Basic Bio
Lunch was outside on the lawn, altho she saw there were some tables inside if it rained or whatever, and you got your food from one of the carts parked on the road outside the school. Several kesh had brought lunches in a status box… perhaps because it was cheaper but, in one case, it looked much, much nicer.
She looked over the selection, standing away from the counter so it wouldn’t look like she was ready to oder. Her eyes immediately went to the prices and she had to remind herself several times that she had a enormous budget. Nothing on the lunch menu was out of her budget. Oh, this was utterly delirious!
But she didn’t know that many of the names and she really didn’t want to look like a stupid exo and consult her wrist comp. She saw, toward the end, ‘Thomas in Toast’ and smiled. That meant some kind of sausage… And she had read about these sausages and was sure that she would at least be able to eat them without gagging… in some kind of bun, with a spicy sauce which hopefully came on the side.
She bought her lunch, stared at it for a few seconds… yes, the sauce came in a little packet, and then found a seat. Whereupon she was immediately deluged with kesh-u asking questions. Where was she from, how had they gotten here, what did her ska-drek-a do, what did her ska-drek do (which she realised she didn’t know, but they immediately excused this when they found out he had come into her life only two days ago! He surely had had more important things to do than to tell her what he did for a living.
“What’s your schedule like?” one kesh asked, and Jellia, nothing loth, got out her wristcomp.
0700 Advanced Drawing: Life and Landscape
0800 Physio
0830 Mechanical Engineering
0930 Limits and Derivatives
1030 Lunch
1100 Basic Pastels, Chalks, and other crumbly media
1200 Chemical Engineering
1300 Statistics for Engineers
1400 Off
“Math, engineering, art. Two of each. What are you thinking of dropping next?”
“Math, obviously,” another one said. “It’s very hard to do anything with just Math. Drop art last, it is so fun, and you will still be able to use it all of your life. Then continue with engineering. Not bioengineering, though,” she said. “You have no bio classes.”
“I really don’t know much yet about how it works,” Jellia said.
“It’s not like her ska-drek has had much time to instruct her,” the first kesh said, and everyone laughed.
“Well, she has time. This term has three more months to go, and she is counting it as first-term, so practically a whole year before she has to make that choice. Why, she might be en-drek-a by then.”
“But… how is it that they don’t know where she is in her en-kesh?”
“I know that,” Lydia said. “We went over her results in bio. The problem is that she has only had one exam. You can tell development with only one exam, but is very hard to tell rate of development. And with an exo, teacher said, they’s rather be a bit late than risk being early. Especially cause the social is so hard.”
The kesh talked about this subject for quite a while, which made Jellia very embarrassed but at least gave her the chance to look around. The kesh-u all seemed to have formed their own groups, separate from the kesh-u-i. Remembering what the art teacher had said she turned her gaze away from them. She didn’t even want anyone to think she was thinking about kesh-u!
(Images courtesy of playground; which had a really time understanding the combination of grass, school, food trucks, girls at a table, and alien planet.)
“Do you like your ska-drek?” Leah asked.
“Leah, that’s not custom! It’s practically not code!”
“Well, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant… her planet doesn’t have ska-drek-u. I looked it up. I meant… does she like having a ska-drek.”
“What do you mean they don’t have ska-drek-u? They have kesh-u, don’t they.”
“Not many, but the book said they don’t have ska-drek-u.”
The kesh-u-i all looked at her. “We don’t have men we call ska-drek-u,” she agreed. “Our en-drek-a, umm, make babies with some male ska but he doesn’t come live with her.”
“That’s horrid!” the tallest kesh-i said.
“Say, I have a question,” she said, leaning forward. “Why don’t we have any li-kesh in our classes?”
“That’s basic bio,” Lydia said. “Males leave kesh about a thousand days after females… on average, of course. The transition… I don’t know how much you know about it, but it is partly physical and partly psychological. You took a whole bunch of tests when you first came, and they checked your readiness to leave Kesh. Males change physically a lot later, but even psychologically it is later. So we have males in our classes that are good at drawing or math or whatever but neither their body nor their mind… no, that’s not right. They both have to reach a certain level. Their body has to be ready, and their mind. So, anyway, they leave kesh later but can be in a higher class.”
“Oh! Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, we had that too, I guess. There were lots of boys… that’s what we called them… that wouldn’t ask you for a date…”
“Code and custom!” Fenia said. “No more of that discussion, please.”
“Oh, sorry,” Jellia said. “Do I need to see a teacher?”
“No, no, we stopped you,” Leah said. “I’m not even sure why but I guess Fenia has read more about your culture.”
“Umm, ok, thanks. I’m going to need lots of help.”
“And we’ll help you!” Leah said, slapping her on the back.
Thank you for reading Von’s Substack. I would love it if you commented! I love hearing from readers, especially critical comments. I would love to start more letter exchanges, so if there’s a subject you’re interested in, get writing and tag me!
Being ‘restacked’ and mentioned in ‘notes’ is very important for lesser-known stacks so… feel free! I’m semi-retired and write as a ministry (and for fun) so you don’t need to feel guilty you aren’t paying for anything, but if you enjoy my writing (even if you dramatically disagree with it), then restack, please! Or mention me in one of your own posts.
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Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von
Links
Contract Marriage
Contract marriage is an adult dystopia examining the issues of marriage. Like 1984 and Brave New World, Contract Marriage treats the relations between the sexes as a fundamental aspect of how a society is formed and, thus, how a society can go wrong.
Unlike those dystopias, Contract Marriage isn’t all horrible all of the time. The characters for the most part have a good time and get along in their society. But the issues of sexuality, of marriage or not, monogamy or not, faithfulness or not, and gender roles… keep coming up and causing tension and conflict and joy and pain.
My desire is that my readers would be thinking along with my characters about these issues and perhaps even arrive at the same place (minus the flying cars).
Introduction // Podcast Version
In which I lay out the themes that I intend to explore in this light Dystopia, and ask others to participate.
Trade Master: First Chapter // Podcast Version
In which Fenestra, our heroine’s mother, puts in her application for the job of 'Trade Master’ on the planet Libertas, and finds out that it isn’t that easy.
En-Drek Contract // Podcast Version
In which Fenestra finds out that, on Libertas, everyone must be in an ‘En-drek’ contract… a long-term, live-in, heavy date between a man and a woman for the purpose of producing one child after the other with one date after the other.
Disappointment and Meditation // Podcast Version
In which Jellia, the daughter and our heroine, finds out about her mother’s job opportunity, including its difficulties, and commits herself to meditating on the situation. (And internally commits herself to encouraging her mother to take the job.)
Decision Reached // Podcast Version
Jellia tells her mother that she thinks she should take the job, and so her mother puts in her application… and gets the job!
First School // Podcast Version
Jellia goes to school and gets to tell everyone about her new adventure.
First Work // Podcast Version
Fenestra goes to work, and tells her coworker about her new opportunity.
Writing Class: Podcast Version
Jellia writes a poem (a limerick) and tells her classmates more about her new adventure.
Trader Galloway: Podcast Version
In which a man comes over for a ‘date’ (Ie to sleep over with her mother) and to tell them all about his time as Trade Master for their company on Libertas. And as how he was almost executed for asking a woman out on a date.
Shopping: Podcast Version
In which Jellia and her mother go shopping for the last time, and we explore some of the nature of the planet she is leaving.
Language: Podcast Version
In which Jellia starts using some new words at school, and everyone gathers round to find out what they mean.
Kesh-i Cooking Class: Podcast Version
In which Jellia finds out that children (Kesh-i) on Libertas are expected to cook.
Trade Master Training: Podcast Version
In which Fenestra begins her training for her new role, with an old enemy.
Two Week Date: Podcast Version
In which Fenestra and Alex decide to date for the next two weeks.
The Facts of Life: Podcast Version
In which Fenestra brings Alex home, and Jellia isn’t impressed. Although she is interested in how dating works for boys.
Snips: Podcast Version
In which Jellia spends time snipping with a boy, and brings him home.
Kissing: Podcast Version
In which Jellia and her mother both have a sexual ‘last fling’ before they leave, and Jellia practices the new kisses she will need for her new planet.
Off Ephemera // Podcast Version
In which Jellia and her mother arrive at the shuttle port, go through some annoying formalities, and take off!
And Fly! // Podcast Version
In which Jellia and her mother board their spaceship, and Jellia starts doing her homework.
Abstinate // Podcast Version
In which Jellia gets bored, rejects an older gentleman, and rejects her mother’s idea of dating.
Older Kesh-u // Podcast Version
In which Jellia learns more about what Kesh-u (children) are allowed to do on Libertas.
Fertility // Podcast Version
In which Jellia and her mother are taken off birth control by an odd doctor.
New Girl // Podcast Version
-Added out of order- Jellia meets a new girl on the shuttle, from a strange culture!
Decon // Podcast Version
Jellia and her mother arrive on their new planet, go through an awful decontamination, get sent to a briefing, and receive their first kiss/greeting!
Briefing // Podcast Version
Jellia and her mother are warned that the laws on Libertas can be very serious.
En-drek File
Fenestra reads up on her new ‘en-drek’.
Justicia // Podcast Version
Jellia rejoices in the new planet!
The House // Podcast Version
Jellia explores her new house.
Shopping and Greeting // Podcast Version
Jellia uses her new ‘kesh liberty’ and runs off to do some shopping. And has to kiss everyone all the way home.
Ska Illoh Kiladi // Podcast Version
Jellia meets her new Ska, who has business with her mother.
Ooops // Podcast Version
Jellia makes a mistake, gets chastised, and hates it here!
Neighbours // Podcast Version
In which Jellia goes off the cry, and meets neighbours.
Breakfast // Podcast Version
Jellia wakes up, makes breakfast, and runs off for a new day!
Kesh Liberty // Podcast Version
Jellia takes off for town with two younger kesh in tow, and has a fun time shopping!
Dinner // Podcast Version
Jellia comes home from her day in town, raced to unpack her new noodle machine, and cooks dinner!
Testing // Podcast Version
Jellia shows up at her new school, has to check herself it, gets tested for math, art, engineering… and whether she’s mature enough for a live in date.