Alex pulled the still shaken Rice inside. Seeing the latter lagging in his reactions, he took his card from his hand, and after determining the room he had been assigned and its coordinate, led the way to the flight of stairs.
The basic, if not primitive construct brought Rice's mind back. He asked with surprise:
"Don't we have elevators for moving between the floors?"
"No, we don't. The only place with elevators in the academy is the building I showed you earlier."
"But why? The city should be filthy rich, so building elevators should be easy for them, shouldn't it?"
Alex laughed at the question before replying:
"I heard someone ask about it. He was really courageous to ask the chief instructor during a resting period while training."
"And what did he answer?"
"She, not he."
Rice exclaimed softly in surprise:
"A woman?"
