Free Justin by Allyson James

than twenty years had passed, access had been granted to those with the right clearance. A Patroller First Class, the highest level of the uniformed patrollers, had the right clearance.
    Deanna went through the records, reading every word.
    The notes on Justin indicated he hadn’t given the researchers at DNAmo too much trouble. He’d stoically taken the researchers’ experiments every day, experiments that had involved a lot of sex.
    The first mention of any trouble was about a worker called K-48.
    K -designated workers, colloquially referred to as “guinea pigs,” were women hired by DNAmo to participate in sex experiments with the Shareem. The experiments were designed to find out what Shareem would do and how much they could be controlled under certain sets of circumstances—basically discovering what a level one would do, how far a level two would go, how rough a level three might get before his programming stopped him.
    Justin performed as a perfect level two, the notes said, but his behavior toward K-48 was troubling.
    Justin and K-48 talk to each other during the experiments, but we can’t hear what they say. When asked what he is telling her, Justin refuses to answer, even when he is punished. We have no means of compelling K-48 to speak because of the privacy clause in her contract.
    A later note said: K-48 and the subject Justin were confined alone together for a seven-day period. During that time, Justin used every method he’d been taught on her and never seemed to run out of stamina. He let K-48 rest when she needed to, but he has a most unusual ability to work continuously.
    More entries about Justin’s progress, much of it in medical-speak, with no mention of K-48, followed. Finally Deanna found another reference.
    Justin’s obsession with K-48 has reached an alarming level. He refused to participate in the day’s experiments and demanded to know where she was and what happened to her. When told we couldn’t convey that information, he turned violent and had to be confined.
    The director agreed we could bring back K-48 to see what effect it had on him. K-48 appeared to be quite pleased to see Justin, and when left alone, they held on to each other for a long time. We became aware then that they were speaking rapidly, but we couldn’t hear what was said, and we removed her.
    I and the director conclude that the Shareem has formed an attachment to K-48. Because Shareem are to be programmed to form no attachments to their clients whatsoever, recommend immediate transfer of K-48 to another section.
    A final note on K-48 said, The Shareem Justin reacted violently when he was told that K-48 had been transferred and he’d not be allowed to see her again. He demanded assurances that she was all right and not harmed. Even after we gave him that, he was surly and uncooperative and had to be injected to calm him down.
    End of references to K-48. Apparently, Justin had gone back to being a compliant Shareem—either that or the researchers hadn’t bothered bother to record any more of his reaction to the absence of K-48.
    A few weeks later, Justin was sold to an off-world woman, packed up, and transported to Sirius, never to be seen on Bor Narga until a month ago.
    What about K-48? Deanna skimmed through the database until she found her.
    Her records had been sealed for privacy, but again, Deanna’s clearance and the requisite time having passed opened them.
    K-48’s image popped up on Deanna’s holoscreen. A pretty young woman, sturdy of build, typical of the lower-class women of Pas City.
    Her records contained a statement from her that she’d signed up for the program because of the high payment offered. She’d been paired only with Justin for the experiments, because she’d requested that she not be put with more than one Shareem at a time.
    No details about the experiments were listed in her records, but a note said she’d been transferred to the level-one section the morning after the suggestion