David Larson - The Myth of the Anal Probe

But, as Bob might have said…

The best-laid mice have plans.

Tawny was only mildly concerned as she and Mike rode to the destination of their next and possibly final visit to part of the life-style of Hale. Mike had his arm loosely around her shoulders, and it felt good. She had never experienced this kind of closeness with another person before. Normally after two people had connected in such a way in her society, they simply went on with life as it had been before the act had happened. People in this world loved each other completely and unconditionally every single day. It was the adhesive that held the fabric of society together.

She was only slightly aware that his arm around her wasn’t simply a display of affection with humans. Someplace deep inside, she recognized that this seemingly innocuous act was, to the people on Earth, a gesture of protection, and a symbol of ownership. It sent a signal to all others that this woman belonged to this man and everyone had better respect that.

Tawny basked in the good feeling feelings her connection to Mike gave, and decided that she’d deal with any issues that may spring up from it when they presented themselves. She should have known a bridge can’t be crossed when it’s already on fire.

“We’re here,” Tawny said lightly as the door on the tram whooshed open.

“Outstanding,” Mike said. “I can’t wait.”

The building they were standing in front of wasn’t really much different than any of the other large buildings Mike had seen on Hale up till then. All of the architecture was functional, and most of the aesthetic value was supplied by organic life.

“So where are we?” Mike asked.

“This is the children’s center,” she said. “I think this will fill in all the spaces to help you understand how we live here.”

Tawny took him by the hand and led him into the foyer of the building. Once again Mike was surprised at the lack of security here. Mike and Tawny were able to simply walk through the doors, into the building, and have complete and unrestricted access to any and all of the areas in the school.

“This would never happen on earth,” Mike said.

“How do you mean?” T awny asked.

“I know the way people’s minds work here, and I completely realize that there’s not a danger of anything happening to these kids,” he said. “But still, after all of the tragedies in so many of the school rooms on Earth recently…”

“That’s pretty much why we decided to save this for last,” she said. “If you saw this without first having a basic understanding of how things work here you might come away with a different opinion.”

Tawny took Mike down one of the many corridors that ran off the main foyer. Children of all different ages and several adults milled about in the hallway.

“Are they between classes right now?” Mike asked.

“No,” she said. “Why do you ask that?”

“There just seems to be a lot of people outside the class room right now.”

“School doesn’t work the same way here that it does on earth,” she said. “In fact, there is nothing about this place that would translate for you, or your society. Classes aren’t structured the way they are on earth. People attend the ones they need and not the ones they don’t. Naturally there’s a testing regimen. But that’s pretty fluid as well.”

“How does anyone learn anything is a system like that?” He asked.

“Pretty well I think; said the woman with the interstellar spaceship, to the guy with a chip in his head.” She smiled at him.

“Touché,”

“I understand that kids start school as young as three,” Mike said.

“That’s not exactly accurate, in the truest sense,” she told him. “At the age of three children come here to live. The parents visit regularly, but not simply to see how their child is progressing in relation to the others. Everyone in this community takes responsibility for the building of a productive citizen in society. Children are able to form a sense of community. Naturally, when kids first get here they have literacy requirements to meet. They have to learn to read and write. Of course, basic math is part of that. After they complete the rudimentary classes they can explore areas that they’re naturally drawn too.”

“How long does that take?” Mike asked. “How long do kids usually stay here?”

“The answer to that is different based on the individual,” Tawny explained. “No one learns or absorbs at the same rate. Once a child is ready to move on, they’re encouraged to explore interests that keep their mind active. On one hand, quite a lot of time is wasted in the system that you’re used to. Students that excel above their class are only allowed to advance ahead to a specific point. They also waste a lot of time learning things that aren’t important to whatever place they may take in society.”

“And on the other hand?” Mike asked.

“On the other, some students are moved along too fast to be successful. They become frustrated and eventually give up. Here everyone advances at whatever rate it takes to be successful.”

“Naturally we have people that are trained to recognize areas that children are drawn to that will help them become productive members of the community. Some children may be drawn to sciences, others to mechanical interests. The path they take is governed by them. They come out of the other end of this system well-rounded, happy people, that are able to advance the world around them, as far as it can possibly go.”

“What about the ones that are lazy, or simply don’t care about learning.”

“That situation really never exists,” she said. “The only reason it does on Earth is because children feel left out, uncared for, or inferior. In this system those feelings can never be fostered.”

“How long do kids stay here then?” Mike asked.

“For as long as they want to,” she said. “Some may advance to a specific point in, say, the heath care field. They may feel that they have gone as far as they want to and decide they want to be a nurse, or technician. Others may want to continue on to be doctors or surgeons. The most important thing to remember is that any level of training in any field is considered to be just as important as the others. The brain surgeon is considered just as important as the phlebotomist.”

They walked through a set of double doors at the end of the hallway and into a typically magical garden. In one place children of different ages sat under a tree and listened to a lecture about botany. In another a group of kids were working in what appeared to be a small garden plot.

“Most of the classes that are held out here have to do with plant life,” Tawny said. “Most of the others, like engineering, math, and things like that are in different classrooms inside. Almost all of the medical classes are in the section that is also the community hospital.”

“Your only hospital is a classroom?” Mike asked, surprised.

“What else would it be?” she said. “There’s no better place to learn medicine than in a hospital.”

They walked through the garden and back through a set of doors on the other side. The classrooms on either side of the hall were filled with children being taught any number of the basic classes. All along the way people smiled at them, or waved to Tawny. She stopped and introduced Mike to some of the kids that stopped to talk to her. She asked how classes were going and if there was anything she could do to help.

Then, as they stopped in front a door leading to one of the classrooms a small boy ran out and threw his arms around Tawny.

“Hey Buddy,” she said. But Mike noticed that the movement of her lips didn’t match the words she was saying.