She missed her long silky hair during the hours of work, the veil worn around her head was too warm and too itchy. The regulations regarding gender identification protection were quite binding for women. Her long robe was made to hide the gentle curves of her hips and disguise any other area the could be defined womanly. Not that the robes made for men were any better, the heat would get to anyone wearing the similar heavy grey cloth that concealed the discriminating portions of themselves. A gender neutrality veil was worn over the face, wrapping around nose to chin and another hung just above the eyes.

It hadn’t always been like this, she recalled the stories of her grandmother. Ones that entailed girls with made up faces and free-flowing hair and men in slimming suits and unshaven faces. This was a time when gender was allowed. Now, beside in the privacy of ones own home and public meeting halls, gender was supposed to remain obscured.

“Conrad?” A quiet voice asked

“Conrad?!” This time it came in as a sharp raised voice. She lifted her head from her hand and moved her gaze from her computer screen to find her boss standing at the opening of her cubicle. James was tall and slender like a stick, there was no hiding that even with the robes.

“It’s time for the meeting. The new employees are being inducted, that means everyone has to be there.” James said crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. It took Conrad almost a whole month to place James’ gender. Gender was never to be discussed in the workplace, but there was no stopping the curiosity. James’ height and deep voice was what threw her off the female trail in the beginning, but her hands were unmistakably feminine. The logical conclusion was that James was a woman. Only last names were used at work, first names made gender identification too easy.

Throughout the years of humanity, man learned to see past each others differences. Whether it was skin color, language, or even race, but gender was too invasive to look past. So world leaders made sure there was nothing left to look at. It was 2098 discrimination was supposedly extinct. Without the bothersome distraction of attraction there was nothing left to focus on at work besides your work.

“Sorry, I’ll come now.” Conrads words tasted bitter like coffee. Inspite of the hatred she felt for her boss, she managed a fake apologetic smile. Satisfied, James walked away to the board room, where the newest employees of the company had gathered. Peering through the windowed wall of the conference room, she could see them sitting in a line of chairs. They all looked the same, one grey blob after another. She stood up from her chair, hoping that this meeting would end quickly, time during meetings seemed to disappear from existence.

Conrad entered the room and sat in her specifically designated chair. It had become mostly impossible to tell everyone apart. The new looked just the same as the old.

“This morning we’ll be watching the introductory video to anti-corporate discrimination.” James announced as she clapped her hands together, shutting off the lights.
Conrad had seen it countless times, normally it only irritated her mildly as she tuned it out, but this time it only reminded her of the loneliness that her child would grow up in. The world around her would never know her daughters beautiful face, and the warmth her smile brought to her heart . Tears welled up in Conrad’s eyes, for eight years she had been surrounded by strangers. She remembered the warmth she felt in the company of family and loved ones, their familiar faces worn with smiles and bright eyes. Work brought an unwelcoming emptiness, everyone was just the same. There was no warmth here, only strange blank eyes staring at one another. Sometimes she wondered that if the equality women sought for was worth it, even thinking she would be happy to make twenty-five cent an hour less if it just meant she could recognize her coworkers faces. This didn’t feel like equality, it just felt lonely.