Daughter 4254

Chapter 21

The twins and 0203 all decided to go home for their rest days. I stayed behind to study my new treasures and enjoy some peace and quiet. I spent a few hours in the common room getting to know other girls from Dormitory B and took a turn working clean up crew in one of the atriums. It felt so good to be outside and to use my hands in the dirt again. The cold months were approaching and the cool breezes that whipped through my thin clothing helped to settle my nerves and slow my need for action. Besides, I knew what I wanted but I wasn’t exactly sure how I would make it come to pass. Although an idea was growing in the back of my head.

Week three started with a surprise. Apparently a large group of Professors and Leaders held a meeting over the weekend and shared rumors of our continued mockery of their classes. It was a fact that except for a few of us (one of the twins in her math class for example) the majority of the new class of students had been largely disappointed in the subject matter of their classes and the simplicity of the work. They, like myself, expected more, requested class reassignments and complained out loud in the common areas. This did not rest well on the ears or the egos of the Professors and despite the hard fast, yet unspoken, rule that they really weren’t supposed to teach us anything, they decided to up the stakes. Each of us, in each class was faced with a surprise exam. Those who did not meet required standards would have their meals rationed until they were able to retake the exam, on their own time, and bring their scores up. As a result, several students were extremely hungry by the next week’s end.

Eventually we all ended up helping each other improve our scores and many students went home for the sole purpose of eating their fill before another week dawned. They were sorely disappointed to find that the rationing had followed them home and no extra meals were to be found. However, the following First day another round of tests were ready to meet us.

I did well in all of my classes despite the new rigid testing schemes, but I saw the other students around me struggling and I tried to  help them as I could. The twins were absolutely failing every math assignment now so I studied with them and slipped them food under the table at meal times. Word got out that I was one of the few not going hungry - it’s kind of hard to hide a full tray at meal time when others have nothing but bread and juice - and more students started seeking me out for advice and explanations. The professors shortened their office hours or canceled them altogether.

Stranger than having students actually trying to be my friend instead of avoiding me, was the fact that despite the difficulty of the tests, the class time instruction remained the same, old, boring information. The daily work hadn’t increased in difficulty at all. Our only guess was that the Professors must have a required government curriculum they must follow but free reign of their tests.

I started to grow weary of the whole situation by the end of the third week. Yes, it was nice having more friends and acquaintances than I knew what to do with. And it was certainly nice to not have people ridiculing me when they thought the Auto Eye was not present, but the injustice of it all still grated on my heart. A small girl in our dormitory was crying in her room one night. I knocked on her door to see if she was alright. She answered and said she just wasn’t going to make it. She was so hungry and so stupid she was considering applying for an assignment in her community kitchens back home.

Her pitiful little face and thin body wracked with sobs stirred up my anger once again. This was not right. This entire institution was wrong in so many ways. The entire government was so wrong. Children, for she was still just a child, we all were just children, were not meant to be treated this way. I encouraged her and promised to slip her some food at mealtime that night if she’d sit with me. I don’t know why but I also promised her it would get better.

That night I got a pass to work extra hours in my technology lab. I knew exactly what needed to be done. I thought about it for several days. My plans were nearly perfect. I only needed a few more key items to set the cogs turning. One of those things was information and 0203 had not been available lately. She was spending more and more time with the boy she was drawn to, or more and more time just avoiding me. I couldn’t tell which it was, but I was sure she would help me one more time.

I quickly gathered the physical components I would need from the tech lab and filled my study bag with them. Then I set up a miniature lab in my room. I didn’t want a lot of questions about what it was I was assembling. If I could help it, I’d rather not have anyone know that I was working on anything at all. I worked all weekend and during week four I had to cut back my time helping in the common room, but I knew that what I was planning would do far more good than any math homework I explained. I also started making mental lists and set a date, the last day of this week, day before week’s end.

I happened to hear 0203 enter her quarters one night while I was feverishly trying to solder a last few bits of circuitry together on a key component of my project. I couldn’t miss her. I carefully set my tools down, walked through the washroom and knocked on her door.

“Hey stranger.” She said it with a serious lack of enthusiasm and without opening the door.  I turned the handle and let myself in.

“Hello. I haven’t seen you in a while. Are you getting enough to eat?”

“Yah, I’m fine. They haven’t cracked down on the older levels like they have on you newbies.”

“I’ve seen plenty of older kids with nothing but an apple on their trays at meal time.”

“True, but they are probably the ones in remedial classes.” She was looking at something on her reader and didn’t seem like she wanted to talk to me very badly.

“Is everything alright? Between us I mean?”

She put down her reading and looked at me. “I’ve been thinking.” She paused then and looked at the desk. “I’m not sure I did the right thing, letting you into the archives.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I know it’s against the rules, and that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“If you’re worried about your assignment and studies, we already planned for that. I’m not going to get caught and even if I do, I stole your ID.”

“Yes, but I like you.”

This sort of took me by surprise. She looked at me long and hard then as we both stood in silence. Finally she spoke again.

“You have strong feelings that have always gotten you in trouble. You finally get all of that under control here and what do I go and do? Fan the flames. I’m more mad at myself than at anyone else. I just don’t think you are old enough to handle the kind of information that you’ve been exposed to and I’m afraid it’s going to just hurt you more in the long run.”

My mother’s words came back to me then...

“Beware of beauty in this life child. It will break your heart.”

“What?” she looked at me with a puzzled expression. I hadn’t meant to speak the words out loud.

“I’m sorry. It’s just something my mother told me once. Beware of beauty in this life. It will break your heart.”

“She’s right you know.”

“I know.” I took a deep breath then continued, “But I have a plan. And I’m not too young to understand it. Have I been thrown out of here yet? Haven’t I kept my mouth shut and my head down? I’m still hear aren’t I? Still getting top grades and I even have friends. Besides, my heart was already broken a long, long time ago.”

“But you still have a lot of spirit and I’d hate to see that get broken as well.”

“I need your help one more time.”

She raised her eye brows at me. “You still haven’t paid me back after last time.”

“I tried to! You wouldn’t let me!”

“Ha! I know, I’m just kidding. What do you want? I can’t promise anything but you might as well spill it.”

“I need a map of as much of the community surrounding the school as you can find. As much of the country as you can find would be best.”

“Whoa.. that’s easy, anyone can check those out in the library, but what do you want that for?”

“I can’t tell you yet. I just have an idea. I’ve had it for a long time, but I’ve never had a map and I want to know if I’m right. I want to find out.”

“Well go get the map yourself. Just promise me you won’t..”

“... do anything stupid.. I know. I’m a genius, remember.”

“I said that as a joke kid. You’re a bit brainy for your age, but genius, I still haven’t decided for sure on that one.”

“Are you ready for your name yet? I have the perfect one.”

“No, not yet. Not here, later, with no Eye.”

I shrugged, “Whatever you say.”

“Soft sailing matey.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s Pirate for good luck,” she looked back down to her reader, her sign that she was through speaking with me.

“What is Pirate?”

“Never mind. Just be careful.” She looked up briefly and shewed me from her room with her hand before delving back into whatever she was reading. I left without complaint. I had work of my own to complete before the power went out anyway.