“If we spend any free time together when everything isn’t so crazy, I’ll take you. It’s a wonderful place.”
We chatted our way through the entire assembly of the dorm and soon it was equipped with a desk between every other bed, and a chest of drawers where the desks weren’t. Each dorm room had an attached bathroom, as well, which was spacious, and had enormous counters so the occupants could leave their toiletries in the bathroom and not have to store them in their rooms.
“I want to go shopping and find some homey touches to put in each of the rooms.”
“That sounds good,” he said, false cheeriness filling his voice.
“It sounds horrible to you, doesn’t it?”
He nodded his head. “I’m sorry. I never was one for shopping, and all these people in this world make me nervous. It’s too populated.”
“Yeah, that’s something we worry about, but not enough people try to help.”
“Maybe your cousin will go with you?”
“That’s not a bad idea,” I said thoughtfully. Reconnecting with Riley had been great so far. Maybe I’d make an effort to do more with her.
When we’d done all we could in the room and even put sheets on the bed, we stood back to admire our handiwork.
“Now what?” I asked.
“Now we’re done for the day. Would you like to get some dinner?” he asked.
I looked down at my clothes, covered in dust. “I’m a bit of a mess.”
“I’d like to cook for you,” he said. “I’ve been talking to Axoular, and he helped me find ingredients very similar to those found on Galdiart. I’ve been experimenting.”
“I’d love to. Where do you live?”
“I’ve been given the first apartment here, actually,” he said with pride. “I haven’t done much decorating, but I’m proud to have a place to call home, finally. They’ve given me a salary, and Axoular and Riley’s husbands have been teaching me about the Internet. I’ve been researching buying my own place nearby.” He puffed up, proud of all he’d accomplished.
“That will have to be a part of the curriculum. Learning about purchasing property and navigating the Internet. There’s so much.” Doryu started down the hall toward the more finished portion of the building. Eventually we went down a set of stairs.
“It will take time,” he continued. “But in the end they’ll be so much better off. And they’re not coming from total ignorance. Most have a rudimentary knowledge of technology, and those that are too young to remember have been told stories and given small demonstrations.”
The downstairs was the same size as the floor above, but it was divided up into small apartments, similar in style to the one I’d given up in Knoxville, but in much better repair. Two of the apartments had only two rooms—a bathroom and a kitchen, living room, bedroom combo. Two had an extra bedroom, and one had two extra bedrooms. “We figured if any family was bigger we could partition off a dorm, or let the older kids stay in the dorm and the younger with the parents in the apartment. We will be flexible, and do whatever needs to be done to make it work.”
“I can’t wait to get started with you.” I felt like I was being given the title of headmistress just because Alexander was interested in me. I hadn’t even done anything to help the school along yet, although I had a ton of ideas, and now that I knew how to get to the headquarters from the castle, I could be there every day. I made a mental note to talk to Alexander. Maybe Doryu and I could run the school together. He was as passionate about it as I was, and if he had a seat on the council he should still have time to help with the school.
“I might take one of the other small apartments,” I said as we walked into his. He’d found a blanket that looked like it came straight out of a cowboy movie. It was slung over the back of the tan sofa.
Each apartment had the same basic furnishings—bed, kitchen table, sofa. I didn’t see any televisions. “We gotta talk to someone about getting some cable in here.”
“What’s cable?”
I laughed and tried to explain. “Have you seen a TV yet?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Cable provides hundreds of channels of entertainment. Mostly it’s like someone putting on a show, like on a stage in a theater, but it shows over the TV.”
He began chopping vegetables on the counter beside his two burner stove. “Wehad something similaron Galdiart, but yours is two dimensional. Ours was three.”
“How was it 3D? We have 3D here.”
“I’m trying to think of the word. It’s like the people are in the room with you, but small.” He threw all the chopped veggies in a skillet and began to chop herbs.
“Holographic?”
