The Gloaming Girls

EPISODE THREE (Part 3/7)

I'm nervous to go back into Dr. Ghosh's classroom again, but apparently, not quite nervous enough.

Marlee is already there when I arrive, staring with wide, blue eyes at the front wall where the words: THE ADVENT: IMPACT ON INTELLIGENT LIFE are plastered. The subsection: Rapid Development of Evolution is highlighted in red underneath the title.

"I've been looking forward to this one," she says.

"Really?" I ask. "How come?"

"It's fascinating, don't you think?"

I shrug, sinking down in my seat as Dr. Ghosh enters the auditorium, hoping she doesn't see me. I wonder how far my luck will extend just with me ducking down in my seat and trying to be invisible. I wish I had the specialty of that person I saw the night I met Callia—I can't remember their name—but I'd do just about anything to disappear in a flash. "I don't think I've read much about it."

Now that I've seen Dr. Ghosh in her home, it's weird to see her again at the front of the classroom looking so polished.

She clears her throat. "I'm going to dive right into it today, since we don't have a lot of time. As you're all well aware, one of the plethora of unexpected side effects of The Advent is the unprecedented spike in semi-intelligent life."

Those of us still scrambling to get ready for class do so hastily, grabbing notebooks and pens or fighting with slow-to-open documents on tablets.

"Though the complications have mostly been dealt with in an efficient and humane manner, there's a plethora of ways that biology has been impacted by the presence of magic, potentially the most significant being the impact on thought."

Beside me, Marlee's face twists into a frown.

"This isn't a philosophy class, and I'm not here to quantify intelligence or put limits on it," Dr. Ghosh says, pacing, pant legs swishing audibly. "If you're interested in that, take Dr. Carathjas' class next semester. What I am interested in is taking today's class to talk about how biology and sociology can go hand in hand. This is a relevant discussion with many facets, but can anyone tell me why it might be true regarding intelligent life?"

A hand goes up in the front row. Dr. Ghosh nods, and a girl with straight dark hair answers, sounding like she's reading straight out of the textbook. "With the spike in intelligent life observed in the years following the Advent, the concept of free thought was heavily debated, and biological research was used in several protests which received high levels of press coverage, becoming a sociological issue?"

"Someone's done their reading," Dr. Ghosh smiles wryly. "Yes. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the various debates about intelligent life as we saw an increase in the animal life around us. There have been many deeply unfortunate attempts to do away with both ends of the extreme, several of which I'm sure come to mind immediately when this topic is brought to light."

She's right. I can think of several, but one stands out vividly. A movement several decades ago had to crusade for the rights of the mentally handicapped—what was later defined as a supremacist group attempted to pass a bill that would set IQ-based limits on classifications to earn human beings the right to be referred to as human beings—fortunately, with common sense ultimately in the opposition's favour, the bill wasn't passed, and it's become a mere blip in the vast history of the last hundred years. I remember learning about it in the seventh grade, though, and being so upset over the concept that I went home and cried.

"It's now been widely accepted that interfering with the development of intelligent thought is frowned upon, if not outright illegal in some jurisdictions," she considers us. "Now, as the biological implications of The Advent continue to unravel, we are faced with a newer and more immediate threat to the ongoing discussion."