The Anjou-Bosc Solution

Troubled children have existed.

Troubled children do exist.

Troubled children will always exist.

Whether they are five or fifteen, we will always try to find the easiest solution. But easiest for whom?

The Anjou-Bosc Society thought they had the answer.

Schools thought the Anjou-Bosc Society had the answer.

Social workers and psychologist also thought they had it.

Rick and his sister Marlene had heard of the Anjou-Bosc Society. All children from age ten and up knew about it. It was what parents threatened their children with if they wanted them to behave. And it was a threat that worked. With good reason.

The Anjou-Bosc Society was well-known for keeping badly behaved children in line. Their methods might not be extreme by modern standards. But they worked.

There were three levels of intervention.

The first was the standard ankle bracelet. These had been around for about fifty years, and while society hardly noticed them anymore, they were still a mark of shame to the higher class teens who were forced to wear them.

Called Britney Bracelets by some of the more self-conscious wearers, they helped the authorities keep track of those who wore them.

The second level of intervention involved the injection of a tracker. This was reserved for those who were either allergic to the materials used in the bracelet or for those who simply kept removing them. Not as shameful as the ankle bracelet, it was still as effective in keeping track.

Then there were the Mothers.

The Mothers were indescribable. Standing seven feet tall, they were both beautiful and hideous at the same time. Their silver legs were long and almost spindly, giving them a terrific speed and their arms were equally long, allowing them to scoop up would-be runaways and grasp them in their elongated fingers. Continuing down their spinal columns their willow-branch tails used the latest in technology to convert photosynthesis into energy which was stored in the battery cells throughout their bodies. The most beautiful and frightening thing about them was their mirrored glass eyes which were so haunting in their hypnotic gaze that they seemed to show you your very soul.

Once a Mother had been assigned to you, you were hers until you reached the age of maturity. And you never left her sight. Her glass eyes followed you everywhere, feeding back constant streams of information back to Anjou-Bosc.

And if they decided that a teen was too unruly, that he or she might one day become too violent to be safe member of society, the Mothers could be commanded to kill.