Obsolution ✔

Chapter 11

Ty scooped up a squealing Helia into his arms.

"What'd you do today at school?"

"No school, no school!" She bounced.

"No school?" Ty echoed.

He directed his question more at Damon and Sam, who both had the day off.

Sam crossed her arms. Lately, she was defensive. Every time Ty would ask her about her day, about Antoinella, or about anything, she was obstinate in her lack of response. Her reaction to his latest prompting was hardly any different.

"I took her out of school early today," she sniffed.

Ty kissed Helia on the temple before putting her down. "Why's that?"

Recently, Ty had enrolled Helia in a pre-kindergarten program. Damon was taking more classes, and spent little time at home. Ty thought it was on purpose, but he was already pushing Sam for answers, so he left his brother alone. Both Ty and Sam worked steady hours, and it was easy to afford Helia's new school program. He hated to admit it, but it was easy to afford things since Jennifer's departure. She had always asked him for money, or had outright stolen money from his wallet. Money was a sore subject for Ty, and because he had paid Helia's tuition in advance, he was mildly annoyed Sam had thought to pull Helia out of school without consulting him.

"I took her out because I don't like that school. Have you seen the actual lesson plans? There's hardly any student/teacher contact. They put the kids in front of their own interface, and the interface is the teacher." Helia climbed onto Sam's lap. In response, Sam kissed Helia on the temple, and Ty thought of how he still wasn't used to his twin. "I came to the school early to bring her lunch, and saw rows of three-year olds, staring like robots, listening to the interfaces, tapping the screen when they were told. In the two classrooms next door, it was the same story, only a different age group. After seeing that, I brought her home. It's my day off anyway. I'd rather she spend the day doing activities and experiencing human contact than learning about life from a damn screen."

He hated to admit his twin was right, so much so that he overlooked her cursing in front of Helia. "Huh. Kinda makes me want to--."

"To home school her." Sam finished the sentence for Ty. "I felt the same way. But we'll have to make it work between our scattered schedules."

Ty nodded.

From the kitchen, Damon called, "You're gonna be late!"

Sam checked the time on her phone before scrambling off the couch. "He's right. I've gotta go to a meeting."

As Sam got ready to leave, Ty approached her. "When are you going to be done with these meetings?"

She was putting on her shoes, not looking him in the eye. "Wish I knew."

"Can you say hi to Martine for me?"

At the mention of Martine, Sam stopped what she was doing.

"She's not in my group anymore." A thought occurred to her. "You haven't seen her at work?"

Ty was shocked his clone had revealed a detail about her life. He had asked about Martine to make conversation, but now he saw there was more to her disappearance.

"I haven't seen her lately, no."

"Me neither."

They shared a contemplative silence.

"Did Pen fire her?" Sam asked.

"No." Ty paused. "Actually, I don't think he did. I don't know."