Violetta was nervous and excited. Her mother had come to pick her up, and drop her off at school together with her father. She was also a little aggrieved to leave Araminty for 4 days. She would spend 4 days and 3 nights at school, and every weekend she would switch between her fathers and mothers house.
She had spent half the day yesterday telling her father all the responsibilities that would come with taking care of Araminty. Like he had never owned a robot before. He could only sigh.
On the way to school, they rode together. She sat opposite her parents in the vehicle. The vehicle resembled a carriage, but was not pulled by horses. And the wheels were made of rubber. There was no place for a driver. In the front of the carriage either. Drivers could make mistakes. And those mistakes could be fatal. There was no way for this carriage to make a mistake. Up until 15 years ago, there were still a few people who would drive themselves. But the design of those vehicles had become obsolete.
"Destination: Yazzie First National Academy" The carriage began to move.
"Laura…" Amistad started.
"We'll talk on the way back." Laura replied.
He nodded.
Violetta liked the look of her parents sitting side by side. This was how they belonged. She was hoping them driving her to and from school every weekend would help them get back together. This was forcing them to spend time together. It was nice for them to put up a united front for their daughter. Though they started out in silence it was not long before Laura was checking Violetta's backpack, making sure she had her supplies all included and ready.
"I watched her pack it," Amistad said.
"Did you use the checklist I wrote?" Laura asked distractedly looking through the bag. She was also checking to see if Violetta had smuggled in any parts or tools. This child would ignore her studies completely if she brought any of them along.
"Yes my love" Amistad said naturally.
Laura stiffened a bit, but softened right after. She still loved the way he called her.
Violetta pretended not to notice as she fished the checklist out of her pocket. She handed the checklist to her mother. Each box had a mark, showing that it had been used to pack the bag.
They had finally arrived at the school. They settled Violetta into her dorm, and Laura double checked the room and the rest of Violetta's belongings for any contraband. She found a pressure regulator attached to some sort of complex carburetor looking thing.
"Wait! That's not finished," Violetta exclaimed when her mother found it.
"And it won't be... until you come home this weekend." Laura passed the mechanism to Amistad. Laura would not have stopped looking until she found something. She knew her daughter way too well.
The first day of school for first years was mainly introductory. The parents would help their kids get settled into their dormitories, and then meet the teachers responsible for teaching their beloved progeny. Parents were only in the school for the morning. In the afternoon they would have orientation.
Second thru fifth year would automatically start classes on the first day of school in the afternoon. There was no need for them to attend orientation. Sixth thru tenth year students studied in a different school.
The Head teacher for first year students was Mrs. Felida. Violetta and her parents walked to the Head Teacher's office. With the words printed in bold letters on the door. Head Teacher Year 1 Mrs Felida. Before they could walk in, another family walked out. Their conversation flowed out as they walked away. "I don't believe they won't change the Head Teacher for this year. I'll talk to the Board of Education myself. We'll see if they let a catkin be Head teacher then…"
"Honey…"
"What?" he sounded indignant. "Are you saying I'm wrong?"
"What a jerk," Laura said.
Amistad bent down to talk to Violetta. "Letta, You have to make sure not to judge people based on their race. Each race, no matter what others think, have something great about themselves. It's not something great to offer others. It's something they hold near and dear to themselves. Something that marks them deeper than their bones. It's our differences that enable us to learn more. If you close yourself off like other people...You might close yourself off to brilliant knowledge"
"I know," Violetta said. Her eyes drifted to where she saw that family leave.
"Your father is right," Laura said. "I won't say not to befriend that child who was with them, because a parents beliefs are not always the same as the child's. Children are individuals with their own train of thought and beliefs. But I will say, be careful of the values that are imparted on you by the other children while you are here."
"I will," Violetta was happy her parents trusted her to do the right thing. She had seen many values that differed from what her parents taught her. These values were written down in history. She did not agree with most of them. She liked the values her parents taught her. She had decided that her parents had studied history so much, that they had learned the best way to be human, picking and choosing only the best bits to follow.
…
…
In the office, Mrs. Felida had begun to calm her feelings. It had been a long time since she had seen such a racist parent. As much as she used to deal with such people when she was a child, she had thought she had become immune to it. But she was not immune. She was angry, and she needed to not take it out on the next parents and child that walked into her office. She was still in the process of calming down when she heard a melodious, "What a jerk."
Then she heard the rest of the conversation. Her anger was quelled. She had known that she would not be changed, even if that other parent went to the board. The only way to change a Head Teacher was to have someone with a higher achievement in education be promoted above them. She was the highest level of education among the teachers, only second to the Principal. As such she was able to pick what year of students she wanted to be in charge of. She had picked first year because she wanted to introduce the joy of learning to young minds. The only person with more achievements than her right now was the principal. She chose to be Head Teacher over the first years because she liked the idea of introducing the joy of learning to others for the first time.
She had already put herself back together when Violetta and her parents walked in together.
"Hello," Mrs. Felida began. "I'm Mrs. Felida. Head Teacher of year 1." She always introduced herself first. The human class system was so complex, and she could not tell at first glance what class they were. Most humans looked the same to her anyway.
The woman looked like a short human at first glance. She was probably about 136 centimeters tall. When one looked further, they would see that she in fact had claws instead of nails, and cat ears sat on the top of her head peeking out from her hair. Her eyes looked like cat eyes. When she turned around a fluffy tail resembling a Persian cat peeked from under her dress.
Violetta thought this lady was so cute! She really wanted to go touch her ears! But everyone had boundaries, and she knew she couldn't simply ask a person if she could touch their ears. How rude and embarrassing would that be!? She wouldn't like it if someone asked her to touch her ears! So naturally she could not ask this of her teacher. She wondered if they felt as fluffy as they looked.
"It's a pleasure," Laura said first, as she shook Mrs. Felida's hand. "My name is Laura Dione Noblis."
"Amistad Noblis," Amistad also extended his hand to her. "Thank you for taking care of our daughter."
"Violetta Dione Noblis," Violetta curtsied. She automatically treated the Head Teacher as she would a foreign dignitary. She had an enormous respect for this woman who looked so cute and yet stood there so calm after that ugly man left her office. This Head Teacher was no joke. Violetta stared at her, very excited.
Laura noticed and cleared her throat, then told Violetta, "Don't stare."
"I apologize for staring," Violetta said, blinking and then continuing to stare. "I've never met a Catkin."
Mrs. Felida smiled at her. She knew her people were rare in this metropolis. "I know you don't know much about my people. So I'll explain because you seem like a very smart young lady."
Violetta beamed at the woman as she explained. "My people call ourselves Malkin. We might have resemblance to cats, but we do not share any genetic traits at all. So to my people, calling us catkin is considered rude. I'm only one quarter Malkin. That's why I look mostly human. But if you meet another Malkin, they might look much more cat-like to you."
Violetta nodded. "It's a slur..." This child really was too smart. "I won't use that word anymore than." She smiled at her Head Teacher.
When introductions were done and they had left the office peacefully, they took their daughter to the campus food court, and ate with her before they left. On the way home, Laura made a call to the head of the Board of Education. Amistad was not happy. That jerk had always been eyeing his wife since they were young. She had called to make sure there was no way for outside forces to change a Head Teacher. She was very satisfied with Mrs. Felida.