By the time the alarm went off in Chaney's room, she was already awake. Since she had been awake before the alarm sounded, which was a minor infraction itself, she should have been dressed. Instead she was sitting in her pajamas on the floor beneath the wondow of the barren room. There were no bookcases, no dressers, no lamps. The only things on the wall were four posters. They were white, with blue block type that read: "We Care About You", "We Are Helping You", and "Follow the Rules". The fourth one said, "St. Martin's Learning and Development Center is Great!"

Chaney had been staring at the posters for quite some time when a knock sounded on the door. She glanced up, her heart skipping a beat. "Learner number 1079, please answer the door." Making someone wait was punishable, so Chaney stood up and with a heavy arm she opened the door. She knew who would be there before she looked so she said, "Thank you for coming to see me, Ms. Smith." In the doorway stood a woman in a blue suit with very short brown hair identical to the girl's. She had on a white shirt under the suit and a white button which read "We Care About You!" in the same letters that were on Chaney's posters. Her eyebrows and lips were immaculately arched, and with a sculpted jaw and nose, Ms. Smith was perfect.

"That is not the proper formal greeting, learner 1079. I suggest you reread your Center handbook." Ms. Smith's voice was as precise as the rest of her, articulating every sound flawlessly, "It has come to our attention that this morning you were awake approximately six minutes and thirty-seven seconds before your alarm sounded. You did not use this time productively. This is not a good learner's habit. For your failure, I must deduct two points from your Citizenship grade." The girl's hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened, aghast at the proposition, but she did not say anything. Speaking out of turn was punishable. Ms. Smith paused to watch the reaction before continuing, "Unless of course you decide to readjust your habits yourself," the girl nodded vigorously, "but if this happens again…" Ms. Smith inclined her head in such a way that nothing more needed to be said. She turned on her heel and walked down the hallway until the clicking of her shoes could no longer be heard.

Chaney closed her door immediately, hoping desperately that none of the other learners in the building had heard the exchange. She paused to wonder how she could have wasted so much time thinking and doing nothing productive before changing into her learning clothes. Everyone in the Learning Center wore blue suits, white shirts, and a white pin. The enhancers all wore pins like Ms. Smith's, the enforcers, who helped to remind the learners of the rules when they forgot, wore pins that read, "We Are Helping You." All of the learners wore pins that said "St. Martin's Learning and Development Center is Great!" The only person who wore a pin that said, "Follow the Rules" was the Motivator. The Motivator was the most important person at the Center. He decided everything from who should be promoted to an enhancer to how many writing implements to buy. All of the enforcers reported straight to him and many of the enhancers went to meetings where he was present. Chaney had seen the Motivator many times, but she could never really remember when, or where, or what he looked like. But everyone had seen him, all the learners and enhancers said so. Every morning there was a special message directly from the Motivator himself. The Motivator was always, always right, so the learners did everything he said to improve their habits. Yesterday's message had been "A good St. Martin's Center learner has good nutritional habits!" prompting Chaney to go directly to the cafeteria after she got dressed, so that she could eat all she needed. Chaney sat alone at a plastic table beneath the fluorescent lights and began to study her book on mathematics. A shadow fell over her as someone sat down next to her; Chaney glanced up from her studies. The newcomer was her prescribed companion, Lydia. Her prescribed companion was the only person Chaney ever talked to, beside enhancers, at the Center. The other learners at the school voted on who they thought everyone should be companions with. It wasn't punishable to eat, talk, or study with anyone but your companions, but no one ever did. It was suspicious behavior.

"Good morning," said Lydia cheerfully, and Chaney replied in equal fashion. Another girl walked up to the table who's name Chaney didn't know. The girl was short and rather fat and was Lydia's other prescribed companion. Chaney ate in silence until ten minutes until eight. Then all the learners in the cafeteria rose as one. Education started at exactly eight o'clock and to be late was punishable. No one had ever been late before, but everyone knew it was an automatic expulsion. Learners with bad habits would be sent to the Motivator. You could see them waiting outside his office, sitting in the cheap upholstered chairs, squirming and wriggling and sweating. No one sent to the Motivator ever returned to the Center. Those who had been expelled were never spoken of. They weren't missed or thought of, since there were so many productive things one could do besides think about people who would never be seen again. All time should be spent productively. The Motivator had said so himself.

It was suspicious to walk alone at the Center, so Chaney fell into step with Lydia and the other girl, who both took little notice of her. When they reached the halls of the Center, the trio paused to appreciate the sight. In honor of the Rally that night, the Center had been covered in banners and posters. All the posters had one of the four slogans which hung in all the learners' rooms but here there were hundreds and hundreds of them, giving the buildings an eerie blue-white tint. The students weren't required to go to the Rallies, but they all did. Chaney hated the feeling of adrenaline and tension which filled the air at the Rallies, making the auditorium feel very stuffy and small. The noise was part of that, since everyone was shouting the slogans and caught up in the festivity of the ceremonies. Sometimes learners got hurt in the crush of people, voices, and movement, so there was also a risk factor in attending, which most of the learners craved.

"The Leadership Committee really worked hard last night," commented Lydia, who then paused for a moment, looking puzzled, "I didn't see you helping, Chaney." Chaney blinked, remembering how she had decided not to go, but not knowing why. She had just felt like staying by herself. "I was studying," she said cautiously, "but I'm going tonight, of course." Lydia nodded her head in approval, then turned away. The learners weren't required to help, but they all did anyway. If you didn't help, it was very different. "Anyone who is different or suspicious is to be watched carefully," was a favorite saying of everyone at the Center. If a learner saw anyone suspicious, they were to tell their First Class enhancer and the person reported would be recommend for expulsion.

Chaney had proudly reported three people, all of whom were expelled without question. One of them had been her other prescribed companion, Sylvia. Sylvia had mentioned one day that "…maybe the St. Lawrence learners aren't as bad as they seem…" St. Lawrence's Center for Learning and Development was St. Martin's Center's bitter rival. Tonight's rally would focus mainly on how evil the St. Lawrence learners were. They looked funny, cheated, lied and it was rumored that some of them had long hair. It wasn't a rule at the Center that you had to have short hair, but you were different if you didn't. Every once in a while, the best athletes at the Center would travel to an outside arena and challenge the long-haired St. Lawrence students to various games. The athletes brought back stories of how well they had done and how badly St. Lawrence had done, making Chaney feel even more confident in her Center.

After stopping at her locker to collect her study guides, Chaney walked straight to her First Class. Most of the learners were already there. Since talking in class was punishable, everyone was studying. Chaney took her seat and pulled out her books for mathematics. The enhancer, Mr. Jones, was sitting at his desk going over the learners' workbooks. At exactly eight o'clock, a bell rang. All of the learners put away their books and stared excitedly at the stereo where the announcement would soon be heard. Even Mr. Jones leaned forward in anticipation as the whole Center held its breath and listened. There was a faint whirring and finally a click emitted from the stereo. "Good morning St. Martin's Center for Learning and Development," said the stereo. "Good morning, Motivator!" chorused the Center unanimously. "I would like to remind you of how lucky you are to be attending here," the learners all smiled and nodded, "and remember how you could be going to somewhere like St. Lawrence." A low growling filled the air as learners and enhancers alike recalled their rivals, but the voice took no notice and continued, "So remember to sign up Jr. Enforcer Hall Patrol League to keep our Center running smoothly," the learners nodded vigorously and their was a brief chorus of "Thank you" before the machine was turned off.

Chaney now turned her attention to the enhancer, who was taking a headcount, "1077, 1078, 1079, 1080, 1081…" the enhancer broke off an looked around the room, "1081? Where is 1081?!" The learners began peering around the room, just as puzzled as the enhancer. The was a loud creak and everyone in the room stared at the door. There in the doorway was a girl. She was late, but breathing hard, with messy hair and a tear in her blue pants. Fresh tears were on her cheeks as she gazed nervously around the class. "I…" she stammered, her eyes large with fear and her voice pained with surprise, "I tripped… I'm late…" she said to herself, but the eyes of the class had already turned to the enhancer. Chaney continued staring at the girl, transfixed by the horrible sight. "Go," said the enhancer shakily, but gaining confidence as he spoke, "You have failed in your punctuality. Go to discuss your habits with the Motivator." The girl in the doorway closed her eyes and shook her head, but then slowly closed the door. The clicking of her shoes on the floor could be heard as she ran down the hall.

"It is a bad learner's habit to be late," quoted the enhancer. The class nodded, glad that justice had been dealt. Chaney ripped herself away from the vision of the tear-stained girl in the doorway. She realized that the girl had been Lydia's friend, an excellent learner and one of the brightest in the school. Did she really deserve to be expelled? Maybe there was a mistake… maybe she wasn't as bad as she seemed... She shook her head quickly, cursing herself for questioning what her superiors had done. The Motivator is always right, she said to herself, and didn't waste any more time on the girl.

The enhancer pointed to an equation on the board. "2 + 2 = 5," he said. "2 + 2 = 5," repeated the class. Chaney was glad to be learning so much at such a fine Center.