Letter to home (Cryogene's intro)
Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:51 pm
Dear Daddy,
Got moved into my room this morning after a load of paperwork, physicals, orientation meetings, and some logistical issues, so I'm finally finding the time to write. Haven't met my roommate yet, though, and given what I've seen since I got here, she could be ANYONE... or ANYTHING, for that matter.
My appearance, as it turns out, probably won't be an issue at all. First student I met had green hair and lavender skin. In the three days since, I've also spotted one with horns, and yet another was some kind of cyborg or robot or something, and this before I've even spent more than a few hours on the campus proper. So yeah, people look weird around here, and no one cares. Nice step up from the kids pulling on my ears in elementary school.
Still, there's a LOT of people on this campus. I'm still glad you and Mom put me into private tutoring -- between the teasing and the freezing and the teasing about the freezing, I wouldn't have lasted another year in public school -- but it's starting to hit me that I haven't spent real time with kids my age in nearly six years. (Well, Jimmy and Kathy only started avoiding me three years ago after that little incident, but other than them, I mean.) Anyway, got a bit of social anxiety here. Hope I don't make an idiot of myself.
First two nights, I slept in special facilities at GIFT, but this morning my "bed" arrived at the school: a well-insulated chamber they've installed into what'll be my room. It's a little claustrophobic inside, not much more room inside than those MRI machines, and I hope I don't have a panic attack when I spend eight hours inside tonight. But the technology involved is admittedly pretty cool (no pun intended). It monitors the temperature inside and constantly adds enough heat to make sure I don't popsicle myself completely, then warms me all the way to 98.6 when I'm ready to get up. A lot more efficient than sleeping in the sauna all night. They also put in an extra, personal water heater for this quad's showers (imagine the disaster if all the hot water were gone when it was my turn). That and a special uniform with some emergency heating pads built in, like in my usual coat, and I can stay functional around the clock, even during a Rhode Island December.
(Did I mention it's a LOT colder here than in Savanna? Well it is. Absorbing heat from the air alone doesn't keep me above zero-C even if I frost everything in reach. I shudder to think what it'll be like by February. Looks like I'll be using those heating pads regularly if I want to head outside.)
It's a little worrisome that they're going to all this inconvenience just for me, especially considering they don't know whether I'll be here for the duration or flunk/drop out before the semester's over. Miss Gemini (school administrator) says that a lot of the other students here have needs just as elaborate as mine, and they're happy to accommodate each of us, but I doubt she'll still be saying that when the school has to pay the heating bill for the next month. But it was a nice thought anyway. Just hope I can prove I'm worth the effort before then.
Love,
Joni
PS: If you get in touch with Momma, you can tell her I'm taken care of here. GIFT gave me a full scholarship, and she doesn't need to worry about taking care of me anymore. But if she gets the chance, could you ask her to visit? She wouldn't have to stay long. Just ask her.
PPS: I've included a picture of me in my new uniform. Me and skirts don't mix, but I like the jacket, and the tie didn't give me nearly as much trouble as I thought.
PPPS: If Momma says no, pretend you couldn't reach her, okay?
*****
Joni "Cryogene" Jacobs is a mutant whose blood temperature is best measured in degrees Kelvin instead of Fahrenheit. Although the rest of her body is more tolerant of low temperatures than most people's, she is at constant risk of putting herself into a state of cryogenic suspension (and has done so, frequently, requiring others to thaw her out). She compensates for this by drawing heat energy from her surroundings, freezing them instead of herself, and she has grown adept at directing exactly where she draws from -- at the same time, she must do this continuously to keep from "popsicling," as she puts it. Financially unable to care for Joni, her father finally sought help from GIFT, who evaluated her situation and gave her a needs-based scholarship to St. Joseph's.
Joni is easily identified as "non-mundane" by her snow-white skin and hair and her dog-like ears. She has a slight Southern accent but enunciates well (due to several years of private lessons).
Got moved into my room this morning after a load of paperwork, physicals, orientation meetings, and some logistical issues, so I'm finally finding the time to write. Haven't met my roommate yet, though, and given what I've seen since I got here, she could be ANYONE... or ANYTHING, for that matter.
My appearance, as it turns out, probably won't be an issue at all. First student I met had green hair and lavender skin. In the three days since, I've also spotted one with horns, and yet another was some kind of cyborg or robot or something, and this before I've even spent more than a few hours on the campus proper. So yeah, people look weird around here, and no one cares. Nice step up from the kids pulling on my ears in elementary school.
Still, there's a LOT of people on this campus. I'm still glad you and Mom put me into private tutoring -- between the teasing and the freezing and the teasing about the freezing, I wouldn't have lasted another year in public school -- but it's starting to hit me that I haven't spent real time with kids my age in nearly six years. (Well, Jimmy and Kathy only started avoiding me three years ago after that little incident, but other than them, I mean.) Anyway, got a bit of social anxiety here. Hope I don't make an idiot of myself.
First two nights, I slept in special facilities at GIFT, but this morning my "bed" arrived at the school: a well-insulated chamber they've installed into what'll be my room. It's a little claustrophobic inside, not much more room inside than those MRI machines, and I hope I don't have a panic attack when I spend eight hours inside tonight. But the technology involved is admittedly pretty cool (no pun intended). It monitors the temperature inside and constantly adds enough heat to make sure I don't popsicle myself completely, then warms me all the way to 98.6 when I'm ready to get up. A lot more efficient than sleeping in the sauna all night. They also put in an extra, personal water heater for this quad's showers (imagine the disaster if all the hot water were gone when it was my turn). That and a special uniform with some emergency heating pads built in, like in my usual coat, and I can stay functional around the clock, even during a Rhode Island December.
(Did I mention it's a LOT colder here than in Savanna? Well it is. Absorbing heat from the air alone doesn't keep me above zero-C even if I frost everything in reach. I shudder to think what it'll be like by February. Looks like I'll be using those heating pads regularly if I want to head outside.)
It's a little worrisome that they're going to all this inconvenience just for me, especially considering they don't know whether I'll be here for the duration or flunk/drop out before the semester's over. Miss Gemini (school administrator) says that a lot of the other students here have needs just as elaborate as mine, and they're happy to accommodate each of us, but I doubt she'll still be saying that when the school has to pay the heating bill for the next month. But it was a nice thought anyway. Just hope I can prove I'm worth the effort before then.
Love,
Joni
PS: If you get in touch with Momma, you can tell her I'm taken care of here. GIFT gave me a full scholarship, and she doesn't need to worry about taking care of me anymore. But if she gets the chance, could you ask her to visit? She wouldn't have to stay long. Just ask her.
PPS: I've included a picture of me in my new uniform. Me and skirts don't mix, but I like the jacket, and the tie didn't give me nearly as much trouble as I thought.
PPPS: If Momma says no, pretend you couldn't reach her, okay?
*****
Joni "Cryogene" Jacobs is a mutant whose blood temperature is best measured in degrees Kelvin instead of Fahrenheit. Although the rest of her body is more tolerant of low temperatures than most people's, she is at constant risk of putting herself into a state of cryogenic suspension (and has done so, frequently, requiring others to thaw her out). She compensates for this by drawing heat energy from her surroundings, freezing them instead of herself, and she has grown adept at directing exactly where she draws from -- at the same time, she must do this continuously to keep from "popsicling," as she puts it. Financially unable to care for Joni, her father finally sought help from GIFT, who evaluated her situation and gave her a needs-based scholarship to St. Joseph's.
Joni is easily identified as "non-mundane" by her snow-white skin and hair and her dog-like ears. She has a slight Southern accent but enunciates well (due to several years of private lessons).
