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Chapter 2

Gildedtongue snarled as the alarm clock pulled the chakat out of hir world of imagination. Shi wondered what the hell shi was doing riding a giant llama whilst an unseen announcer described a fictitious relationship hir grandmother had with a minor celebrity. These mental images were quickly done away with upon the introduction of Earl Grey into hir body. There was, as usual, no time for breakfast as shi threw on another shirt, packed a dress shirt for the evening, and bolted for the bus stop.

The bus nearly left hir behind as shi dashed the block between hir dwelling to the mass transit stop. Hir bus card seemed to refuse to be read by the driver's transaction machine so shi ended up having to pay two hundred and fifty credits to the booth to remain onboard. That fare was twice the amount any biped had to pay, but was justified that since 'taurs were at least twice any single rider, that they must cost at least twice to maintain their seating. Shi didn't argue as shi took hir spot near the back of the bus. Shi didn't have enough time to buy a paper so shi spent the trip simply looking out of the window in quiet admiration and horror of the St. Altretic cityscape.

Most of the walls of the buildings were coated in various designs of graffiti. Curse words, gang names, and other bits of text surrounded images of phalluses and, at times, morphs being hurt in one way or another. The skies offered no different mood to the blue green eyes of the chakat. Skyscrapers speared the heavens like wicked fangs against the blood red sunrise. Billowing from the factories, clouds of midnight attempted to drown the sun's light. Though the Federation's environmental bureau registered these emissions as only mildly hazardous and negligible after 24 hours of dissipation, their early morning presence made anyone worry. The city renewed itself into the same desolate abomination it was before the conquer.

Gildedtongue's mind was snapped back to the present as the school came into view and shi signaled the driver that it was hir stop. The Mass Transportation Vehicle slowed to a crawl, stopping at the front gates of the Academy. Shi started to get off, heading to the door when shi felt something reach under hir tail and touch hir anus and vulva. A toss of fiery strands of hair billowed around hir head as shi snapped hir face around to see who did that. A perverted human chuckled and waved to hir, winking knowingly. Shi swallowed hir initial instincts to haul off and slap the twenty something with hir claws, and with shaky knees walked out of the door.

The initial surprise and adrenaline had worn off quickly, but hir fury stayed as shi marched coldly up the steps and down the halls to hir room, not responding to any 'hellos' or 'good mornings.' The door was still broken and the glass remained everywhere as shi stepped around it. Shi just wanted to set hir books down, head to the gymnasium, and take the shower shi forgot to earlier.

A fold of cloth greeted hir as shi approached hir desk. A memo rested on top of it with hir name in clear, bold letters.

To: Gildedtongue, chakat

From: Jackson, Earl; Human Resources

Gildedtongue sighed to hirself upon reading the header. Nothing good seemed to come to hir from this department, usually in large complaints to something shi said or did. Shi idly wondered how they could still call themselves 'Human Resources' considering the large morphic employment, but a mental reminder telling hir who was on the board of education gave hir that answer. Booting up hir computer shi read the bulk of the memo.

Shir Gildedtongue

It has come to the attention of the board that the current dress code needed to be revised to assume a greater sense of decency, especially concerning centauroids such as yourself. On your desk is a new model of loincloth made to cover the genitalia of someone of your build.

We've received numerous complaints of third parties concerning the lack of your wearing anything below the waist, and this came as an agreement with the board of directors and the various third parties. We are sure you can understand why many people would be offended by such lack of attire and that you will co-operate completely.

'If it isn't some pervert trying to cop a feel, it's some nervous ninny blushing at the thought that any normal creature has the equipment to procreate,' Gildedtongue thought to hirself as shi crumpled up the piece of paper. A growl developing in hir lower chest, letting the bass noise fill the room. Shi picked up the article of clothing and stared at it. The fabric on hir fingers already made hir itch around hir rump as shi could tell this was made cheaply, or maybe to be as uncomfortably as mortally possible. Shi made a mental note to give Mr. Jackson a very firm talking to after school.

The trash barrel almost called to hir to dispose of it before anyone came. Maybe shi could feign ignorance that no one gave hir any note or cloth. That idea came to a dead halt as shi noticed in hir inbox a campus wide message instructing all teachers must announce that all 'taurs must wear the new dress code by Monday. Shi did a mental population of the campus and tried to find out how many other 'taurs there were on campus. Hirself, Dreamweaver, and a young skunk'taur who didn't seem to really associate with anyone were the only ones who came to mind. Shi checked the calendar to make sure this wasn't Friday the Thirteenth. Shi was close; it was the Friday the twelfth.

Begrudgingly shi donned on the silly looking thing. On the bright side, this prevented students from 'accidentally' dropping pens to get a voyeuristic thrill, but shi'd rather had made this sort of decision herself. The fact that this thing was also the same bright green and silver of the school's colours, didn't make hir any happier either. Shi didn't receive any visitors that morning like yesterday, so shi managed to get a cheap breakfast-like meal from the vending machines at the teacher's lounge. Pop-tarts and coffee, whilst a traditional breakfast for high school and college students, didn't do much to ease hir palate.

Third period rolled around as it always does. Shi stood at the board, explaining how public speaking skills could benefit all of them, simply by the additional pay for a high demand skill. The raised hand of a student in the middle of the class interrupted hir. She was the usual cheerleader type, blonde hair in two pigtails, breasts that rivaled the chakat's, an outfit that revealed where her strong suits were (if HR was concerned with how shi was dressed, why don't the crack down on these people?), and a plastic smile that never seemed to fade. Gildedtongue was, as always, obliged to answer, hoping that the question actually dealt with the subject. "Yes, Jennifer?"

Shi, of course, was wrong. "My dad's the minister for Revelation Baptist Church, you know, the one off of Main Street?"

Gildedtongue continued hir struggle to not groan and rub hir temples in agony, but rather attempted to move this statement to something relevant, "Yes, priests, preachers, rabbis, clerics, and all holy men need plenty of public speaking skills. In fact, that is their whole job." Shi turned hir back to the class and raised hir chalk again, but stopped short as hir fur went on edge, hearing Jennifer continue hir 'question.'

"Well, my daddy says that since Morphs were made by Man that they don't have a soul and thus can't be saved. So does that mean that you'll be burning in Hell for all of eternity?" What surprised Gildedtongue the most was the sincerity of her voice. This didn't, however, make hir any less angry.

Perhaps it was the punk on the bus this morning. Perhaps it was the loincloth shi was forced to wear. Perhaps it was the fact that the glass still hasn't been cleaned up, or perhaps it was the fact that Gildedtongue hadn't been laid in forty some years. But at this point, the chalk between hir fingers cracked in twain. Shi turned around slowly to look at the still clueless set of tits seated in hir class and leaned against hir desk, a cocked eyeridge and a bored expression on hir face. "Is that so? Let me ask you something. If I don't have a soul, then what, exactly, is going to Hell?" Jennifer obviously didn't have any comment past her original witticism.

"If you're going to make stupid comments like that in my class again, Ms. Reynolds, then I hope you at least research some logic to back yourself up. Oh, I forgot, God damns logic and reason to make sure you brainless twits keep in line under your rich priests and any male horny enough to take you as his own personal property in marriage." The chakat turned back to the board to continue writing as shi heard the young girl scramble out of hir classroom.

The official report stated that Gildedtongue regretted immensely what shi said in that class. Off the record, shi couldn't thank Charles and Kathleen more for that empathetic taste of psychic blood. It wasn't that Gildedtongue was an atheist or had anything against religion. Shi was, privately, a very devout practitioner of the Christian religion, but didn't quite agree with the mainstream practices of the faith, especially the ideology of creating the philosophies into a religion of fear and hatred. Whatever happened to 'Love Thy Neighbour?'

There was a deafening silence that roared in the room. None of the students made a peep through the rest of the class, which suited the chakat fine. Shi was definitely not in a very pleasant or humourous mood as shi lectured through the rest of the class.

Lunch was a more solitary affair than usual. By now hir action in the classroom would have spread like wildfire. Gossip and rumour are exchanged more than ideas and teachings at this school. It's not like that was the first time a question of that sort has been brought up in any sort of social environment. However, at least to Gildy's knowledge, it was the first time anyone had actively defended themself against such accusation in such a manner. The other teachers seemed to avoid the chakat during the lunch hour, more so than usual. Gildedtongue took the hint and gathered hir books quietly and returned to hir room. This was, of course, the time when maintenance decided to clean the floor, making the chakat lose the ability to enter hir 'fortress of solitude.'

Hir last place of sanctuary was in the library. Shi sat hirself at one of the tables and picked up a discarded datapad. An article about a squabble on a Lunar colony read across the screen. Pictures of Morph standing next to Man, together as one, in their disagreement of their companies policies looked so strange and alien to the chakat. A paradise found only in movies and television. Shi noticed that a music file was paused on the background of the GUI display. Shi pulled the retractable ear buds from the top, wiping them clean on hir shirt and placing them into hir ear before playing. A centuries old rock and roll song started to play into hir ears as shi checked the title and band. "I've Got to Break Free" by Queen. Shi chuckled to hirself, wondering who in their right mind would listen to something this archaic. Shi shook hir head, pulling out the buds and wiped them again. Shi returned the pad to the library's rack where the memory was erased and ready for another student to pick up. Shi sighed softly and made hir way back to hir classroom. Fourth hour started in just twelve minutes.