Designated for Consumption_(0)

Mariah

I

Mariah stood in line anxiously, waiting to hear her fate. Her graduating group was today’s batch to be assigned their designations by the Bureau of Resource Distribution. She found some comfort in the presence of her best friend Alan, standing in front of her.

“Where do you think they’ll send you?” he had turned around to ask her.

“I’ll probably end up sewing clothes in a warehouse.”

“No way. I bet they put you in Human resource management, maybe. You’re really good with people.”

“I can’t really see myself in a management position, I couldn’t even organize that Memorial Day picnic.”

“I’ll probably end up welding or swinging a pick-axe in the new tunnels.”

“Next!” a sharp voice interrupted their conversation. A quick intake of breath came from Alan’s gut and he stepped forward to the woman distributing the designations. “Name?”

“Richardson.”

Her long nails clicked hurriedly across the keyboard. “You’ve been assigned to food production. Go through the door labelled “Agricultural Development” at the end of the hall on your left and they will tell you the specifics about your new designation. Next!”

“Good luck, Mariah. Maybe I’ll get to see you in the next stage.” Alan shuffled away toward his new role and new life.

Mariah took small steps toward the woman in the window. Her expectations were not high; after all, she was not very good at math or at science nor was she particularly athletic or organized. Surely, though, they could find a place for her in the workforce. The alternative seemed so terrifying, there was no possibility it could happen to her.

“Name?”

“Rockwell.”

The time it took for the woman to type her name into the computer seemed to take an eternity. Finally, she looked back up at Mariah solemnly.

“You’ve been designated for breeding. Please go through the door labelled “Agricultural Development” down the hall to your left.”

The world appeared to freeze around Mariah and her feet seemed to move by a willpower that was not her own. She followed the same path her friend Alan had tread before her though her gait was significantly slower than his. It was now definitely possible that they would be seeing each other again, but there was no possibility that it would be in any flattering position. She had known her entire life that if she had performed poorly enough on her assessments that the system could find no other position for her then she would be designated a breeder; she just never believed it would happen to her.

She has no recollection of that walk down the hallway and through the door for Agricultural Development. Her previous life was now a dream to her. She is now a breeding sow whose body will be utilized to grow several generations of food That will be prepared for the general population.

II

“What slot we supposed to be putting the new girl in?”

“Slot eight, at the end of this row. She’ll be fertilized with this batch in another two weeks.”

The two men working in the stockyard breeding room wheel in Mariah’s dangling body. Her arms and legs have been amputated and hooks have been attached to the ends so that they could provide an anchor for the suspension system that would keep her in a position that allowed easy access to all parts of her body necessary for the regular hygiene routine.