A sage green door turned to gas, and a seven-year-old boy took his trembling, panic-stricken sister by the hand.
“It will be okay, Azzy.” he whispered. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. I promise.”
“No, it won’t!” she cried. “All the kids will make fun of me. Just like in kindergarten.”
The doors opened to an atrium that bustled with students who looked as lost and confused as the siblings felt. A woman was stationed inside the door. Her wispy silvery hair had been pulled back into a bun, typical of an elderly School Monitor, and her pointy nose reminded the children of a mouse. Her back was hunched so badly that it looked like she walked on all fours, and her big, flappy ears that stuck out only completed the rodent look.
“First, middle, and last names and grades.” she snapped.
“Jedediah Malachi Carter.” the boy answered. “First grade.”
“And yours?” Mouse Woman demanded, abruptly turning to Azlynn.
Azlynn put her fingers in her mouth and hid behind her brother.
“Tell her, Jed.” she pleaded, drooling on her hand.
“Ah-hah!” Mouse exclaimed. “Twins! I see…we’ll see to it you’re put in different classes.”
“No!” Azlynn shrieked. “Azlynn Kaidyn Carter. Firth gwade.”
“Firth gwade.” the woman mocked. “Whet lengwege do you fpeak?”
Jed battled the urge to slug the woman in her long, pointy, rodent-like nose. With no options, he was satisfied by shooting her a warning glare.
“Watch it, lady.” he mouthed, too silently to be heard. “Shut up or I’ll do it for you.”
“Don’t you dare look at me like that, little man.” Mouse cautioned, wagging her finger for emphasis. “Trust me, you don’t wanna meet the Disciplinarian.”
“I’m sure I don’t.” Jed muttered under his breath, grinning.
He joined the crowd, dragging his sister along behind him.
“It will be okay.” he whispered.
“How do we know where to go?” she questioned.
“I dunno. I guess we just follow the other kids.”
The masses shifted and streamed, in single file lines, into an auditorium with stadium seating. Log-drive screens had been built into the armrests of each chair.
“This way.” Jed said. “Let’s sit by the front with all the people.”
Azlynn shrank back and shook her head.
“No!” she cried. “I wanna sit in the back! People are too loud.”
“Come on! It’s not that bad.” Jed persisted.
“Yes, it is, Jed!”
At her cry, the rest of the students fell silent and stared, gawking, at her.
“You can go.” she whispered meekly. “I’ll sit back here.”
Her compromise suggestion tore Jed’s heart in two, but she stubbornly plodded to a higher row before he’d had a chance to argue. She unfolded a seat and plopped down. It was freeing, but at the same time, she felt so exposed and vulnerable. When she watched her brother interact with the other students, her throat constricted and she choked back rising sobs.
She didn’t watch much longer; she gazed ahead and pretended not to notice when he glanced back between playful laughter and chatter.
In a few short minutes, the School Monitor would come in, and Jed’s subtle decision to push her aside would be all his to regret. All she had to do was pray they weren’t stuck with Mouse-Woman.
A figure disturbed the synthesis door, and a hunched-over woman entered. Azlynn was certain her gasp echoed across the auditorium. When Mouse directed her built-in compass needle at her, she knew a visit to the Disciplinarian’s office was inevitable. Part of her wished Jed was sitting by her side, but she dammed the emotion, which left the cold emptiness of victory inside.
In the bottom row, Jed battled his own mixed emotions. He wondered why his sister was so far away, but the emotions were too overwhelming for someone so young, so he concealed them in jokes that kept his posse entertained.
“Come on!” the other boys begged. “Please, just one more!”
“I can’t use the joke app in school,” he refused, “and I don’t wanna make Monitor Mouse mad.”
Roaring laughter. He would’ve laughed, too, if he could stop thinking about the girl seven rows back. The only thing worse than the guilt he felt was the fact Azlynn didn’t seem to notice. She was too preoccupied with the log-drive in her armrest.
“Hey, sis!” he called.
She glanced up for less than a second, but not in his direction.
“Azzy!” he yelled again, waving.
“Who’s that?” a boy named Chase Wilcox asked.
“My sister. Azlynn.”
“She’s in this grade, too?”
“Yeah,” Jed answered, “we’re twins.”
“I used to have a twin brother.” Chase said.
Jed wrinkled his brow, curious.
“But Trevor, he was real quiet.” Chase added. “He was weird sometimes. The Eugenics Monitors said he had autism, so they took him away.”
“What happened?” Jed asked, alarmed.
“They gave him a death-shot. They said he was too much trouble; neuro-enhancers wouldn’t work.”
Jed shot Azlynn a terrified glance. She was painfully shy, yes. And sometimes she was a bit off. He felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders when she descended the aisle to his section.
“Jed,” she whispered, “my heart is racing. I’m scared. I think I might throw up.”
“You’ll be okay. Just think happy thoughts.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I can’t!” she yelled, plugging her ears. “The noise is making my ears hurt. I’m gonna go back to my student station now. Bye.”
The other students snickered, and Monitor Mouse pounded the desk with her knuckles.
“Class is now beginning.” she announced. “Take your seats, everyone. Open your CommonEd apps to the science journal tab.”
Groans rose from the crowd.
“We studied our phonics in kindergarten last year.” she continued without skipping a beat. “Today, we’re starting Elementary Reproductive Health Module 1. It’s written for children, so you should not have any problems understanding it.”
While the woman spoke on, Azlynn heard the voice of a gentleman. He whispered in her ear softly, so as not to startle her. She scanned the room in alarm, certain there wasn’t an adult the room besides Monitor Mouse.
“Go,” he said. “Get Jed and go.”
“Where?” she cried.
Monitor Mouse stopped and looked down her long nose at Azlynn.
“Excuse me?” she said, clearing her throat. “To whom are you speaking, Student 25?”
Azlynn felt her face growing hot.
“I…I just don’t see where I should start reading. What part?” she stammered.
“First page, 25.” the woman snapped. “Please try to stay with us. I understand you’re a bit slow, and undoubtedly you have trouble socially, but you’re required to put forth the same effort as everyone else in this room.”
Azlynn got a sympathetic glance from her brother, but the giggling across the room made it obvious that everyone else agreed with Mouse.
“Leave her alone; she’s my sister!” Jed shouted and leapt from his seat.
“Student 5, you are a disgrace to the United Territories. Shut up now!” the Monitor commanded, slamming the desk with force.
“Seriously?” Jed snapped. “Can you only pound on the desk in A-sharp?”
Jed fell silent, and Azlynn stood up in confusion.
“No, Jed. No!” she mouthed. “You shouldn’t have said that.”
“Students 5 and 25, go at once to the Disciplinarian’s office. I promise you, you’ll never misbehave in class again.”
As they started down the shadowy hallway, Azlynn tried to picture the Disciplinarian. He sounded like an evil swamp monster from a children’s fairytale book.
“What do you think he’ll do to us?” she whispered.
Jed shrugged.
“I shouldn’t a said that.” he admitted. “Maybe she’ll forget about it.”
Azlynn stared off into space.
“Do you think he’s like one of those swamp monsters?” she asked.
“I…don’t know.” Jed admitted. “I don’t know what a swamp monster is.”
“You know, those big black blobs that look like dinosaurs when they stand up and they have yellow sharp teeth.”
She bared her teeth and tapped them to make sure he understood.
“Oh.” he retorted, shooting her a concerned double take.
When the two arrived at the office door, it had already been turned to gas.
“I don’t wanna go in.” she cried. “I’m scared!”
“We’ll go in together.” he said. “I’ll stay with you. Let’s count to three: one, two, three!”
They stepped through together, and their fear dissolved when the man’s face poked above his computer screen.
“Jed and Azlynn Carter!” he exclaimed. “What brings you to my office?”
They stared at the man, wide-eyed, until he smiled.
“How did you know our names?” Azlynn asked in bewilderment.
“I have the school roll, of course.” the Disciplinarian answered in a “duh” voice.
He guided his hov-chair away from his desk and put his hands behind his head.
“Why did Monitor Asten send you to me?” he inquired. “Have you been bad? Or did she just have a bad morning?”
They giggled, but on a more serious note, Azlynn answered:
“I talked.”
The Disciplinarian smiled in amusement.
“You talked?” he echoed.
Azlynn nodded.
“Yeah. I didn’t know what part to read. I asked, but she got mad.”
“And what about you, Jed?” Disciplinarian Lincoln asked, wrinkling his forehead.
“I told Monitor Mouse to be quiet.”
Disciplinarian Lincoln frowned, and his face grew thoughtful.
“I see.” he murmured. “Well, I don’t think you did anything wrong. There’s nothing in the school rulebook that says you can’t ask for help or protect your sister.”
At this, the kids’ faces lit up in joy and relief. Disciplinarian Lincoln continued.
“I’ll send you home with a data card today. Come see me if anything else happens.”
He slid two data cards across the desk, and they picked them up, awed by the man’s kindness.
“Phew!” Azlynn exclaimed. “I was scared. I thought you was gonna be a swamp monster.”
“Nope!” Lincoln grinned. “But you should write a story about it; you sound like a good writer.”
“Race you to the door!” Jed yelled, tapping his sister’s shoulder and dashing for the door.
“No fair! You started first!”
Disciplinarian Lincoln laughed and waved to the children as they vanished. The noontime Alaskan sun shone on the children while they ventured from the school cube.
“A children’s book.” Azlynn muttered dreamily. “I’m gonna write a children’s book.”
Jed giggled.
“Pee-yano.” he sang out. “I’m gonna play the pee-yano.”
“Children’s book!”
“Piano!”
“Children’s–”
“Piano!”
The kids fell on the ground and rolled around, giggling in amusement, all the while unaware that their data cards had escaped them.
“Hey!” he yelled. “What’re you doin’ outta school so early?”
“The Disciplinarian sent us home.” Jed answered and fumbled for his data card.
His heart sank when he realized it was gone.
“Uh-oh.” he muttered. “Run, Azzy.”
They dashed across the school courtyard.
“He’s getting closer!” Jed screamed.
When it became evident they couldn’t outrun the Security Monitor, they dove behind a nearby group of bushes and hit the ground with a thud.
“Do you think he heard us talking about writing children’s books and playing the piano?” Azlynn whispered.
“Ssh!” Jed hissed.
The Security Monitor swept his search-detector over the area.
“Where are you? Hello? Children?”
Jed put his hand over Azlynn’s mouth. She glared at him. The search-detector found two plastic objects that lay scattered on the ground.
“Our data cards!” Jed’s hand muffled Azlynn’s voice.
She moved away.
“Our data cards.” she repeated.
Jed nodded.
“We should let him see us.” he whispered.
Azlynn shot him a worried look. Jed tiptoed around the bushes and signaled Azlynn to follow.
“Come on!” he whispered.
The man glanced up from studying the data cards and scrutinized the children.
“This you?” he asked, flashing the card with Jed’s photo.
“Yes, sir.” Jed replied.
The Security Monitor nodded.
“All right.” he said gruffly. “You can get off easy this time, but no more after that. You got it?”
“Yes, sir.” Jed replied, lowering his eyes in expected submission.
“Go now.”
“Come on, Azzy.” Jed whispered, eying the man with suspicion as he took the card.
Even though neither knew it, their cube was only three doors away from the Sicklers’. Yet it would still be seven years–half a lifetime–before their paths would intersect. Their meeting was so bizarre, so out-of-the-ordinary, it would not have happened except by chance or Divine appointment. It would be left to those who knew them before or after to decide which.
Fifteen minutes after their early departure, the Carter twins arrived at their front door. Jed pushed the door control, and he and Azlynn dashed inside.
When they entered, the home felt dark and heavy, like entering a haunted house. Jed grabbed his sister’s hand and they walked on tiptoe through the living room.
“What’s wrong with our house?” Azlynn whispered. “It’s scary. Is someone gonna attack us with a knife?”
“It’s gonna be okay.” Jed said, though he’d had the same thought a few seconds before.
When they heard ominous footsteps pounding through the hall, Jed motioned his sister to hit the floor. An instant later, their father emerged.
“Jed? Azzy?” he called softly. “What are you doing here?”
Azlynn ran into her father’s arms and Jed studied his face. He looked very grave, almost ill. Instinct told the children he wasn’t ill, but something was dreadfully wrong.
“We got sent home.” she said. “Disciplinarian Lincoln sent us home. We was talking.”
“Daddy, you look sick.” Jed observed.
“No, Jed. I’m not sick, but your mommy is very sick. She might not be with us much longer.”
“Is she gonna die?” Azlynn asked, pulling away from her father’s embrace.
Decker Carter hung his head.
“Yes, I think she might. Go into our room. She wants to talk to you.”
The children tiptoed into the solemness of their parents’ bedroom. Her mother lay hovering over a pressurized cot. Everyone in the United Territories knew the cots were made for people who were terminally ill or giving birth. They immobilized the patient to prevent them from causing more damage.
Jed and Azlynn approached their mother in silence. Neither knew what to say. Jed slipped his hand into his hers. Part of him longed to promise her everything would be okay, but in his heart he knew it was a lie.
“I love you, Mama.” he whispered.
The dying woman’s eyelids fluttered open, and she smiled. The children’s father entered in silence. Taking his place at his wife’s side, he took her frail hand in his.
“Love you…too,” she said hoarsely, “and you, too, Azlynn.”
“Children, go to your room for a little bit.” Decker said to the children gently. “I need to talk to your mommy alone, just me and her.”
Jed nodded and led Azlynn into the hall. Neither said a word; both felt talking was somehow forbidden, but the silence was worse. It allowed them to hear the sobs racking their father.
