"Everything checks out, Commander. They're ready for your day's lesson." The doctor said out loud for the others' benefit.
"Thanks, Doc. I've got a big day planned for them, and I know they're going to love today's lesson."
With their business done, the doctor waved them out of his office to deal with an injured soldier who had just arrived with a long gash down his arm.
"Spanner broke while trying to free up some damaged piping. Doc will have me right as rain in no time." The big man informed the concerned-looking little girls with a smile.
Max could tell from his thoughts that he neglected to mention that he had fallen off the Mecha he was repairing at the time when it happened, possibly to hide the fact he wasn't wearing a fall arrest harness or a gravity device like regulations required.
He was in front of the Commander, after all, and being written up could have him scrubbing toilets for a month until he learned to appreciate the difference between on the floor and up in the air.
Max decided to let it slide this time. The repair bay lead technician would deal with the issue on his own, so Max just led the twins out toward the cruise ship zone to meet with their classmates for the day.
The Innu parents had joined their two girls, who both appeared to be under five years old, in the Waterpark, and they had set out four headsets on a table in preparation for the class.
"I hope you don't mind. We took the liberty of putting information on holograms into the auto-learning device in advance." The father of the Innu girls informed Max while the girls rushed to greet their friends.
"I should check it first. Since humans aren't alliance members yet, we're not supposed to teach anything beyond the species' known capabilities, even if we have access to it." Max sighed.
"Just pop the headset on for a few seconds. The first lesson is an introduction that is suitable for their age. We can instinctively communicate with technology, but without the knowledge to comprehend what we're seeing, understanding how anything works is just a guessing game.
Too much at once would overwhelm them, but there are so many new things here that we have started to teach them a number of things in advance while we are on vacation. So far, that has meant morning classes every day." The Innu man explained.
"If you don't mind, I'm sure the girls would love to learn together. Terminus has many sorts on board but very few children yet, and no properly trained teachers except Miss Molly." Max explained.
"I think that would be a great idea. They haven't complained once today since they learned that they would be working together." The mother of the Innu agreed, pointing to where the girls were already guessing what today's lesson might entail.
Max held the learning device to his face and selected [Learn All] with an estimated time notification from his system of thirty seconds.
What he got was much more than a primer on holograms. The device gave him a full university-level education in the field of electronic engineering over the course of a minute before happily announcing that course one of Virtual Reality Technician Training was complete.
"You were planning to have the kids learn all that today?" Max asked when the process was over.
"Oh heavens no. Just the first lesson. It takes about an hour for them to assimilate that much knowledge, and then you can begin your lecture." The father explained.
The first course was only one of fifty that he had gone through in thirty seconds. The time difference must be due to the system and his functions, Max decided, since the Innu certainly weren't dimwitted.
"Do you have more lessons with you? The knowledge all seems perfectly acceptable, but I personally have enjoyed a rather focused education, as my career path was set from birth as a warrior." Max asked quietly.
"We would be delighted to share. The course programs we have downloaded are only to that level, the basic school courses that all Innu must learn, but if you think you can assimilate them from the device, we will gladly loan one to you."
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
Then Max turned his thoughts to someone who probably already knew how great this device was.
[Nico, did you know about the Innu learning devices?]
[Amazing, aren't they? But don't overdo it, or you'll get the worst headaches. We've got some here we used for training the recruits.]
[And you neglected to mention this why?]
[You're psychic. I just assumed you already knew.] Max could hear the unconcerned shrug in her mental communication.
[I see. We will discuss this later.]
He would have to find out how the others did with the device, but there really was no reason to have a ship full of primary school dropouts when they could give the soldiers a full education.
"Alright, ladies. Sit down for a moment and assimilate the first lesson from the device. Once that is done, we will begin with the fun stuff." Max instructed the four girls.
The difference was almost certainly due to the system. His sisters were too young to have it active, and like the Innu girls, it took them roughly an hour to finish assimilating the first of fifty lessons.
They all looked overwhelmed and disoriented after the session as well, and one of the Innu girls was rubbing her temples, warding off the incoming headache.
"I hope the lesson is good because that learning method is no fun. I feel like I've been trapped in a classroom for months, but I can tell we didn't move." Sasha informed him with a grimace.
"Oh, it is worth it. Follow me to the immersion suite, and I will begin today's lesson on building realistic simulations using the layering method."
Even the parents looked excited at that. They had all of the required knowledge, but they had gone into the business side of their families' operations, so they hadn't personally had much experience with the practical side of actually using the skills they had learned so many years ago in school.
As an added benefit, human technology wasn't needlessly complex, encrypted, or vaguely programmed to deter inquisitive Innu. It was like a public playground to the adults of their species.
Visit freewe𝑏n(o)vel.𝑐𝘰𝑚 for the best novel reading experience