Sanctuary Falling (11 page)

“No, she left a message to wake you by nine, and have you work on your class work. She is in a meeting. When it’s over, she’ll come and pick you up for the rest of what she has planned.” The breakfast disappeared and a pop-pad appeared in its place.

Annette grimaced, and tapped it on. The list of makeup assignments had grown long since she last checked it, and there was another separate folder labeled factor studies. She tapped that one and found another list of readings and assignments almost as long as the makeup work. With a groan she returned to the homework list and began dutifully reading and doing the assignments, holding the other file as an imaginary carrot in front of herself. Annette was just finishing the makeup work and getting started on the other when Tawny’s voice interrupted her. “Time for lunch, what would you like?” The media screen over the desk lit up with an elaborate menu, including dishes so exotic Annette had never even heard of their ingredients, let alone the dishes.

Annette searched the list, finally deciding,
 
“I know it’s not on the list, but could I just have a
 
simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some potato chips.”

“I’m programmed with a gourmet menu, and you want p b&j?” Tawny asked, she was clearly surprised.

“Is it a problem?”

“No, it’s just that Corrine had some strange tastes, and that’s what I’m used to. I’m not used to having a housebroken resident that lets me off so simply,” Tawny answered as Annette’s order appeared, “Fair warning, Niri’s meeting just let out, so she’ll probably be here in about a half hour.”

“Did she call you?”

“No, her room is a horrendous gossip, and since you are going to be working with her, it feels it necessary to keep me abreast of her movements,” Tawny answered in a tone that clearly showed she would rather be left out of the loop rather than listen to Niri’s room. Annette smiled at that thought, and started to position her lunch for eating when it suddenly disappeared.

“What’s up?”Annette grumbled.

“Sorry, I just received a message that you aren’t to eat lunch. Niri says you’re headed for a thorough physical and Tina would prefer to do it on an empty stomach,” Tawny apologized.

“It’s okay, I guess it doesn’t much matter. It’s not like I’m starving, you were the one who brought it up,” Annette shrugged.

“She’s here.” Tawny mumbled.

“Niri? I guess I’d better go,” Annette started for the door. For a moment she fumbled with the knob before realizing Tawny still had it locked. “Uh, I need to go.”

“I know, I just wanted to give you something first. Hold out your hand.” Annette did as Tawny asked. A small broach dropped onto her outstretched palm. It was a
 
golden spider with an oval ruby for the abdomen and tiny faceted ruby eyes. It was pretty, but confusing.

“What’s this?”

“It’s my remote pin, silly. Just in case you need anything while you’re out and about. Or if you get any messages,” Tawny answered vaguely.

Annette slowly pinned it to her collar, the place most factors in training wore their room’s remote pins, though most were just simple gold buttons.
 
It was a strange gesture on Tawny’s part. “Thanks, it’s really pretty.”

“Remember, I’m here if you need me,” Tawny’s voice bleeped out of the pin. Annette turned the doorknob opened the door revealing Niri waiting almost patiently on the other side.

“I guess I can’t complain at improvement,” Niri mumbled glancing at her pop-pad, “We really need to head to the clinic. I hope you haven’t eaten lunch.” The woman started down the hall, only absently paying attention to direction while she continued to study her pop-pad.

“No, but I’m not understanding why I need a physical. Tina took a lot of scans while she
 
was taking care of my concussion. She took some more to make sure I was better. Why does she need more?” Annette asked following behind.

“I don’t know. She made the request and it isn’t a bad idea before we begin training. It’s going to be pretty intensive. What with-
A
Niri bumped into Chavez interrupting her own statement, “Oh, sorry Sinclair.”

He glanced up long enough to take in Niri and Annette then turned his attention back to his own pop-pad. “Whatever,” He growled back, though from Annette’s point of view the run in had been almost as much the fault of Sinclair’s distracted navigation as Niri’s. After he spoke, he looked up again and stared at the pin on Annette’s collar. “Wait! Niri, how in the heck did you convince that room to take in that girl, and to give her a remote on top of it!”

Niri stopped and turned back to look at Annette, “I asked politely, but I didn’t know it gave her a remote.”

“I’m fond of her,” Tawny answered back to both of them through the pin.

“I’ll be tarred and feathered!” Sinclair swore.

“I don’t doubt it’ll happen sooner or later,” Tawny quipped back, “Now if you’ll excuse us, I believe mistress Annette has an appointment with the assistant head of medical services which cannot wait.”

Niri nodded at that and resumed her course, Annette followed behind slowly. They were around the corner when she heard Sinclair mumble to himself, “Mistress Annette? Maybe there is something to that kid! Four computer services guys couldn’t get the damn thing to listen. . .” His mumbling receded slowly as they approached practice cavern.

Then Niri did a surprising thing, rather than taking the long way to the medical center, she ducked into her office and headed into the transport pod. In all their acquaintanceship, Niri had made one thing clear to Annette she didn’t like laziness. Annette had suffered through multiple long rants on the sheer laziness that factor technology encouraged. The worst example of which being the transport pods. Now, for the second time in as many days, Niri led her into one.
 

Niri activated it when Annette stepped into the pod,
 
and they had arrived before Annette could think it.
 
At first glance, Annette didn’t recognize the waiting room around her. They must be in a specialized portion of the medical complex. Annette stepped out of the pod ahead of Niri, but had to reach for support when a sudden wave of dizziness attacked her.
 
“Are you okay?” Niri asked, while reaching out to steady Annette.

Annette held her head very still for a few moments longer, until the vertigo passed. “Yeah, but maybe it’s a good thing I get a check up.”

Niri helped Annette to a chair, “You, wait here, I’ll go hunt down Tina.”

Annette sat with every intention of remaining there, but shortly after her rear met cushion she began hearing or feeling a rhythm in her mind. It seemed like a heartbeat, but it hurt, and something about it told her gut that she heard it with her mind not her body. She turned her head, searching for it with her ears. That didn’t help, but leaning her whole body to the right did seem to make it louder. She stood and took a step in that direction, confirming the sound or feeling got stronger in that direction. Annette took as many steps as she could, until she came to the wall of the waiting room. By then the sound-feeling had begun to take on a strange somehow air-like taste. Her curiosity prodded her onward. She glanced left towards the hall Niri had disappeared down. She should wait for Niri and Tina, but the sensation was so strange.
 

Annette decided and headed down the right-hand hallway. The sensation dimmed for the first few meters down the corridor, but after that it began to get stronger. She followed it until she came to a doorway marked, Metamorphic Isolation Ward. Annette knew she shouldn’t go any farther. Niri and Tina were probably waiting back in the waiting room. Despite that knowledge, Annette stepped up to the doorway. When it slid open, she rationalized that if she shouldn’t be there, it wouldn’t have opened for her.
 
Annette crossed the threshold and found herself in a dimly lit room, with a door in the opposite wall. Beside the door, there was a
 
sign on the wall. The sign prohibited perfume, brightly colored clothing,
 
and noise, informing that all pop-pads and remote pins would be set to silent vibration on passing through the door. She checked her outfit, the exercise suit was a shade of neutral tan. It didn’t seem bright to her.

Annette stepped up to the door. It opened and she stepped through before it could change its mind. The hallway on the other side of the door was darker than the room. She could barely see. The sound-feeling-taste was suddenly much stronger. Her hand whipped out and groped for the wall as another strong wave of dizziness hit her.
 
This time the dizziness was clearly related to the sound-taste-feeling.
 
When it passed, Annette noticed that the wall was soft, padded. If the way she felt was even half of what the patients in this ward felt, it made sense. Annette continued down the corridor, the sense drew her to a doorway at the far end. A few feet from it, she hesitated.

It slid open without her, a young man stood on the other side of the threshold. He looked like he was somewhere between her age and the end of puberty. The sudden intensity of the sound-taste-feeling and a fresh wave of dizziness introduced him as the source. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?” His voice cracked as it rose to ask the question. His eyes, which perfectly matched his brown hair, searched her while he waited for an answer

Annette froze. She shouldn’t be here and she knew it, what could she say? “Hi, I’m Annette, and I shouldn’t be here.”

“Carl, and I wish beyond anything that I weren’t here,” he replied, not seeming to care that she was in restricted territory.

“But you’re metamorphosing, soon you’ll be a fully fledged, uh, what are you?” Annette tried to put a spin on his clear misery.

“Briaunti,” He answered.

“But briaunti are usually unconscious for
 
metamorphoses.”

“Unfortunately not in my family. I take it you’re not metamorphosing, yet. You just wait until you have to go through this,” Carl grumbled.

“I wish,” Annette whispered to herself, sure he couldn’t hear it.

“No, you don’t,” he growled back.

His words surprised her a bit. She hesitated saying anything else, suddenly realizing the reason behind the sign prohibiting noise.
 
Then the look of defiance on his face infected her, building to a vocal eruption,
 
“I do too wish! At least if I metamorphosed, I would get some abilities out of the deal!”
  
Annette instantly regretted her tone of voice, because she could both see and feel the pain it caused him.
 
“I’m sorry about that,” This time it came out in a whisper. She felt him struggle to manage the chaos his body was putting him through. Eventually he managed to pull himself above the dizziness again.

“It’s okay. Look, I’m kind of tired now, but I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to come visit me sometime. Tina says I’ll be here at least a week, maybe longer,” He finally said.

“I don’t know, I guess I will if I can.”

“Cool. Thanks for the visit, Annette,” he chuckled as he began to back into his room, “you know that’s a pretty name.” He took the last step backwards and the door quickly sealed behind him. Suddenly she was alone in the hall, with little more than a ghost of the sound-feeling-taste lingering at the back of her mind.

Annette quickly retraced her steps back to the waiting room. When she got there, she found both Niri and Tina waiting with some irritation.
 
“I thought I told you to wait here!” Niri growled.

“You did, I just. . .” Annette tried to explain.

“Never mind, Tina’s got a little time set aside right now so you should get in there for your checkup,” Niri mumbled, “I have to go take care of some of my other students for a while. If you get done before I come back for you, go ahead and head back to your quarters.”
 
Niri promptly disappeared into the transport pod.

“It’s just you and me, let’s get started,” Tina said suddenly.

“I thought you checked me out pretty good a couple of days ago,” Annette began, “why do you want to do it again?”