Freaks

41 • surrender?

❝funny, how just when you think life can't possibly
get any worse, it suddenly does❞
ｄｏｕｇｌａｓ ａｄａｍｓ

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  "IT has come to my attention that the rules around here have become unenforced as of late."

Redmond starts off the new week with a speech. Her eyes are hardened, and her voice is rigid and absolute as she utters each syllable. Perhaps 'speech' is too kind a word. It almost suggests an element of praise in her tone, that she takes pride in our actions. She doesn't.

Redmond's talk is the opposite. Her almond eyes hold a quiet contempt, a dissatisfactory sort of disdain as they probe her captive audience. This is no speech. It's a scolding.

"Many a student has fallen under the false impression that they are merely guidelines or helpful suggestions. We seem to have forgotten what they really are: orders." She pauses, for effect. Or maybe to quell the quiet whispers that break out. "Orders that have been put in place to protect you. Orders that a number of you — larger than any of you probably realise — have broken. This sort of behaviour I would expect from Gamma, but you pupils are Beta. Half of you will be graduating and moving on to Alpha in a matter of months. I expect better."

The air is tense. Silent. As if no one dared to breathe. As if we feared that if we dared, Redmond would rip the air from our lungs and silence us altogether. It's the reaction of a guilty person, and it dawns on me that I'm not the only guilty one sat in the audience.

For a brief moment, I pull my gaze away from Redmond to look at my peers, sat around their respective tables with meals laid before them. No one dares to touch their food, no one dares to do anything but look at Redmond.

I return to staring, in time to watch her do something her predecessor would never do. Redmond smiles. It's what differentiates her from Morgana: that wide, red-lipped, almost plastic smile that causes her mood to shift so rapidly, you'd miss it if you blinked. She bares her pearly white teeth to the entire room, and I'm not sure if this is really better than her scolding.

"Now," she starts anew. "I'd like to consider myself an understanding person. I know that as we near the end of the school year, many of us tend to get more... forgetful. And so to help, let's say, jog your memories, I'd like to introduce my little helpers: the Rule-Bots."

On her command, five metallic machines roll onto the stage, towering over Redmond at a height I approximate to be around 7 feet. The robots are sleekly designed, a single uniform shape in chromium silver with moving arms that juxtapose the pair of cartoonish glowing blue eyes on their animatronic face.

"The Rule-Bots have been created using the latest advancements in AI technology to help facilitate safety and identify potential threats on the school premises," Redmond explains, smiling as one of the robots raises its mechanical arm and waves. "I'm sure you all, like me, will be able to feel much safer with them around."

I turn my attention back to the table, noticing the others do the same. We shoot each other quizzical looks.

"She's gotten us nannybots to help impose the rules?" Logan says, scoffing.

Markus eyes the robots once more. At Logan's comment, his eyes light up with a playful glint. He crosses his arms and leans over the table. "Robonannies?" he suggests cheekily.