Jon still found it a bit hard to grasp. The world, Brittany said, had gone through different stages of existence, the text in the book implying that this change of the sun was an example of a...what, a changeover between stages? If any of the other stages were as drastically different...it painted so many things in a different light. Perhaps there really had been monsters and magic in the distant past, in other "phases" before the world changed and they were no more. And now it had changed again and so many of them had returned, joined by many kinds of things that had been invented in fiction in the interim...how far back did this go? It was a mind-boggling thought.
"Brittany?" she asked. "These phases you talked about...how often do they come and go?"
The ancient girl sighed. "I know that when I left Britain, the world was changing. From what I was told, I believe that that was the beginning of the phase in which you were born. I do not know when the phase into which I was born began."
Karyn gave a whistle. "Nearly two thousand years," she said. "If that's anywhere near the average...we might be looking at that sun for a long time."
Jon frowned. "Not necessarily," she said. "Maybe the sun is just...an instrument of the changeover, or something. That doesn't necessarily mean it'll be like that the whole time, definitely not if I have anything to say about it. But I don't know if I can get rid of all its effects, and I really don't think taking things back to exactly how they were is a good goal."
Brittany sighed wistfully. "Indeed not...I would have done so, fought to retain the world and the land I knew...though I could hardly do such a thing in my own power. Yet if I had my way, your world would never have come into being...it would rob you of a future to preserve my own present. I would not have such a deed on my hands..."
The slug-girl nodded. "It's so easy to make those kinds of mistakes...to fail to take others into consideration, especially on this kind of scale...I guess in a way I'm kind of glad the stone is drained, it's forced me to stop and think about this stuff."
Karyn nodded. "No kidding. I'm just glad my thoughtless wish didn't have more serious consequences," she said, indicating her breasts. "At least these things are less of a pain in the water. Jon, we should probably get back to class..."
Jon checked her watch. "What? Already? Cripes. Brittany, can you come over to my house after school and we'll continue this discussion?"
Brittany shook her head sadly. "I am afraid not," she said. "Lady Haru can see it, but I am in some way a phantasm, not fully removed from my own time...I have no corporeal existence outside this building. Indeed, the unchanged cannot even see me..."
The other two stared at her. "Really?" Karyn said. "Wow, that's terrible!"
She shrugged. "I have the library to pass the time," she said. "Though there are times when it does grieve me. Perhaps when my task is complete I shall be granted my full presence..."
Jon smiled. "Well, we'll try to make sure that happens as soon as possible."
Mrs. Crawford sat in the teachers' lounge, sipping at a mug of tea and feeling discouraged. "Maple," she said, "was...was it really that bad?"
The rabbit-woman sighed. "I don't know, Emily," she said. "You and I both know kids can be a little reactionary, especially when they get into a 'students versus teachers' mindset. We both know you mean well, and I think they do too, even if they've forgotten it at the moment."
"Sarah said...if we did this, she was going to drop out," she said. "She's seventeen, I can't stop her from doing that, no matter how rash a decision it is...she's not a stupid girl, Lu, she knows it would be a bad idea...how can it matter that much to her?"
Maple shrugged. "She probably feels spurned," she said. "From what I've heard, Sarah's been through a lot, and I'm sure she didn't arrive at her decision too lightly - she was distressed enough when she and Tiffany had that altercation and she wound up topless, she must have done a lot of thinking about the matter in between that and the next day. If she made that call for herself and now she feels that you just plain don't want students unclothed, you can see why she'd take offense."
"I tried to account for that, really I did," Mrs. Crawford said. "But...I don't know, I just don't understand this. She acts like she's abandoning her humanity, and for what?"
"Well, she isn't human any more," Maple said. "Strictly speaking, none of us are. Should we all just pretend that nothing's changed? Our esteemed staff psychologist would call that denial. Besides, it's not like she's abandoning everything about human society, just the things she feels shouldn't apply to a harpy."
"But then what?" Mrs. Crawford asked. "What if someone decides that more important things shouldn't apply to them? If a carnivore decides that it's okay to hunt other people, that it's not cannibalism because they're not the same species? I admit that's an extreme, but you see what I mean?"
"Yeah. And...I dunno. It's not an easy question to answer. But I think that's kind of why our current system is a better choice, Emily - it allows us to use our judgement and address the students and their needs individually, rather than trying to fit everyone into a single approach. It's less trouble for the teachers, it doesn't make the clothed and unclothed students feel like they're being split off and pitted against each other...I know that wasn't your intent, but that seems to be how they see it..."
Mrs. Crawford sighed. "That wasn't how it was supposed to go...I didn't mean for it to be like that at all. I guess I can see what you mean about treating the students individually, but shouldn't there be common rules for everyone to abide by? Why did even the children wearing clothes get upset? And what about these other children who aren't even impaired but want to be naked...why? I don't get it."
Maple nodded. "I know. You give them too little structure and they can run wild, you give them too much and they feel like you're boxing them in...it's difficult. But I think any time you take a system where they feel they have a say in things, like the people in charge really care about what they think, and replace it with something less personal, even if it's consistent, I think that's going to make them feel upset, whether they're directly affected by it or not. As for the non-impaired kids...I don't know why they want to go naked, I don't know that there even is a common reason. My student Caitlin thinks she makes a better statue that way, I don't know about Rachel, who knows? I don't know that I'm convinced they should have to have one."
Emily sighed. "It wasn't meant to be like this..."
"I know," the rabbit-woman said. "The staff knows it, and the students...you've had years of being good with the kids, Emily, I think even the ones who are upset about this remember that...everybody can make a misstep now and again. Just give it some time, I think they'll cool off..."
