There was dreadful gurgle from Blair's tubes in the moment after Zaela spoke. Blair rotated backwards and piloted toward a tall pile of books in the corner.
"Come here," wheezed Blair's mechanical voice.
Zaela cautiously followed the wheelchair to the corner. Blair's emaciated hand lifted slightly, pointing to the middle of the stack.
"There," was all Blair said.
The book pile threatened to fall over when Zaela pulled the book from the middle of the pile. A curious stare fell over Zaela's face as she read the cover. Then as she paged through the book, her face erupted as if a warm light had been shone on it.
Before Gabby could see what the book was, Zaela shoved it into her backpack.
"Thank you, Blair."
To Gabby's surprise, Zaela leaned down and gave Blair a hug.
The two girls returned to the FunCar in silence. Neither felt like playing any games on the way home. Gabby tried to muster the energy to look at the precious books that Blair had given her, but instead stared outside the bubble window.
Beneath the onslaught of advertisements, flooding down the street or flashing past the bubble, Gabby noticed that the leaves on the trees were turning bright colors. She'd forgotten that it was autumn, as she'd been so busy trying to get herself and Zaela into Blizzard University.
Halfway back, she remembered that her parents were waiting at home, probably preparing to give up her personal information. She tried to think of an argument to sway them, but her growing frustration stymied any thoughts.
When the FunCar stopped at Gabby's house, Zaela gave her a hug before she went in. Gabby walked up her manicured lawn as slowly as possible and stopped when her foot hit the front porch.
She glanced back at the FunCar speeding away from her house, and then remembered that she hadn't checked her LifeScore in hours. She couldn't recall a time that'd she'd gone that long without looking at it.
Her LifeScore waited at the periphery of her vision as a dull gray number indicating no change in the last few hours. Normally it was a healthy green.
Gabby was about to check and see how she ranked versus the rest of her class, when the front door opened.
Standing just inside, still wearing his business skin, her father uncrossed his arms and walked inside, clearly indicating that she should follow.
Already her hands had begun to shake again and her face had numbed. Her father had put a major debuff on her. Gabby took a deep breath and went inside.
###
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Also by Thomas K. Carpenter
THE DIGITAL SEA TRILOGY
The Digital Sea
The Godhead Machine
Neochrome Aurora
GAMERS TRILOGY
GAMERS
FRAGS
CODERS
ALEXANDRIAN SAGA
Fires of Alexandria
Heirs of Alexandria
Legacy of Alexandria
Warmachines of Alexandria
Empire of Alexandria
Voyage of Alexandria
Goddess of Alexandria
HERON OF ALEXANDRIA SHORT STORIES
The Price of Numbers
The Weight of Gold
The Blood of the Gods
The Virtues of Madness
The Curse of the Gorgon
MIRROR SHARDS ANTHOLOGY
Mirror Shards: Volume One
Mirror Shards: Volume Two
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Thomas K. Carpenter resides near St. Louis with his wife Rachel and their two children. When he’s not busy writing his next book, he’s playing soccer in the yard with his kids or getting beat by his wife at cards. He keeps a regular blog at http://www.thomaskcarpenter.com and can be found on twitter under @thomaskcarpente
Other works by this author can be found at:
Black Moon Books Publishing - http://www.blackmoonbooks.com
To learn about new releases from Thomas K. Carpenter, like his Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/thomaskcarpenter
Dead Man's Resolution Page 6