II

"Oh! It's been approved!" Mother gasped, and her hands fly to her mouth.

"What's been approved?" Father looks up at her from the table, where he was reading the morning announcements and news. I, too, was interested, and I drop my CRI, Child Recreational Item, to go over and peek over her shoulder.

"Our Requisition! It's been approved. They are shipping it in two weeks!" Mother is excited, more excited than I've ever seen her. "Oh, Gregory, I'm so very pleased!"

"I'm also very pleased." Father smiled down at her.

"Why? What's been approved?" I ask, tugging at Mother's uniform.

"Why, Samantha, today the Chamber is sending us our Second XX." Mother tousles my hair, then quickly fixes it again.

"What's a Second XX?"

"A second female child addition. You were our first."

"Oh." I nod, then return to my CRI on the floor. Father and Mother smile at each other one more time, then Father goes back to the table and brushes his hand across the surface to turn the page. Mother turns back to the house mainframe and finishes reading the mail.

Zzzt, zzzt.

All three of our Nutrition Slots slide open in the wall, revealing our morning meals.

"Morning meal is here. Come eat." Mother calls, and Father and I obediently go to the eating table. The morning meal is the same as it always is, with cereal squares, a banana, a glass of milk, and the daily nutrition smoothie, or the DNS.

Morning meal is passed in silence, except for Father's comment of, "I really am so pleased about the new child addition." Mother nods her agreement, and nobody else says a word.

When I finish, I put my CRI in my backpack, along with my Educational Survey Tablet.

"Are you ready to leave, Samantha?" Mother asks me, and I nod. Mother always took me to the Education Center, because it was on the way to the Library, where she worked. Father worked in the Computer Technology System building, and he had to take a different SafeTram to get there.

We left our designated quarters and walked down the long grey hallways in silence, passing by the uniform brown doors of other quarters. At the end of the hallway, we went through the exit and left the Residential Area, quietly going and sitting on the metal benches to wait for the SafeTram.

After only a few moments of waiting, the SafeTram pulled up to the station, smoothly sliding to a gentle stop.

Snick.

The doors slid open, and Mother and I boarded the SafeTram with the handful of other people who were getting on. They ignored us and we ignored them. We were all far to busy to be concerned with some stranger's life.

The SafeTram pulled out of the station, speeding up so gradually that you couldn't even feel it at all. The only thing that told you that you were moving were the windows, which showed the blur of the outside world as the SafeTram sped along. Every once in a while, the computerized voice would come on to announce a stop, the doors would open, and people would get on and off, only acknowledging each other with indifferent nods if they happened to accidentally bump into one another.

Blip.

Mother turned on her TechGlass, probably to look over the day's itinerary, and her eyes focused on the inside screen, no longer seeing anything or anybody in the SafeTram.

"Health Care, Educational Center, and Communications Building." the computer recited. Her voice was cold and metallic.

The doors slid open, and I shouldered my backpack.

"Goodbye, Mother." I said, but she didn't hear me. I stepped off the SafeTram, and slowly ambled down the path to the Education Center, a dark red, almost brown color. Other kids came from the other SafeTram stations, most of them older than me, and ones younger than five accompanied by parents.

I went to my group's room, marked with a large green seven. Pretty soon, I'd be turning eight, and I'd move up to the eighth group.

Sitting quietly at my desk, I was soon joined by a boy my age, with shiny brown hair and warm brown eyes.

"Hello, Samantha." he smiled at me and took the seat next to mine. We shared a desk.

"Hello, Terrance." I smiled back. Terrance was my assigned partner. Everyone in the first group is assigned a partner who has the same or close birthday, who stays with them all through school. Sometimes requests for changes are made, but rarely. Every two days, assigned partners spent a hour together, alternating between their different houses, for recreational time.

Once we reach the end of youth education, the assigned partner system usually fades away, especially now that you're eligible for spouse assignments. I once asked Father who his assigned parter was, to see if they kept having regular recreational times.

"Why, I don't even remember his name." he told me, thinking about it. "But we were very close in our youth education."

"Will I forget Terrance?" I had asked him worriedly.

"Probably." he smiles, ruffling my hair. "But don't worry. There are plenty of other people to replace him. You won't even notice."

Glong, glong, glong.

The deep, resonating sounds of the bell suddenly came through the speakers, and everybody who wasn't already sitting quickly went to their seats.

Kikat.

The intercom crackled as it was switched on again, and we all stood at once, facing the group room's standard framed picture of the Symbol, the sign that was shown almost everywhere; in the streets, on the Officials' clothing, on buildings, contracts, devices, and even the utensils and plates we ate off of.

The intercom began to blast victorious, triumphant-sounding intermingling sounds, playing solo for a few moments before we all began to sing the words we'd been taught since infancy.

Hail, to our leaders, we say

Hail, to our leaders, we all

Swear to be faithful followers.

They came when there was only night,

And they brought us to the light!

In the early days, there was only the War,

But now we all stand tall forevermore, so

Hail, to our saviors, we say

Hail to the believers, we all

Swear, to be the faithful follower.

The intercom switched off and we all sat down, all quiet and attentive, waiting for our instructor, the Teacher, to begin class. We usually started the day with an hour of Language Arts, then followed with an hour each of Math, History, lunch break, Reading, Recreation, Science, Human Studies, Geography, and Health, before it's time to go home.

"Children, we have a special surprise today." Teacher clapped her hands, once. "Today, we will be assigning Child Guides. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a Child Guide is a student who is four groups ahead of you. They will be your mentors during school, and will be available to help you with schoolwork and assignments. When a Child Guide is assigned to you, they are required to help you with any problems you might have, and will stay with you until your last four years of education, when they are, of course, moving on to getting occupations. Our schedule has been slightly modified, so that the last forty minutes of educational hours every day is reserved to time with your Child Guide. Do you all understand what we'll be doing today?" One boy, Harmon, I think, raised his hand.

"Yes, Harmon?" Teacher aimed her pointer at him.

"What about our studies?" Harmon asked.

"They are postponed for the first hour of educational hours, and then we will pick up our studies again, with a shortened amount of time spent on each." Teacher answered him, and clapped her hands again. "Everybody line up at the door. Stay with your assigned partner for now, but you will be separating later."

Terrance and I joined hands, just like all the other pairs in the room, and lined up at the door, double file.

"Follow me!" Teacher ordered us, and started out the door. We followed, careful not to break our ranks, until we reached the Educational Center's study hall.

When we got there, we found that the other class was already there, assembled and standing quietly. Their Teacher, an old sour faced male, nodded to our Teacher before coming over and inspecting us.

"Perfect attendance." our Teacher informed him, and he nodded, pulling out a clipboard.

"782, Lucille!" he suddenly shouted, making me jump. A girl quickly stepped out of the neatly assembled class of the older children.

"Yes, sir!" she responded loudly.

"You are with Terrance, 142. Terrance?" the other Teacher asked, and Terrance raised his hand. "Good. Go with Lucille." Terrance obediently left our class and went to Lucille, who smiled at him and took his hand. They went to sit at a table at the far end of the room as the other Teacher continued the matching.

Losing interest, I accidentally let my mind wander, slowly relaxing as my thoughts drifted aimlessly.

"64, Michael!" the other Teacher barked, and I jumped.

"Y-yes, sir?" I stammered.

"You are with 128, Simon." he pointed at a boy, last one left in the older class, with dark brown hair and a relaxed posture. I quickly scooted past the other Teacher, mumbling a thanks and going to Simon.

We both stared at each other.

"Simon." he finally extended a hand and smiling.

"Samantha." I smiled back, taking his hand and giving him the best handshake I could.

"Hey, don't take my arm off." Simon laughed, which surprised me, and looked around the study hall. Most tables were taken, and the talking was fairly loud, almost louder than speaking normally. Simon walked over to his Teacher, and cleared his throat. The Teacher looked at him.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Well, sir, it's pretty full over here, and I have a table over there that a little more private.” he pointed towards the tables of public EST’s. “I was hoping that I could take Samantha over there?" he flashed his blue eyes and a winning smile, and the Teacher actually smiled back at him.

"Of course, Simon. I trust you." the Teacher replied in a voice that sounded almost kind.

"Thank you, sir." Simon flashed his winning smile again. "Come on, Samantha." I followed him willingly, pleased that I had ended up with someone so nice.

We head towards the EST’s, passing a few people using them, going all the way to the back. I worriedly looked behind us; I could barely see the others, and their talking was only a faint murmuring now.

“Um, Simon? Shouldn’t we go back?” I tugged at his uniform.

“Get off of me!” Simon snapped with a sudden severity, and I jumped back. He  was looking around now, like he was doing something bad, but now I didn’t dare ask him what it was.

What’s wrong with him? I thought anxiously as he went to the very corner of the room, where there were two dusty old chairs, forgotten and lonely, shoved into the darkest corner of the study hall. Simon ran his fingers up and down the walls, putting his ear to the cold brown surface every once and a while and rapping his knuckles against it.

“Where is it, where is it?” he muttered to himself, twitchy and nervous, not at all like the Simon I’d been introduced to.

“What are you looking for?” I ventured timidly, but he didn’t appear to hear me.

“Aha!” he cried, and from his uniform, he produced a big ring with a flat object stuck to it. He gripped the large ring with his hand, and pressed the flat part to the wall.

Ker-chik.

Victor tugged on the ring a few times, and I noticed that it was now firmly attached to the wall. Victor gripped the ring tightly, and suddenly began to pull against it.

Fhoom, fhoom.

As he pulled the ring, a rectangular part of the wall began to pull out, making a loud scraping noise. I gasped, horrified at his blatant destruction of public property, and he completely removed a square section of the wall, revealing a hole.

"Simon!" I exclaimed, unable to help myself. "We could get in trouble!"

"Yeah, yeah, spare it, Tiny." he sneered, and stuck his hand in the hole, feeling around in the dark space. The hole was deep enough for his arm to go in up to his elbow, and he rummaged around for a moment, before his eyes lit up, and he pulled out his arm.

There was a small brown package clutched triumphantly in his fist, and he shows it to me triumphantly. With a desperate eagerness, he sits on one of the chairs and tears the wrapping off, revealing a circular plastic container. As he pops it open, he glances at me, then kicks the other chair.

"Sit." he orders, and I quickly obey. He shakes the container a little, making the contents rattle, then pokes his finger around inside. I sit quietly, wanting to leave, but he's so absorbed in his little container that he doesn't seem to remember I'm there.

"Simon, I want to go back." I finally dared to speak. He tears himself away from the container, and gives me an ugly smile.

"Too scared to be away from Mommy?" he taunts me.

"No!" I lie, crossing my arms, and Simon smirks. He swishes his finger in the container a little more before speaking.

"Tell me, Tiny," he leans forward, smiling wickedly. "have you ever felt emotions?" The odd question throws me off guard.

"Yes." I finally answer after deliberating it a while.

"When?"

"Well, sometimes I'm upset when-" I started, but he cut me off.

"There it is again!" he cries, standing up. "That word!"

"What word?" I ask, worried.

"Upset." he spits it out like it's some sort of crime. "Don't you know what it's like to be truly upset? Upset? Please. You don't even know the meaning of the word."

"Yes I do!" I insist, frowning. "It's when you're not feeling pleased."

"Wrong!" he stabs a finger at me. "That's what they all tell you, don't they, Tiny? They use words like upset, disappointed, words that are carefully used as substitutes for real emotions."

"What's a real emotion?"

"Feelings, Tiny, real feelings. Anger, hatred, jealousy, fear, grief, loneliness, despair, pain, cruelty, and fury.They are true emotions." he leans forward eagerly, holding out the plastic container, and I slowly take it, still absorbing the strange words he keeps coming up with. The plastic dish rattled slightly, and I looked to see what was in it.

Ten tiny capsules, all differently colored, and with tiny writing on the surface. My finger lightly brushed one, moving it so I could see the writing, and could make out the word "HATE." Another said "LONELY." There was a pill for every word Simon had said.

Shivering, I quickly handed it back to Victor, and he stared at the pills some more, with the expression of a starving person. I didn't like the pills. I wanted to go home.

"You know," Simon said, absentmindedly stroking the pills. "I usually take one right about now. Fury is my favorite, but I also like hate and pain. But-" he pulls out the tiny blue pill, holding it up and snapping the case shut. "I am your host, and how selfish I've been!" His eyes glint wickedly. "I haven't even let you try one yet! Here."

He grabbed my hand and held it open, then pressed the little blue pill into my palm. I read the tiny word; Grief.

"No, thank you, I don't want it." I held it back out, but he shook his head.

"No, no, I insist. It's no trouble at all." he purred.

"Simon, I don't want it." I repeated, my hand trembling as I pushed it towards him.

He stood up suddenly, knocking over his chair and leaning over me, staring me in the eyes.

"Swallow. The. Pill." he snarled, and I shrank back in my chair. He set his own back up and sat, staring at me with a languid expression. I looked from the pill to him, then nervously licked my lips.

"Go on." Victor prompted me, and I took a deep breath before popping the tiny capsule in my mouth a swallowing.

Nothing happened.

I sat there, waiting, with Simon staring at me expectantly, but I felt no different.

Suddenly, I gasped, doubling over with pain. It felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach, and tears came to my eyes. A roaring chasm opened up beneath me, and I tumbled into a dark abyss, where there was nothing but a terrible feeling that made my head scream and my heart convulse.

Grief.

I understood it now.

I curled up in a ball on the floor, sobbing, the world lost in a haze of tears. I could vaguely make out shapes, and I saw more people come running to the corner. Over the rushing sounds in my ears, I could hear Simon, explaining that I had hit my head, his voice concerned and worried, so convincing that I almost believed it.

Someone picked me up, carried me past all those EST's, all the way back to the classroom, then to the back room, which was soundproof, meant for sick children, complete with a cot, sink, and toilet.

I was laid down on the bed, still crying, unable to deal with the horrible feeling any other way. A person leaned over me, their warm breath on my cheek, just over my ear.

"If you tell anyone," Simon's honey-sweet voice whispered words of venom. "I swear, I will kill you before you can cry for help. I'll talk my way out of it, you know I will, and you'll fade away into nothing, while I get away free."