The Province Ch. 02

Marcus was thoroughly confused about the past hour of his life. He had never experienced anything quite so random before. To his relief, though, the doctor was visibly more relaxed, and he surmised that she had found what she was looking for.

"I have good news, Marcus," she said, "your reactions were well below average -- which is a good thing. I'm going to prescribe subliminal therapy, but we won't have to continue these sessions." She was thankful that she didn't have to explain what those sessions would have been like. Marcus looked distressed.

"You mean I can't see you at all?" he asked, downcast. Even at his age, he could tell the first hour and been therapeutic for him.

"Oh, sorry, we will continue grief counseling for at least six months, Marcus. I just meant the second hour won't be needed, going forward."

After counseling, Marcus went to school, even though it was July. Provincial schools were year-round. Overall, students had the same amount of time off as in the greater American States, but this took the form of frequent two-week breaks, rather than a long summer vacation. Marcus was surprised by the high tech teaching equipment and small class sizes, especially compared to Philadelphia public schools. The classrooms, for example, had enormous electronic whiteboards on each wall. The devices had impossibly high resolution that he did not think was possible, and could do far more than just allow people to draw on them: they could play videos, respond to hand gestures, bring up spreadsheets, and more.

"I really don't get it," Marcus said to Celeste at lunch. "You have like this freakin' awesome tech everywhere, but you don't have TV at home?"

Celeste shrugged. "Word to the wise, bruh. You'll get a bunch of lectures about 'mind-poison' if you keep askin' 'bout that shit."

They were seated at a table for six, but the other four stools were unoccupied. Marcus had quickly ascertained that Celeste did not have a large social circle. Other students seemed to be avoiding her, and she gave no sign that this bothered her in any way.

Later that evening, just before bed, Marcus swiped his ID card on a black scanner mounted on the wall near his bed. He hadn't noticed it the night before. Dr. Doucette explained that it would trigger the subliminal therapy, whatever that was, which she had prescribed. He tried staying awake to see what that actually consisted of. After five minutes, a low voice could be heard, emanating from invisible speakers somewhere in the room. The voice was soft enough that he could just barely make out any words. It seemed like it was narrating more fairy tales, but he couldn't be sure, and he also couldn't keep his eyes open, anyway.