Sylvia Chapter 7 (WIP)
"Teacher, are there laws against humans leaving this world?" Sylvia studied a glyph in her book, then compared it to the one that she'd just confused it with.
"No. Travel to and from the planet for members of any race is is largely restricted only to the seriously ill, unless they are going to obtained medical care of a higher level available here, and to those who have records of repeated legal or social offences." The avatar depicting a colourfully painted male native with a sculpted silver face and serious blue eyes looked up from the ladybug that was walking across the screen of the computer pad held in his hands. "Though the latter are allowed to travel off planet after notifying the proper authorities on their world of destination."
"Oh." She frowned, still intent on the glyph, though her mind was now fully engaged with both it and the subject of the human laws that her friends had told her about the day before. Then she brightened. "Oh! I think I see the difference between the glyphs. It's the colour, isn't it? Colour has meaning too, and isn't just a decorative effect."
"That is correct." The avatar smiled, his eyes sparkling with approval.
Then he tilted his head quizzically. "Why were you asking about emigration, Sylvia? Do you wish to go and live on another world?"
"No!" She looked up, eyes wide with alarm. "I could never leave Grandfather. He needs me. I was asking because one of my friends told me that their family had wanted to go live somewhere where they could grow plants in the ground instead of in a hydroponic lattice, but they were told they couldn't go."
Her teacher made his avatar frown. "Do you have a recording of the conversation?"
"Yes." Curling her toes in her brand new shoes and feeling the soft resistance of their sturdy braided nettle hemp soles, she held up her thumb to show her personal security recorder.
"May I access this?" The words of courtesy sounded absent, as though her teacher were focused on something else.
"Yes, you may access my daily security files." She nodded, wondering at his tone.
"Accessing..." He blinked and nodded, but then frowned deeply. "Sylvia, have you reported this incident where the other student attempted to make you do the educational exercises that were assigned to herself?"
Sylvia startled, having forgotten the confrontation with Kaneesha. "Oh. No, I didn't."
"That was wrong." Her teacher's voice held gently firm rebuke. "She is engaging in behavior that is harmful to herself and to others. I will file the report myself so that she may be corrected and guided into more appropriate behavior."
"She'll be in trouble." Sylvia's expression drooped as she remembered what it felt like to be in such a position.
"No. I do not believe so." Her teacher's frown deepened. "Thank you for showing me these files. You have helped your former classmates by doing so."
Sylvia looked up at him hopefully, then returned her attention to the sheet of thin white plastic in her hands, which held the morning's lesson on glyph recognition. "Oh... Okay."
"Have you finished reading the printed files about the history of this world and its natives?" His voice was gentle.
"Not yet." She perked slightly. "I'm about halfway through the first book. There's so much to learn. I can't wait till I can read the original files."
"Basing my estimate by extrapolating from your present progress in familiarizing yourself with the glyphs, I would say that you will be able to fluently access the more modern files in two to three weeks. The older ones will require the learning of additional symbols due to the ancient nature of some of the dialects that they are recorded in."
Sylvia's pale eyes danced with excitement at the thought, but then she startled as her computer pad chimed, uttering a faint squeak of surprise as she did so.
"There is no cause for alarm," said her teacher soothingly. "That brief audio file signifies the successful download for your first quarter mathematics test. Do you wish to take it now?"
She sighed slightly at the thought of having to sit and do several pages of simple and uninteresting exercises, but nodded as she carefully set her primer aside and reached for the pad. "Yes. I should get it finished as soon as I can."
* * *
"See, this is one of the little mechpets I was talking about." Sylvia grinned her slight grin later that afternoon as she lay curled in her hammock with her computer pad, Zeta Zelda a happy murmur somewhere beneath and behind her. "I want to buy one for Grandfather. I should get him some of the spice he's said he's running out of too. But I haven't found any auctions for the pets yet."
"No. From vhat I hear zey only sell zem at ze actual storvront shops," said Hannah, her eyes tracking the movement of the adorable little liquid metal pug dog that was dancing at the corner of both their screens. "It is a pretty little toy, but I zink I like ze simpler pets better."
"It's too bad there was so little room for things on the ship." Sylvia sobered. "Ducks, rabbits, silk spiders, and bees aren't much compared to all the kinds of animals that used to live on Earth."
"I still vonder vhy our ancestors chose zoze kinds only." Hannah shook her head, then looked down and hefted Mattie up so that he could wave at the wall screen. "Ah vell. Ve haf creatures from ozzer places too, at least."
"Chirk's pretty," said Sylvia, waving back to the baby as she mentioned the brightly plumed pheasant that lived in a run in the Riley's back yard.
"Mutter is buying him a vife." Hannah kissed her baby brother and cuddled him. "Maybe soon zere vill be little fuzzy Chirk kinder vrunning around und biting his feet."
Sylvia laughed. "They won't do that all the time, Hannah."
"Enough to make him jump!" Hannah's laughter rolled out in reply. "Ve should haf enough feathers to sell to ze artists who come to buy zem, zen."
Then she paused, a thoughtful expression coming to her face. "You haf two errands zat could be carried out at ze mall..."
"Yes." Sylvia curled up a bit. "I've never been to the mall though."
"No. Me eizer. Ve've been too young. But ve're old enough now." Hannah considered. "Do you vant to go vith me und Esther? Ve could find your sings, und see vhat it's all about." A smile brightened her face. "Und vhere ze new suit zat Mutter und I finished for you last night."
"What?" Sylvia sat up. "What about my embroidery?"
"It can go on anozzer suit. Zis vone's just plain, vith short sleeves und long legs. It has ze Mandarin collar, und Mutter und Oma zink zat it vill look pretty on you. I used some heavy silk zat Mutter had in her trunk."
"What colour is it?" asked Sylvia, hugging herself and trying not to wibble or blush too hard as she thought of the gift.
"Vhite, vith pale blue strands voven through. Und it's very soft." Hannah smiled.
"I don't know," said Sylvia slowly and uncertainly. "I'm already so white..."
"Zis vill make your eyes show," Hannah told her. "Zat is vhat Mutter said vhen she chose it to use. Und ve can put a blue ribbon around ze collar, or a lilac vone."
Sylvia shivered a bit at the thought of actually wearing something just because it was pretty, then smiled as she thought of what Zeta Zelda would think of a ribbon. "When do you want to go to the mall?"
"Do you zink you could go zis afternoon, or tomorrow afternoon after ze Bible study?" asked Hannah as she vanished downward for a moment to pick Mattie up again.
"I'll ask Grandfather which time he thinks is best, and then call back and tell you what he says," offered Sylvia, once more waving to her youngest friend as he crowed with delight at the sight of her. "Erm, you know you'll need to wear shoes, right?"
Hannah laughed. "Ja. I know. Und Vater just bought me some pretty sandals, vhich I von't outgrow so fast as ze closed shoes. I vill be ze stepsister vith feet like sled skids, und you und Esther can be ze Cindervench."
"Maybe the story was wrong and Cinderella was really the girl with the big feet." Sylvia felt surprised even as the playful challenge popped out of her mouth. "You're pretty enough."
"Ach! Nein!" Hannah's laughter increased. "I don't vant to marry any prince! No no! Ach!"
Sylvia stopped blinking her surprise and laughed too. "Don't you believe that everyone who follows God is a child of His? And that He's a king?"
"Ja. Ach!" Hannah put an arm to her forehead and stumbled backward with playful drama, then meeped and laughed harder as her mother gave her a gentle poke in passing. "Ach, I'm doomed. I must marry ze Prince after all."
"You still have a few years before you're old enough to get married." Sylvia waved a last time to Mattie, then watched as he once more wriggled to go down and sit on the floor. "I'll go talk to Grandfather now. Talk to you soon."
"Alvright. I'll let Esther know vhat ve know so far." Hannah waved and closed the connection on her end.
Grinning quietly, Sylvia wondered to herself if she would ever want to get married, as the Archaists did, some day. Dismissing the thought as something for the still hazy 'when I'm an adult', she slipped out of her hammock and went to find her grandfather.
"No. Travel to and from the planet for members of any race is is largely restricted only to the seriously ill, unless they are going to obtained medical care of a higher level available here, and to those who have records of repeated legal or social offences." The avatar depicting a colourfully painted male native with a sculpted silver face and serious blue eyes looked up from the ladybug that was walking across the screen of the computer pad held in his hands. "Though the latter are allowed to travel off planet after notifying the proper authorities on their world of destination."
"Oh." She frowned, still intent on the glyph, though her mind was now fully engaged with both it and the subject of the human laws that her friends had told her about the day before. Then she brightened. "Oh! I think I see the difference between the glyphs. It's the colour, isn't it? Colour has meaning too, and isn't just a decorative effect."
"That is correct." The avatar smiled, his eyes sparkling with approval.
Then he tilted his head quizzically. "Why were you asking about emigration, Sylvia? Do you wish to go and live on another world?"
"No!" She looked up, eyes wide with alarm. "I could never leave Grandfather. He needs me. I was asking because one of my friends told me that their family had wanted to go live somewhere where they could grow plants in the ground instead of in a hydroponic lattice, but they were told they couldn't go."
Her teacher made his avatar frown. "Do you have a recording of the conversation?"
"Yes." Curling her toes in her brand new shoes and feeling the soft resistance of their sturdy braided nettle hemp soles, she held up her thumb to show her personal security recorder.
"May I access this?" The words of courtesy sounded absent, as though her teacher were focused on something else.
"Yes, you may access my daily security files." She nodded, wondering at his tone.
"Accessing..." He blinked and nodded, but then frowned deeply. "Sylvia, have you reported this incident where the other student attempted to make you do the educational exercises that were assigned to herself?"
Sylvia startled, having forgotten the confrontation with Kaneesha. "Oh. No, I didn't."
"That was wrong." Her teacher's voice held gently firm rebuke. "She is engaging in behavior that is harmful to herself and to others. I will file the report myself so that she may be corrected and guided into more appropriate behavior."
"She'll be in trouble." Sylvia's expression drooped as she remembered what it felt like to be in such a position.
"No. I do not believe so." Her teacher's frown deepened. "Thank you for showing me these files. You have helped your former classmates by doing so."
Sylvia looked up at him hopefully, then returned her attention to the sheet of thin white plastic in her hands, which held the morning's lesson on glyph recognition. "Oh... Okay."
"Have you finished reading the printed files about the history of this world and its natives?" His voice was gentle.
"Not yet." She perked slightly. "I'm about halfway through the first book. There's so much to learn. I can't wait till I can read the original files."
"Basing my estimate by extrapolating from your present progress in familiarizing yourself with the glyphs, I would say that you will be able to fluently access the more modern files in two to three weeks. The older ones will require the learning of additional symbols due to the ancient nature of some of the dialects that they are recorded in."
Sylvia's pale eyes danced with excitement at the thought, but then she startled as her computer pad chimed, uttering a faint squeak of surprise as she did so.
"There is no cause for alarm," said her teacher soothingly. "That brief audio file signifies the successful download for your first quarter mathematics test. Do you wish to take it now?"
She sighed slightly at the thought of having to sit and do several pages of simple and uninteresting exercises, but nodded as she carefully set her primer aside and reached for the pad. "Yes. I should get it finished as soon as I can."
* * *
"See, this is one of the little mechpets I was talking about." Sylvia grinned her slight grin later that afternoon as she lay curled in her hammock with her computer pad, Zeta Zelda a happy murmur somewhere beneath and behind her. "I want to buy one for Grandfather. I should get him some of the spice he's said he's running out of too. But I haven't found any auctions for the pets yet."
"No. From vhat I hear zey only sell zem at ze actual storvront shops," said Hannah, her eyes tracking the movement of the adorable little liquid metal pug dog that was dancing at the corner of both their screens. "It is a pretty little toy, but I zink I like ze simpler pets better."
"It's too bad there was so little room for things on the ship." Sylvia sobered. "Ducks, rabbits, silk spiders, and bees aren't much compared to all the kinds of animals that used to live on Earth."
"I still vonder vhy our ancestors chose zoze kinds only." Hannah shook her head, then looked down and hefted Mattie up so that he could wave at the wall screen. "Ah vell. Ve haf creatures from ozzer places too, at least."
"Chirk's pretty," said Sylvia, waving back to the baby as she mentioned the brightly plumed pheasant that lived in a run in the Riley's back yard.
"Mutter is buying him a vife." Hannah kissed her baby brother and cuddled him. "Maybe soon zere vill be little fuzzy Chirk kinder vrunning around und biting his feet."
Sylvia laughed. "They won't do that all the time, Hannah."
"Enough to make him jump!" Hannah's laughter rolled out in reply. "Ve should haf enough feathers to sell to ze artists who come to buy zem, zen."
Then she paused, a thoughtful expression coming to her face. "You haf two errands zat could be carried out at ze mall..."
"Yes." Sylvia curled up a bit. "I've never been to the mall though."
"No. Me eizer. Ve've been too young. But ve're old enough now." Hannah considered. "Do you vant to go vith me und Esther? Ve could find your sings, und see vhat it's all about." A smile brightened her face. "Und vhere ze new suit zat Mutter und I finished for you last night."
"What?" Sylvia sat up. "What about my embroidery?"
"It can go on anozzer suit. Zis vone's just plain, vith short sleeves und long legs. It has ze Mandarin collar, und Mutter und Oma zink zat it vill look pretty on you. I used some heavy silk zat Mutter had in her trunk."
"What colour is it?" asked Sylvia, hugging herself and trying not to wibble or blush too hard as she thought of the gift.
"Vhite, vith pale blue strands voven through. Und it's very soft." Hannah smiled.
"I don't know," said Sylvia slowly and uncertainly. "I'm already so white..."
"Zis vill make your eyes show," Hannah told her. "Zat is vhat Mutter said vhen she chose it to use. Und ve can put a blue ribbon around ze collar, or a lilac vone."
Sylvia shivered a bit at the thought of actually wearing something just because it was pretty, then smiled as she thought of what Zeta Zelda would think of a ribbon. "When do you want to go to the mall?"
"Do you zink you could go zis afternoon, or tomorrow afternoon after ze Bible study?" asked Hannah as she vanished downward for a moment to pick Mattie up again.
"I'll ask Grandfather which time he thinks is best, and then call back and tell you what he says," offered Sylvia, once more waving to her youngest friend as he crowed with delight at the sight of her. "Erm, you know you'll need to wear shoes, right?"
Hannah laughed. "Ja. I know. Und Vater just bought me some pretty sandals, vhich I von't outgrow so fast as ze closed shoes. I vill be ze stepsister vith feet like sled skids, und you und Esther can be ze Cindervench."
"Maybe the story was wrong and Cinderella was really the girl with the big feet." Sylvia felt surprised even as the playful challenge popped out of her mouth. "You're pretty enough."
"Ach! Nein!" Hannah's laughter increased. "I don't vant to marry any prince! No no! Ach!"
Sylvia stopped blinking her surprise and laughed too. "Don't you believe that everyone who follows God is a child of His? And that He's a king?"
"Ja. Ach!" Hannah put an arm to her forehead and stumbled backward with playful drama, then meeped and laughed harder as her mother gave her a gentle poke in passing. "Ach, I'm doomed. I must marry ze Prince after all."
"You still have a few years before you're old enough to get married." Sylvia waved a last time to Mattie, then watched as he once more wriggled to go down and sit on the floor. "I'll go talk to Grandfather now. Talk to you soon."
"Alvright. I'll let Esther know vhat ve know so far." Hannah waved and closed the connection on her end.
Grinning quietly, Sylvia wondered to herself if she would ever want to get married, as the Archaists did, some day. Dismissing the thought as something for the still hazy 'when I'm an adult', she slipped out of her hammock and went to find her grandfather.