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rix_scaedu‘s commissioned continuation of Twin Study. This is non-canon, set sometime after the apoc, well into the second gen of Addergoole.
“I don’t get it.” The halls of their institution were painted a probably-supposed-to-be-calming blue; the floors were carpeted. It was nice, almost cozy, if you ignored the complete lack of exits and the prison atmosphere.
“What’s there to get? I mean, it’s pretty self-explanatory. List. Guys. Lather, rinse, repeat.” Fili pulled his list out of his pocket and looked at it. “I mean, if you don’t think about it, it’s pretty easy.”
“Easy for you to say. You don’t have to do anything except insert tab A into slot A.” Molly was staring at her list, but Ted didn’t think she’d seen anything on it.
She stared at her own. “Okay. So Albern isn’t too bad. And Gibson is kind of handsome, although he doesn’t talk a lot. But Davis is a flat-out creep, and Stonewall is… well, a stone wall. And I wouldn’t let Caledon touch me if he was the only guy on my list.”
“He’s on my list, too.” Molly stared at her list. “Nobody else in common, though. Unless you have Ether?”
“No. Lucky you, I kind of like him.”
“There’s nothing lucky about ‘choose one of these five to seven guys and have a child with them. Or else, cue ominous music.’”
“No. Maybe we could escape?”
“Shhhh.” Homer, who had been staring silently at his list, suddenly spoke up with a whispered urgency. “Shhh, they can hear you.”
“What, the Doctor?”
“No, worse. The demon. He has cameras everywhere. Sage told me.”
“Everywhere?” Ted crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s nuts. Really everywhere?”
“Everywhere that matters.” Luke was suddenly behind them. “You have nothing you need to hide from the Administration.”
“Uh, why don’t you let us decide that?” Ted stepped forward protectively, putting herself between the PE teacher and Molly.
“That decision has already been made.” His wings flared. “I’m sure you have somewhere to be.”
“Not really.” Fili stepped up next to Ted.
“We’re done with class, and we’ve had our meeting with Dr. Regine.” Fili held up his list, almost in Luke’s face. “See? We got our fuck-or-die list.”
“Nobody’s going to die.” The idea actually seemed to offend Luke. Ted wondered, a bit, why. It wasn’t as if he treated them like people. “And the good doctor has… ways. If you don’t want sex.”
Ted glanced down at her list again, and back at Luke. “You’re on my list.”
“Professor VanderLinden is on mine.” Homer had finally caught up with them. “So’s Professor Valerian.”
“I don’t have any Professors. Um. Although there is someone here I don’t know.”
Luke peered at Molly’s list. “That’s the goblin in the basement. He fathers very good children.”
“He… This is absurd.” Ted knew she was sputtering again. “You seriously expect us to just go have sex with someone we don’t know? Or, I don’t know, let them knock us up by artificial insemination?”
“There is a war going on, in case you haven’t noticed.” Luke’s voice never changed cadence, but his wings flared. “There is a war destroying your planet, and your race, and hundreds of millions of humans and Ellehemaei have died. Yes. Yes, I expect you to carry two children to term. And I expect you to show up to drill tomorrow at 8 a.m., regardless of if you have cramps.” His voice turned into a sneer and he glared over Ted’s shoulder at Molly.
Ted muscled her way a little more firmly in front of her friend. “This being on students’ lists things. Does it ever get you laid?”
“That’s not why I’m on there.” Good, she’d managed to offend him. Again.
“Then why? ‘Cause I wouldn’t sleep with you otherwise. And I figure most other students wouldn’t, either.”
“For the same reason everyone else is on your list: the Director and the Doctor believe that you’d make a good genetic match with those people.”
“Why not just clone?” The word tickled at the back of her mind. Clone. Clone. Twin?
“Cloning takes longer and doesn’t work as well as the old-fashioned way. Now, unless you’re going to invite me into your bed, go. Go talk to someone on your list, or something.”
“Why aren’t any of us on each other’s lists?”
Luke shrugged at them. “You got lucky, I guess. If you can be friends and still obey the rules, be friends. Not many people can.”
And that was a very weird thing to say. Ted glanced at her list, and then peered over her shoulder at Molly’s list. “Hey, Moll. I think one of mine and one of yours room together. Let’s go bother them. Come on, Fili, Homer.”
“Why are we coming?”
“Because we’re going to go talk to upperclassmen in their dorm. You’re coming along for protection.”
“Protection?” She thought Homer squeaked. Fili just laughed. “You think we’re going to be able to help?”
“Not really. Sorry. But I think the more people we have, the less likely we are to get jumped.”
“Well then.” Fili glanced at his list, and shook his head. “I still don’t believe this.”
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