𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔉𝔬𝔲𝔯

"I have you to thank for the dark circles under my eyes," I told Theo the next day on the way to class.

When he turned to face me, he didn't exactly look so bright and cheery himself.

"You know, I have to say...they really suit you," he replied without a change in his demeanor.

I stepped in front of him and swiped my id card with more force than necessary. I stepped in so quickly that the door hardly had enough time to slide away. The room beyond was completely empty—which was no surprise since I was almost two hours early.

The large lecture hall was the size of a ballroom. It was lined in stiff sheets of metal shooting up over thirty feet to the glass ceiling, shrouding the entire room in an elegant light. The rows of long, connected desks wrapped around the front platform that had the ability to rise or fall, shift and change, illuminate or darken in a half circle. Each chair hovered in place, locked until its user swiped their id card.

But none of it interested me. I was too tired to even project something on the stage floor. Not even a meme to scare the teachers' pants off.

I hadn't slept very well last night. I think I had burned a few hundred calories just tossing and turning, trying to find a comfortable, painless position. And it was all Theo The Jerk's fault.

At around four in the morning, I had completely given up on sleep. That jumpstart to my day had given me an extra three hours to get ready when I only needed three and a half minutes. So, therefore, here I was, coming to class at the same time as the class president. What did he even do for two hours?

"At least I have an excuse for looking terrible," I said, throwing my backpack next to my seat, lazily swiping my id, and plopping down. It took all my energy not to scream at the pain—I had forgotten about that especially nasty bruise on my behind. "What about you? Why do you look like you died and never revived?"

"I was studying all night," he answered, falling into his own seat beside me (I know, it's terrible). "We have a test today."

"I thought that was next week."

"That's the Rómi test. This is the Dýnami test."

I swept my hair out of my face and turned to him, raising a quizzical eyebrow. "Why do all our tests have names anyway?"

"They give everything we do meaning. Dýnami is greek for virtue, might, potency. While rómi is greek for vigor, sturdiness, superiority. Both demonstrate the core and reason for each test."

"It just sounds dumb to me," I replied, folding my arms and throwing my legs onto my desk. My legs brushed against the white surface and activated it.

"Welcome back to class, Miss Adair," an automated voice greeted. "We are very sorry you could not make it yesterday."

"Yeah, yeah. So very sorry." I turned to Theo. "Since when do we have yet another robot spying on us?"

"They installed it yesterday. It's a helper, tutor, and companion all in one. One of the board members helped develop the technology. Each knows all about its user so that it can better improve itself and others."

Creepy. "Will it at least get me food if I ask it to?" I questioned.

"No, of course not. It's your friend, not your servant."

"Useless," I murmured.

"I apologize," my robot desk said. "Please tell me how to improve myself."

Instead of replying, I removed my legs from my desk and swiped the screen off.

Half an hour later, I was bored out of my mind. I had already counted all the flies, asked my robot desk (its name was apparently Mai) every random question I could think of, tried and failed to get Mai to tell me a joke, and watched the same bird run into the glass ceiling ten times within the span of five minutes.