The Dark Jumper

Chapter 4 - Adjustment

Chapter 4 - Adjustment

Jace tried to push the morning's events out of his head as he rode in the back of the car to school. Abby sat on the passenger side while his mother drove. They lived in a two story, white paneled home with dark green shutters aside the windows. The home had a matching garage and large backyard with hammocks and tire swings, rose bushes just on the front of the house and near the sidewalk along the main road. It was within a cul-de-sac of about three other houses. If their family's intentions were blending, Jace figured they were just like a typical American suburban family, maybe a little more well-to-do.

The school wasn't too far a drive from where they lived, about five blocks worth. Jace's mother drove without much to say, while Abby mumbled something about how the ride wasn't smooth. Jace knew Abby wasn't used to the friction of the car's tires on the road. Neither was he, his hand gripping the door frame as he took in the sights of the town that sped past. Transer travel was far smoother. He missed the feeling of floating, the speed he took, the precision of the ride. Automatic travel was a viable, common option in his native time, but for the present, his mother wasn't kidding about the manual emphasis.

Students stood outside on the courtyard in front of Femince Academy as their mother pulled the car up to the front.

"Okay you two, have a good day. I'll pick you up this afternoon. If you have to stay after for any reason, just give me a call. You both remember the house and our work and cell numbers, right?"

"Yes." Abby's voice registered with annoyance while Jace gave a confident affirmation. He looked at his younger sister through the rearview mirror. She ignored him.

Jace saw his mother give Abby a quick kiss on the cheek. His sister didn't say anything as she climbed out of the passenger seat of the car.

His mother smiled as she turned to him. "Jace, look after her today. And remember what we told you about blending."

"I know. Abby and I got that enough in the Jump lectures."

"See you this afternoon. Love you."

Jace walked to the courtyard after closing the car door behind him, watching his mother drive away. Femince Academy might as well have been a 21st century college campus with how big it was, minus the dorm rooms. The courtyard had a brick walkway leading up to the front stairs of the main double doors of the school. Jace had to remind himself that there weren't sensors to open the doors for them. Luckily, a few students ahead of him held the door open for him and Abby as they entered.

Abby walked ahead of him in long, stilted strides, looking around at the masses of others their age - older and younger. All in the same uniforms - tapered jackets, dress shirts and shoes, plaid skirts for the girls and straight legged khakis for the boys. In Gorodia, they had uniforms too. Public and private schools both had their universal uniforms to designate one kind from the other.

Abby frowned as they entered the main office - the secretary's desk empty.

"This is so primitive," Abby mumbled. "Waiting, waiting, waiting. People here are so slow! And did you see how crowded the hallway was? They don't even have RegBots here."

Jace noted the absence of the RegBots as well. The schools had them in Gorodia as not only a way to lower student congestion in the halls of the school, but to scan IDs, administer discipline, and overall provide the student body with a sense of security, not just on internal spectrums, but also from external forces as well. They were multifunctioned FWALs. Most of the schools on Earth were safe and employed them for basic purposes, but in other places in the galaxy like Saturn's moons, schools had feuding colonies where the students had to take refuge inside the schools while the colonies battled outside. RegBots were extremely valuable there.