Frédérica, or Freddie, on the other hand, is completely different. Her oldest daughter Anne is naturally gifted and easily passes the tests. Then imagine having two children with two drastically different capabilities. Those living in the right neighbourhoods with intelligent children of course only ever see the green and silver buses where the drivers smile as the children embark. Get on that and you may not be seen again for a while. You don’t want to see a yellow bus trundle down the street. Now different coloured school buses arriving to collect their cargo, but not all are welcome.

Mixed ability schools are also a thing of the past. Imagine that being late for school could mean you lose valuable IQ points and in a society where this dictates your entire future it is not something that any child wants. Years ago, your mother would wake you by shouting to you up the stairs to get a move on before you missed the bus, now the smart ones make sure they have set multiple alarms in order to be on time because missing a bus to school is too costly. The pressure of gaining the highest IQ possible is extreme. Why, because they do not have the right level of IQ. Those that at one time were the most popular, the cheerleaders and football stars, now amount to nothing more than frustrated folks unable to do what those that they no doubt used to pick on now can. It dictates which line you stand in at the grocery store, whether you can have petrol or shop at the hardware store. “I almost can’t remember how it felt before we all started carrying the Q numbers around with us, like an extra and unnatural print on the tips of our fingers, a badge of honour for some, a mark of shame for others.”

Christina dalcher books