442 double-checked the sentences to make sure they were copied exactly. They had to be perfect. He couldn't afford to lose another bar, there were only two left. He read from the council guidebook:
The posture of a child should be shoulders back chin forward. His eyes should never meet with an adult.
He glanced over at 441 who sat in the examination seat to his right. Her thin fingers tapped away at the symbols on her module's grey keypad. He looked to his left where 440's lips moved as he silently read from the guidebook. There was a hint of Barbitol soap from 435 the prettiest girl in the class. Her amber braids dangled over the back of the grey chair in front of him.
The room was full of the pitter-patter of fingers on keypads. A digital melody interrupted the tapping. It was a sweet sound six notes descending the major scale three times.
The typing stopped. Everyone reflexively cranked their heads to check their wrists. 442's red bars blinked three times. One of them faded away. He was one step closer to being undone.
The council had seen him, had judged him unworthy. He would never know why. His limbs felt like they were made of heavy iron. He didn't try to move them, or to do anything at all for fear he'd make the same mistake again.
After some time he ventured to copy a line into his essay:
The demeanor of a child must be neutral at all times, for life is never as horrid as the unworthy fear or as glorious as the unworthy hope.
He tried not to think of his guardians when he read of the horrid state of the unworthy. His guardians were always proper, but sometimes they told him they could not live without him. Now that they were undone, he had a hard time thinking of anything else.
The other children had resumed their typing. 442 thought he could feel eyes behind him studying his profile for signs of distress. There were only seven days left in the quarter. He just needed to act properly and then his bars would be renewed. He'd gone whole quarters without losing a bar. He just needed to focus on his work.
The digital melody chimed just as he turned the page of his guidebook. His chest tightened while his heart felt like it was trying to expand. He wanted to run but it was his duty to keep still. He looked at his wrist and watched the last bar fade away. The low drone of the ship's motors hummed, but not one frequency of sound was added to it. The class of thirty-three children sat with perfect posture. Enforcers were on their way.
The door of the classroom opened slowly; two tall figures with black masks glided forward six paces. The sharp horns on their heads marked them as second level. They moved without confusion, singling him out instantly. They came down either side of his row to stand beside him. He laid his arms out over his closed module. Each of the enforcers latched a ring of restraint onto his wrists. The one on his right pressed the green button that pulled the links together.
The enforcers' black uniforms had a gloss that made them look wet. He didn't know why that fascinated him so much. He was going to be undone, but he just wanted to run his fingers over one of the enforcer's long covered arms to see if the effect was real or just an illusion of light. His guardians had whispered to him about light, about how colors were just beams reflecting at different frequencies.
He slid out of his seat and let the enforcer on his left lead him. He could see 435 out of the corner of his eye as he walked past; he thought he could register an improper feeling on her face. He thought it was what his guardians had once called: disgust.
The floor of the information deck was just as shiny as the enforcers' tight-fitting suits. 442's long baggy robe was dull. It had a brown stain over his knee. A spot of blue ink was on his left sleeve. He could feel the wetness of the unworthy sliding down his cheeks.
The enforcers led him through the passage into the safety center, where the unworthy were made to disappear. The enforcers guided him around several adults with their hands up over their heads, some of them were down on their knees. The two enforcers pushed him forward and he couldn't help but lookup. His eyes locked with his male guardian. The man did not reprove him. He had a strange expression that twisted up on both sides of his mouth. He pulled 442 into his arms. "Oh, child I've missed you so."
There was a murmur of protest at the improper display, but his guardian stared them all down. 442 stepped into the embrace of his female guardian, and she planted her lips on his cheeks. She undid his wrist restraints. She made her voice loud so all could hear. "Don't try to follow us, or we will unleash the fiery wrath sequence. You won't be able to stop it. We've made sure of that."
She pushed 442 into a safety pod and his male guardian climbed in with them. The space was cramped but it felt right. The pod broke off of the council ship and drifted toward a large green ball with silver rings.
