Gus pushed a sequence of buttons and the brass plate slide back into place. Then he turned to Alex and winked.
3 - Campus and Registration
3
Campus and Registration
The road shuddered beneath the Mercedes. Alex looked at Gus and the old guard motioned for him to look down. He stuck his head out the window and saw that he was on a circular platform. When he looked back at the guards, they were both waving.
The platform began to screw into the ground and soon Gus, the wall, and the rest of the outside world slipped from view, leaving Alex with nothing to see but the glare of his headlights against the rifling of the elevator shaft. He felt as if he was being loaded into a gun.
Alex opened the sunroof and watched the little circle of sky get smaller and smaller. He stayed like this until he saw the underside of the shaft. He looked forward again. It was a tunnel wide enough to handle two trucks and tall enough for a semi. A single line of LEDs ran along the roof.
The platform settled into position with a loud HISSSSS .
“Mr. Armstrong.”
Alex noticed Gus’s bearded face smiling at him from the steering wheel display.
“Pretty neat trick, huh?” Gus said. “The real campus is at the end of that tunnel. I’m sending the coordinates to your car right now.”
The map flickered on; his new destination was 4.3 miles due north. The autopilot engaged and the car rolled forward. Alex heard the platform rising back into position.
“Next student’s on the way,” Gus said.
“Where do I go after this tunnel?”
“The car’s takin you to Registration. Go in there and see Melissa.” Gus turned his head and for a moment Alex could only see his beard on the steering wheel. “I gotta go. Good luck in there, son. And welcome to Pal Tech.” The old guard disappeared and the Mercedes logo and horn icon drifted back into place.
Alex closed his eyes and took a breath and tried to assimilate everything that had just happened, but his mind was spinning so fast that he knew there wasn’t a chance he could hold a thought. So he gave up and placed both hands on the wheel and leaned forward, willing the car to move faster.
He saw the tunnel’s end with two miles to go, just a pinprick of light. With one mile to go, it was a flashlight. A quarter mile and it filled the windshield and he could see its light reflecting off the concrete walls. He was beginning to think that maybe the car should hit the brakes when he lurched forward, the seatbelt tight against his chest. When he was finally able to lean back, the car was halfway out of the tunnel and passing a modest brick sign welcoming him to Paladin Technical Institute.
The Mercedes quivered a bit and the water in his bottle sloshed around. There was no more asphalt; it was a pathway of pavers, spaced in such a way that there was more grass than concrete. Alex had never seen anything like it. But it was the building coming up on his right that really caught his attention. It was large and its walls were mostly glass, with the type of modern, boxy architecture that would have looked right at home on a beach in California, save for one curious feature: its roof was covered in grass. Rye grass. The kind that makes you want to take off your shoes and wiggle your toes.
And it wasn’t just that first building. All the buildings were sodded. The only difference between them—at least, the three that Alex could see—was the color of their glass walls. The first had blue-tinted panels, the second, pink; and the third, yellow. Yet it was still the color green that stood out above all others. Everything about the campus was green and grassy and growing, as if he had just rolled into The Shire.
Alex was passing the pink glass when he saw his first student. The boy was older, definitely not a freshman. He held a football in his right hand and as Alex’s car pulled even he wound up and threw it across the field.
And then a funny thing happened. As the ball began its descent, it
3 - Campus and Registration
3
Campus and Registration
The road shuddered beneath the Mercedes. Alex looked at Gus and the old guard motioned for him to look down. He stuck his head out the window and saw that he was on a circular platform. When he looked back at the guards, they were both waving.
The platform began to screw into the ground and soon Gus, the wall, and the rest of the outside world slipped from view, leaving Alex with nothing to see but the glare of his headlights against the rifling of the elevator shaft. He felt as if he was being loaded into a gun.
Alex opened the sunroof and watched the little circle of sky get smaller and smaller. He stayed like this until he saw the underside of the shaft. He looked forward again. It was a tunnel wide enough to handle two trucks and tall enough for a semi. A single line of LEDs ran along the roof.
The platform settled into position with a loud HISSSSS .
“Mr. Armstrong.”
Alex noticed Gus’s bearded face smiling at him from the steering wheel display.
“Pretty neat trick, huh?” Gus said. “The real campus is at the end of that tunnel. I’m sending the coordinates to your car right now.”
The map flickered on; his new destination was 4.3 miles due north. The autopilot engaged and the car rolled forward. Alex heard the platform rising back into position.
“Next student’s on the way,” Gus said.
“Where do I go after this tunnel?”
“The car’s takin you to Registration. Go in there and see Melissa.” Gus turned his head and for a moment Alex could only see his beard on the steering wheel. “I gotta go. Good luck in there, son. And welcome to Pal Tech.” The old guard disappeared and the Mercedes logo and horn icon drifted back into place.
Alex closed his eyes and took a breath and tried to assimilate everything that had just happened, but his mind was spinning so fast that he knew there wasn’t a chance he could hold a thought. So he gave up and placed both hands on the wheel and leaned forward, willing the car to move faster.
He saw the tunnel’s end with two miles to go, just a pinprick of light. With one mile to go, it was a flashlight. A quarter mile and it filled the windshield and he could see its light reflecting off the concrete walls. He was beginning to think that maybe the car should hit the brakes when he lurched forward, the seatbelt tight against his chest. When he was finally able to lean back, the car was halfway out of the tunnel and passing a modest brick sign welcoming him to Paladin Technical Institute.
The Mercedes quivered a bit and the water in his bottle sloshed around. There was no more asphalt; it was a pathway of pavers, spaced in such a way that there was more grass than concrete. Alex had never seen anything like it. But it was the building coming up on his right that really caught his attention. It was large and its walls were mostly glass, with the type of modern, boxy architecture that would have looked right at home on a beach in California, save for one curious feature: its roof was covered in grass. Rye grass. The kind that makes you want to take off your shoes and wiggle your toes.
And it wasn’t just that first building. All the buildings were sodded. The only difference between them—at least, the three that Alex could see—was the color of their glass walls. The first had blue-tinted panels, the second, pink; and the third, yellow. Yet it was still the color green that stood out above all others. Everything about the campus was green and grassy and growing, as if he had just rolled into The Shire.
Alex was passing the pink glass when he saw his first student. The boy was older, definitely not a freshman. He held a football in his right hand and as Alex’s car pulled even he wound up and threw it across the field.
And then a funny thing happened. As the ball began its descent, it
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