"So it's a safety measure?"
"Absolutely. As inefficient as human educators are, we are adept at seeing the look in a child's eye and catching them before the bad idea manifests." He made a motion with his hand. "We nip it in the bud. You just can't teach a bot to do that."
"What are they learning here?"
He didn't have to look at the door. This was his department, after all. "Chemistry level two. I believe this unit is on the basics of the laser propulsion units."
"Like the ones from our ships?"
He laughed. "Oh, good heavens no! Nothing that fancy. It's just level two, after all. No, this would be on small, personal use scale. Personal electricity units, the small motors that power the drives in terminals and appliances, that kind of thing."
"And that's considered chemistry? I would have thought it would be propulsions."
He seemed defensive. Christophe said later it's because I'm his boss and he felt like I was questioning the way he was running his business. I wasn't trying to. Christophe just told me to watch how I ask questions in the future.
"Yes, the basics at least. It is a chemical compound through laser receptor."
"Can we go in? I'd like to listen to what they are saying." He nodded and showed us in. We stood quietly in the back of the room.
"And what is it we get when we combine these two seemingly latent chemicals?" the teacher was asking his class. They were staring at me. The instructor turned and gave me a look...was it anger? Annoyance? "Ah, I see that Mr. Cosworth has arrived for his tour," the teacher said. "Welcome to our class."
"Thanks. Please continue your lesson."
"Maybe you can help us, Mr. Cosworth. We were just discussing the result of combining two inert chemicals under the conditions of extreme heat and an electrical catalyst. Perhaps you can tell us what the resulting process is called."
Simple. "Fusion."
One of the kids snickered. Another rolled his eyes. "Settle down," he told his class. "Yes, it would be fusion if we hadn't already advanced past the twenty first century."
"Jack!" Kindle hissed.
My face turned red. The teacher gave a wry smile. He was enjoying my embarrassment, I was sure of it.
"You'll have to pardon my young ward," said Christophe. "His education is based in experience, not in books." Score one for Christophe!
A kid in the class said, "Oooh he flamed you, Teach!" Another laughed. One girl made a face. She was clearly a fan of her teacher.
"Yes. Well, while he was playing around in space, we've managed to come out of the dark ages. It's called advanced compound fusion, Mr. Cosworth. Perhaps you should take a few lessons. I'm sure we could make room for you here."
I don't know what I did to offend the man. Christophe assured me it was just how he was determined to be. "He's one of those types who went into teaching to make a difference and became jaded by the system. It's not you, Jacob."
It was me. No matter what Christophe says, it was me. He may have been the only teacher to say anything offensive to my face, but he wasn't alone in his thoughts. They resented me.
"Is it because I'm young?"
"Partly. Mostly because you're you. Mostly because you've done all they could just teach."
It's stupid. I can't help who I am or how I was raised.
Mr. Kindle apologized up and down. He assured me that Jack would face censure for his rudeness. I told him to forget it. I wasn't about to give him a legitimate reason to hate me.
We entered a large room. "This is our cafeteria." Again it was staffed by humans, though bots were wiping down the tables. "Again, a place where robotics are outlawed." Apparently they couldn't train or program bots to tell when food was "smelling off" without the great cost of biochemistry processors. "We can have them test for bacteria and decomposition, but the time and cost involved simply don't make that viable. Besides, I've got a bot at home that 'cooks', and I'd rather eat cafeteria food any day of the week!"
Christophe gave a chuckle. "Yes, a lack of taste buds certainly leads to an interesting meal."
"I have arranged for us to take a private lunch in my offices..."
"Why?" The food in the cafeteria smelled good and I suddenly remembered that I got up too late to eat breakfast.
"Well, I... I didn't think you'd want to eat with...here...and..."
Christophe held up a hand. "I'm certain the food here is as good as the education. Besides, it will be an experience for Jacob to eat with other students his own age. Perhaps he can get a feel for what they like and dislike about the school?" As he spoke, he smoothly guided Kindle to the start of a line. In seconds he had a tray in Kindle's hands and had Kindle approving wholeheartedly. I wished I could do what Christophe did with people. I wished I could assess and adapt, blend, be accepted. It truly is a rare talent.
"Oh! I hadn't thought of it like that! Of course Mr. Cosworth should get the full experience of life here for the students at Cosworth Tech. Excellent idea!"
Kids were lining up behind us. I hadn't heard them enter, but I felt their presence and turned around to greet them. I got everything from polite but distant nods to flat out gawking. I turned and followed Christophe's lead in getting my lunch. One of the ladies behind the food counter reminded me so much of Daniel back on the Condor that I stopped to talk to her. "And what are we having today?" It was the game I always played with Daniel, and it worked with her.
"Just a little chicken and potatoes." She gave me a smile. "You enjoy that now, Mr. Cosworth."
"It looks so fantastic that I'm sure I will. You have a good day!"
She beamed. "Why thank you! You have yourself a fine one as well." As I was walking down the row to the next person, I heard her whisper to her coworker. They both gave me smiles they meant, not just fake ones people put on for the boss.
Christophe paid for the food and then we stood looking out across the communal tables that were starting to fill up. "I shall sit and speak with Mr. Kindle about a few policy items I've observed. Why don't you head over there and sit with some of the students?"
I looked the group and sighed. First contact on their home world. Christophe gave me "that look" and I took a deep breath. There would be no getting out of it. I walked over and waited for an invitation to sit. They ignored me. I cleared my throat and asked if they minded if I had a seat.
They knew they had to let me sit down. I felt it in their looks to each other. They knew they could not say no, because of who I was. One looked at me for a minute before scooting over. "Fine," she said. It was as much of a welcome as I suppose I could have hoped for. I sat. And then we all just...sat.
"How rich are you?" the one-girl welcoming committee blurted out.
"Uh, I don't know. My accountants take care of that."
Someone scoffed. "You have accountants?"
"My dad's. I didn't have anything to do with it."
"Poor little rich boy," said a boy with a sneer. He had purple hair with blue tips and a shiny orb stuck in his ear.
"Cut it out, Scruff," said the girl. "He can't pick any more than you could."
The boy got mad. "Why are you defending him, Jas? Did he already buy you, too?"
The girl threw her fork to her tray. "Why you little..."
"I didn't mean to cause a fight between friends," I said quickly. "If my presence is offensive, I'll leave."
The girl named Jas scoffed. "Don't worry about it, Cosworth. Scruff's no friend of mine."
The boy looked very hurt for a split second before that changed to anger. I felt for him. He pushed back and stormed away from the table.
"He's always got an attitude. Don't pay attention to him," said another one of the kids.
"Why are you here?" Jas demanded in a snotty voice. Now that she accomplished her mission in making Scruff angry, she was turning it on me.
I thought of lying, but decided this group would see right through it. "Because my handlers in StarTech thought I should see what normal kids my age are like."