Michael looked around. While he was still talking to the young activist girl the rest of the protesters seemed to have started wrapping up their demonstration. A girl dressed almost like Angela with half-long very white hair came to her.

‘We’re going home, Angela, are you coming too?’

‘Not now, I’m talking to someone who’s listening for once, Sam.’

The girl addressed as Sam looked very suspiciously at Michael, and then stared his body up and down in a way that he didn’t really like.

‘Okay, whatever. But be safe, please. Seducing men isn’t your thing usually.’

He saw Angela cringe. ‘I’m not seducing anyone, just talking about how women are human. Your wild imagination is running away with you again, Sam.’

‘I know men. You can’t not seduce them by talking to them. Simple beasts, they are!’

‘Hey Miss, I’m standing here and I can hear you. The things you say are rather insulting. We are human too, you know!’ Michael interrupted her, ‘and your friend is right, we are only talking about how women are human. I’m not really seducible and I’m already taken with a Wife School fiance anyway. I only urgently need to learn more about women as real people to interact with, so I thought the Women Are Human people could be interesting to learn from.’

Sam looked at him anew with scanning eyes, while chewing on her left pinknail.

‘You? Learning from our protesters? A class one… Gamma… Hmmm. Yeah, whatever. And with Angela? You’re only going to learn some advanced awkwardness from her, but you do you. I pronounce you mostly harmless due to being completely clueless. No testosterone-beast indeed. But I’m doing the cooking tonight, so I can’t stay now. It would have been fun. See you later, Angela. And watch out!’

The white-haired girl disappeared, and left them both awkwardly staring at each other for a few seconds.

‘What was that?’ He asked.

‘That? Samantha. I can’t explain her more than that.’ Angela said,. ‘but she’s mostly harmless herself too, I think. If you’re not seducible like you call it that is.’

‘Ew…’

‘She talks tough but I don’t think she has any actual experience with men. Less than me now even, thanks to this little chat with you I assume.’

She grinned, and Michael wondered why she needed to have the same name as her brother, whom he didn’t want to be reminded of now.

‘Come, let’s continue our talk elsewhere,’ he said after looking around and noticing the activists were indeed almost all gone. He was probably pushing his luck now, but he felt like the conversation could go much further, and he was encouraged by her little smile. At least she seemed to have gotten completely over her fear for him now. He pointed at Square Plaza and she looked a bit uneasy at him, and then at the summer terraces of the pubs. Being with a person of the other sex is never a simple thing in The Nation, they both knew.

‘But I’m a non-Wife, you’re a Gamma-1 and these terraces are all, well, segregated. Different places for men and women, no mixing. Wouldn’t it be weird?’

He pointed at the closest terrace. ‘And? I’ve worked here this summer. There’s always women in the men’s place. As long as it isn’t your wife or family member or any other decent relationship no one will bother or something like that. Don’t ask, don’t see… Real Men break the rules whenever they can, especially if their rank is high enough.’

He pointed at a Beta-2 in a suit with a badgeless woman who clearly was some kind of prostitute sitting on his lap, as some kind of human doll.

‘If those creepnuts can bring prostitutes and affairs and whatever sort of unhealthy female company to the male-only section of the bar, then I can bring a friend. It’s better to break the rules for good than for evil, especially if the rules themselves are evil.’

She looked at him, confused again, but this time with an uncertain smile. ‘A friend?’

It sounded strange and alien after she had repeated the word, but he wanted to believe it was the right word even if they were still strangers to each other. He needed to believe it was true.

‘Yes, why not? If you want it that is. But consent-based ethics certainly apply to friendships too. So it’s your decision too.’ She stared at a point somewhere next to him in an unfocussed infinity, and didn’t answer.

‘If women are human, aren’t we men human too? And can’t humans be friends with each other?’ He finally said.

‘Well, technically, I suppose.’ She admitted, ‘but it’s all new to me.’

‘It’s new to me too. But we can figure it out together. The time for change is here. And a girl I just met told me we should have a revolution, remember? And we might just make a new road where there wasn’t one before by walking it.’

He took one of the tables from the male section of the bar where he had been working last summer, and moved it away from the rest.

‘And maybe now is the time to be more radical and put into practice what your pamphlets say, and smash the patriarchy and destroy the barriers between the sexes. So let’s start by unsegregating this place for now.’

He took a pair of chairs. ‘For now this is the unisex table.’

She stared at the cafe, timidly.

‘Can you just do that? I mean, won’t we get in trouble?’

‘When I was five the grown-ups could stop me from playing with a girl at the playground. I’m eighteen now, and unexpectedly a class one male, Gamma or not, and I’m not going to let them stop me. Doesn’t our Glorious Constitution say that we are all to have freedom and liberty? If I can’t even have a drink with you when I want that, what do these words even mean? Let them all go to hell and back on dolphinback, and let us have a drink and talk a bit meanwhile. It’s my responsibility, don’t worry.’

He called to the waiter, who clearly recognised him and then looked at the table, at his badge, and at her short hair, but made no comments and just disappeared to get 2 Nation-cokes.

‘Aren’t you taking things too literally?’ She asked, clearly still unsure about the whole thing.

‘What? What did the pamphlet say? Start the revolution? Well, I want to start that revolution with a Nation-Coke with you here and now. Or are you backing off already?’

‘No, no, it’s just strange that anyone is listening at all. And, you are, well, male and all. Class one even. And I’ve always heard that it is improper.’

‘You sound like my mom now, and it never made her happy or a better person. I’m far beyond the point that I can care about such things. Revolutions require some reprogramming too. So, tell me again, how is your group working to end segregation of the sexes if I am doing it wrong now? Is there a better way? Or is it wrong because you’re a girl and I am a boy, a man, a dangerous enemy and it’s going too far to actually ignore segregation and do something new instead of only talking about it?’

She paused. ‘I don’t know, we’re just protesting. There’s a lot of frustration that we need to voice. You know, it’s not easy living as a Fatherless when you’re female. You’re bound to be a non-Wife. No man can marry you, there’s no school that’ll take you and you know women only can do inferior jobs. And you’re Automatically an E or worse. I’m lucky I even could get graded before I got kicked out, most of my housemates don’t have any rating at all or lost theirs. I just hide mine.’

‘They what?’ Michael had never thought about the existence of people who had no rating.

‘They are Unrated. No rights, nothing. Only a name, and cheap government housing. Anyone can abuse you, and no-one can stop you if they are high-rated. The only way to make real money would be prostitution, and if you’re not willing to go there, it’s quite hard to survive that for long.’

‘…and freedom and liberty for all, except for those who are unrated, or just a woman without the right man to protect her.’ He said bitterly.

‘Why do you even care, you are a level one male.’ She asked.

‘Ratings are utter twaddle. Don’t you want me to care? Why do you hand out pamphlets if you don’t even want me to listen?’

The waiter arrived with the 2 Nation-Cokes, and he paid without thinking with a 'Thanks, Tom!'.

‘I don’t know, man, you’re confusing me. Everything about you is confusing. And you’re here paying for my drink while you have another woman as your fiancée stuck in a Wife School, isn’t that wrong? Isn’t that cheating on her?’

‘Why would it be, I could be paying for a drink for my male friends too, and I don’t expect anything improper of you in return. I only just offered you friendship. Literally. Like I did to my fiancee and her friend.’

She looked at the bubbles in her Coke for a while.

‘My brain doesn’t accept it yet that you’re actually asking it instead of just demanding. Men are in control. They want to control you, and worse. And I’m not even talking about sex. But you know how it goes. Be a man and stuff…’

‘I’ve been thinking about that slogan a lot lately. It’s just stupid. I am a man, biologically. I won’t deny that, but it doesn’t mean much besides that. All the rest is too contradictory to even try to follow. Always be on top of everything and never give in. But then always respect a higher-ranked man or else you’ll pay… Think about sex all the time or you’re not a man. Don’t think about sex ever or you’ll burn in hell forever. And so on. Whatever I do, I cannot win. And yes, I’m aware that it’s even worse for the women involved. Don’t think I don’t realise that. So if I have to take charge of anything at all it will be of myself, to get outside of the nonsense.’

She sighed. ‘I wish I could fully believe you. But it’s too much to take in now.’

‘Take all the time you want. I need to think things through myself too. It’s all new and confusing to me too but I believe it’s worth it.’

‘By the way, what will your bride-to-be say about you meeting another woman?’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. We don’t know each other that well yet. I’ve only seen her four times or so and our friendship is the only thing I’m certain of at this point. To be honest I’m not even sure she’s actually interested in being a Wife at all. I chose her because her eyes said “help me”. But If you want to know what she thinks, ask her yourself. I’ll try to get her out of that freaking Wife Factory to join you and me another time, together with her unchosen friend who was E-38 on her choosing day, the last one in line next to her. You would like each other for certain.’

She frowned. ‘You are a class one male and you chose number E-37? Wow… You are quite the man.’

‘What was there to do? My father had sent me to the damned place to choose a Wife because I had been graded exceptionally… I could have taken a B-class perfect trophy wife, but what on Earth should I have done with that? It wouldn’t have made it better for me, nor for her. A perfectly programmed B-Wife wouldn’t know what to do with me at all. Now at least we can find a way to get her out of that hell or so, and we have something in common. That we don’t like the whole thing at all.’

‘Get her out without marriage? Is that the plan? You are intelligent enough to know that’s impossible. You know she’ll lose all of her value if you break the engagement and she already was E-37 at choosing day. If you don’t marry her she’ll end up like my housemates. Or worse, as a Ghost Town squatter outside of society. Her whole time in school will have been for nothing.’

‘There must be a loophole somewhere for her, for her friend, and for you, to be able to indeed live in freedom and liberty, not? Or is there no trace of truth in between all the lies of The Nation? Is it all fake propaganda and nonsense to brainwash us.’

She smiled at the passion in his voice. ‘Watch out, Sir Michael, you’re really talking revolutionary stuff now. You’ll even shock the Women are Human activists if you go any further.’

‘Isn’t that what they want then?’

‘Yes, eh… No, eh… You’re a boy. And it sounds wrong coming from you. Can a class one male preach the revolution?’ ‘A lowly Gamma. A silly brainie who’s been bullied all of his life. Who got a class one rating because of mere school results. I think you better get used to it that I have goals not unlike the WAH even if I’m a man. And I mean that I want to be your friend. If I am to actually marry a woman one day I need to be able to act normal and be friendly with girls now. And…’

He couldn’t finish his sentence because he was interrupted by a boy who looked at the newly unsegregated table with astonishment. It seems that all the boys Micheal knew reacted weirdly to meeting him with girls, even though they also had a wide range of opinions on the other sex.

‘Michael, what on Earth are you doing here with…’

Michael saw her cowering, so he interrupted him so he wouldn’t scare her more.

‘Hi William, meet Angela from the Women are Human protest group. She was telling me that we need a revolution against the sex segregation, so I started with the first unsegregated table on the plaza. Want a Nation-Coke too? Anyone who joins the revolution is welcome!’

The boy named William looked confused from his friend to the short-haired girl and back before he answered.

‘Ah, eh, well,… Why not. I think I need some explanation here anyway. Since when are you hanging around with an Ungraded girl?’

‘Hey, she’s not ungraded. She’s a non-Wife but still an E, and I hope she’s my friend, so no more explanation needed. People can hang out with friends. I think I took the ideas of her pamphlet more seriously than she expected, but I was just saying that if I’m supposed to marry a woman anyway I need to know who to be around girls anyway.’

‘You’re supposed to do what?’

‘Ah, haven't you heard yet? I thought Rafael would have told you already. My father gave me a surprise for my grading ceremony result, and I had to choose a wife at Seventh City Wife Factory.’

‘Dude, you, a wife, really? Congratulations! Did you really choose a girl at a Partner Choice Ceremony?’

‘I had to.’

A silence followed.

‘So, tell me about her.’

‘She’s called Megan Anderson, and hates the whole thing as much as I do. I have only seen her a few times, not counting the ceremony night, but she seems fun.’

‘But is she pretty? What’s her grade?’

‘E, for complete rebellion against everything the Wife Factory stands for. Brainie-type of person. She had long dark hair and deep brown eyes.’

Silence came back, while William tried to comprehend what he just heard.

‘So, you were sent to the Wife Factory as a birthday surprise for your new grade, and then you chose the girl with the lowest score? You really keep on surprising me, man. And that in the week you received a class one male badge? You could have gotten a C-level wife too.’

‘B-level actually they said. But don’t tell my dad. Wouldn’t have worked. And what does E-rating mean? They just kicked her out of the C-floor anyway because she had her own opinions.’

Michael really didn’t want to do the whole story again, and noticed that Angela hadn’t said anything since William had arrived. ‘But I was just learning from Angela here about the reality that non-Wives live in. That’s a world I never heard about, not even from my new Wife School friends. It seems that whoever said that brainies are the worst off in this country never thought of asking anyone on the female side.’

William looked from Michael to Angela and back. ‘Hmm, never thought of that.’

‘Thinking about women is always indecent, they say. And too much thinking is bad for a Real Man. Don’t overthink, just do the stuff!’ Michael said laconically.

‘Be a Man!’ William mumbled automatically, which Angela seemed to find amusing.

‘So, if you don’t go to school, that means you are a working adult already?’

‘Yes, I’m working in the trash sorting center currently. Checking the robots who sort recyclable plastics. A lot of non-Wives work there, and the male jobs are done by ungraded men who dropped out of school. They don’t want women to drive forklifts, or operate the machinery for some reason. Computer operator is the only job there that pays well though.’ ‘That sucks. Aren’t there other jobs you can find?’

‘As a non-Wife? Assembly line work in the factory, cleaning, or if you’re very lucky junior nurse in the hospital for contagious patients or so. Why do you think non-Wives are associates are mostly associated with sex work?’ She took a sip from her Coke. ‘I didn’t say anything.’ Michael said, slightly blushing.

‘I know what men think about non-Wives. And it’s not completely untrue. Prostitution is the best way to make money as a non-Wife. But I could never do that. Plus it’s dangerous. With all due respect to you both who seem mostly harmless, but men can be extremely dangerous and violent. Sometimes the girls who do that job come back with bruises or worse, or they don’t come back at all. And the sad thing is no-one cares.’

‘What do you mean, they don’t come back? They get killed? Should the police not find the murderer then?’ William looked at her, shocked.

‘Young man… The police doesn’t care for murdered ungraded non-Wives. If you’re a man, and rated high enough, or maybe a high-rated Wife of a man that’s important enough they will do something. It might even reach the papers. But if you’re a non-Wife no-one cares if you disappear. No-one. That’s why we live together in all-female social buildings when possible. Or even in a Ghost Town. Low-rated and badgeless men are way too dangerous to live with. The government used to mix downgraded men and women in those government housing projects, but luckily some of our activists found ways to manipulate things and make all-female blocks and all-male ones.’

‘Hmm, it seems that it’s rather easy to mess with administration like that. Like my fiance’s friend Eliza who just makes herself chaperone on dates.’

‘Most men don’t think women are capable of doing any such things, so the idea that we can manipulate The system of the Nation in any way wouldn’t even enter their minds, hah.’ Angela said, with a smile of triumph.

‘You’re telling it to men now.’ Michael said.

‘Who would believe you? A non-Wife told me? And like I said. No-one will care. We are the invisible ones. It’s a wonder you can even see me.’

‘Who on Earth would not notice those deep blue eyes?’ Michael said.

She turned red. ‘Michael, are you flirting with a non-Wife while you have a fiancée?’ William said, shocked.

He looked into his glass, away from the others. ‘I don’t know. Maybe I might be. I’m sorry if I did, and if I made you uncomfortable, Angela. Like I said, everything is new to me. Compliments like that are probably too flirty. But I just mean it, it’s hard to miss those blue eyes so you’re not really invisible.’

‘I see what you mean about learning how to be around girls.’ Angela said, recovering a bit.

‘But do you think I have a chance of being friends with girls? I’m not a potential danger to you?’

‘Strangely, no. Harmless due to being completely clueless maybe, as Sam said. And I would never have dreamed of a man begging for friendship. Asking, not demanding. That’s weird. Nah, you’re fine. Outside of any category, but okay. I accept the offer.’

‘What on Earth are you doing here, with two men even, Angela?’

The newcomer was older, had also light blue eyes and messy brown hair, and seemed furious.

‘Talking about the Women are Human protest. And doing some unsegregation it seems. It’s okay Pamela,’ Angela replied, and Michael felt the need to defend her.

‘Don’t attack her, I’m only trying to do what her little pamphlet says. Welcome to the first table of unsegregation, where it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman.’

Pamela clearly wasn’t convinced. ‘It doesn’t matter? How can it not matter? Are you insane? You men have been oppressing us since forever, and you want us all to be happy-clappy friends now? Now that is why I hate you and Sam going to these things, Angela. They’ll only make things worse.’

‘But he listened and he was nice to me, and then he just invented this unsegregated spot thing here to be able to talk more, and bought me a cold Nation-Coke.’

‘No, Angela, men are never just nice. He must want something.’

‘Don’t talk about me as if I’m not even there, Madam. I literally just tried to have a chat with her, as friends, about the protest.’ ‘Who’s the Madam here? Are you mocking me, young man?’

‘No, I’m just looking for words to politely address a woman, and they don’t seem to exist or work in my native language. Don’t forget that you’re only the sixth woman I’m talking to in my life that isn’t my mother. I’m really trying to learn here, but I have an extreme disadvantage.’

‘A level one male with a disadvantage? Come on, you’re the pinnacle of privilege and then you try to act as if you’re not on the top of the foodchain. I can see through your games, dude.’

‘Oh yes, the top of the foodchain. You’re the expert here I see. All my life I’ve been picked on for liking books more than all that “Be a man” nonsense, and then I ended up only a Gamma and it became even worse. And now that I’m a class one male I’m suddenly the top for everyone, except for all Betas and Alphas who even treat me more like dung now. Sorry, I’m not having it.’

‘You men are all the same.’

William and Angela glanced at each other, both not knowing how to react. It was clear that William was afraid of talking back to this man-hating newcomer, and that even Angela, who was supposed to be her friend, was too shy to interrupt her like that. ‘Is she always like this?’ He whispered

‘Usually not, but I’ve never seen her with men.’ She whispered back.

‘So this is the great unsegregation thing Michael was trying to do?’ Michael turned to him.

‘Hey, I’m just trying. And maybe I am indeed naive and completely clueless. Maybe I can’t change anything. Maybe we will all be crushed by the system in the end. Maybe I will make some stupid mistakes with girls and get hurt terribly in the end. But if I can be an actual friend to some girls before that it would have been worth it, not? I’m having second thoughts about anything that is related to the future, but I feel revolutionary today, and even you can’t take that away, Miss Pamela.’ Pamela shrugged, still not impressed.

‘Yeah, whatever. Come, Angela, time to go home. Sam is making rice with lab-meat, but we got some vegetables from the Ghost Town farm.’ Angela stood up and looked a bit apologetically at Michael, who suddenly thought of the fresh vegetables and actual animal meat they had every day at his Alpha home.

‘Anyway, I realised that I still need to buy paper and pencils. So, I’m going to finish my Coke and say goodnight to all you happy revolutionaries.’ He turned to Angela. ‘It was nice meeting you, Angela. I hope to meet you again. And get home safe.’ ‘Pamela will walk me home. Thanks for you concern, and for the interesting talk, Michael.’

‘I’m coming with you, Michael.’ William said when he rose from his chair.

Together they walked to the paper store?

‘So you got a class one male rating and a Wife School fiancée, and now you’re starting a revolution against the segregation of the sexes by yourself? And all of that on just Nation-Coke without even getting a beer?’

Michael shrugged. ‘So it seems. It sounds more interesting if you describe it like that than when it’s happening. You know I just want a quiet life, but that never seems an option in this rotten Nation. Everything that seems to make things more normal and healthy to me turns out to be revolutionary…’