Techne High

There wasn’t much color left in the world.

The day was grey, like all other days. People in grey uniforms and grey suits walked on grey walkways next to grey buildings. I watched their solitary marches as we drove past them, wondering if the only difference between us and the androids was the blood under our skin. And even then, blood was just a sophisticated energy supply.

Today was my first day at Techne High. I was the first and only human to be accepted into that school. It made headlines when I got the highest score in the entrance exam. The mayor had come to my family’s apartment building, and we posed for a picture in the cramped lobby. The photo was slapped above an article that raved about the teen genius who had outperformed all other 500 applicants in the entrance exam.

Apparently my parents hadn’t been the only ones who thought it was a good idea to put their child in a school filled with robots.

“This advantageous for you, Melody,” My mother said, drawing my thoughts back to the present. “You won’t have to wait for your classmates to catch up to you when you finish your work early. You’ll be at the front of the pack now.”

That was Mother. Always rationalizing and analyzing all of life’s situations to find the advantages and disadvantages. However, this time her words made me smirk. I wasn’t naïve. I was going to a school filled with a bunch of walking Einsteins that could compute formulas and complex calculations in the blink of an eye. I’d be lucky if I could keep up at all.

It was a bizarre idea—androids attending school. Technically they didn’t need to attend. It was all part of some publicity stunt to get society to accept the androids in everyday life.

Recently there had been pushback against the upsurge of android production. People didn’t like that artificial intelligence was beginning to wander the streets and pop up in social and work spaces. The androids performed helpful duties, yes, but they did so in an eerily silent and mechanical fashion. It made people uncomfortable to see these uncanny puppets butting into their lives. So what was the solution?

Humanizing the androids of course.

And what was more humanizing than suffering a public education?

The tech gurus in charge of the whole operation claimed that androids needed to experience human life to accelerate their acclimation to society. They would learn from immersion and long-term human observation.

And I was the lucky human being observed.

We pulled up to the front gate of the school. I stared through the iron bars at the mass of mechanical bodies standing motionless in the courtyard. A pinprick of unease blossomed in my stomach, but I quickly squelched it. They were just androids. There was nothing to be afraid of.

“Melody,” my mother said as I exited the car. She was leaning over the passenger’s seat so I couldn’t escape her gaze. We stared, assessing each other for a moment, before she spoke again. “I know you’ll make me proud.”

I suppressed the urge to sigh and instead nodded. “Of course, Mother. I’ll see you after school.”

She rolled up the window and drove away.

The gate swung open with a whine as I approached. Undoubtedly one of the cameras had identified me and given me permission to enter. I had been told there were hundreds stationed all over the school.

I passed the first few androids. None of them moved or acknowledged my presence. They were as still as statues in a graveyard. It was strange, but it didn’t bother me that much. I was already used to feeling out of place among my old classmates. What difference would it make to feel out of place among a sea of plastic and metal?

I scanned the yard and confirmed that I was indeed the only human in sight. Where was the faculty?

A loud buzzer suddenly blared across the courtyard, breaking the stoney silence. Immediately, all the androids turned and began to tromp toward the front doors. I followed at a distance.

They formed into four rows and marched down the halls, each footstep synchronized. At different points, groups would branch off and enter a classroom. I scanned the rooms I passed until I found the one matching my schedule. Taking a deep breath, I straightened to my full height and walked inside.

All the androids in this room were already seated. I hurried to the only vacant seat at the front. As I sat down in the black plastic chair, I noticed that there was no teacher. Odd. They must be late.

For some reason this lack of punctuality was comforting.

I waited, glancing at the room’s occupants. The android next to me had a red wire connected to its temple, which snaked down to a port on the side of its desk. After a quick scan, I confirmed that the other androids had identical wires. I leaned over my desk and saw the same red wire.

What was I supposed to do with that?

A man suddenly appeared in the doorway. He was wearing a navy blue jumpsuit and scruffy grey tennis shoes. At the sight of another human, I felt the tension in my shoulders ease and a rare smile appear on my face.

He hurried inside and returned my smile broadly.

“Hello Melody! Welcome to Techne High! Are you excited to be the first human admitted to our humble little school?”

“Ecstatic.”

“Excellent! Here are your learning materials today,” he said, plopping a textbook and notepad in front of me, along with an electrical tablet. “The courses you’ll be learning are in that tablet right there. It’ll have all of your lessons, quizzes, and tests. Lunch is at 12; you’ll follow your class for that.”

He nodded at me and began to leave. I stuttered, taken off guard at his rapid retreat.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

He spun around. “Back to maintenance. Why, did you need something? Oh, if you need to use the restroom, you’ll have to wait 15 minutes. I don’t know why, but it’s the rules.”

“No, it’s not that. Aren’t you the teacher?”

He stared at me, and then laughed. “Teacher? Of course not! This school has no need for in-person teachers! Do you really think Techne High would waste money on that? No, the androids are all watching recorded sessions of teachers teaching throughout history with their EDU wires. As for you, since you’re so smart, the only teacher you’ll need is that right there,” he pointed at the tablet. “So there’s no need for a teacher. In fact, a teacher would probably slow you down.”

I hesitated. He wasn’t wrong; there had been many times I had been frustrated with teachers for going over material I already knew. But this was a school, teachers were supposed to be here. Also, I would never admit it but the idea of being alone all day with these silent androids made me uneasy. “What if there’s an emergency?”

He pointed at the ceiling, and it was then that I saw the mass of cameras. They were centered in the middle of the room, layered atop one another in a mounded formation. It was like a black tumor that had sprouted eyes and was observing everything with an unblinking gaze. I shivered under its penetrating stare.

“All androids are hooked up to the feed, so if there’s an emergency, they’ll react accordingly. I was told they’re programed with 3,000 protocols for any emergency situation that might happen in an adolescent school. And there’s more being added every day! But if something happens more serious than that, one of the Monitors will step in.”

That wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear, but a part of me had anticipated that type of cool logical reasoning. “Okay. I suppose that makes sense.” I was struggling with this feeling of dread creeping up inside of me. Wasn’t this a good thing? I didn’t have any distractions, or slow teachers to hold me back anymore. I’d be able accomplish so much more on my own.

Then why did I feel like I was slowly being maneuvered into a tight cage?

“Yeah, it’s a win-win for all of us.” The man continued. “You get to learn at your own pace, and the androids get to observe you and familiarize themselves with your mannerisms. Then they’ll start mimicking you, and pretty soon, who knows?” His jolly expression suddenly turned severely sober. “You might start mimicking them too.”

“But wait,” I said, as he made to leave again. “If you’re not the teacher, who are you?”

“Oh, I’m the janitor. Believe it or not, those engineers still haven’t perfected a fully functional custodian android to do the proper fixings and cleanings. So I guess that makes me pretty special, huh?” he laughed as he left, leaving me alone in the room. I shivered.

It was cold.