Program Error

Chapter Two

"All done. Lisa said you were also hit in your stomach?"the nurse asks. Whose Lisa? Ms. Groden?

Unsure who Lisa is, I say, "Yes." 

"Then lift your shirt up." I slowly raise my shirt up, just over my belly button. The swollen, black and blue bruise is revealed. The nurse holds the gun over my stomach. The gun does it's magic. That  sensation is back, but it's not so uncomfortable this time. In a few seconds there is no trace of the bruise at all. 

"All done?"the nurse asks. I nod my head. "Good. Now go to your class, please." She dismisses me and I head off to class. 

I take out my status card and swipe it over the reader by the door. It beeps once and turns green, causing the classroom door to slide over. My teacher was in the middle of a lecture but he stops to stare at me. This causes the whole class to look my way. Some snicker, and some stare at me with curious or crooked looks. 

"Nice of you to finally join us, Ms. Marson," Mr. Wescott remarks. "Take your seat." He gestures to the empty seat in the back of the room. I sigh and walk to the back, sliding into my desk. I take my BioTab out of it's bag and plug it into the port on my desk. It instantly turns on, the words BioTab flashing onto the screen. When the home screen comes up there are only two application available. The internet, which is probably limited right now, and the school assignment app. They already locked our BioTabs. Great. 

My tab connects to the current lesson as Mr. Wescott continues is lecture. A history lecture. Even better. 

The girl in front of me, Liena, whips her hair into my face as she turns around to face me. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?"I ask.

She gives me a flat look. "Really? You know what."

I roll my eyes and bring my head into hands. "Yes, I was in a fight. Goodbye now."

Instead of catching my hint, Liena pursues me with more questions. "Why? What exactly happened? Are you in big trouble?" I can see the hunger for answers in her eyes.

Just as I begin to speak, my BioTab suddenly turns off. The lesson, the lecture, and the assignment stops too. Mr. Wescott stops mid sentence. The lights, the smart board, every single BioTab- they have all been completely shut down. Silence fills the room. And then frenzy.

Mr. Wescott quickly calms everyone, but I can sense the slight fear and confusion in his voice. "I need everyone to calm down and be quiet for just a moment, please." He turns to a Telescreen by his desk to call to the office, but soon realizes there is no power. He ponders for a moment before speaking up again. "I'll be right back, class. Stay here." He walks to the door, but once again realizes there is no power. He can't use the scan pad to swipe his status card, therefore he cannot open the door. So we're trapped. This day keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?

Eventually we all begin to talk again. We're waiting out this blackout. Mr. Wescott just walks back to his chair with a dazed look on his face. Liena asks me about what happened earlier, but I ignore her and turn around. My best friend Des is sitting three seats behind me. Everyone else has switched and moved seats to be near their friends, so I hop into the empty seat to his right. 

"Weird, huh?" he says, looking up at me.

"Weird? I think this is more than just weird. This is the second glitch to happen today."

"Really? Liz's car stopped right in the middle of the road on the way to school. There was like this huge traffic jam. Huge." Des extends his hands to show just how big the traffic jam was. 

"Same. The bus just shut down,"I say. So it wasn't just my part of the Society? Other sections had glitches too? Very strange.

Snapping me from my thoughts, Des says,"I think someone did this on purpose."