Gestation, John Gold [good books for high schoolers .TXT] 📗

glanced over at the cameras, which were turned off, and what looked like places where there was nothing.

When the patient is closed off or doesn’t want to talk, the psychologist’s job is to pull them out of their comfort zone and get them riled up.

“Open your mouth! I’m talking to you!” Eliza suddenly raised her voice, trying to take the boy off guard. He was obviously on the edge and terrified. The whole time, he kept looking around and glancing toward the exit. “If you don’t answer me right now, I’ll tell the other kids that you aren’t mute and spill the beans about your deal with the supervisor.”

Anji calmed down instantly, a single look of rage and disgust flashing quickly over his face. He stood up and went over to the exit. Once there, he stopped in front of the force field keeping him from going any further.

Eliza decided to press her advantage while the boy was scared.

“You’ll leave this room when I say you can. And if you don’t sit right down, I’ll give orders to cut Galboa’s hospital payments.”

Anji looked at the girl with undisguised anger, the veins in his temples throbbing. Still, he stayed silent. All he did was give the top of the control panel a smack and release the force field with two motions.

Eliza stayed sitting at the table as she thought through what had just happened. The boy wasn’t letting her in. She hadn’t got him to trust her. That was clear from before the conversation started, though. You have to use strength when you’re talking with kids from the orphanages, otherwise they’ll take your affection and concern as weakness. But her attempt to press him had been an abject failure. His peers didn’t scare him, and her mention of Galboa had engendered more rage than fear.

∞ ∞ ∞

Vaalsie was livid! The sedatives were all that helped him calm down. As soon as Eliza left, he started analyzing the information he had got from her “conversation.” Anji, the little brat, knew about the cameras, and could even tell that the main ones were off and the hidden ones were still working. If he started talking, he could say what was actually happening in the orphanage, that the older kids were taking protection money, and that Vaalsie got a share. Anji’d looked mute, so Vaalsie hadn’t been afraid of telling anyone, but it turned out that he’d spent a whole year chattering away in the space port. How could he have done that? The little sniveler apparently had a good head on his shoulders. He’d finished the previous school year by passing all his tests ahead of time.

Slowly, the supervisor hatched a plan. If he couldn’t make the boy stay quiet, he could at least make sure that he didn’t want to talk about all that. For example, he could give Anji one of the younger kids to start getting kickbacks from. Alternatively, he could scare him into joining the collection team as a junior member. The goal was clear—all that remained was to figure out how to reach it. In the meantime, he had to push back on Anji, and he knew how he was going to do that. The kid had broken the control panel for the force field in the cafeteria and left his meeting with the psychologist. Vaalsie figured he could use Eliza’s words against Anji.

∞ ∞ ∞

I logged into the game in a lousy mood, determined to take my anger out on someone. When I walk into the back yard, I see father washing the dogs.

“Continue!” He releases them, the smile never leaving his face. It looks permanent.

Without thinking, I let the creatures have it. They go flying away, whimpering as they hit the ground. Father’s smack to the forehead brings me to my senses, and his furrowed brow tells me how serious he is.

“Feel better?”

“Yes, thanks.”

“Did something happen? Why are you so mad?” Father calls the dogs over so I can heal them.

“In my world, someone tried to use my…the love I have for the people close to me. They threatened to hurt me, too. I could kill her!”

“Why didn’t you?”

“The consequences would be worse than staying in control and suffering through it.”

“In that case, accept the decision you made and calm down. The dogs didn’t do anything to you.”

“Sorry, father.”

You got a debuff: Astral anchor

Effect: You can no longer go farther than 30 meters away from where you currently are.

Duration: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds… 58… 57…

∞ ∞ ∞

Looks like the supervisor is up to his tricks. I’m not even going to ask—he wouldn’t tell me the truth anyway. Father, apparently, can see my panel of effects.

“What’s that for? Did you do something else?”

“That’s what I get for refusing.”

“Well, at least you’ll be sleeping at home.”

I sit on the ground, healing myself after the hit father gave me, and think. The worst part is that Vaalsie found out I can talk. Also, that I was working at the space port. He’s losing money by not having me in his collection crew. I told Galboa about the cameras and where they usually were, as we often repaired the electric systems on ships, including video surveillance systems. Anyway, I’m going to have a problem with the collectors. And if Eliza tells them I can talk, they’re really going to come after me. She could hurt Galboa, too!

My heart clenches with pain and anger. He could suffer because of me. I need to send him my savings from the anonymous account. If there’s a problem, that will help a little. I can’t use the money officially anyway.

Vaalsie did a good job—I can’t get rid of the debuff. It’s the kind you can only give to the people under you, and it means that I won’t be playing or using the time as effectively as possible. A quick pang tugs at my heart as that word reminds me of Galboa.

“Sagie, I get that you’re hurting right now.” Father can read me like an