Chapter Text
The Great Recessions made their first waves nearly a decade ago. A continual onslaught of data breaches, trade disruptions, insurgences and wars brought the global economy to a screeching halt. Opportunistic nations saw the chance to reposition themselves in the rapidly changing world order, while more sluggish coutries fell into a state of constant disrepair. The resulting Coalition of New World Powers quickly made a habit of poaching desperate working people of the more downtrodden corners of the planet.
While Liam’s nation was far from the worst of, and had actually started economically stabilizing in recent years, they had still lost a sizeable portion of the female workforce in the early turmoil. This was a demographic shift that was nearly impossible to reverse without the implementation of drastically radical policies, as the diminished share of women were increasingly burdened with maintaining a stable birth rate. The government was well aware of this as well as the fact that a growing percentage of men were all but guaranteed to never garner a female partner in their life times. The inability to acquire partners had contributed to the growing unrest among the men, and the government knew that the instability would only worsen with time if the men kept being denied a proper, permanent outlet for their frustrations.
Thus, congressional representatives started secretly working across party lines to draft the legislation that the nation so desperately needed. At first, many incumbent members expressed dismay as the drafts grew more extreme, but they quickly fell in line as their more expressive colleagues suddenly disappeared, alongside a host of staffers, journalists and political activists who were deemed too compromizing to the safety of the project. And at long last, the legislation was passed unanimously in the dead of night, with no cameras allowed in the chamber and only tid-bits of its contents being released to the public at a time.
As the first few days drew to a close, it became clear that multiple government agencies were working in tandem to establish a comprehensive registry of all men between the ages of 18 and 35. Liam, who just turned 18 a couple months back, wasn’t all too concerned at first. It was more or less an open secret that the government had been taking an increasingly authoritarian role in the last couple of months. A registry of the nations largest demographic didn’t seem too out of character for them, and he knew better than to express concern. He had heard rumors of prominent political figures conveniently going into early retirements, as well as the odd school board member.
In the following weeks, rumors began spreading that multiple warehouses and local government offices were being retrofitted for an unclear purpose, something that started sewing seeds of uncertainty in Liam. He temporarily had his worries dispelled by his best friend Nick, the more athletic and carefree or the pair.
“Look, we made it through the worst of the recessions and made it out okay. How bad could a little census taking and construction work be?”
Yet simultaneously, multiple high schools, universities and workplaces received visits from government appointed examiners. They came from different departments, but they coalesced in emptied rooms and offices to begin examining every registered male citizen between the ages of 18 and 35. They brought heavily armed law enforcement with them, and any who refused examinations or failed to show up in a mannerly time, were swiftly hunted down. They would then undergo the same examinations, only in jail, with a greatly uncooperative
underlined in their papers. Liam barely had time to process it all before the examination agency arrived att his high school.
Most of the student body were left alone. While the last years who had turned 18, alongside any unfortunate teacher or staff member that also fell into the age range, were corralled into a makeshift examination ward - a retrofitted gymnasium. The hall was subdivided with curtains into a dozen stalls, with the men being made to sit on the bleachers to wait for their turn. One by one, their names were called out by a bulky man, fitted head to toe in camo and with a rifle strung across his back. Liam was sat next to Nick near the end of the bleachers, although that was short lived, as Nick was one of the first to be taken in. After a couple of hours, the bleachers had almost entirely thinned out, and eventually, Liam’s name was called out. With a pit in his stomach, he stood up on unsteady legs and made his way towards the opened drapes, nervously scurrying past the guard who shot him a stern glance.
As he entered the stall, the examiner quickly closed the drapes behind him. Taking a second to look around, Liam made note of the many vairous medical instruments and contraptions that laid neatly organised on tables and in cabinets. He also couldn’t avoid noticing the articulated chair with leather restraints, something akin to a gynaecologist chair, in the centre of the room. The examiner gestured towards him to hop into the chair.
“Could you please have a seat, sir?”
“Y-yeah, sure.” Liam replied, not looking to make a fuss of the inevitable. He sat down, laid back, and awaited the sensation of cold, stiff leather against his exposed skin.
“Oh, there won’t be any need for that.” the examiner said with a slight smirk
“Those are reserved for more… Uncooperative subjects. I hope we both can agree on them being unnecessary”.
The examiner began carefully reciting introductions and formalities.
“I’m Dr. Grant, and I take it you are Liam Johnsson?”
“Um. Yes, that’s me.” he replied nervously.
“Good.” the doctor affirmed matter-of-factly. He took note of Liam’s timid response, beforequickly scribbling down something on his clipboard.
“Now, we will begin with an average physical evaluation, see it as nothing more than a normal check up.” In the subsequent minutes, Liam’s weight, height and posture were rapidly meassured.
“Everything looks to be about in order, so we’ll be moving on to the next procedure.” he stated absentmindedly.
“Now this is the part that gets the most sensitive, and where those restraints often have to come into play.” Liam glanced over at the leather cuffs, a sense of dread beginning to spread throughout his body.
“I need to measure the length and girth of your penis, alongside the size of your testes.” the examiner explained in an all too serious, rehearsed tone. Liam’s face grew pale.
“After that, I am going to need a semen sample. You’ll be given a cup,and I’ll stand outside the stall until you’ve gone about your business.” he stated, as Liam’s breathing hitched and grew shallow. But after some contemplation, and a little encouragement from the doctor, he slowly let down his pants and let the examiner get to work.
“13,5 centimetres, uncircumcised.” the doctor noted. “nothing to be ashamed of.” he quickly added, sublty trying to ease Liam’s increased discomfort.
“And testicles…” he mumbled. “Two centimetres anteroposterior, just a little below average.”
Liam’s face went from pale to bright red, and just as he was about to stutter out some half-witted response, he was interrupted by the doctor, who had finished jotting down the measurements.
“Here, catch.” he suddenly exclaimed, as he threw a small plastic cup onto the boy’s lap. “I’ll check in, in ten minutes. Don’t be afraid to make some noise if you need any help.” Liam’s fists gripped tightly to his shirt, as he looked up at the doctor making his way towards the drapes.
“Oh, and there should be some magazines in the first drawer to the right, if you need any motivation” the examiner added a little too gleefully, as the curtains drew closed.
Left with nothing else to do, Liam decided to just get it over with, and got to work. He pulled back the foreskin of his stiffening member and began moving up and down over his glands. He decided to steer clear of the drawer, as he was intent on just having it be done with so he could move on. As he neared climax, he carefully positioned his tip towards the cup and ejacualed a little under a teaspoon of semen. He was unaware of the cameras mounted on the support beams of the roof, monitoring his every move.
“three minutes and 27 seconds.” the examiner methodically annotated in his clipboard as he studied his subject from his monitor. Liam quickly pulled up his pants, a slight stain forming on his underwear, and called out for the doctor.
The psychological evaluation had a significantly reduced scope, in comparison. It consisted of nothing more than a simple form to be filled out. As Liam parsed through it, he noticed that a lot of general information, such as age, place of residence, and school were already filled out. Simultaneously, some more private information had made its way in as well, such as his grades and previous medical records. He let his eyes hover his barely passing P.E grades for a moment, and wondered if they would be taken into account. Moving on to the questionnaire, Liam tried to answer the questions as truthfully as possible.
Are you a member of any after-school programs?
“No.”
Are you currently- or have you previously been - in possession of any psychiatric dissorders? Liam hesitated for a moment, thinking back to middle school, when he started realising his queer identity. Suddenly his friend group drastically shrunk, Nick being one of the few to stay around. Yet he still became more reclusive and anxious as a result of that experience. Still, he decided to play it safe.
“No.”
And so the list went on, asking increasingly specific and intrusive questions. Liam becoming more squeamish as he neared the end, with the final question giving Liam a moment of pause.
State your sexuality.
Liam knew, even if he was unaware of the exact purpose of the registry, that it was meant to categorise the nation’s males in some capacity. And additionally that the government, while still tolerant to some extent, saw gay men as less useful. Still, he decided that he didn’t want to risk being found out later by this newly militarised agency, and answered “Gay” truthfully. He finalised the questionaire, and turned it in to the examiner, who skimmed through it, halted for a moment, and gave Liam a pat on the shoulder. Having gone through all necessary steps, he was abruptly sent home.
For the next couple of weeks, life went on as normal. Liam went to his classes and hung out with Nick whenever possible. He tried to steer clear of the news and the rumours of increasing examination raids, ignoring the pit in his stomach as he tried convincing himself that he could put it all in the past. A viewpoint that was only further reinforced as the examinations suddenly ceased. The following days were marked with an eery stillness as Liam gradually allowed himself to untense. Until yellow envelopes all of a sudden began appearing in people’s mailboxes.
As the school day went on, whispers spread of their contents, with Liam growing increasingly uneasy. Nick tried to calm his nerves, but even as Liam’s shallow breathing slowed, his eyes gave away his continued panicked state. Rushing to his dorm, he managed to slightly compose himself as he saw that no post had been delivered. Yet, as the next day began and he started getting ready for class, his eyes were suddenly drawn to a bright yellow envelope laying by the foot of his door. His heart skipped a beat. A million thoughts passed through his head as he slowly approached the letter, picking it up with shaky hands and breaking the seal.
Dear Liam Johnsson, you have been selected to participate in the Inadequate Male Redesignation Program (I.M.R.P.). All subjects of the I.M.R.P. are obligated to select a male custodian, and appear at their closest Redesignation Facility within 24 hours of notice delivery. Failure to appear on time will be met with forcible retrieval. Failure to select a custodian within the given time limit will result in the subject being allocated a custodian from a pool of volunteers. Once a custodian has been selected and registered, no withdrawals or replacements will be allowed. Participation is mandatory, cooperation is rewarded. Glory to The Nation.
Liam’s eyes frantically scurried over the paper, and landed on a stamped seal on the outside of the envelope, dating its delivery to 6 PM last evening, giving him little less than half a day to select a custodian and make it to the Redesignation Facility.
“Fuck…
He suddenly heard a loud bang from outside his door, followed by multiple men yelling out orders and a pitched plead for help. Deciding to veer on the side of caution, Liam subtly peeked out through the peephole. Unable to see much at first, he gradually witnessed multiple heavily armored government officers walk past, dragging what he soon realised was one of his dorm-mates from further down the hallway behind them, now unconscious. Waiting a couple of minutes to ensure the coast was clear, Liam slowly unlocked and tilted the door open, sheepishly taking a few steps outside. Seeing the corridor completely empty, he hurriedly rushed towards the stairwell and made his way to the exit.
As Liam made his way to the campus building, clutching the slightly crumpled envelope in his hands, he couln’t help worrying if he was making the right decision. But with such a limited time frame, he knew that Nick was his only shot at controlling who his custodian would be. There was a tenseness as he entered the building, with teachers hurriedly rushing in and out of classrooms, and students whispering amongst each other. Seeing their gazes momentarily turn towards him, glance upon the envelope in his hands, then turn back and murmur in a more frantic tone, Liam decided to quickly stow the letter into his pocket.
Upon entering the classroom, Liam noticed that a large number of his classmates were absent. Looking around further, he found Nick sitting near the back, anxiously tapping his foot while peering out the window. Cautiously approaching him, Liam saw Nick turn around and visibly relax.
“Oh thank god you’re here!” Nick exclaimed, brimming with relief as he hugged Liam in a rare display of physical affection.
“I thought they might’ve gotten you too…”
The envelope was burning a hole in Liam’s pocket as he tried to put on a smile.
“Right… Didn’t class start a while ago? Where’s the teacher?”
“Mr. Simmons?” said Nick, a slight unsteadiness in his voice as he let go of Liam from the embrace.
“Th- they just barged in here like half an hour ago. Tackled him to the ground and dragged him off… Apparently, he hadn’t gotten one of those letters. Or at least that’s what he yelled at them…”
For a moment, an uncomfortable silence hung in the air, neither one of the pair being especially equipped to process the onslaught of contradictory information and rumours.
“So… Um, did you ge-”
“A letter?”
. Nick interrupted. “No, thankfully not. But I did get that little pamphlet about how to apply to be a custodian and all that other crap.” The entire classroom had emptied out at this point.
“How about you?”
Liam stood there silently for a second, before slowly pulling the now fully crumpled envelope out of his pocket. He could see Nick’s smile falter and eyes widen in disbelief, as Liam’s shaky hands brought the letter up to his view.
“Is that what I- No, don’t tell me-”
“It is.” Liam answered, trying to remain steady. “It was apparently delivered yesterday, but I only found it this morning.” Nick took a moment to process it all, before grabbing ahold of Liam’s arms.
“Wait, doesn’t that mean-”
“I’ve only got about 6 hour or so, before I have to turn up at one of those facilities…” Liam’s voice faltered.
“Where’s the closest one?”Nick inquired contemplatingly.
“About two hours away…” Liam answered, his eyes starting to water in the corners.
“And- and I haven’t gotten a custodian - and I- I don’t have a car - and my *hic* parents live too far away - and I don’t know anybody else who-”
“Stop.” Nick interrupted in a grave tone.
“Are… Are you asking me to be your custodian?”
“I- it’s not like I’ve got any other choice. It’s either this or I get paired up with some random guy, and- and who knows what could happen then!?” Liam exclaimed desperately. Part of him hated how heavily he was pleading, how much he needed Nick to ‘save’ him, and how much of an awkward position it put him in. Yet, Nick took Liam’s hands in his, refusing to break eye contact.
“Listen, I get that. Trust me I really do. But we don’t know the actual purpose of the custodianship yet. What if you-”
“I- I don’t have the time to wait and find out… You’re the only one I trust, you’re my only option”
“I just- Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” Liam replied, tightening his grip as he saw a glimpse of hesitation in Nick’s eyes.
“…Fine, I’ll do it.”
Liam jumped to embrace him.
“So, how long until we have to get going?”
“We’re still a while out, but I really don’t think it’s a good idea to show up late”
“Mhm. Then do you wanna get going? I’ll walk you to my car, maybe we can stop by a coffee place on the way.” Nick said, trying to seem less concerned than he was.
Liam nodded tentatively. He was still nervous about the program and whatever it had in store, but he was at least a little comforted at the thought of having Nick at his side.