Cipher

Chapter 20: Patterns

On Monday, Cipher sat in English trying very hard not to let his boredom show. Mr. Wulf was going over the guidelines for the partner project the class was going to be working on for the next several weeks. Which was all well and good, except that he had already explained everything and assigned partners on Friday after turning in their essays.

As the teacher finished speaking, partners started shifting their desks to work together. Cipher and Joslyn moved so their desks were facing each other.

"So..." Joslyn drew the word out, pursing her lips. "Do you have anything in mind?"

Cipher shrugged. "You are fond of Shakespeare, are you not?"

She tilted her head, "I guess, but I don't think I want to give a ten minute presentation on it. He's written so much I don't know where we would start" The assignment was to pick a prominent author from literary history to create a presentation about and share it with the class.

"Did you have anything in mind then?"

It was Joslyn's turn to shrug. "Not really. A couple Gothic authors might be interesting to look at." A small half-smile grew across her face, nearly a smirk. "We could always do H.G. Wells; talk about War of the Worlds and stuff."

Cipher watched as laughter and playfulness grew around her weaving its way into everything. He narrowed his eyes playfully, "Perhaps."

Joslyn had to smother her laugh. "Okay, okay, seriously though. Any preferences?"

"The only Gothic authors I am familiar with are Edgar Allan Poe and Mary Shelley," he admitted.

She seemed to deliberate for a moment. "We could always do Mary Shelley if that's okay with you, I'm mostly just familiar with Frankenstein, though."

Cipher inclined his head. "That is fine with me."

"Great," she smiled. "How do we want to split this up?"

They continued back and forth; Cipher asking for more than his share of the work and Joslyn insisting that they at least try to make an even split. When they finally wrapped it up, pieces assigned and 'deadlines' made, they still had about twenty minutes before class let out.

"Ready for Biology next period?" Joslyn asked.

"The lab this week seems interesting," Cipher shrugged.

"I bet you'll ace the quizzes. Especially when we get to the Aeolian unit." She teased.

"They are not difficult if you simply listen during class."

Joslyn gave a small scoffing laugh, "tell that to the half of the class that constantly complains about how hard they are."

"You are not included in that half, correct?"

That caught her off guard, a surprised laugh slipping out. Embarrassment flitted across her aura as several students turned their heads to glance at her. "No, I'm not part of that group." she said quietly, as if that made up for her outburst.

After a quiet pause, Joslyn suddenly tilted her head as if just remembering something. "Hey, Cipher."

"Yes?"

"So, since your skin shifts from basically albino white to super dark brown, do Aeolians have to deal with racism?"

Cipher paused, considering his next words. "Yes and no." Joslyn waited for him to continue. "We do not have 'racism' the same way you do. Honestly, I still find that particular behavior very difficult to understand. However, Aeolians still have their own discriminatory behavior against one another."

"Really?"

Cipher raised his chin. "My parents' relationship was actually quite controversial at the time."

Joslyn looked over at him "Seriously?" She couldn't imagine why.

Cipher inclined his head again, affirming her rhetorical question. "Aeolians are generally sorted into three different... groups? I do not know if those are the right words. But these groups do not mix."

Joslyn's eyebrows shot up. "How are you 'sorted'?" she asked using his own words.

"By markings, of course," he said as if that were obvious.

"What do you mean by that?"

"There are three basic types of markings and they are inherited from your parents," He absently traced the patterns along his arm. "There are... spots and... swirls and... lines, I suppose?" He seemed to be having trouble finding words to fit what he was trying to say. "These three groups tend to stay separate."

"You have swirls and spots."

He met her gaze, "Exactly."

He let that sink in for a moment before continuing.

"My mother," his fingers brushed the dotted marks under his right eye. "Is the youngest daughter of a leading family. And my father," his hand drifted to the swirl that decorated the left. "He was training to take over for his father with their people." He sighed and Joslyn could tell what was coming wasn't great. "When everyone found out that the planet was doomed they formed an uneasy alliance for the sake of our entire species. Unfortunately, the third group was particularly resistant and as far as we know most of them died with Aeolus. There are some here, but not many.

"Keeping separation when you have an entire planet with marked and natural boundaries is not difficult. Groups mixed in the larger burrows to exchange knowledge and goods, but they rarely formed a union. It was almost unheard of, and often not recognized if it did happen." he glanced over to Joslyn to see that she was listening with rapt attention. "But on a ship, even a large one, separation tends to break down. Especially between two of the leading families that have to work with each other daily."

"So they got together before they came to Earth?"

"Their union was highly objected on both sides, but yes they were as you would say 'married' before arriving here." He leans back. "It is more common now, for the sake of genetic diversity and unity, but some of the older generations are still very distrustful of one another. There simply are not enough Aeolians to allow something that shallow to get in the way. Only a fraction of our population was willing to make the trip. Only seven of the more than thirty leading families are here."

"And you're part of two." Joslyn thought out loud. Did that make him an important figure in Aeolian society? Or was he just another child born on a planet that wasn't home?

His chin tilted up, "yes."