Priya got an early start to the day. She made some pancakes and a fruit smoothie for Quinn and Sanjay before heading out the door.
What’s the rush?” Quinn asked as he came down the stairs.
“Oh nothing. I want to get an early start. Protests will happen today. I want to avoid them, so I gotta go. I’ll be home after school.”
She ran out the door and over to the front of the school at the same time Sophie and Amy arrived. The activity on the extra wide sidewalk in front of the school already looked like a circus.
“What’s all this?” Amy asked a mother holding a sign which read, ‘Keep our kids safe.’
The mother turned to Amy and said, “We humans need to stick together. We need to keep the G-Mo’s out of our school. They’re a danger to everyone.”
“What’s a G-Mo?” Amy said, while Priya and Sophie hid behind a bush and listened.
“You know, a GMO, a Genetically Modified Organism. We call ’em G-Mo’s now because we like the sound of it. We can’t call ’em mutants anymore, or our kids will be expelled for hate speech.”
“Oh, okay,” Amy said as she decided to play along.
She gave Priya and Sophie a wink behind the bushes as she recorded the interaction with her eyepiece. They smiled back. Amy continued to play along.
“What’s wrong with the G-Mo’s?
“Don’t you know? They cheat, they read minds, they invade our privacy, they carry disease, and they might be spies for the Omanji. I mean, come on. Why would they abduct kids and let them go like that? They might be trying to snatch our bodies. I’m sure the Omanji are inside the G-Mo bodies.”
Amy didn’t know whether to get angry or laugh.
“Okay, thanks for telling me about this, I gotta go.”
Amy walked into the school yard out of view of the protesters. Priya and Sophie followed her in.
“Just when you think people can’t sink any lower, they do,” Priya said.
“I know,” Sophie said. “I’m sure it’s only a vocal minority but they make things miserable for everyone else. Vocal fringe minorities usually exert more influence per capita than the quiet mainstream majority. They should be taken seriously, especially when they’re spreading fear. All they need to do is mix in a few dubiously related facts to spread the lies and speculation. We’ve seen it before.”
Priya stopped walking on the path for a moment.
“Yeah, did you notice how she linked us being abducted to us being spies and wanting to snatch bodies? I mean yeah, we were abducted. People will believe the rest of the story because the first part is true and they’re gullible. I can’t take this anymore. Let’s talk to the principal now before first period.”
They walked over to the administration building just as the principal walked out of his office. The topic was serious. However, considering his name was Mr. James Principal, they had difficulty holding back a laugh, whispering “Principal Principal.”
“Can we talk to you in your office?” Priya said.
“Sorry guys, there’s a meeting at—”
“Now.” Priya said.
The other girls winced in anticipation of serving detention.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Okay fine, I’ll talk with you for a few minutes.”
He sat down behind his big desk.
“Did you watch the protesters out there?” Priya said.
He leaned back in his oversized chair.
“Yes. Everyone has a right to protest.”
“I agree. However, the intensity of their lunacy is dangerous. Sophie and I fear for our personal safety.”
Amy played the recording of the protester for him.
“Yeah, that looks bad, but she’s free to believe whatever garbage she wishes.”
“I agree,” Priya said. “This is bordering on a situation analogous to yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded theater. People are starting to panic when they see us. I’m sure you know about the low attendance and how the kids stay on the other half of the classroom from us like a school of frightened fish.”
“Yeah, that’s unacceptable. We’re losing a lot of money because of the low attendance too. It’s getting worse every day. I’m not sure what I can do about irrational fear. Education will take a long time. We’ve been working on racism for over two hundred years and it’s still hiding in society like a virus.”
Priya walked around the desk to his side. He leaned back a little.
“Are you afraid of me too? Never mind, don’t answer that. Here’s an idea. I think Sophie and I should do remote schooling. Our parents don’t have time to home school us. We could monitor the classes from home and take tests after school hours. We would stop being harassed, and the students would come back to school. What do you think?”
He paused for a long time, looking out his window at the growing crowd with their signs.
“I’ll admit your solution is logical and would solve both of our problems. Let me think about it. I think based on what I’m seeing out there, you should go home now. You can go out the back way.”
“Are you sure? Priya said. “I don’t want to get deten—”
He smiled.
“Don’t worry. Principal Principal will give you a pass. Amy, you should go to your classes as you normally do. If they give you trouble, knock on my door. I’ll be here after the meeting.”
Classes hadn’t begun, so Priya and Sophie walked out the back of the administration building and across the sports fields to a small exit on the other side. Soon they walked into Priya’s house.
“What are you guys doing here?” Quinn said. “I thought you’d be in school.
Priya smiled.
“We are at school.”
“What?”
“You heard me. From now on, this house is our school. Like the pandemics.”
Quinn glanced at Sophie with raised eyebrows. She smiled back.
“How did this happen? I mean, well, I don’t know what I mean.”
“There’s a big protest against us at the school,” Priya said. “It’s getting scary, so the principal sent us home. He’s going to find out if we can do remote schooling. I’ll watch the classes here and take the tests after school. I think if we study hard, we might finish the last three years of high school in less than one year. We’ll study together, right Sophie?”
“Right, it’ll be fun.”
“What do you think?”
“Well, um—”
“Thank you so much Daddy.” Priya said.
She kissed him on the forehead. Before he could reply, they ran up the stairs to watch first period genetics.
They watched through their Eyepieces as the students walked into the classroom. At first, they didn’t know where to sit because they didn’t know where Priya and Sophie were going to sit.
“This is like watching our own funeral,” Sophie said.
“Yeah, it’s surreal. Look, there’s Amy in front. No way. I can’t believe it.”
“I can believe it,” Sophie said. They’re still ‘schooling’ in the back of the room.”
Priya shook her head as she watched the broadcast.
“Yeah, like fish again. I don’t think Amy realizes they think she’s a shark. Too bad she doesn’t have an implant. We could tell her silently. Wait, she’s looking back. She knows. Okay, here comes Mr. Watson.”
“What’s he going to do?” Sophie said. “He’s staring at everybody.”
Mr. Watson reached the limits of his tolerance.
“Class, I want you to spread out. It’s time to open your mind. This is a genetics glass. You had an opportunity to experience the power of genetics firsthand with Priya and Sophie, and you blew it. I’m ashamed to be a part of the human species if this is the way we treat people who are different from us. Tests were given to Amy too. She’s not carrying dangerous microbes. So, let’s bring some reason into this classroom please?”
Priya watched it unfold.
“They’re spreading out. A few of them are moving intentionally close to Amy.”
“Maybe there’s hope after all,” Sophie said. “Still, nobody is sitting in the seats we sat in during the last class.”
They watched the lecture and monitored all their classes for the rest of the day. After the final period, the principal told them they can remote school their classes, and so could Amy. They studied until 10pm. Sophie and Amy went home. Afterwards, Nisha contacted home.
“Hi Mom, how are you?”
“I’m surviving.”
Priya smiled.
“I’m better now. We can do remote schooling, so they won’t bully us anymore. I think we can finish my remaining three years of high school in one year or less by studying at home and testing out of the classes. We’re going to at least try. I spread the news on our social network.”
“That’s great Pree. I’m proud of you. You handled this situation better than me at your age. Be careful when you go out. There’s a lot of superstition and hate going around. People are more worried about the modified kids than about the Omanji. The Omanji don’t need to be sneaky and inhabit our bodies to take us over. They can do anything they want, any time they want. If they wanted to kill us, we’d already be dead. Their fears are groundless. It’s frustrating watching this happen.”
“Yeah, and I’m right in the middle of it. I’m going to lie low, get my degrees and find causes for genetically related diseases and syndromes. What’s Bok doing?”
“He’s living in the tent next to us. A few friends joined him. I found some Silicon Valley companies willing to buy land for Bok’s colony. We chose a remote spot, a two-hour drive away from here and about 20 miles south of Barstow. It’ll be outside of the Omanji colony boundary once it’s completed. It’s 16×16 miles now. We’re guessing when 80 billion Omanji live there, the colony will be 70×70 miles in size.
“That’s huge.” Priya said. “Is Bok worried the Omanji would crush him and his friends?”
“He says they’ll leave him alone. He has the right to live where he wants.”
“I’m happy for him. I hope he gets a lot of them to join his colony.”
“He says many in his age group are disillusioned with the elders and many will join him. We’ll know more soon. Pree, you better get some sleep, it’s getting late.”
They signed off. Priya shared her story and Bok’s with her social network and fell asleep.