Free End Online: Volume 6 by D. Wolfin

random conversations around us as Verity takes me to class. It isn’t
until I arrive in front of a large classroom on the first floor of the
university’s second building – often just referred to as the second wing – that
it occurs to me.
    ‘Why didn’t you just
have Markus be your fake boyfriend? He would jump off a bridge if you asked him
to, let alone be the target of all the boys’ hate. Could it be that you
actually like me? Or just like me more?’  My
thoughts continue to circle around and around. Whether I’m right or completely
wrong, I’m unable to come up with a better reason.
    It is too late to ask
Verity, as she has already left, so I can only enter the classroom and ask her
later as to why she doesn’t just have Markus be her fake boyfriend.
    There are eleven other
people in the classroom – eight female and three male students. A large digital
white board is installed on the wall at the front of the classroom. The
teacher’s podium is connected to this display, and anything they write on the
top of the podium displays on the wall.
    I greet half of the class
one by one, but regardless whether they are male or female, each one turns away
and ignores me. I don’t feel like arguing after an already exhausting morning,
so I find a table near the front of class and move the chair aside so I can
wheel myself into place.
    My next big shock arrives
in the form of my teacher. The teacher is none other than my aunt who
completely loathes me: Aunt Jude. She is equally shocked to see me here, her
lower jaw becoming unhinged in the process of recognizing me.
    It doesn’t take long for
her to regain her composure. Jude stares daggers at me as she stands behind the
teacher’s podium at the front of the classroom.
    “Good morning class. I
will be your instructor for first year Philology and Semiotics. You may refer
to me as Miss Sylvester. The university board of directors requested that I
come teach you so I will do so to the best of my ability.”
    “Today will be an
introduction into Philology and Semiotics. I will discuss the meaning of the
two and how they relate. Make sure to write as much down as you can and study
it again later.”
    I feel like Jude is
speaking to everyone except me, but regardless I still take out a notebook and
diligently start writing down as much as possible. This is a subject that makes
my blood boil and I can’t seem to calm myself.
    “Philology is the study of
ancient languages. They are forgotten languages with no known way to decipher
them. Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols in the process of communication.
The two are related in that a language is merely a compilation of signs and
symbols. You all take your knowledge of communication for granted, but you will
soon understand the difficulty of communication when you try to decipher an
ancient language.”
    “Here is one example of an
ancient language from primitive times. They say a picture is worth a thousand
words, and that is indeed true.”
    Jude places the photograph
down on the podium and it is reflected upon the white board. The picture is of
a cave wall with various drawings scratched into the stone and overlaid with
some sort of paint or pigment.
    “This form of
communication cannot be directly translated into our language, which makes it
all the more difficult. In fact, most forgotten languages can’t be translated
solely because they are far too different in origin. However, we can summarize
the intent, the meaning within the picture, in words that others can
understand.”
    The picture is removed
from the podium and another one replaces it. The new photo is of a torn
manuscript of unknown origin. It is covered with countless small symbols,
nearly every single one of them different from another.
    “This is the language of a
forgotten civilization that was far more advanced than we are today. It has a more
precise meaning than a picture on a wall and can be used to store information
on a much higher