Jesanc

"Tell me again how this is supposed to work?" Julia asked her friend Berenice. Both had recently celebrated their 18th birthdays, but Bere seemed far more comfortable with the milestone. "We receive our unalienable rights, the birth rights of all adults, but how are we even supposed to take advantage of them?"

"Julia, our rights in the international communities aren't relevant to us here. We want to remain in our own community, don't we? That means following our own ways and knowing our place. If you wanted to leave, you'd have that right, but why would you want that? This is our home, and we've just reached the age where life starts to get interesting."

"Full citizens, but we must still obey our fathers in every way. My father won't even give me full access to the network, I still have to go through the child filter. But full network access is one of our inalienable rights!"

"Julia, you know the pairing is only a few days away, and after that, we'll be under the authority of our husbands. If you get a good pick, I'm sure your husband will let you look at anything you like on the network. Anyway, you can go and access a network terminal at the library, the librarian must give you full access by law."

"I already talked with the librarian, and he said that full network access before your first pairing is strongly discouraged, because spoilers will ruin the impact. He admitted that he can't stop me, legally, but he would notify my father if I went through with it."

"Well, I know your father would punish you for that. Mine is easy going, and he'd let me access the network, but I have no interest in the outside world, or spoilers, I just want to get through the pairing and to get started with my real life. To have my husband, to become pregnant and give birth to my first child! I can't wait!"

"I don't know if I'm ready for any of that," said Julia, "I feel like I'm going straight into it without knowing anything. How does a relationship with a husband work? How do I become pregnant? Am I ready to bring up a child?"

"Oh, you worry so much, Julia. That's what the pairing is for, we don't just get matched with our husbands, we also learn all the secrets of adults. Just do what you are told to do, and I bet everything will become perfectly clear. You know that you won't be bringing up a child on your own, the entire community will be helping."

In the following days, Julia remained anxious. She refrained from requesting network access at the library, and still had no idea what she was getting herself into. But the pairing was the most important part of their community rituals, and had remained unchanged for decades. She stopped attending her voluntary work in a food processing factory, and spent her time in her room using the network, the child filter still in place.

She had her own room, in a larger block which also contained living and dining areas, and which was occupied by several families. She had ten siblings in total, but most were older and had already been paired, so only her two younger sisters remained. Most of the others would visit occasionally, often with their spouses and children. However, two had emigrated. They never visited, and were seldom mentioned.

She tried to learn all she could. She examined her family history, which extended back several generations. Her parents had followed the ideal, pairing at age 18 and spending their lives together, having one child after another. Her maternal grandparents had paired in their late 20s, both having divorced after previous marriages. They had had two children before divorcing once again, and going on to new pairings. Her paternal grandparents had paired in their 30s, her grandfather a widower and her grandmother a divorcee. They had four children together, and stayed together until her grandfather died in his early 70s, and her grandmother had paired again in her old age.

All of her grandparents had been born in Jesanc, but the previous generation were immigrants. They arrived after it had been founded by Jeremiah and his group of disciples in the chaos after the Culture Wars in the old USA. It was one of the countless autonomous communities operating under the Treaty. She could follow her family records back several more generations, finding various dates where one or another ancestor had immigrated to the USA from Europe. Diversity in her ancestry was limited to Ireland, Britain, and three countries on mainland Europe. Following this line of research was taking time, but giving little insight.

If only she could talk with her two brothers who had emigrated. She had no idea where they were now. Perhaps she would be able to find out, if not for the child filter, but her access to information about communities outside Jesanc was seriously limited.

She pondered the nature of Jesanc. Jeremiah had long passed away, but an authorized collection of his teachings were recorded in the Book, which formed the basis for how the community operated. Although nominally based on Christianity, many of his teachings were apparently original concepts, supposedly derived through divine inspiration. The small town where Jeremiah and his followers settled, "Jeremiah's Sanctuary" eventually became Jesanc. The community had flourished, growing to a few thousand a dozen years afters its formation. Immigration after that was limited to special cases, but even with net emigration, it had grown to tens of thousands through natural population growth. Their land had expanded correspondingly, according to Treaty provisions, although this part of the Treaty remained controversial. Construction of new buildings was continuous and ongoing.

She talked with her elder sister Keziah, who had been paired about five years ago and had three children. After some small talk, about Keziah's children, she tried to get the discussion onto the subject of the pairing.

"How could you be sure, Keziah, that the man you were paired with would turn out to be right for you?"

"Julia, I can see that you are nervous, but you just need to have a little faith in the process. There are 20 men and 20 women in every pairing. You'll be paired with the person who is the best match."

"But what if nobody wants me? What if all the men want the other women, and I'm left alone at the end, and the last man decides to drop out and try again next time?"

Keziah laughed. "Well, I know you haven't seen any pairings yet, but they almost always continue to the end. 40 people go in, and 20 couples come out. If a man has been rejected by 19 women, he'll take the 20th who is left. Why would he expect anything better next time? But there's no way that you are going to be rejected by 19 men. You have no idea how cute you are, you'll have plenty of options to choose from."

"I have no idea if I'm cute of not," said Julia sceptically. "Even if they were lining up for me, how would I know which one to pick? I hardly know any boys, we had separate schools and contact with them before coming of age was completely forbidden. How can I find somebody nice when I know nothing about them?"

"Just keep your eyes and ears open. Listen to what the boys are saying, look at their expressions, decide whether you really want to spend time with each boy. Don't just ogle their bodies. Hopefully, it will be obvious."

"Ogle their bodies?" said Julia, incredulous.

"Look, I've said too much. I'm not going to give you spoilers. Just follow my suggestions and it should turn out fine," said Keziah. "Look at me and Abidan, still together after 5 years! If the worst comes to the worst, you can get a divorce and try again with somebody else."

"Yes, Abidan is nice," agreed Julia. As a girl, and even now as an adult woman, she wasn't supposed to stare at men, or even make eye contact, but she had often glanced at Abidan from the corner of her eye when he visited.

Two days later, the day of the pairing dawned. First-time pairings were always special, but due to the size of Jesanc's population, they still came around quite often. Like ordinary pairings, they involved the matching of men and women of around the same age into couples. However, a first-time pairing also included elements of sex education, which was considered essential given that discussion of anything sexual with minors was strictly forbidden. The community ideal was for both boys and girls to reach their first pairing in a state of blessed ignorance. Given the effectiveness of network filtering, and the draconian punishments for violating the rule, the ideal was often achieved.

Julia put on her ceremonial outfit, as described in the Book of Jeremiah. Starting with modest white cotton panties, a similar white cotton bra with a steel wire frame, rough burlap stockings, scratching her legs a little, a simple long blue dress with long sleeves, buttoned up in the front, a white bonnet, and brown leather shoes. All the items were made locally in the community, and sized to fit her perfectly.

She went out to the living room, and made her farewells. Nearly everybody who lived in the building had assembled to see her off. Her mother was sobbing slightly. "Make us all proud, Julia," said her father.

Julia left on foot, her anxiety undiminished. A few buildings down the street, she met Berenice, who was dressed identically. They walked to the Pairing Center together, without speaking.

The Pairing Center was an ornate varnished wooden building. It had a single storey, but very high ceilings. The design was plain, but figures had been carved into the heavy door, depicting romantic scenes, so far as that could be achieved without indecency. Children could view the exterior, after all, but they were not permitted to enter.

Two men wearing black were standing at the door. Julia recognized them as assistant priests. They checked that Julia and Berenice were on the list of participants, then opened the door and invited them inside.

They entered a wooden hallway, and the door was closed behind them. It was not brightly lit. A short distance along, they found a door on the left labelled "Women" in old brass letters. Further along on the right was another door labelled "Men." Ahead, at the end of the corridor was another door, but it was unmarked.

Berenice opened the door marked "Woman." Inside was a wooden panelled room, fitted with pews. The lighting was somewhat brighter. About 10 girls were already seated inside, chatting quietly to each other. Julia and Berenice found a pew of their own and sat quietly.

"There are drones in here," said Bere. "Every so often, I glimpse them at the edge of my vision." Julia sat quietly, looking around, and eventually saw one clearly, a black cube a few centimeters across, the wings beating invisibly. "Cameras," she said, "I've seen them before, in the punishment room. They record everything at public events, from multiple angles." "So that's how they do it," said Bere, "I know that the Book specifies that punishments and pairings are recorded on video for posterity, but I assumed they just used cameras in the walls and ceiling." "There are probably cameras everywhere in this building," said Julia.

They didn't have to wait long before all 20 girls had arrived, all dressed identically. Nobody would be late to this event. Somewhere, a clock chimed 10 a.m.

The door started to open, and the girls went silent and looked at the floor. A man dressed in black, wearing a black hat, walked in, one of the senior teacher-priests. "Good morning!" he exclaimed. "I'm Reverend Thomas, and I'll be conducting the ceremony today." He stopped at the front, where there was a lectern, already holding a copy of the Book, the full version, not the children's version. He turned it to the first page of the Pairing Ceremony.

"This will be a very special occasion for you all, your first Pairing. What happens in the next few hours will change your life forever. Today, you will learn everything that you need to know to be a woman. Some of the things that I ask you to do will seem strange, and in opposition to everything you have learnt until now. But be assured that all will be as Jeremiah has ordained and must be done exactly as I explain. By following my instructions you will be following Jeremiah."

"Wait here now while I talk to the men," he said, then he left the room.

Julia turned to Bere to say something, but Bere hushed her. "Remember," she whispered, "we are being recorded, including everything we say." Julia was already nervous, and she took the hint and kept her idle and rebellious thoughts to herself.

Eventually, Reverend Thomas returned. He glanced at the Book, and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "I'll be taking you one at a time to be prepared. This will take a while, so please remain patient while you are waiting. Jeremiah specifies that the names shalt be taken in alphabetical order, and thus we will do it. Abigale? You will be first."

Abigale looked very nervous, but was probably used to going first. Rev. Thomas led her out of the room, and closed the door. Some of the other girls chattered to each other nervously, but Julia and Bere remained silent.

It seemed like a full 15 minutes before the Reverend returned, without Abigale. He stood at the front again, looked at his list, and called out, "Anna, you are next." They departed.

This time he returned quite a bit quicker, in less than 10 minutes. He took Ava away next. Returning again, he called for Berenice. Bere and Julia glanced at each other, and Julia whispered "good luck," before they departed.

With Bere gone, Julia felt even more anxious. Girls were taken one by one. Chloe, Claudia, Deborah, Drusilla, Eden, Hannah, and Judith. Then the Reverend returned, and called out "Julia".

Julia stood up and followed him out of the room and down the hall. She was sure that several drones had followed them out, and were hovering just out of sight. She expected him to lead her to the door at the end of the hall, but he opened the door to the right labelled "Men," and led her in.

The room was identical to the one they had just left, but unsurprisingly, the pews were occupied by boys. It looked like all 20 were there, gazing at her as she entered the room. She stared demurely at the floor.

The Reverend took his place at an identical lectern with an identical Book turned to the same page, and gestured for Julia to stand beside him. "This is Julia, a real cutie wouldn't you agree?" The boys nodded, but maintained a respectful silence, no doubt under strict orders.

"I'd like Julia's helper to come forward now. Julia is the 12th woman, so we need the 12th man, in reverse alphabetical order, Gabriel." Only Jeremiah ever knew the reasons for some of these details, but nobody was going to question them now.

Gabriel came forward. He was one of the smaller boys, and although having a competitive streak, he was not one of the leaders in either sports or studies. His dark brown hair was cut short, like all the boys. He was wearing the locally-made ceremonial uniform for men: a white cotton shirt, long grey trousers, a blue tie and jacket, black shoes and grey socks. Standing at the front, he was about the same height as Julia. He knew what to do already, from watching the previous girls. He went to a cupboard and took out a large large paper bag and a thick pencil, and he wrote "Julia" in large letters on the bag.

Julia stared at the floor, while watching Gabriel from the corner of her eye. The Reverend spoke to her. "Now we start casting off the rules of children, so that you may become an adult. You are now a woman, and you may look at women and children directly, eye to eye. During the Pairing Ceremony, you may also look at men. I want you to look directly at the men in this room. Meet their gaze, one by one." Julia was more terrified than ever. Facing twenty boys, looking at them directly, was against everything she had ever been taught. She hadn't expected to be so alone, so vulnerable. Slowly, she raised her head, to see the rows of staring boys. She felt their gaze, and blushed.

She flinched, but held her head up, and started by looking at the faces of the boys who were furthest away in the back row, one by one, then scanning the closer rows until reaching the boys right in front of her. By the end, she felt a few tears run down her face, but she couldn't help noticing that some of the boys seemed more appealing, while others repelled her. She had all but forgotten about the hovering drones, or the presumed hidden cameras in the walls and ceiling.

"Gabriel, kneel down and unlace her shoes." Gabriel did so. "Now Julia, lift your left foot. Gabriel, hold her ankle and remove her shoe. Put the shoe in the bag." He did so, sliding the shoe from her stockinged foot. Julia, shocked by the strange feeling of somebody holding her ankle, almost lost her balance, but she managed to recover after hopping a couple of times on her other foot. "Now repeat with her right foot."

"Gabriel, stand a little to the side, so that the other boys can see. Julia, remove your bonnet, and hand it to Gabriel." Julia froze. She knew enough not to exclaim out loud, or speak out of turn, but this was indeed against everything she had ever been taught. To allow the teacher to see her hair, let alone an entire classroom full of boys was beyond comprehension. However, she soon came to her senses. The Reverend had already explained that it would seem strange, but evidently it was as Jeremiah has ordained and it was not her place to question it. What could she do anyway, back out, never complete the ceremony, and fail her parents?

She untied the strap, and lifted the bonnet off her head. Her reddish-brown hair, gathered underneath, fell around her shoulders and down her back. There were a few gasps from the boys, and the Reverend glared at them. "That's enough," he said, "you will watch silently, without commentary, or you will leave the room." Julia handed the bonnet to Gabriel, who placed it in the bag with the shoes.

"Release the buttons on your dress," the Reverend instructed. I can do that, she thought, it's not hard. She unbuttoned them one by one, starting at the tight neckline, all the way down to the waist. Her dress fell open slightly, and she felt a little panic, surely that hadn't been intended? Everybody would be able to see her throat, perhaps even a hint of her bra. She gathered it together with her fingers at her neck.

"Pull your arms out of the sleeves." Yes, that's not so hard, she thought, it's just what I'd do anyway, if I was taking it off. She used her left arm to work the right sleeve off her right arm, letting the dress go loose. Then she repeated with the left sleeve. The top half of the dress fall away down her back, leaving the bottom half supported at the waist. She was aware but somehow unaware of standing with her bare arms, shoulders, belly, for all to see. Was that supposed to happen?, she thought. She felt like she had become an automaton, with no will of her own, almost beyond fear. Her modest white bra did not expose any cleavage, but the boys gawked, and now she looked at them gawking at her.

"Good Julia, now unfasten the lower part of your dress, and let it fall down, so that Gabriel can collect it." Julia unbuttoned a strap, which tightened the waist. No elastic was used here. She slipped the dress over her hips and it fell to the floor. She stepped over it so that Gabriel could gather it up and put it into the bag. Still wearing her modest white bra and panties, and burlap stockings, she faced the boys, almost feeling a twinge of excitement at the way some of the cuter boys were looking at her. This is all Jeremiah's plan, she thought.

"Lift one leg at a time, so that Gabriel can remove your stockings," the teacher continued. She complied, as standing on one foot wasn't hard for her, even with Gabriel pulling on a stocking. The teacher could have asked her to lean against a wall, or remove the stockings herself, but the way she was balancing was enchanting. Gabriel was a little rough and she hoped the stockings would not be damaged. This is all part of the plan, how I become a woman, she thought, as her slim teenage legs and feet were exposed.