“What was that?” I demand of professor Holt when I’ve managed to corner him in the hallway a few hours later. “Is she a Transformer? Why did she attack Pam?”

“She’s not a Transformer, Transformers can control it.” He looks down at the floor. I wait patiently. Or maybe not so patiently, more obediently. “Around here they call them Unassigneds. Most people fit into one of the five categories, some don’t. Those who don’t are thrown together in what they call the ‘Unassigneds’, and they typically can’t control their gifts. They have the gene, but either they simply don’t have the strength to control the powers, or something happened to make them want to deny that side of themselves. When people try to deny part of what makes them who they are, their entire nature will go against it. Their powers come out in uncontrollable bursts, and people fear them. They lock them away and avoid them. I guess you have heard of werewolves? They don’t exist, but some Unassigneds turn into something else when they get emotional, it has nothing to do with the moon, but I believe they are the origin of the werewolf stories.”

“There are Unassigneds here, aren’t there? Locked up?” I feel sick. That girl was more scared than we were.

“Some of them, others have managed control enough to join in classes.”

“Where are they?”

“There’s a hospital of sorts in the basement, they get treatments there.”

“Treatments?” I can feel my throat contract. She was just a girl.

“I know how it sounds, but until we have a better solution it’s hard to do anything about it. These people need help, you saw how dangerous they can be, both to others and themselves.”

“So they lock them up and hide them away?” I can’t figure out which makes me madder, that they are locked up and hidden away, or that they are locked up at a school where children could get hurt.

“Find me a better solution, and I will do everything in my power to make it happen. They need the help, and there is no other place where they can get that then the schools, and the schools all have pretty much the same policies.”

“You said there was no law against starting a new school, why hasn’t anyone done that?”

“Most people are just happy to have the Unassigneds out of the way, it doesn’t concern them directly, so they don’t mind. When people leave school, they tend to forget all the little things they used wish were different, and then the hassle of starting a new school up is just too much. You have to understand there’s no real demand for something like that, the current schools have room enough for the students, there’s no lack of space. It would take someone special to start something new up, someone people would instantly trust.”

“Someone like a Langdale.”

“Could be. Or someone focused from the beginning on making connections here, gathering like-minded people, people who also don’t feel like they belong here for whatever reason. It would take hard work, I’m not denying that, but if you worked at it you could provide an alternative for people who disagree with the way things are done here.”

“And it would be too much trouble to change things around here?”

“I know it all seems evil from your point of view, but I had hoped you’d understand. These people, the Unassigneds, they are dangerous, and they do need help. They can get that here, there are professionals who have dedicated their lives to understanding the gene, people who know what they are doing. Sometimes people forget that Unassigneds need human connections too, need love and understanding, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t need all the medical stuff as well. The girl you just met, she’s new here, just came in a few hours ago. The new surroundings scared her, she felt estranged and alone, so the gene took over. Can you imagine her at a normal school? Can you imagine what would happen to her during puppetry? Here they have specially designed sedatives, they have psychologists who know what the gene is, know what it can do to a person. Things aren’t black and white, and the people who started this school aren’t evil just because you disagree with their methods.”

“They aren’t good either just because they get results.”

“I agree. The right way is somewhere in the middle. It just takes the right person to find it.”

“And that person isn’t you?”

“It could have been - if I had known enough when I first came here. I didn’t realize till much later what was going on, most people simply don’t talk about the basement. It took me too long to see things the way they are, now it’ll have to be up to someone else to rectify it all.”

“You talk as if you were on your deathbed.”

“Not at all,” he assures me. “But I have my place here, and it’s my job to try to make it better for those I meet. I found my calling somewhere else, but I still think someone needs to start a new kind of school.”

“And I suppose that’s the reason you’re telling me all these things, so I have the information from the start, unlike you.”

“The choice is yours; I can’t make it for you. But you have that fight in you, you have spirit enough to walk your own way, and you have compassion enough to see past labels and attitudes. If you decided to put in the effort, you could manage the task. With time. So yes, I’m going to make sure you have all the information you’d need, and yes, I’m going to make sure you’re as strong as you can possibly be, but the choice will always lie with you.”

“Seems unfair,” I remark.

“Some are born great…” He lets the quote hang in the air to wrap itself around me. I doubt he knows that quote is actually about sex… thrust upon them.

“Some have choices, others aren’t allowed that luxury,” I tell him, thinking of the children in the basement.

“Unfortunately I am not allowed to take you there, show you how it’s all done. Only doctors and patients are allowed down there, they want as few interruptions, as few stressors, as possible.”

“Only doctors and patients? That girl was barely 10, who’s going to teach her math and spelling? I’ve seen the outside of this building, there’s nothing to indicate a basement, no windows or anything. Who’s going to take her out and play in the sun?”

“No one. Not until she’s learned to control herself, not until she’s safe to be around.”

“How long will she have to be locked up down there?”

“Some people, the stronger ones, manage control in a matter of months, some 30-year-olds are still down there who came in at five.”

“Do they get to see their families at least?”

“There’s a special room down there for visits. Once a person’s ability has been mapped out the shield there is adjusted to keep their specific ability at bay, and the family can sit on the other side and talk with them. The possibility is there, but few use it. Having an Unassigned in the family, it’s not something most people advertise.”

“You mean they’re ashamed of them?” He doesn’t offer a reply. I guess there’s no positive spin of put on that.