The social engineers of humanity finally completed their great project in the 22nd century CE, when the trends of history finally culminated to overcome humanity's wastage of spirit by disease, toil, and futile enmities and divisions. A process which began with the founding of the UN proceeded, with some reverses, to unify the various governments of the world into a single state. Humanity, which had stabilized at 10 billion, ceased its horizontal spread over the earth and relocated to giant skyscraper-cities, converting all arable land into farmland. Social and genetic engineering finally bred into existence the New Man, a gregarious individual with high extroversion and low neuroticism who did not suffer from the need to have private ownership of objects or people. It is with such men that the great skyscrapers could house almost a million people each without conflict or descending into the Behavioral Sink.
In these buildings there was such sexual license as to make the Free Love movement blush. Modesty meant nothing when clothes were obsolete, and privacy was next to impossible in such crowded conditions. Sex was given freely to everyone, and monogamy was a dirty word. Once a woman gave birth, the infant was given over to the Crèche to be raised until puberty, when the young adult entered training for what few jobs were needed to maintain the building. The vast majority of people received only enough education to be functionally literate, as the most important skills were social.
Some occupations were challenging and rigorous enough that exceptions had to be made from the nearly classless and egalitarian state of society. Adepts, or Kappas, who became politicians, policemen, or engineers, were selectively bred for various traits in the hatcheries to meet the Colony's needs. Those Kappas whose line of work required a degree of removal from ordinary society were even granted a measure of privacy and the right to marry another Kappa for the purposes of raising children.
Kappas had a living space about the size of a studio apartment to share with their spouse and however many children (the number of offspring allotted to them determined by Colony need). Everyone else lived alone in a room about 10 square meters, containing their bed, a retractable sink/toilet, and a tele-screen which also functioned as a computer. All dining was done in cafeterias. In fact, most activity took place outside the 'home', which a person only occupied half his nights. This will be explained later.
The standard greeting between members of the opposite sex was a kiss, and between same sex individuals, an embrace. Heterosexuality was prevalent and acceptable enough that a man could refuse intimate contact from another man and not violate norms, but refusing an offer of sex from a woman was a serious crime which could land a man in re-education.
Of course, since not everyone was equally blessed with looks or grace, it is inevitable that some people become more popular than others. A variety of entertainers (Musicians, Artists, Derbyball players) existed in the Colonies, some reaching celebrity status. To ensure some level of equal access of all to all, night visits were done by reservations. If a person desired someone in particular, he could enter her name on the telescreen and book a night with her in advance. He could only do this once a week. All other appointments were random. The females did likewise, choosing one man a week to visit during the night.
Visits were alternated by gender. One night, all the women would stay in their rooms to be visited by men. The next, the women would leave their rooms to visit the men. One was locked out of his/her room half of the time, and could only sleep in other people's beds. The other half of the time, that person would share his/her bed with a stranger. Every room's door was only accessible through a fingerprint or retina scan, to limit unwanted visits and intrusions. You could only enter your room (during the day or during the nights you stayed at home) or the room of the person you're assigned the night with.
The New Man had a much higher libido than today's schlub, but was correspondingly less fertile. Contraception was prohibited and no one knew their fathers. The Colony's mega-database kept track of such things and prevented incest. The pregnant and women on their periods were still available for nightwalking, as oral and anal sex were completely normalized. Painkillers and lubricant could be delivered to their rooms with the click of a button.
CHAPTER ONE
--Randis--
Randis XE-606 woke up from his thermobed to the familiar blue and orange of his room's atmospheric simulator. Around him, the OLED walls swirled with grey clouds and dim lights to mimic the dawn, while his bed underneath vibrated in an unpleasant, but not unbearable, pattern. A feminine yawn arose from his side.
"It's time to get up already? Oh gosh, I'm still pretty tired," groaned a voice from underneath a tangled mess of red hair. The two of them didn't do a lot of sleeping last night.
Randis' stomach growled. He would have to shower before breakfast to avoid offending anyone with the stench of sex and sweat. No doubt, the redhead was thinking the same thing.
"Honey, you thrust really hard into me last night. My pussy's all sore today."
"Just head over to the pharmacy, they'll fix you up with Douche-balm, uh..."
"Marxa FO-329. It's okay, I don't learn guys' names either. Wanna head over to the showers?"
"Yeah, let's go."
Randis hit the light switch, turning off the fake sky, before the two left the room. After this, Marxa wouldn't be able to enter his room again without him.
The two held hands as they entered the corridor between the domeciles. Hundreds of people were starting to get up and walk to the showers, of all shapes and sizes. It was a vast hodgepodge of skin colors and body types, though none of them would bat an eye.
Randis was a reasonably attractive male within this crowd. He had well-set, masculine features, stood at a taller-than-average 5'8'', and had an attractive amount of chest hair. Women liked a slightly older-looking man, though everyone retained most of their youth thanks to genetic alterations and hormonal therapy. Everyone had working telomerases throughout their lives, so their cells always remained young.
The only signs of age were those that were not linked to bodily deterioration: the growth of body hair, the face's changes in shape, and some baldness, which was actually seen as contributing positively, some amount of physical variety in men.
Randis himself was thirty-eight, but his muscles, bones and organs were still at their peak. He still had more than half his life to live before his programmed death at 70, and he was enjoying every minute of it. He was about to take a shower with his 18 year old partner from last night, and then it was off to the cafeteria, where he would flirt with some different girls for day sex.
The communal showers were a veritable sea of people and flowing water. This one held a capacity of a thousand, though only a couple hundred were occupying it now. From one tiled wall to another were men and women with all the hues and shades of skin and hair imaginable. Every 'race', if one could still conceive of the idea, was represented there, and every mixture in between. Everyone was paired up with their partner from last night except for the occasional unfortunate soul who showered alone, and the lucky man with multiple women around him. That was a breach of courtesy, but not rules.
There were several rows of pipes and spigots for individual use, but during 'shower hours' the room was so packed that these were turned off, and water instead came from the ceiling, like rain. The din and rush were tremendous. Randis and Marxa just squeezed themselves into a spot between a large, dark-skinned man fingering a tiny blonde girl who only stood up to his chest, and two pretty boys who were washing each other's dicks. Such sights were common; testosterone rose higher in the morning, after all. Marxa offered to help the boys out, but they gently refused her.
