The students at St. Anselm Classical Academy began each day of term in chapel for Mass. It was a small school, everyone knew everyone else. They were used to sitting in the exact same seats every day for the entire year, moving two rows back each year as they progressed through their courses. The appearance of someone new in the school uniform sitting in the back of the chapel with a nicely dressed woman did not go unnoticed by the well behaved students as they filed into their seats that early fall morning, the second week of their new term.
Fr. Ziggler, the Head Master of the Academy told the students to remain in their seats after the end of Mass. He gave the final blessing and dismissed them from Mass, the Congregation sat down again and he returned to the Ambo.
“I am not going to pretend that you have not already noticed our guests this morning. Yes, we do have a new student joining us, but his classes will begin next Monday. Thadd will spend a week getting used to the campus and how things are run around here. There are a few things we thought you might need to know about Thadd to help make his transition to student life a bit easier. I am inviting his mother, Mrs Mary Therese Templeton to fill you in on what we hope will help you understand Thadd a little better.”
As he spoke the last sentence Mrs Templeton walked up the steps to the altar and shook his hand. “I appreciate your indulgence in allowing me to address you today”. Mary Therese’s slight southern accent was still present even though she had spent years trying to eradicate and refine the way she spoke. She loved her New Orleans heritage, so it never really bothered her that if someone listened closely they could hear the slightest lilt of that southern belle there behind her attempts to refine it out.
“Good morning young scholars. My son Thadd is joining you as a student of St. Anselm Classical Academy. I would assume that all of you have been attending schools like Saint Anselm since you were five or six years old, either as day students or as you do here boarding away from home. Thadd, unlike you all has never spent a day in his life in a school with other children. His time here with you will be the first time ever he has spent in class with other students.
“Thadd, has a communication disorder which makes it impossible for him to process information in order to create vocal speech. He has other information processing issues as well. He does communicate using a small video screen which contains an avatar which speaks for him. I hope you will all take the time to get to know him.”
Students began to talk to each other in small groups throughout the chapel. The sound became louder and louder.
“Students, please give your undivided attention to Mrs. Templeton until she has finished speaking”. Fr Ziggler said standing at his seat to the left of the altar. The voices of the students quieted immediately as the teachers sitting among the students tried their best to regain order. The two adults on the altar nodded toward each other and Mrs. Templeton cleared her throat.
“Thadd is going to spend this week getting used to the campus. You will see him in the hallways, auditing a few classes, in the library, and the computer lab. He will be eating lunch here.” She looked back at Fr. Ziggler, “His dorm room I believe is in Basil Hall, third floor, but he may not sleep there until next week, although you might see him going in and out during the daytime hours.”
There was another murmur of voices all around the chapel. Mrs. Templeton looked uneasily at Fr. Ziggler. The priest nodded his head, walked to the back of the chapel, stopped and spoke to Thadd for a few moments and then they left together. When they were outside Mrs. Templeton turned her gaze back to the students.
“I wonder if you can imagine what it would be like to live in a country where you are completely different from everyone you meet. They all communicate in a way that is inaccessible to you. No matter how intelligent you are or how funny there is a barrier that makes people afraid of you. Some of you have traveled to foreign countries where they speak different languages. It is a little scary to not be able to communicate, but you can try to make people understand you.
Thadd cannot use a different language. We tried with ASL, but he really did not like it. The signs were too confusing and did not make logical sense to him. Can you imagine how much courage it must take to live in a world every day where there is no one else like you?” She took the lace handkerchief from her pants pocket and dabbed away a stray tear from her cheek.
“Please feel free to speak to him if you see him this week. Or rather speak to Gilbert, his AI.”
Mary Therese flipped a tablet open on the ambo and a screen at the back of the chapel came down from the ceiling. After flickering for a few seconds an image of the AI created to speak for Thadd appeared on the screen. Gilbert had the look of a portly man dressed in British business attire from a time gone by: waistcoat and vest, pressed trousers, a trilby hat, and shoes with spats. He stood with his arms behind his back waiting to be recognized by someone in the room.
“Now since Thadd is not here at this moment, Gilbert will not be speaking for him but rather Thadd and I created a demonstration to play for you all so that you can see what it is like to interact with Gilbert when you want to talk to Thadd.
“Hello Gilbert”. Mary Therese said. Turning toward the screen.
“Why hello Mother. I trust Mass was sufficiently uplifting.” Gilbert said while performing a deep bow removing his hat in a sweeping gesture that made the students laugh.
“Why don’t you tell the students a bit about how you came to be Thadd’s voice.”
“I would be happy to. When Thadd was nine years old his father who coincidentally is named Thaddaeus as well, but his name is Thaddaeus Alan Templeton III thus his nickname is Trey, but I digress. Trey’s company Templtech is at the forefront of artificial intelligence and micro computing. Thadd’s father and engineers from his company created a handheld tablet for Thadd to cast my Avatar on so that whatever Thadd types I am able to say for him.”
Mary Therese held up the tablet she was using. Gilbert was on her screen as well. She had cast him onto the larger screen so that everyone could see him clearly. “If you ask me a question that you want Thadd to answer he will type the answer in real time and I will gladly answer it for him. I will be Thadd’s voice in classes when an instructor asks me to have Thadd answer a question. Thadd uses a wrist keyboard, also developed by his father’s company in order to type answers with one hand.” Gilbert added anticipating questions most often asked, about how Thadd makes Gilbert respond.
Mary Therese nodded “For our purposes today Thadd and I sat together last night and decided what Gilbert should say and Thadd typed in the commands. Thadd is the only person who is allowed to make Gilbert speak.
“The only stipulation please,” Gilbert took over from Mrs Templeton. “Thadd would prefer for you to refer to him in the third person always. It makes him much more comfortable. “
“That’s right” Mrs Templeton jumped back into the conversation, “for instance if I wanted Thadd to sit at my table at lunch I might say”. “Gilbert, would Thadd like to join my table for lunch today?”
“Why most certainly Mother, Thadd would love to eat lunch with you.” Gilbert replied, with a distinctive bow.
“That is why I look like a person. In fact I look like one of Thadd’s favorite people in all the world outside of his family. Some of you may know who I look like.
“He looks just like GJ Chesterton. Thadd loves the Father Brown Stories and created the Gilbert Avatar. One of Thadd’s passions is computers, both programming and gaming. Do you all think you can learn to talk to someone using an adaptive speaking device like Gilbert? I encourage you to try please.
The students began to clap until the room was filled with thunderous applause.
The week went by with a swift regularity as they had planned it. Mary Therese and Thadd took rooms at a retreat house that adjoined the campus. The suite the retreat center offered them was tiny, with two bedrooms and a sitting room with a desk, a loveseat, and a small fireplace. Mary Therese showed Trey around using her computer monitor camera as his eyes when he called the first night. “Not what you are accustomed to is it?” Trey said with a grin.
Mary Therese smiled, “The beds are clean, there is plenty of hot water, and I have knitting and books to read. Besides the adorable young porter Sister Kateri, who showed us to our rooms said even though there are no retreats the next two weeks the Cellarer would be more than happy to provide the two of us with hot meals for breakfast and dinner and a cold lunch for me assuming Thadd will be eating on campus. We’ll be fine.
“Tonight Fr. Ziggler took us for dinner at a steak place in town, well, if you can call it a town. Fort Alban may not have much, but there is a little bar that cooks a nice steak.”
Gilbert who was perched in the corner of the screen nodded vigorously, “The macaroni and cheese was acceptable and the greens were almost as good as Cook’s. Thadd was quite happy.”
Mary Therese laughed in the way only a souther woman can, her laughter floated gently on the air like the tune of a songbird . “Our son does love Southern cooking. You may force us to live north of the Mason Dixon line, but my home will always feature southern cuisine.” She looked straight at Thadd and gently tipped her forefinger to the side of her nose as if she were passing along secret information.
“The setting at the Grill was rustic, but the food was quite good. We will definitely make a return trip some time when you come up here.”
Each morning the Cellarer made them a simple breakfast and then Mary Therese drove Thadd onto the school grounds where he attended morning Mass in the chapel with the rest of the students. When everyone was dismissed for class Fr. Ziggler spent a little time each day showing Thadd the different areas of the grounds or taking him to a class to sit in on.
As Thadd drew closer to his first day in class with other students he seemed to have less and less to say at night except that he enjoyed the school-wide multi-player roll playing video game Fr. Ziggler showed him in the Computer Lab. He was playing it every day and getting quite proficient at it. After hearing Gilbert report for three consecutive days about Thadd’s progress in League of the Holy Lance Trey gently reminded Thadd that there was more to school than a game.
Gilbert bowed, removed his hat and cleared his throat waiting to be recognized. Trey smiled: “Yes Gilbert.”
“If you will pardon the correction Father, Sir, League of the Holy Lance is much more than a Multi Player Roll Playing Game. The School integrates actual curriculum content throughout the platform: both secular and Church History, Physics and Mathematics in the building of structures, roads and bridges, Government, Economics and Ethics in how to raise armies, rule cities, and create alliances. One wonders if the students playing the game even realize what they are learning as they are playing.”
Mary Therese laughed, “of course Thadd would figure all of this out. I admit it bothered me that a Classical School had so much time and energy invested in an online role playing game. Their methodology is ingenious. Most of the students play the game and are none the wiser that educational content was embedded in every line of code.”
“Thadd sees great potential in becoming proficient within the game. Creating alliances among other players in the game is a much less terrifying scenario than having to try to communicate with people in the real world who find him, well, odd.”
Trey smiled, “Okay, Thadd may keep playing, but we expect him to expend equal energy on in class assignments. Agreed.”
“Thadd will give equal effort to all assigned work. That is a solemn promise.” Gilbert responded.
Tomorrow afternoon I will pick Thadd up on campus, and we will drive home for one last weekend at home before Thadd has to begin his classes at St. Anselm. Father will be home this weekend too.”
Mary Therese could see the strain on Thadd’s face. “Right now it is time for Thadd to get ready for bed. I will be in in a bit to say prayers with him.”
“Thadd would like a squooge before he goes.” Gilbert stated mater of factly. Mary Therese nodded opening her arms as Thadd walked into them. She squeezed him tightly in her arms once and let him go. It was the closest thing to affection Thadd would ever allow her to give him. It started as a coping technique when he was very small and losing control. She would give him a number of “squooges” until he calmed down again. As he got older the number dwindled to just one a night, but she valued the one hug her son allowed her to give him more than he would ever realize.
When she heard his door close she turned to Trey on the computer screen. “Oh Trey, are we doing the right thing? He is so scared. Why did it have to be a boarding school? I should have built him a day school right next to our house.”
“Emmy, you kept him home with you for eight years to protect him. We need to let him go. He is ready. Let’s have one last family weekend full of our favorite things and on Sunday we will bring him back to school together. I promise if we keep doing what we know is the right decision everything will be okay.”
Mary Therese nodded and dried her eyes, “I do love you Trey, you always know exactly what to say to calm my nerves. I need to go say night prayers with Thadd. See you tomorrow evening.”
“I promise I will be home by dinner, and I told my assistant that my weekend is off limits. I am all yours till Monday Morning.”
Mary Therese blew him a kiss, turned off the video call, picked up her prayerbook from the side table and headed back to Thadd’s room.
The weekend was a wonderful collection of all of their favorite activities. Thadd and Trey took the sailboat out on the lake. It wasn’t a big boat or a big lake but they enjoyed their sailing very much. Cook made them shrimp and grits for dinner.
Sunday morning they went to Mass together, had one last meal at home and then drove back to school. Thadd seemed extremely agitated. Mary Therese spent the entire trip dabbing her lace handkerchief at the sides of her eyes. Trey was busy listening to the golf results from that week’s tournament. It was a very quiet two hour ride.
When they pulled into school and got out at the parking lot the nervous tension made it difficult for anyone to speak. When they reached the door to Thadd’s room Gilbert finally spoke.
“Thadd would like to show mother and father his room, and then wonders if he can take them to the computer lab and show them the computer game? Students are not allowed to play the game anywhere except in the computer lab.”
Trey and Mary Therese shot knowing glances at each other. “That seems like a very sensible rule. I would love to see this game you enjoy so much.” Trey said Thadd led the. To his room. As expected, it was neat as a pin. There were no posters on the wall, but his bookshelves were full of books.
“It looks as thought Thadd will be very comfortable here,” she said with a slight catch in her voice looking directly at her son. Trey reached for her hand.
“Why doesn’t Thadd show us the computer lab and then I think I would like for all of us to go out to that steak place you ate at last week. Emm.” Thadd excitedly walked out of the room while Trey and Mary Therese followed closely behind.
The computer lab was in the Technology building across a beautifully manicured green space from dormitory row. The Clock tower chimed the hour just before they entered the Computer Center.
The family walked into the computer lab which was still buzzing with activity. All of the students were playing the game at the individual computer units around the room. There didn’t appear to be a free computer terminal available.
A few students looked up and saw them enter. Two boys and a female teacher came over immediately. The woman extended her hand. “ Good afternoon Mr and Mrs Templeton. I am Bridget Wright, the Computer Engineering and Technology instructor and these boys are Josh and Mac, my Proctors. Gilbert and Thadd have been in here every day last week. I hope we are old friends by now. I actually met you once at one of your Rising Stars in Tech conferences, Mr. Templeton. It was just after I graduated from MIT.”
Mary Therese stepped in, “I thought you looked familiar. Your dissertation on the role of adaptive technology in education was insightful. Is that what led you to working here instead of for someone like my husband?”
“Yes, I am extremely interesting in the integration of technology into education and St. Anselm gave me free rein to integrate as much curriculum as I could into League of the Holy Lance. It was a labor of love and got my creative juices flowing. And Thadd here is outpacing everyone at playing it. I have enjoyed monitoring his progress. His avatar sir Nullity is becoming extremely popular and dare I say it amassing a great fortune.”
Josh and Mac asked Gilbert if Thadd was going to play LOHL today. Gilbert bowed as Thadd scanned the room. “It appears that there is not a computer terminal free at present.” Gilbert replied.
“I am done with my current campaign, Thadd can use my terminal. I will watch him if he doesn’t mind. I can learn a lot by observing.” Josh offered.
“Thadd would enjoy that. If mother and father do not mind?”
Mary Therese said, “Go ahead boys, go play your game.”
The three boys went over to the computer terminals. Thadd sat down and logged into the game. Josh stood just behind Thadd, leaning on his chair back in such a friendly manner it made Mary Therese’s heart swell.
Trey looked at the room. It was well appointed, but there were only twenty terminals for a school of eighty students. Trey began to think out loud. “If the administration only allowed the students to access the game in this room the game is severely limited by access. I remember you now Ms Wright. Your work at MIT was cutting edge. I was devastated when our HR people could not get you to work for me, but now I see why you prefer this.”
“I was never good at the theoretical stuff. I needed to be out here with the students. In the thick of it.”
Josh came back over to where they were standing. “Excuse me, but Gilbert says that Thadd would like for his parents to come see how the game works.” The group at Thadd’s computer had grown to five students who were listening intently to Gilbert giving an animated monologue from the computer screen.
Mary Therese smiled at the young man’s polite manner. “Josh, right?”
Yes, ma’am Josh Golding. I live across the hall from Thadd. Gosh, he is good at this game. And I love GK Chesterton too. I have read all of Fr. Brown. Has Thadd seen the television show? I got the DVDs for Christmas.”
Mary Therese squeezed Trey’s hand. “You go back and tell them that we will observe the game from Miss Wright’s computer terminal so that we don’t disturb your game play.”
“Yes, tell Thadd that I will take good care of his parents.” Miss Wright led them to her desk on the raised platform at the back of the room and Josh headed back to the group around Thadd.
Miss Wright sat at her bank of screens and invited Trey and Mary Therese to join her in the chairs on either side. “I am not sure how much Thadd has told you about League of the Holy Lance but he has advanced farther in a week than some students have in the three years since we launched. He has a real knack for strategic gameplay. He unlocks higher level hacks that my upper level students have trouble finding without major help.” He, and Gilbert of course, are helping the other kids whenever they ask for help. You should be pleased. He fits in well here.”
After they had observed for an hour the bell rang to announce fifteen minutes till the lab closed and the cafeteria would be open for dinner. Kids all over the room started packing up and closing out their games. They waited for Thadd to finish his game.
“Miss Wright, if you don’t have dinner obligations why don’t you join us in Ft. Alban for dinner? I have some ideas for helping you fund expansions to your vision. Emmy here is an expert at writing grant proposals. She helps non profits all the time. You can begin with writing one to TempleTECH Knowledge in Education Foundation. “
“Yes. I would love to join you. I have many ideas for how to expand, but the school budget is already stressed beyond where they had intended for me to go, as impressed as they are with my work.”
Thadd, Josh and Mac met them at the lab door. “Gilbert, is Thadd ready for dinner at the Steak House?” Trey asked holding the door for everyone.
“Well actually,” Gilbert spoke from Thadd’s tablet, “Thadd was wondering if it would be acceptable for him to eat here in the cafeteria with Mac and Josh? They have invited Thadd to join their table for dinner. And then watch Father Brown in Josh’s room.”
Trey reached for Mary Therese’s hand. She looked at Thadd and smiled. “Of course Thadd can stay here. Give mother a squooge, and we will talk to you tomorrow evening.”
Trey, Mary Therese and Bridget stood on the walkway of the green watching the boys head to the cafeteria. Mary Therese sighed. “Oh Trey, I never thought letting him be his own person would be so difficult.”
“Or so glorious Emmy. This is the right place for him. Even I can see it now. Now take me to this amazing steak place, so Bridget and I can talk tech and bore you silly.” He lovingly squeezed her hand. She squeezed his back. He always knew exactly what to say.
Bio
Maggie Scheck Geene is a Catholic wife, and mother of five adult children. She, her husband, four of her children, and a tiny but fierce chihuahua share a beautiful home in a park-like setting in a rural area not far from a College town. She works part time and enjoys spending the rest of her free time writing, reading, knitting and watching British television thanks to the internet. She was away from writing for many years and has enjoyed finding her voice again. She writes both non fiction essays on faith and spirituality and short fiction as stories.