When they brought her to the headteacher's office, it was empty. They made her sit in a cushioned chair opposite a glass desk with a metal name tag. The tag read: "Director Richard Bridges."
The red-tiled floor kept drawing her attention, its polished surface reflecting the light from the large windows on the opposite wall. She sighed and looked outside.
From there she could see walls of the campus with its barbed wire and watchtowers. Beyond that, she could see the exclusion zone with its sky of constant twilight. Fat, orange clouds drifted close to the horizon. The Earth was writhing in pain and the skies reflected that, but for Dotty it was a place of happy memories. She loved to escape there with Jacko.
That was the only time in her routine that she felt free from the crushing pressures of the institution, from the dehumanizing stares of her fellow students. Hunting giant mutant rats didn't count as an extracurricular activity, but there were so many clogging the pipes leading to the sewers that she really was doing the city a favour.
Surely that was why the director had called her to his office. That, or her run in with Zoe.
A hoarse cough shook her from her thoughts. An older man swept past her. He moved faster than his wide belly would appear to permit. He sat opposite her and combed a hand through his mane of white hair. His forehead was covered in tiny beads of sweat, as if sprinkled with dew. He coughed again and then he studied her with his clear blue eyes, almost grey. Beneath his eyes were puffy, yellowing bags.
His hands drifted across the datapad on his desk. His eyes moved between the device and her face a number of times before they finally settled on her.
"Well, Miss Dorothy Gale, let's get to it. Ah, yes." The director prodded at something on the datapad. "This isn't the first time I've had to call you in, is it? Sincerely, I wish it could be the last. This school isn't used to your level of scandal."
"What scandal?"
"Are you joking? Does the name Zoe refresh your memory? Because she's raised quite the case against you. And her two friends: blackened eyes, split lips, bite marks to the calf." He paused and coughed again. Dotty felt a flash of satisfaction. "Various bruises to the ribs and skull, not to mention public humiliation. A school of this calibre shouldn't..." He rubbed his eyes.
"But they hacked my terminal and erased all of my classwork! And if that wasn't enough, they trashed that single stroke bike that I spent months refurbishing."
"Is there any proof of this?"
"Who would have done it if it wasn't them? They hate me. Just because I don't bend the knee when they pass like all the more 'honorable' students." Her fingers drew inverted commas in the air.
The director's face flashed red and he slammed his hand down on the glass desk, making the datapad bounce.
"Listen, Miss Gale. I couldn't give a hoot that your father is a war hero, or that your uncle could fill this place with credits until they poured out of the windows. This kind of violence doesn't happen here. We accepted you despite your record, something that many schools would have rejected you for— even with all of your uncle's generous donations. Now I see that I was wrong to take a chance on you. Ever since you arrived, you've done nothing but cause trouble."
"It wasn't my fault. I was just defending myself."
"I take it that it's also not your fault that you have repeatedly been spotted beyond the campus walls? Didn't you think we would find out? This is a secure institution, despite the state of the surrounding area. It's a privilege to be here and your actions jeopardise that security. We would only need to show our tapes to the police and they would come and take you away. We're having an emergency meeting with all the teachers to decide exactly what to do with you. For my part, I'm done."
A bell sounded and the director pushed a button on the datapad. A female voice came over the wall speakers.
"Director, Henry Gale is here to see you."
"Let him in please," he responded in a mechanical voice, and then he turned back to Dotty. "Look, young lady. You have two options. Either you get in the lifeboat or the sea crushes you against the rocks. Which will it be?"