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she heard a voice ask Dr. Massin how this was so important.
    Alex refocused on their guest speaker, who lifted a hand to her chest in offense. She must not work with newburies very often.
    “Of course it’s essential to understand how spirits interact not only with one another but with other forms of the living.”
    “Forms?” Madison Constance asked. She sat nearest to the podium, ever attentive. Her hair twisted into a ballerina bun, mimicking Dr. Massin.
    “The bodied. The gifted. The broken. The lost.”
    Gifted ? They were actually going to openly discuss the topic? Alex scanned the room looking for Professor Duvall, whom she found crouched against the far wall in a heap of shawls and jewelry. Several empty vials lay at her feet. Her expression didn’t indicate any sort of surprise though she fiddled with a large stone.
    “Wasn’t that the point of the Intro workshop?” Linton Darwin spoke only loud enough for their table to hear.
    “You’d think,” Tess replied, hawk-eying the woman. “What is she doing ?”
    Dr. Massin stood still at the edge of the podium. Her face curled into a smirk. “Part of the social knowledge you carried into death will not change. Your judgment …” Her tweed skirt, which hovered above her geriatric grandma shoes, began to shrink until it tightened against her curves. Her horrid blue sweater shifted to sky blue and thinned to silk.
    “Um.” Kaleb rubbed his eyes, and a smile played at his mouth. “Hello.”
    “Your stereotypes …” Dr. Massin’s height increased as her shoes shed their Velcro and turned to black pumps. The glasses disappeared from her face, and her black hair fell to her waist. “The way you initially see people doesn’t change, nor does the way you categorize them. We all do it. Our minds have been geared that way by our bodied societies.”
    Skye huffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Not all of us.”
    Despite Skye’s disagreement, the Grandiuse became quiet. Dr. Massin had the full attention of the newburies, due to her tricks or due to her breathtaking—though still annoyingly blurry—projection. “Why is this subject important? Well. You need to learn the values, the norms, the rules of this society, a culture of people who live in their minds but carry the predetermined guidelines from the living.”
    “Massin?” Tess drew out the name as though trying to place it.
    “Civil rights?” Linton asked her.
    Tess nodded. “Anti.”
    “What civil rights?” Chase asked.
    “If she’s the Massin I’ve been warned about,” Tess snarled, “she adamantly, and very vocally, opposed the advancement of the gifted during the Civil Rights Movement.”
    Dr. Massin vanished. She reappeared, hovering over Madison Constance. “The topic is always presented to those of you preparing for the Categorization. After all, we naturally categorize each other. You’d be lying if you told me you didn’t have an opinion of me before I began to speak due to my style of dress and the way I spoke. Sociology is always a part of the newbury learning process, but due to certain events, the advisors ordered me to visit the entire congregation of the Grandiuse tonight to encourage you to begin your studies a bit earlier.”
    Xavier Darwin turned his critical gaze to Alex. Linton and Tess followed suit, and Alex flinched at the pinpricks of scrutiny. Their interest was as sharp as their noses.
    “What?” Alex finally demanded of them.
    Tess stretched over Skye’s lap, the edges of her black hair grazing Alex’s shoulder.
    “I’ve been meaning to tell you, we came upon some information I think you’ll find illuminating.”
    Tess quieted as Madame Paleo strode past their table in her ugly power suit and joined Dr. Massin, who faded even more. “That’s about all the time Dr. Massin has tonight. We need to allow her to return to her obligations at the Dual Tower.” She faced the flickering projection of a woman. “We thank you, Doctor, for joining us