Sam (Zero-Three-Three) woke from a slight buzzing. He heard GUMS say "And with this you will be awake and start refreshed into the day." Sam awoke as usually half on top, half below Zero-Three-Four, cuddled to each who was just opening his eyes as well. For a moment both were staring at each other.
"Morning"
"Morning husband"
Both smiled
GUMS spoke to them: "Material, you are awake, change your earpiece and then get up."
Sam removed the day earpiece from its charging dock and exchanged it for the night earpiece. A slight beep told him when his day earpiece was securely attached and he felt it attaching itself to the inside of this ear. Both, 033 and 034, pushed back their rubber cover sheets as if they were one and stepped down the metal ladder.
034 imediatly started arranging the bed in the prescribed manner, placing the guard logo in the middle of the rest station sheet. The rubber material linen was perfect as it needn't be washed very often, for it cleaned itself. "Nanite technology... what a wonderful time to live in" thought briefly 033, while he continued his morning ritual. Mornings had become almost automated procedures. There was little need to talk, all movements in the family unit had been rehearesed and preplanned.
Nothing remarkable happend on this day of training. Outside the facility the sun rose and it was a beautiful day, inside it was as hot or cold as ever.
Another hard day of Training had passed.
The Guardsman had trained on the treadmill, running 30 kms now at a comfy speed. They had done their normal lifting, squatting and heavy calisthenics. You could see the increasinlgy bulging muscles of them.
After that they had again the deference training. How to talk, respond and interact with citizens. Especially it these citizen are female. The last days they were made to wear a rigid posture collar to test their endurance, and concentration.
Now as mostly the day would be concluded by a session on the training racks, where they learned about their place in society.
They acesses the material through the computers.
Study Material
"... In this new post-revolutionary Europe, it became clear that women were truly calling the shots, directing policies, large corporations and shaping society on every possible instance. By year 2074 it was clear that men in the Federation had basically stepped down from the important places and functions, taking care of children, the arts, nature, but also had become something for women to command, posses and lead." (see `Aftermath of the New Glorious Revolution', by Latif, J., 2084).
The instructor asked: "So what is special about beeing a guardsman?"
Zero-Thrity-Four rose his arm and responded: "We have an important place in society, we serve to protect it."
The instructor smiled and said "Correct".
"Manifest is this in the Pan European Security Organization, commonly referred as the Guardsmen' or the Guard', in which only men may serve, and where they are trained and conditioned to be servile, docile, and polite to women, almost like drones, although with some additional free will than that of basic drones" ("An American view on the the New Europe, ch. 5, Women and Men", by Latif, A., Harvard University Press, 2088).
"Instructor, we are not drones, this guardsman fully aware of what I'm doing" said Zero-Thirty-Three.
"You are right, the guard does not make its members drones. This is American propaganda. The Americans don't drone their normal soldiers... well, not all of them, but they do so with the nearly one million Marines they have. They get implanted with a chip during basic training so they become better soldiers. You could see this with their behaviour during their campaigns against the rebels in the states of Cuba, Santo Domingo, and Puerto Rico in 2089. However they are prone to cyber attacks and malware -- so the Guard believes in tradiontional conditiong and motivational shaping. Nearly as efficent but less dangerous" said the instructor.
"But still, it interferes with guardsmans free will" retorted Zero-Thirty-Three.
"So does advertisment and its not that we are not aware of it, and so do our constant interactions with other humans: friends, family, and society in general, they shape us and we shape them without being conscious of it all the time."
"Right" said Zero-Thirty-Three after a brief reflection.
"And we enjoy it. It's the only way to be in society, and therefore, it's good." the instructor smirked.
The study session ended with the normal exams. At the end the ones doing good were rewared with positive movements of their butt plugs, while 030 endured pain for his constant failures...
The exams and the rewards were over. Slowly the light in the room came back on. It was a normal room in the cavern: bare concrete walls, A hard floor, no interior decoration.
The restraints in their chairs opend. Zero-Thirty-Three unlashed himself and stood up. Then he pushed the chair back to its place and stood motionless in the rest posture behind it. He closed his eyes. He could hear how other family units stacked themselves and started moving out of the room.
The close stacked march went through the facility. As they marched around they heard other groups maching. Sometimes they turned right, right and right again. Marched on the spot.
Only the first person was allowed to watch and exchanged greetings by saluting. But GUMS would direct them and where to walk.
When they had asked Big Brother why they marched in this way, he said "It's to learn blind trust".
The metal door to their family unit room opend. The guardies stepped in.
"Open eyes -- at ease -- liberty period" The big brother shouted.
The guardies opend their eyes and relaxed their pose. Still their posture collar kept their heads upright and in position.
"Ahh"
"Little Brothers, this guardsman have been told your training period is over."
"So will we leave? Will we get out to see our families?"
"Calm down"
"Tomorrow your examination will start."
At that moment the door chimed.
"Material, this family unit has a visitor, assume inspection position"
The material stopped in their tasks. They put out their chests, looked forward into the distance, interviewend their thumbs behind the head and waited.
"Zero-Thirty-three follow this guardsman" said the superior officer G-5050-022-400.
033 followed the senior guardsman.
"Family unit resume duties" G-5050-022-400 said, as they went out of the room.
The family unit was relieved that the superior officer had not come to inspect them or to fondle parts of their bodies.
033 followed G-5050-022-400. They marched into a small office.
G-5050-022-400 removed his head piece and told 033 to do the same.
"Do you recognize this guardsman?"
033 stared at G-5050-022-400 in disbelive.
"Dad?"
"Yes" 400 smiled and hugged his son.
"You are one of my trainers?"
"actually this guardsman is in charge of your training."
"Wow"
"this guardsman has come to met you before the the exams"
"Will you tell this guardsman what to answer?"
"No, of course not. this one doesn't know the questions. this one came here to ses you one more time. After the exams you will be transfered to your new duty station."
"Where will we go?"
"GUMS will assign you a place. You and your husband"
"Can this guardsman ask you stuff?"
"What kind of stuff?"
"Stuff that this guardsman always wanted to know, about the guard since my training here started"
400 noded.
"Why did they put the numbers on us? Why not leave our names?" 033 asked.
"Easy. The police union demanded the use of numbers in response to the requiremend that every policeman had to identifiable all the time. So they stuck the numbers on us. Then the union said we should only use the numbers to protect our families against kidnapping or harassment. Slowly it became commonly acepted to only use them and train everyone not to slip any names."
"And these rubber uniforms?"
"Well in response to a police man getting set on fire by a group of protestors they tested a special protective non inflamable under garment. It was mostly similar to what we wear know. Then there were adittional requirements: bullet protection, stabbing protection, breathable, heat regualtion was a thing many of us required and demanded. We got it."
"But why are we locked into this thing? Why the butt-plugs? this guardsman mean its certainly nice to feel mine up in my ass, but still..."
"Well the uniforms only work then they encase most parts of the body. So having a service flap for excrementation or peeing would make them unsafe. In the beginning they had to be removed each time one of us went to pee. That was simply cumbersome. So they invented the butt plugs, which are more than simply that. Simply cleaning out the colon once per day and have it closed up, so nothing can happend during missions. Think of it, in earlier times soldiers often shit into their pants during battle. So the butt plugs stopped that."
"But this guardsman can't even open it when this guardsman wants, the GUMS controls it and this guardsman has to request it," complained 033.
"Yes well. The GUMS is a disitributed system. There are some chips in your earpiece, some in your suit and some in the butt plug and of course your suit acts as an antenna to the recievers. The union thought against the control but in the end it had to accept it. The guard is based on transparency and mutual control. So the system can check if you are in a enviroment where it is apropiate to remove your suit. It was introduced after a guardsman raped a woman."
"But why, we are gay anyway. this guardsman mean look what they did to all of us?"
"No one, or almost no one, is totally gay or totaly hetero. There is serious evidence that shows that if you are gay and in the all male enviroment of the guard you feel better. Not so lonely. And it reduced all this sexual harrasment incidents."
"But GUMS controls us!"
"No it guides us, we control GUMS and it controls us. Your and my superiors programme it, this guardsman programmes it for the training of you new guardies"
Dad moved to hug his son. "this one will miss you, when you are out in the field. You will be an efficient one".
"But the hypnosis and mind control..." cut Zero-Thirty-Three.
"Well it just makes you a better guardy, this felt much more focused when they did the hypnosis. You know our generation volountered for it. First this didn't like it but saw how my co workers were just more concentrated, more focused and started looking better every day. You'll come around, trust me, trust the system." said 400 smiling but earnestly.
"Do you have any more questions?"
"No, but it's good to see you Dad"
"It was good to see you Son. This will tell mother you are doing well"
"Thank you"
"This'll walk you back to your room"
Both put on their head pieces and closed the chin strap. 033 came to attention, closed his eyes and started marching in goose step to his family unit room.
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