Your support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)Towards the middle of the 21st century, the developed countries of the world had begun to find themselves facing a new crisis. With so many people putting a focus on their careers and personal lives, the birth rate had been steadily declining for the past few decades. At first this hasn't been too much of a problem, fewer people meant fewer costs, it had even been beneficial for a time, but it quickly started to become more and more of a problem. Skilled labour began to become rarer and rarer as workers grew older and retired with no children to succeed them, schools and colleges began to find themselves closing due to having too few students to remain open. Even worse, with many countries facing the same problem there was great competition internationally for any skilled workers, not just the best, meaning people weren't not only no longer having children, but leaving the country altogether leaving it even more depopulated. Small towns began to vanish as people moved towards the larger cities, but even some of the smaller cities began to find themselves with entire neighbourhoods entirely deserted. Undeveloped countries had not faced this issue at first, some even suddenly experiencing economic booms due to plentiful labour, but in the last 10 or 15 years they too suddenly found themselves facing the beginnings of the same problem, populations beginning to decline, move away but leave no children behind.
In the 2070s the government realised it had no choice but to take radical action. They needed to ensure that new children were born, and technology had failed to provide the solution. Simply cloning humans would only be a short term fix, and in the long run it would only serve to worse the problem as genetic diversity became nearly non-existant. And so, the last protestors silenced themselves in the face of their harsh reality....the newly proposed law truly was the only way to solve this problem once and for all, and so it was passed quietly as plans were drawn up and sent out to local governments, which in some states consisted of barely a dozen people.
Lance's day had started like any other really, riding the barely half full bus to school, the only school left in the city. All of the various schools had been brought together to bring student numbers up, giving them a rather rare healthy number of students. Unlike the usual classes however, the entire student body was summoned to attend an assembly in the main hall of the school, the teachers gathered, along with someone smartly dressed, a government official who had arrived without warning. The principal and teachers knew why he was here, and they had no choice but to go along with this, though the look of confusion on the faces of the students was plain to see.
"Attention, attention everyone" The principle, an older man, stepped forwards on the stage, tapping at the microphone to get the attention of the students gathered, giving them a few moments to grow silent. "You may be wondering why you have been gathered here today. Well....we have a government official here to tell you all about a new law that was passed this morning" He sighed softly, then stepped aside as the smartly dressed man stepped up. The man couldn't have been any older than 21, yet he was clearly a fairly high ranking official.
"As you may all be aware, over the course of the 21st century the birth rate has been steadily declining. From a peak population of over 7 Billion in the 2010s, the human population now stands at less than half that" He gave a moment for the various whispers to die down. "Current projections are that, if current trends continue, within 3 to 4 generations the human race will be facing extinction. For that reason-" He raised his voice to speak over some of the chatter among the students, the authority in his tone demanding silence "-a new law has been passed to combat this threat, to save the human race" He looked out over the students, an almost perfect split of male and female. Of course he knew that already, the selections had already been made after all.
"As of this moment, every male student will be given ownership of a female student. As of right now, on the order of the government, female rights are hereby revoked and they will be legally required to obey all orders of their male owners" There was some uproar from the crowd of students, but as some turned to the doors they would find them blocked by armed police officers. "This may seem barbaric, but it is the last chance for the survival of humanity! Male students, you will be encouraged and rewarded to have as many offspring as possible and all costs associated with their upbringing will be paid by the government!" He looked out over the crowd....some were afraid, some were intrigued, some were simply confused. Well, the reality would set in soon enough.
"Now before you start grabbing the nearest girl to you, all of you have already been assigned a partner. As part of your physicals blood samples were taken from all of you several months ago and so we have chosen the best genetic matches. This ensures not only the greatest chance of conception but also the greatest chance of healthy children" The man reached up, removing his sunglasses, a deadly serious look in his eyes. "Make no mistake, this is happening, the law has been passed. Disobedience will not be tolerated and those who attempt to act against this law will be arrested, summarily tried and face execution. Is that understood?!" The harsh threat seemed to silence a lot of the whispered protests. "As part of this law, all forms of contraceptive are, as of this morning, illegal. Anyone caught using forms of artificial contraception will face the same punishments as dissenters. Now, your principal will read out your pairings. Female students are to report immediately to their new owners. Your parents will also be advised of the situation" The official put his sunglasses back on, returning to his seat as the principle stood up once again, beginning to read out names, a female first, then the name of their male owner. Some of the male students were clearly rather pleased with their new 'possessions', though some were also clearly rather annoyed at not getting 'one of the hot ones'.
Finally, the name of one of the most sought after girls was read out. Hannah, arguably one of the hottest girls in school, captain of the dance team. Plenty of jocks were clearly looking rather eager, awaiting their names to be read out. Surely, as the 'best' males in the school then they should 'get' her. But then a name nobody expected, and most didn't even know, was read out. Lance, an unassuming student, somewhat quiet and kept to himself, but he was made to stand up so that Hannah could find him, and the reading out of names resumed.
In the 2070s the government realised it had no choice but to take radical action. They needed to ensure that new children were born, and technology had failed to provide the solution. Simply cloning humans would only be a short term fix, and in the long run it would only serve to worse the problem as genetic diversity became nearly non-existant. And so, the last protestors silenced themselves in the face of their harsh reality....the newly proposed law truly was the only way to solve this problem once and for all, and so it was passed quietly as plans were drawn up and sent out to local governments, which in some states consisted of barely a dozen people.
Lance's day had started like any other really, riding the barely half full bus to school, the only school left in the city. All of the various schools had been brought together to bring student numbers up, giving them a rather rare healthy number of students. Unlike the usual classes however, the entire student body was summoned to attend an assembly in the main hall of the school, the teachers gathered, along with someone smartly dressed, a government official who had arrived without warning. The principal and teachers knew why he was here, and they had no choice but to go along with this, though the look of confusion on the faces of the students was plain to see.
"Attention, attention everyone" The principle, an older man, stepped forwards on the stage, tapping at the microphone to get the attention of the students gathered, giving them a few moments to grow silent. "You may be wondering why you have been gathered here today. Well....we have a government official here to tell you all about a new law that was passed this morning" He sighed softly, then stepped aside as the smartly dressed man stepped up. The man couldn't have been any older than 21, yet he was clearly a fairly high ranking official.
"As you may all be aware, over the course of the 21st century the birth rate has been steadily declining. From a peak population of over 7 Billion in the 2010s, the human population now stands at less than half that" He gave a moment for the various whispers to die down. "Current projections are that, if current trends continue, within 3 to 4 generations the human race will be facing extinction. For that reason-" He raised his voice to speak over some of the chatter among the students, the authority in his tone demanding silence "-a new law has been passed to combat this threat, to save the human race" He looked out over the students, an almost perfect split of male and female. Of course he knew that already, the selections had already been made after all.
"As of this moment, every male student will be given ownership of a female student. As of right now, on the order of the government, female rights are hereby revoked and they will be legally required to obey all orders of their male owners" There was some uproar from the crowd of students, but as some turned to the doors they would find them blocked by armed police officers. "This may seem barbaric, but it is the last chance for the survival of humanity! Male students, you will be encouraged and rewarded to have as many offspring as possible and all costs associated with their upbringing will be paid by the government!" He looked out over the crowd....some were afraid, some were intrigued, some were simply confused. Well, the reality would set in soon enough.
"Now before you start grabbing the nearest girl to you, all of you have already been assigned a partner. As part of your physicals blood samples were taken from all of you several months ago and so we have chosen the best genetic matches. This ensures not only the greatest chance of conception but also the greatest chance of healthy children" The man reached up, removing his sunglasses, a deadly serious look in his eyes. "Make no mistake, this is happening, the law has been passed. Disobedience will not be tolerated and those who attempt to act against this law will be arrested, summarily tried and face execution. Is that understood?!" The harsh threat seemed to silence a lot of the whispered protests. "As part of this law, all forms of contraceptive are, as of this morning, illegal. Anyone caught using forms of artificial contraception will face the same punishments as dissenters. Now, your principal will read out your pairings. Female students are to report immediately to their new owners. Your parents will also be advised of the situation" The official put his sunglasses back on, returning to his seat as the principle stood up once again, beginning to read out names, a female first, then the name of their male owner. Some of the male students were clearly rather pleased with their new 'possessions', though some were also clearly rather annoyed at not getting 'one of the hot ones'.
Finally, the name of one of the most sought after girls was read out. Hannah, arguably one of the hottest girls in school, captain of the dance team. Plenty of jocks were clearly looking rather eager, awaiting their names to be read out. Surely, as the 'best' males in the school then they should 'get' her. But then a name nobody expected, and most didn't even know, was read out. Lance, an unassuming student, somewhat quiet and kept to himself, but he was made to stand up so that Hannah could find him, and the reading out of names resumed.