Lottie
rolled down Kirby Academy’s halls, passing by rows of lockers
and numerous classrooms filled with teachers and students. When
she agreed to take up the job of starting the High School
Program, Dr. Irma Brody had personally assured her that she had
Sci Tech’s full support. Dr. Brody had even gone so far as to
say the program would act as a jumping point for similar
programs across the country. With new management ideas in Sci
Tech, Lottie didn't see those promises coming to fruition
anytime soon. She sighed. At least they hadn’t outright canceled
the program. However, they did refuse the high school students
access to the Sci Tech building. Since Lottie had planned on
teaching at Sci Tech, she had to scramble to find a suitable
alternate location for the class. The short notice had left her
with few options.
Thankfully, she had managed to convince Kirby Academy, her old
high school, to host the program. The new principal of the
Academy was delighted she had asked. He had even arranged busing
for the other students.
“Excuse me, Lottie.” Pawn’s image appeared on the flip screen
attached to her wheelchair. “According to the directions, I
believe you passed the room.”
“I know.” Indeed she had passed the door. She rolled over to a
window that held a view of canals and trees. She used to spend
the majority of her time sitting on this ledge watching the
people below and imagining what life would be like after she
graduated.
“Is there something wrong?” Pawn asked.
“Hm? I was just thinking.” Lottie stared out the window.
“Was it anything you wished to speak about?”
Lottie shook her head. She enjoyed her new AI friend’s company
and would’ve loved to tell him what was on her mind, if she
could have put it into words.
“Are you ready?” She asked.
“I am, though I do not understand why you need my assistance.”
“I was thinking it would be good if you were to broaden your
horizons a bit. This class is a diverse group of intelligent
young kids. It would do you good to learn what you can from
them. Plus, I thought you might like the change of pace.”
“I will do my best to learn all I can.”
“I trust you will.” Lottie took a moment to gather her thoughts
and then turned back to the classroom. Principal Edwards waited
for her. He was a rather young looking man dressed in an
impeccable blue suit with tie. Pawn vanished from the screen.
“Miss Fielding,” he said.
“Good morning, Principal Edwards,” said Lottie.
“I wanted to wish you good luck on your first day.”
“Thank You. I’m sure all will be fine.”
Principal Edwards opened the door for her. “This program is a
great service to the kids and to Paradox City. What you and Sci
Tech are doing here gives me hope that our future is in capable
hands.”
“If it weren’t for your generosity, I don’t know if the program
would’ve made it at all this year.” Lottie wheeled into the
classroom.
“You give me too much credit,” he said following her in. “I hope
you don’t mind if I observe, do you?”
“You are always welcome,” she said.
The classroom had eight students, one from each of the main
districts. After personal interviews with all the candidates,
Lottie had chosen these eight from a pool of seventy eligible
students. The choice had been difficult to make but she was
confident the final group was a good one.
The kids quieted the moment she entered. Half the room sat at
attention, while the other half slumped in their seats.
Principal Edwards took a seat at the back of the class.
“Good morning class. For those of you who don’t remember, I’m
Charlotte Fielding. If you like, you may call me Lottie. You are
in the advanced Science and Technology class hosted by Kirby
Academy and supported by Sci Tech. You are here because your
school specially picked you to be in this course. This semester
we will be learning about and discussing advancements developed
since the reemergence of Impossibilities. The discussions will
also be followed by real life examples in the form of labs and
possibly a few field trips. There will be two tests and a few
pop quizzes, along with a paper related to a topic you will
choose over the course of the next few weeks. Does anybody have
any questions?”
A girl Lottie remembered as Jessica raised her hand. “I heard
Sci Tech refused to host us because they’re afraid we’ll break
something. Is that true?”
“I heard it was because we might steal their secrets and give
them to their rivals,” said the boy John who sat next to her.
The class began to chatter. Lottie let them. This would be good
to relay public opinion back to Sci Tech. Perhaps they might be
cowed enough to agree to one or two field trips into the
building.
“Sci Tech is a company that deals with cutting edge technology.
Much of it interacts with Impossibilities and uses I-materials.
Most I-materials are benign and Impossibilities are mostly good
people. However, there is that small portion that is not so
nice. For your protection, Sci Tech decided it would be safer
for you to learn here. Like I said, I will be providing you with
some hands on labs in which you’ll examine the properties and
implementations of items like Sharoothium and other advanced
materials. We’ll go over cutting edge engineering techniques and
perhaps even develop a few of our own. Just because we aren’t at
Sci Tech doesn’t mean you won’t get what you came here for.”
She looked at each of the kids, their eyes mere slits looking
back.
“Perhaps a bit of a demonstration will help.”
Lottie pulled out a crystal. “This is a Sharooth power crystal
shard. This one came from one of the Sharooth ships. Though it
is broken, it will let us examine one up close.”
Lottie went on to explain the properties of the crystal as she
passed the item around. She actually had not acquired the
crystal from Sci Tech but had scavenged a piece from the
original power core of the Paradox Patrol base. Lottie was glad
she had brought it. It changed the atmosphere in the class
instantly. They asked questions and listened to her answers as
they took turns with the crystal. The rest of the class flew.
Lottie passed out the core textbook and assigned the first few
chapters of homework. All in all the first day of class was a
success.
Noon came and Lottie dismissed the class to catch the bus that
would take them each back to their own schools and their
lunches. Principal Edwards approached Lottie.
“I hope the class met with your approval, Principal Edwards,”
Lottie said, packing the class book into her bag.
“Please, call me Kyle,” he said. “You have a knack with kids.
Have you ever considered a future in teaching?”
“Though I do enjoy hands on research, teaching has always been
an option.”
“If you want we could have lunch and discuss that possible
future.”
Lottie blushed. “That might be nice, sometime.”
Kyle opened the door for her. “Excellent. I’m free most
lunchtimes. I can grab us a quiet room off the cafeteria. The
food is decent and there’s plenty of it.”
“Principal Edwards!” A shrill voice shouted.
Lottie turned to see Mrs. Templeton who had been the school
nurse for longer than she could remember. Lottie took the
opportunity to wheel down the hallway, leaving Kyle to his work.
“He was very nice.” Pawn’s icon appeared.
“Very charismatic. He makes a good principal.” Lottie shook her
head. If she didn’t know any better, he had just asked her out
on a date.