"Good Morning Lark."
That voice. It was not the voice of my dreams. It was a different familiar voice. As I opened my eyes it confirmed what my memories hesitantly offered to tell me.
The voice was Gina.
"Good Morning Gina. Do you know what day it is? I believe I may be late for my shift with the Protectorate."
Strange, my thoughts were clear. My words and speech were well enunciated and even more I was able to convey the thoughts in my head into words that were well stated.
There was a smile of surprise on Gina's face. Had she also noticed the change?
"Oh there is no worry about that Lark. You have been reassigned! You are now assigned as the principal liaison between our outreach clinic and the planetouched race."
"Oh, are you sure? What does that job entail?"
"I am absolutely sure. Representative Sutemos signed off on it herself. She is very much looking forward to your work and progress here, so it is important that you give this period of transition your all." Gina smiled. "For now, it involves a bit of rest, and there will be a bit of study involved as well."
Lark looked a bit downtrodden. "Gina, I have not been able to study very well for a few years now. But I am willing to try."
Gina smiled, "I have a feeling that you will do just fine."
***
That was how our days would go. For the first few days I was still fairly drowsy. Gina would meet with me in the mornings and we would go through sets of tests and games.
She had me do strange things like walk on a balance beam, draw a circle with one hand while drawing a square with the other.
Then sometimes she would play games with me.
Like a set of flash cards where there was a set of 2 cards with a shape, like a ship or a castle. She would lay these in a large grid and have me find all the pairs as fast as i could, but I could only flip over 2 at a time.
She had started with 16 cards. Then she moved to 24 cards. Then 32 cards.
Then she brought out a fun toy called a tangram. It was a set of triangles and squares and I was asked to change the shape of the tangram into different bigger shapes.
Mornings were my favorite part.
At Lunch I would be brought a meal from my favorite skygge cafe across the street.
After Lunch I would sit with a researcher. He was a Gole, but I did not know what type. My mind was telling me he was a Lancer Gole, but when I probed my mind to justify this reach, nothing came up. I knew he was a Gole because he had neon bright pink hair that matched his eyes.
Gole all had weird hair. Even if they covered the markings on their bodies, this was their dead giveaway. The Gole was named Jan Kopek, and either he didn't like me, or he didn't like anyone.
"Good Afternoon Lark."
"Good Afternoon Jan."
"I see you did well with Gina this morning. How are you feeling today? Is there any grogginess or fatigue?"
"I feel fine now. I was a bit fatigued this morning. I do feel a bit cooped up in here. Is there a chance I can be relieved of my post soon so I can go outside?"
"That is an interesting request. I will think about it. But tell me, have you ever felt an imperative to seek a change in environment?"
"Jan can you rephrase that question, I don't understand it."
"Oh, sorry. Lark, have you ever felt you have spent too much time inside before you came here?"
"No, not really. It's strange. I feel fidgety and tired of looking and seeing the same things I have for a few days now."
"That's called 'boredom' Lark. Have you ever felt bored?"
"No. Not that I can recall. Although without the voice, my memory is not as clear."
Jan's pen stopped writing.
"What do you mean when you say 'the voice'?"
I smiled, "When I dream, there is a voice that guides me. She brings clarity to the things in my memories."
"Do you hear the voice when you are awake?"
"No. She only comes when I dream."
"Perfect! Nobody is getting ahead of schedule then."
"Come again?"
"Pay it no mind. Tell me about your dreams Lark. What do you dream about?"
I thought it was strange to describe his dreams to Jan. They were mine. But Jan was here to help, and I had to do my best to make sure we could work together.
"When I dream, I talk to the voice. At first she had me tell the story of my life, of my old home, of Haven. But now she talks to me about new memories. She talks about you and Gina. She helps me figure out who I am."
"Has there ever been a time when it seemed she was in control?"
"Yes and No. If my memories start to slow or I focus on the unimportant details, she changes the focus of my memories. Also if i get too sad, she does something to calm me down."
I could see that Jan was writing furiously. He then asked, "And has the voice ever told you to do anything?"
"How so?"
"Has she ever instructed you to do something you would not have thought to do yourself?"
"Sort of. She said that I should try to get a copy of books on the cultures and people of Haven. Even if I couldn't read them, she was certain I would learn how, and the earlier I started, the faster I would learn."
"Is that what you want, Lark? Do you want to learn?"
"I trust the voice. We wouldn't be having such a candid conversation had the voice not come into my life, and I am somehow intelligent enough to be aware of that."
Jan looked blankly at me, "So you are self aware enough to realize that you have had a dramatic upward shift in your mental state?"
I answered him honestly, "Yes. I don't know how. But I can assume it was the voice. She guided me to the clarity I have. I do not know how long it will last, but as long as i am able to realize this, I will be thankful to her."
Jan kept writing.
***
In the evenings Gina would teach. First we went over Haven's common alphabet. Then we went over its words and meanings. It was hard work at first, as I had never learned to read or write. But once I learned, it was simple.
After Gina and I went over reading and writing Common, we spent an hour learning mathematics. I learned the base 10 system of math that this world worked off of. It was fairly simple and within a few days I had learned to not only add and subtract numbers, but also multiply and divide them. Gina was an excellent teacher who showed the practical application of math, something I had always struggled to do. As the days carried on her lessons seemed to get harder, but I welcomed the challenge.
"You have 3 children you are watching. Jan stops by and asks you to watch 2 more. How many children are you watching now"
"You have been shooting at the rifle range. You arrived with 40 bullets and have shot 12. How many bullets do you have?
"You have 6 soldiers in your squad and will be going on patrol for three days. How many
"If a merchant is selling rifle rounds at 3 for 2 credits, or 5 for 3, which is the better deal?"
"An enemy force is marching at 15km per day towards haven. Our force is marching 15km per day to meet them in an open battle. If the force left from 200km away and left two days ago, how far could our force travel to set up a defensive line, if the defensive line takes .75 days to dig?"
Math was always fun. Gina made it fun. All of the questions were grounded and although at times difficult, I enjoyed them.
After we went over Math, Gina would sometimes invite other people for what was called 'Social Studies'.
Here we learned all about the different races of Haven, their culture, their differences, and what they excelled at when it came to contribution.
One one day, I met with an old man from my town. His name was Hassan.
"Hello Hassan, it has been some time since we last spoke."
"..." Hassan stared blankly, "Is it really you, Lark?"
I didn't understand his question. "Hassan I am afraid I don't understand."
"Hassan curtly nodded with a strained smile, and then walked out of the classroom grabbing Gina's arm.
I was afraid of how forceful the old man was being with Gina but she smiled, "just one moment Lark, I have to discuss something with today's special presenter." And with that they left the room, scurrying down the hall out of earshot.
***
They were gone for more than a few minutes. I sat and waited patiently. Then I heard them walking back. "Obviously, I would prefer you keep this a bit quiet. At least until we are sure his condition is stabilized."
Gina and Hassan came in. "Sorry about that Lark! We just had to discuss a bit about what Hassan here will be teaching today."
Hassan bowed. "It is good to bring another of our kind into the fold Lark. I look forward to imparting the lessons of our people to you in their fullest."
Gina gave a strained smile, "Just the highlights Hassan. We have two hours dedicated to this and you have almost spent half that with me."
Hassan left a book, just like all the others had. "Then after my presentation, I will leave this to you to study as you learn to read. It is your people and your heritage. I would be glad to know the old ways continue."
Hassan taught me a bit of my own people. He talked about the forever war with the other planetouched, the Lybringers. He spoke of Mephasm's embrace, the folktale of our heritage. Hassan told me that here in Haven, the skygge had stood out in two ways. The first was as master craftsman and shipwrights of Haven's fleet. Haven was a landlocked country with only a river for a waterway, so the fleet was designed not for sailing the sea, but the air. On the civilian front, Skygge ran the teahouses that dotted Haven's regions. Although there were a few restaurants and taverns, Skygge tea houses had worked with Lybringers to combine tea cafe fare to one type of restaurant.
Although I had seen the ships flying through the sky, i still thought the teahouses were a greater accomplishment. When I told Hasan this he looked confused. I then explained.
"Haven has many different places to eat and drink, but only one flying service. It may be impressive but the ships have no competition, while the teahouses thrive despite avid competition from dozens of other stores."
Hasan laughed at my explanation. "That worm did you well boy."
"Pardon?"
"Nevermind, now we will go into the Skygge codes of honor."
Gina then saw, "I am sorry Hassan, but time is up. Lark will have the opportunity to reach out to you at a later date or peruse the book you have provided when his reading comprehension is high enough."
Hassan nodded and left, a smile on the old man's face.
***
In a way, I was robbing Lark.
I was robbing him of the moment of inspiration, when a new idea was understood. Mind you, he didn't notice. But I did. I worked quite exhaustively behind his eyes as he was both waking and asleep to bridge and connect his thoughts and memories. Math was an easy subject. Reading and writing were a bit trickier. Lark had yet to notice everyone was using a spell to all talk to each other. But he would learn Lord Serin's home language fluently if I had any say in it.
Although Lark was robbed of the spark of understanding, he was instead given a swift comprehension of everything that was being told to him. It was more that his brain was interpreting things that he already knew to be true, and I helped piece together.
I hope in the future he will forgive me for taking this away from him. But it was important he learned quickly. He had already lost so much time to the fog of mental damage.
***