she spat blood again.
"Doctor Eryn, please, what is this about?" An indignant voice—the boy, Ivan.
Eryn slapped him, too.
"You don't argue with my actions. Ever. Any of you. Is that clear?"
Mel watched the shock on the others' faces. The same as hers yesterday, probably. People didn't slap you. People didn't order you, people were nice.
Mel stepped towards Eryn. She slapped the doctor so hard that Eryn's glasses fell from her nose.
"Ah," Eryn said calmly after she'd wiped her cheek and lips with a laced white handkerchief and picked up her glasses, while Mel stood aside, her hands suddenly shaking.
"Adelaide and Ivan, you two have had enough darkness for now. This is the first part of your education. The rest of it starts half an hour from now. Meliora, your education, it seems, must be a bit different."
***
Eryn had them exit the train right there, between the stone walls, then touched her hand to a door. The place they entered looked like a mall. It had no windows, but the lights inside were bright. The corridors were big, and the rooms were glass-walled.
But not all of them.
Eryn brought Mel to a room that looked normal-walled from the outside. She pushed Mel in, and Mel wasn't surprised to hear the door click locked behind her.
The light was even weaker than that of the unlit wagons. There was no water, no food, no windows, and the door had no interface. At least not on the inside of the room.
There wasn't even a bed or soft carpet. There was no interweb, either.
Every night, the medstat at home gave Meliora a little pill for good sleep. The machines gave it to everyone. It was called the pill for good sleep, just like fifty years ago something was called the pill against nightmares .
It must be the reason she'd never seen this room, this darkness, this silence.
She'd thought the world silent when Nicolas had stopped the interweb in the mall. It hadn't been. There had been people there with her, living, breathing people.
Mel tried to find computers she could open, but to no end.
She tried to message Mom through the disconnected, lonely computer in her hands—no use again.
She stomped her feet, she shouted, she hit the walls with fists, she cried huddled in the corner—nothing.
Hours passed before the door opened. Mel stepped out, and her computer beeped.
Doctor Eryn stood in the corridor, watching her. Mel had 182 messages from her mom.
Mel... Mel... Mel... was the last one. Many of the others were in the same style. While Meliora was reading them, another message came in.
Mel, it said. Oh, Mel! Don't tell me that you, like him, have left forever!
Mel's knees bent by themselves. She was crying. The tears rolled down no matter how much she hated them or wanted to stop them, while she hummed her message to Mom.
It is all right, Mom. That doctoring work turned out to be involved with other cities. Remember the sleeper trains, Mom? I can't send messages while I sleep.
Then, a new message: I love you, Mom. I love you more than anything! I will never, ever leave you!
Mel got up from the floor. She raised a hand, the tears still falling.
"I wouldn't advise you to," Doctor Eryn said. "You don't want her to stop receiving messages for longer, do you—certainly longer than a ride in a sleeper train. Or two rides. Or four."
Mel let her hand drop.
Eryn shrugged. "You're free to leave, if you so wish. If you do, you get a normal job, if you care to get one at all. You message your mother, you find a mate, all that stuff. But if you want to be a doctor, of anything, you do as I say, or face the consequences."
"May I ask a question, Doctor Eryn?" Her own voice sounded meek, broken. But she wasn't. She wasn't!
Eryn stepped closer and Mel hardly resisted the urge to cringe before the new slap. No slap came.
Eryn smiled her crooked smile. "You may."
Mel met the doctor's eyes. "What are the consequences, Doctor Eryn? Prison, each one worse than before? Making my mom worry until she is so unnatural that
"Doctor Eryn, please, what is this about?" An indignant voice—the boy, Ivan.
Eryn slapped him, too.
"You don't argue with my actions. Ever. Any of you. Is that clear?"
Mel watched the shock on the others' faces. The same as hers yesterday, probably. People didn't slap you. People didn't order you, people were nice.
Mel stepped towards Eryn. She slapped the doctor so hard that Eryn's glasses fell from her nose.
"Ah," Eryn said calmly after she'd wiped her cheek and lips with a laced white handkerchief and picked up her glasses, while Mel stood aside, her hands suddenly shaking.
"Adelaide and Ivan, you two have had enough darkness for now. This is the first part of your education. The rest of it starts half an hour from now. Meliora, your education, it seems, must be a bit different."
***
Eryn had them exit the train right there, between the stone walls, then touched her hand to a door. The place they entered looked like a mall. It had no windows, but the lights inside were bright. The corridors were big, and the rooms were glass-walled.
But not all of them.
Eryn brought Mel to a room that looked normal-walled from the outside. She pushed Mel in, and Mel wasn't surprised to hear the door click locked behind her.
The light was even weaker than that of the unlit wagons. There was no water, no food, no windows, and the door had no interface. At least not on the inside of the room.
There wasn't even a bed or soft carpet. There was no interweb, either.
Every night, the medstat at home gave Meliora a little pill for good sleep. The machines gave it to everyone. It was called the pill for good sleep, just like fifty years ago something was called the pill against nightmares .
It must be the reason she'd never seen this room, this darkness, this silence.
She'd thought the world silent when Nicolas had stopped the interweb in the mall. It hadn't been. There had been people there with her, living, breathing people.
Mel tried to find computers she could open, but to no end.
She tried to message Mom through the disconnected, lonely computer in her hands—no use again.
She stomped her feet, she shouted, she hit the walls with fists, she cried huddled in the corner—nothing.
Hours passed before the door opened. Mel stepped out, and her computer beeped.
Doctor Eryn stood in the corridor, watching her. Mel had 182 messages from her mom.
Mel... Mel... Mel... was the last one. Many of the others were in the same style. While Meliora was reading them, another message came in.
Mel, it said. Oh, Mel! Don't tell me that you, like him, have left forever!
Mel's knees bent by themselves. She was crying. The tears rolled down no matter how much she hated them or wanted to stop them, while she hummed her message to Mom.
It is all right, Mom. That doctoring work turned out to be involved with other cities. Remember the sleeper trains, Mom? I can't send messages while I sleep.
Then, a new message: I love you, Mom. I love you more than anything! I will never, ever leave you!
Mel got up from the floor. She raised a hand, the tears still falling.
"I wouldn't advise you to," Doctor Eryn said. "You don't want her to stop receiving messages for longer, do you—certainly longer than a ride in a sleeper train. Or two rides. Or four."
Mel let her hand drop.
Eryn shrugged. "You're free to leave, if you so wish. If you do, you get a normal job, if you care to get one at all. You message your mother, you find a mate, all that stuff. But if you want to be a doctor, of anything, you do as I say, or face the consequences."
"May I ask a question, Doctor Eryn?" Her own voice sounded meek, broken. But she wasn't. She wasn't!
Eryn stepped closer and Mel hardly resisted the urge to cringe before the new slap. No slap came.
Eryn smiled her crooked smile. "You may."
Mel met the doctor's eyes. "What are the consequences, Doctor Eryn? Prison, each one worse than before? Making my mom worry until she is so unnatural that
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