Free Rupture by Curtis Hox Page A

welcomed with open arms—all in the name of inclusion. I believe I may have made a mistake siding with the Wellborns. This isn’t about inclusion. It’s about what the fringe believes and what our Council president believes, and forcing the world to believe the same thing. All in the name of saving humanity.”
    “The Wellborn family has always been at the forefront—”
    “Where is she?” Mrs. Ogilvey asked.
    “Who, the Wellborn girl? Yes, yes. I imagine she’s back in her room—”
    “Why don’t we go see her?”
    Principal Smalls harrumphed a few times, as if he’d swallowed a hair. “The student dormitories? It’s such a mess, and loud. The music they play ... ” She stood. She waited for him to open the door. “Yes, ma’am. If you’ll follow me.”
    “Certainly.”
    * * *
    Principal Smalls knocked on the young woman’s door.
    “Hold on, hold on,” both adults heard from the other side of the room.
    Mrs. Ogilvey smiled. “She’s a spitfire like her mother, isn’t she? Your job should be interesting this year.”
    He opened his mouth to respond, but the door opened as well, and there stood the diminutive Wellborn girl with the flaring black pigtails. She rubbed her eyes.
    “Taking an afternoon nap, Miss. Wellborn?” he asked.
    “Yes, sir.”
    “This is Mrs. Ogilvey, a member of the Sterling School Alumni Association Council.”
    She stopped rubbing. “Did my mother send you?”
    Mrs. Ogilvey stepped into the room. Principal Smalls remained in the doorway. Mrs. Ogilvey looked around and noted what she figured to be a typical female’s dorm room: an open suitcase, half empty, a few items of clothing littering the place, some unused school materials on her desk.
    And, ah, there it was, Mrs. Ogilvey thought: the talisman .
    She walked over to the rumpled bed, where a miniature model of a fullerene molecule sat. She stared at the symbol of modern science and natural perfection and wondered how deep into this ideology their new student had fallen. It scared her, seeing the talisman there, so out in the open. Even a year ago, such a thing would have landed the girl in a detention center. But there were always dissenters. She thought about when she was a girl. As the Cyber Wars raged on their doorsteps any crackpot with a theory for what was happening was given voice. How many died because of people with the certainty this girl felt in her heart?
    “May I?” Mrs. Ogilvey asked.
    A long moment stretched between the two of them.
    “Yes, of course.”
    Mrs. Ogilvey picked it up. The dynamic material was cold and heavy. The tiny holes looked drilled with precision. Each node was a round pellet connected by solid metal bars.
    Now, the moment of truth. “You speak to your lords with this?”
    Such a question would normally be denied. But the inclusion of Alters into the Consortium as important agents in the battle for global security meant they were now to be accepted in all sectors of society. Most people hated them, and feared them, still. But here at Sterling, they were promised an open forum. Even if that meant talismans.
    “I do, ma’am. And they usually talk back to me.”
    Just the slightest raise of a delicate chin. The girl was defiant, brave, and ... calm. Just like her mother.
    “And you think Joss Beckwith has been tainted by ... unreason?” A single nod. “I see.” She set the bucky back on the pillow.
    “Am I in trouble?” Simone asked.
    “We may all be in trouble,” Mrs. Ogilvey replied. “May I sit?”
    Simone pushed rumpled clothes from her desk chair. “Sure.”
    “Are you all right?” Principal Smalls asked.
    “I believe my former insistence on natural living is taking its toll. I may finally give in and seek some treatment. I fear we’re all in trouble.”
    “I’m not getting kicked out?”
    Mrs. Ogilvey smiled a kind, grandmotherly smile. “No. You may be the catalyst that saves this place. Your mother thinks so.” Still with the smile, she finished, “Or burns