By Little Kitetail
Copyright 2023 by Little Kitetail all rights reserved
* * * * *Tales of Eudoria: The Advancement Counselor
Summary:
In the world of Averia, growing up requires a permit. In the region of
Eudoria, only girls are allowed to reach full adulthood. Ms. Richards
is tasked with helping both boys and girls navigate the system.
This
is the first entry in the Tales of Eudoria anthology. This story will
be less kinky than the others. However, I suggest you read it first as
it provides important background information on the nature of the world
in which the stories take place. Feel free to email me with any
questions, comments, or suggestions. I hope you enjoy it.
It
was a normal day in my job as an advancement counselor. There was a
little girl sitting in front of my desk with her hands on her knees.
Her eyes darted around the room, anxious to here what I had to say. I
smiled at her. Giving good news was one of the best parts of the job.
“Your application was accepted,” I informed her, “You’re going to be a physio 9.”
Emily’s face lit up like a camera flash. She gasped, as if scarcely
able to believe it. “Yes! Finally!” she exclaimed, jumping up into the
air in triumph. Her enthusiasm was understandable. The poor girl had
been stuck in the third grade for 3 years.
“Next time I see
you, you might be this tall,” I said playfully, holding my hand above
her head. “I’ve already spoken to Mrs. Thatcher. She’s willing you
accept you into her fourth grade class after you’ve undergone the
advancement procedure. I told her you need extra help in math. I’m also
going to give you a reading list over the summer to improve your
language skills. If you keep up the good work, you might catch up with
your friends soon.”
“I hope I can be a physio adult like you
some day,” Emily said shyly. Once you were physio 20, you were
considered a physio adult and given all the rights and privileges that
society had to offer. The advancement tests to advance become more and
more difficult with each level, so making it to 20 was quite an
accomplishment. After 20, there weren’t any more tests and advancement
was just a matter of personal preference. I was physio 26 personally.
“It might take a very long time, but I think you can achieve that goal,
Emily,” I said. I pushed a folder full of forms across the table to
her. “Here’s your signed permit to advance to physio 9, as well as some
educational material to help you live as a physio 9 and further your
advancement. Look it over when you have the chance.”
“You’re
going to need to take that form to the advancement center,” I
explained. Emily probably already knew how advancement worked. However,
I was required to repeat the instructions every time. Low physio age
minds did not retain information very well, especially over the long
term. As a physio 8, Emily would probably have no trouble remembering
when she advanced from physio 7 three years ago, but it was better to
be safe than sorry. I explained to her how she would enter the
advancement pod, and for one brief moment she’d remember everything
that she experienced in her entire chrono life and decide on the most
important parts to retain as her mind and body advanced to physio 9.
It was a funny thing to refer to physio “age.” It really had nothing to
do with the number of years they’d been around, a count which we called
the chrono age. It was one of a handful of surviving relics from the
time when physio and chrono age tended to change in sync with each
other.
Emily was so excited that she practically sprinted out
the door, nearly running into the boy that was standing outside,
waiting for his turn. “Sorry, miss!” he shouted after her, catching the
wall to support himself.
The boy’s name was Taffy. That was a
pretty typical Eudorian boy’s name. We liked to give our boys names
that reflected the sweetness and joy they brought into our lives. I
knew the conversation with him would be very different than the one I
had just had with Emily. Here in Eudoria, the job of an advancement
counselor was different for boys than it was for girls, but it was
equally rewarding in its own way.
As soon as Taffy took his
seat on the little chair I crouched down, resting my hand between his
legs. “Come on, sweetie. Why don’t you come and sit on my lap while we
do this?” I could tell he wasn’t a big fan of the idea, but he knew
better than to complain. He dragged his feet over to my big office
chair and sat on my thigh as we went over his paperwork. Taffy’s
application to advance from physio 7 to physio 8 had been rejected, as
expected.
“It’s not fair,” he pouted as I stroked his hair,
“All the girls in my class got accepted, and none of the boys did.
They’re all going to be bigger than us when school starts again.”
“I’m sure the girls in your class worked very hard for their
advancements,” I explained. Patience was often a must when dealing with
boys. “And I’m sure you boys didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that
in Eudoria…”
Taffy sighed. “I know. Girls are in charge here.
Boys aren’t allowed to advance past physio 12. But that doesn’t explain
why I can’t advance to 8.”
I nodded sympathetically. I had
this conversation all the time, often with the same boys over and over
again. “That’s right. Eudoria is a special place put aside for us women
to be in charge. The first settlers came from a place where men were
very mean to women, so they wanted to make a place for women to be in
charge. It was decided that men wouldn’t be allowed. But then they
decided to allow some little boys like you to live here, because you
were cute and fun to play with and too little to try to take control,”
I confirmed, “You are right that boys can legally advance to physio 12,
but only if we need you to. Some Eudorian girls like bigger boys, but
most of us are fine with you being little. We just don’t need very many
big boys, and we already have enough.”
I gave Taffy a little
kiss on the forehead, hoping to cheer him up. “You should be glad you
got to advance to physio 7. Some boys aren’t even allowed out of baby
ages. But if you’re really unhappy here, you can leave.”
Taffy looked up at me blinked in surprise. “But… Ms. Sally said I’d get locked up in jail if I tried to escape.”
I grimaced. Far be it from me to judge how other women had fun with
their boys. I knew first hand how adorable these little creatures are
when they’re distressed, and teasing or pranking them was good,
wholesome fun. But the thought that some boys might be here against
their will took some of the fun out of that. I took my duties as a
counselor seriously and one of them was ensuring that the kids I
counseled knew their rights. Everyone had the right to leave, at least
in theory. Unfortunately, low physio kids are not that bright and it’s
easy to confuse them into thinking otherwise.
“It’s true that
boys don’t have many rights or freedoms in Eudoria,” I explained not
for the first time to Taffy, “But you do have the right to leave. We’d
even help you find a new place to settle and assign you new caretakers
if necessary. Eudoria is a wonderful place to live, but there are many
nice places elsewhere in Averia where boys and girls are treated the
same, and even some where boys have more power than girls. But before
you decide to do that, there are some things you need to understand.”
Taffy nodded and waited for me to continue. I could see the gears
turning in his little head as he pondered the new possibility he was
not aware of. I put my hand on his back as I continued.
“First, you’re very behind on pretty much all your academics. Even
outside of Eudoria, they won’t let you advance to physio 8 until you
improve your math, science, history, reading writing… you’ll have to
work very hard. They might even make you regress to physio 5 to catch
up.”
“But… only girls need to study things like that to
advance,” Taffy retorted, confused, “Boys don’t need to learn those
things unless they want to.”
“What you say is true in Eudoria.
We teach girls academics so they can grow up to be good citizens and
leaders. As a boy, you will never grow up unless you leave, so you only
need to learn to follow the rules and do what you’re told.” I
explained. To be honest, there were times when I envied the lifestyle
that boys like Taffy lived. They never had to deal with the burden of
high expectations. “But if you decide to leave and go somewhere else…
somewhere where boys are allowed to grow up and have freedom, you’ll
have to learn to be responsible just like the girls do here. There are
many different places with different rules in Averia, but they all have
that in common. The people who have power have to be mature and
responsible.”
That seemed to give Taffy pause for thought.
“That would be so much work” he whined, “I don’t wanna have to go back
to physio 5… and I don’t want to leave my friends behind either.”
“If you ask me, think it would be better for you to keep living in
Eudoria and learn to be happy being little forever. But ultimately it’s
your choice. Why don’t you go home and take some time to think about
it,” I told him, patting the little boy gently on the head. “They say
it’s going to snow tonight. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking
forward to building a snow-caterpillar tomorrow.”
Taffy cocked his head, confused. “You build snow-caterpillars too?”
I giggled lightly. “Of course. Do you know who taught me how?”
Taffy shook his head.
“You did. Back when I was a little physio 6 and we went to the same
school. We played together all the time at recess. It was so much fun!”
I smiled, recalling the happy memories. I didn’t expect Taffy to
remember. It was very unlikely a physio 7 mind could hold on to a
memory from so long ago.
Taffy’s eyes widened in surprise. “Ms. Richards?” he asked, hesitantly.
“Yes, Taffy?” I replied.
“What’s my chrono age?”
I pulled out his file and took a look. My own eyes widened in surprise. Taffy had been in the second grade for a LONG time.