At first glance, the escort reminded Brooke of Mrs Jane, her old school instructor. She was a bit older than Mrs Jane but looked remarkable. She politely introduced herself as E-Sec (Exhibition Security) Officer Rian. Being a guard at the Exhibition was a tough job but Rian definitely looked cut out for it. Her physical features were an odd contrast to her personality. Rian was an attractive woman in her own right, naturally muscular but also quite slender. She definitely worked to keep her form in top shape as her job demanded her to constantly be on alert for the first signs of danger. Under her blue security uniform Brooke could see the toned muscles; she was a woman who would demand the respect of others without having to say a word. Her personality however, caught Brooke by surprise. Rian was not husky or overbearing, but was in fact quite charming and welcoming of the girls. Brooke could not help but wonder how she would react if one of the men happened to get on her bad side.
“So this is all your first time coming to the Exhibition, correct?” Rian asked the group after exchanging formalities. The girls all nodded in agreement.
“Ok awesome, I’ll be your guide tonight. I’ll show you girls around and explain some of the Exhibition’s features and how we operate on a day to day basis. I understand some of you have your own devices as well?”
The girls removed their devices from their purses to show Rian. They also explained that they had come to shrink a man themselves. Rian assured them that would not be a problem and could actually do so at any time during the tour as long as they notified her that they were doing it. After making sure they were all on the same page, Rian lead them out of the waiting room into a long winding maze of fences which would lead them directly into the Exhibition. Rian explained to them that the fences formed the third layer of a complex security system where if any hopeful escapee could actually make it this far, they would get lost and eventually be captured. The maze was so confusing and misleading that only Exhibition guards knew where the entrances and exits really were. To make things even more complex, a series of trick doors were placed at certain intervals. These doors would throw the escapee off balance thinking they were getting closer to the end, but in fact the doors would keep the escapee in limbo, effectively making him run in circles without him realizing until guards could contain him. As they neared the end of the maze, Brooke could see several guard towers and search lights up ahead. They were situated on top of large concrete walls. Brooke estimated these walls were at least 20 metres high.
“Is that the Exhibition there?” Brooke asked. Rian nodded to the wall in agreement.
“Those guard towers and search lights make up the second security layer and I’ll explain when we get to them.”
Brooke looked around at the other girls and their faces all showed expressions of pure amazement. They had heard and read about Exhibitions in their school days, but to actually be heading into one was an awesome experience. As the group neared the entrance, the walls seemed to grow only larger, now they appeared to be almost twice as high. Brooke could not help but marvel at their stature. She began to feel like the man she would shrink, and that soon she would be like these walls: standing unchallenged and completely dominant.
The group arrived at the main gate of the Exhibition. It was an imposing metal door with yellow and black stripes along the top and bottom. Rian stopped the group by the entrance and radioed to the nearest guard tower. Rian and the guard exchanged a wave and the large metal door began to creek open slowly. Cali and Sara tried to push forward to get a peek but Rian extended her arm and forced them back a bit.
“This door only remains open for a few seconds so we need to be quick and get through,” Rian announced over the sound of the metallic gears. Once the door opened completely another buzzer went and Rian quickly ushered the girls through the gate. The three girls found themselves standing in a very strange but familiar place, and Brooke was not sure what to make of it. To her surprise, the Exhibition looked no different than a normal city under the Republic. She had imagined Exhibitions to be dark and filthy, with large numbers of men fighting each other and running around like animals. But instead, it looked no different than her own neighbourhood. Brooke had a hundred questions but Rian must have sensed it, and had begun to answer.
“This here is the Exhibition,” Rian began, opening her arms in embrace. She remained in that position for several moments before turning to the group. “As you can see, it basically looks like any regular city block in the Republic, but first glances can be deceiving.” Rian eyed the girls one at a time as if waiting for one to figure out the mystery before them. Brooke examined her surroundings and several things began to stand out to her. The buildings were not the normal design you see on Republic blocks, but were in fact much smaller. The tallest one Brooke could see had only two floors. They were bricked, but on each side of the building was a large glass window. The streets were also much narrower, they probably could not fit an automobile down one, Brooke thought. She decided to try to luck at the riddle Rian had posed.
“It looks like a miniature model. Everything is smaller in scale.”
Rian turned to Brooke and gave her a small smile and nodded in agreement. She pointed to one of the closest two story buildings and began to explain.
“All these buildings around you have been built by the male population with the limited supplies given to them. They must follow a strict building code at all times as the guards will often call a lock down and inspect the buildings if we suspect something foul.”
“What do you mean by something foul?” Cali had asked from the back. Cali and Sara had been fairly quiet since arriving. In fact as soon as they had met Rian, the two girls had fallen into silence. Although they had only been on site for a few minutes, it had been eerily quiet. Brooke guessed it must just be a natural reaction that in the presence of silence you do not want to the one making noise.
“Good question,” Rian answered. She began to walk towards one of the larger buildings and ushered the group after her. The girls quickly followed behind her. As they passed some of the buildings, Brooke glanced into the windows and noticed that each building had its own speciality. One was a grocery, a coffee shop, a clothing store and one even contained electronics like televisions and radios. This struck Brooke as a bit odd given how the male population was without freedom and lived under constant surveillance.
“You may notice that some of these buildings sell materials widely used in the Republic,” Rian explained as she kept moving down the street. She pointed out several buildings along the street. “You might not believe it but that building there is a bank, and that’s a bookstore. Here in the Exhibition the men live fairly normal lives. They have jobs, recreation and can even read and educate themselves if they wish to do so.”
Rian stopped and turned to the girls. “However there are strict rules and if they are broken, punishments are not lenient.” Brooke and the girls found themselves standing in front of a red two story building. Rian walked up to the window and turned her back to it.
“I was mentioning the building code, do you remember?” The girls all nodded. “The main reason that code exists is to help our surveillance crew who watch the population day in and night out.” Rian took a step away from the window and encouraged the girls to take a look. The girls stepped forward and Brooke peered in through the glass. The room was full of sleeping men. They were sleeping side by side in independent beds with a small dresser and lamp beside each. The inside reminded Brooke of a military barrack with a single door leading in and out of the room. Brooke had rarely seen a fully grown man before so the sight of so many came as quite a shock. Rian’s voice cut into the night.
“Since the male population remains fully grown there is always the danger of revolts and uprisings. These windows ensure that private meetings cannot occur without our guards knowing of them whether through the close circuit monitors or through traditional visual confirmation.” Brooke took her eyes from the room of men and listened to Rian.
“It’s a new security idea. Some past incidents began because the men had learned that each room had been wired for audio and visual monitoring so they began to pass written notes as a form of communication, but they serve another purpose as well.” Rian joined the girls at the window and looked in herself. “Whether they are tired or not, the population must have lights out after 21:00 or face the shrinking punishment. These windows, along with the curfew help keep the population in order. It constantly reminds them that as long as they behave they’ll be fine, but step out of the line and there are no second chances.” Rian left the glass and walked behind the girls. The entire time Rian had been speaking, Sara and Cali had not taken their faces from the window. Rian walked to the center of the street and pointed over her shoulders with both thumbs.
“That large wall you saw as were approaching runs around the entire circumference of the Exhibition. You may have noticed the watch towers and spot lights? They are positioned every few metres and they cover every inch of ground. The reason why the buildings are no more than two floors is to ensure that there are no blind spots for guards or lights. This is so we can break up any suspicious activity before it gets momentum.” As soon as Rian had finished speaking, the small radio clipped over her breast pocket began to crackle. Rian excused herself with a wave to the girls and reached for the radio.
“This is Officer Rian 692, go ahead.”
Although Rian remained separated from the group, Brooke could clearly hear what was being said. The three girls exchanged glances as they all heard the news.
“Be advised that we have four runners, last spotted headed towards your sector.” The voice had reported. “They are unarmed but are of red class, over.”
“Copy that, Tower.” Rian confirmed and turned back to the group, placing her radio back on her uniform.
“What was that about?” Sara asked.
Rian assured them with a smile. “Four males have just broken curfew and they’re not that far from here. Nothing to worry about, it happens quite often. It becomes almost fun for us because they think if we don’t catch them immediately then they have a hope.” The confidence in Rian’s voice cut through the tension and put an end to any nervousness they may have felt.
“What does ‘red class’ mean?” Cali asked. The group had begun to move down the street again, heading deeper into the Exhibition. Brooke looked around and noticed that some of the search lights had been turned on and were scanning the nearby blocks. She could also make out various figures running about on top of the wall. They all wore the same uniform as Rian; one of them must have been the one who called her on the radio.
“When men are first brought here we take all their information. Blood type, finger prints, dimensions and enter them into a database. Based on personality tests we classify them into three different colour categories: green, blue and red,” Rian answered. “The colour corresponds with the subject’s personality. Green means they are likely to behave with little or no trouble. A blue class tells us that moderate supervision is necessary, while red shows they are mose likely to cause trouble.”
“So these four who have escaped are considered dangerous?” Cali followed up her question. Hearing Rian’s answer seemed to have made her a bit more nervous, her voice sounded worried. Rian raised a hand to reassure again.
“Don’t worry; it’s no coincidence that they also have the lowest intelligence. All attempts at escape have been made by men in the red class. Everyone else is too smart to even try such a thing...”
Brooke had barely enough time to react. She saw it coming from the corner of her eye and just managed to escape its path. When it hit the ground it exploded into a thousand shards. Small crystals bounced along the ground, some embedding themselves into Brooke’s legs and feet. She did not scream nor notice any pain but Sara and Cali jumped and hugged each other in fright. A second bottle flew through the air but landed too far away be a threat. Brooke had no idea what was happening, but heard Rian on her radio in that calm and confident voice.
“Have visual, objects thrown from alley in sector 5D, sector 5D.”
At her command all the search lights in the area converged on the alley where the bottles had come from. The dark corridor was suddenly illuminated a milky white. Brooke could not see the culprits, only trash cans and random boxes instead. Rian ran over to Brooke and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“I’m ok,” Brooke responded by reading the look on Rian’s face. She inspected her legs where the glass had hit, some had punctured the skin but there was not much bleeding.
“RUNNERS! OUT NOW!” A large booming voice cut through the air which startled the girls. It had come from the nearest guard tower; Brooke could see a guard holding microphone. The guard repeated the command.
“RUNNERS! OUT NOW! WE HAVE YOU LOCKED!”
Brooke noticed the voice was being generated from a large loudspeaker perched on a pole just a few feet away. Rian left Brooke’s side, quickly examined Sara and Cali and then walked and stood in front of the alley entrance. Her posture was imposing, her hands on her hips and her feet shoulder width apart, but it was her face which told it all. It was determined and focused, with just the right dose of anger. Rian’s voice bellowed into the alley, it was far louder than Brooke could have imagined and sent a shiver up her spine.
“Hands and knees, out of the alley, now!” Rian shouted. It had an effect, Brooke could see movement behind the trash cans and slowly male figures began to emerge. The reports had been correct; four males began to crawl out of the alley on hands and knees with their faces down to the ground. Brooke stood and took a step forward just behind Rian’s shoulder. She turned and nodded to Brooke, telling her it was fine but not to get any closer. Brooke looked at the men coming from the alley. As they crawled along the ground, Brooke felt empowered. Like the Sirens from the Odyssey they were helplessly being drawn towards her and their fates were sealed. They looked completely defeated. She could tell by the look in their eyes that they knew they were doomed. They had broken the most extreme law under the Republic: they had assaulted a group of women without provocation. They would be quickly arrested and put under the shrinking device where their fates would rest with their female owners. When they were just several feet from Brooke, Rian ordered them to stand and put their hands on their heads. The men obeyed without hesitation. When they stood, Brooke was quite surprised at their height and build. They were easily a foot or two taller than any of the girls and far more physically imposing. Their shoulders were higher and wider and their bodies more muscular. This struck Brooke as sort of ironic; they were physically more powerful, but were the weakest sex on the planet. Their brawn counted for absolutely nothing.