Chapter Twenty-Two - Convincing Arguments
“What?” Teddy asked.
No, she demanded.
Teddy, her annoying sisters, and the Boss were all on a sidewalk in some lame suburb. One of those places where all the houses looked the same because capitalism demanded that every niche in the market be filled, including the niche of boring homes that all looked the same. Step-Boss was there too. It was her that had brought them here, to this one random house.
The Boss licked her lips, bounced on the balls of her feet, then pressed her hands together, all that without meeting their eyes. “You three will be staying here for the rest of the day. Just until this afternoon, really. And while you’re here Misses Headerson will teach you all sorts of things.”
Teddy crossed her arms, and next to her Athena did the same. It was a rare moment of solidarity between the two. “I don’t like it,” Teddy said.
“You’re going to leave?” Trinity asked. She was behind Teddy and Athena, on both sides and between them, and all three of her faces looked like they were close to crying.
“I’m not leaving you,” the Boss lied as she leaned forwards. “Uh, it’ll just be for a few hours, so that I can go to class and take care of things. And all three of you need an education. We can’t get you to a normal school yet, so until then...”
“Wait, you mean you’re planning to abandon us to a normal school later?” Athena asked.
“You want us to get propaganda’d over at one of those private corporate institutions?” Teddy added. “I don’t want to be exposed to their trash learning and stuff.”
“Schools have trash?” Trinity asked, perking up a bit.
“Girls,” the Boss said. “Come on, it won’t be that bad.”
“You’re locking us up in some lame Merican dream home with some wrinkly old teacher lady that will try to cram weird stuff into our heads,” Teddy said.
“What kind of weird stuff?” Trinity asked.
Athena half-turned. “Math and stuff.”
“Oh no,” Trinity said. “I only have this many fingers and that’s all I need.” She raised her six hands.
Step-Boss patted Boss on the back. “Let me,” she muttered as she stood next to Boss. “Girls, Heather is a good old friend of mine. She used to teach at Emily’s school when she was much younger, before she had Steffie. She’s an excellent teacher.”
“Yeah, but we don’t need that,” Athena said. “We know all the things we need to know already.”
“We know how to beat people up,” Teddy said.
“And how to break into homes,” Trinity said. “And how to make the best snuggle piles.”
Teddy nodded. Those were the important kinds of skills that they wouldn’t learn in some lame school. Forcing them to go to one anyway was weird and stupid and bad.
Step-Boss nodded. “Yes, you’re all very talented. But maybe you might learn some new things? Tell you what. If you three do a good job today, and behave and learn a bunch, then... we’ll get pizza for supper.”
Teddy paused, considering the offer. That was a pretty good deal.
“Only if we get bacon pizza,” Teddy counter-offered.
Step-Boss grinned, which was basically a yes.
“But don’t expect us not to go full villain on this Heather woman if she’s a pain in the butt.”
Step-Boss hummed and tapped her lower lip. “How about, if she does anything you don’t like, you tell Emily or myself about it, and we’ll take care of it for you?”
So, if this woman disrespected them, she’d have to deal with the wrath of the Boss and Step-Boss? That was a deal as far as Teddy was concerned. “Alright then,” she said.
Step-Boss led the way over to the front door of the house. There was a little garden to one side, and a lawn that had been raked recently so that it wasn’t all covered in dead leaves and stuff. Step-Boss knocked on the door, and it opened after half a minute to reveal an older lady in a skirt and blouse with her hair tied back.
“Claire! And you brought the children too. You’re a bit early.”
Step-Boss nodded. “I thought it was best to be a little early. In case we had to convince the girls to stick around. Besides, it gives them more time for introductions.”
The lady nodded, then stepped back into her home, the door wide-open. “Come in, come in,” she said.
The inside of the house wasn’t anything special. A little living room with a couch in the middle and a TV against the wall, a small kitchen on the other side of a counter with a basket of fruit on it, and a few corridors that lead off into the rest of the house.
They didn’t get to explore though, since everyone decided to stay crammed up in the entranceway for some reason that Teddy couldn’t figure out.
“So, introductions?” the lady asked. “My name is Heather, but you girls should probably call me Miss Headerson. My daughter’s called Steffie, you’ll meet her soon, she's getting ready for class. So, can I have your names, and maybe a bit about yourselves, if you’re not shy?”
The Boss looked at them, and Teddy got the message. “Yeah, I’m Tedd-- Theodora Wright. I’m the biggest sister, and the best one too.”
“Pleased to meet you, Theodora,” Miss Headerson said. She extended a hand, and Teddy shook it seriously.
“I’m Athena, Athena Wright. The smart one.”
“Shouldn’t you be smart then?” Teddy asked.
Athena poked her in the short ribs, and Teddy was about to retaliate when the Boss bapped them both on the head. “Girls, please.”
“Sorry Boss,” Teddy muttered.
“Sorry Big Sister.”
Miss Headerson giggled. “I see. A clever girl then, and what about you... triplets?”
“I’m Trinity,” Trinity said. “And this is all of me. I like...” She blinked, her eyes going blank for a moment. “I like a lot of stuff, do I need to say all of them?”
The Boss cleared her throat. “Um, my mom told you about their, uh, circumstances?” she asked.
“Yes? A little,” Miss Headerson said. “I’ve worked with children who needed special attention before.”
“Right, that’s great,” Emily said.
Miss Headerson smiled, then turned to another Trinity. “And what’s your name, dear?”
Trinity blinked again. “I just told you. It’s Trinity.”
“Oh? Are the triplets fond of pranks?” she asked.
“Well, yes, but she’s not wrong, and she’s not triplets,” the Boss said. She rubbed at her nose. “Trinity is all three of these bodies. At the same time. This is all of her. It’s... it’s a power thing.”
Miss Headerson’s mouth made a little “o” which had Teddy huffing. She couldn’t wait to show the lady her much more awesome power if this was how amazed she was by Trinity’s lame, boring power. “Are all five... powered?”
“Three,” Emily said. “Uh, Trinity’s just one person, even if she’s got three bodies.”
“When I get dead, I get back,” Trinity explained.
“Pardon?” Miss Headerson asked.
The Boss smiled, it was one of her strange smiles. “At least you won’t need to worry if she chokes on something?”
“I see,” she replied in a way that meant that she didn’t. She turned towards the Step-Boss. “When you said this might be a bit complicated, I was thinking... well, my mind was very much elsewhere.”
Step-Boss sighed. “I know, Heather, but you’re the only one I could turn to. Besides, the girls are genuinely sweet, nice children.”
Teddy puffed her chest out. Damn right she was.
“We can promise not to wreck your place, miss,” Teddy said. She didn’t mean it, but it earned her a pat from the Boss, so she was happy she said it.
“Yes, well,” Miss Headerson said, she hesitated for a moment, then smiled again. “How about you girls go into my classroom? It’s the playroom, just down that corridor and to the right. There’s a washroom if you continue straight, in case you need to wash up or anything. And I’ll be bringing snacks in a moment.”
Teddy perked up. No one had mentioned there being snacks involved.
Teddy jumped when Trinity charged to the room, two of her bodies blocking Athena and Teddy’s path. “No! I’m gonna be first!” Trinity protested. “Last one there’s a rotten good girl!”
“Don’t run, please!” The Boss said. But the Boss didn’t understand how important it was that Teddy not be the last one there.
Athena slipped past Teddy in the corridor and jumped into the room right before Teddy could catch up.
“Hah! You’re last!” Trinity said.
“No, you are!” Teddy said. It was true: two of Trinity were only then entering the room.
“But I was first too.”
“You were two-thirds last,” Athena said.
“Um.”
The sisters all paused and took in the fourth girl in the room. She was sitting at a small school desk and was staring at them all with wide eyes.
“Hi?” she said. “Who are you?”
***
Don't communists love education? I mean they tend to produce a lot of scientists, doctors, and mathematicians.
education is important. the issue is that the American school system is a dumpster fire wrapped in a clusterf*ck
@spoonPrincess accurate
@spoonPrincess It's more like a bomb and firearm testing facility.
@blaze_master100 sadly while the concept of communism is great it has never been excecuted very well and somehow just ends up as a dictatorship.
@spoonPrincess don't insult dumpster fires like that least they keep you warm with less stressful smells
@Kristeen it's hard to make Communism it self in reality as it does guarantee people using it is good or actually follow it.
Like with most governmental systems nothing is perfect only slightly better monstrosity waiting corruption. I find it's better take parts of communism philosophy that works but not full thing.
People aren't exactly same with different abilities which make the idea everyone on same level hard hard to implement cause few will always outshine which may caused them be priorities over others or shunned over others,
Nor does take into account how humans work good or bad, parts of me believe system should be designed with humans psychology and physiology in mind.
Such as allowing people rise above other like Monarchy, but fairer designed that all levels have some benefits to them like commoners have right to 1000 free mail a month or something, and can get phones for price though pricy isn't too bad.
barons and above gets phones free if they get average commoner model phones but better noble class phones cost more, commoner can get Noble class phones but usually only decent paying commoner jobs might be able to pay for.
Or like barons are revolving door base don commoners voting in to nobility, but to rise above Baron rank must challenge higher rank noble for their place or find non occupied territory or find unowned landed to turn into their territory and such.
Commoners get free public transportation and is on par to Japanese networks, people can get vehicles but are costly as more noble as they probably only ones that can pay the costs, and with high quality public transportation network cars are little redundant to point money isn't with it less your rich.
Everyone has free house and foods but only basically like rooms are size of cubicle in office and food is heathy wise good but not tasty if want better housing or food you work or it but always have somewhere to go to.
Other ideas is machine that pays people some money for trash so people broke can clean up street litter and get something to pay for food or something they want.
And so on ideas above was from highschool project where he had to design or own government systems one we design was for more sci Fi settings but more realistic to IRL possibilities. Was mix of Republic, democracy, Monarchy, Communism, meritocracy, and Many more taking bits and pieces of each that we liked or found workable into our own government system. Just sad I no longer have access to my old school email to look at everything we had done on the project.
Ps got carried way with my thoughts.
@Demain_csomic_winters kinda what I was saying while the theory behind communism is great it will never be more than theoretical by its very nature. Any government that claims to be a communist government is by very definition not a communist country.
@Kristeen closed idea I got to semi true Communism is using network hive mind type structure each with set rules for everything applies to everyone but would require a cybernetic humans or some race to pull off and you have to guarantee offspring get them too most likely same way babys are made and non of cybernetics never have errors in the code and more. It's possible to work but technology wise I don't think it's possible naturally for humans. What happs when two disagree on something who is right is hard to do without third part to mediate and more.
Here's a link to guy that talks about different subjects this one is about hivemind and I believe it's the one with network hive minds in its subject talk too, not sure been awhile also their is video on government and fact governments are rarely single governmental structure systems.
By Issac Arthur if don't want Link
https://youtu.be/NV7_abwM2ug?si=CFa9vh9_FDX_shS6
@Demain_csomic_winters