Chapter 30 Education.
Just as the modules of Aelita's station got powered up, Andrew heard the signal of incoming communications, and he suspected who it was.
-Andrew, what is going on?
Lanarine asked with worry in her voice.
-Not long ago I got notified of another station showing up next to your's out of nowhere.
And just now I saw on my sensors that it docked to your station and got powered up.
Is everything alright?
She asked, not knowing what was going on and barely being able to stop herself from panicking.
-Calm down Lan.
Andrew answered once his former slave stopped talking.
-I'm fine, and the station that you saw belongs to my new acquaintance.
She will be staying here with me, so it's natural to dock our stations together.
He calmly explained.
-What new acquaintance?
She asked, a bit harshly, surprising even herself.
-Did you buy another slave or something?
-It's nothing like that.
He stopped her from throwing any more accusations his way.
If he didn't know any better, he would think that Lan was jealous, but why would she be since they were nothing more than acquaintances at best, and their relationship if you could even call it that, was not exactly a good one.
-Then explain to me what is going on.
Lan said with a hint of impatience in her voice.
This was amusing as hell, for Andrew, but he decided not to piss her off any more than he already did.
-Do you remember the intruder I had, not long ago?
He asked.
-Yes, you told me about it, what does it have to do with this?
-Everything, the station belongs to that person and she was not exactly trying to take over my station, but rather she had a favor to ask, and her species customs demanded for her to ask me in person.
Andrew explained slowly, then he had a brilliant idea.
-Maybe instead of me explaining it all to you, she could?
He asked, and before Lan could answer, he called Aelita over.
-Take the chair and explain everything to the person on the comms, ok?
He instructed her.
-Of course, M…
She almost added Master again but managed to stop in time.
-Good, then you two have a chat and I'm going to the Fitness module, If you need me, contact me.
With these words he left the command center, leaving the two women to talk and talk they did.
In a short time, both ladies came to know each other and the circumstances, in which they met Andrew.
From there it was a short road to the beginning of friendship between the two.
The man who was the main topic of their discussion, went to the fitness module to exercise a bit.
During his routine, he was incredibly happy that he didn't have to hear Lanarine's complaints,
and he was 100% sure that she would complain a lot if he was the one explaining the whole thing so it was better to leave the two ladies to sort it out between themselves.
Two hours later he came back to the command center and the two of them were still talking happily and giggling every few sentences.
It was a heartwarming sight, but it also reminded him of his step-sister who would also talk and giggle with her friends, when she was not tormenting him.
-Well, these two are nothing like that bich.
He thought to himself, before he made a bit of sound to not scare Aelita like hi once did to Lanarine.
-Did you two explain everything to each other?
He asked once Aelita noticed his presence.
-We did.
The girl said happily.
-That's good if you want, you can talk some more, I just need to assign more asteroids to the drones and will leave you to it.
He said with a smile, before going to the drone control console and adding more asteroids to their target list.
Once he was done, he left again, this time to the education module, to continue with his studies, leaving the two of them to continue their conversation.
He came back a few hours later and found that the ladies finished their chat and Aelita was sitting at the engineering console, looking through the specifications of every module he had along with the upgrades and drones.
-What are you looking for?
He asked, approaching her.
She was so focused on the modules that she didn't even realize he was there even though he made some noise to warn her of his presence.
So when he spoke, she jumped in fright.
-You startled me.
She said once she calmed down a few seconds later.
-It's not my fault that you were so focused, I even made some noise to warn you.
He said amused.
-I'm sorry, I always get like that when I'm working.
She said apologetically.
-What were you doing exactly?
Andrew asked.
-Remember when I said that in my culture the Cheroni are always the doctors and scientists?
He nodded.
-I'm an engineer or I would have been if I was still back home.
She explained.
-All I had to do was to pass the examinations and I would have gotten my license.
She added, with an unhappy expression.
-What kind of engineer are you exactly?
Andrew asked.
-Are there many kinds in your world?
She asked, not understanding what he meant.
-There are structural engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, and many other kinds.
He said, hoping that this would explain what he meant.
-Oh, We don't have such categorizations, an engineer is an engineer and all the categories you just mentioned are included in our training.
She explained.
-You want to tell me that you studied all fields of engineering and were just about to pass the exam for all of them?
Andrew asked in disbelief.
He had no idea how many fields of engineering there were on Earth, but even he could name at least a dozen or even more.
-Yes, Every Cheroni studies from early childhood to get the education that suits them the most and is the most sought after by the protectors.
She said like it was normal, and it was for her but for Andrew, this was one hell of a cultural shock.
-Aelita, just how old are you exactly?
He asked, forgetting about the earth's customs for a bit, he just had to know.
-I'm 16 years old.
The translator had a slight delay as it had to translate and calculate the different time units.
-You're saying that you are the same age as me, yet you are more educated than any human I know or even heard of?
Andrew had a really hard time believing it, but on the other hand, she had no reason to lie to him.
-If this device is translating properly then yes.
She confirmed.
-How did you manage that?
He finally asked.
-I don't know how education is conducted in your world, but in mine, we use education capsules, and thanks to that we can absorb a lot of knowledge in a short time.
Hearing this, Andrew was full of admiration for her world's technology level.
-It's a shame that you don't have one of these capsules with you, my studies would go a lot faster.
He said.
-Then on what level of education are you right now?
She asked surprised.
-I'll show you.
He said and sent his latest math problems to her console.
She looked over the equations and was shocked.
-You want to tell me that at my age you are only working with basic mathematical equations?
She asked just to be sure.
-Yes, in my world education is conducted in a place called a school where different teachers
pass on their knowledge of different subjects.
He tried to explain.
She thought over what she had just heard and nodded.
-This explains, why your level of education is so low.
She said still in thought.
-I've been using the education module lately to further my studies and it's going faster now, but to reach your level I'd have to study for at least a few more decades.
Andrew admitted being a little embarrassed at his education level.
-Or you could provide me with the materials and tools to build you an education capsule.
She said with a smile.