Legacies (Mercedes Lackey) - By Mercedes Lackey Page 0,33
forgotten to shut down the e-mail and Instant Message system. She ran over to her computer and opened IM.
ADDIE4: WTFs going on?!?!?!?!?
SPIRIT: Idunno!!!11!!
Brendan pinged her.
BRENDAN9: S ws out last nite, didn com back. M say NEthing?
SPIRIT: Not 2 me.
She kept repeating what Brendan had told her to everyone who pinged her until Addie opened up a chatroom for everyone to join. There were fifty people in it and the number was climbing when she finally saw Muirin’s icon flashing in her taskbar.
SPIRIT: ??? ??? ?
IMTOXIC: Double plus ungood
Of all the people Spirit knew here, Muirin was the only one besides her who not only had read 1984, but used terms from it. And the only reason she would be using that phrase now had to be because she was warning Spirit that “Big Brother was watching.” The first day Spirit had arrived at Oakhurst, Muirin had warned her that they monitored everyone’s computer use. So Spirit replied in kind.
SPIRIT: Dept of Hist B sez S wnt out, didn come back
IMTOXIC: MG sez S ran away. We have always been at war with Eastasia
Spirit considered that for a moment. “Mr. Gail says Seth ran away.” The fact that Muirin had phrased it just that way—followed by more 1984—told Spirit that whatever Mr. Gail thought, Muirin thought it was a cover story. She’d have to wait to talk to Muirin in person to find out what she thought.
SPIRIT: Wut naow cops?
IMTOXIC: Probly Y we’re N jail.
Spirit fidgeted; she had the feeling, no, the certainty, that there were a hundred things Muirin couldn’t tell her over IM. Unfortunately . . . they were all going to have to wait.
About ten minutes after that, someone in Admin—or maybe one of the proctors—bought a clue and figured out everyone was on IM, so the whole intraweb was shut down: no IM, no e-mail, no access to the online libraries. Spirit didn’t think the cops would want to talk to her; she didn’t really know Seth and she was new in the school. Meanwhile, she might as well take the chance to curl up with her music downloads and a good dead-tree book.
In theory, anyway. In practice, she kept thinking about how Muirin had looked at breakfast: upset, almost in a panic. Would she be that upset if Seth really had just run away?
It was almost noon before the intraweb came back up again. Her in-box icon was flashing and beeping, which meant a priority e-mail from the Administration. Two of them, actually. The first one simply said that they were all now free to leave their rooms. They were to proceed to the Refectory for lunch as usual, then go on with their regular afternoon schedules.
The second one was about Seth. It was short and to the point, and if any of them still had parents, Spirit thought wistfully, it would probably have gotten the school a few brusque phone calls once it got forwarded.
Dear Students: As you are aware, as of this morning, Seth Morris has left Oakhurst Academy. We regret to inform you that Mr. Morris has elected to pursue opportunities elsewhere. We know that you will share our regret in his unfortunate life choices and will learn from this experience. Regards, The Staff of Oakhurst Academy
Spirit stared at the e-mail incredulously. “Unfortunate life choices”? “Pursue opportunities elsewhere”? They made it sound like he’d quit some middle management job to go into rehab. “Learn from this experience”? She sure would. She’d learn that if anybody here had ever seen a real live teenager before they’d taken their shiny new jobs, she’d eat her entire new wardrobe.
She hurried back to the Refectory. Everyone in their group was already there, and Muirin was almost in tears, she was so angry. “. . . and of course they don’t give a damn! We’re just the freak-kids! It’s not like we’re real human beings or anything!” she was saying.
She had her arms wrapped around herself, and Spirit immediately put an arm around her. “Muirin, what happened?” she asked, feeling Muirin’s tense muscles trembling.
“What happened? Nothing! I talked to the cops, but they didn’t take notes, they didn’t even listen to half of what I said! They aren’t even sending out people to search for him! I asked! And he didn’t run away! Ask Brendan!”
But when Spirit glanced toward Brendan, he wouldn’t look at her or Muirin. “He didn’t take a coat,” Brendan muttered awkwardly, staring at the floor.
He thinks Seth did run away, Spirit realized in surprise.