Birthright

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Enforcer Curtis waited until the last of the students leaves before beaming her smile at Kray and Alex. This close, Kray could see the intensity of the information passing over her cader lens. In their final year, a chip was inserted into the brains of Metas that allowed them to digest all of the words and numbers and images flashing over the screen at lightning speed. Now that there were Sanser students being trained to become enforcers someday, would they receive the same chip before graduation?

He'd always known about the chip, but now it made him uncomfortable. He didn't want something that belonged to the ANEF stuck in his head.

"Mr. Eagan," Curtis begins, her expression still friendly. "How are you coping at Calsin Foundation?"

He shrugged. "Alright." She didn't call him over here just to ask him that, did she?

"You missed out on the opportunity to get a tour around campus on Saturday," she said.

Kray narrowed his eyes at Alex, who was clicking through her handheld. Seemed like ratting him out was the only thing she was good for. "You told her? That's real mature."

"No less mature than hiding from your duties, Mr. Eagan," Curtis answered softly as Alex strapped her handheld to her waist and leaned against the door, pinning him with a grim look. She didn't speak though. The enforcer continued, "And contrary to what you think, Ms. Drasse didn't tell me that you skipped the meeting. The invite she sent you was copied to me as well. I noticed that you didn't accept it. Your locator put you inside your dorm room while the others had their tour. Ms. Drasse might have been assigned to monitor you, but it is my duty to look after all of you. Your absence had me concerned."

He crossed his arms and kept his expression hard. "Like I said to Warden Drasse, I was tired. It was a long drive from Saranth. Maybe she should have known we wouldn't all be in the best shape to go off exploring on the same day we arrived."

"Ms. Drasse's actions are not under question. Neither are yours. I'm not your watcher. I'm your guardian. I want you to always feel free to approach me with any questions or concerns. Both of you."

It took a lot of effort for Kray to keep his face straight. Alex was fiddling with the strap that held her handheld in place. She looked up and nodded. "Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks a bunch," he said in a voice that bordered on sarcastic.

"Just a moment," the enforcer said when he turned to leave. "That's not the only reason I asked to speak with you two. I'm sure you are already aware of this, Ms. Drasse, but I will say it for Mr. Eagan's benefit as well. This coming Friday, General Drasse will be hosting a gala to celebrate and promote the Concordance Policy. I believe Ms. Drasse's presence has already been requested, but we would like one of our Sanser cadets to accompany her."

"And you want me to be that cadet," he said flatly.

She smiled. "Indeed, you have been chosen for that honor."

"There are forty-nine other cadets who are more qualified than me. Wouldn't it make more sense to show them off? Unless your goal is to be the joke of the whole Mainland."

"On the contrary, having you as the Sanser face behind the Concordance Policy is the perfect opportunity to show the growth and development in the program. To show how effective we are at rehabilitating and training even those cadets with the least potential."

Kray clenched his jaw until it throbbed. This wasn't what he'd signed up for. Coming to Calsin Foundation had been his ticket out of the Wasteland—the ANEF had made that clear. But he'd never agreed to be turned into the Mainland's freak show.