The Institute for Better Speaking

By Archibald Grey

Hi there! Welcome to the Institute for Better Speaking!

Our teaching methods here at IBS are based on both cutting-edge research and technology, as well as tried and true psychological strategies that are proven to enhance learning speed and improve the learning experience. Our highly sophisticated 24/7 tracking techniques and data analysis are designed to be as non-intrusive as possible, so you can feel free to be yourself and at the same time know that you are always being looked after!

As you will have noticed, the facility is located in a pretty secluded spot, this is to ensure that you and the rest of the Participants will have a private, intimate, and above all safe space in which to practice and develop your new language skills. Please note that because this is a penetentiary facility, you are free to roam the grounds as you please, but anyone found trying to escape over the perimeter fences will be shot.

But we really hope you won't make that necessary! The best first step to solving any problem is to talk to someone about it, and our psychological staff are some of the best in the world!

The rest of the IBS staff are also highly trained Technicians and Specialists whose job it is to be helpful and supportive to all of our Participants. So if you have any questions, suggestions, or problems, don't be shy!

I look forward to meeting you in person, and if we don't get to meet, I wish you a pleasant stay at The Institute and the very best of luck!

 

Miranda Bosworth, Ph.D. Soc., R.O.C., L.T.O.S.
IBS Director of Participant Outreach

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hubris Books
• Release date: May 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223603801

Archibald Grey

Archibald Grey is the reasonably well selling author of the novels Muriel and The Inheritance, and the story collection The Crashing Tide. He has had his short stories rejected by many of the most prestigious conventional and science fiction publications in both print and digital, and he is noted for having won no awards. Archibald lives in Semolina, Canada and has no pets or children.

Book preview

The Institute for Better Speaking

Archibald Grey

Published by Hubris Books, 2023.

Also by Archibald Grey

The Crashing Tide

The Inheritance

The Bielefeld Chronicle

The Magnificent Lightness of Being

A Real Loo-Loo of a Knock-Down, Drag-Out Fight

Muriel

The Institute for Better Speaking

No More, Dear Brother, No More

Watch for more at Archibald Grey’s site.

Copyright

This book and its cover are licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Copyright © 2023 by Archibald Grey

The Institute for Better Speaking

Week One

Hi there! And welcome to the Institute for Better Speaking! We hope you have enjoyed the journey to our humble facility and we look forward to getting to know you better!

Our teaching methods here at IBS are based on both cutting-edge research and technology, as well as tried and true psychological strategies that are proven to enhance learning speed and improve the learning experience. Our highly sophisticated 24/7 tracking techniques and data analysis are designed to be as non-intrusive as possible, so you can feel free to be yourself and at the same time know that you are always being looked after!

We also understand that effective and efficient learning can only take place when the learner is comfortable and well-fed. So although you cannot leave, we have created a comfortable living environment for you to enjoy, with individual rooms, private showers, large common areas for recreation and conversation, outdoor facilities for games and sports, and a world-class kitchen serving food that is second to none! Many of our successful Participants say that their stay at IBS was better than any beachside resort they’ve ever been to. High praise indeed!

As you will have noticed, the facility is located in a pretty secluded spot, this is to ensure that you and the rest of the Participants will have a private, intimate, and above all safe space in which to practice and develop your new language skills. Please note, however, that because this is a penetentiary facility, you are free to roam the grounds as you please, but anyone found trying to escape over the perimeter fences will be shot.

As with any transition to a new environment, we know that it can take some time to adjust to your new surroundings and the social life here at IBS. We have a number of highly-trained psychiatrists and clinical psychologists on staff to help you adjust, and we would like you to know that no problem is too small. The best first step to solving any problem is to talk to someone about it, and our psychological staff are some of the best in the world!

The rest of the IBS staff are also highly trained Technicians and Specialists whose job it is to be helpful and supportive to all of our Participants. So if you have any questions, suggestions, or problems, don’t be shy!

I look forward to meeting you in person, and if we don’t get to meet, I wish you a pleasant stay at The Institute and the very best of luck!

A polite beep disturbed the hushed quiet of the office and The Coordinator, not looking up from the report she was flicking through, tapped a spot on her tablet and the door opened. A young woman entered, small, hesitant, seeming somehow frail and timid, making her grey jumpsuit look like a hollow shell as it hung over her bony shoulders. She ran a nervous hand over the shining skin of a newly depilated scalp and scanned the room with a frightened gaze. The Coordinator did not notice these things, however—head down in her tablet she called up the young woman’s file.

22365RK?

The young woman stuttered nervously, Do you mean me?

The Coordinator flicked through the file.

Is your name Imara Chigoze?

The girl nodded silently. The Coordinator looked the girl for the first time and immediately found the eyes. They were blue, clear blue, glistening azure like the waters of a tropical lagoon. She was transfixed, unable to look away—perfect circle sapphires in clear white flesh of eyes set into skin like waxed mahogany. And in those mesmerizing eyes and that beautiful dark skin she saw the tense tremor of fear.

The girl nodded, trembling, Yes?

The Coordinator gave her best attempt at being reassuring—a wan, disinterested smile.

We only use case numbers here. Yours is 22365RK. But I will call you 22365 for short. You can call me Coordinator. It is easier this way.

The Coordinator looked again into those magical eyes—with clear, but speckled iris, run through by veins of light yellow and dark green, like interstellar nebulae circling black-hole pupils of infinite mass and gravity. She looked and stared and felt herself being dragged in by their inexorable pull. She forced herself to return her attention to her tablet.

It says here that you are joining us voluntarily?

Yes, ma’am.

Coordinator.

Oh, sorry. Yes, Coordinator.

You will learn. Your file says you learn quickly.

It does?

Yes. You will do well I am sure.

The Coordinator felt the itch, the eyes’ gravity clawing, scratching at her face, trying to get her to look. She stared resolutely at the slab of electro-static glass in her hand.

Tell me why you are here.

I’ve been having… thoughts.

What kind of thoughts? Bad thoughts?

The girl nodded, The Coordinator dared not turn her head.

Bad thoughts.

Have you done any bad things?

No. But—

You are worried you might?

No. But—

But?

Sometimes I say things. Mean things.

Do you know why?

No, I don’t. But when I say them I don’t like myself. Can you help me?

A hallway full of glass doors, behind each a room, each room populated by furniture and occasionally a person; sometimes sitting at a desk, or lying in a bed, or doing yoga, or meditating. Support Technician ST781G3 did not speak, had not yet spoken, but communicated his directions rather with pointing fingers and nods of the head. His bare feet padded softly on the cool tiles and 22365 followed behind—to her the cold stone was clammy and slippery, and she felt wary and out of place, sensing the eyes of the people behind the glass seeing her, watching her, thinking about her, judging her. The Coordinator had said that everything would be fine, that she would be fine, that she would soon adjust; her bad thoughts were just the kind of thing The Institute helped people learn to control.

Support Technician ST781G3 turned the handle on one of the glass doors and stepped ahead of 22365 into what was going to be her room. She felt his eyes on her back as she surveyed the small, spartan space; as she sat briefly on the edge of the bed; as she played her fingers over the laminate veneer of the small desk; then pushed through the glass door out onto the small patio which overlooked a hill that rolled away down to a stream that was overhung by a weeping willow and lined with a phrase of small white flowers punctuated by small stands of bulrushes. It was all so real. Support Technician ST781G3 followed behind her and observed her exploration.

Two patios over, a man sat in a mesh deckchair with a book on his lap. Even from this distance he seemed more relaxed than she had ever felt. His movements were calm and dignified—shifting in his chair, scratching his nose, raising a courteous fist to block a cough,