The Academie

by Amy Joy

  “Yeah, do you know what they were going to do to us?” I moved toward Rupert.

  Ruby stopped me. “So what do we need to do?” she asked.

  “We just need to wake them up,” Rupert answered.

  “What? Poke them?” I asked.

  “It’s not that simple,” Matt replied. “They are in a drug-induced sleep. Dr. Rupert and I already stopped the drug. But they haven’t woken up yet.”

  “It must take a while to wear off,” Rupert interjected. “I’m sure that’s all it is.”

  “Who else is here?” Ruby asked. “Is it just you two?”

  “There are four others, patrolling the other floors. I volunteered for this one, to be here in case you two woke up. And Matt, well, he’s supposed to be asleep on a gurney in the isolation unit. I woke him up when the others went to sleep.”

  “I’ve been up for a few hours now,” Matt said.

  “Wait, how many floors are there?” Ruby asked.

  “Four,” Rupert said.

  “Better question: where the hell are we?” I asked.

  “You don’t know?” Rupert looked surprised.

  I looked at Ruby, who looked as lost as I was. We shook our heads.

  “You’re at The Academie.” He said it matter-of-factly, as if we should have figured it out long ago.

  “You mean this is our school? Our town?” If the people of this town knew this is what the renovations had actually entailed…that this is what their tax dollars had gone to…

  He nodded.

  I rubbed my head, thinking. “Okay, four floors. Are they all like this?” I gestured to the many bodies that filled the room.

  “Yes.”

  I looked at Matt. “So now what?”

  “They should wake up. I guess we wait.”

  “Dr. Rupert, we can’t get a visual on your room. Is everything okay up there?” The voice came through a walkie strapped to Rupert’s waist.

  “Yes, everything is fine. I’m working to fix the camera now.”

  “I disabled it shortly after Rupert woke me,” Matt said.

  “Luckily, there was no camera in his room,” Rupert explained, “since we usually have a person monitoring the isolation cases at all times. I, of course, was assigned to Matt.”

  “The camera was on the wall outside the room I was in, facing out.” Matt pointed across the room. “So I was able to get behind it and pull the plug.”

  “Perhaps we should wait in there now, in case anyone does happen to come up here?” Rupert suggested.

  “Then we won’t hear them as they wake,” Ruby said, gesturing to the students still sleeping around us.

  “Yeah, I’m not going anywhere,” I said. “I would really like my clothes though.”

  “Ah, yes. Well, that could be difficult. There is a clothing area, but it’s several stories down. Very risky.”

  “Okay. We wait for the others,” I said.

  “Won’t they be pleased when they wake up and find themselves half-naked?” Ruby’s voice was sarcastic.

  “Just as much as we love it, I’m sure.” I grabbed the torn sheet from Ruby’s bed and tore the remainder of it in half. “Here,” I said, handing her two. “At least we can try to leave here with a bit of dignity. I wrapped the sheet around me toga style, and Ruby followed my lead.

  Then I watched as Ruby walked back over to Stevie and stroked her hair. “Stevie, wake up.”

  “I doubt she can hear you,” Rupert said. “It’s a pretty strong sleeping agent. It has to be to keep people engaged in the system, but it’s even stronger to keep them out of it.”

  “So is The Academie program turned off now?” Ruby asked.

  He scratched his head uncomfortably. “Not technically.”

  “Then how do you know that when they wake up, they won’t just go back in?”

  “Well, I guess, we don’t,” he admitted.

  “You have to get that thing turned off,” Ruby demanded, leaving Stevie and moving toward Dr. Rupert.

  “Right.” He looked concerned.

  “Where are the controls?” I asked.

  “Downstairs.”

  “Do you know how to use them?”

  “I…think I do.”

  Not convincing.

  “I’ll go with you,” Matt said. “Together we should be able to figure it out.”

  “But—” I protested.

  “We’ll be careful,” Matt said.

  “I can’t just stand here,” I said to Ruby when they left.

  “Me either. Come on, help me with Stevie.”

  “What are you gonna do?”

  “Pull off the tapes.”

  “But what about—” I started to protest, but Ruby interjected.

  “If we pull the ones from her body, it can’t hurt her, right? Bryan said something about muscle contractors. That’s got to be all they are. And sensors probably, to allow us to feel things in the program. We’ll keep the ones on her head and let her pull them off when she wakes up.”

  “Should we leave the IV?”

  “I don’t know. I guess so, for now.”

  We began slowly pulling tapes from Stevie’s body, starting with her arms. We left those in the more intimate areas for her to remove herself.

  Her body felt warm. But unlike a person at rest, Stevie never stirred or turned. In fact, her breathing was so shallow that several times I put my hand by her face just to feel the air coming in and out and make sure she really was still with us.

  When we finished with Stevie, we looked around. “We may as well continue,” Ruby said.

  I agreed and we moved on to the next bed over. It was another young woman, but one that I didn’t recognize.

  “I think her name is Sara,” Ruby said. “She’s in my English class.”

  The next person down was a guy. “Sam.” I said. He was in Algebra with me. The one who answered the problem for me the day I passed out in class, I remembered.

  It felt strange to me, being in such intimate contact with people I hardly knew. I glanced at Ruby periodically, to see how she was doing. She seemed oddly comfortable, like it suited her. “Maybe you should be a doctor?” I said finally. “Dr. Ruby Stanford.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” She continued working with careful, considerate movements.

  When we finished the row we were on, we moved to the next.

  We were about halfway down the third row, when we heard movement.

  I glanced around the room, but the bodies lay still.

  That’s when we heard the footsteps.

  I ducked under the table and Ruby followed my lead.

  The door flew open.

  Several sets of footsteps followed—too many to be Matt and Dr. Rupert.

  The footsteps moved around the room.

  I looked frantically at Ruby, who held her finger to her mouth—a reminder to keep quiet that I didn’t require.

  The footsteps continued and from my place under the table I could see black shoes attached to black pants.

  “You can come out now girls,” a man’s voice said.

  I didn’t recognize it.

  Ruby and I stayed put.

  I watched the shoes move closer. There was nowhere for us to hide.

  “They’re over here,” the voice said.

  I looked up to see a man in uniform standing before us, and a gun pointed right at me.

  49. the arrest

  “Allie Thompson and Ruby Stanford, you are under arrest for failure to complete The Academie program, public disruption, and an attempt to encourage others to leave The Academie program before completion.”

  I felt sick. Then I thought of Bryan. Somewhere, this could be happening to him too at this very moment.

  Ruby began to stand, and I followed her lead.

  Then the door opened again.

  “It’s not their fault,” Dr. Rupert said. “It’s mine.

  The gun was still pointed at me, but the officer turned his head.

  “My research led me to e
thical dilemmas with the program,” Rupert explained, “and I helped the girls escape. And him too,” he said, motioning to Matt who was standing behind him. “The young people are innocent. It’s me you want to arrest.”

  Another man in a lab coat walked into the room. “Yes, well, before you arrest him, first I need Dr. Rupert’s assistance getting these students back into the program,” the man said. This one was shorter, younger—forties perhaps—with dark hair that he had to keep brushing from his eyes.

  “I’m not going back in there,” I said.

  “Then you will go to jail,” the officer by the door—who apparently was the head of this brigade—said.

  I considered the possibility.

  Then I heard movement from around me. The bodies on the tables were beginning to stir.

  “They’re waking up,” I said. “Lots of them.”

  “All of them,” Dr. Rupert said.

  The short lab man brushed the hair from his eyes. “Rupert, what have you done?”

  Rupert smiled. “It’s over Jones.”

  Metal squeaks and tired yawns came from around the room as students began to rouse and stir.

  “You can’t arrest us all,” I said defiantly.

  “Allie?” Stevie’s voice came from across the room.

  I moved to help her.

  “Don’t move, Thompson!” The officer still had his gun on me.

  “Shoot me,” I said.

  “I’m here, Stevie,” I said, hurrying to her side. “It’s okay.”

  I glanced back to see that the officer had lowered his gun. Ruby ran to join me at Stevie’s side.

  “Where am I?” Stevie looked bewildered, as expected.

  Ruby helped her pull off the wires taped to her hands and back. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “Where are we?” someone asked across the room.

  “What’s with the cops?” another asked.

  “What are these wires?” a girl started to freak and Ruby ran to calm her. Others began to wake and scream as panic spread through the room.

  “EVERYONE, LISTEN!” I yelled above the ruckus.

  “Allie,” Dr. Rupert interrupted. He looked at me intently. “Think about what you say.”

  I stood there for a moment, shocked by his response. I had expected to be stopped, but by the police, not by him.

  “Think about what they have been through,” Rupert said. “They had lunch and a nap. They have been dreaming.”

  To my right, Ruby continued to try to console the first panicked girl, but she seemed freaked beyond consolation. I began to catch on to what Rupert was suggesting. These students may not have brain damage from the system, but how we handle this now could determine whether or not they end up with emotional damage.

  “Because we were living in a closed environment,” I said loudly to my schoolmates—now thinking on my feet, “we all knew that a contagion was always a possibility.”

  “It’s the reason they gave us shots when we entered The Academie and when we had visitors,” Ruby said, helping out.

  “Yes,” I said, nodding to her, appreciative for the support. “But unfortunately, a virus was still able to get into the system. And it spread quickly.”

  Across the room, someone gasped.

  “It’s alright,” I said. “You have each been treated, which is why you are here. You are fine.”

  I hated having to lie, after being lied to for so long, but it seemed in their best interest. Is this how The Academie started?

  I looked to Dr. Rupert, and he nodded in agreement.

  “Now that you are well,” I added, “you will be sent home.”

  “Home?” a guy near me asked.

  “Yes.” I looked at the police officers, expecting them to stop me, but they said nothing, so I continued. “The Academie will need to be closed indefinitely while the contagion is purged from the system and safety protocols are put into place to assure that this does not happen again.”

  Ruby smiled.

  I felt good.

  “After you have removed the tapes and wires from your body—which you can do carefully now—and the IV from your hand, please be careful getting up.” The room became noisy as they began to sit up, and I struggled to raise my voice over the sound. “Your body will need a few minutes to re-establish its equilibrium, and your legs will need time to adjust as well.”

  “Once you are up, if you could carefully make your way to door,” Rupert added, “I will lead you to where you can find your clothes.”

  The lead officer glared at Rupert, but allowed him to proceed.

  I watched as students around us slowly made their way from the gurneys to the door, and Ruby glided around the room to tend to those in need. Again, I followed her lead.

  When the last student was up and in line at the door, Rupert led them out.

  Ruby, Matt, and I followed.

  “Expect a visit from us later today,” the lead officer said to me, “—for questioning.”

  I nodded and glanced at his name badge as I passed: Barnes.

  Barnes followed us out the door. It made me uncomfortable, but I knew—at least for now—we were free.

  And as a free person, the first thing I intended to do was to find Bryan.

  Later, Rupert would be booked for all the crimes Ruby and I had been accused of. And like all things with The Academie, my emotions felt torn: I felt a debt of gratitude to the man for helping us escape, and yet I knew that he had helped to put us in The Academie in the first place.

  But now he had helped us. And as Shara had taught me, this moment—and who we are now—is all that really matters.

  acknowledgments

  I can’t say a big enough thank you to my amazing writer husband, Christian James. Without him—for advice, encouragement, and inspiration—this book would never have come to be. Thank you to my editors, Christian, Karen, and Michael, without whom I would be quite embarrassed, and to Marie, Kristen, Julie, and Angie, who suffered through various versions of the first chapter and offered honest feedback and suggestions. Thank you also to Ms. Schoolcraft for being a good sport in sharing her name (she’s actually quite sweet). And last but not least, thank you to all my friends and family who encouraged me, especially my parents—who, I am thankful to say, are nothing like Allie’s.

  .

  about the author

  Amy Joy teaches college writing and enjoys travelling, making up silly songs, petting bees, and doing things people say she can’t. Someday she may even learn to fence.

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  Table of Contents

  The Academie

  Midpoint