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_Transcript #4397649

Event: Symposium to Litigate and Resolve the Penitent Transformation Project

Lecture: Virtan, Chief Medical Biologist, Governmental Institute for Biological Sciences

Topic: Biological Underpinnings of Relevant Drives; Their Impact on Current Resolution Procedures_

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Good afternoon. I am here, as a representative of the Institute for Biological Sciences, to brief you, the council in charge of deciding how to resolve the situation surrounding the Red Ones. This is to ensure that you are fully aware of the scope of the issue we are dealing with, and the consequences of handling it in various ways.

To do so, it is necessary to ensure that you are also fully aware of the precise nature of the drives that we are concerned with managing in order to preserve our social structure. I admit that I am far more accustomed to speaking with fellow academics, and rarely in front of so important a gathering, but I will do my best to present the necessary information in as plain a language as I am capable of.

As you know, there is a twinned set of drives that still play an important part at the core of our society: that of estrus in women, and an equivalent drive in men, one that is not as prominently named in general society, but is generally given the term "andrus" among the medical community.

I will only mention the female drive in passing, as it is peripheral to the drive whose control is the primary goal of this symposium. However, I do offer these points as a manner of providing contrast with the complications we face with andrus.

Estrus is a hormonal condition that is tied both to female sex drive and fertility, but a key difference to understand is that the hormones involved in the process are largely separated from those that drive other biological processes, and there is even differentiation between the ones which produce sexual readiness and willingness, and the ones which stimulate the actual ovulation. Specifically, they are characterized by increases in hormones that are normally at a low to undetectable level within the body, and as they are not normally released outside of a estrual cycle, their impact on the body is limited to the duration of estrus, either natural or artificial. With the advent of medical devices that can stimulate the glands that produce these specific hormones, their levels can be easily fluctuated, and with them the physiological presentation of estrus, without affecting the hormones that mediate other bodily processes. The ability to separate and manipulate these hormones is what allows us the current management by letting us create enough estrus-hours to handle the male-majority population: it enabled both the advent of the proprietors, who handle some of the load, and the Red Ones, which handle the considerable bulk of it.

However, it is important to note here that women's bodies are capable of going the vast majority of the time in the near-complete absence of those hormones. While it has been discovered that regular, even daily sessions of induced estrus do not appear to cause any lasting harm, so long as the hormone saturation levels are not allowed to exceed certain thresholds and the sessions are no longer than fifteen hours between breaks... in the opposite case, it would be feasible for those hormones to be cut off by regulators entirely, and a woman so affected could function completely normally. In fact, while naturally certain indicators would build up over time that would eventually enforce a period of estrus, with a regulator in place mitigating the hormonal flow, a woman could go without estrus indefinitely, with no known ill effects apart from the complete cessation of sexual desire.

It is crucial to understand this separation, as when it comes to the sexes, men and women are radically different with respect to their hormonal interactions. While the cycle of estrus, with current technology, can be ramped up and down at will, the situation for men is considerably more complicated. This, again, is due to the contrasting nature of the hormones: while those in women are almost wholly separate, the hormones that are involved in the male sex drive, specifically the andrus, are also used to mediate several other bodily functions: everything from the development and distribution of additional male muscle mass to the regulation of metabolism and core temperature.

Generally, the scientific consensus is that this differentiation came about early on in our species' biological history. Women had the competing priorities of survival to preserve the species in times when resources were scarce, and becoming rapidly fertile to procreate when they were plentiful, and their hormonal system seems to be a way of managing those competing priorities. As there was no sexual competition among women, the hormonal cycle was based around the needs of fertilization and birth, wholly separate from the survival baseline that was otherwise in place.

Men, on the other hand, generally had to compete for access to women's fertility, and so their drive was tied into their need to compete: it drove them towards competition and conflict, and braced their bodies to handle its rigors. In those primitive times, once the drive began, it would only be resolved in two ways: the competition and violence would escalate until the man fell in battle or otherwise took a lethal risk, or it was resolved by the mating process after the man's eventual victory and access to the fertile woman he was competing for. In the unlikely event that neither of those occurred, such as if one became entirely lost and separated from the group, the result would be largely the same as with a female who had come into estrus and was then unexpectedly isolated before its resolution: eventual hormonal toxicity. However, because that competition among men required their bodies to take on unpredictable and immediate stressors, their hormones tied far more closely into the crucial biological systems surrounding them, and in some ways, their andrus and their other functioning became inextricably linked.

This link is primarily why medical science has been unable to control andrus in the same way that it is able to control estrus: because the hormones are linked to so many different functions, merely regulating them or turning them off creates significant and often life-threatening side effects. In experiments surrounding hormonal control, men whose hormones were blocked experienced a precipitous drop in muscle mass, sudden bouts of both hyper- and hypothermia, irregular blood flow to the extremities, extreme lethargy, apathy and ataxia, and in some cases transitory paralysis and life-threatening near-stoppages of metabolism. To date, there has not been a successful experiment involving the the blocking of andrus hormones, or even one without experimental casualties.

Similarly, attempts to block the specific pathways involved in andrus have also been unsuccessful, in large part because these pathways are also shared by the sympathetic nervous system, which also mediates things like fear, adrenaline, and fight-or-flight responses. The best outcome of these experiments was a slight reduction of the andrus state, but at the cost of it being constantly active, and requiring constant resolution. Other experiments eliminated andrus completely, but with the side effect of complete catatonia.

Ultimately, the conclusion is this: the elimination of andrus in men, from a pragmatic standpoint, is impossible. The only feasible way to eliminate it is for them to undergo the transformation process and become female, causing the andrus hormones to become absent entirely; however, the forced imposition of such a program, and society's unwillingness to tolerate it, is why we are here today. Therefore, such a solution is not practicable, which means that we are stuck with the situation of a predominantly male population, all of whom are constantly in a state of either ramping up or relieving andrus.

As I mentioned before, in its primitive biological state, andrus was resolved simply: demise by combat, or resolution by mating with a woman. However, in modern society, such competition obviously cannot be condoned under our higher law and morality. Unfortunately, though, andrus drives men towards one of those two states: if they are not given access to women and natural resolution through mating, they will naturally gravitate towards violence against other men. If enough men enter that state, it creates a serious problem of civil unrest, and left unchecked could shatter the structures that hold our society together. Therefore, as andrus cannot be resolved by violence and combat, we are left with only one true option: ensuring that all men have access to sufficiently frequent mating opportunities to keep their andrus below that violent threshold.

This resolution is further complicated by the fact that the mere act of stimulation to orgasm is insufficient to ramp andrus back down. If it was, various artificial mechanisms could be constructed to provide that stimulation. However, the biological chain of events that provide this reduction of andrus depend on multiple sensory inputs that go beyond the orgasmic response. We know that some of them have to do with the pheromones emitted by a woman when being raked by penile spines, and others have to do with the sensations of direct, intimate contact, or the motions involved in grappling a woman in preparation for mating.

The problem, though, lies in the fact that there are some inputs that we have yet to identify, despite significant scientific research. Even when creating constructs that are designed to stimulate all known inputs, including realistic female forms, fur, and body warmth, realistic internal and animatronic responses, and a release of actual female pheromones prior to male orgasm, men mating with the constructs only experienced a reduction in andrus that was a small fraction of that created by mating with an actual woman, even one that results from transformation. Specifically, while a single mating with a woman keeps andrus at a controllable level for up to three days, mating with a construct only rolled back its comparable state by a single hour. Ultimately, with additional time and research, we may eventually discover all inputs involved in that mitigation chain, but even optimistically such a development is some years off - and in the interim, the only real mitigation we have is a sufficient amount of women, proprietors or otherwise, that men can mate with often enough to reset their intrinsic hormonal cycle.

As it stands right now, without any changes to the status quo, we do technically have a series of systems in place that do serve to keep andrus generally under control. There are a sufficient number of females in our society, with proprietors and Red Ones combined, to ensure that all men mate and reset on a regular enough level. Under this framework, the only common conflict occurs with men who are unable to afford the services of a proprietor regularly, but are uncomfortable with the use of Red Ones. This conflict, however, is naturally resolved by the hormonal escalation - eventually, the drive will become significantly strong that relief becomes imperative, and the nearest mating opportunity that presents itself, presumably a Red One, will result in a largely autonomic initiation of mating and the subsequent resetting of the male drive.

That being said, if the Red Ones are removed from the equation, there will be a considerable deficiency of available females - as stated, Red Ones currently perform the bulk of sexual encounters. In fact, without them, the situation could become mathematically impossible: even if the remaining proprietors were placed on the maximum safe duration of estrus, and mated constantly by a succession of males during that time period, they would be unable to handle the need. With the current population of proprietors alone, only approximately two-thirds of the male population could be minimally satisfied, and only if such extreme measures were taken; under normal working environments, it is unlikely that even half of the needs could be covered. While it is likely that at least some proportion of Red Ones could be pressed into proprietor service, considering what they have been through, it is unlikely that many will do so. This means that if we do end the Red Ones program, and take that female population effectively out of circulation, a significant portion of the male population can be expected to cross the threshold into societally unsafe levels of andrus within a week, and the proportion of the population so affected would likely only increase with each additional day without an adequate supply of available women.

I don't have specific projections as to how this would affect society at large, although I am certain that other presenters here will cover that topic in detail. I can, however, describe exactly what will happen, from a physiological and behavioral standpoint, when a male's andrus is not reset through mating. Being of a class that rarely has issues with access to available women, it is likely that most of you have not experienced this process - but for those few who have, I am sure you understand when I say it is an experience that can be overwhelming, far beyond someone's conscious control.

For the first couple of days after mating, andrus remains relatively stable, ramping up hormones in a slow, linear trajectory. This will increase the man's sex drive, of course, and will encourage him to seek additional contacts, but no adverse consequences accrue if no further contact is achieved.

It is beyond this threshold that the effects tend to increase. The ramp-up of hormones begins to take on less of a linear increase, and more of a logarithmic one, with the hormones affecting several different biological and neurological systems to varying degrees. Within the body, fat reserves begin to to be depleted and converted into fast-forming muscle mass, while in the brain, aggressive instincts are boosted while a separate pathway impairs areas that control some aspects of higher-order decision-making.

Within another day, impulse control starts to become impaired, while strength and aggression increase. Depending on the man, at some point in the next few days after that, he will begin to challenge other males around him and engage in other reckless and unsafe actions. So impaired, he will also attempt to mate with any sexually mature female than enters his line of sight, and can generally only be dissuaded from doing so by physical force. During this time, he will generally be able to function otherwise, but productivity will generally decline in an inverse curve consistent with the hormonal increase.

If andrus is left unchecked for over a week, a male will generally reach a tipping point where the hormonal load is sufficient for instincts to fully kick in, overriding most conscious decisions as higher-order cognition becomes significantly impaired. At this point, the affected male is generally unable to perform the functions of his job or generally function normally within society. He will continue to act aggressively and challenge other males in the vicinity; however, if there are also any females in the area, or even the scent of one, he will physically attack any other males in his line of sight, without any provocation, while searching for the female. If there is a female of any type present, and no one stops him, he will attempt to mate with her, and will use any level of force he is capable of to effect penetration. Doing so would reset the andrus and return him to a normal state, but if the Red Ones program is discontinued, this would also result in the likely illegal rape of a proprietor, and under the suggested penal code, execution for the man affected by andrus.

The implications are clear: if a man is unable to access frequent enough mating opportunities, he will be overtaken by andrus, with the likely result of several other males injured, possibly severely, at least one rape, and potentially one or more deaths, either by combat or execution. Given the potential shortage of available females, multiply this by a significant portion of the population without access to mating, and the potential for disaster is clear. Combined with the rapid time scale of these negative effects, and there is the very real possibility of at least a partial breakdown of social order within as little as a week of Red Ones no longer being available.

I am aware that a majority of the council is not in favor of the sort of solution I would suggest, and I do understand the political implications and pressures that are involved. However, from the standpoint of public health and social order, it is my considered recommendation that the Red Ones program not be discontinued en masse, but instead wound down slowly, with groups of penitents having their sentences commuted in waves, releasing Red Ones on a regular schedule while engaging in a concomitant ramp-up in proprietor conversions. Or, if it is necessary to commute all Red Ones at once, it should be delayed until at least a solid core of proprietors are recruited that can provide, at minimum, a baseline level of mating sufficient, if not to keep everyone satisfied, then at least enough to keep the population from crossing the andrus threshold into uncontrollable behavior. At an absolute minimum, if commutation must occur uniformly and immediately, regulations should be put into place preventing Red Ones from being converted back into males, and significant incentives should be provided to convince as many of them as possible to become proprietors rather than removing themselves from the pool of available sexual contacts.

As we have no other reasonable means for controlling andrus, having enough sexually available females is key to maintaining our society. I implore you in the strongest possible terms to ensure that whatever decision you make, that availability is somehow maintained. To do otherwise would entail surrendering the society we have built in spite of our baser instincts to conflict, anarchy and madness. Please do not let political necessity and public pressure drive you towards a decision that could have such disastrous consequences. If this means the suffering of some Red Ones must be extended, remember that they have still committed crimes, and that their sacrifice in the name of the public good would be a true demonstration of their penitence.

This concludes my official remarks. If there are any questions, please submit them now, or I will cede the remainder of my allotted time to my esteemed colleague from the Bureau of Behavior Graphs and Analytics.