As the zookeepers continued their presentation, Mr. Huff let out a sigh. It seemed like it was impossible to reach all the kids in his class. About half of them were chronic under-achievers, be they fashion-obsessed girls, stoner burnouts, or jocks. A fourth were squarely average, with the rest being fairly bright. Mr. Huff found it difficult to teach all of them. He had to slow his lectures to let the underachievers take notes, but didn't have time to answer the smarter kid's questions. The zookeepers were clearly having the same problem.
Huff idly tapped on the back of Jeff's cellphone on his desk. He was particularly disappointed in him. The boy seemed smart, but here he was, lollygagging in lecture. He flipped Jeff's phone over to check the time. Thankfully, class would be over soon. As Huff looked at the classroom, he inadvertently activated Jeff's voice assistant, which was now connected to the Chronivac.
"I wish I could just have an average class. All equally easy to teach," Huff muttered. Jeff's phone beeped, prompting Huff to jump slightly in surprise. As he did so, the zookeepers concluded their presentation. He directed the students to give them a round of applause, and the class gave them some half-hearted claps.
"Alright everyone, tonight's homework will consist of reading pages 21-" Mr. Huff was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Mr. Walters, the school's principal. He was pulling along a strange computer-looking device, and wearing a pair of sunglasses. Huff put Jeff's phone in his desk.
"Oh! Mr. Walters, what's going on?" Huff asked. The class didn't seem surprised to see him, but a few looked nervous.
"Mr. Huff! Did you forget?" said Mr. Walters. "Today's the Averaging! And your class is the last of the day! Good thing I got here in time!" He continued walking in, closing the door behind him as he marched to the front of the class with his device.
Jeff groaned internally. He would've done it out loud, but he was already in deep shit with Huff. Since he wasn't the one who used the Chronivac, he thought the Averaging was normal, just like everyone else except for Huff. At his school, and many others, students were organized into homeroom classes. They then go to all of their classes together in a group. This is because in the first week of the schoolyear, a device is used average out their intelligence, giving all of them an even footing. In this way, all the students are encouraged to work hard at school, so that the overall average increases. Ideally, by the time they graduate, each student will be a genius.
Of course, there are always outliers. Last year, Jeff got lucky and landed in a class with fairly smart students. He also studied hard, so now his IQ was fairly above average. But half of the kids he was with now were dumb. Especially his friend Dean, who he was sitting next to. Back in Middle School, Dean was pretty smart. After last year's Averaging though, he became dumb as rocks. Since he didn't apply himself, Jeff was going to get screwed over.
Dean seemed to sense Jeff's tension, and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Hey man, don't worry. It's, like, not that bad."
Jeff rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's what they all say."
Dean looked confused. "Who's they?"
"Never mind."
Meanwhile, Mr. Huff was helping Mr. Walters set up the machine. The Chronivac gave him knowledge of what it did, and he was feeling pretty uncomfortable.
He whispered, "Mr. Walters, is this really necessary?"
"Of course, Ryan!" Walters whispered back. "It's for their own good! In fact, I though you of all people would be eagerly expecting this day. I've overheard you speak about your challenges with this class. This Averaging ought to make them easier to manage." Walters finished assembling the machine, and turned to address the class.
"As your principal, I would like to thank each and every one of you for attending this school, and participating in your sophomore Averaging! Soon, you'll all have an even ground to start this year with, and I encourage you all to work together and become the best versions of yourselves you can be!" The class gave another half-hearted clap, with a clear nervousness permeating the room. Walters handed a pair of the special sunglasses to Huff, who hurriedly put them on. They'd block the rays of the device, keeping him from being Averaged as well.
Walters pressed a couple of buttons, and a low hum spread throughout the room. The students seemed to enter a drowsy, hypnotized state. Jeff was really upset about his Averaging, but at the moment, he just felt really tired. He closed his eyes and leaned backwards, along with Dean and most of the other students. Some leaned forward, laying their heads on the desk. None of them were truly asleep though, just in a trance.
Walters looked at the screen on the device, and frowned. "My, no wonder you've had so much trouble. These student's IQ's are wildly divergent. Looks like they'll all come out below the national average. But I'm sure they'll all manage. Oh, and it seems as though Mr. Ramirez and Miss Cordova have Spanish as their first language. All of your students will gain some Spanish knowledge."
"B-but what about Ramirez and Cordova? How will they talk with their parents?"
Walters chuckled. "It'll give them an incentive to learn, that's for sure! Oh, and by the way, check this out!"
Walters pulled up a blank numbered list on the device, with a column of words next to it.
"Since they're 16 now, we can use the Personality Matrix feature on them. Let's set some priorities, shall we?" Huff knew what this was. With the Personality Matrix feature, they could alter what the students prioritized the most. It was usually done to encourage below-average students to learn.
"Let's see here. Top priority-Learning, of course," Walters said. "Next, Friendships, so they'll study together. And...Curiosity! So the pupils learn outside the classroom! Very important, you know!"
"What about hobbies?" Huff blurted out. He didn't want to see these students have uniform personalities, they needed to maintain some individuality.
"Hobbies? Like what, video games? Shopping? Distractions, Mr. Huff. We can't have that." Walters set Hobbies to the lowest priority.
"Umm...then how about extracurricular activities?" Huff asked, trying desperately to negotiate.
"A-ha! There we go, Huffy! Extracurricular activities, very good on a resume. Specifically clubs and sports, yes. Those will be priority #4."
Walters then allowed the rest of the list to auto-fill.
"And now, the point of no return. Make sure those sunglasses stay on, Huff!" Mr. Huff gulped, as the low hum grew in intensity.
Jeff was thinking of how tired he was, and how he just wished he could go home and nap, but there was still a whole school day to go. But then, that thought slipped away. He instead wished he could fall asleep here at school, before that though left as well. Soon, he didn't know where he was or why, as all of his knowledge was sucked out of his head. All he remembered was his name and other personal information, but his book knowledge was completely gone. A bit of drool left his mouth, before his head began to refill. Previously, he had a talent for English over Math and Science, but now he was equally good in all three. Although, he was sitting with a notably low IQ. Reading long sentences and big words was going to be tough, just as hard as algebra. All of his skills were averaged, and he found all of them equally difficult.
Jeff knew he should be sad, but he wasn't. He didn't remember what being smarter felt like, so overall, he was okay with it. As he came out of his drowsy trance, he turned to Dean. Dean was smiling pretty wide, and said, "Hey Jeff! I think I got smarter!"
Jeff smiled back. "Cool! I don't think I did, but it's fine. It's not that bad." The rest of the class talked among themselves, before Walters cleared his throat.
"Once again everyone, thank you for participating in this year's averaging! You are dismissed." The class applauded, and then packed their bags. They were all eager to get to the next class, and didn't talk to each other as they did so. Walters waved goodbye to Huff, and walked out with his machine. Huff was stunned. What could have caused this? He knew what just happened wasn't normal, so why did everyone act like it was?
His thoughts were interrupted by Jeff. "Uh, hey teacher. Can I have my phone back?"