Chapter Seven – Where Rules Bend to Power

Chapter Seven – Where Rules Bend to Power

“The biggest detriment to a proper, rigid school system where education is standardized to the degree we wish it to be, are teachers that refuse to comply with our standards.”

–CIAL board meeting, 2051

***

Olivia seemed to go quiet after a while of walking through the campus. I noticed that once we were away from the Bastion, the number of stares I was getting decreased pretty sharply. I guess I was sorta fitting in, what with the ridiculous uniform and all that. Still, I was pretty sure I’d never fit in fully.

There was just this feeling in the air as I walked past yet another group of students. Actually, group was putting it lightly.

The people I saw here were usually on their own. Some of them were moving in pairs, or in little cliques, but more often than not they were alone, and from the look in their eyes, they were alone in their headspace too.

I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but I decided to file it away for later. Maybe it was just too early in the morning for most of these folk, but people where I was from generally tried not to be caught out in the open alone like this. It was asking for trouble.

“So, where’s this Combat and Tactics class anyway?” I asked.

“Just this way,” Olivia said. “It’s in one of the main gymnasium buildings. CIAL has several alumni who are Olympic athletes, and it has professional college teams in hockey, volleyball, American football, soccer, several esports, drone racing, and we have one of the largest pickleball teams in North America!”

I sighed. “Okay, that’s nice,” I said. “You know, you don’t need to sound so much like an advertisement.”

Olivia glanced at me from the corner of her eyes. “I’m just doing my part to highlight the values of the school I love and cherish so much,” she said with the perkiness of someone who’d just taken a bite into a happy pill.

“Uh-huh,” I said.

I couldn’t say she was a bad guide, however, because we made it to our destination soon enough.

The gymnasium building was a rather large one, with a curved roof covered in solar panels between large windows and a front that opened into a large lobby space with free seating and a concession stand to the side.

It reminded me more of a mini sports arena than the kind of gym someone might go to lift heavy things and put them back down.

“Students entering a CIAL facility need to approach the door-side scanner,” Olivia said as she walked us up to the main doors. There was a blocky black thing next to it. “By scanning the scanner here with your CIAL student app on your augs, you can confirm that you’re allowed within a space and unlock the auto-locking doors.”

“Okay,” I said. Pretty normal feeling level of security, I supposed.

“Ah, have you subscribed to the app yet? It’s a quick and easy process, most of the questions aren’t intrusive at all. I’m afraid that I can only open the door for myself.”

I stared at her, one eyebrow raised, then looked at the scanner again. There was one of those QR code things on it, and starring had my augs pop open a prompt.

Want In? Use your CIAL-Pass Student eID to enter now! CLICK HERE to download the app now!

I clicked, out of curiosity, and was immediately frustrated when it opened up a seven-page questionnaire that started with questions about my date of birth and social security number and address, and seemed to end with questions about the number of hours I slept per night. In the middle were some places to attach files, from recently taken pictures of myself, to my medical records.

“Fuck that,” I said. “Myalis, can you fuck this thing up?”

I could, easily, but I feel like you wouldn’t actually want me to crash the entire thing.

I rolled my eyes. “Can you just get me in?” I asked. “Please? And maybe help Lucy.”

Oh, I helped her already. She asked nicely to begin with. I didn’t even have to tease her into being polite. Sometimes I wonder if I picked the wrong idiot.