Chapter 8
?rim
?rim sat at his work desk in the schoolhouse.
As much as he would rather use the array setup he had back in his domicile, that one was incapable of processing secure documents from off planet.
It was perhaps a bit premature, but the university hiring cycle waited for no one, and with Cassie’s willing participation, he saw no reason not to start submitting inquiries about their hiring opportunities.
He pulled up his credentials, trying to decide how he would allude to his time working as an educator on an IA colony.
It wasn’t exactly a prestigious position, but he had to justify his absence from the institute on Teos.
A service year. Yes, that sounded appropriately diligent and purposeful.
He suspected the universities would appreciate him taking the time to become acquainted with other IA species, especially given how insular teosians were known for being.
?rim’s hands flurried over his interface as he pulled his application together.
Four universities were actively hiring bioengineers.
Two on Brasnia Prime, a third on Ita Ita, and the fourth on Fleri.
One standard year. He could survive a year here.
He’d need the time to fully compile a profile on Cassie’s voicelock anyway.
He was about to submit the first portion of the application when the schoolhouse door creaked open. Two of the urtazi spawn, the youngest female, Grora, and her brother, whose name he couldn’t remember.
“Educator ?rim? I forgot my doll here.” The female puffed her throat while her larger brother stood behind her watching.
“You’re welcome to look for it.” He glanced up from the interface, trying to disguise his annoyance at being interrupted.
“Will you help me?”
“There is a limited number of options for where it could be. Are you sure you left it here?” ?rim entered the send command on his datapad for the first application, an institute on Brasnia Prime.
He’d apply for one on Fleri next. Grora moved around the classroom, searching in nonsensical places while her brother followed.
“I can’t find it.”
?rim tapped the nodes at the back of his neck with annoyance as he stood up from his desk and peered into the space under the table where she usually sat. He found the doll wedged into the charging net for the holointerface.
“Is this your doll?”
“Ooh! You found it.”
“Do you need anything else?”
“No, thanks! See you tomorrow, educator.” Grora hopped out of the schoolhouse, kicking up dust as she went. Her brother followed without a word. ?rim refocused on his applications, submitted them, and then turned his attention back to the reading lessons he’d promised.
He wasn’t entirely sure what had possessed him.
Most curricula were focused on younglings, and Cassie certainly wasn’t a youngling.
It was going to be a headache to pull something together appropriate in scope and skill level, but he’d promised, so he found himself deep in the intelewave researching adult literacy practices.