Free The Adjusters by Andrew Taylor Page A

stairs, away from the pair of weirdos as fast as his
legs would carry him.

 

    Henry’s first day at Malcorp High began at 8.30 a.m. on Monday. As he walked across the manicured grass in the direction of the school buildings, along with scores of
other kids, the events of the evening before seemed increasingly like a strange dream. He hadn’t told his mom about Fox and Christian’s plan to break into the medical centre, of course,
or any of their strange ideas for that matter. He didn’t want her worrying about the delusional locals he’d somehow befriended just a day after arriving at the complex. Although she was
trying hard not to show it, he could tell she was stressed about the new job. The last thing he wanted was her thinking that he’d fallen in with a bad crowd again. And he certainly
didn’t need the hassle of her lecturing him about it either.
    The walk to school took less than ten minutes. The other students were dressed in green and gold school uniforms and ambled along like any other kids Henry had seen – not like robots at
all. Henry had yet to receive his uniform, so he was dressed in the smartest pair of trousers he had and a plain white shirt.
    “Hey there, newbie!” Blake ran over and fell into step beside him. “Pumped about your first day?”
    Henry gave him an exaggerated look of excitement. “Yeah! I can’t wait!”
    “I can tell you’re joking,” Blake replied with a laugh. “But seriously, the school is pretty neat. Have you checked out your timetable yet?”
    Henry shook his head. “I guess I’ll get that when I arrive.”
    Blake pulled a small tablet PC, bearing the Malcorp logo, from his blazer and tapped the screen, navigating to a student list and Henry’s name. He got the timetable up on screen and handed
it across to Henry.
    “You’ll get an eDiary,” Blake explained. “All the students have them.”
    “Cool,” Henry said, examining the machine. “What games does it have on it?”
    Blake gave a snorting laugh and punched him on the arm. “Kidder! But seriously, we’d better get you to the uniform shop before we go to class.”
    “That’s okay. I’ll pick it up at recess.”
    Blake looked at him as if he was being crazy. “No way! We need to get you in the school colours! You don’t want to stand out, do you?”
    With that, he snatched the electronic diary from Henry’s hand and jogged on ahead.
    “No, I guess not,” Henry said and ran after him. Blake might be just about the straightest kid on the face of the planet, but at least he wasn’t crazy-delusional like the other
acquaintances he’d made.
    And at the moment, that counted for a lot.
    The school was divided into three areas: one for nursery and infant kids, another for juniors and finally the high school. The uniform shop was located at the back of the high school area, which
gave Henry the chance to check out the building as Blake led the way. Like everywhere else in the Malcorp complex, the place was spotlessly clean and looked newly built. Clearly things were
replaced the moment they began to wear, right down to the light switches and door handles.
    An ear-splitting siren sounded and kids started scurrying for class, although Henry was surprised by the lack of noise within the building. The corridors of his last school had been deafening in
the moments before class began, as students yelled, argued and shouted last minute messages to one another. Seconds after the siren stopped in Malcorp High, complete silence had fallen over the
corridors.
    At the uniform shop, Henry was issued with a pair of black trousers, a grey shirt and a green and gold blazer and tie. The woman behind the counter told him that a spare set would be sent to his
lodge and his mom would be billed. Henry took his new clothes and put them on in a tiny changing room, checking the tie in a mirror on the wall. His last school hadn’t had a uniform, so the
blazer and tie felt weird. Henry stared at his reflection