The Totalitarian Society You Will Love: Kristen Holst

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When Kristen woke up he immediately knew something was wrong. His arms and legs were bound together. He was robbed most of his movement. Laying in the dark he felt some course fabric beneath. It made his skin itchy. Not to mention that his whole body felt strange. Different.

Suddenly the darkness parted and bright light made him squint. He had to blink away a few tears before he finally noticed that someone was speaking to him.

"Up! Get out of the pod now!"

Instead of following the order Kristen raised his hand to block the light. However, it came up short. Whatever bound his arms and legs didn't offer much freedom.

A yell escaped him as suddenly the world shifted. Someone had grabbed his ankle and dragged him into the light. The heavy impact on the floor knocked out his air.

"Another useless Immigrant."

With those words, Kristen was yanked along. Through squinting eyes, Kristen saw a big burly man dragging him along as if he was some discarded garbage bag. What really scared him was the other details that slowly filtered through to his brain.

This was not his leg. Yes, he could feel it and the brutish hand clamping down on it. Felt skin, muscles, and bones being stretch as his body was pulled along. But it was not his leg. At least not the one he was used to for over forty years of his life. Too slender and too short.

But more details invaded his mind. Something blocked his view on his leg and the man dragging him along. Said something made him curse. Only to freeze as he heard his own voice. This was not possible. He, Kristen, a woman? Impossible.

With panic, he started to thrash. Fighting against his restraints and thrashing around. All it did was giving him a view of a row of pods as he was dragged along and a nasty chuckle from his captor.

"A fighter! What a delight."

The long hallway came to an end as Kristen was dragged around a bend. The new room looked like some sleek design envisioned by those sci-fi geeks or one of those architects who tried to be modern and edgy. A desk made of plastic and glass was parked in the middle. Two chairs and one was occupied by a woman busy typing on something. It looked like a minimalist version of a PC.

The brute stopped and before Kristen could react, he was hoisted up and placed on the second chair. One big hand pushed him down and painfully so. The breasts on his chest were too big and sensitive and now clamped down by muscles of steel. It took the rest of his willpower to not cry out in pain. When the brute let go it was clear that the moment of pain was used to bind Kristen to the chair.

"She is all yours," the brute said to the woman at the desk. Then he turned back around to Kristen. "See you later. Can't wait to enjoy you."

Disgust filled Kristen, but thankfully the man walked away. Not waiting for what came next, he demanded answers. "Hey, you. What is this? Why am I here? What have you done to my body?"

The woman held up her hand in the universal sign for 'just one minute'. Kristen was having none of it. "Don't you shush me. I demand answers. This is kidnapping. You are violating my rights as..."

"Merchandise?" the woman asked. Now looking up.

"I am not-"

"But you are Miss Capucci," she corrected him.

"My name is Kristen!" The shout echoed through the room. A few quick breaths and he continued. "Kristen Holst. I am a Danish citizen. This must be an error."

"Kristen Holst is dead." The statement hang heavy in the air. "Perhaps you let me explain without interrupting me?"

Kristen growled. "This better be good."

"Let's start over. My name is Olivia. I am your caseworker. Welcome to the totalitarian society you will love!" She gave him a bright smile that might have dazzled others. As it didn't seem to work she continued. "Kristen Holst is dead. He signed up with a company named 'Centurial Sleep'. Their promise was hibernation sleep until the problem over overcrowding on earth was solved. Well, it never was. Not on earth. But here on Utopia three, there is plenty of space. And bought colonists are cheaper."

"That might explain why I am here," Kristen admitted. "But it is still illegal. It's human trafficking. Violating every human rights treaty on earth."

"Good thing we aren't on earth anymore, right?" Olivia piped up.

"So this colony needs workers. Why make me a woman?"

"Now that is a little more- " Olivia steepled her hands. "Complicated. You see this colony is governed by advanced A.I.'s and they find perfectly suited positions for each new colonists. Based on data of their past lives their bodies are remade into their ideal self and placed in a job and neighborhood that suits their personality profile."

"Bullshit!" Kristen sprewed. "You really want to tell me that I want to be a woman? Guess again. Your advanced A.I.'s are advancedly malfunctioning. Not that I have something against women or women born as a man and transitioned later. I even fought for their rights. I was an ally of transgendered. But now you made me one."

Olivia gave a deep sigh. "You are right. Nothing in your past suggests that you would like being a woman. But I am afraid it is not a bug. You see, the algorithms can only do so much. Sometimes a colonist arrives that is a jigsaw puzzle piece simply not fitting. And Kristen Holst was such a case. Civil rights attorney in a decade when the whole system had already abolished every unjust rule. A rebel with nothing anymore to fight. The simple truth might be that Kristen Holst was born a decade or two too late. If he had been born in the early twenty-first century- Oh well, no crying over spilled milk, right?"

"So what?" Kristen demanded. "You think putting me in a new body will make everything work out? That I quietly go along with whatever you have in store for me."

"Not yet," Olivia admitted. "But Miss Rachele Capucci will. You see we have plenty of formerly Danish people, but we lack Italiens for diversity. So that is what you will be. You even get an adorable Italien accent. Once you are done through our 'adjustment center'. She won't mind being a professional courtesan. In fact, she will love it."

"You want to make me a whore?"

"Please, Miss Capucci," Olivia chided her. "In the 'totalitarian society you will love' we don't judge. And believe me, once you are done you will help make thousands of men love it even more."

Kristen lost it. This was madness. He gave her a piece of mind. Threw insult after insult at her. Shouted obscenities even as the brute returned and dragged her out. Only as the door to the room closed, silence made a comeback.

Not for long as Olivia whispered into the quiet. "Damn, I love introducing a rebel-"

* * * * * * * * * *

Kristen still fumed. For hours he had been imprisoned in some transport. Steadily moving towards an uncertain future. To be reprogrammed as someone's bed pet. No, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction. He would fight it with everything he got-

A sudden lurch of the vehicle made Kristen bounce. The curse on his tongue died as a second impact threw him off his seat. Groaning he got up and noticed that everything was on its side. The vehicle had been flipped over.

Wearily he eyed the vehicle's doors as they creaked under stress. A moment later they were pulled out of their hinges. This was it. Kristen's chance of escape. Whatever was out there, he would fight through it and escape. And then he would make this sick society pay. After all, it was the totalitarian society he hated.

"Everyone okay in there?" It was a woman's voice. One quite pleasant. "If so, we are here to rescue you."

Hope filled Kristen's heart. Maybe he wasn't the only one forsaken. Not the only square peg for a round hole.

"I am," Kristen shouted out. "But still restrained."

A petite Asian woman ducked into the transport. She gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I get those off you in a minute. Name is Johann. I am part of the rebels."

"Glad to hear that not everyone is nuts around here. I am Kristen. Kristen Holst."

Johann gave him a bright smile. "Another man stuck in a woman's body? Don't worry. We'll make them pay. If you want you can be part of it."

Kristen gave him a toothy smile. "I would like nothing more."

* * * * * * * * * *

"We are the kings of this world!"

Kristen looked up and had to smile. Benedict was propped up on the table and drinking from a champagne bottle. One of the spoils from their last raid. They had stolen a few crates of food and clothing. More so they had sprayed a ten meter tall mural of defiance. Right on a warehouse of that stupid cursed society. It was glorious and Kristen was hyped as everyone else around him.

Slowly, his eyes drifted around the secret hideout of the rebels. It actually was pretty nice. They had stolen the nicest stuff to decorate it and if he was honest, those that used the furniture were nice to look at too. Most of their cell were men trapped inside the bodies of women. And what bodies those were. Very shapely and exotic.

At last, his eyes fell on Johann. The man was trapped in the body of a petite Asian woman. A body Kristen had thoroughly explored. Over the last month, the two had become friends. So close that they shared benefits. With his help, Kristen didn't mind his female body anymore. Sure, he would jump at the chance to become a man again, but for now, he didn't mind his female body. In some moments, late at night, he even loved it.

Kristen gave a sigh. He felt strangely content. Every day was a fight. And it felt good. Never had he imagined this thrill in his old life. To fight, to party, and to fuck with another man trapped as a woman. It was oddly fulfilling. As if it was meant to be.

His own beer bottle slipped his grasp. A sudden epiphany made him look around. This was perfect. Too perfect. As Olivia had said. Kristen had been a rebel without a cause. Aimless and drifting. But now everything had changed. In a way, he had now everything that he ever wanted. Something to fight for. Something that mattered.

But did it really? If those A.I.'s had been so advanced they must have figured out where he fitted in the best. Did destiny make him a rebel or did they chose it for him? Was this just a facade? A play to make him and others like him happy?

Baffled, he looked to Johann. The man trapped as a petite Asian picked up Kristen's look after a moment. He scooted closer and gave a hug. "It is okay. Enjoy it. But don't say it aloud."

Kristen gave a nod. His gaze drifted back to his fellow rebels. How many of them knew? How many accepted that they have not really escaped the 'totalitarian society you will love'. That they were still part of it, by being apart from it.

In the quiet of his mind, Kristen admitted it. He loved this and the society. It was the totalitarian society he loved to hate.

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Comments

What next

Lee's picture

I'm not the AI so I don't know what they are thinking but I never Twist that I could think of is that when the resistance group gets big enough a quarter of the women get pregnant all the sudden

I am a male lolita.
So what is lolita fashion http://lolita-tips.tumblr.com/faq

Sounds like the AIs

are keeping humanity alive and healthy, Wonder how screwed up Earth is?

Totalitarian society

I have to admit this is one of the better AI led governments I've read about. It's probably a good thing for them it's a short story because in a novel this is where they're either invaded or a self serving bastard in the government takes over and next thing you know there's secret police all over the place. Thank you for knowing where to stop.

Time is the longest distance to your destination.

The only thing missing...

Was the Rod Sterling intro :)

Loved it!!!

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Keeping them happy

Jamie Lee's picture

Earth must have been in real trouble in order for people to go into cryo suspension until the Earth was better.

How unethical it was to sell those in cryo to become colonists on a new world. Only in a crisis, when lives are on the line, perhaps the whole race, what is ethical any more?

Kristen was a lawyer fighting for the little guy. He enjoyed the fight, enjoyed going up against the "man." The new society wants to keep people happy, and there is a better way to do that then put them in a position where they were doing that on Earth where they were the happiest.

So, Kristen went up against the "man" and she is now going up against the AI this time, the "computer." She is happy and is docile and doing exactly what they want her to do. And it took her a short period of time to figure it out. As did another.

Others have feelings too.

Speculating from just two

Zengar's picture

Speculating from just two example is risky, but it can be entertaining. There is a lot we don't know, but we do know that:
Both our examples didn't wake up in their original body.
Both signed up with the company 'Centurial Sleep'
The Totalitarian Society You Will Love knows information about imigrants that there would be little reason to record.
Olivia lies during her orientations, at least some of the time.
Olivia is probably not lying about this being Utopia three, it being run by an A.I., and it being at 3 billion people and still defrosting new ones.

What if, like all current cryogenics companies, 'Centurial Sleep' never had a plan for bringing people out of cryo? At that point, the people who signed up for it are effectively just well preserved corpses, possibly just well preserved heads. What if this entire colony is a rescue operation, with the A.I. performing detailed scans of the brains in order to recreate them. With that sort of knowledge of a person, it would be easy to come up with some reason to simply provide a different body, rather than trying to recreate the old one closely enough based just on memories and DNA.