Seventy-Nine

Prologue

Some of the first thoughts I could remember were that my mother was beautiful. A child doesn't assume how her features would be scored, but that the love and compassion they have for their child is above all else. Later in life I found that my mother scored an overall 80 in her External Anatomy exam which is the exact cut off to be considered safe to reproduce.

Women must be above 80, and men should be above 75.

My father was a 92, and there wasn't one day of my childhood that the fact that my mother should be grateful, didn't come up. The day I turned 16 I got my own score. I went in front of a panel of doctors who examined every inch of my body with their eyes, measuring the width between my eyes, or the length of my arms. I felt so exposed, and then I received my score.

79.

The test includes 10 different attributes with a ranking system out of 10.

10/10 eyes
Comment: Rare emerald green with enlarged almond shape.

8/10 lips
Comment: average

5/10 nose
Comment: larger nostrils with thinner bridge, not aesthetically pleasing.

7/10 Body
Comment: Average hourglass verging onto plump.

5/10 Hair
Comment: Thin strawberry blonde, washed out.

9/10 overall face
Comment: n/a

7/10 Skin quality
Comment: Average skin type with occasional breakouts.

10/10 limb proportion
Comment: n/a

9/10 eyesight
Comment: no need for corrective lenses but slight astigmatism

9/10 Body hair ratio
Comment: Barely grows hair besides on legs.

At a glance, the score seems good. Yet it is below the cut-off.

One point below the cut off.

A few weeks after the exam I was sent information from my doctor that explained that I was a danger to society, and that I would be sterilized at 21. A week after that, I received a visit from my government's employment recruiters. I could choose to do hard labor for the rest of my life, or become a "certified behavioral manager." Which is just a fancy name for a consort.

Families pay for me to teach their son's how to treat a woman, and what to expect their future wives to like and need from them. I expected to feel more like an adult babysitter, but all the men I've been assigned were sweet, and I'd fall for each one. As soon as I felt comfortable though, they would be married off.

I start my 20th assignment on my 20th birthday.