[ WP ] A law has been set in place , stating very clearly that all forms of affection have been banned . Efficiency and productivity rise , but it feels like there 's something missing ...

She'A squirmed in the darkness, and I listened from the bunk beneath her. The Overseer quarters was deathly quiet save for the soft shwish of her sheets as she turned and moaned. I used my bedspread as a sort of mouthgag to stifle my giggles. From up above she mumbled abominable things like *dont make me blush* and *I love you. * 
 
 Who was it this time, I wondered? Some muscly loadhauler from Section II, or perhaps that fabio-esque inventory manager with the calf tattoo of a centaur. 
 For a brief moment I tasted fabric softener and my mind slipped into the realm of forbidden fantasy. Maybe even, I mean, perhaps it could possibly be me? Maybe the two of us were frolicking in her ephemeral dreamscape right at this very moment? And I was leaning forward to place a daisy in her beautiful chestnut -- 
 
 Bah! I pinched the bridge of my nose real tight. I slapped my cheeks a few times. *Contamination. Contamination. * 
 
 I leaned over to the monitor beside my bed to administer the SleepAgent before I could incriminate myself. She'A counted on me to keep her secret safe, and I could n't let her down. It would mean the end of the Order as we know it. The end of humanity. More importantly, it would also mean I would no longer sleep in the bunk beneath her. 
 
 In the morning, we avoided eye contact per standard procedure. Outside, the Agrarians filed by in their cultivation suits. We prodded them every so often with our shockers to ensure they maintained the proper distance. 
 
 The artificial sun dialed up a true cooker. It always did during tilling season. I was convinced the Temp Augers made adjustments in order to break the low-workers. It kept them pliable until harvest. I mean, our overseer uniforms felt like saunas, so I could n't imagine what the poor saps in their dreadfully overbearing cultivation suits- 
 
 Shit. 
 
 I meant fellow unaffectionate humans. 
 
 I could n't imagine what those fellow unaffectionate humans felt like in their culti-suits. But it did n't matter. 
 I did n't care. It was of no consequence. 
 
 We plodded along as the Agrarians planted lines of snap peas and strawberries. I zapped a man who leaned too close to his neighbor as he dabbed the sweat from his eyes. 
 She'A stood white-faced behind me. 
 
 `` That's him,'' she hissed. 
 
 My eyebrows raised. 
 
 He was a scrawny lad. I could have taken him, shocker be damned. He was so frail I could have beat the ever living shit out of him with a hand tied behind my back. He had this shabby black scruff accentuating his jawline. But I mean other than that... 
 This was the guy? 
 
 I turned to give She'A this look that said `` are you serious?'' but, by god, she was reaching out a chill-cool thermos. She was offering the man a drink! 
 Scrawny-lad noticed the offering and an awkward moment followed. I watched his eyes crawl up her figure. They locked eyes and I knew. Something back there buried behind his pupils gave it away. 
 
 The bastard saw her in his dreams too. 
 
 I pounced. I mean, like one of those out-of-body moments where your mind is all tipsy, staggering a few minutes behind, but your body is running forward full speed. I was raining hellfire on Scrawny-lad's face with the shocker and She'A was shrieking, pulling at my arms. 
 
 `` Affectionate eye contact!!'' I announced. 
 
 The other Overseers turned. 
 
 She'A let out this predatory yelp and scratched at my face. Then she jabbed her shocker right in my neck, and I felt her betrayal shock me down to my gut. 
 I spasmed and let the bastard slip away. Dirt filled my mouth as I twitched in the tilled soil. Shouts bellowed, and I heard an alarm sound. 
 From the corner of my eye I saw She'A pulling Scrawny-lad's hand at a full sprint. He was still gaping at her chestnut curls, and the sight made something painful blossom in my throat. 
 
 *Waaa! Waaa! * the red alarm screeched. 
 
 All the Agrarians stood motionless with their arms at their sides. And I lay motionless too. My eyes welled. 
 
 As She'A grew smaller, I felt the contamination spread out from the lump in my throat.
