Introductions

Bill lined up in a large brightly lit room with five other men. The room was a large rectangular room with sparsely placed ceiling lights and candles lining the walls, presumably to contribute to the ambiance of the moment. Half of the men in that room were guaranteed the chance to mate that evening and any subsequent evenings until the three women involved were confirmed to be pregnant. This still meant that half of the men would walk away with nothing more than the memory of meeting a real woman. The men who were not chosen would not even be guaranteed another chance of mating in their lifetime. As a result there was a clear tension in the air as the men looked to one another in hopes of determining the likelihood that they would be chosen. They had all gone through extensive screening at this point from genetic screenings to a physical assessment to mental and emotional testing. It would appear that the men in this room represented some of the best that mankind had to offer. They had beat out many hopefuls just to be in this room, but from this point forward everything rested on their ability to impress three women. Looking at his competition he was glad to see that he was correct in assuming that they would choose to appeal to the second of the three females. Each of the five other men brought with them either a bouquet of flowers or a small piece of jewelry each containing a sapphire. They each had on their best suit and wore a musky cologne. That is except for the gentleman farthest to the right of the group whose attire was much more casual as he opted for a pair of jeans and a button up shirt. He also didn't seem to be wearing any particular scent and brought a box of chocolates instead of flowers or jewelry. All of the men noted this oddity, but Bill suspected that it was the man in question's way of attempting to stand out from the crowd. In truth there was a good chance that this choice would have the desired effect. As the mens' attention turned to Bill an audible scoff could be heard. Most who looked would assume that he wasn't taking this opportunity seriously in the slightest. He was wearing the same kind of clothing he would wear on a daily basis and instead of a gift to appeal to the sensibilities of the females he brought with him a cherished book. It wasn't so much that he didn't care to impress the females, but rather that he was hoping to see a particular type of female there and the kind of female  he hoped to see most would appreciate the honesty in presenting himself far more than any ornamentation that the other men had adorned themselves with. At least this was his hope.

As the men sized each other up, the women watched this interaction from another room. Each of the three girls studied their prospective mates' interaction carefully and silently.  To this point they had not been given much choice in anything involving who they were to mate with. They could request a specific male if they had a name, but there was never any guarantee that their desires would be taken seriously before this point. Of the six men in the other room they would each have to pick one, but so long as they picked the man of their choice would be their next mate.  This was the only choice they were given, and as such they took great care in making this choice as they were all very well aware that the choice at hand was not only the man they would have to deal with but also the man who would raise the children born of their union. Women were never permitted to raise their own children as doing so would make it more difficult to guarantee future success in mating. It was a sad reality, but one that greatly informed the choice that they had to make. They watched carefully hoping to catch a glimpse of the men's true personalities and taking in the subtle mannerisms of each man. They all appeared to be men in their early to mid thirties and while most chose to present themselves in very similar manners their individual appearances varied greatly as did the way they carried themselves. Upon close inspection the girls were fairly convinced that they could discern distinct differences between them. They all agreed that the man in the blue suit in the middle of the group was a troublesome man who had a somewhat conniving personality. The slights he made towards the other men showed an arrogance that none of the girls found appealing. The man to the far right seemed to hold the most mystery and therefore appealed heavily to the eldest of the young women observing them. The others didn't stand out much; this in itself held a certain appeal. Elisabeth's heart leaped with joy when she saw that Bill was indeed there. Unlike the other girls who had quickly written him off as a boring prospect, Elisabeth studied his figure eagerly. She was pleased to see that he was very much as she had remembered him. He still had a mop of short black curls on his head. His emerald green eyes still had a deep focused gaze that drew her in. his attire was still the careless dress of a man who spent so much time focused on his work that he never even seemed to notice clothes beyond the need to wear them. He had strong masculine features that stood in contrast to his gentle personality. She also felt rather gleeful as she noted the book that he carried with him. It was a volume that she had read many times and was quite impressed with his choice.

Once the women were satisfied with their preliminary assessment of the candidates available to them they entered the room where the men were waiting. The air was thick, almost suffocating,  with anticipation as everyone's nerves reached their peak. Each of the nine people that were now in the room introduced themselves in turn. Now standing so close the differences between the men became more pronounced in the minds of the women, and it further cemented their opinions of the men in front of them. For the men, however, this was the first impression they had of the women in front of them and they watched carefully as they too thought about which woman they would most want to spend more time with. It wasn't an easy decision as the women of this day and age spent the entirety of their lives learning any and every possible way to be more appealing to the men of the world. The quality of their lives depended entirely on their ability to please the men around them, so this skill was one that was imperative to every woman. As it was, the three women in the room were brilliant examples of the standards that women were expected to uphold. In other times a woman who had given birth to four children would have shown a significant change in both personality and appearance due to the tiresome yet rewarding work that raising their children presented. In this time period however, a great deal of focus was put upon recovering from the birth and improving the mother's health so that she could be ready for the next breeding period. As a result women were able to present themselves as the picture of health and beauty in any situation in which they may be caught in the view of a judgmental gaze. Being surrounded by men in their day to day lives also gave them an opportunity to understand how best to carry themselves in hopes of receiving positive attention. In short anyone who looked too closely at this interaction may have found it difficult not to recognize the degree of showmanship and the fakeness that naturally accompanied these events. All would seem to have been going accordingly until the last and youngest of the women introduced herself. When Elisabeth looked out at the people around her a familiar lump formed in her throat as if she could physically choke on the ridiculousness of the situation. It was exactly the same as the last time, and she was certain it would always be the same, but as she thought this her focus fell upon Bill and for just a moment she didn't want to play the part she knew so well. Instead she found herself saying exactly what was on her mind. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Elisabeth Marsten, and I personally find all of these formalities to be quite dreary. Could we just take a moment to be real with ourselves? It's exhausting to alway have to pretend." as she said this a charming smile spread across her face, at least in Bill's eyes it was charming. To the other men, however, it felt as if she were criticizing them in some way. They believed her to be mocking them, none more so than the snake of a man in the middle who felt somehow as if he personally were being called out. Seeing as this was the man who had shown such ungentlemanlike behavior prior to their entering the room  Elisabeth had no intention of apologizing for his perceived slight, on the contrary she delighted in it.