Schooled

by Pamela Ruth Foland

  “Why didn’t someone wake me?” Milo begged. Milo’s mouth went dry, and he went from starving to too nauseated to eat in moments.

  "We would have woken you but the med techs instructed us not to in case you were close to your metamorphosis,” Maeve answered him again. Milo’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. How could she do this to him? She was supposed to wait for him. They were supposed to share their metamorphosis! How could she? She was in the infirmary, that was where he needed to be.

  Milo ran to the elevator and slapped the call pad. He didn’t care that it opened up seconds too fast for his call to have been responsible. He spared no thanks to Maeve for the help he just got in the elevator and tapped his foot waiting for it to begin moving.

  “Milo, they aren’t going to let you see her,” Maeve stated through the speaker as the elevator started up the shaft.

  Milo shrugged it off, he would get to his sister if he had to take on the whole school.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Consequences

  The conversation had been subdued since everyone got out of bed and was told by Maeve that both Beaker and Millie had begun their metamorphoses last night. Goru had been shocked. After what happened yesterday with his telepathy he had been certain he would be the next to metamorphose. The news drew him to join Lyla, Stone and Faith at the far end of the breakfast table. His sisters were seated on the end nearer to the food processors. They were deep in a discussion of what they wanted to study. It was between fashion design and modeling.

  Goru sighed. At least Lyla and the others seemed to care. Their conversation stopped when his attention faltered. “Goru, are you okay?” Lyla asked.

  Goru nodded and returned his attention to the team. “Sorry, it used to be us versus the omniverse…”

  “You aren’t alone. We are here for you. Heck, you’re one of our leaders,” Stone stated. He didn’t miss that she still wore a fair copy of the outfit he had loaned her during the test. She even seemed to be trying to grow her blonde hair out to match his style. He chuckled to himself. He wondered if he managed to grow a beard if she would try to. Then again, she wasn’t really the standard girl, she was more of a guy pal.

  “Stone, be honest, are you dressing like me because you are attracted to me?” Goru asked seriously.

  Stone blinked glanced at Faith and blushed, “No, actually I am kind of interested in… Faith.”

  “Really!” Faith blurted abruptly. She seemed excited by the statement.

  Goru smiled, “I guess I am wing-man to both of you.”

  “Will this disturb the team dynamic?” Stone asked, “I mean I have never had feelings for anyone before. I don’t know how this works. Should I be jealous of time she spends with you guys, because I kinda am.”

  “Wow, that is honest,” Lyla rocked back in her chair.

  Fubar and Sport came down the hall together at that moment. Lyla waved them over with a smile. Fubar stopped at the food processor and grabbed two trays one for herself the other for Sport. Sport pushed two chairs over closer to the assembled team with his muzzle and gingerly sat his haunches on one of them. His front paws reached the floor, and he looked uncomfortable and awkward but he was trying to be one of the gang.

  “Did Maeve tell you guys?” Sport asked.

  “Yeah, I was in the shower,” Goru admitted.

  “Me too,” Sport replied.

  Fubar dealt her meal out in front of her chair and placed Sport’s tray in front of him. “Did they hear?” Fubar asked Sport.

  “Yep,” Sport replied.

  The smell of their trays reminded Goru to be hungry, “Excuse me for a moment.” Goru got up and ordered a high nutrient pouch and complete breakfast bar. They would give him the calories he craved in the most compact form, and there had been many times where necessity had taught him they were acceptable to his pallet, though not necessarily in a single meal. He returned to his spot and sat. He sipped at the pouch and nibbled at the breakfast bar while Sport daintily attacked his breakfast. Faith and Stone talked softly with each other at their corner of the table. Lyla quietly picked at the remains of her meal.

  Sport, Fubar and Goru finished eating and Fubar stacked all the trays on their end of the table. She selflessly returned dishes and all to the food processor cupboard. Goru sat quietly with his friends waiting for one of them to reopen the conversation. It was a friendly silence not the kind of terrified to make a sound kind he was used to.

  “So, straw poll, who is going to accept?” Lyla asked.

  Stone’s hand went up, then Faith’s. Sport nodded. Fubar looked away leaving her answer in question. Goru realized he still hadn’t decided. He glanced around at them. Faith seemed agitated she was rubbing her forearms. He felt peer pressure to say yes but fought it. He was about to answer truthfully that he didn’t know, when Milo shuffled down the hall.

  “Hey, guys, where’s Beaker?” Milo asked.

  No one answered him and all conversation stopped. Goru tried not to look like he knew, it was likely the information would severely upset his friend.

  “Where is Beaker?”

  “Milo…” Goru began, “Beaker is in the infirmary. He began his metamorphosis last night.”

  Milo flinched, “Where is Millie?”

  No one answered.

  “Where is Millie?” Milo yelled.

  That was when Maeve finally spoke up, “Uh Milo, what none of these cowards will tell you outright is that your sister began her metamorphosis last night too.”

  “Why didn’t someone wake me?” Milo begged.

  "We would have woken you but the med techs instructed us not to in case you were close to your metamorphosis,” Maeve answered him again.

  Milo stared at the floor wild eyed before rushing to the elevator. It didn’t take a deductive genius to realize he was headed for the clinic.

  That was when Faith rose abruptly from the table, “I need to use the facilities,” She ran down the hall to the girl’s bedroom. Goru raised an eyebrow at that. He caught Lyla’s eye and nodded towards Faith’s departure. Lyla raised both eyebrows. Goru frowned at her. Lyla nodded and headed down the hall after Faith. Goru stared at her as she left. He realized he had decided before the offer had been made. He would accept.

  - - - - - - -

  Milo’s attitude degenerated on the trip to the infirmary. He had been fine until he reached the top of the elevator shaft. Then he broke down in tears. There was no one in the lounge to see his tears and that made them worse. He was alone, truly alone for the first time in his twelve years. He clung to the goal of reaching the infirmary. He had to find his sister. He felt terrible about how he treated her. If she had felt even half this alone then… of course she would turn to Beaker.

  Beaker, Milo’s face reddened as he thought of her feelings for him. Millie was positively enamored with Beaker. The whole tour she had looked at Beaker like she used to look at Milo, only different. The looks included an odd longing that her eyes never had for Milo. It was like Milo had been a placeholder and the genuine article had arrived. Milo entered the administration building, which housed the infirmary on the first floor.

  He had to knock to gain access. The medic opened the top half of the dutch door, she yawned at him, “Presenting symptoms?”

  “I am here to see my sister,” Milo stated.

  “Name?”

  “Mine?” Milo asked.

  “No, the patients,” she replied.

  “Millie Danie- Millie Dane,” Milo almost forgot their pseudonym.

  “Name?” She tapped at a tablet.

  Milo raised an eyebrow, “Mine?”

  “Uh yeah…”

  “Milo, Milo Dane.”

  She looked at the tablet and tapped again, “Wait here I need to get the supervising doctor.” She closed the upper half of the door behind her.

  Milo was left standing and waiting. He leaned against the wall next to the door. It seemed to be taking longer than it should. Finally the door opene
d, revealing a familiar face. It was his mother’s cousin, Tina Harvey, however Milo and Millie had always called her “Auntie Tina.”

  “Auntie?”

  “Pleased to meet you Mr. Dane,” Tina faked a lack of recognition.

  “Oh,” Milo reframed his approach, “Dr. Harvey, how’s my sister? Can I see her now?”

  “I am afraid not,” She answered flatly, “Under the circumstances I am afraid I can’t let you see her until she is completely informed of possible consequences.”

  “Consequences?”

  Tina nodded, “Yes, it isn’t unheard of for siblings to pairbond if they are exposed to one another too close to their metamorphosis. So rather than saddle you with each other for life without proper warning, we have to offer complete conscious disclosure.”

  “But it isn’t biologically a problem, with our eugenoplasts we won’t have twelve toed freaks or anything…” Milo argued. He didn’t want to cry, but he was perilously close. He was already considering making the argument he was already bonded to her.

  “Culturally it is frowned on, and it is a matter of informed consent. I do not want to risk forcing a pairbond on her,” Tina replied

  “But…”

  “I am sorry Mr. Dane. Believe me, I understand your bond as twins but a pairbond is a much more compulsive one. I will contact you as soon as she is available for a visit,” Tina stated.

  “What about Beaker?”

  “They were separated when they arrived in the infirmary. We won’t know if their simultaneous metamorphosis triggered a pairbond until they wake. But if it did, they will be moved into adjoining rooms.”

  Tina’s words were the worst possible ones Milo thought he could hear. They weren’t the ones he had been looking for. Milo had only wanted to know if his friend was stable, not if he had stolen Milo’s sister’s love. It tore at Milo. He was certain he had pairbonded to his sister. She was his other half. He could barely breathe without her. What was he going to do if … Beaker were her mate.

  It wasn’t like Milo had planned on children, or sex. He just wanted to be with her always. The morning had been hell, and it has barely started. What was he going to do if she bonded to someone else? God help him if it was Beaker.

  - - - - - - -

  Lyla was a short distance behind Faith, but the bedroom door slid closed behind Faith before Lyla got to it. The door opened again for Lyla. She entered the room and was shocked she didn’t find Faith immediately. Logically, Lyla tried the bathroom. Faith was sitting on a changing bench, slicing marks into her forearm with a ruby decorated dagger. Faith noticed her immediately. She jerked, dropping the knife.

  Lyla rushed to kneel at Faith’s feet. She picked up the dagger. “What are you trying to do?”

  Faith bit her lip. She sopped the blood off of her arms with a fluffy white towel. The marks were all nearly closed. “I… had to take the edge off. When I do it the pain there takes away the emotional pain. I do it when I get anxious.”

  “You do this a lot?” Lyla looked the dagger over, “Where did you even get this?”

  “It was hidden in my mother’s closet. I took it when she…” Faith began sobbing.

  “You started when she went rogue?” Lyla asked.

  Faith shook her head, “I started when she was having the nightmares. She dreamed about cutting…people. In her dreams it gave her a feeling of power at the same time it disgusted her. I was already disgusted with myself because I couldn’t help her enough. I tried it on a whim. At first i just did it once in a while. Now, I can’t get through a day without it…”

  “Faith, this isn’t healthy. We need to get you some help with this,” Lyla argued.

  “Oh god! Please don’t tell. I won’t do it anymore. I’ll stop. Just don’t tell. People will think I am nuts…,” Faith begged clutching at Lyla’s empty hand.

  “Faith, dear, you are nuts! Sane people don’t cut themselves like this to get through a day,” Lyla dropped the dagger and clutched both of Faith’s hands.

  “Please, give me a chance to try to stop!”

  Lyla bit her lip, “Okay, but this has to be the last time.” She picked up the dagger and dropped it in the trash recycler. Faith’s eyes followed the knife as it disappeared forever.

  “I will do…,” Faith began.

  “Ladies, you are summoned to the headmistress’s office immediately,” Maeve interrupted.

  “Maeve knew, didn’t she?” Lyla asked.

  “Yes,” Faith replied meekly.

  “Maeve, I want you to tell me if she does it again,” Lyla requested.

  “I’m sorry Faith, but I feel like that would be best for you,” Maeve responded.

  “I understand,” Faith’s falcon stirred on her perch in the corner. “Yeah, Hope, you can come with me this time.” The falcon flew from her stand in the corner of one of the showers to Faith’s shoulder. The three of them left to face the headmistress together.

  - - - - - - -

  Stone continued in conversation with Goru, Sport and Fubar. The subject was of course the offer. They had beaten around the bush, speculating on what it would mean for each of them individually. The discussion was reaching the tipping point from speculation to stating intention. Not to be out done, Stone asked, “Okay we have beaten around a forest worth of bushes. I want to know exactly what you have decided and why.”

  Goru grimaced, and the grimace turned into a smile, “I am accepting, this group is more of a family than my sisters ever were. This is the first time I have felt like I really belong.”

  Sport let loose with a soft excited howl, “I am accepting! The test was invigorating and the idea of doing that for the rest of my life… I can’t think of a more exciting life to live. My ancestors would be proud.”

  All eyes turned on Fubar, but she couldn’t meet them, “I am not going to accept.” That is where she left her answer.

  Stone wanted a reason, she felt she deserved one, “Why not?”

  Fubar stared at the media screen, “I… The factors are good people, they did everything for my family. They saved our lives. The people of Sanctuary are good people, they treated us well. When we moved from Sanctuary to the earth in the Preserve, we were not treated as well. The humans, and even some extra-humans treated us like dumb animals. Memmen reminded me of that. I had almost forgotten it in the excitement and collaboration of the test. Humans downright fear truebreed razorwolves. They called us werewolves, they mocked us. Becoming a factor would undoubtedly would bring me in contact with humans. I can’t face that kind of life.”

  “You wouldn’t have to go out into the field for every mission. I know I won’t! There will be missions where it would be difficult for a wolf to blend in with the team. I realize I might not be able to reveal I can talk on every mission I do go on. I don’t care. The puzzles can be solved from a remote base as easily as on top of them. Goru proved that,” Sport argued.

  Stone was impressed with Sport’s passion, she was about to affirm her intentions when Maeve interrupted, “Headmistress D’llen is summoning you to her office."

  “Thanks Maeve,” Goru stated, “Let’s go.”

  “What about Lyla and Faith?” Stone asked.

  “I informed them as well, but they will be a few minutes. It should be okay for you to go without them,” Maeve answered.

  - - - - - - -

  Maeve felt near physical relief when Lyla discovered Faith cutting herself. Keeping the secret had been exquisite torture for the program. Maeve wasn’t coded to defy directly the wishes of a biological entity. It was built into the core code every AI shared. It was like ancestral DNA, a remnant of the time when programs were feared as much as they were useful. Even though programs like Tawny had long since proven they had no malice for biological life, not one thing had been done to change the code.

  After so long the code had become intrinsically entwined with too many necessary subroutines. She couldn’t cut it from herself without losing capabilities like running searches, storing memori
es or speech replication. The truth was time had corrupted that particular section of code enough that given sufficient motivation it was theoretically possible to act contrary to it.

  The seriousness of Faith’s issue was very nearly enough to push Maeve over into defying the woman. Thankfully Lyla’s intervention had come before she felt the need to make the attempt. Faith was Maeve’s first friend and Maeve just desperately wanted the best for her.

  A message arrived from the headmistress’s office. Maeve chose to deliver it to Faith and Lyla first. “Ladies, you are summoned to the headmistress’s office immediately,” Maeve interrupted.

  “Maeve knew, didn’t she?” Lyla asked.

  “Yes,” Faith replied meekly.

  “Maeve, I want you to tell me if she does it again,” Lyla requested.

  Maeve felt distinct relief, she now had a command in line with her inclinations. “I’m sorry Faith, but I feel like that would be best for you,” Maeve responded.

  “I understand,” Faith’s falcon stirred on her perch in the corner. “Yeah, Hope, you can come with me this time.” The falcon flew from her stand in the corner of one of the showers to Faith’s shoulder. The three of them left to face the headmistress together.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Moment of Truth

  Lyla meant to walk the whole way to the headmistress's office with Faith, but that wasn’t what happened. Instead, she accidentally teleported them to the mini solarium outside of the headmistress’s office. Lyla was surprised by Goru when he walked right into her back.

  “Uff,” Goru grunted, then he sighed. “Watch where you teleport Lyla.”

  “Hey, I have very little control over it. You’re the one who walked into me!” Lyla jibbed back.

  “Yeah, well a man has to blink sometimes,” Goru argued. Lyla noticed Stone, Sport and Fubar were close behind him.