The Joining: The Cycle of the Shards Book One

13: Alienation

The bathroom door opened, and Critock almost stumbled out, still getting used to the novelty of using the boy's body, and also the somewhat higher gravity of Earth as opposed to most of the planets he had been to. Ever since the last statement for Critock to remove himself from Kyle's body, the boy was completely quiet, having withdrawn his consciousness completely from anywhere Critock could mentally access. However, potentially as a last form of rebellion, there were some parts of his mind he could not reach. Certain memories, perhaps fantasies, that could not be seen. Probably out of shame, or privacy, Critock didn't know, and honestly at this point did not care. He didn't need any of that, and if the boy was going to be sullen and bitter over this, he can go ahead and sit in the back of the brain for the rest of the time this was going on. He had enough to deal with right now. First and foremost, accessing the memory of exactly how to get back to the classroom he had fled from. It took him a moment, being unaware of the architecture of the human mind and where certain memories were stored, but after a couple of near wrong turns, he was able to navigate back to where he had started from, where he heard his original target, Mr. Phelps, speaking through the door.

He stopped as he heard the muffled voice of the teacher. This wasn't his style. He was much more the type to run in, shoot the problem in the head or wherever their brains were located, and leave. Quick and easy. Subterfuge was not something he was comfortable with, especially within a species he knew nothing about, as well as being a student! How was he supposed to pretend to learn information that was eons behind what he had already learned years before he was of the age these kids are! And that was hundreds of years ago! He didn't think he even had the capacity to pretend he was on their level, he could probably no more do that than pretend he was a baby! Hell, Marconian children had knowledge streamed to them from birth in order to have the best possible start, what would a Human baby even be! He stopped himself, took deep breaths, and looked up. The best thing he could do now is just go back to his training. Absorb knowledge as best he can from Kyle's thoughts and memories and from the students around him, and use that. If these kids thought something was off, at least they wouldn't suspect his true identity. The only one that he would be concerned about is Pt'ron, but even he, being acclimated to this planet for so long, would probably not suspect him. He knew his target well enough, at least he used to, to know that once in place for a while he would feel safe and secure in his deception. And this has been hundreds of years of deception. It would not totally surprise Critock if Pt'ron had gone native and almost completely forgot who he was. Satisfied and feeling more confident, Critock opened the door to the classroom.

The first impression that Critock had of the room was not positive. Desks cluttered everywhere, and way too many of them. Over twenty people in the room, most of which obviously not paying any attention to the instructor. Those that were trying to pay attention were also writing down points, dividing their attention between that and a course book that was also supposed to be followed. How was anyone supposed to teach using these arcane methods? How was anyone supposed to pay attention with three or four things to look at once? He shook his head as he entered the room. Madness. What did impress him, at least, was the model of the galaxy that was suspended over the room on wires. The scale was mostly correct, at least from the brief moments he had glanced over the galactic map on his now-destroyed hopper, and it gave him a small amount of hope. Most planets in the age that Earth was in didn't think much to the boundaries outside their little world, focusing instead on their narrow religions and wars that failed to take into account the limited lifespan of their world and what could be out there in the infinite void. He referenced Kyle's memory to navigate to his seat, and failed to notice that since he had entered the room that Phelps had stopped teaching, and the room had become eerily silent. He settled in the uncomfortable chair, shifting a couple times to find the most comfortable position, and only then glanced around the room, realizing that every eye was on him, looking at him with a mixture of concern and curiosity. He had a sudden memory of how it must have looked when he ran out of the room, bleeding and barely coherent, and now coming back in like nothing had happened. He didn't know how to react.