Ok they are all most ready to run.

The halls were full of talk of the upcoming holidays, planes of family come to visits or of visits being made. Vines friends were the same, they just had a bit more to look forward to. Paul saw Keven and said, a bit loudly. “Keven your folks are amazing! Mine said I could go after talking to them. It is all set.” He was making sure that a many as could heard him. The more that thought they were go to Exter the more likely that was the road they would start looking on when they didn’t come back, buying more time. “I get to come. I can’t believe they are let me go easy even if it is just to Exter and we get the whole last four day away! How did they do it? Say Will the sky be red there or do we have to go further Vine?”

Vine shook her head. “You could tone it down a bit. It will be a it red, and you will see it deeper looking east. It will be better if we slip a train tide to Milt one day. It is just a little village, but in a pocket valley further east. There you can get a better view of the sky I miss. I think you will like it.”

The biology teacher said. “So you all are go east over the brake then?”

Vine said. “I want to see my home, but there is not enough time. So I thought I could take a weekend a bit closer. Father agreed, if I didn’t go alone, so the four of us will be going to Exter the last weekend of the break. We get to leave Thursday night and come back Tuesday afternoon. I’m still a bit surprised everyone agreed to give us so much time. Will you be going anyplace?”

He said. “I am thinking about it. I got anther letter and this one I recognize the handwriting on. So I might just use the break to see if I read the map right.” The warning bell sounded.

Vine said. “I had better run, I know the trip will be killed if I am late. But I would like to hear more about your wife sometime, if that isn’t to rude of me to ask. She must be an amazing person. I can see how much you love her. What’s her name?”

He said. “Jill, well that is what she went by. We will talk later. I don’t want you getting in trouble.”

As they were in the line for lunch Vine frowned. “That doesn’t smell good to me. Think we would get into trouble for going back to the classroom instead?”

The principal heard and said. “As long as you are not running the halls and stay in the building you are fine. You four won’t be the only ones skipping lunch today.”

Jun blinked, that was down right friendly. “Thank you sir. Vine I’m with you. Come on guys, will find something to do in the classroom.”

Back at the room they found they were indeed not the only ones there. Some had actual lunches. They didn’t but did have enough snacks that they were not hurting any. Vine had been looking at the rack of wall maps. “I wonder.” She walked over to them and started going though them.

Keven said. “Vine just what are you doing?”

Vine said. “I will explain in a bit. Yes here it is.” She pulled out a chart that had colors and distances the top three were labeled changeling she went and opened a few cupboards then turned with a smile. “I thought this might be here. What do you say we find out if you can visit me once I set up my home? This is probably not allowed, but the supplies weren’t locked away so I don’t think it would be more than some essays. All you need to do it take one of this round trays, put a drop of blood on it and watch. The color will match one on that chart. Now it is best to let it set an hour and see where it goes. You can safely live in a zone a color below what you after that hour. My lands fall in to the second and third zones. Once you are done toss it in the incinerator there and no one will know. The incinerator is working.”

“Just what is that and why is it here?”

The principal answered from the doorway. “That is a test devolved in the camps. It is used to see the leave of toxins in a person’s blood. We used to do it in class, but the laws changed. We can’t have you do it. I am not going to punish anyone who does, I never agreed to stopping. Go ahead if you want to know. Mr. Wills and I need to set up this screen, so will be here if there are any problems.” He took the screen to the front then sat it down and walked over to the case. “Let me show you what to do.” He took a kit out and opened it, took out a needle and poked his finger. “Now this is the trick part. For your privacy you want to angle the plate await from the room as your blood hits it, then keep it hid in your hand after. For it is no ones business what you test says unless you want them to know. Vine or I can help you with the chat and will say nothing about what we see.” He had his in such a way that Vine saw the rainbow, meaning he was gypsen born, likely one who had been in the camps.

Paul handed his kit to Vine. “Do you mind? I don’t think I can poke my self. Go ahead and laugh Jul, I know you want to. I just can’t take needles.”

Jul said. “Na I’m not going to laugh. Vine is this read or blue?”

Vine said. “Neither, you are right in the middle, about six. Paul it’s done you can look now. Keven here you a new test, answers in the top of the chart tend to be caused by a bad test.” She lowed her voice. “Now do not take it just pretend to.” His had came out in a light rainbow, the third from the top. He went though the monitions and she nodded. “See a sold blue. Now then if you want to see how far you can go you can hang on to them, but you will be able to stay with me safely.”

A few others had taking it as well, one throw his out and came back for a new one. Vine handed it to him and whispered as she had with Keven. “Just mime it. If asked, it is blue, blue is safe,”

Another of the kids said. “How accurate are these test?”

Vine said. “About sixty percent when they were packed, but sitting around might have lowed it a bit. These were preliminary results that told the offers what test to use next in the camps. Some of the experiments need persons in certain ranges, others they used all but wanted to know is the rang made a difference or changed.”

“Just how do you know?”

Vine said. “I read a lot, and my Mother was obsessed with the camps. Living with her I couldn’t help but lean about them.”

The principal said. “Just how did you know they were here though?”

Vine said. “I thought I saw the chart the other day and so it was worth trying. That is on big screen what’s going on?”

Mr. Wills said. “A presidential address, we have orders to broadcast it, but all of you won’t fit in the theater so we are string it out in classrooms as well.” He handed her a piece of paper. “My wife’s name” He paused. “is Jillanian she hated it, said it was to long and grand. Said they guy miss heard her when taking names down, but she couldn’t get it changed. I never thought then but now it is one of the dozens of things I wish I had asked. What was it she said? Anyway that is the new map code, would you take a look and see if you agree with what I read? You understand the maps way better than I do. Maps were always my down fall.”

Vine looked at the paper and then said softly. “Juilby Alan.” Louder she said. “Sure thing, hum perfumed even. Someone wanted to make sure you read this.” She just went over to the chest and pulled out the local map. At the look she said. “If you made a mistake it would be here, not in the bigger area, sir.”

His notes were not on that paper. He blinked, but nodded. “Thank you for taking a look.”

Vine went to her desk but didn’t unfold the map, she inside looked at her tablet and filled with it. Muttering just loud enough she said “Damn. So it is the announcement.” She took a piece of paper out of her note book and unfolded the map. Then making a show of looking at it now and then she translated the note for him. Then walked back to the front of the room and gave it to him. “Here you go, I think this will help you. When you find her tell her V said to fly high.” She looked at the principle. “Say sir, my issued e-reader says it is over do for an upgrade.”

He looked at her. “Is that so? Well that won’t do, I was thinking we could do them over break but if they are tell on us we had best get it done. I had best go say that they need to be left here tonight. We can’t update them if they aren’t here can we now? Perhaps I should make some calls I bet ours aren’t the only ones popping up messages. Thank you for telling me, that helps.” Others started coming in, and Vine moved to the poster. “Just leave it down. Mr. Wills you can tell everyone what it is and where the test kits are. Just can’t ask them to take the test. I will be bringing some more students here before the address airs. We don’t have enough screens.” He headed out of the room and Vine went back to her desk. The room slowly filled and folks looked around, wondering what the screen was for. The big ones seldom came out. The last bell sounded and there was a scramble to the seats.

Mr. Wells just waited, and didn’t threaten them with extra homework like he normally did. That caused everyone to fall silent in confusion. He said. “In a few minutes will be watching an address to the nation from the Chancellor. Principal Marten will be sending a few more students here, as there were not enough screens for all class rooms. There fore for this only you may move desks. Now then there is no camera, but do try to be on your best behavior.” Some others arrived at the door. “Come on in, sit at any empty desk. Now then about the poster. That is the chart to a test we use to give in the schools that tells you how far east you can safely go. The test itself is in that open cupboard. Now I am not saying you should take it, but I will not stop you from doing so. Should you have questions I will try and help. If you do decide to see I would recommend keeping it to yourself.”

Principle Marten said. “This is the last bunch for this room. Just a small announcement I am sure you will like. All school issued devices need to belief here tonight. Therefore no homework is expected tomorrow. This is a system wide event, so I am afraid you will not be able to tease your siblings about it. You will all stay here tell school is out. The time left after the speech is to be given to open discussions of the speech. That means you may say whatever you want to. That is the only time you will be able to so, so make use of the time.” He left and the buzz went around the room.

One guy said. “Just what is just about?”

Another said. “Bet it has to do with the east or Candor.”

“Most likely both.” When the teacher said nothing others started talking, a few got up and took a test kit out. After about ten minuets he turned on the screen.

Voices started to drop, he said. “There is a bit yet, but this old thing takes a bit to warm up. Now like I said there are no working cameras here, so you will not be seen or heard. Still try to keep it down so everyone can hear. I think it will be important.”

The screen came to life showing a newsman behind his desk. “We will shortly be joining the Chancellor as he addresses the nation, we have been told that this will be a short press conference and no questions will be taken. I now have word he is at the podium.” The screen changed to show the gray headed leader standing behind a podium baring the crests of office, looking down at some papers. Receiving word that the cameras were live he looked up and started to speak.

“We here in the west have been hearing reports of increases disturbance and empty shops in our eastern areas. I am now ready to address those issues, after a lot of study it has been decided that drastic masers are needed to preserve our way of life and the safety of our children. We must not look week before Candor as it seeks to increase its lands. Deceive action is called for. Some of this unrest is caused by refuges trying to make a home, some by parties seeking to weak in us. Others is being called by new studies. It is the feeling that if we can but address the studies and assist the refuges in making this there home the other will fade away. To that end we are creating more refugees centers that will fill the empty house and grants to help fill empty stores with worthy citizens and business.”

One boy said. “He needs to get a new speech writer.”

“Hay it is not his speaking that matter it is his leadership.”

A girl said. “Give him a chance it takes him a bit to get going.”

The Chancellor went on. “People of Donton it is time to make a stand.” That caused a bit of laughter in the classroom. “For years after the event changed our world we rightly avoided the east lands. The Gypsen Waste. However in the last generation some misguided people felt it prudent to set up homes past the safe are. Yes studies show that the contamination has weakened. The safe zone was increased to reflect that, but unnecessary risks were taken.”

Some one said. “Come on. You have to be kidding me. Not that old saw. It has been quite for years!”

He continued. “Perhaps we pushed the border a bit to far, either way people felt comfortable with the waste and set up experimental towns on the other side of the border. Those experiments resulted in mutations. Mutations that we cannot know the full existent of!” Laughter went though the room, but Vine was a bit pale, she was looking at her tablet not the screen. “Mutations that leaders in the scientific community now says may well be infections and inheritable! The contaminating of theses poor beings was a crime, however it must be contained! It is not safe to let them continue to live unguarded among us. The risk of the mutations spreading must not be ignored! It is our duty to see that the Human race survives, we can not let it fade to history after coming this far. To that end we must take steps to study those poor affected beings. We must know more about the mutations. We assure the safety of our race above all else!”

Healn said. “Is this for real?”

On screen he was saying. “Moving the individuals back to Gypsen accomplishes nothing the border is not secure and too little is known about the mutations. It is important that we learn how it is transmitted and how to guard against it. Therefore as we are working on make the Gypsen border secure we will be identifying and transferring the ones among us to secure faculties where we can study the changes and find out how big the threat is. I know this will create fear that these builds will recreate the shameful experiments that created some of the problems.”

Paul said. “That’s illegal. How can they do it?”

Jul said, angrily. “The law said no humans will be detained that away again. He is saying that those born east are not human, therefore the law doesn’t apply. It is a load of crap, but who is foolish enough to call the leader on it?”

The speech went on. “But rest assured every staff member will have complete back ground checks. All studies will be published. There will be no backroom experiments! The children involved will be getting the same education and train as they would outside the faculties. The adults will have ways to be productive members. They will just be confined to a safe area. Hopefully a way will be found to prevent the infection from spreading and the contained areas will not be needed. But should that not be possible once we have made the boarder safe we will give them the option of moving.”

A boy said. “I bet they will. Who lets lab rats go?”

“I assure you if it was not necessary for our safety I would not be asking this. We must protect ourselves if we want our life to continue. We have come too far to let civilization fail. Remember how our ancestors struggled to keep knowledge alive and growing for us as they were remaking there lives in the wake of the event. I know there is knowledge that was lost in the east, and I regret it. However we must not be foolish in are efforts to recover it. The value of it must be weighed against the value of what we have. Perhaps what is there is better off being allowed to die.” With that the chancellor turned and left. The screen was just showing the empty podium for a bit before switch back to the news room and catching the anchor shaking his head.

You could tell the moment he realized the cameras were on him. “Well folks there you have it. We just getting the details, but it appears that the testing will start next week, and the persons involved will be moved as they are tested. We will share detail as we get them. We are just getting word that the eastern nations are ordering there citizens home, and canceling all pending visas to come west, but will welcome any who with to seek safety. And with that I leave you. there will be a new anchor with you when the news returns. We now go to what ever feeds the crew put on.”

Mr. Wells got up and shut the screen off. There was silence for a bit. One student said hesitantly. “Well they did say it would be regulated.”

Another said. “About time they took action. These tests should have been done long ago. How could they not make sure we were safe? Where are the facilities?”

“They said that about the camps at first to, that they would keep everyone safe as they looked into the danger.”

“So? The camps were closed because they ran out of money. Not because they had all the answers. It is time we got the answers.” There was a bunch of nods.

Vine got up and went to the board and wrote out some messages. Everyone fell silent wonder why the teacher wasn’t stopping her, only teachers ever walked during class, little own wrote on the boards. Vine turned around. “You might recognize the writing here from the graffiti on the walls. Some of you know it is a code, a few of even decode it. For those that haven’t let me tell you about it. I assure you it relates. See this is one of the ways inmates in the camps communicated. The camps developed there own language as a defiance, then devolved a writing system. The first line here Is asking for news of a person, the next that the person is dead. Next is a map code. That is the most common of what has been posted, points where the border could be crossed. As the last says that the camps are being refurbished, so those that can read this need to be heading east. Write them down and check you will see them on the walls, though the name and location numbers will differ.”

“Must not be a very good secret code.”

Vine said. “Oh it’s not a secret, the guards figured it out fast, and one of them published it. Which earned him a demotion. But it is still useful as it enabled messages to passed and it can hide other things.”

Healn said. “So there is graffiti on the walls telling people to move and you can read it. I am not sure that it matters. Where did you dig up the book? It is all history anyway. They closed way back when all of us were in elementary school.” At this point most were just watching to see when the teacher was going to make her sit down

Vine nodded. “You were, they closed six years ago. Which is why you know little about them, you would have been around ten and sheltered from what they found when they closed them. Which is why some of you do not see the danger in reopening them. Where did the camps get the test subjects?”

“They asked for volunteers who wanted to east and then some governments sent major criminals as well. The volunteers started towns past the safety zone and the researchers exposed the criminals to the toxins to study the effects.”

Vine said. “At the start that was so, but the volunteers dried up. So the crimes need to get sent to the camps became less server and age limits lowered. When that still wasn’t enough the camps started breading inmates, volunteers and criminals alike. They exposed the mothers to all sorts of things to see the effect on the babies. Often though the mothers died before given birth. So they hit on another plan. They started making the embryos outside the womb and changing them before implanting them. Sometimes still exposing the mothers to toxins afterwards. A lot of the women died after one or two births, but more carried to term which was the point.”

“They were criminals.”

“Not all were, and even then what was done was too much. There were kids there, sent there or born there. They did go to school. But not to learn how to read and write. Though some did. They were being taught how to obey. To follow any order they were given. The education they get was based on the job they were intends for. But all had one thing in common. Wong answers were greeted with a whip. Saying no was met with a whip. Say no to anything. You thing a few pages for speak out of turn is bad, imagine how they felt. The teacher would hit them first, them tell them to stand, remover there shirt if they had one on, and then beat them. They were then expected to return to there work. Failure to do so, and to do there task would result in another beating.”

 “What do you mean if they had a shirt on?”

Another student said. “Thant can’t be there were inspections. I have seen my dad’s pictures of them. They went on until the camps were closed.”

Vine said. “In all camps there were times when there were no clothes for the test subjects, the inmates, detainees, what ever you want them called. Some camps never had clothes, others might. Those that were inspected always did have when the inspectors were do. Everyone one would be washed and issued clothes hours before they arrived. Then make-up was applied. The whips and chains put away until after the inspectors left. If they were there for a meal everyone they saw got a full ration. Those that could not be made to look descent were kept in the infirmary, where inspectors did not go as they were told the people there were infectious. Never did an inspection come unexpectedly. Mare’s and Kenilt’s spy’s gave more than enough time the few times the camps were not informed directly from the government.”

The boy said. “How do you know all this? Why should we believe you over someone who was there?”

Vine said. “Those of you from this room might remember how I said I had three names. I never told you the third names, which was my first name. The one given to me by my biological mom, it is not something I tend to share much. See it is just a string of numbers. Twelve, that is for the camp I was born in, eight, I was the eighth live child the sixteen year old surrogate that cared me had, one six ten, my mothers command designation, twenty, my father was a donor not in camp, seventeen, the job I was made to do. Twelve-eight-one-six-ten-twenty-seventeen. I was expected to answer to it by three years old, and did. If the guards were in a hurry they might just snap seventeen, and then if there was more than one of us we had to guess which one. Though I had an advantage there, even when I was in the general population of what ever camp it was unusual for other than my Mother’s personal guards to call on me. Even when I was being given to them. Of course there were times I was wrong and got beat for falling to respond, or responded when not wanted. That was life.”

“You want us to believe you were in the camps? That can’t be.”

Vine said. “When I was eight my Mother decided I should be branded. She ordered me to stand before with my left arm outstretched and to remain there silently, a blazer was brought in full of brands into her room.” She had removed the bracelet that was always on her left wrist as she was speaking. She held her arm up so those in the front could see the two rows of numbers on it. “I have other scars, of course, but this is the best proof I think. I do wonder that she used my name. Likely as it was longer and she wanted to know I would live though it. Most she just put a horse on.”

Healn said. “I still don’t see how any of this matters.”

Vine said. “They said the camps would be survived, that all experiments would be mentored for safety. Just like they are now. Mare has not been seen, but reports have put her in the capital recently. But Kenailt has been filmed touring the compounds in uniform. It was clear that he has a command role. Therefore there is every reasons to expect Mare does as well.”

“I don’t think you should be talking about this. I mean we aren’t supposed to are we? This must all be censored or something. I have looked into that time and they say abuse were done and folks died but there is no record of a breading program.”

Vine said. “A little late to think of the rules. But you are right it is classified. Mr. Wells will be out of a job once your parents lean he let me talk to you about the camps. Just like the newscaster gave his job up to tell you that the East is pulling diplomats and keeping its side of the border open. This nation closed all legal gateways last week. Well not officially, but they were detain anyone trying to cross. The diplomats will by using privet air transports to get out. Likely some will be giving away there seats and using other means to cross. The passage on the board as written is closed, but if you take the full message to someone who can read it you will be led to a less published one.”