Chapter 6
“We’re asking that all young people now keep a safe distance from the Spackle,” Burly says over another vid beamed directly to everyone in the city, which we’ve come back to after Mom pointed out she wasn’t having me skip school.
So here I sit in class, our lesson with Professor Kilfoyle interrupted by another of Burly’s announcements.
“And only deal with them when absolutely necessary.”
“So they’ve proven the bacteria thing is dangerous?” Arrow asks. “Should I be worried? I deal with the Land all the time.”
“Should probably stop then,” Taper says.
“It’s how I make half of our family’s trades,” Arrow says.
“It’s just a guideline for now,” Professor Kilfoyle says reluctantly. “Though I gather there is some proof now that there really is an infection that’s contagious to humans.”
There’s no proof it causes the dreams, I type in my comm as he turns back to the board. Or any harm to us at all.
“That we know of yet,” Taper says, frowning at me.
“If we’re already having the dreams,” Tara says, “then what’s the point of being careful now?”
Which is . . . actually a good point.
Yeah, I type, but people are already talking over me.
“Yeah,” Arrow says, “has anyone who’s not been in contact with the Spackle–”
Land, I type, but the moment’s already past.
“Stopped having the dreams?” Arrow finishes.
The class all look at each other. No one says they’re not having them. I don’t type anything and let them believe what they want–
Even though I realize I might be proof the infection doesn’t cause the dreams.
Or maybe just proof I’m different enough that I’m immune.
“Let’s get back to our lessons,” Professor Kilfoyle says.
“Think they’ll close the Spackle Market?” a girl called Gillian says from the back row.
“Adults aren’t being told to stay away,” Tara says.
“Even though they should,” Taper says.
“Yeah, but if people think there’s this infection,” Arrow says.
Then they’ll all stay away, I type, but Gillian says, “Adults are going to stay away, too, and not risk it,” before I finish.
I type really fast, like I said, but even that isn’t as fast as speech. There are hardly any people in the city who speak sign language, basically just me, my family, and one older deaf couple who refused hearing implants and who are the ones who taught me and my folks to sign.
“Burly should just toss them all out,” Taper says.
“And what would that get us?” Arrow says. “There’s billions of them on the planet.”
A million and a half, I type, but no one hears it. I slam my hand on my desk out of frustration. It makes a much louder sound than I intended.
I’ve got everyone’s attention now.
I killed a bug, I type into the comm.
“Weirdo,” Taper says.
“I feel like this is supposed to be a distraction,” Tara says.
Nobody says anything, including me. I’m too surprised.
“Distraction from what?” Professor Kilfoyle asks.
“The Glyph, obviously,” Tara says. “The gods.”
“No such thing as gods,” Taper says. “Just the one God who watches over us, and he doesn’t walk around tearing up cities.”
“I just feel like Burly’s wanting us to talk about infections to keep us from talking about other, more dangerous things,” Tara says.
Another big silence. It allows me time to type–
But I’m still not fast enough.
“Is Burly that smart?” Arrow says.
“He’s smarter than you think,” Tara says, though she doesn’t sound happy about it.
He’s smart enough, I type, and it hits at a moment where there’s silence. Everyone turns to look at me. I’m not saying I’m a fan, but he’s definitely smart enough. In fact, he told me–
“No,” Professor Kilfoyle says irritably. “I’ve heard enough about Burly’s intelligence. You want to keep talking about this, do it after physics.”
And that’s the end of that.