia.

"You managed to get her up?" Robert guesses.

"Sometimes it just requires the right motivation." Jane says, and shows Robert her phone, which has a picture of Bessie on it. "She really doesn't want this to be my new phone background."

Robert laughs. "I'm glad you are on my side."

"Forever and always." Jane says, kissing him. "I'll be ready in 5, if you are ready to go."

"I'm ready." Robert asks. "Is there something we need to bring? I keep thinking I'm forgetting something."

"Just our cards." Jane says. "And payment, but I've got that in my purse. I called the bank yesterday to let them know, so we shouldn't have any issues."

"What would I do without you?" Robert asks.

"Collapse into nothingness?" Jane asks. "Realistically, you'd struggle, but you'd keep it together for the girls. Lucia would step up, and you'd all figure it out. You don't have to worry about that though, I'm not going anywhere." She kisses Robert, and heads into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

Robert heads downstairs to find Alexia and Amber eating leftover pizza while Lucia cleans up the kitchen.

"You just can't resist pizza, can you?" Robert asks Alexia.

"Nope." Alexia says, and sticks out her tongue before taking another bite.

"Maybe next time we need to find a Miss Piggy outfit for you." Robert jokes.

"Ouch." Alexia says, exaggeratedly acting like she was deeply wounded. "Does Miss Piggy get pizza? If so, I'd prefer that to being Bessie again."

"Miss piggy gets slop." Lucia says. "All of the leftovers are mixed up together and thrown into a bowl."

Alexia looks a little green, and says. "I think we should just make sure there are no next times."

"Good girl." Robert says with a laugh, leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Lucia, can I trust you to keep this one on task while we are gone?" Robert asks.

"Absolutely, Master." Lucia says. "Do I get a reward if they do extra well?"

"Maybe." Robert says. "We can negotiate something when we get home, I'm sure."

Lucia looks at Alexia. "I hope you are prepared to work hard."

Amber pipes up. "I can help. Just tell me what you want me to do."

Lucia smiles at Robert. "I think I've got this."

Robert hears Jane coming down the stairs and gives Lucia a last kiss, and then Amber a quick hug.

"I guess we are taking the van." Jane says. "It should be big enough for all of the new girls, and the two of us."

The ride to the auction center is quiet, Robert preoccupied with the list of potential new girls that Lucia has typed up for them. As they pull into the parking lot, Jane looks over at Robert and says. "When we are interviewing the girls, squeeze my leg if you are out on a girl. I'll do the same for you, if you are the one talking. No point wasting time if someone is an obvious no."

"Yes, Ma'am." Robert says, faking a southern accent. Jane just rolls her eyes in response, and they head inside.

At the door they have their cards scanned, and are allowed to pass inside. The inside isn't quite what they expected. Robert had pictured an open room with women chained up, or in small cages, but it was just a waiting room, with Rosie of all people manning the desk. Jane walks straight to the desk to greet her.

"Hi Rosie!" Jane says. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"I go where they tell me." Rosie laughs. "And apparently for the foreseeable future, it's going to be this desk on auction days."

Looking around, Jane sees that the room is empty apart from Rosie and them. "I don't suppose you can tell me what order the auction is in? We have a family friend we really need to get."

"What's her profile number?" Rosie asks, clicking on something on the computer. After Jane provides it, she says. "Oh, she's in the red card auction. She'll probably be in the back half, the order is determined by the profile number, which is determined by when she was tested and processed."

"Thank you." Jane says with a smile. "That is very helpful."

"Very welcome." Rosie says. "If I could just scan his card, I can get you checked in, and you can start the preview."

Robert steps forward with the card, and she scans it. "Did you already see your allotment numbers?"

"I pulled it up this morning." Jane says.

"Well, since no one else is here..." Rosie says, keeping an eye on the door. "There is only one other person here with an allotment even close to that." Rosie turns the monitor just enough for Jane to see the photo on the screen. "Allotment is based on a few factors, but income is the primary one. The other bidders are almost all 1-5 households, which means income is like 30% of yours at most."

"Which means that this is the only guy who can potentially outbid us." Jane concludes.

"Basically." Rosie says. "I didn't tell you any of that."

"Any of what?" Jane says. "I can't quite recall the last few minutes."

Rosie laughs. "How are the girls?"

"They are great." Jane says, beaming. "Lucia is already trying to get pregnant, and I suspect Alexia won't be far behind her, she's taking a bit of time to decide."

"They are really lucky to have you two." Rosie says. "I doubt most people are giving these girls a choice."

"Forcing someone into motherhood is a bad idea." Robert responds. "And a great way to make them resent you forever. I want my girls to be happy."

"Good." Rosie says. "If you two are ready for the preview, I can take you back real fast, since no one else is here."

Rosie leads them through the double doors, and down a hallway, before entering a large conference room. On one end is a large group of women, and the other end is set up with tables with chairs on either side. "Most people are going to be interviewing here, but this room has a few offices over there." Rosie points to the far side of the room. "I'll talk to the guards, and see if you can use it."

"Thank you." Jane says. "One day we need to take you out to dinner to thank you for everything you've done for us."

"Maybe you could invite me over?" Rosie asks. "So I can see Alexia."

"Definitely." Jane says. "Do you have my number?"

"He gave me Alexia's last time he came in." Rosie says. "If you don't mind, I'll ask her to give me yours."

"I'll text her in a minute to let her know that it's ok." Jane says.

Rosie leads them over to the group of guards watching the women.

"Ron, these are my friends Robert and Jane. Any chance they can use one of the offices to interview some of these ladies?" Rosie asks nicely.

"What's their allotment?" Ron says. "They wanted us to keep these for the higher allotment households."

"6-12, so they should be good." Rosie says.

"Yeah, no doubt." Ron says. "Feel free to take your pick. If you have specific women you are interested in, we can pull them back for you, otherwise feel free to browse and let us know as you find some you are interested in. You can talk, but no touching."

"Understood." Robert says. "Thank you for your help Rosie."

"Very welcome." Rosie says. "I'll see you when the auction is done."

As Rosie walks away, he sees Jane peeking into the various offices, before waving Robert over. "We are going to take this one." She says loud enough for Ron to hear, and he gives them a thumbs up, before turning back to watch the women waiting to be auctioned. Putting her purse down in the corner, she asks Robert. "Who do we want to speak to first?"

"Mei." Robert says. "I'd like to reassure her that we are here, and then we can go in whatever order you want. I'd suggest starting with the orange card possibles, then the orange card maybes, and then the same for the red cards."

"Sounds good." Jane says. "Let's go get Mei."

Walking out of the office, Jane leads the way to the guards. Letting Ron know Mei's number, and that she's a red card. He checks his paperwork, before walking to the far end, and calls out her number. As he does, Jane spots Dee, who unfortunately spots her as well. Dee starts to stand up, and then stops. Jane realizes she is handcuffed to her chair.

"Jane!!!" Dee screams. "Jane!!!"

"Fuck." Robert says, seeing her for the first time. "Not that bitch."

Dee is still screaming, trying to move the chair towards them, as the guards turn to look at them. "Friend of yours?"

"No." Robert says. "She can stay here forever for all I care."

Jane doesn't look quite so certain. Turning to Robert, she asks, voice nearly breaking. "Can I at least talk to her?"

"I don't think it's a good idea, but if you want to, I'm going to be there." Robert says. "And I don't see any way we can take her."

"Do you want her now, or after the one Ron is getting?" the guard asks.

"After." Robert says. "Do you want me to go calm her down?"

The guard gestures at the taser at his waist. "I'm assuming you don't want your wife to see how we would calm her."

Robert walks towards Dee, and she stops trying to move towards them. "If you can calm yourself down, we will talk to you in a few minutes." Robert says. "If you don't, I'll have Jane go back to the car, and you won't ever get to talk to her again. Do you understand?"

Dee just nods, hair hiding her face.

"Good." Robert says. "We have someone else to speak to first, when we are done, you'll be called next. Think very carefully about what you are going to say."

Walking back towards Jane, he sees Mei with her, not cuffed like Dee. Ron asks him. "What's the story with the crazy chick?"

"Mainly that she's crazy." Robert says. "I noticed she is cuffed, and the other women aren't. Has she already given you trouble?"

"Since she got here this morning, it's been constant." Ron says. "You couldn't pay me to take her."

"She lived with us for a while, when she was getting out of a bad marriage." Robert tells him. "It was a nightmare."

Robert sees Jane leading Mei towards the interview room, and tells Ron. "I guess I should get going. You said no touching, but it looks like they are already breaking the rules. Do I need to remind Jane?"

"I can tell they know each other." Ron says. "Just keep the blinds open, and we should be fine."

"Thank you." Robert says, and turns to follow Jane and Mei.

Entering the room, he sees Jane and Mei embracing.

"Are you ok?" Jane asks Mei. "No one is mistreating you?"

"I'm fine." Mei says. "And so glad to see you. I was terrified you wouldn't come, and they initially told me I wasn't going to auction for a while."

"Hello Mei." Robert says, and then adds. "We asked them to move you up, so you wouldn't have to stay here so long."

Mei turns, and throws her arms around Robert. "Thank you!"

"No one is messing with me, but it's like being in prison." Mei says, letting him go. "No freedom, no privacy, and the food is awful. I'm lucky to have you guys. My poor mom and grandparents..." Mei tears up a bit.