Dreamworms Book 1: The Advent of Dreamtech by Isaac Petrov (drm ebook reader TXT) 📕

“Fine,” he says, and stomps out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

The rest of the students shift in their place with unease and turn their attention to Edda. Some stare with eager eyes, others look at Edda’s feet, blinking in confusion.

“Pure sin,” Edda says, shaking her head. Then she smiles at her gaping students. “Don’t mind him. To be free, you must first really want it. Freedom is a matter of will.” She turns her head towards the door. “Sad truth is, some people are born to be slaves.”

“Okay,” Professor Miyagi has frozen the scene in place and is walking towards the amphitheater’s flank opposite to Ximena, where murmurs and discussions among the GIA students are turning louder by the minute. He smiles politely. “What’s up?” He points a finger. “Cody?”

“Uh, I beg your pardon, Professor,” Cody O’Higgin says, standing and smiling apologetically. “We were wondering about the sources.”

“The sources?”

“Yes, Professor. Van Dolah’s… attitude and ideas,” he is frowning, without giving up the smile, “her message to her students. Is this your—with all due respect, Professor—personal interpretation?”

“Of course not. I leave no space for interpretations in my work. All you see has at the very least one reputable source, and often more. This lesson we just watched was mentioned in the first De Vroome’s Interview, and in more detail on surviving correspondence from two of Edda’s students. There’s also a written complaint raised to aws Head office in Lunteren this same day. And guess who signed it?” He points a finger at the frozen classroom door. “All references are available to you for your inspection in the Global Program’s sensonet archives.”

“Yes, Professor. Er…” He seems about to say something else, but then he sits. “Thank you.”

A female student sitting on the front row of the GIA section stands. “Professor, where is Censor Smith?”

Good question, Ximena thinks.

Miyagi points a finger at her. Her name pops up over her head. “I’m afraid I don’t know, Mallory. He sent his excuses.”

“Is he coming?” Mallory pulls back her brown hair and turns her head at her fellow GIA students. Many nod back gestures of support.

“Yes. He said as soon as possible. But you know how it is with permascapes. He had to attend some real world business, so with time dilation and all that,” he shrugs, “it might take a while until he shows up. Why?”

“Uh, well…” She hesitates. A student sitting next to her whispers something at her, and another one behind taps her shoulder in solidarity.

“Don’t be afraid,” Miyagi says, spreading his hands. “This is a safe space, people.”

“It’s just that,” Mallory avoids meeting his gaze, “we would like to hear his opinion about, uh…” her voice breaks.

“About what?”

“About Van Dolah.”

Miyagi frowns. “I can’t… follow. I can guarantee you that Grand Censor Jean-Jacques Smith knows as much about Edda van Dolah as I do. Well, perhaps not as much,” he chuckles, “but he is Professor of History in the Townsend.”

“Yes, sure. But I’m not sure he knows what Edda is, hmm, saying here. He might not approve.”

“Oh, I see. Ha! Sorry,” he raises an apologetic hand, “I realize now that the historical Edda might not be the shiny, spotless hero you people are used to digesting at the GIA.”

Digesting, Ximena snorts at the word. It sounds so… condescending. Almost insulting. Before she can think of what she is doing, she is standing up. “Pro- Professor Miyagi,” she calls, and clears her throat as he turns around towards her. Mark is staring up at Ximena like she just turned into a toad. “Sorry, uh,” she blinks as she feels warmth rushing to her cheeks, “may I request a recess until Censor Smith arrives?”

Miyagi smiles briskly and says, “You may, of course. But I’m afraid I can’t accommodate you. It would be a logistical nightmare, believe me, the waking until he arrives, the gathering you all back here… No, I’m sorry, but the show must go on.” He chuckles lightheartedly. “Come on, people,” he turns towards the rest of the Townsend students and spreads his hands, “we’re all historians here, aren’t we? Historians! When has a scientist ever felt uncomfortable with the truth?” He sighs, paces across the stage in silence, and then looks up at the Townsend lot. “I suggest you all take this opportunity to learn how to take crude facts with duly professional distance,” he turns his head and gives Ximena a pointed glance, “and leave your prejudices at home.”

Prejudices, Ximena cringes at the word. Yes, definitely insulting. Professor Miyagi speaks like Lundev were Goah’s gift to the worlds, and Townsend just a second-rate school. She sits, folds her arms, and throws a murderous glare at the smirking Mark.

“Now,” he claps noisily, like trying to wake up a cranky child, “cheer up, people. Let’s get the ball rolling down the Path of Light, all right? Who wants to watch humanity’s first crash course on the second step?”

Sixteen

Questions and Awareness

“That same night,” Miyagi says, pacing the stage, “the twenty-four remaining human candidates are starting the next lesson. But while Aline, Pieter, Gotthard and the rest must all share a mare instructor, Edda has Rew all for herself. And you know what?”

He stops, hands on hips, and smiles at his audience.

“Nobody really knows why!” He chuckles. “Oh, of course there are theories. But why Rew took such a personal interest in Edda van Dolah is,” he shrugs with theatrical exaggeration, “unknown. She must have seen something in her, obviously. But so she did in all her other candidates. Anyway, my dear historians-to-be, let this be an illustration of how history cannot answer all the questions. Ours is a science condemned to navigate around the gaps left by lack of sources, myths, personal opinions and propaganda. And that’s okay.”

He takes a few more steps in silence, head sunk as if lost in thought. Ximena suspects it is all for show—he is a public figure after all and knows his way on