He gave them a moment’s study, then added: "We’ve seen how important it is to you three not to be separated, and in order to ensure that, Cassandra and I have asked permission to continue to care for you. You will attend the school while we work, but return to us when our work is done each day."
Rye’s response was the strongest, his head jerking up, eyes wide and disbelieving as he looked from Kaoren’s face to mine, and then he dropped them again and took a breath so deep he almost bounced in his seat. Ys, through sheer force of willpower, managed not to react, but looked across at Sen. She still hasn’t uttered a word in our presence and makes absolutely clear that she hates how Sen has attached herself to us, but she definitely wasn’t going to object to not being separated from Sen. And that self-same little imp was chirpily pleased at how easy it was to pull our strings.
My turn to speak, and I just wanted to hug all three, but knew not to overwhelm them. "Because we’ve listed this as your residence, doors will open to you," I said. "You can go outside on hill, or down into main room of building if you want, but don’t go away from building unaccompanied. When we’re away, if something happens that you need talk to us about, you can contact us using the interface."
I created a shared space which showed all the basic interface tools which were currently available to them, which at their stage were some very simple pictorial icons – one for school, one for games, and one for age-appropriate news and entertainment programs. Then I created some new icons for them – ones representing me, Kaoren, and each of the other children – which would change colour depending on our status (out of range, busy, not busy, asleep) – and had them try opening a channel to us and talking over the interface. It was too funny the way Rye jerked upright, mouth a perfect circle of astonishment, when Sen managed to talk to him in his head.
Kaoren took over again and gave the kids the same rules about multiple people touching me which all the Setari have to live with. This sparked a rare question from Rye, and I explained how First Squad had accidentally sent me into seizures and now there were all these rules about not touching me. Kaoren was very serious about this with Sen, since she’s so inclined to climb on me, and into bed with us – even though it’s the strength of Setari talents which seems to cause me the most problems, Kaoren feels it’s safer not to risk group contact.
So we’ve set up some ground rules for living together, and made clear that we have no intention of separating them, and the main thing we expect from all of them is to be kids, and become part of Muina’s settlement. That involves attending the school when it’s built, but for the moment they can set their own pace and explore the interface as they like.
Ys and Rye have done nothing but school lessons since. I guess Sen really meant it about them wanting to learn to read. Sen, while she tried the alphabet lessons, was far more interested in opening a channel to me roughly every ten minutes and collapsing into giggles when I answered.
I can look at their interface activity, since I count as a guardian, though I won’t be able to read their emails and voicemails and so forth, or listen in on personal conversations. I feel so utterly unprepared for this.
I can’t even remember reading any books about people being parents – kids always seem to be part of the happily ever after. I’ve read lots of books about kids without parents, or with parents who need to be avoided. All my favourite TV shows seem to have involved magical pregnancies which are over in a week and then the baby is an adult and trying to destroy the world. The only useful thing I can remember watching is Supernanny, and I’m not sure a Naughty Corner will get me far with Little Miss Sight Sight.
I’d love to know what Mum would make of me being engaged to get married AND fostering three children. I really want to ask her. Tomorrow I’m back on my schedule of visualisation testing, and I think I’ve waited more than long enough to try and visualise Earth.
Sunday, August 24
Behind the news
Tsur Selkie says I can try and visualise Earth during my next testing session, the day after tomorrow. Really excited about that, but trying not to get too worked up.
My visualisation session today was about Cruzatch, and was very unsuccessful. Tsur Selkie supervised me, and wanted me to visualise Cruzatch, particularly the Cruzatch’s home space. I wasn’t keen at all, and found it very difficult, eventually ending up visualising the space I’d gone to on rotation with First Squad, the Old West town with the Cruzatch on frames. That gave me an awful headache, and took a huge amount of energy. The problem, I think, was that it was a big outdoor space, and I tend to reproduce way too much when I’m visualising somewhere outdoors. And it made my eyes go all blurry, leaving me with another afternoon in medical, all headache and frustration while Kaoren was off with Fourth and Squad One trying to track Cruzatch through the spaces, but finding no sign of them at all.
Lying on the scan-bed with my eyes shut did give me an opportunity to catch up on all the news stories for the last few days. I browsed through them in chronological order, taking a little journey from delirious enthusiasm, teetering abruptly into The Sky Is Falling, and ending up deep into conspiracy theory.
The early stories have tons of stuff about me, of course – every journalist at the signing ceremony seemed to feel they had to give their impression of what I’m really like, regardless of whether they spoke to me or not. They mostly say I’m sweet, shy, cautious, but surprisingly articulate. So still suyul. Endless tedious stuff about how Kaoren and I looked together, and how he seemed more bodyguard than partner.
Someone had also interviewed the actors playing us in The Hidden War, which brought out the story of their impromptu picnic. They both described how mortified they were to discover how very unlike our portrayals we actually were, and how they’d asked me at the time what I thought about the Lastier character. I’d said: "You don’t play him as a Sight talent." Which is perfectly true, and which Kaoren thought very funny, but was perhaps not the strident defence of his good name I should have mounted.
There was one reasonably good impression of us, from someone who apparently spent the entire three days trying to get an interview with me and only catching glimpses of me as I was leaving. The article had a really great picture – one I like enough to keep – showing me and Kaoren through a doorway leading into the back part of the lecture-hall type place where we’d watched one of the presentations on screens so that the Kolarens could see it. We’d obviously just gone through the door, and I was smiling up at Kaoren in open relief while he said something to me, and he’d reached out to touch my hand or I’d reached out to touch his and our fingers were just brushing.
There were quite a few interesting articles about preparation for settlement, for a local currency, a stipend of basic essentials, a local wage system. There were also profiles on certain people who had already been approved as settlers – a couple of expert chefs from Kolar who are going to run one of the restaurants at Moon Piazza, three media technicians who are going to set up a local news service, a couple of high-profile craft-types itching to start making fancy furniture with all the wood which is being cleared aside on Muina – it’s such a rare and precious resource on both Tare and Kolar.