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The difference between humans and animals lies in how they respond to changes in their environments. Animals adapt to their environments -- altering themselves to accommodate the world around them. If it grows cold, an animal might adapt by altering its body and growing extra fur. If there is a shortage of food in the winter, an animal might adapt by altering its behavior and sleeping through the season, or migrating to a warmer climate until spring. Animals, in short, survive by changing themselves.
Humans, on the other hand, do not alter themselves to accommodate their environments -- as a human living in the frosty tundra is, for all practical purposes, no different from a human living in the Sahara desert. Humans differ from animals in that they have learned to change their environment to accommodate their needs. If there is not enough vegetation growing from the ground to feed a human, the human will simply alter the ground around him by building a farm. If the ground is too dry for a farm, a human will alter it further by irrigating it. When it is too cold, the human does not grow fur; instead, it equips its habitat with central heating. Such is the human's unique approach to meeting the challenges presented by its environment.
For boys attending the Scythian Academy, it is impossible to be human, as they have no way to exercise control over their environment. Eventually, after a period of futile attempts to follow the human model, boys will try to alter themselves to accommodate their environment -- the animal model. They soon learn that the women who operate the Scythian Academy are so skilled at manipulating the environment that even by reverting to animal status boys can never truly adapt. So they revert to something else. Something even lower than "animal."
In his first days at the Scythian Academy, Victor, like all new males, was trying to be human and failing miserably. Arriving naked in a metal box, only to be greeted by a spanking, did not help matters any. After Ms. Kester the Den Mother left Victor's room, Victor surveyed his surroundings in an attempt to find a way to adapt them to suit his needs.
He first evaluated his situation. He was alone, naked, and locked in a prison-like cinderblock room. Surely, they did not expect him to attend classes without clothes, did they? If they did, then he would simply remain in his room, under the cover of his bedlinens, until clothing of some type was made available to him. Victor had ample practice faking illnesses -- it wasn't difficult.
A warm feeling of satisfaction came over Victor. He had a plan. Now, to implement it -- what were boys supposed to do when they were sick? There was nobody in the room to ask, and he had no desire to attract the attention of the Den Mother again, so Victor consulted the thick volume that was the Rules of Conduct. A quick scan of the Table of Contents led him to Rule 43675 § A-32 on page 437: "Sick Call":
"All boys who claim to be too ill to attend class as scheduled, or to do assignments or perform assigned work details as scheduled, shall be escorted by a responsible School Official to the School Nurse's office for a medical evaluation."
Victor didn't bother to read on.
"Well," thought Victor, "at least that'll get me out of class." At his previous school, Victor had always been able to appeal to the naïve sympathy of the school nurse whenever he needed a "medical" excuse to get out of an unpleasant activity.
Nevertheless, a quick search through the drawers in his room disclosed that he had no immediate need to visit the school nurse just yet, since his uniforms had been brought to the school with him -- as had his schoolbooks. He would still have to dress in the embarrassingly tight pastel-blue shorts and the pink tank top with the word "Boy" stenciled on the back, but at least he had something to wear. He discovered to his dismay that no underwear had been brought for him, meaning that his tight shorts would be that much more revealing. Aside from the shorts and the tank tops, the only other garment he was provided with was a simple pair of sandals for his feet.
Shortly after Victor dressed in his uniform, another boy was escorted into the room by Ms. Kester. He appeared to be about the same age as Victor, but unlike Victor he was not brought in naked in a box. Instead, he was shoved in, wearing a "boy" uniform similar to Victor's. He appeared to be wearing a gag in his mouth.
"Victor," said Ms. Kester, "this is Steve. Steve, meet your new roommate, Victor."
Victor extended his hand, whereupon Ms. Kester immediately slapped it.
"NO communicating with Steve! Can't you see he's being punished? He is not allowed to speak, or be spoken to by anyone other than a teacher, until he learns to clean up that filthy mouth of his. Isn't that right Steve?"
"Mmmphttt."
Ms. Kester gave Steve a swift swat on his behind. "I said no talking," she snapped, and then left the room.
Unable to speak to his new roommate, Victor had no way to tell whether he was friend of foe. So, Victor and Steve simply glared at each other for several long, tense moments, until both apparently decided that a fistfight was at least not imminent. Then, at the same time, both boys decided that the best thing to do was to retire to bed and leave the problem of roommate evaluation to the next day.
At that point, both Victor and Steve went for the top bunk, and a small scuffle ensued. It lasted for approximately thirty seconds, until Ms. Kester suddenly rushed into the room and, upon seeing what was happening, produced something that appeared to be a remote control and pressed a button. The two bunks retracted into the wall, leaving nothing but the bare, cement floor to sleep on. She left without a word, and both Victor and Steve were left to make do with the cold, cement floor at their only bed for the rest of the night.
In their efforts to modify their environments to suit their
purposes, Victor and Steve were both failing miserably.
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