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No pens danced across notebooks. The dust hung in the air like ash from a flame.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqV3rkZqLp
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"Welcome back, Class." The professor was saying. He had shaved his head bald recently, revealing liver spots.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPkRIqoiZY
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The doors groaned as they opened again. Thirty-one flinched as one.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLriXjKbzHB
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But no grey-coated enforcers marched in. Only...Bill.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhiR96bvGX
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The slash across his mouth had been replaced with smooth, waxy skin. He walked stiffly, face blank, and took his seat in the third row without a sound.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC3ky7rMXsK
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"As you can see, the Purification was a success. Mister Ardo is stable now that the psychic infection has been purged," Halren announced, in the tone one might use to discuss lab equipment47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgE3O0mufBG
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"How do you feel, Bill?" his friend asked quietly, leaning in closer.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64plnD0iSD
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Bill gave a slight nod. "Adequate, thank you." Bill's eyes had been vibrant green yesterday. Today they were an empty, dead grey.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbHmhhRnJJG
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Middle tore his gaze away; looking at Bill had become deeply uncomfortable.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRGgCg9C3T
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The Professor, bored with Bill, launched into a long, suffocating lecture about the history of Scars.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscHIRpntbf
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"…Mayor Halcyon… forty-one years ago… Authority established…" Austin ignored him yet still caught some snippets.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZRbZGSjRM
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He turned to the person beside him, expecting to see his friend Karl, the transfer student from Engel.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxYGbir8ko
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Instead, it was Oriole. Oriole Seele. The one nicknamed Bird by students and faculty for the way she flitted through the halls.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMtFgc5yF8
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In three years he’d learned only that she was brilliant yet painfully shy. Strangely naïve for someone so clever.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbRN1DcZVqa
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She surprised him when she turned and whispered, "He seems...peaceful." She nodded toward Bill. "Maybe it really is a mercy. Yesterday was awful." 47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjqImzNSO7
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Her words were desperate for reassurance. He wondered if she believed them at all.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4f3OWnhLY
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Austin picked his words carefully. “I don’t think peaceful is the term I’d use, Oriole.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGOM8hP69Vv
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"But he's not in pain anymore, is he? The Professor said he was sick." She muttered back.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChbbGnqBDl
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Austin decided he didn't understand her. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Halren pause his rant about the failure of neighbouring cities to quell their 'epidemics' to uncork a fresh bottle of Tranq. The liquid was noticeably darker than yesterday.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvSOv4Wfwp
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"He's drinking it again. The purple stuff." She hesitated. “A man in the alley tried to sell me some last night…” Her voice dipped. “He said it would make the hard edges soft.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGLk0MttFU
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He was still piecing together an answer when the doors banged open again, louder than before, and a grey-coated man strode in.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3oeqaxl6i6
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“Austin P. J. Middle. You will come with me now,” he said.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8goL29aR1Z
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As if there had ever been a choice.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDLxmkN9xf
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The grey-coated employee led him deep into Lumière University, through wings Austin had never entered, until they stopped before an unfamiliar office. 47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhnC2G29km
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Inside, everything was white; the desk, the walls, the carpet, and even the man’s clothing. All was a blinding, clinical white that made Austin’s eyes ache.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAjkS61yZg6
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Beads of cold sweat ran down his back. He knew this person.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXrjsSCpLh
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“Greetings, Austin. We met last night, though not formally. I am Senior Surgeon Valerius,” he said, extending a firm hand.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZSpnOifis4
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Austin shook it, trying not to react to the crushing grip.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStA2Q05aUl
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"Why," Austin ventured, "have I been brought to you, sir?" He tried to keep his voice steady, as if yesterday’s illegal Pull was ever a secret to the Authority.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6U6CsiKbIy
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The man had much in common with the grey-coats: a face that gave nothing away and a voice with precisely zero inflexion.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4AAHOxlBe
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"To make you two offers," the man replied calmly. He stood, retrieved a whistling kettle, and set down two plain mugs and a matching teapot.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAMh7wU9rM
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"Tea?" He asked, already pouring.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57FrCcGW2s
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"No thanks. What's the other offer?" Austin eyed the cup warily.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmCS7HhMTN
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“It isn’t poisoned, you know,” Valerius said. “If I wanted you dead, you would be.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbBTeXTWc9
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Fine,” Austin said quickly. “I’ll take some.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpg69xDVcSf
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“Let me set the facts straight,” Valerius said. “Yesterday evening you performed an illegal Pull in an already dangerous situation. This could signal instability and require immediate Purification.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWKVKZvXeN
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Austin swallowed hard. Any hope that his lapse had gone unnoticed vanished.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrAZ4LWq0w
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Valerius stared at him blankly as he sipped his tea.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5pZOOWuTd
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"However," he put in, "you averted a tragedy. Stopping an Over-Pull usually takes years of practice. You did it without knowing." 47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjA0QIxg0K
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“I suppose so,” Middle said. Whatever the second option was, it had to be better than what had been done to Bill.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2dINR5fMY
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“On behalf of the Keloidic Authority, I offer you a position as a Probationary Weaver.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmElmnGdiyK
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He didn’t even think. “I accept.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF8RoalksR2
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Valerius didn’t react. “To ensure your… compliance, you will be partnered with a classmate whose psychological profile suggests a stabilising influence.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVYyADrmjV
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Not Bill. Anyone but Bill, he thought desperately47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4OsWBYlkq
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A sharp knock cut through the eerie silence. The door swung open.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyvMANJz42
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Of all people.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkQj0L3hgP
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The Bird's smile glowed gently in the white room.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71feTjw0Ye
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"Hello, Austin, I'm glad you got picked too!" Oriole said brightly, as though this were something to celebrate.1234 copyright protection43ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4z68ZUpVvW 尼

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