Chapter 8: C8 – Books

"It's time for school! Time for school!"

"Hm?"

Dirk's eyes shot open as Rita burst into his room. After stopping himself from reflexively jumping out of bed to attention, he looked over to see Rita looking at him excitedly.

"Are you ready?!"

"...Yes."

Dirk nodded as he took a deep breath and slid out from under his covers. Rita was starting to become his alarm clock. After straightening the sheets on his bed, he walked to the washroom and cleaned himself up before dressing for the day. At the same time, Rita went and laid on his bed, still tired from waking up.

"Where's that excitement from before? Let's go eat."

Dirk spoke as he grabbed his sister's arm, pulling her off the bed before she went back to sleep. She groaned and moved to hug him from behind, using his shoulders to prop herself up. 

Like that, the two walked to the dining room where food was prepared and their mother was already sitting. Dirk sat his sister down onto her seat before sitting himself and digging into the already prepared food.

"Are you ready for school today, Dirk?"

Cecilia asked as he ate. Hearing her, he nodded.

"Yes, I am."

"That's good. School starts at 9 am every day, just so you know."

"Understood."

"Also, your lunch meals will be given to you there at the cafeteria. You'll be given books and a bag as well for studying."

"Ugh, I don't like studying."

Rita groaned when she heard that. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling so excited about going back to school.

"Don't start complaining now. You've got another two years ahead of you before you leave. Besides, do you think things are easier at the academy?"

"At least they practice magic there! All we do at the grade school is learn math and history and spelling. It's boring!"

"It's boring but it's easy. Enjoy it while you're there child. Once you get to the academy, things won't be so nice. Now, let's finish and head out. It takes 15 minutes to get there."

..........

Soon, the family finished eating and boarded the carriage to leave. Dirk looked out the window as they passed through the bustling city, seeing all kinds of people doing all kinds of different things. 

Then, they arrived at the school where there was a long line of carriages dropping off children as well as a full parking lot.

'I still can't believe they actually have parking lots. This place is more modern that I though...'

Dirk sighed as their carriage entered the line. After pulling up to the front of the school grounds, the door opened. 

"Alright you two. Have a good day at school. Rita, take care of your brother."

"Okay!"

"And Dirk, have a good first day."

"Yes, mother."

"Such a stoic. Love you."

Cecilia smiled and gave Dirk a kiss on the forehead. Then after saying bye to Rita, the two siblings jumped out of the carriage.

"Come on Dirk! I'll take you to class."

Rita grabbed his hand as she said that, and the two walked with the other children into the school. 

Soon, they were coming up on Dirk's classroom where several other children were either saying goodbye or crying to their parents. One of them was actually the deer girl named Ava whose parents Dirk quickly spotted due to their tall antlers. Ava was looking at the classroom, clearly hesitant to go inside by herself.

"Hey Dirk, it's your friend. Do you want to say hi?"

Rita spotted Ava as well and asked. Dirk nodded, and they approached the family. 

"Well look who it is! Look Ava, it's Dirk!"

Seeing them approach, the father excitedly turned Ava's attention to them. She looked over and saw Dirk and Rita.

"Hello sir. Hello Ava."

Dirk greeted them, and Ava nodded to him. 

"Hi..."

"It's good to see you Dirk. Hey, you wouldn't mind accompanying Ava here to her seat, would you? She's a bit hesitant to go inside."

"I can do that."

"Thank you. You hear that, Ava? Why don't you go with Dirk?"

"...Alright."

"Haha, that's my girl. Don't worry. You'll get used to things quicker than you think."

The father bent down and gave his daughter a hug, as did the mother. Ava then walked over to Dirk.

"Alright then, Dirk. I'm gonna go to my classroom."

"Okay."

"Keep an eye out for me at lunch too. I'll be looking for you."

"Understood."

"Then see ya!"

Rita spoke as she walked away, heading to another part of the school. Dirk then looked at Ava, who was just standing there next to him quietly.

"Uhh, follow me."

"Okay..."

Ava nodded, and Dirk walked into the classroom.

"Alright, everyone! Pick out any seat you like and sit! Class starts in 10 minutes!"

When the two walked in, they were greeted with a chattery class full of kids and the nice old man who attempted to wrangle some of them in, guiding them to the rows of tables that could seat five kids each. 

Not caring about the rambunctious children, Dirk walked over to a seat in the back of the class with Ava in tow. He then sat her down in the corner while he took the seat next to her.

"Sit there."

"..."

Ava just nodded at his directions and pulled out the chair. Dirk also took a seat, patiently waiting for class to start while observing the kids around them.

As he looked around, he could see that many of the kids seemed to already know each other as they came together and talked in groups. As the teacher urged them to sit, they also took tables for themselves. The boys tended to group up with other boys, and vice versa for the girls.

*Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!*

Eventually, a bell tolled, and things started to quiet down.

"Alright! Class has officially begun! For those of you who don't have a seat yet, just find an open one and take it."

The old man announced, and the wandering children quickly found themselves a seat. Dirk watched as a few kids took the three seats next to him, two boys and one girl. 

"Uhh, hello!"

"...Hi."

When a boy sat next to Dirk, he waved and held out his hand awkwardly. Dirk looked at him and shook the hand, giving his own greeting. 

"Okay class! My name is Mr. Drake, and I'll be your teacher for the year. The seats are all filled, so it looks like everyone is here. I'm going to call out your names. Say 'here' when I call you. Ava!"

"..."

The teacher called out the first name, but no response was heard. Dirk almost laughed at the irony of the most timid girl getting called on first. It was quite unfortunate.

"H-here..."

Ava spoke next to him nearly inaudibly. Everyone seemed to hear it though and looked over, prompting the girl to cower in her seat. The teacher just nodded before simply checking off her name and moving on to the next.

"Breya!"

"Here!"

"Bruce!"

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"Here!"

"Casper!"

"Here!"

The teacher called out everyone's names in alphabetical order. Dirk spoke when his name was called relaxedly before waiting for roll to be taken. Once he had checked off all the names, he put the sheet away and turned to the class.

"Alright. Now, today we don't have anything other than getting you all familiar with how things work around here. All of you are going to be receiving three books. One for language, math, and writing. We will be using these books throughout the year, so don't damage them and always keep track of where they are. Now, all the books are stacked up in those cabinets over there. When I call your name, go over and grab a book out of each cabinet."

The teacher spoke, and all the kids in their seats awaited eagerly for their names to be called. Very quickly, the first five students were called, and they walked over to the open cabinets where there were stacks of books. They followed instructions and took one from each cabinet, coming out with three books. 

Unfortunately, since Ava was the first name on the list, she went up first. She was exceptionally awkward and even ended up stumbling and dropping all her books toward the end. Several kids giggled before she scooped everything back up and hurried to her seat, putting the books in front of her and hiding behind them.

Dirk shook his head at the sight. He couldn't fathom how a person could be so paranoid and self-conscious. These were children. Did she really think they would remember this forever? Or that they even cared?

While pondering, Dirk was called, and he got up alongside another 4 kids who made a line to grab the books. However, Dirk had a bit of a mean look on his face. He was not pleased.

'Language, math, and writing. That's it? No history or geography? This year... is not going to be pleasant.'

He shook his head as he grabbed one of each book, returning to his seat without drawing much attention. While Dirk didn't know how to read or write, that could be learned quickly. He wouldn't need more than a couple months to do so. As for math, unless this world had some convoluted system, he was already a master. Given all that, once he got past the basics for writing and such, he wouldn't have anything more to learn. 

He immediately knew that this year was going to be a long and drawn out one. Though, when he thought about Rita, his spirits perked up a bit. He remembered that she was in her third year, and some of her books might talk about the things he wanted to know. He wasn't worried about her withholding her books, so he could have them in his hands whenever she first brought them home. 

'I definitely need to ask her. Mm, such a good sister, she is.'

Dirk smiled as he pulled over his books, taking off the top one which was his language book. The book looked standard, although it was worn around the edges. Such was expected though. The covers were only leather, and the pages weren't the standard white that he was used to from Earth. These were more parchment, albeit it didn't make reading any harder. The printing business in this world seemed developed enough. 

Flipping through the pages like a curious kid, he had his AI scan and document each page in its entirety. Documenting things was one of the basic functions of his AI. There were dozens of operations he ran on Earth where he needed to either pull data from a computer, record audio, scan papers, or take pictures. 

"Okay class! Today we're not going to pry into our books. I want everyone to prepare to head outside. We're going to take a tour, discuss your daily schedule, and get to know each other. First I will assign everyone a number based on alphabetical order, and then we will head outside. Okay, Ava, you are number one. Breya is number two..."

The teacher started the day when everyone had gotten their books. Dirk closed his book and listened. His class had around 40 kids in it, so everyone was numbered 1-40. After that was done, the teacher stood them up and led them out of the classroom. They then did as the teacher said, taking a tour of all the facilities and looking at every corner of the school. A map was created in Dirk's head as they did so.

It wasn't long though before a bell rang with 3 deep rings. The teacher had led the class back to the room by this time, and he let them know what was happening. 

"That's the recess bell. When that rings, you all can either go out to the field and play or go to the cafeteria and eat some snacks, or both. When the bell rings again though, everyone needs to come back. Staff will go out and hunt you down if you don't, so be sure to follow the rules and be on time. Alright, that's all. Everyone can head outside."

With that, the teacher pointed to the door. All the students got up and convened in groups before heading out the door, running to the field that they had seen only a few minutes ago during the tour. 

Dirk also went out, and Ava stuck to him like glue, not wishing to be on her own in an unfamiliar place. Dirk didn't mind as he followed the crowd of bustling kids to the field. He remembered the place well. 

Soon, he was out in the clearing. The field was located to the side of the school, and it was as large as a football field. Around it were various containers full of toys and objects for games, as well as a large playground. The playground had a couple stories to it and covered a couple dozen square meters of ground. Dirk was impressed by its size. It was bigger than entire houses. 

He didn't intend to play on it though. He remembered that Rita would look for him, so he stuck to an open area while looking around. Ava just stood behind him while observing all the kids around them. With only four classes in the whole school, there were only around 160 kids, so all this space for them was more than enough. 

"Dirk!"

Suddenly, Dirk heard a shout and turned around. He saw Rita prancing over with two other girls in tow. He tilted his head as he observed them. One was blonde and about Rita's height, an average kid. The other was actually a hybrid though. This girl seemed to be a tiger, with round fluffy ears and a slim striped tail. Her hair was orange with black streaks, and her eyes were round and amber. Dirk could immediately feel her wild nature as she looked at him with fighting spirit. 

"Hi Rita."

"Hey! And hi Ava. These two are my friends, Edin and Tess."

Rita pointed to the blonde girl, Edin, and the tiger girl, Tess. Dirk nodded to them before Rita spoke again. 

"Hey, do you want to play?"

"Not particularly."

"Hmm, there are a lot of kids on the playground. How about we go grab the disk and play?"

"Yea! Let's go play with the disk!"

Tess, the tiger girl, beamed at the idea before dashing off to one of the bins. Dirk watched questioningly.

"Disk?"

"Yea! Come on."

Rita grabbed his arm and yanked him as they started running. Ava was left there standing as she watched them go. Luckily, Dirk turned to her as he ran, waving her over. She looked around her before ducking her head and jogging off. 

"I got it!"

"Throw it here!"

Edin shouted as she ran to an open area on the field. Tess threw the disk she had just retrieved from the bin, and Dirk caught a glimpse of it. It was a frisbee!

The frisbee sailed across the air before Edin jumped up and caught it. Rita let go of Dirk's hand and then sprinted off in another direction, waving for Edin who threw it to her. 

"Got it! Hey Dirk! Go long!"

Rita shouted to him. Dirk pondered for a second before shaking his head, dipping down and breaking off in a sprint away from her. She threw it, but the throw was off and he had to divert away. 

"Jump!"

Rita squealed as Dirk ran to intercept. Once he got close, he dove and caught it before it hit the ground.

"Oof!"

"Yay! Good job!"

Rita cheered as Dirk stood up, dusting off the grass and dirt from his shirt. He quickly ascertained that his clothes weren't meant for this type of play seeing as his nice vest got scuffed from the landing. He would have to start wearing his cheaper clothes. 

'Well, at least this physical activity is good for my body.'

Dirk shrugged with the disk in hand. He looked around and saw Ava walking over to him.

"Wanna go?"

Dirk spoke as he pointed the disk toward another direction, implying that she should run so he could throw it. She shook her head though.

"It's okay..."

"...Alright then."

He didn't force it and turned back around, throwing the disk toward Tess. He chucked it with surprising force but not much accuracy, and Tess ended up chasing it down like him. She seemed to enjoy it though, not hesitating to dive just like him and get dirty. 

Like that, the four formed a circuit as they threw it from one to the other. All the while Ava just stood near him and watched. This lasted up until they heard the bell, where they finished up and put the disk back.

"Hey, I'll find you at lunch too. Come to the cafeteria first. We can practice our magic there while we eat."

"Alright."

Dirk nodded, after which the two groups separated. Dirk and Ava walked back to their classroom where the teacher went on with discussing how the rest of the year would go. 

A couple hours later, lunch came, and the pair headed straight for the cafeteria. Surprisingly, most of the other kids went to play first, so it was rather empty. 

The cafeteria was a building connected to the school full of lunch tables, more than enough for all of the students. There were also the cooks who prepared food for everyone, a set menu being available each day. Dirk decided to hop right into the small line with Ava.

"What'll it be sweetie?"

One of the ladies behind the counter spoke as she saw Dirk. He looked at the menu, but frowned when he realized he still couldn't read. He asked the lady, and she told him that there were two options for either a meat similar to beef and bread, or something that sounded similar to noodle soup. He immediately chose the meat option, wanting to stuff as many nutrients into his body so his cybernetics and body could develop. After asking Ava, she chose the soup.

The two quickly received their trays with all the food loaded on them. There was a surprising amount, which pleased Dirk a lot. It also indicated that the kids of this world tended to eat a lot, something he didn't mind at all. 

"Dirk! You already got food? Pick out a table for us then."

Suddenly, Rita appeared with the same two girls. She spoke to him quickly before hopping in line. Dirk walked over to an empty table with Ava before sitting down and digging in. 

'Huh, this tastes just like beef. It's pretty good too. I like the sauce.'

Dirk smiled when he ate the food. On his tray was a big piece of meat and a slice of bread. The meat was covered in some kind of brown sauce, and he was pleased to taste how good it was. He didn't have any expectations, but was still impressed. 

'This school must be pretty extravagant. Well, mom said it was one of the best schools in the Empire for kids. I guess this much is called for. Though, I still feel weird about it...'

Dirk frowned as he thought about where he was. His parents sent him to likely the most expensive school in the Empire. None of the kids here looked poor in the slightest. If someone could send their kids here, then they had to have some kind of status. He felt weird about being here though. He didn't feel deserving of all this. Or rather, he felt out of place in such a nice environment. Was it okay for him to be here? 

At this point in his life on Earth, he was being beaten into the floor by terrifying drill instructors. He could still remember the batch of kids that were trained alongside him. Since they were only kids, there was not much harassment needed before they could be broken and reformed. Most of the training was a slow process by which they taught you the ways of a killing machine. The first few months were the hardest, but after that everyone got used to it. From there, each child was raised under that environment.

Dirk had never even had a name before coming to this world. When he remembered his other life, when he was 6, he felt off. Which one was the right way? Surely there were many poor kids out in the empire who lived in slums and didn't get an education. Was it wrong to be in such a nice place? To be such a privileged kid? Was the brutal training the right way? He was at least fed and given valuable knowledge and skills. Or was the way of the poor correct? Should he have gone through a worse school or no school at all? Where was the place he belonged?

Dirk couldn't answer this question. He often pondered things like this, brooding over the vast difference between his two lives. He could never seem to get anywhere though.

"Hey! What're you frowning about? You always look so mean. Start smiling more! Otherwise people won't talk to you."

Suddenly, he was spurred from his reverie. Rita came over with her friends and sat down. She had chosen the meat option too.

Dirk just shook the thoughts out of his head and looked at his sister as she took a few large bites. Thinking about it, they often ate a lot during dinner at the house. Children did seem to just eat more in this world. 

 

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