Nisha woke up again as the first light struck their tent. She got up and studied the plants.
“Rachel, check this out,” she said. “These plants grew at least an inch overnight. This one grew three inches.”
“That one has little fruit-like things growing near the leaves now. They weren’t on the plant yesterday. I’m going to watch the time lapse recording and find out what they did last night. Umm, Nisha. You need to watch this.”
“What are they doing?” Nisha said.
They watched the video.
“This is so odd,” Nisha said. “They were usually pointed towards the heat lamp, but sometimes they turned away from the lamp and stopped to point right at us.”
“I’m getting goose bumps,” Rachel said. They’re looking at us.”
A few minutes later, the plants turned away and pointed back to the heat lamp.”
“That’s creepy. Oh, I think I know what’s happening,” Nisha said.
“What?”
“We give off heat, which is infrared light. So, they’re searching for other sources of energy. I guess they can ‘see’ our heat signature in the same way night vision goggles do. So, they point to us for the same reason as they point to the heat lamp.”
“I hope you’re right Nisha. I don’t want them turning us into zombies like the fungus does to the ants in the South American jungles. And don’t forget the zombie bees driven to insanity by those fly larvae.”
Nisha smiled.
“Ha-ha, you’re so funny Rachel. Yeah, I know about the zombie ants and bees, but I doubt— Well, we’ll keep the lids on the plants overnight, to be on the safe side. Hmm, I wonder why Yoova gave us these plants. Does she want to turn us into zombies?”
They both laughed.
“Let’s go eat breakfast,” Rachel said.
“Good idea,” Nisha said. “I think I’ll be brave and try the roasted veggies today. Eat them before they eat us.”
They laughed again as they walked out of the tent just as Bok and Beedee climbed into his speeder to head to the new colony.
“Good morning, guys, how are things going?” Nisha said.
“I’m overwhelmed. 200,000 wish to join my colony. I’m putting them on a waiting list. We’re making several more towers to accommodate them.”
“That’s great news Bok.” Nisha said. “How are you emotionally handling this?”
“I find it difficult to identify feelings in your terms, but the closest I can come is I’m anxious. My skin is dark gray. There’s no color at all. I feel cold.”
“Why are you anxious?” Nisha said.
“I’m realizing this is going to be a lot of responsibility. They’re all depending on me to build this colony. Their connections to their families are being terminated. There’s no going back.”
“There’s no way to ever go back?” Nisha said. “That seems like a harsh punishment for someone who we would call a teenager.”
“Yes,” Beedee said. “That’s why I left. They punished Bok for disagreeing with the system. They say we’re free to come back, but we’re ostracized. My friends and I thought the punishment was unfair. So, when Bok came for me, I left with him. We’ll start a colony where things are fair, but we’ll keep the good things from the elder’s colony.”
“We must go. There’s much work to do,” Bok said.
They sped away, leaving a trail of dust devils behind them.
“I’m apprehensive too. I can’t explain it, but the anxiety is getting stronger,” Nisha said. “I wonder if we did the right thing when we encouraged Bok start a new colony and to get Beedee.”
“I think we did the right thing, even though in general I’m against interference. They seem happy now, don’t they?”
Nisha smiled.
“Yeah, they do. Okay, let’s go get the veggies at the mess tent.”
As they ate, Nisha got an alert to connect with Priya.
“Pree, how are you doing?”
“I’m excited. Sophie and I are invited to attend the new school for the mods at Stanford. Can I go?”
“This is happening so fast Pree. You’re only 16 and I don’t want to lose you. Why do you want to go?”
“There’s nothing here for me now. Um, I mean I love you, and Daddy, and Sanjay, and Amy, but people at my school either make fun of me or they’re afraid of me. I don’t want to be treated like this anymore. I’m tired of staying indoors because of my fear of being attacked or ridiculed. I want to take classes at my own pace. The school is too slow.”
“Okay, let me discuss this with your dad and I’ll let you know.”
They disconnected. Nisha connected to Quinn.
“I spoke with Pree. Has she told you the news?”
“Yeah, a few minutes ago. What do you think?”
“I don’t want to lose her, but I want her to be happy. I remember a time in the first grade when they wouldn’t let me skip a grade because they were trying to treat all kids as equals. I got frustrated with the slow pace in school and I lost interest. I wanted to read sixth grade level books and they wanted me to read ‘Run Jane run.’”
“Yes, I remember you telling me that story,” Quinn said. “I guess Pree might be frustrated like you since she’s so intelligent. We don’t know what she’s going through. Usually, parents can guide a child since they’ve been there and done that, but no human on this planet has ever been in her situation. We need to let her find her way in the world.”
“Okay,” Nisha said. “It’s decided. What’s the noise in the background?”
“That’s Pree and Sophie celebrating. I think they’re sniffing in on our conversation. I don’t know how. This is a 256-bit secure connection. They’re capable of anything, I think. I’m anxious though.”
“There’s been a lot of that going around. I think we’re making the right choice.”
“I do too,” Quinn said. “The dorms open next week.”
“Next week? Ever since the Omanji arrived, things are happening so quickly. It’s hard to keep up.”
“It’s a new world Neesh. We need to get used to it. The genie is out of the bottle.”
“Can’t we stuff a little bit of it back in?”
“Sorry, it’s out for good. Remember though, Pree is part of the genie.”
“Good point. Okay, I gotta go and deal with the rest of the genie.”
They disconnected.
Nisha fell back on her cot in over-dramatized exhaustion.
“This must be overwhelming,” Rachel said.
“It is for everyone. It feels like things are spiraling out of control. Nothing is predictable.”
“Were things ever under control?” Rachel said. “Events in my life are unpredictable. When I was young, I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a career. I didn’t know who I would marry or if I would marry. I didn’t know if I would have kids. I had no idea what they’d be like. I had no idea my parents would die young. What about Mr. Roe and those AI sentient robots? I couldn’t predict that future. Let this play out and make the best of things. Yeah, the unknowns are bigger now, but somehow, I think things will turn out for the best.”
“I hope you’re right because the alternatives are terrifying,” Nisha said.
Rachel smiled.
“I think they’ll be okay.”
While Priya and Sophie were celebrating, Amy stared out the window at the two huge towers on San Gabriel Peak.
“Amy, what’s wrong?” Priya said. “I thought you’d be happy for us.”
“I am happy for you, but I’m depressed for me. You guys will be going to this exciting school with all those smart people, and I’ll be stuck back here with no friends. Nobody will come near me because they think I’m infected with, I don’t know, the plague or something.”
She cried.
“It’ll be okay,” Sophie said. “You can come up and visit any time. We’ll be talking a lot. You put together our network. It’s becoming more important every day. We’re best friends forever, remember?”
“I know we’re best friends. I worry about the future though. What will become of us?” Amy said.
“We are the future,” Priya said. “You’ll see.”
They spent the rest of the evening on the social network getting people to consider going to the new school for the mods at Stanford. More than 1,500 signed up. Some of the top professors at Stanford volunteered to teach the accelerated classes once the students had finished their high school education.