Servo 21:1
Servo 21:1
Class started a couple minutes late. That surprised me. Mrs. Graham was always painfully prompt. Rory and I were seated and quietly talking about our shared dream when she came in.“Apologies for being late. Mr. Cooper and I had to break up a fight in the hall.”“Did anyone get hurt?” Rory asked.“Todd Darnell got a bloody nose and had to be taken to the school nurse. That was my job.” She opened her tote bag and removed a tablet and interface cable. “Are you ready for your English test?”We nodded and presented our tablets. Mrs. Graham took them and began uploading the tests. “May I ask a question?” I said, not sure how she’d respond.“Certainly, Jonah.”“I was reading Frankenstein and wondered if it would be possible to bring a person back to life?”She cocked her head. “Very interesting question…But so far, even with advancements in science; they have yet to bring a person back from the dead who has been gone more than a few minutes.”“Well, what if they were dead over a year?”“Highly doubtful.”“What if you brought them back, but they weren’t in their own body?”“And how would you accomplish that?”“Give them a new body.”“Preposterous!” She stood and handed the tablets to us. “You can’t just give a dead person a new body. What of their personality? Their memories?”“What if you could give them all that back too?”“I’d say that’s impossible. Not even Victor Frankenstein could do that.”After hearing her answer, I decided not to press the issue anymore. The English test sat in front of me, it was time to get to work. Looking at the first question, I almost wanted to roll my eyes. So easy! Did she give us the right test? Granted, Rory should’ve been in junior high, but with his IQ, the school figured he was smart enough to be with Suz and me. I toiled for half an hour and then raised my hand. It was definitely not a difficult exam, just tedious. Mrs. Graham took my tablet and plugged it into hers so she could grade the test and then delete it. Rory finished a few minutes after me. I glanced at my watch and noticed the bell for recess would be sounding shortly. A stroll in the fresh air would do me good. Months of being cooped up in the broom closet classroom had me now feeling claustrophobic; I wanted to be outside. The bell rang and we waited to be dismissed. “I’ll have your test scores when you get back,” Mrs. Graham said, unplugging my tablet and connecting Rory’s. “Go enjoy the sun.”We got up and hurried out. In the hallway, we ran into Dagwood. He didn’t look well. “Are you okay?” I asked.“Golly-gee, that was a hard test!” he said, and made like he was wiping sweat from his brow. “How’d your test go?”“I guess we did okay. Mrs. Graham is grading them now.”“Bet you guys’ll get straight A’s.”There was no way I could respond to that statement without hurting his feelings. I knew Dagwood well enough to know he wasn’t the college type. He’d be a farmer, and be happy doing it. Rory and I had much greater aspirations for our future, and our breeding dictated that we excel. Failure to attend a school of higher learning would be a waste. It was both a blessing and a curse of being a GEE.Instead of answering him, I hastened my stride toward the door which led outside. I pushed it open and stepped into the lovely warm sun. Oh, it felt wonderful! “So what are you going to do this summer, Dagwood?” I asked, heading to our customary bench away from the rest of the kids in school. Even after nearly ten months of school, they still gave us a wide berth like we had the plague. “Pa wants me to help on the farm…And I got three chickens to get ready for the state fair.”“How do you get a chicken ready for a fair?” Rory said, scratching his head.“You put ’em in a special coop, away from the others. You feed ’em real good, and make sure their feathers don’t get damaged. And right before the show, you give ’em a bath.”“Bathing a chicken? How silly!”“You gotta make ’em look pretty for the judge.” He playfully flapped his arms. “Chickens ain’t all about eatin’ ya know…You should come to the fair and see.”I nodded. “That might be interesting.”“Oh, oh! And they have carnival rides—some are really scary!”“When is it?”“It starts the third of July. On the forth, they usually have a big fireworks show.”Rory looked at Dagwood. “Do they still celebrate Independence Day here?”“Well, sure. Didn’t they do that in the Inner States?”“Not after the Great Separation. The advisory board said did not fit into the objective of the Inner States,” I replied.“No fireworks?”“They were deemed hazardous. And the holiday was one celebrated by the United States. And we were no longer united.”“That’s silly. America still had to fight for her independence all those years ago.”As I stood listening to Dagwood extoll the virtues of the state fair and Independence Day, I realized there was still so much in life I’d yet to experience. How could I balance my future career in robotics with travel and exploration? My father seemed tied to work; he had little free time to spend with family. Mother was the same way. I didn’t want to live like that. The bell rang and we stood, heading back to class. “Hey, can I come over after school?” he asked, walking with us partway.“Sure,” I said. “Dad’s still in the barn.”“Are you ever gonna take him in the house?”“I dunno. But Grandma and Grandpa need to know about him.”“That might be good…Okay, I’ll see you later, I need to go over there.” He pointed and then left us.“See you after school,” I said. We returned to class and sat quietly. Mrs. Graham came in. “Did you enjoy the weather?”“Yes, it was very nice,” Rory answered. “Can’t wait for after school.”“Oh? Something going on?”“Uh, no, just going to be playing outside.”She handed out our tablets. “All right, the lasttest has been loaded.”“How did we do on English?” I asked.“You both got an A plus—as usual.” Rory and I clapped our hands. The more A’s the better as far as I was concerned. Visions of Bryn Mawr Bio-Technical swirled in my head. There would be a long, tough road to gain acceptance to an institution like that, but having pristine grades should help.
Class started a couple minutes late. That surprised me. Mrs. Graham was always painfully prompt. Rory and I were seated and quietly talking about our shared dream when she came in.“Apologies for being late. Mr. Cooper and I had to break up a fight in the hall.”“Did anyone get hurt?” Rory asked.“Todd Darnell got a bloody nose and had to be taken to the school nurse. That was my job.” She opened her tote bag and removed a tablet and interface cable. “Are you ready for your English test?”We nodded and presented our tablets. Mrs. Graham took them and began uploading the tests. “May I ask a question?” I said, not sure how she’d respond.“Certainly, Jonah.”“I was reading Frankenstein and wondered if it would be possible to bring a person back to life?”She cocked her head. “Very interesting question…But so far, even with advancements in science; they have yet to bring a person back from the dead who has been gone more than a few minutes.”“Well, what if they were dead over a year?”“Highly doubtful.”“What if you brought them back, but they weren’t in their own body?”“And how would you accomplish that?”“Give them a new body.”“Preposterous!” She stood and handed the tablets to us. “You can’t just give a dead person a new body. What of their personality? Their memories?”“What if you could give them all that back too?”“I’d say that’s impossible. Not even Victor Frankenstein could do that.”After hearing her answer, I decided not to press the issue anymore. The English test sat in front of me, it was time to get to work. Looking at the first question, I almost wanted to roll my eyes. So easy! Did she give us the right test? Granted, Rory should’ve been in junior high, but with his IQ, the school figured he was smart enough to be with Suz and me. I toiled for half an hour and then raised my hand. It was definitely not a difficult exam, just tedious. Mrs. Graham took my tablet and plugged it into hers so she could grade the test and then delete it. Rory finished a few minutes after me. I glanced at my watch and noticed the bell for recess would be sounding shortly. A stroll in the fresh air would do me good. Months of being cooped up in the broom closet classroom had me now feeling claustrophobic; I wanted to be outside. The bell rang and we waited to be dismissed. “I’ll have your test scores when you get back,” Mrs. Graham said, unplugging my tablet and connecting Rory’s. “Go enjoy the sun.”We got up and hurried out. In the hallway, we ran into Dagwood. He didn’t look well. “Are you okay?” I asked.“Golly-gee, that was a hard test!” he said, and made like he was wiping sweat from his brow. “How’d your test go?”“I guess we did okay. Mrs. Graham is grading them now.”“Bet you guys’ll get straight A’s.”There was no way I could respond to that statement without hurting his feelings. I knew Dagwood well enough to know he wasn’t the college type. He’d be a farmer, and be happy doing it. Rory and I had much greater aspirations for our future, and our breeding dictated that we excel. Failure to attend a school of higher learning would be a waste. It was both a blessing and a curse of being a GEE.Instead of answering him, I hastened my stride toward the door which led outside. I pushed it open and stepped into the lovely warm sun. Oh, it felt wonderful! “So what are you going to do this summer, Dagwood?” I asked, heading to our customary bench away from the rest of the kids in school. Even after nearly ten months of school, they still gave us a wide berth like we had the plague. “Pa wants me to help on the farm…And I got three chickens to get ready for the state fair.”“How do you get a chicken ready for a fair?” Rory said, scratching his head.“You put ’em in a special coop, away from the others. You feed ’em real good, and make sure their feathers don’t get damaged. And right before the show, you give ’em a bath.”“Bathing a chicken? How silly!”“You gotta make ’em look pretty for the judge.” He playfully flapped his arms. “Chickens ain’t all about eatin’ ya know…You should come to the fair and see.”I nodded. “That might be interesting.”“Oh, oh! And they have carnival rides—some are really scary!”“When is it?”“It starts the third of July. On the forth, they usually have a big fireworks show.”Rory looked at Dagwood. “Do they still celebrate Independence Day here?”“Well, sure. Didn’t they do that in the Inner States?”“Not after the Great Separation. The advisory board said did not fit into the objective of the Inner States,” I replied.“No fireworks?”“They were deemed hazardous. And the holiday was one celebrated by the United States. And we were no longer united.”“That’s silly. America still had to fight for her independence all those years ago.”As I stood listening to Dagwood extoll the virtues of the state fair and Independence Day, I realized there was still so much in life I’d yet to experience. How could I balance my future career in robotics with travel and exploration? My father seemed tied to work; he had little free time to spend with family. Mother was the same way. I didn’t want to live like that. The bell rang and we stood, heading back to class. “Hey, can I come over after school?” he asked, walking with us partway.“Sure,” I said. “Dad’s still in the barn.”“Are you ever gonna take him in the house?”“I dunno. But Grandma and Grandpa need to know about him.”“That might be good…Okay, I’ll see you later, I need to go over there.” He pointed and then left us.“See you after school,” I said. We returned to class and sat quietly. Mrs. Graham came in. “Did you enjoy the weather?”“Yes, it was very nice,” Rory answered. “Can’t wait for after school.”“Oh? Something going on?”“Uh, no, just going to be playing outside.”She handed out our tablets. “All right, the lasttest has been loaded.”“How did we do on English?” I asked.“You both got an A plus—as usual.” Rory and I clapped our hands. The more A’s the better as far as I was concerned. Visions of Bryn Mawr Bio-Technical swirled in my head. There would be a long, tough road to gain acceptance to an institution like that, but having pristine grades should help.
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