The Watcher by Nicholas P. Oakley

Author:Nicholas P. Oakley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: See Sharp Press
Published: 2014-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

PART III

CHAPTER 1

The alarm for firstmeal sounded, filling the rooms with a deafening klaxon. The children stumbled from their beds and out of their rooms, hastily dressing and wiping sleep from their eyes. They stood to attention just as an adult appeared at the doorway at the end of the corridor. Each of them stood as straight as possible. The adult began walking down the collinear line, hovering in front of each child for a cursory inspection, the children’s right arms outstretched for scanning. Even at such a young age, most of the children towered over him, and he had to get several of the older children to bend down so that he could inspect their near-identical faces.

Once he reached the end of the line of tall black children, he barked a command. They raced toward the cafeteria; those that reached the cafeteria last would be left with just the scraps, and, as usual, there was a lot of pushing and shoving as they raced through the corridors.

Mori, although that was not yet its name, reached the line in time to get a full plate. Mori ate greedily, knowing that it would need the energy for the day ahead. Although violence was strictly forbidden, the older children often stole from the younger ones, but usually the threat of violence was enough to convince them to hand over their food without any punches being thrown. Mori wasn’t bothered by anyone now though, and finished its meal without incident.

Today was an induction day. Mori wasn’t looking forward to it. Usually Mori and the other children would have the morning to themselves; classes and games wouldn’t start until later in the day. Mori had hoped to spend the morning accessing a favorite holovid, but had been informed the night before that it was assigned one of the new children for the next few days. Mori could probably get out of it by tomorrow, but this morning Mori would have to attend the introductory seminars and sit holding some kid’s hand.

So, Mori didn’t rush when the klaxon sounded for the end of firstmeal, and hung back with a few others who probably had the same assignment. When the cleaning bots began shooing them out, they all shuffled down the corridor towards the lecture hall.

“Come on, come on!” called a voice ahead of them, from one of the scientists, Amezla. She was a bit of a pushover, so they didn’t heed her admonishments. “They’re all waiting for you. You remember how it was when you arrived here. Let’s not keep them waiting. And try to be nice.”

The children smiled at one another. It was rare being told to be nice by one of the scientists, who usually scolded them for being so. In her hurry though, Amezla had dropped the act and let slip her real self. When this happened, the children would always exchange knowing, mocking glances with one another. It happened fairly often with Amezla, who was new to the project.

She finally managed to herd them into the nearly empty lecture room.

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