Unnaturals by Lynna Merrill

trains—or worse, start treating the trains as some kind of wonderful experience? No, Mel, people don't need to be told. People are better off living in their own little bliss."
    "I wasn't better off," Mel said softly.
    "Which is why you're here now."
    "I... Doctor Eryn is not answering my questions, and I am not sure that even here is a place where... Tell me, please, did I make trains crash?"
    He sighed. "No. Yours was a controlled test. You couldn't have. We watched you all the time—or, Eryn did. I admit no one expected you to be a Doctor of Computers. You had showed the potential before, of course, being able to concentrate, but you hadn't shown much interest."
    "How could I show interest? Interest was unnatural. Tell me, Doctor, do you know of the City of Life? Or Nicolas? Was he on one of those trains?"
    The doctor sighed again. "I don't know of any city like this, Mel. If it is an old city, it will be out there in the feeds. As for the boy...was he a friend of yours?"
    Was he? Mel wondered.
    "I will check, Mel. I will let you know."
    She could not ask for more right now—no, she could.
    "Please, teach me about computers, Doctor."
    He smiled. "This is what we are here for. And, to tell you the truth, becoming a Doctor of Computers is better than becoming a Doctor of People—but don't tell Doctor Eryn. We work with consistency, systems and rules. In programming computers, we work with the world rather than expecting the world to work with us. Thus, we can leave our mark upon the world and be useful. Unlike most people." He smiled wider. "I wouldn't exchange being a Doctor of Computers for anything."
    "I guess I wouldn't, either, if trains depend on us. If we are the people to prevent train crashes in the future. I will learn everything about computers, Doctor Theodore."

Old
    Learning was easier said than done. Ivan, also a future Doctor of Computers, learned faster than Meliora. The programming language that you typed into the computer came more easily to him. Theodore praised Ivan and said that he was smart and quick. That if he continued like this, he'd soon be given responsibilities that would impact the outside world.
    No such responsibilities for Meliora.
    Theodore tried to help, but he could not. He'd explain something, and she'd understand, but then, when she started making the program, inevitably she'd get stuck. Theodore's step-by-step explanations were of no use. Oh, she remembered his words and drawings and could reproduce them easily, but as for planning her own program—she got stuck, always.
    Besides, she was stuck with Eryn. An Academy beginner must study the basics of doctoring for both humans and computers, which meant lessons with both Eryn and Theodore. There were other people at the Academy, thirty or so at a time, but they didn't interact with the new recruits much. Mel talked to some of those people, ate with them, even messaged with them, but it was more like communicating with her friends from the outside. Superficial.
    The three of them still went to those intro classes together, though perhaps Ivan would stop soon.
    Lucky him.
    "Why doesn't Eryn ever close you off in the dark room?" Mel asked once. Ivan just shrugged. He never contradicted Eryn, never held a new baby in the wrong way for the medstat to make an injection, never touched a medstat behind the lid with a needle. He never asked questions of Eryn, either. He only cared about his study computer with the typing interface and about Theo's lessons.
    It was just Mel and Adi in the dark room, and never both at the same time. Indeed, Adi only got there once, for loading a medstat with the wrong pills. She did it on purpose, Mel knew. Adi thought those pills were better but never dared tell Eryn.
    "What if it used them on a person!?" Eryn had screamed. "It believes its programming! It has no way of knowing what the pills really are!"
    Adi never made a mistake again. She checked everything at least five times, and she often looked behind