‘After the second meet-up alone you have the right to visit your future wife and take her with you whenever you want, if accompanied by a chaperone. You only need to fill in the right papers and deliver them to us at least one day before.’ Michael read the new paper Greystone had given him out loud to Megan and Eliza.

‘Wow, every decision right is for me, and none for you again. But at least you have my phone number now and my family will tolerate you calling me to make plans to see each other. And Eliza seems quite good indeed at making sure that the chaperone is always her.’

Eliza sniffed. ‘Quite good… Huh, I am the best! You haven’t seen anything of my superpowers.’

‘I’m curious to see them, so please keep sticking around. I wouldn’t want to go back to living without both of you.’

He went back to the administrative corner and gave his papers to an impassable Greystone and they walked out as if it was nothing, much more relaxed than the last time. None of them had explicitly dressed up or down today, although Eliza still wore a grey oversized sweater that looked like it was made in an era before the Magnificent Revolution. Michael wore his school clothes, and Megan wore the blue dress again, but without much special make-up or jewels.

‘I must say that I love this new arrangement, with or without marriage. I wish we could do this forever. Just some little escapes from school with you, and no pressure for anything at all.’ Megan said with a longing look at Michael.

‘Stupid that you need to be engaged to just be able to hang out as friends, and I wish we could take Shirley with us too for once. And maybe the others too.’ Eliza interrupted.

‘We could start with Shirley. Maybe I can switch chaperones next time, not that anyone is checking the bureaucratic mess of papers, especially not with the lost cases of the E-floor. But I’m quite sure it isn’t always supposed to be the same girl. Do you mind another chaperone, next time or so, Michael?’

‘It’d be a pity, but I’m still practising being with girls casually, so why not? If she’s your friend she won’t be a brainwashed human wifebot I suppose?’

‘No, not really. Not as radical as Eliza maybe, and a lot shyer but definitely not that. Not even if she tried. Which she still might sometimes after all the lessons we’ve got lately. And she still finds it hard to believe that you really are so much different from the Real Men we learn about in class, especially as a Class One Male.’ Eliza said.

‘She’ll see when she meets you. By the way, what are the wild plans for today, mister Real Man class one?’ Megan asked teasingly.

‘Ah, My little surprise. We’re going to join the revolution today.’ Michael said as casually as possible, playing along.

‘You’re being cryptic again. Do you want to put the Central Computer under the guillotine or will we just burn down all Wife Schools?’ Eliza asked.

‘Hey, don’t go too fast with this relationship. No premarital revolutions and beheadings of artificial intelligences who rule The Nation during the dating stage. The Church wouldn’t like that,’ Megan said.

‘Don’t get ahead of your weird fantasies, girls. I’m only Michael Adams, and not really a great revolutionary guerrilla leader. Anything I do will be rather small… But since you protested about the segregated terraces last time I did my little bit and unsegregated some of it. I got a few of the Women are Human protesters on board, and my old boss didn’t protest yet, so there’s a few tables without sex segregation now on one of the Square Plaza terraces. Enough for a date with three at least, or whatever you call this. If you can handle being looked at a bit weird by some people that is.’

Megan stopped, looked at him for a while and erupted into laughter. ‘Only an unsegregated spot for men and women? That’s all? A month and a half ago you hadn’t even talked to a woman that isn’t your mother, and now you start unsegregating Square Plaza all by yourself. Tell me again who’s going too fast here with all of this?’

‘Blame the Women are Human people, eh, make that women. They were rather astonished that I took their pamphlet and actually started doing what it said, but then I needed a place to talk to them so I unsegregated a table for that. And it sort of stuck around. Other people seem to be picking up on it too. It’s still there without me I’ve noticed. And Tom the waiter doesn’t seem to mind.’

‘Your husband-to-be is serious, Megan. This is a small revolution.’ Eliza said, this time with more admiration than sarcasm.

‘It’s nothing, really.’ He said, almost blushing.

Megan seemed impressed indeed, but didn’t answer.

Ten minutes later they arrived at Square Plaza.

‘See, the table’s still there. And there’s no-one now but us three at this moment. It’s all ours.’ He waved at the waiter, who was waiting the male section again. ‘The usual, Tom!’ he said.

‘Wow, you really have a lot of girl friends to bring to your unsegregated table, Michael.’ Tom said with something unsure in his voice.

‘Ah, well, but this is not just a proselytising egalist but my Wife School fiancée Megan herself, plus complementary chaperone Eliza.’ Eliza waved at him with her fake temptress smile.

‘So that’s the famous wife-to-be? The one who started your interest in women and equality and all?’

‘That’s her. So maybe you could bring us something better than just a Coke today. Anything you’d recommend?’

‘Eh, cold three herbs tea with bee honey? That’s the special suggestion on the menu. The boss would kill me if I served beer to girls. You may have unsegregated the table for your little unsegregration project, but the rules are still the rules.’

Michael looked at the girls.

‘Cold three herbs tea sounds good.’ Megan said.

‘He wants a Manfred plus beer, tripel edition, and I get another three herbs thing.’ Eliza said quickly, winking at Michael.

Tom wrote it down and disappeared.

‘I didn’t want a beer at all.’ Michael protested.

‘No, and you don’t get one either, you get the ice tea thing and I get the beer, smart boy. Do you have any idea what the price of a man beer like Manfred plus is on the black market in a Wife School? And I really feel like drinking one today with this revolutionary spirit in the air. So just keep your drink in front of me and mine in front of you, and don’t drink it when that Tom dude is watching too closely.’

Michael didn’t even know how to protest, and he saw that Megan wanted to say something but ultimately didn’t either. Sometimes it was better to just let Eliza be Eliza.

‘Okay. But aren’t you taking advantage here? This is Megan's date and now you’re just using me to get a beer.’ ‘Life is for those who dare, isn’t it? Do you mind, Megs?’

Megan sighed. ‘As long as you don’t bring us in trouble, do whatever you want. Your sense of boundaries is weird but you never have evil intentions. But I’m not going to explain to Greystone why you're tipsy, understood!’

‘I don’t get tipsy from one beer, and he always thinks I’m weird anyway. He wouldn’t notice the difference. Beer might even calm down my impulsive tendencies. Did I never show you that old research about the effects of small amounts of alcohol on ADHD?’

‘You never even showed me any proof you have ADHD, Eliza. You’ve been self-diagnosing yourself with countless things through the years and none of them were ever conclusive.’

‘The research is interesting, but going too deep can get boring. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, I just take the things I can learn…’ She shrugged.

Tom came back and gave the girls a cold three herbs tea, and Michael a Manfred plus beer, tripel edition. Michael paid for the drinks and took out his backpack.

'I have something else for you by the way.' he whispered 'an old book. a book about a girl with your name. At least she's called Meg.'

Megan didn’t look up. 'A girl book? I hate those? You should know by now.’

‘No, not like that. It’s an old book, from long before The Nation, and some sort of children's book even. But it’s unlike everything I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot of strange books. The story is weird, with aliens and angels and monsters and technological dystopia and stuff like that. I don’t understand half of it to be honest. But the story isn’t what stands out. It’s about how the boys and girls are friends. Some are sisters and brothers, some are not. But they’re all just friends, as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.’

‘Boys and girls as friends, all of their childhood? Isn’t that part of the fantasy aspect? I mean, if it has angels and aliens then boys and girls being friends is not really a stretch…’

‘Nope,’ Eliza interrupted while sipping from the beer in front of Michael. ‘It’s common in old story books, even the realistic ones. And in films from around the millennium, although they are hard to find and even harder to play.’

‘You have actually seen films from around the millennium? Where? How?’ Michael asked.

‘Tss, did you never learn you should let a girl have their secrets?’

‘Nope. No-one ever taught me anything useful about girls, not even that. They said I would like to have one for a wife, that’s all.’

‘And meanwhile we’re taught crazy stuff about boys all the time. And how to please your husband and stuff.’ Megan said.

‘I know. But all they said was that I would find out when I grew up. Plus boring biology lessons about anatomy and pregnancy and diagrams of how testicles or ovaries look when cut in half and drawn by someone who has never seen anything of the human body. And then that pregnancy won’t happen anyway as long as you have your shoulder Ancon-chip, so weird diseases are the big risk if you have premarital sex, and then…’

‘I get the idea. And poor you that you have to build your view of actual females on us two instead of on official lessons about the ideal Wife… But please give me the book now, I’m interested in any pre-Nation black market book, and this one sounds fascinating indeed.’

Michael took “A Wrinkle in Time” out of his bag and gave it to Megan. ‘I think you’ll like the story, Megan. And there’s something else in it that Eliza will like too. The mother, she is a scientist. A scientist alone most of the time, her husband is stuck in another world most of the story and she just does her work as if there’s no problem. No men needed for that.’

‘Wow, I want to read that.’

‘Wanna read too.’ Eliza said. ‘I’m gonna read it first, Eliza. It’s my book, and my fiance.’ Megan said decidedly. Michael took a second book with a devious smile. ‘And for you, Eliza, a romance book. To teach you some things.’

Eliza gave him a dirty look and promptly drank half of Michaels beer in one gulp. ‘Hey, I hate girl books even more than her and you know that. Don’t offend me with romance books.’

‘Don’t drink a heavy beer like that! That's way too fast! And as with the other one, it’s not a Nation book for girls, this one is even older than the other one, and the heroine is called Elizabeth. She talks with men without any fear, and she rejects the richest and most powerful man of all in the middle of the book because he’s too arrogant and full of himself. In a time where getting married was everything for girls. You’ll like that part. They end up together anyway, but only after he has learnt some lessons. Plus she’s quite smart.’

‘She rejects a powerful and rich man, and he just accepts that? What world was that even?’

‘He has to. The culture of that time gave women the right to say no. You have to read it. It reads like old-fashioned poetry stuff with some strange words, but it’s powerful in a way. And entertaining too sometimes. Or at least it gives a model of how men and women can have another way of relating to each other. Hmm, if they are rich enough that is probably. But whatever…’

‘Okay, sounds interesting, I must confess.’ Eliza drank another big gulp of beer, and “his” glass was almost empty now, so Michael drank from the ice tea after giving her the old worn-out copy of “Pride and Prejudice”.

‘By the way, Eliza has something to say to that other male friend of yours, if you see him again.’ Megan said.

‘Who do you mean? I have countless male friends.’

‘The shy one from the park, Rafael was his name I think, come on Eliza.’

Eliza swallowed and said. ‘Maybe I should apologise to the boy for how I treated him. Just a tiny bit.’ ‘Ah…’ ‘I’ve been a bit too, well, you know what I mean… It might not have been the best idea to treat him like that, but I was a bit carried away. I probably really scared him and, eh, never realised that introverted boys have boundaries too or something like that. I never dreamed I could have that kind of effect on anyone.’

Michael drank some more ice tea.

‘Eliza… You are a young woman of the female persuasion, and rather intensely so. And your little cosplay together with your flirting game is not the best first impression of actual real-life girls for a shy boy with no experience and not so much social capacities. Not all of us are aggressive Alphas who are always on top of everything.’

Megan giggled and he looked annoyed. ‘Ah, that’s the fault of the please-your-husband class.’

‘Well, it doesn’t really please me.’

‘Ah, I hoped you’d be here.’

The conversation was disturbed by a very short-haired girl with deep blue eyes in workperson clothes, followed by another one with half-long almost white hair.

‘Early shift is over for today in the trash sorting center. And Sam here insisted on checking whether you’d be here today. But you seem to have enough company already.’

Michael looked from Samantha to Angela and sighed. ‘Hi Angela, Hi Samantha. Megan and Eliza, meet Angela from the Women are Human group, and her friend Samantha.’

Angela did a small wordless greeting.

‘So you’re that Wife School chick?’ Samantha said rather condescendingly to Eliza, whose eyes almost changed colour. Michael had noticed the tension too, and held his breath while Eliza chose her words. This would be worth watching.

‘I am indeed currently still a resident of Seventh City Wife Factory, but if you mean that I’m supposed to be Loverboy’s fiancée, no. I have to disappoint you. That’s Megan here. I’m just a simple chaperone who needs to guard her so nothing indecent happens while she’s outside our humble school complex.’

Samantha started laughing, but Eliza ignored her and went on with her monologue.

‘And yes, I am aware that the whole Wife School system sucks more than a maelstrom vortex, but I will protect my friends when needed. And that implies both Megan and her cute Gamma-1 brainie-boy now. So be warned, dear non-wifeschool chick! You better watch what you’re doing!’

Michael looked at both girls. It was as if there was a shield of electricity between them, while Angela seemed to try to dissolve in the background and Megan just bit her lip, waiting for what would come next. No-one said anything while the two girls seemed to be outstaring each other, until Megan finally broke the spell because the whole situation became too irritating.

‘This Wife School chick needs no protection, thanks Eliza. And Samantha or whatever your name is, I am well aware that the differences between my situation and that of a non-Wife working woman are big, but aren’t we supposed to cross bridges and overcome all those separations? Women are human and we’re all sisters and stuff like that? Can’t we be friends?’

‘Equally naive as the boy I see. A perfect match for him indeed. You win for now.’ Samantha said condescendingly.

‘And can you get that Tom dude to bring me some man beer too, Mr. Equality? I need it. Oh, real Manfred plus? Even better!’

‘Get it yourself. But don’t get your hopes up, even in the unsegregated section they still have gendered rules for what you can and can’t drink. And I’m done with giving girls beer for today, sorry. Being tricked by Eliza was more than enough.’

‘You’re no fun today.’

Michael ignored her and turned to Angela. ‘Anything new, Angela?’

Angela looked shyly from him to Megan, as if she was afraid of talking to him in her presence.

‘I’ve been overseeing the sorting of garbage all day with the magnetic robot that takes out the iron and ferro stuff, and I need a drink too now. I can pay for myself, I might just be a lowly non-Wife with no status, but I’m also a working woman and I’m not taking advantage of anybody.’

Michael made a gesture to order more drinks.

‘I didn’t say anything like that.’ He said.

‘You’re the first non-Wife of my age I’ve met,’ Megan said to Angela, interested.

‘Usually Wives or Wife School students don’t talk to non-Wives, at least I’ve noticed such a thing.’ Angela replied, rather bitterly.

‘Another kind of stupid segregation that we need to overcome then,’ Megan replied, unphased.

‘As if that’s ever possible.’ Samantha sneered. ‘You little privileged princesses that are trained to become a house pet have nothing to say to us.’

The tension rose again.

‘Ah, little privileged princesses? Training to become a house pet?’ Eliza kept her cool, but even Michael could see how it cost her a lot of self-control. ‘Being trained up to be a living sex doll and domestic slave you mean. While they try to dumb you down so you won’t scare your husband by being too smart. Now that’s quite the privilege indeed. Come and get all my privilege if you want. I’ll wrap it up in holiday wrapping paper for you.’ Eliza said, drinking the last bits of beer.

‘Eliza, please…’

‘Not now, Megan, I need to have some words with a certain person here as you see.’

‘Oh-oh’ Angela said, looking at Michael with another ‘help’ in her eyes.

‘Come on, ladies. We all have the shortest end of the stick. Even the sensible persons on the male side. Only those who enjoy being brainwashed into a sick gender caricature will ever be happy with any of this. And even that’s an illusion and social programming, not really happiness. Let’s not divide ourselves even more, but try to find a way forward as friends and fellow humans and persons with value. Which is what we all are.’

‘Good speech, cutie, but your words won’t break down the distance that is already there, and they won’t do anything about the injustice that we live with everyday.’ Samantha said.

‘That we all live with every day, and we all should try to do something about…’ He said.

‘You surely are something different, brainie-boy. Always an answer ready with you…’ Samantha said.

By the time Megan and Eliza returned to Seventh City Wife Factory they were already accustomed to a world where they were not only friends with Michael, but where they could sit and have a drink on Square Plaza with their new friends regardless of their sex. Michael on the other hand was exhausted from the little war between the girls. There hadn’t been any jealousy between Megan and Angela, which was what he had feared, but on the other hand Samantha had been even worse when she turned into class-war mode than when she tried to flirt with him. But even she had met her superior in Eliza, who was still an unstoppable force of nature.