Chapters Beta Academy Chapter 7
Amy cruised into the classroom, followed by Jessica, eyeing Adam already in place like a good boy as they braced for another reprimanding. Their chairs switched to autopilot and guided each past the myriad anatomy diagrams, models, charts, and portraits of happy birthers as they rolled through the rows to their assigned squares on the floor. The brakes quietly engaged, their shoulder controls clicked off and flipped out of reach — which wasn’t far — and they were locked in place.
“Good morning, Miss Dierdre!” they announced in sloppy unison, having missed the class greeting.
“Ah good morning, girls, thank you for joining us!” their teacher remarked with that resting smile she could never quite hide, even while trying to be stern. The bookish alpha adjusted her large glasses and rose from her desk, while every one of her students looked up just a little bit more.
“Since today is a special presentation I thought I would wait for everyone to join, but don’t push it, young ladies! Central is still marking your tardiness.”
Amy swallowed nervously. Every demerit added up, just like Jess always reminded her. But knowing what lay on her schedule this afternoon, a meeting with Miss Olive after class, one-on-one, did it even matter anymore? Her nervous twitching picked up tempo.
Amy leaned forward and shrugged her shoulders, feeling the straps dig into her, glancing down past her chest at a ruffle in her skirt, pulled up under the lower strap, exposing the curve of her bottom pressing into the seat. What could she do but sigh? Amy didn’t know why she always struggled against her chair, twisting or leaning, hoping a certain combination of squirms could fix her uniform, or readjust her pigtails from tickling her ears, or adjust her bra. Oh imagine! It seemed like a dream, but if she could just—
A pair of pretty shoes stepped into view and Amy slowly looked up, following the teacher’s pants and then her blouse, standard all-white uniform just like the normal Supervisors, with a burgundy sweater pulled overtop that looked soft and warm, hardly standard, a leniency allowed by her position and her many years teaching Betas like them. Craning her neck back, feeling the edge of her seat dig into her shoulder blades, squinting against the panel lights above, Amy balked as Miss Dierdre’s hands found themselves on her hips. Oops.
The class was silent.
“I said are you with us, Amy? Don’t make me start calling out numbers now.”
“S-sorry, Miss. I was just—” she looked back down but Miss Deirdre was already kneeling to her level, reaching with her deft fingers to pull the errant fabric from under the tight strap and pat it into place, just so. Amy hoped she didn’t feel her useless hip twitching again underneath, nervous.
“Not to worry, and stay with us today, hun,” she said with a hush. “It’s important, you know.”
Amy could only nod as her teacher rose so high up and returned to the front of the class. She knew she was a bit spacy, and everyone else knew it too, but Amy was a little taken aback. Miss Dierdre didn’t have to help her, to encourage her. Most teachers wouldn’t do such a thing, their PT instructor being a perfect example. Ask any passing super in the hall and they would only raise their eyebrow at such a tiny issue as an unkempt uniform. Amy glowed a bit and tried her best to focus. Her hip stopped twitching.
Miss Dierdre waved away the issue and continued. “Anyways, a special presentation, yes… Seeing as you girls — sorry, Adam — seeing as you all have been very diligent pupils as we near your graduation — just shy of a month now! — I find the UN-mandated curriculum is running a little dry. Whatever I tell you in theory will soon come to pass as you fill your proper motherly roles as birthers. We’ve been through the reproductive cycle, the changes to the body as the miracle of pregnancy progresses, the virus’ mechanisms within the cell, all about sexual dimorphism between men and alphas and betas and so on, we’ve been through all of that. Everything that comes after the exciting bits you cover in Amatory, that is.”
A wave of giggles and blushes coursed through the room, and Miss Dierdre put her pointer down. She wasn’t going to need the screen today.
“As you all know, the child-bearing process will be very hands-off for you.” The mousy Teacher paused, glanced at all the slim, armless shoulders in front of her, and smiled, acknowledging the slip of her tongue. “Well… you know what I mean. Your education is for your well-being not your responsibility, for measuring your aptitude as well, and all we have left is finals. Now I could give you study time at the terminals… or tell you about the Centers.”
The whole class perked up immediately at the possibility of learning about the mysterious Centers. Amy knew she would get to live her life in one, everyone did, but what that life looked like there was still mostly unknown. There had always been tall tales whispered after dark, coming from a few boxes over, one of the meaner girls, about being locked away in a tube or a box with just a slow drip of water and food, waiting nine months to make a baby before starting the process over, and over, and over, but Amy was almost sure that wasn’t a thing.
Almost.
Amy thought it was more probably a really nice place like the Academy but with no classes or metrics or dumb tests, where Amy’s only responsibility would be to create a warm, temporary home for a new child. It would be fun to just lay about all day, talk with Jess and eat good food, she thought, daydreaming away. Maybe more of the mango pellets!
“…well I could stand up here and tell you all about the Future Centers, their ins and outs, what I’ve read and seen on sanctioned visits, but I haven’t lived there, not like you will… so I’d like to welcome one of our alumni here today!”
With each student looking left and right to their sisters to see if they heard correctly, their teacher strode over to the entryway and punched the open button, leaning out the door on one long, graceful leg to wave the guests in, the other out for balance. Amy thought it all seemed so complicated, but the Alphas made it look just effortless.
In walked an Enforcer, making nearly everyone blush and squirm just a bit, Amy herself finding it hard not to study the man’s square jaw, the light-blue UN Peacekeeper’s cap and his black uniform, the way his pants outlined his butt. Her breasts seemed to get sore when her Purpose noticed a real man, kinda like during the first few days of her period, it was weird. With so few men in the building, she had forgotten since Adam arrived but here it was yet again, that subtle throb. She must be more desensitized to their new friend than she thought, able to sort-of tune him out. That was an interesting thought to share with Jess later, but Amy was still eyeing the guard. She twisted her hips into her seat in frustration.
Eyeing the class as if assessing possible threats from the twenty or so limbless girls locked securely in place, the Enforcer nodded out the door and a Beta rolled in, and the whole class immediately forgot all about him.
Miss Dierdre spoke up again, “Ok class, this is Alexandra 2-5-0, she graduated just two years ago, and has since gone and made herself a perfect little incubator, haven’t you?! Oh how time flies! I remember you were in my front row, always attentive, and look how it shows!”
The Beta on display was parked by her chair in front of them all and beamed a shy “Thank you,” with bashful eyes looking up, shifting the golden hair which flowed to her shoulders, a fashionable luxury no student could ask for, not even the seniors who sat there in shock, jaws hanging.
But hair wasn’t what the class was most jealous of.
Alexandra had been dressed in a stretchy white body-garment kinda like the elastic layer keeping their uniforms hugged close, joined at the neck with a firm white collar and red bow flaring to the side, but with a wide and low teardrop cut exposing the fair, untouched skin of her swollen breasts, and stitched here and there to be more form-fitting to the limbless body of a Betawoman as late into pregnancy as she was, leaving little room to doubt where each swelling curve began and ended. This was in stark contrast to the formal uniforms of the slim underage girls, and left her fertile figure practically naked save for the thin material and her bright-white bra underneath. Or maybe it was all one piece, Amy couldn’t tell, she didn’t care.
Even as the visitor glowed in pride, Amy stared at her big belly.
None of them had ever seen a real pregnancy in-person, which Amy now thought was very odd, since that was soon to be a near-constant in their lives. It was bigger than the diagrams and pictures and videos and simulations, massive against the Beta’s limbless body, gently cradled by an add-on to the front of her chair, curved and padded, shielding her child from any tip-over or crash into a wall or another Beta. It must have also helped to support her significant weight, three blue dots stuck near where her belly button poked at the fabric. Amy wondered what those could mean.
The room hung in silence before Fatima in the front row gave a shy, “Congratulations,” and the room was suddenly full of fervid praise for the young mother in front of the class. She did her best to nod and thank each compliment, including Amy’s, before looking up and behind herself at Miss Dierdre for the go ahead.
“Okay… uhm… my name is Alexandra 2-50… like Miss said. I know, us tenners really are lucky, I guess! Just call me Lexi, though. I’m 20 years old and have lived in the Future Centers for almost two years now. Central Seattle for the time being. You know, I recognize some of you from the halls here, I think… but yeah… it’s really good to be back, I didn’t think I’d get to see my academy again, but I’m super lucky the Head Super picked me to do this visit.”
“Ahem,” their teacher cleared her throat to prod the girl, “And why did they pick you, dear?”
“Be… because I’ve been a good, useful girl and my womb is the home of the first recorded set of natural triplets in Cascadia — or the entire west coast, I think — since the outbreak.”
Amy couldn’t believe her ears. This was wonderful! Spectacular! The room was full of more congratulations, as all the girls were not only astounded to meet a real celebrity, but also couldn’t help imagining being filled with enough… substance… to make not one, not two, but three babies! Three more citizens for the quota!! Amy knew Jess would have told her that’s not how it worked, but she was across the room, smiling as eagerly at the joyous news as Amy was.
Miss Dierdre leaned against her desk and grinned with pride, “You know, I read about your conception in the Times! I told my partner, ‘Hey, that’s my student doing her part!’ Get a few more of you and we all have a fighting chance!”
“You’re too sweet,” the Betagirl blushed, looking down at the source of her goodwill, then she winced and the room went quiet. Lexi shrugged her empty shoulders and tried to squirm in her chair, though that did very little. “Oooh, excuse me. One of them is kicking.”
Miss Dierdre got up, reached out with the same hand that had helped Amy, and asked, “Can I feel?” but she was cut off by the Enforcer, who put himself in the way, quickly and resolutely.
“That’s entirely inappropriate, ma’am. Maintain a safe perimeter from the assets, we already discussed this.” He hadn’t raised his weapon, but why did Amy feel like he had?
Lexi could only smile sadly at the deflated Miss Dierdre for the rebuff made by her guard, but Amy was sure their teacher must have understood. She herself had taught them all that every pregnancy was precious, sacred, and twins or triplets came with complications. No risks could be taken, especially with how far along they looked to be. Their teacher leant back against her desk, fingers clasped together in poorly-hidden disappointment, but the Enforcer didn’t return to the door, standing right behind the tiny Beta with her massive, prized belly.
Faced with an awkward silence, Lexi continued, “Sorry, that… that happens a lot around me, I’m only really allowed to be looked after by specially-trained supervisors, because of the value of the triplets and how close we are to their due date. You all saw my chair on autopilot too… has been since the first ultrasound.” Lexi explained with a frown. “I mean, usually we keep our shoulder, just get given a really low speed-limit, like a real one, the wheels only turn so fast… and this brace in the front, obviously. That’s normal for the fulfilled, as a bumper in case I get knocked into by any of the empties or the others.”
The girl in front of Amy, Tegan, interjected. “Others?” Amy wondered what she was on about, to interrupt their special guest, but waited for the answer like everyone else.
“Can I tel— uhm, can I take questions?” Lexi looked up at Miss Deirdre, who nodded eagerly. The Enforcer looked a bit like he was going to disagree but his radio crackled loudly.
“Sergeant Ellis, we have a… a teacher? We have a teacher, Alyssa 2-9-5, the one you requested to see. You didn’t say she… worked here. Over.”
The Enforcer looked pissed, and confirmed into his mic that he was on his way before uttering to Miss Dierdre, “You know the lesson plan,” and taking the few wilful steps required of him to leave the classroom.
With that overbearing presence gone, Lexi shuffled a bit in her chair, wincing again. Amy noticed the growth on her front was so heavy that the usual hops and shuffles Betas did with their torsos to shift weight from hip to hip, butt sore from sitting all day, were totally ineffectual. “Well, uhm, yeah, the others. There are the low Betas, who get to come to the Future Centers too, but they all have different Purposes for serving Cascadia.”
Amy was delighted to hear this. Maybe if she failed it wouldn’t be so bad!
Lexi continued, “There’s the Lactation Productivity Program, which is where most of the other Betas go. You see, I’m lactating now,” she looked down at the swollen breasts she couldn’t touch, nodding her chin at a discolored wet patch in the white fabric around her left nipple, obviously leaking through her soft bra too, and she winced again, “If only the implant could stop me making a mess there too, right girls? Yeah… we aren’t really used for the central milk supply, though. To express this little bit with a pump would just encourage my body to produce more and — actually, Miss, could you let my supervisor Kyra know I need a pad after this? — and to produce more would decrease our efficiency at our true Purpose…”
She stared down at the wet stain, slowly growing, yet unable to do a thing about it.
“I’m not sure if I knew this when I was sitting in your place, but I don’t nurse my own offspring, not even a little bit. Our cycle takes more time to come back if we feed them ourselves, and besides, it’s really important that they separate from their incubator quickly to not cause either of us undue stress. I mean, I love ‘em already, but nine months is enough, am I right? And it’s not like I can take care of them like they deserve… so… yeah…” Lexi kinda drifted off.
“You were saying?” Miss Dierdre prodded after a moment, adjusting her glasses.
“Oh right, sorry. And then… uhm… and then I head to postpartum recovery and monitoring for a few weeks. They have special boxes for that, I think. I haven’t done this part yet, I’m on my first go ‘round… I know, all this buzz and it’s just my first time, but anyways, yeah, I hear at the very end you get to have a party, it’s kind of a little celebration for a job well done, then I’ll rejoin the empties, take it easy until my super says I’m fully recovered and ready to head to the pairing room again, before starting the process all over about a year or so post-fulfillment! Honestly, girls, it’s so wonderfully efficient!”
The room was quiet as all the students processed this info. A lot was just review, like the importance of separation so the newborn alphas could go to their assigned families, and so newborn Betas (if they were so lucky) could be nursed for a while and then delivered to the Academies they would be raised in. Amy thought it was a bit sad to be separated, especially if she happened to give birth to a Betagirl like her. She could tell the little one so much… but surely nine months is enough, isn’t it? And it’s not like she could take care of the tyke like she deserved…
Amy blinked. She hadn’t meant to repeat what Lexi said, though it was true, so whatever.
But the Lactation Something Something was news to her, and while Amy just hated raising her voice, this might be her only chance to see what her future might look like — the mere admission of which sucked to think about — so she spoke up, “Excuse me… Lexi? We kind of got on a tan–… a tan–… uhm… we got sidetracked. What’s different between you and the milkers?”
“Oh gosh, sorry! These boys here kind of occupy most of my thoughts these days! I’m so scatterbrained!” she shrugged with her tiny shoulders. “Well… it might seem dumb to say, but what distinguishes us is breast size. Like, not when you all graduate, obviously, but the low Betas are given something called— Miss Dierdre, I’m sorry I totally forgot what it’s—”
“It’s called rBGH,” their teacher added, “’Recombinant Beta Growth Hormone.’ It’s a wonderful invention, a cocktail of traditional hormones like prolactin and oxytocin — we’ve talked about the importance and downsides of the latter — and some… more complex gene therapy dilutions that the good doctors in New York and Geneva have made specially for you girls to be the best you can be!”
“Oh gosh, don’t get me started on your lesson on the pituitary gland, it really stuck with me, how everything I feel toward these little guys is totally fake, totally chemical, like totally old-world thinking! I mean seriously!”
Miss Dierdre smiled warmly, “Well good to hear it doesn’t all evaporate the moment you girls leave for the big city, I do hope my job makes your Purpose a little easier.”
“It does, it does.” Lexi said with a smile. “What was it? Oh! ‘You’re all just side-effects, and so are your feelings about it all.’ Ugh, like, girls, didn’t that just put everything in perspective when you heard it??”
Amy thought so, but she also remembered arguing with Jess about it, but that was a while back now, and it felt like a nice idea to her.
“Well, those side-effects are unavoidable, and it’s still nice to revel in the good parts, obviously, and rGBH comes with a load of good side-effects. Not like fulfillment-good, I really can’t put that kinda feeling into words… but anyways, they get a lot of it, for the rest of their lives, so their chests become really big and sensitive. Honestly there’s probably way better people to ask about that, I mean mine are tender just like this, my whole body has been since the second trimester. Maybe earlier, actually. It’s hard to pin it down, these things come and go.”
Lexi pondered a bit but just shrugged it off.
“But yeah… the human milk system in Cascadia is really huge from what I hear, so it’s good we have low Betas, even if they’re not worthy of fulfilling their true Purpose. There’s the kids at homes across the protectorate with Alpha mothers whose bodies haven’t gone through all the proper steps to make milk, and there’s all the little Betas in the Academies who need to be nursed too. You wouldn’t think about it but it makes sense, right? Hmm, what else…”
Miss Dierdre piped up, “Formula works too but our precious few little ones deserve only the best. The stores sell it beside the cow’s milk, but they’re both quite expensive.”
The class kind of blinked at their teacher, as none of the Betas had a point of reference for what was expensive or cheap, the girls having only seen pictures of money. But that complex Alpha stuff didn’t matter much to Amy.
Lexi kept up in her chipper tone as she remembered more to say, “Oh! Also! Instead of our chairs, Betas in the LPP drive these special carts that they lay on top of. It’s kind of weird, hard to explain. I wish they let me bring pictures or a presentation to explain all this better, but it has a cavity inside for their breasts. The inside is like a soft pouch or something that massages their chest all day and night. Annoying, from what I hear, but it increases their yields while keeping them mobile, and… uh… what else? Oh yeah. While I would need to ask for the pump, theirs are just built into the cart, with tanks for storage. That’s why it’s so big.
“Actually my best friend Wendy is a milker, and back when we could still hang out at the Center in Olympia, we would be rolling and chatting and then the pump would start and interrupt us. I mean Wendy tries to keep up the conversation when she is being milked, but it’s just too distracting. You get used to it eventually, like I’ve gotten used to having these kiddos here.”
Lexi got quiet for a second, looking down at her belly and smiling, making all the women in the room melt a little in envy, “Actually I’m excited to give birth so I can see her again… maybe…”
It took a second but she visibly forced herself to perk up, “…and so I don’t have to pee all the time, it’s the worst!”
As Lexi went on about morning sickness, Amy and Jess glanced at each other across the room, hopefully thinking the same thing. Aside from the relief of not being just thrown away for unworthiness like they had feared, this was all a little unsettling. The idea of being so close to the action and not fulfilling her Purpose was pretty much unthinkable, but the bright side was that even if Amy failed today, they might not be separated! Still, Amy was hoping they would be birthers together. After all the proper injections when she was growing up, Amy had the hips for it too, she knew from the marks and measurements in her file, she was as ripe as a Beta could be! It just made sense!
Janelle spoke up across the room, “You said some low Betas have other Purposes too?”
“Oh yeah! Actually I see one here. Hello in the back! Miss, Miss, what’s her name?”
It took a moment for the class to clue in that Lexi was talking about Cathy, the one they all ignored even more than Adam, and Miss Dierdre took a second too before telling her.
“Hello Catherine, uhm… it’s, like, good to meet you!”
The class was confused, Adam eyeing Jess for the answers he had been promised, until Shya, who sat at the back next to Cathy, spoke up. “She can’t hear you, or move or speak, she’s been like that since our freshman year.”
Sure enough, Cathy did absolutely nothing to indicate she had been spoken to, her eyes blinked at a precise rate, and she stared blankly toward the front of the class.
“Oh I know, it’s just polite. It may not seem like it, but you should all know that Betas like her are really important, too. Some have, like, really good genes so they still become birthers, but most are part of the UN Cure Programme. Have you… yeah. It’s a worldwide effort to reverse the virus’ effects. I mean… the Cure Programme is more the scientists who run it, but girls like her are essential too!”
Amy looked back at her old friend Cathy. She was essential? Of course they had all wondered what would become of her after the Academy, or what would become of her body, but—
The classroom door slid open and the guard returned, his boots firmly planted by the door yet again.
Tense as his presence was, Miss Dierdre cleared her throat to keep things moving, “So I read your donor has been put in protective custody, so they can study him and repeat the successes you two had in the pairing room. Can you tell us anything about that experience? The pairing?”
“Well, yeah. So you all know the main Center as this big complex in the city, under the Needle? I think the building used to be a science museum…”
Amy had seen pictures, yes, the white arches, though their few trips to the city had never strayed there. She nodded with the class.
“Well that’s just what they call Gestation. You go there first for registration and settling in and stuff. That’s where I live now. But if you’re empty—”
“Can we go up the Space Needle?”
The hawk-like Enforcer glared at Shya at the back for speaking up, as if it hadn’t been just fine for her to do two minutes ago, when he wasn’t there to ruin the best presentation of their whole year! His intensity made Shya look like she would’ve sunken into her seat if she wasn’t strapped in so tightly, and he barked, “Sending one of our few viable incubators up a century-old, decrepit monument to the excesses of the past wouldn’t exactly be the best use of anybody’s time, would it, girl?”
Miss Dierdre stood up without hesitation. “Sergeant, can I have a word with you?”
The grim man had barely opened his mouth before their gentle teacher gave him a look and he obliged her, the two Alphas leaving the room to the Betas, who couldn’t move an inch if they tried. He must have finally clued in that this was probably the safest place to leave her in all of Cascadia, what with the patrols and gates and security outside.
The door slid closed with a thud, followed by an almost immediate sigh from Lexi up front, who shook her hair a bit… and unavoidably her chest.
“He’s a lot, I’m sorry everyone. It feels like we’ve stopped by every school in Cascadia together, and you think he is on edge with us harmless little ladies, well how about a class of five or ten rowdy Alpha kids! Just imagine boys and girls running everywhere, pushing each other, grabbing things, I mean, you know how Alphas can be! And they push their chairs, not vice versa! No straps or strollers, they can even turn doorknobs on their own!! So young! I don’t know what I imagined but… just wild. Yeah, anyways… so this is him calm…”
With memories of her childhood filling her head, days blurring into each other, the hours of rolling around on soft mats inside of net fences, with nothing more important to worry about than how to get this or that toy in her mouth or pinched just right between her shoulder and cheek, the idea of Alpha children running by — what was it? three years old? — seemed like utter chaos to Amy.
Lexi tried again to get a stray lock of hair out of her face, blowing at it this time. Maybe the birther needed some hair ties or a cut, Amy thought, realizing longer hair might be more trouble than it’s worth.
“But no, sorry, the elevators up the Space Needle don’t work anymore. Some damage from the war… or that’s what they tell us.”
And there, Amy heard it, a slip of suspicion. Lexi was more than just a smiling poster-girl for model fertility, she had doubts like Jessica or Adam or any of them. She had words that no one had said weren’t allowed, yet everyone knew would not be appreciated if they slipped in the wrong ears. And others must have noticed too, because now that the Betas had the room to themselves, the questions really began to flow…
“Do you get to explore the city?”
“No, no. We are even more locked down than out here. More people, more danger. To be honest, I miss the courtyard and the fieldpaths out toward the fences like so much.”
“Why is your uniform different?”
“Well, as graduates we get a little more choice, like you did when you were moved to the high school quarters, which is really nice! I always thought the Academy uniforms were a bit stiff, and with my body changing so much I needed the elasticity. Most fulfilled girls choose this outfit but there are two others.”
“What do you do all day?”
“I mean, I’ve been on tour for a month now, this is my reward for traveling across Cascadia, to visit you all, help my sisters, see the academy one last time…”
Lexi seemed to take it all in, even by smell, but she refocused quickly. “…But I know you’re asking about the Center. My super, Kyra, has activities and exercises for me, it stays busy. These boys here have made me pretty high-maintenance, so care takes up most of my day. If you’re empty you live and wait with the other empties and whichever milkers or samplers are at that UNNAP facility. Life as an empty is…” She looked at the door, listening to the muffled arguing. “A little boring, to be honest. You live in anticipation of your next appointment in the pairing rooms, but once you’re in there…” Lexi shuddered a bit and smiled with a blush, before catching herself. “Let’s just say, the UN authority has made our Purpose very rewarding, they’re the absolute best at side-effects.”
Amy bit her lip and rocked her hips a bit, tensing herself down below, as did many of the others. They understood anticipation.
“Where are the pairing rooms?”
“Oh that’s what I was saying before, I totally forgot! They’re at Central and also smaller centers throughout the major cities like Olympia, Vancouver, Portland, you know. So the donors don’t have to travel far once they receive word they’ve been selected. We go where we are most needed, or where a good pairing has been lined up. Mine was in Olympia.” Lexi slipped a smile, before collecting herself, “I mean sometimes you try over and over with the same donor, but other times it’s just random. You know how Central can be.”
Amy frowned a bit at the memory of waiting in her box for so long that morning, twitching her thigh over and over and—
“What is it really like? I mean… pairing?”
This question came from across the room, Jessica, blushing hard and steeling herself to ask the question everyone wanted to. Amy smirked, thinking of course that’s what was on her sister’s mind today! Funnily enough, Adam was just as glued to Lexi for a possible answer, but then again so was everyone else.
Lexi sighed with a smile, before looking at the door again and frowning. The muffled voice of a third person was clashing with the other two now. She tried her best to focus on her presentation, even as Amy could see her wince at more kicks or false contractions, she wasn’t sure. The milk stain was growing.
“Well, it’s—”
The door slid open yet again and the unmistakable iron voice of the Enforcer flooded into the room even before he did, “…talk to ‘your girls’ however I damn please, it’s your fault for getting attached! We agreed to all stick to the script provided when we took the oath!”
As Sergeant Ellis marched in again, prompting a fresh blush across most of the girls in the room, he seemed to collect himself. “Lesson’s over, 2-5-0. We’re hitting the road. C’mon now, let’s go.”
Lexi’s jaw dropped even as her chair activated, ready to follow him out the door that instant. “No, no! I told them I would talk if I could come home again, please! Please!!”
It made no difference, strapped and weighed down with only her shoulders shrugging weakly in defiance, reaching for controls that weren’t even installed for her, the pregnant girl limbless in her seat could barely even shuffle or twist, let alone escape the simple command to leave the room, leave her sisters soon to follow in her well-worn path, their unavoidable Purpose.
Amy’s last view of their guest presenter was first her rotund belly leaving the room before the rest of her, as her head whipped back and called out “Goodbye, good luck!” and the sliding door closed behind her with a thud.
It only took a few moments for Miss Dierdre to return, clearly flustered, but putting on the airs that not a moment of that class period had gone awry. Clasping her hands together, she smiled thinly. “Well girls— uhm, class, I hope that was as educational for you as it was for me!”