When Time Comes 'Round Again

- - - Shingo: She was not really his sister anymore - - -



During the three hour drive into the country, Shingo sat in silence next to the official from the Bureau of Weights, Measures, Land Management and Population Enhancement. It did not occur to Shingo that this was an unusual combination of functions for a single agency to oversee. It would not occur to most people. A thought like that might lead to criticism of the STATE. So the thought… was unthinkable.



Shingo had been excused from school for the day. Nervously asking a question, the official smiled and assured him that his place in school would not be revoked, that he would be returning to school the following day. Shingo’s question was a breach of etiquette, but not a violation of the law. The question implied that he thought he was being arrested secretly. The notion was unseemly. He should publicly confess that to the Proctors, though.



The car pulled into a beautifully maintained estate, surrounded by woods and fields. There were converted barns throughout the acreage. Shingo had never seen such a peaceful or quiet place in his entire life.



Shingo began to relax. Nothing bad could happen in such a beautiful place, he thought. “She must love this place.” Somehow he no longer could think of her as “Usagi-chan” or “Baka Usagi”. “Oneechan” was also unthinkable.



They passed an inner gate and a small painted sign. Shingo did not need to look to know what it said, “Prefectural Baby Farm, No. 3,” so he missed the smaller sign below it which read, “Surgical Unit, Involuntary Commitment”.



Shingo spent the next two hours filling out forms, signing forms, initialing his signature, signing next to his initials and so on. He didn’t even try reading the forms. They wouldn’t have told him much anyway and refusal to sign was out of the question.



As the sole remaining member of his family unit, he had custodial responsibility for his wayward sister. Although both parents were alive, they were no longer part of his family unit.



He had not seen Ikkoku-mama since last Christmas when she been contracted out to a judge from the Ministry of Truth to care for his two boys, ages 10 and 13. It was a standard seven year contract and could be extended if the boys impregnated her at any time. It was forbidden for Shingo to contact her during this period.



Kenji-papa did well off the contract. Even tithing back 10% to an approved STATE charity left him enough to buy his own business. He spent more time away from home and Usagi and Shingo rarely saw him for months at a time. Evidently their father had divorced his wife and the children and started a new family. Shingo had not known this before, but was not surprised. Some of the money had been set aside for them and Usagi’s share would now come under his control too.



The nameless official congratulated Shingo on fulfilling his duties. Shingo had informed on her, denounced her and had now signed her over to the care of the surgeons of the Baby Farm. At least it was over now and he would no longer need to feel bad. He had confessed his feelings to his Proctors and neighbors who encouraged him to ignore disharmonious thought.



She was not really his sister anymore. In fact she no longer had a legal existence. Her citizenship had been revoked and she was no longer classified as a human being. Every possession, every photo and trace of her had been seized and ritually cleansed (destroyed). Anyone who knew her would receive special counseling to help them forget that she had ever existed.



But one last responsibility remained.



- - - Usagi: Although unsure of her mission, she set out to fight evil - - -



Children often informed on their parents. They informed on their friends, their enemies, their teachers, even people they saw on TV. STATE-Education drilled the necessity of informing and denouncing into them from an early age. How else could the STATE protect itself unless citizens fulfilled their civic duties to ensure harmony and common thought? Mostly, the informing by children remained at the civic level and rarely came to the attention of STATE-Sec. Proctors routinely handled these confessions by children. They were encouraged, but mostly ignored at this age. When they grew into adults the habits of informing, denouncement and confession would be automatic… and taken seriously.



False accusations by adults were also a serious crime against the STATE.



At some point almost every teenager broke curfew restrictions. They would meet with their friends, drink unlicensed beer, smoke black market cigarettes and show their defiance to authority by hanging out in the deserted, off limit sections of Tokyo.



The more adventurous of these teenage rebels might run with a Rat-Pack, but rarely for more than a couple of days.



The population of Japan was less than half of what it had been before the Poisoning. Japan was almost completely spared, but creating the colonial settlements overseas took a lot of population. There were wars every twenty or thirty years fought with the New-Soviets which also tended to use up a lot of population.



The STATE had made great advancements in maximizing the birth rate.



Sections of Japan still seemed as crowded as before. Population was not allowed to spread outwards. Harmony and cohesiveness depended on keeping population density above a certain level. It also made overseas colonization more attractive.



Large sections of pre-Poisoning Japan had been left to “Mice” and “Rats”. Young Japanese often fantasized about becoming a “Rat” and would sneak into an abandoned zone at least once. They rarely went back a second time.



Sooner or later they would inform on each other and they would publicly recant their crimes and be accepted back into society. Corrective beatings were a common punishment for these teens and there was massive evidence that these children later turned into patriots and loyal servants of the STATE.



Some of the most diligent Proctors started as the worst curfew violators. The sanctioning of corrective public beatings often had that effect. When you are publicly beaten by your neighbors, family, teachers and friends for an offense, you don’t want to see others get away with the same thing.



But it was different when property was damaged or people were hurt. Citizens of the STATE are property of the STATE. Crimes against the STATE were serious matters.



As a child Usagi found a broach and heard the call. Although unsure of her mission, she set out to fight evil… alone… at night. The call forced her to break curfew. She did not know that her younger brother was watching. And her best friend.





- - - Shingo & Usagi: Incest was a private matter - - -



Shingo and Usagi fought all the time. With no parents in the home it was inevitable that the fights would escalate. When his sister caught him masturbating in her room she had threatened to report him to the Proctors. He was still under the age of consent and it was up to her whether or not she would allow the incestuous pairing to occur.



Even though she was over the age of eleven, the age of legal consent for sexual matters, Shingo was too young to realize that this was not a real threat. Usagi loved her brother and was too morally deficient in her loyalty to the STATE to take matters further.



The STATE did not discourage incest. It was socially acceptable. The STATE often encouraged breeding between close relations to enhance desirable genetics traits including loyalty, harmony and social cohesiveness, all factors the STATE considered genetic in origin. And in a society that valued rapid population growth, family sex was assumed to encourage early sexual maturity.



Children were exposed to various drugs in their food and water to accelerate sexual maturation. The development and release of aphrodesiatics into the atmosphere was a major industry.



Breeding guidance by STATE experts would keep the need to cull defective offspring to a minimum. At least according to STATE scientists… Other than discouraging force or coercion, incest was so common it was generally unremarked upon.



Given the circumstances, Shingo had a rather natural expectation that his older sister would be his first sexual partner, although he was technically below the age of consent. In his mind, her red tattoo meant that she had no right to reject him as a partner. After all, no one else would want her!



After being red-carded and tattooed, Usagi had only one friend left, Naru. She did not try to associate with her in school, Usagi wanted to protect her friend from the scorn that associating with a genetic reject would cause. Naru often came to Usagi’s house to keep her company. Most red-cards had at least one friend among the genetically acceptable. The STATE wanted the rejects watched.



Naru was a good friend and even better spy. Although Usagi rarely said anything that merited reporting, Naru was good at twisting her words.



That night, Naru visited Shingo. Seducing him was no challenge and she thoroughly enjoyed initiating the young boy into sex. After cumning for the second time, with her warm lips and moist tongue on his balls, she convinced him to call the Proctors. Denouncing his sister was simultaneous with his third and most powerful orgasm.



Between the two lovers, Usagi was denounced for taking unlicensed birth-control pills, a particularly offensive crime against public harmony. They reported her numerous sexual encounters with the Rats and denounced her as a practicing abortionist, possibly the greatest social crime imaginable. The accusations were accepted although birth control was mandatory for all red tattoos and she was still a virgin. The other offenses were accepted as a matter of course.



Her former friend and neighbors provided further “evidence” against her.



This was the night of the terrible riot outside Usagi’s school.



When the Proctors, police and STATE-Sec arrived there were a dozen dazed people, none with a clear memory of how they had gotten there or what had happened. The sidewalk appeared to have been blasted, cars were burning, school windows smashed and for some reason strawberry jam covered the street.



They later found the body of an old man dressed in priestly robes under the rubble. Some sort of rotating object had apparently crushed his chest.



No trial was necessary. The dates and times Shingo provided coincided with several other incidents. Usagi had violated curfew and was seen where crimes against citizens and property had been committed. Whether she had been a participant was moot, and in spite of unsubstantiated stories about goddesses and monsters, the case against her was simple. Even if she had not been red carded, the result would have been the same. Restitution was owed the STATE. (If further evidence had been required, there was a clear trail of strawberry jam leading from the school to her house).



But no further evidence was required.



Shingo was in the living room and surprised her when she came home. Shingo wore just his frayed cum stained boxer shorts. “Ikkoku-mama would never have allowed him to walk around like that,” she thought.



Suddenly the door flew opened and men in the uniforms of the Home Guard and STATE-Sec were everywhere.



“My God, what have you done Shingo?”



An instant later, “My God, what have I done?”





- - - Yoma: Without STATE recognition, Yoma did not exist - - -



Fighting the Yoma that enslaved citizens was her way of serving the STATE. She didn’t know why she had been granted special powers, she had no guide or teacher. But she found that she could see these creatures, even if no one else could. Usually one or two at a time, but sometimes in larger groups and they turned ordinary people into monsters. The Proctors and STATE-Sec would hunt these people down and kill them as genetic criminals. Usagi could sometimes save the innocent victims of possession. She tried very hard to save them or at least limit the damage they did to others.



Usagi did not like being a “senshi” (whatever that was supposed to mean!). But sometimes she did some good. Sometimes she could help people.



When she could not save the innocent she usually ran away. The possessed would run wild until the Proctors and STATE-Sec would show up and kill them. STATE-Sec often took victims and observers into custody as accomplices.



She hated herself for being a coward. If she wasn’t so weak, she’d kill the possessed right away. She wished there were others she could talk to, to fight by her side so she could free all the victims. She desperately wanted to save everyone. She should have been able to save the world.



But she was alone…



No, Usagi did not like being a senshi.



The STATE did not officially recognize Yoma. Everyone knew they were there, that was one of the reasons for the curfew. Never-the-less, without STATE recognition, Yoma did not exist. There were no monsters, only people with disharmonious thoughts. Scientists were instructed to prove that polluted genes were to blame.





- - - Usagi: She imagined the man who would undress her for the first time - - -



She was punched expertly in the temple, throat and solar plexus. The spinal block momentarily paralyzed her heart, respiration and nearly every voluntary muscle in her body. She was slammed to the floor and flipped on her back, guards restrained her arms and legs, and another had his foot on her throat as he examined his clip board, making brief notes such as date and time. It was all very professional, just like on TV and it was over in seconds. Usagi never had a chance. She had already been judged guilty so treating her as a dangerous criminal was permissible. There were so few “really” dangerous criminals that the guards used the opportunity to practice the drill.



In her fantasies she imagined the man who would undress her for the first time, a romance and a miracle. Strong hands but gentle. That dream was shattered forever. All her dreams were shattered. She was stripped and exposed.



Several men and women in medical garb entered the home.



The rags that had been her fuku went into a plastic sack. A gaudy broach was given to Naru by one of the Proctors. Naru wore it to school for a couple of days. Everyone would know that she had been the one who had denounced the reject in their midst. Naru had a special box where she saved souvenirs of her Patriotism. The locket was the fourth item kept in that box.



Science in Japan was based on the principles of harmony. The STATE had ruled that criminality was due to genetic factors and scientists were busy collecting and collating the data needed to prove it. Medical samples from criminals (especially the genetically impure) were collected as close to the time of their crime as possible. The medical team was practiced and coordinated in collecting these samples.



Fingerprints, palm prints, footprints, lip prints, retinal scans and a dozen other tests were performed in minutes.



The fact that these tests were known to be useless did not lessen the urgency.



As she lay naked upon the floor, hair samples were collected and bagged. A handful of hair was ripped from her head, and inspected to ensure that roots were still attached, (along with a thin strip of scalp).



As she screamed as a second technician harvested a small golden patch of pubic hair in the same way. A second pubic sample was also collected since the hair above her slit was naturally sparse.



Using tweezers and a small scalpel they harvested eyebrows and bodily hair. The specialists wearing magnifying spectacles were experts, the near invisible hairs on her arms and legs, in the crack of her ass or armpits would not escape collection. In minutes they knew her body better than she did. Just as the next team approached, her eyelashes were removed.



A small mole under one of her nipples was surgically removed.



Blood samples were taken from various veins and arteries.



The next team approached with tubes, pumps and a variety of suction devices. One carried a portable dental drill. Another unwrapped a gleaming set of dental pliers. The dental technician was new and botched the first extraction, breaking the tooth at the gum line. Usagi had more teeth for him to practice on. The use of anesthetics might have tainted the samples... and would have been a waste of medicine.



Her eyes rolled up in her head as consciousness fled, so she missed the first few moments of the gynecological exam.



Usagi’s ears were flushed, stool samples were collected, her stomach pumped – the list goes on. Samples of tears were relatively easy to come by. Naru appeared and voiced her objection that the fluid in the eye itself would not be sampled. Blue eyes were rare and an obvious sign of polluted genes. Besides, damaging an eye was not a major issue since blue eyes were low on the list of harvested organs for transplantation. Naru made a mental note to inform the Proctors about the tech’s lack of commitment. The dentist\'s lack of experience would not be reported.



A parade of neighbors, friends and strangers, guided by Proctors, entered the house. Usagi’s screams did nothing to offset the party like atmosphere. People she had known her entire life peered around the STATE-Sec guards and medical technicians. No one wanted to miss anything. Snacks were provided.



More samples were collected.



Urine



Vaginal secretions



Stool



She was no longer capable of understanding the conversation around her. Then someone said a word, she had never heard it spoken aloud before, but she knew what it meant

Someone called her a “cunt”. A boy’s voice (“Shingo’s” she wondered?) began chanting it. A dozen voices accused her, then a dozen more. Then the entire world. “Cunt” they whispered, “Cunt” they shouted.



For a moment her vision cleared. She saw her friend Naru. She saw the hate and disgust on her face and thought that it was directed at her tormentors. Usagi tried to speak, to warn Naru who was speaking to one of the guards. The guard smiled. Naru turned back to Usagi, her expression unreadable for the moment. Then Naru stamped on Usagi\'s hand, breaking two of her fingers... The guard continued smiling.



The gynecological technician announced that her hymen was still intact. He “fixed” the problem using a finger, correctly judging that it would needlessly contradict the harmonious atmosphere of the room. A 12 year old virgin, shameful! Besides, it would contradict the charges against her. The blood and remains of the membrane were bagged and tagged.



A million years passed, though the clock only recorded a half hour. The blonde middle school girl had gone from Tsukino Usagi, daughter of Kenji and Ikkoku, brother of Shingo and Sailor Moon champion of justice to just a cunt.



The STATE now demanded compensation.