“Good morning Class VC37.” Amelie recited as she entered the classroom.

  “Good morning Ms Amelie.” The classroom replied.

  The response had noticeably improved since the first time the class had gathered in person three days ago. But the energy remained subdued with many students still silent.

  She didn’t make the class repeat the greeting this time. Instead, she launched straight into the breathing exercises.

  Surprisingly, there had only been three no-shows. She had been worried there would be more.

  Hereon and Wanda’s absences she’d anticipated, they were both without question the most troubled students in her class, but Lao also being amongst the absentees was unexpected.

  On the other hand, she was almost equally surprised to see that Karkos and Pippa were in attendance for the first class. Although judging by the expression on Karkos’ and Isla’s faces, in his case it might have been under duress.

  She finished the breathing exercises and surveyed the room, quelling the reflex of anxiety that always stirred when so many eyes were on her.

  “How is everyone feeling today?” She asked openly to the room, hoping to prompt some group conversation.

  There was a murmur of responses. Some of the more audible replies such as “Yucky” from Sana and “Horrible” from Lanc, seemed to sum up the general consensus.

  “Yeah, I’m sure you’ve all started to experience the symptoms of tank withdrawal by now.” Amelie began.

  She activated the blackboard display function on the smartwall behind her and the classroom’s AI assistant began to generate graphics and lists to summarise her talking points as she spoke.

  “Hopefully you’ve all taken some time to read through the project handouts on your tablets but for those who haven’t, common symptoms of tank withdrawal include: headaches, lethargy, nausea, joint pains and aches, vertigo, restlessness and irritation, insomnia or intense drowsiness and severe cravings.” The teacher explained.

  The wall behind her generated the list of symptoms with more in depth information provided for each.

  “Additionally, some of you may experience more severe or somewhat rarer withdrawal symptoms.”

  “These tend to be sleep-related. Intense, recurring and sometimes lucid nightmares have been reported by 1 in 20. 1 in 100 however may experience waking nightmares. Please let me know if any of you start to experience severe symptoms so I can recommend appropriate medication.”

  Nods from the classroom.

  The twenty-seven students all sat in their pairs, with the exception of those whose partners were absent. They sat two to a table, which were each arranged in three long rows corresponding to the floors of their dormitory.

  Cecil and Yaeh sat together on the back row, furthest to the right. At the next table over sat Aeon, and Lulu who was in her new wheelchair..

  The day hadn’t started well for Cecil, who had experienced another round of vertigo and nausea earlier in the morning, which had damped his enthusiasm for the first day of classes significantly.

  At first he had been excited to see what their new curriculum would be comprised by. And at the very least, he needed more to do. Sunday had been a long and boring day.

  However, as they rode together on the circular tram system towards the school building on the far edge of the campus island, he had developed a mounting anxiety.

  In contrast, to his side, Yaeh didn’t seem anxious at all. His attentive partner was diligently taking notes on her tablet while listening to their teacher.

  “Please all of you, be prepared for the fact that your withdrawal symptoms will progressively and significantly worsen over the next few weeks. In most cases the third week should be when they reach peak intensity. After that they should start to improve.” Amelie somberly explained.

  The classroom sat in silence for a solemn moment.

  There was a general awareness that they were all tied to the tracks ahead of a freight train that none of them could run from or avoid. The only thing they could do was brace for impact and hope that they’d be able to stand back up again once the carnage had passed.

  Amelie broke the silence to continue the lecture on their condition.

  “Tank addiction is different in nature from other types of dependency, such as those one may develop to mood altering drugs, or to habit forming activities such as gambling. Some have claimed that it behaves almost like a combination of both types of dependency, but the neurological processes are observably distinct.”

  “As I’m sure most of you know, when you connect to Plugnet within a tank, your brain is placed into an induced sleeplike state. The tank interfaces with the parts of your brain responsible for dreaming, and by manipulating these parts of your brain, it creates a fully lucid virtual dream-world, which we know as Plugnet.”

  “Plugnet is essentially a shared dream, hosted in a virtual environment that is generated and controlled by the Plug Corporation. For people who spend significant time in plugtanks, such as ourselves, the parts of the brain that the tank interfaces with will begin to degrade over time.”

  “This induces what is effectively a chemical dependency, as many chemicals and neurotransmitters that the brain would normally produce on its own are instead provided and regulated in precise volumes by the tank. Eventually causing the brain’s ability to produce and regulate these chemicals by itself to weaken.”

  “Similarly, the tank will also generate “false” sensations, such as smells and tastes for those inside Plugnet, so that we can do things like eat food and experience an immersive environment with all five senses. These artificial sensations require stronger impulses causing the brain's receptors to become desensitised over time.”

  “As a result, outside of the tank the signals that your brain receives from the physical world will all feel duller, verging on unpleasant. Your experience of colours, smells, tastes and even your general perception of reality can all be diminished.”

  “With all that being said, please try not to worry. For most people, their brain will eventually recover and these sensations and chemical imbalances should fully return to pre-tank levels, usually after a few months.” Amelie finished, ending on what she hoped was a positive note.

  Predictably, the mood in the room hadn’t improved and she could now sense a general air of restless anxiety from her students.

  The idea that their brain might be permanently altered for the worse tended not to sit well with people.

  She pressed onwards.

  “With consideration to the fact that the next month will likely be very difficult for all of you, there will be no penalties for poor attendance over the next four weeks. However, please still try to attend as many classes as you can.”

  “This is not an invitation to skip class. Good attendance will still be rewarded via the project. I’ll explain more about that shortly.”

  A hand went up.

  “Yes Isla?” Amelie permitted.

  “What happens to you if your partner doesn’t attend classes?” The girl asked pointedly.

  Amelie could guess what had prompted the question.

  “Thank you Isla, that actually leads into our next subject. The project’s point system.” Amelie began, and the smartwall behind her shifted to reflect the new topic.

  “Project Points will be the measure of your individual success during the VC37 Project. While there will be many opportunities for partners, and sometimes even whole floors of the dorm to earn points together, ultimately your total Project Points will be tallied individually for each of you.”

  “To answer your question Isla. The points granted for class attendance will be distributed individually. If your partner doesn’t attend classes you yourself won’t be directly penalised. That isn’t to say however that there won’t be any consequences for yourself, as it will almost certainly hinder your performance in class assignments and activities to have an absentee partner.” Amelie explained.

  Isla nodded slowly with a scowl, her face a visage of determination.

  God help Karkos. Amelie thought to herself dryly.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Another hand raised.

  “Yes Lanc?” Amelie said.

  “Why do we want these points? Does the person with the most get something special?” The boy in the first row asked.

  “Yes, special privileges, permissions, and occasionally rewards will be up for grabs for those who earn high amounts of points. Your individual standing on the points leaderboard will also affect how many credits you will each be allocated at the end of every month.” Amelie explained.

  “But most importantly only the top fifteen students, the top half of the class who earn the most points, will advance to the second year of the project. Those who place 16th to 30th in the final point tally at the end of the year will be removed from the project.”

  Another hand. Amelie paused. “Yes Karkos?”

  The dead look in the boy's eyes sent a shiver down her spine.

  “The people who place in the bottom half and are removed from the project, will they be allowed to plug back in?” He asked in monotone.

  “Yes.” Amelie answered simply.

  “I see.” The boy acknowledged.

  Isla’s scowl intensified.

  Amelie cleared her throat, then continued. There was still a lot to get through.

  “Just so you are all aware. The point tallying has already begun, it started the moment you all entered your apartments. Here are the current standings.”

  Amelie turned to the blackboard screen on the smartwall and commanded it to go full screen. She then walked to the side of the room so the students could see the results.

  All thirty students were listed on the board, next to each was a number, ordered from lowest to highest. All of the students were tied with their partners as it seemed that points so far had only been distributed to pairs, and not individually.

  Cecil’s eyes went down the list. He looked for each pair on the third floor.

  Tied for 25th place, with 7 points each were Sana and Hereon. Next were Isla and Karkos who were tied for 15th place with 15 points each. Surprisingly, the next third floor duo were Petal and Forger who had tied 11th place with a score of 18 each.

  Cecil’s eyes kept descending, surprised he hadn’t already found his own result.

  Aeon and Lulu had scored very highly with 28 points each, landing them joint 5th in the class.

  The second highest scoring pair were Lanc Misha and Ea Karina, tied for 3rd place with 31 points each.

  Which could only mean that…

  “Woah, what the hell did you guys do?” Aeon whispered to Cecil from the neighbouring table.

  Cecil had no answer, he blinked in utter surprise at the results on the blackboard.

  Tied for 1st place, with seventy-two points each, were Cecil and Yaeh.

  Cecil turned to his partner hoping that Yaeh could parse the results better than he could, but she looked equally confused.

  They shared a look, and she shrugged at him, nonplussed.

  Several students at the tables in the front rows turned around in their seats to look at the high scorers.

  Cecil shrunk back into his seat, the sudden attention causing his anxiety to flare like flashfire.

  “Miss, how have these been calculated?” A student from the second row asked.

  “Please raise your hand if you have a question, Leilani.” Amelie scolded, then answered regardless. “You have been earning points based on how well you have each developed the relationship between yourself and your partner over the first weekend of the project.”

  “The system awards points based on several factors such as time spent together, time spent in conversation, acts of services, compatibility scoring and um… physical affection.” Amelie explained, trying to let as little second hand embarrassment show as she could.

  “Here is the full breakdown, I’ll go through it slide by slide.” She explained.

  The first slide displayed time spent together. It seemed that Sana and Hereon had been penalised heavily in this metric, understandably. Overall, it seemed that not many points had been awarded for this category.

  The next slide showed time spent in conversation. Several pairs had scored quite well, including Petal and Forger. By far the best scorers for conversation had been Lanc and his partner Ea who were several points ahead of the second place duo.

  The next slide showed compatibility scoring, which seemed hard to parse and had been scored quite evenly overall.

  Next was acts of service, and Aeon and Lulu topped this category handily. Cecil and Yaeh had come third however.

  So far none of the categories could account for their massive point lead, which only left one category left.

  Yaeh stiffened as she realised what the next slide would show.

  Miss Amelie motioned for the wall to display the next slide. Physical affection.

  All pairs in class VC37 had scored in single digits in this category. All except one.

  Cecil and Yaeh had received 45 points for physical affection. Contributing for well over half of their overall point total.

  The entire class immediately turned to look at them and Cecil’s breath caught in his throat, his chest tightening painfully under the sudden attention. His vision narrowed and he felt an impulse to run.

  He could hear murmurs spreading around the classroom, with occasional giggles mixing into the noise of his pulsing heartbeat that he could now feel in his ears.

  Cecil felt a droning sensation at the back of his head and his vision began to turn black at the edges. He couldn’t control his breathing. He couldn’t breathe at all.

  Yaeh had noticed immediately and her mind raced for a solution.

  She wrote a quick and large note onto the screen on her tablet and leaned back in her chair so that she could show it to Aeon who was already looking over at their table, concern on his face as he saw Cecil’s state.

  Aeon read the note, then nodded as he understood.

  It read, “Make a scene!”

  Aeon jumped to his feet.

  “Ah erm… Oh wow Miss! You should have told us it was that easy to earn the big bucks!”

  Aeon turned to Lulu who looked up at him surprised, yet amused.

  “May I request the hand of this beautiful babe before me?” Aeon asked loudly and jovially, as he offered his hand to Lulu.

  She blushed, but accepted the hand without hesitation.

  Aeon tried his hardest not to blush or back out as he took his partner's hand. He bowed and made a theatrical show of kissing the back of Lulu’s hand, emulating some kind of knight from a fantasy media.

  “I, Aeon Bounder, pledge to perform lots and lots of acts of service, with long conversations, and um, what were the other ones?” He asked his partner who was grinning back at him sheepishly.

  “Physical affection and time spent together!” Lulu answered in her crackly voice. She giggled wetly as Aeon pledged to offer those to her as well.

  While the rest of the class had fallen quiet, thoroughly distracted by Aeon’s antics, Yaeh tugged gently on Cecil’s shirt.

  He was still breathing wildly, eyes unfocused and locked onto the middle distance. It took a second, more urgent pull on his sleeve to get the panicking boy’s attention.

  When eventually he turned to look at her, Yaeh began to do their breathing exercises in an exaggerated manner. She breathed slowly in, then slowly out, using her other hand to demonstrate the motion of her diaphragm.

  Cecil slowly understood and began to breathe with her, matching the slow pace the best he could. Eventually his breathing slowed and he managed to hold the rhythm with her.

  “Aeon, please sit down.” Amelie finally instructed after she’d let the little scene play out long enough. Despite the reprimand, she smiled affectionately.

  “I do believe though,” she continued, “That you both may have completed one of the milestones.”

  “Milestones?” Aeon asked while obeying the command to sit back down.

  “Yes. There are several milestones which the first couple to complete will receive a one time reward for. I can’t say what they are, you will have to use your imaginations to figure out what they could be, but holding hands was one of them. Congratulations Aeon and Lulu, you may have both just taken the lead.”

  Amelie turned to the screen. “Project points; live tally.” She commanded, and the screen refreshed. Aeon and Lulu had jumped up to joint third place, just behind Cecil and Yaeh.

  “This has also taken into account today’s attendance, it’s the live tally of all of your points.” The teacher explained.

  “Hang on, Miss?” Isla asked, her hand shooting up after she’d already spoken.

  “Yes Isla?”

  “How is all of this recorded? How does the project know how much time we’ve spent talking to each other and about things like physical contact and stuff? Most of all that would have happened when we were in our apartments alone together.” Isla asked, brow furrowed in concern.

  Amelie had been expecting the question and had already planned out her response. She believed it was in the student’s best interest if they didn’t know the true extent to which they were being constantly monitored by the Project Managers.

  “Well, there are ambient sensors and microphones in your apartments that pick up on the basics of what’s going on inside.” She explained slowly.

  “What about cameras? Can they really know all that just from sensors?” Isla pressed.

  “There are no cameras inside of your apartments.” Amelie lied. “Please don’t concern yourselves too much, all the data is processed by AI, you aren’t being actively monitored.”

  Isla nodded slowly, unsure of how reassured the answer made her.

  Amelie continued, eager to change the subject.

  “Going forwards, you will be able to access your point totals via your tablets. They will update each Monday and you will also be able to see how many points you can earn each day and how they can be earned. Going forwards, physical maintenance such as health and hygiene will contribute. As will relationship maintenance and class attendance, these will all add up to a weekly total that you should all endeavor to max out.”

  “On top of that, there will be opportunities to score additional points via the milestones, academic assignments and class activities, please be on the lookout for these as they come up.”

  More nods from the class who overall seemed far more engaged and less anxious now that the grim subject of withdrawal was behind them.

  “Your first project will start this week and will last for the whole month. It will be a joint project between all five pairs from each floor of the dormitory. The floor which does the best will all earn extra points, as will the best duo from each floor and individual points will also be available for excellence.”

  “I’m sending the details of the project to your tablets, please read through them as we will be commencing with it later this afternoon after we’ve reconvened from lunch.”

  Amelie inputted something into her tablet and all of the other tablets in the room pinged in acknowledgment of the received files.

  “Oh Miss!” Sana exclaimed, her hand shooting up.

  “Yes Sana?” The teacher permitted.

  “I was going to ask. What’s going to happen to us regarding hormones and stuff? We saw some other students on campus who had gone through development. Are we allowed to do that too?” Sana asked eagerly.

  “That’s a good question, thank you Sana. We were going to cover this after lunch but we can go over it now. Yes, now that you are all out of your tanks, you are no longer receiving hormonal blockers as part of the tank’s IV treatment. That means that, under normal circumstances, you will all begin to experience hormonal development over the next-”

  “I refuse.” Karkos interrupted, loudly and coldly.

  Amelie was taken aback by the forcefulness of the words. It took a second for her to regain her composure.

  “Well um, that’s Ok Hereon but please raise your hand. I was getting to the part where, yes, you can opt out if you wish to.” The teacher explained, refinding her rhythm.

  “Any of you who wish to continue to receive hormone blockers, please let me know by the end of the day today and I will make sure that you are provided with the medication. You can make this decision at any time, but be aware that the sooner you restart the medication, the more effective it will likely be, so deciding today would be ideal.”

  Karkos nodded.

  “A final point on this subject.” Amelie continued hesitantly. “Please be aware that while hormonal development is optional, Project Management has decided that development would be advantageous for the project.”

  “As such, those who undergo full hormonal development will each receive up to a 10,000 point boost to their totals at the end of the year. I’m told that the figure should account for roughly 10% of your year-end totals.” She finished apologetically.

  Yaeh didn’t need to do the maths. She cursed to herself mentally. Ten percent would almost certainly make the difference between placing in the top or bottom half of the class in most cases.

  She would need to be placed at least top five in the class for her to feel confident that she would pass the year without needing the point injection. But who knew what the difference between a top five placement and a top fifteen placement would mean for the second year?

  She wasn’t vehemently opposed to development, but she would have preferred to decline if possible. She was well read on the subject of the toll that the reproductive system built into her female body would collect each month once development had begun.

  Was she really going to have to start dealing with that on top of withdrawal?

  Well, physical discomforts she could deal with. Not eagerly, but she knew she was capable of withstanding them.

  What really angered her though was the fact that her agency has once again been robbed. For anybody who was serious about completing the project and earning their solar passport, the choice was almost a false one.

  Bitterly, she knew that she had been given only one viable option.

  Sana alternatively, beamed in her seat excitedly. She turned to grin at Isla who smiled back with half-hearted bemusement.

  “Here we go!” She whispered to Isla.

  “Ready or not…” Isla wryly answered.

  “Man! Withdrawal, homework and puberty!” Aeon sighed loudly, “Are you trying to kill us Miss?”

  There was a small round of chuckles in the classroom.

  Amelie smiled.

  No Aeon, I’m trying to keep you all alive, she thought to herself. A thought which she could never share with the class.