Chapter 9: The University

“How did your first day go?” Vivian asked as they sat in the canteen surrounded by hundreds of students.

The canteen was unlike any university facility Horti had seen. It was a luxurious eating area surrounded by multiple magnificent restaurants. The rooms were also much more luxurious than Horti ever expected. The campus had hundreds of small three- or four-story buildings on the surface and enormous multilevel buildings in a massive cave below the surface. The underground building continued hundreds of levels beneath the floor of the cave. The cave was connected via caverns on five sides to other underground caves Horti had not yet explored. The buildings on the surface were ancient but well-maintained. The only plants on the surface were huge trees that reached subsurface water between the rock and the roof of the caves. The trees looked like a mixture between a tree and a cactus. Horti loved the majesty of the trees and the shade they provided from the blue sun.

“The university is much better than I expected, but I’ve had a rough time so far. The group I was with at the gym was whining the whole time we were there, but they whipped me when we sparred. They cut me up so badly that the instructor took me to the University Hospital. The two that fought me spoke of the natural superiority of the Dinnion,” said Horti. “I am pleased to say they were not unscathed.”

“What did you say?” Brandon asked.

“I said they were naturally superior after a lifetime of training over a primitive flat face from nowhere with a month of training. We would see over the summer how naturally superior they were.”

“Horti, try to be pleasant and charm them. It is more effective.”

“I know, mum, but I was sore and angry. A young lady who reminds me of the cheerleaders at university approached me. I know the variety of snakes she represents. They look great but have a nasty bite. She pretended to be friendly and invited me to a party. She hinted she had some stuff we can give you to ensure you have a good time. We know what that means.”

“How did you react?” Vivian asked.

“I learned much more than I expected from the life simulations Helax gave us. I used my new strategy on her; I was very friendly but declined her offer without giving her a reason.”

“How did you react?” Vivian asked.

“She goes around with an entourage of similar women. They gave me the evil eye, but I knew they would watch and plan how to make life difficult. I will not get into the party and drug subculture on campus. I hardly noticed any men today. The sex imbalance is obvious and marked,” said Horti. “It is bizarre to have a society of nine women for every man. How did your day go, mum?”

“It was similar to yours. The professor in my politics class skipped asking me anything. She said something like ‘she would give the primitive a bit of time without being pressured.’”

Horti scrunched up her face. “Cow!”

“I politely thanked her and told her I wanted the next question. I surprised her, but she complimented me on the answer to her question.”

“Mum, that sleep-walking episode disturbed me, as did meeting the woman in the dream. I feel like our grandparents did; I have woken up and do not have the vaguest idea of who I am. My brain is switched on, and I feel no difference only responsibility. What should I feel? The worst part about it is I feel the weight of expectations of the dream woman, but I have no idea what they might be. I also know it is my responsibility to do what she wants. I know I agreed to do something, and it is important. The answer is millimeters before my fingers, but I can’t catch it. It stays out of reach, but I am ambivalent about grasping what it is because I can do nothing about it. After I enabled my brain and body, I felt like I was standing on cracking ice above a bottomless cavern. It feels so big and empty inside me; I feel I will fall in and never find myself again. It is as if my brain is empty.”

“I don’t feel any different, nor does your father.”

“Mum, I feel fragile and uncertain. Where are the grandparents? I haven’t seen them.” Horti asked.

“They put your grandparents on the other side of campus. They are in a primary production stream, doing agricultural engineering and antecedent food production. I think of it as farming. I met them at lunchtime with your father. Horti, there are millions on the campus. We don’t see others who are not in our school. This huge canteen is one of tens of thousands. The size of this operation is huge. We know of nothing like it.”

“Chuck said something about doing something different before we left Earth and mentioned farming. It is odd; none of them even went into the garden or were interested in growing plants. I wonder if it has anything to do with the mission.”

“Whatever it is, we will find out later. What is important is that they are happy doing what they are doing. They like the people they are with. They wanted to learn something new. It is one of the choices in the remedial stream,” said Vivian. “If they don’t like it they have a couple of years to change direction.”

“What is farming like here, mum?”

“They learn to grow plants and animal products in vats. The stream is called Primary Product Engineering. They grow some plants but no animals. They won’t kill sentient animals; most became sentient on this planet long ago. They also grow insects for protein.”

“It is interesting how different this place turns out to be,” said Horti. “What do they engineer?”

“They do farm engineering, which includes making farming machines, building logistics, and market supply and control systems. They do a big module on nutrient supply and monitoring and the economics and management of farms. If they are unhappy, they can change direction for the first time after summer school. I have the impression they were fully engaged and committed to the area. They all have a familiar glint in their eye. That means they have many business ideas incubating in their entrepreneurial minds,” said Vivian.

“Who else is with them?” Horti asked.

“They have many soldiers in their groups who were badly injured and are recovering. They tell me they move soldiers into non-combat positions once overexposed to combat trauma.”

“I can understand them wanting a change. They worked in the same areas for years,” said Horti. “Don’t they have army commitments?”

“No, someone must produce food for the population and the army. Any other news of interest, dear?”

“Mum, I went to meet a Gromelix professor. I wanted to join her class learning runes and casting.”

Vivian nodded. “You guys loved magic; you played your game for at least fifteen years. How did your interview with her go?”

“We loved that game. It had runes, much like those the Gromelix professor teaches. We loved chanting them and making spells,” said Horti. “Our magic doesn’t work here. The only thing I did was warp the door.”

“Horti, you went off on a tangent. We were asking about the interview with the Gromelix Dragon professor. Will you take her course?” Brandon asked.

“She interviewed me for a long time. I told her our family has always seen streams of energy. She asked me to point out what I saw in the room, then she took me outside and asked me to identify all of them, their size and color.”

“How did she react?” Vivian asked. “I always wondered what those things were?”

“The professor was excited. She said very few could see the energy streams. I told her all my friends could as well. She offered to create a class to teach us how to use the streams and could give us a place in the runes class. I can fit it in easily as our load, even with our military training, is so light. Sammy is the busiest, but I know he will do it if possible. He loves playing with magic.”

“When is the course? I, too, wouldn’t mind learning the runes. What about you, Brandon? I feel runes will be important to us in this new world,” said Vivian.

Brandon nodded. “Vivian, count me in if we can find a time.”

“It is in the evening after dinner,” said Horti. “Do you also want to do the energy stream thing? It is on another evening.”

“No, dear, we will do one thing at a time. We have ample time to add in something else later. Horti, you can’t be too badly injured. You look healthy and are moving freely.”

“Healing cuts and punctures and even broken bones is lightning fast here. When I got fixed after the sparring in the hospital, I scheduled my rehabilitation. They will give me pod time daily. The doctor was a student of Prof. Piaa Atu and was stiff but friendly. When I walked past people in the hospital, many put up their noses.”

“We are fortunate; no one has been nasty to us. They think we are further behind than we are. Once we show our enthusiasm, they haven’t been too bad,” said Brandon.

“One woman, walking with a group of friends, stopped and addressed me, ‘How are you doing at the most elite university in this universe, flat face?’”

“Oh no, Horti, I hope you didn’t bite off her head; that would be like a red rag to a bull,” said Vivian.

“I smiled at her and waved to her friends, pretending not to listen. ‘Fine snout face. In the future I will still be flat face but so will you, don’t forget it. You don’t want to insult your future appearance. Thank you for greeting me; I am delighted to be accepted at this fine, elite establishment and intend to learn as much as possible.’ I smiled at her and her friends, told them how I was pleased the Dinnion were friendly and welcoming on campus, and thanked her for her interest. I think she and her friends were a little surprised. I love that sort of insult mum, she gave me a hook, and I used it most pleasantly.”

Brandon walked over to a nearby table to pick up a drink.

Vivian nodded. “Yes, and you gave her a Churchillian rebuff! I suspect your friends will join you in the dragon-led classes. It is just like the magic in some of your games. I will tell your grandparents, but the remedial group cannot take on anything else.”

They turned to look at the menu holograms and ordered. A drone delivered the food a minute later.

“Considering this was grown in vats, it is tasty even though bland, and there is plenty of it,” said Brandon. “The campus and rooms are much better than they looked on in the holograms. I enjoy this place more than I expected. The course content and the teaching methods are magnificent.”

Horti and Vivian nodded as they ate.

“I don’t know why I get all the shit,” said Horti, “and it is only going to get worse: I know it.”

Brandon, Vivian, Aubrey, Heather, and Sammy joined Horti in one of the small meeting rooms on campus.

“We have been here a month and completed half the summer school. I thought it would be a good chance to review our experiences and progress,” said Horti.

“Mum, Dad, I know you intend to see the grandparents. We won’t keep you. How are things going?”

“The AI suggested I look at Policy and Planning. It was unexpected, but I wanted a change from psychology. I am enjoying it. We learn to work with administrative AIs to frame and assess policies. I am progressing much faster than I expected. We don’t have many of the lazy crowd, but we have many who have been in other government areas and want a change,” said Vivian. “I’ll wait for Brandon to say his piece, and then we’ll head off, Horti.”

“Horti, I don’t have many hassles. I am doing the Dinnion equivalent of an accounting and business degree, followed by a master’s in business management. I want to help the oldies on the business side of things. It is all I like, and the course is even better than I expected. We learn a hundred times as much as I learned at university. I love working with business AIs. I have one woman who is an acute pain in the butt, but I ignore her, and she backs off. She propositioned me yesterday. I ignored her, but after she persisted, I told her I was sterile and not to bother when she pushed me.”

“Thanks, dad, that was too much information,” Horti laughed.

Vivian and Brandan strode out the canteen arm in arm.

“Sammy, we have seen you the least. Can you fill us in about yourself?” Horti asked.

“Yes, sir, Admiral, I will report as requested!” Sammy saluted, standing rigidly in front of Horti. The military allocated this troop to study medicine. Thank heavens, I learned as much as I did before we arrived here. I started at the bottom of the group but subsequently elevated myself a percentage point or two. They are good people who got behind for various reasons, often due to family crises or injuries. They are all motivated and don’t mess around, like those scumbags we saw in the simulations. At least half the group had no previous problems but wanted to get ahead. They love what they do and are some of the most competitive people I have ever met.”

“How do they teach advanced medicine?” Horti asked.

“We must first learn everything about how the pod works; then, we will learn about the medical AIs, and concurrently we learn about the illnesses. Several in the class are AIs. They are more friendly and less competitive than the others.”

“Do you see patients?” Aubrey asked.

“We go along to clinics with the doctors and observe. They ask tough questions and score everything.”

“How does the teaching differ from back home?” Heather asked.

“I always complained they gave us minimal teaching on the wards in the hospital. Everyone was busy and demoralized. Here they are never busy, and they give us ample time. It is much superior training, and it is better in every way,” said Sammy, “we learn everything at night, do simulations, and discuss issues during the day. The advanced trainees are outstanding and take us to see and examine esoteric cases. When I examine a patient here, I put them in a pod, run a general, and then a targeted diagnostic. I begin my assessment with ten thousand times more information. The AIs and we complement each other, but the pod does much of the work and most of the treatment. As people live so long there are illnesses we had no idea existed.”

“Do you also do the fighting and military simulations?” Aubrey asked.

“Yes, we do, and we do many medical simulations, and we include all species in the Empire. We must also learn the armor-based medical repair mechanisms for all the Empire’s civilizations. We are concentrating on the anatomy and physiology of insects this week. It is intense. The doctors say they are thinking of doing rehabilitation in insect form. It is faster and more effective. We learned the languages of the Collective, the Coven, and the written and chemical language of the Azloc and the Schlogg. My brain feels as if it is going to burst most nights. Most days, I feel overwhelmed, but I have some glimmerings of enlightenment. I love it. I am not frustrated and angry like I used to be. This is medicine as it should be.”

“Any people problems?” Heather asked.

“There is one woman, a dominant leader, who is on my back continuously. She is beautiful and brilliant, but she is brutally intolerant of others. I am not her only target. She is impatient and is sure to pick on me every day. She always tells me she is doing it to help me, and it is in my interest to listen to her. She tears me apart and then asks what I need to do or know to answer the question.”

“Are her criticisms correct, and how do you react?”

“She doesn’t know what to make of me. I am pleasant toward her and agree with her assessments and criticisms. She is rarely wrong. Her criticism has merit, but how she handles what she does is more destructive than useful. The others fight her and tell her to shut up. I decided to try a different approach.”

“I would blow up,” said Horti. “I don’t know how you control yourself.”

“Horti, I have always been more patient than you are. Yesterday, I answered something she couldn’t. I didn’t gloat. I didn’t say anything and didn’t even look at her. She asked me to join her in the canteen for the morning break and was friendly for the first time. She asked me a lot about Earth. In return, she told me about herself and her family. They are stinking rich, own planets, and have multiple massive corporations. I learned from her that her mother behaves as she does.”

“You did well, Sammy,” said Vivian.

Sammy smiled. “She was surprised I asked her about her family and wealth’s impact on her. Her family’s expectations burden her, but she says such problems are common among her peers. There are so many Dinnion; competition is savage, and the wealthy families constantly jockey for position and influence. She asked a lot about my father’s alcohol problems and abuse of my mother and us children. She admitted her mother and grandmother abused her verbally.”

“Does she recognize she is doing the same?” Vivian asked.

“No way; she said she would never be like them,” said Sammy, laughing. “She is without insight.”

“I agreed and told her she was correct; she smiled and looked pleased. Then I told her she was already like them. She was vicious and abusive with all of us.”

She slapped my face and stood.

“I told her she proved my case and she could even be worse than her family, as she resorted to physical violence.

“She sat and glowered at me, then said she was nothing like her family.”

“I said nothing I just looked at her. She then stalked off but returned soon after.”

“Sammy, you will make an excellent therapist,” said Heather.

“I told her I would behave exactly as she did and criticized her performance that morning exactly as she did to me and the others.”

“I am sure that set her off!”