Pre-Jump Earth Literature

[aestrix]

It's a new term, and the end of the break between terms most students have been enjoying. But time marches ever on, and so at 1:00 PM, just after lunch, twenty-six students all around the age of fifteen are finding seats in an obnoxiously decorated classroom. It's one of those classrooms that tries very hard to be peppy and inspirational, and only succeeds at being very out of touch, and kind of creepy.

Soon it will be time to read about things long-dead people wrote.

Comments

[poll_the_stars]

Off they go, to learn about molecular biology!

Yvette kind of would like to ask how the hell he even managed to do that, but she suspects he might like to just never talk about it again.

[thisvorlunatic]

Well, he doesn't bring it up, at any rate.

The molecular biology exhibit seems like it might be less wildly oversimplified than the wormholes exhibit, but Miles doesn't know a thing about molecular biology so he has no good way to tell for sure.

[poll_the_stars]

Yvette knows a little bit about it - she's been here longer than Miles has, and took a class that touched on it a bit. She knows that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, for example.

"This museum is very good at making everything pretty and approachable," she observes.

[thisvorlunatic]

"It is," he agrees. "Although they could stand to increase the safety standards on their interactive exhibits."

[poll_the_stars]

She snorts. Apparently that is not Off Limits.

"How did you even manage that, anyway?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Um. Well. Do you know what a railgun is?"

[poll_the_stars]

".... You made a railgun out of the exhibit? The exhibit could be made into a railgun?!"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Not on purpose! But I mean, the exhibit basically is a railgun, just an unusually complicated one that is unusually bad at accelerating projectiles. As an interactive kinetic sculpture it is both interesting and educational, and I can't fault them for including it. I suspect I was taking advantage of unintended behaviour when I constructed my racetrack."

[poll_the_stars]

"I mean, following the basic principles of a railgun and being a railgun are different things."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Well, yes, but I don't just mean that the principles are the same. It's... I'm having trouble thinking of a good analogy, but on a conceptual and physical level they have a real equivalence, even though the exhibit wasn't intended to function as a railgun per se and in fact is still pretty bad at it even after I got it to try. If it had been much better at being a railgun, it would've done more than just crack the glass. I joke about their safety standards, but I'm actually pretty impressed - they clearly hadn't predicted that anyone could do what I did, but the enclosure stood up to it anyway."

[poll_the_stars]

"Huh. Well, I'm glad the enclosure stood up, anyway. I'm having visions of shattered glass everywhere."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Railguns that are good at being railguns are up there among the most efficient ways to propel a kinetic projectile, so yeah, um, it could've been pretty bad. Hooray for high safety standards?"

[poll_the_stars]

"Hooray for high safety standards," she agrees.

[thisvorlunatic]

"High safety standards are great. They prevent me from causing catastrophic accidents."

[washed_in_blood]

(This actually gets an amused snort out of Miles's bodyguard, who has been spending this entire time being patiently watchful and unobtrusive.)

[poll_the_stars]

Yvette giggles. "Notice to all Betans and people that build things. 'High safety standards so Miles doesn't cause catastrophic accidents.'"

[thisvorlunatic]

"I am forever grateful to the competent adults in my life for ensuring that my accidents are minimally catastrophic."

[poll_the_stars]

"I think that is one of the jobs of competent adults, ensuring that accidents are minimally catastrophic."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Yeah."

[poll_the_stars]

"Competent adults have lots of jobs, mostly because incompetent adults cause the need for them," says Yvette, dryly.

[thisvorlunatic]

Miles giggles.

[poll_the_stars]

Yvette grins. "There'd be less things for competent adults to do if everyone were competent, I think. Share the workload a bit."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Wouldn't that be nice."

[poll_the_stars]

"Yeah. Oh well. Guess we just have to save the galaxy, whatever shall we do."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Grow up to be competent adults, hopefully."