Paranimal

Chapter 8

"Hands up, who else has forgotten to complete the homework?" Mr Clinton demands, glowering around the classroom over his half-moon specs.

I raise my hand, doggedly along with about half a dozen others, but I'm honestly not that bothered today.

"Right, that's eight of you." He scowls, marking our names on his iPlaque before moving to his Prolightop. "Those who have just raised their hands, you will see me at the end of the lesson. Now without further ado, let's begin."

I slouch into my seat beside Ellen, my eye fixed on the digital numbers of the clock on the LightBoard as Mr Clinton begins to tap on the projected keyboard of his ProLightop. Everything he types, then shows up on the LightBoard.

"Right, today's lesson we are going to start a new topic; the basic landforms and geographical features of the Bucket."

Low mutters and groans of bored anticipation waver about the room in reaction to the foreseen weeks of geography lessons on what half the population doesn't even care about.

"Now take out your iPlaques, and begin a fresh page in your Geography folders please." Mr Clinton orders, typing the date onto the LightBoard. "Be sure to copy the date and oh, also select a template page with lined paper and a fine margin please."

There is an audible cacophony as we reach into our satchels for our iPlaques, followed by a general sliding and clicking noise as we unlock the screens. I quickly click on 'School' and then into the 'Geography Folder' before selecting 'new page' and choosing my paper settings. Then I scribble the date with my finger in the top right hand corner of the screen:

22.05.4128

Ellen leans over to copy mine, unsure of what she's doing.

"Alright, let's begin. So what do you all know about the Bucket then? Hands up please. Yes, Joe?"

"Ur, well we live in a cra'er don't we, sir?" Joe contributes.

"Yes, that's right. We live in a crater. A very very large crater. Anyone else?"

"It's sorta a valley isn't it?"

"Indeed, the Bucket was infact a valley before it became inhabited and it wasn't until this valley was struck by an immense meteorite that paranimals began to live here. Now because the valley was struck at its centre, we now have this circular area in the middle, what we know as the BucketCentre, at the very heart of the crater." Mr Clinton explains, pointing to an aerial diagram of the Bucket. "Then you've got where the valley continues to go on, either side of the crater, leading north and south. Anyone got any idea what the two ends of the valley are now?"

"North is Upper Bucket and South is Lower Bucket, I think." One girl says.

Mr Clinton nods in approval.

"That's correct. So you have the BucketCentre here in the middle, where the meteorite struck and we have a circular crater, then running off at opposite sides of the crater, you've got the valley stretching north and south. Now, look here, here, where the northernmost valley begins to even out to join the flat lands. This is where the Wild begins." Mr Clinton double taps on the aerial diagram to zoom into Upper Bucket. "Does anyone know what is located about this area?"

Ellen sticks up one hand, resting her chin on the other.

"Yes, Ellen?"

"I think...I think, there's this kinda...barrier, um, some kind of gravitational force field barrier...it's er, invisible but stops intruders entering the Bucket from the Northern Valley...Upper Bucket I mean." Ellen replies, stopping and starting like a jacked up FlowPod as she tries to recall and collect the information within her brain.