RP: Lazarus [Lazarus] Unapologetic, maybe

"Yeah, it does seem like a fun community." Miles commented, as he got up from his spot by the bed, and went about picking up his case of assorted drugs.

"Aiesu, think you can manage to get up and dress yourself and not try to cause problems, or does Sana have to supervise you?" asked the Nepleslian, not so much as a taunt, but as a doctor wanting to get to business.

"I think I'll manage just fine" Aiesu's irate voice sounded.

Already, Sana had fitted a glove over her hand as to not draw attention and slipped into her jacket, slipping her (mostly unnecessary) shoes on. Her gaze settling on Miles, she smiled.

"So what's on the cards today?"

"First we'll take a walk around the dorm, explore a bit. While we do that, the collar will collect metabolic data from Aiesu, giving me a better idea of some of her biology." Miles explained, as he reached into a bag he had brought with him from the guest room, and from it he produced a pair of pants, a shirt, and other Nepleslian attire suited for a doctor on the clock, which he went about dressing in. "Then, we'll go and do a fitting for Aiesu's legs, I doubt I'll have to recalibrate them much from the way I've shipped them... then, we put them on and see how she does." Miles explained, as he smiled lightly. "Then, we'll have lunch, and maybe find another waitress to claim as a servant."

"More subjugation, I see?" Sana's featured warmed and softened, nudging Aiesu with her foot a little harder than she should have in payback for the finger.

"Mm, sounds fun."

The L'manel just winced and groaned. This wasn't happening. She refused to accept this was real and rolled over, trying to fall back into the loving embrace of sleeping pills to soothe the insomniac's itch.

There was a sort of judging gaze from Miles as he finished dressing, and looked upon Aiesu "Well, ain't she just a bump on a log." Miles spoke in observance of Aiesu's reluctance to remove herself from bed. Deciding that there was only one thing to be done, Miles went to the bed and went about grasping Aiesu by the waist, before attempting to lift her out of bed, to hold her up in the air, using the glorious power of being taller than the stunted Lmanel. "Sana, could you strap her usual legs on? I figure once we get her moving, she'll be do much better."

The pale naked body hung against the ground, her hands squeezing against Miles' wrists as she writhed like a wet fish on a shore, glistening with sweat.

"I-I-I...!?" She quivered with a strange terror, eyes welling up with betrayal as her hands motioned to cover herself. Her cheeks were a strange shade of pink, manganese violate shadows beneath her eyes burning. More than anything, she tried to hide her face, neck limp as she turned away, avoiding gazes as she sniffled.

Sana held the prosthethics, one in each hand but watched perfectly still as the small L'manel sobbed weakly.

Her gaze followed along the bed-pit, seeing Aiesu had shed her clothes into a pile at the bottom. Logic soon followed: To sleep in a bed-pit with clothing was considered unusual and something you only did when one was to be shared with someone outside your immediate family. If you fell asleep in clothes, the first thing you did after eating would be to remove them and ideally go back to sleep since the only situation it would ever happen in would be... Hangover.

Such a thing was an elementary unspoken rule among all Lorath.

"A-Ah... I think..." she began. "Maybe the Nepleslian approach is too forceful..."

There was a certain dispassion about the matter of picking up and holding the unclothed Aiesu, for Miles, there were certain mindsets which he was able to slip into. Perhaps it was a product of bouncing between social circles and having a professional life, but it was what it was, Miles was simply able to just 'Be a doctor', there was no arousal, no lewd interest, nothing questionable in that moment, just a determination to get Aiesu clothed and ready for going out that day, and incidentally, there was a lack of compassion there as well, as he held her up and waited for Sana to get to work, but with Sana's words, it was enough to open up his thought process just a bit so he realized how much of a brute he was in his method.

"Ah, perhaps you're right, its just that she is usually so direct, it seemed appropriate." Miles spoke aloud, before he sent a silent electronic message to Sana. "I just can't get used to how different she is in person. Normally, this would not leave her so utterly defeated, but like this, with the 'real' her, she's so... timid." With that thought spoken, Miles gently set Aiesu back down in the bed pit, before he made his way for the door of the dorm room to leave Sana and Aiesu alone. "Sana, just help her out... I'm going to wait out here for you two." with that, Miles left the room and took to standing in the hallway.

While waiting, Miles took to navigating the Lorath Matriarchy's computer network, gathering what data he could regarding Lorath psychology. There was a lot more to Aiesu's personalty than what was led on; it was not just some sort of 'Daddy and Mommy Issue' which plagued the Lmanel woman locked in the body of an adolescent. What was worse, was the fact that it made treating her physical defects all the more complicated, and that led Miles to widen his research to include notable irregularities in Lmanel shape shifting which had been observed through history. What poured into his reception was quite the list, it seemed, out of all of the Lorath, the Lmanel were quite possibly the most irregular, and perhaps, the most unstable of the eugenics program which had built the species.

Matriarchy Medical Library said:

"Observed Irregularities in Modern Lmanel and Direct Ancestry" Standard Data Registry Number 'LM-S-MED-36021999' Updated Post Exile Year 549

"Documented RNA And DNA Irregularities In Lmanel" Standard Data Registry Number 'LM-S-MED-29012371' Updated Post Exile Year 545

"Psychosomatic Influence On Lmanel Bonding Rituals" Standard Data Registry Number 'LM-S-MED-18218904' Updated Post Exile Year 541

"Overview of Aquatic Life-Form Compatibility With Lmanel Genetic Structure" Standard Data Registry Number 'LM-S-MED-09948710' Updated Post Exile Year 501

"K̷̳͔͋i̮̝'̥̗̼̠͍ͦͩ͡ͅỳ̮͖̭̭̭̓m͓̣͇̔̆͆̑̅ͨͪ ͈͋̔͌̔ͭͦͤB̐̐́̈́͏̪l͕͚̝̒͆̾̀e̼̞͎̞͓͖s̤̞̯̪͔̭͎ͨ͞š̀̈e̟͇̣͖̘̜͉ͬd̸͓̣̰ͦͨ ̲̏͘C͈͓̮̻̺e̮̝̣̣͓̪̍̌ͧ̔̿͜r̯ͪ́ẹ̸͉̝̱̞̮̈́̇m̢̰̟̤̣̲ͮͣ̚ͅoͥ͑̄̑͒͏̳n̻ͫ̃̒y̝̳̹̘̲̩͂͗̓̑ ̣̹͓͔̮̯̠͌o̥̻͂͒̍̌͑f͙͇̾͞ ̝̭̣̙̭͌B̟̠̦̏͌ͮ̕o̺n̦̱͈̻̫ͮd̪͚̦̦̭̜͇̽͊į̙̙̺̝̱̹ͨn̬͔̘g̳͕̜̩̥̓͗ ̵̫̼F̸͙̠̦͉̻̙͛l̵̖͙̲͍͕͍̫e̘̲͋ͩ̐̀s͔͓͍̞̖̯̟h̤̜̖͐̂̃̀,̘̝ ̬̥̪̿̈́ͫ̋ͨS̴ͧ̉͆̈́o̬̦̰͖ͅul̳͓̮͌̈́͠,ͫ̀҉̜̹ ̬͈̦ͨͯ̍͞ą̺ͪͩ̃̔̐̌n̵̝̬̣̝̹̮͎̑d̩̼̺̟̦ ̔̌̏̓ͨN͇͚͇̘͑̄̓a̭̱̳̞̐̂̊̓̉ͮt̝̅ͫ̈́u̇̿̀̈̇͏̫̳̖̝͓͎ͅŗ͓̠̎̏͆͑ë̗̘́̒̆͂̏̎͂͠" Standard Data Registry Number 'LM-T-00000024' Updated Post Exile Year 516, Canonized Year Of The Goddess 4,142

Click to expand...

And the list went on... it seemed, Miles had his work ahead of him, even if it was to be carried out in latent processing cycles in his cybernetic cognitive sub-processor.

"Well for one, she stutters. The others didn't" Sana said to herself. Carefully, she gathered an assortment of objects: A fresh change of clothes, breakfast and Aiesu's prosthetics, all rowed neatly next to the bed.

"He's enthusiastic. Don't hate him. I'll be outside" Sana said.

The last thing Aiesu heard was the door closing. With that, the figure of dashed blizzard snow hair and wrinkled cerise eyes bolted upright and watched the door. Only when it was safe did she continue with her day - her prosthetics first, moving to the door while picking at her breakfast to one by one shuffle on all five of the bolts.

"You know." Miles remarked, as he watched Sana walk out, and within moments, he heard the locks slide into place. "I could likely write a paper on Lmanel base-instinct behaviors just from this visit." he spoke with a chuckle, knowing full well that once Aiesu was safe and secure in what was equivalent to her rabbit hole, she was busying away at her day-to-day normal activities which constituted her morning routine.

"So... think she'll open the door voluntarily eventually, or that we'll have to find a way in?" Miles inquired as he eyed the rather sturdy door, and knew that finding a way in was not going to involve force, even with the availability of his mechanically augmented fiance.

Sana gave a slow shrug with a pedantic smile tailor made for Miles that suited the moment.

"Would you leave your hole if we were waiting outside?"

Carefully, she then stretched, making the mistake of cracking her knuckles, the sound like guitar-strings buckling. She writhed her fingertips, making sure she hadn't completely shot the tendons.

"Given what happened last night, I think that's a no."

There was an exhale of a chuckle which left Miles in response to Sana's words, she was right, there was no doubt on that, and it left him to lean against the section of wall which bordered a pair of dorm rooms as he looked upon Aiesu's door, and wondered how many layers of insulation she had custom ordered to keep prying sensors out, though, that did leave him to ask something simple;

"What if, you know, she's into our sort of thing but won't admit it to herself?" He asked Sana, as a distinctively Nepleslian smile of cocky boyishness crossed his lips, even as he listened to her mechanical tendons creak under the strain she inflicted upon them. He built her better than to let a little gesture like that botch up something as important as her fingers, and in that fact he took a distinctive pride.

"I mean, basic humanoid psychology usually indicates that whenever someone goes through extreme displays of emotion, such as the kind of display which we've seen from her, there is a distinctive zeal only because deep down, the person knows even succumbing to a temptation in the slightest would only be the start of a total submersion into what they knew would suck them in." on that thought, Miles rubbed his chin and smirked at the idea, until he recalled the night before.

"Also, you know, could you do me, well, us a favor? Tell her sometime that the balls are off limits when having a physical altercation. I mean, I think in this culture it is your place in things to voice a grievance which is usually to be acknowledged and respected." It seemed, that Miles knew just what extremes of expressing her emotional upset that Aiesu would go to for the sake of avoiding what him and Sana represented, and what Aiesu likely wanted to deny.

"Balls are why its a matriarchy, Miles" Sana said quietly, watching the door. She was rather annoyed that she couldn't see through it. Glancing back, her trademark smile returned.

"If you didn't have them, you'd be that much harder to 'subjugate'... Still... If she is aspected after a rabbit as the report says, she should have been flirting with us when we first met her. Flirting platonically, mind but... Well. L'manel are a weird sort" Sana said, reaching back to scratch the back of her neck.

"I get on much better with Fyunnen myself. Did we have something planned?"

"Don't forget, the whole reason she is ill, she is not just influenced by the local equivalent to a rabbit, but also the local sharks." Miles noted, deciding to totally evade the matter of loins and politics, it was just safer that way. "Either way, the Lmanel are just plain strange, you're right about that much, for sure. At least they're a good and fair people though."

Deciding to touch upon the practical, Miles thought to the plans of the day. There was the matter of gathering metabolic data from Aiesu while she digested breakfast, then there was the fitting and installation of her new legs, after that was the real work, but Miles knew he'd not be able to finish that bit within his second day on the job. "I think, we'll let her lead the day for a few hours, then we'll take her to the campus hospital and work on getting her legs fitted, then, we'll go shoe shopping. After all, she's going to be needing a pair. I want to give her some flexibility in the schedule though. I don't want to fully invade her life and boss her about as if she were on a leash, to match the collar. Besides, she tends to do better when she thinks she is in charge."

Sana nodded, hands tugging down at the flanks of her jacket, feeling it rise against her shoulders. She eyed the length of the corridor, noting most of the doors didn't actually match, each taken from various buildings. She made a point of memorising some of the signs as her back leant against their own dorm-room door which sat exactly opposite Aiesu's.

"I think it might be an idea to report back to the old man, since the dinner was his idea. He's a step-parent, so he shouldn't really be all that protective, so he's got no right to start anything if we tell him the truth of what happened. Could be fun, drilling him for info on the girl. How about it?"

"Hrm... that's some good thinking. Can't get a thing past two-hundred-fifty-six processor cores, that, or that brain of yours, clever girl." There was a smile on Miles' lips as he crossed his arms and looked to the ceiling in thought, and in the process, noticed the layers of spackling paste which had been used to cover cracks in the plaster. As he eyed the pattern which the off-white streaks formed, he continued on the thought. "After we put her legs on, we'll see Ty, I want something positive to report to the old man when we get in there. It'd be better than showing up empty handed, especially because we kind of burnt a large chunk of a Lorath day with our debauchery and getting our asses in gear this morning, and that's like burning a full day worth of time back on Nepleslia, it feels wrong not to have anything done by now."

"I wonder though... what are Lmanel customs regarding discussing the sexual development of someone's step child with their step parent?" Miles inquired, his mind clearly in the gutter which it called home.

Sana couldn't help but wonder if Miles had a fetish for numbers, with the way he'd riffed off the stats so reverently. Still, he had reason to be proud of his handiwork, she thought. Every other thought now was remembered synthetically. It was almost as if the edges were cut in mosaic precision slices, removing the softness and the warmth from the experiences. Connotations took time to bleed back.

It made her memory unusually empirical. At first there had been issues with the technology -- trying to remember everything naturally, pouring into you at its own whim was something she's found traumatic: remembering things she'd sooner forget, overwhelming her.

Most hospitals on Nepleslia would have left her like that, had they augmented her like that. A few even did. Whether it was Miles' love of her or his perfectionism though, he'd seen how it pained her and had slowed things to a trickle.

It made her slow to remember things and perhaps unintuitive. But when she did remember, it was impossible crystal clarity, as if reading a story.

To that end, it took her a moment to recall the topic of conversation.

"Well, it depends on the caste..." she began, exploring the doors again, trying to guess the residents personal lives based on their decor. When this proved too difficult, she tried again, settling for just the caste, to which she had just a little more luck.

"But generally, a step-parent is the claim of the other parent and has no relationship for the child. Its considered distasteful to be outraged over something their child has done, because it isn't your business. Sexually speaking, its taboo for them to come into contact because there's no blood link or need for 'physical education'... Does that make sense? "

There was a nod from Miles, a simple acknowledgement, but the nod itself also carried a connotation based upon the way Miles held himself; he was being thoughtful. "Its okay to discuss, not okay to expect involvement. Look but don't touch, so to speak." Miles concluded, as he eyed Sana for a moment and had a fleeting thought which brought a warmth to his belly; it was one of those random occurrences of feeling a reminder of his affection for her, and it made him scoot closer to her, before putting an arm around her waist while standing beside her.

"You know, it could be kind of fun for us to live in a place like this." Miles spoke, referring to the dormitory. "I haven't lived in a dorm since I was in my teens, I'm kind of curious how I'd take to it now. I wonder how they take to cybernetically enhanced students... must make finals a bitch and a half to evaluate properly." Miles' mind played over the thought of going to school again, learning, broadening his horizons, or at least getting proper certification for the things he did know, though, it left him wondering about Sana. "What about you? Ever consider something like that? It would be healthy for you, considering actively using your organic brain materials would slow or reverse some of the decay and atrophy."

Aiesu wrinkled her nose in disgust at the wide curved display of her computer. She'd been working in some image manipulation program now for about twenty minutes ever since she'd manage to shoo Miles and Sana away, a photograph of Seiren taken by one of his class-mates. It was arguably one of the less tasteful images, almost certainly an older girl with a crush -- or maybe an especially brave boy, the image showing off Seiren in spats, topless.

She ran her tongue through her cheek as she moved from image to image, then panned back to her main document.

It was Seiren, unmistakably, but something was different. The shades of masks, layers and colours were not unlike makeup, touching up the photo. His skin was pale, not unlike her own (though certainly, healthier) and his hair was darker... His eyes had a thick pair of dark rings about them and his neck too was patched in darkness, a pair of thick button like ears completing the panda-motif.

There was something about the image that made her struggle to take her eyes off it.

Why did it feel so familiar?

She wasn't quite sure what had inspired her to create this visage. But for whatever reason, it now existed.

A knock on the door snapped her back from lah-lah land. Expecting Miles and Sana to be returning, she hit the close-button, prompting:






Her choice was obvious. She set the cursor over the save-button. Her cerise eyes lowered in the dim morning light, feeling something warm on her thigh. Her hands darted instinctively for a tissue, dabbing droplettes of blood from her thigh -- covering her nose with her free hand. She tipped her head back and sniffed sharply -- catching a glance at the bottle of medication Miles had issued.

Before thoughts could culminate into storm-clouds of second-opinion, a sharp knock resounded through the door.

"W-Who is it?"

She began wondering if she'd locked the door.

"Heeeeeeeeyo~" a cheery Yamataian voice.

She tensed sharply, freezing like stone on the spot.

She clicked.

Fuck. You are literally the last person I want to see right now she growled to herself. Looking back to her computer screen, her document was missing. She searched a folder for the document. Nothing. It took a moment for the penny to drop -- that in surprise, she'd moved the cursor in that spasm.

She wiped her forehead with a wet-wipe, then set a medical mask over her mouth, moving toward the door with awkward plastic steps. Her wiry fingers began undoing the bolts and locks, opening the door a hair's bredth to peek, leaving only the chain on.

"Is anyone with you?" she said. She stared up at the two in the hallway. Eyes narrowing, she undid the bolt, pulled Seiren through the door and slammed it shut once he was clear, immediately scrambling to restore her protections.

"What's that?"

The construct giggled, speaking Yamataian again. She thanked her head-band which set subtitles in her vision, as it had when she was dealing with Miles.

"I~gotan~in~viiiiiii~te~~☆" Seiren said in a sing-song voice.

The fact Aiesu could literally hear AND see the star was jarring to say the least.

"You're still looking for clubs?" she murmured behind her medical mask. She pulled it to hang against her neck, wiping her bloody nose with a pale wrist. "Nnn.. Cuisine club? Foreign entertainments?"

She could see he was unimpressed with her guesses.

"Or how about the cross-dressing pervert Yamataian appreciation club?"

"Ha. Ha. Very. Funny."

"Hardly. You'd love the attention. You're one of those... 'extroverts' as the trader's call it. "

Indigiantly, Seiren began unfolding the card, shifting to sit in profile to Aiesu.

"You mean Nepleslian. Anyway. Its an invitation to a party or something. The word isn't translating. Can you read it for me? I think my dictionary's broken."

Aiesu took the invitation, her back against the door now as her bitten fingernails picked at the seam of the expensive paper, peeling it open. She stared at the card, which he'd already seen.

"You mean my dictionary. Hueo... Hueo-voraldis... No, its orthodox... Qua-vladisa...?"

"What now?"

"Its not in current."

"current what?"

"Current idealect. Its an old word. We don't keep it in the books or dictionaries or anything. We don't teach a word like this to children under a certain age or foreigners. I think you can understand why but... To be invited? YOU?"

"What, is there booze or somethng? Cuuz I'll have you know I drink pretty responsibly...except for when I don't..."

He can be really scary sometimes..

Aiesu's eyes narrowed, a middle finger pushing her glasses further up her nose. She glanced aside, confirming the locks near her shoulder were done up, then lead Seiren deeper into the room -- into the kitchen and closed the door behind herself.

"What?" Seiren began again. "How bad could it be? I mean..."

Aiesu could see him smiling, the look like something out of the Yamataian high-school visual novels she'd played. She couldn't meet eyes with him.

"You mean what?"

"I... Didn't really go to big parties back home. I wasn't all that popular. Though... They can't be that bad, can they?"

He almost sounded like he was pining for some lost experience of his youth.

Admittedly, she could identify with him here.

"W-Well... Its a... Small meeting..." she began, whispering now. "M-M..Maybe twenty people or so... I-Its kind of private."

Her eyes still couldn't meet his.

"That's it? That's hardly larger than the crew of the Phoenix and I drank with them all the time... Well, not ALL the time, but frequently."

"W-W...Well..." Aiesu could hear herself stammering, her voice croaking. "I-I-Its not just drinking..."

"Were you always such a prude?" Seiren sighed.

Her eyes snapped back to his, behind her lenses. Had he completely missed what she'd said?

"When was the last time you went out to a social event that DIDN'T involve company in some way, Aies?"






A tall cut of metal, almost like a book-mark fell from Seiren's pocket as he hung up his coat. Her eyes sunk, very very slowly climbing to stare back up at him. The panda printed on it stood out.

Was she mocking him?

"T-This...?"

The construct raised an eyebrow at his room-mate's behavior. He waited for alarm or shouting or whatever she'd follow up with but nothing came. His shoulders sunk, admiring the metal in his fingertips.

"Its cute, isn't it? Even though they don't really like Yamatai here... You like our animals, don't you? Funny how it works, isn't it?"

Aiesu just blinked in disbelief.

"P-P..Panda's are k-kind of popular here... T-They resemble a particular look in our history..."

She could feel her hands trembling.

"Oh?"

"M-M...Make-up, that sort of thing... Its a look c-children wore during c...ceremonies."

"Huuuh... How cute. Did you wear something like this?"

"N-No!" she shouted. "W-Well..."

"Mmm?"

"I-I'm a girl. I wouldn't have worn something like that. How to explain... Sssss...Ssss-S-Same-sss-Sex P-Pederasty was pretty common about two hundred years ago among us."

"Ped-what? Calm down... Deep breaths."

She stared. He could be really condescending sometimes.

"Like... The samurai were in your history. The youth, submitting to their elders."

"Oh, like squires?"

Aiesu said nothing. With quivering hands, she made a small O with her thumb and index finger, then slipped her middle-finger against the tiny gap, just barely fitting.

". . . Oh."

Seiren blushed.

"Its... Symbolic in our history, among noble men and women" she tried not to laugh, embarrassed but put at ease to see Seiren really was capable of blushing and not just exuding infinite confidence.

"I uh... S-See" Seiren mumbled, rummaging through one of the cabinets.

Aiesu watched, wondering just what he was doing.

"But this'll be different, obviously. Its just a party, not an extended mentorship, right?"

"A-Actually... Its a c-ceremony. V-..Very much like a party and... Its really really fun but... Its kind of considered a rite of passage." Aiesu said, her hands muddling against the counter-top behind herself as she felt her synthetic legs wobble. "W-Whoever invited you... Really likes you. Its kind of ... Important."

"Neat. But anyways, its happening tomorrow. I was just kinda slow in getting the mail this week. What should I wear, you think?"

Tomorrow?

"P-...Panda, I think... Y-You're being made an honorary L'manel afterall. Even I won't be able to refute that... I-It'd be disrespectful to go against what they've selected for you."

"Hum... You think I can get something express delivered or y'think I'll have to get one myself?"

"P..Probably myself but..." she reached into a cup-board, aking out a plain white mask that didn't cover the mouth, only the upper half of the face. A tall set of rabbit-ears sat atop it -- shadow about the eyes matching her cerise. "You'll need something like this."

"A mask? This is getting cult-like..."

"W-Well..." Aiesu tensed, hiding behind her mask, both hands holding it. It still fit her, surprisingly well. There was black fabric covering where her eyes would be -- sinking into dark pits.

"Aiesu?"

"T-There'll be people there who... Don't know you... A-And some who do... Y-You may or may not want to p..preserve your a-anonymity. Itsss... Common only to wear them in the beginning... T-Then you carry it around your neck... O-Or on the side of your head" she said, demonstrating. Soon, the mask sat on the upper left of her head over her snowy mane, remeniscent of something.

"Oh, like in Yamataian festivals!"

"Y-Yeah... W-Wearing it like this has become trendy since our nations met..."

"Is there a store for completed masks or do I need a base to do it myself?"

"Nnn. Y-You can buy them blank... B-But you'll have to paint them yourself and do the laquor ... Floor two has the kiln. Its a big honor so... Ask anyone and they'll be happy to show you. Just show them the invitation and they'll know what you need..."

"Huaa... I don't have time to lose... Buh-Bye!" Seiren declared, pocketing the card and the bookmark-like plate into his pocket. He scrambled at the locks.

Aiesu watched for a moment before moving over to unlock the door herself. Hands on her hips, she watched Seiren skitter down the hall, nearly bumping into Miles and Sana as he passed them.

"Huh... Moron" she said, slipping her door-shut to do up all the locks again with that resentful stare.

So I was beaten?

"I'm tempted..." Sana smiled as Seiren slipped past her, dotting at the corner before he ran down the stairs.

Where's he going?

"As for students... They don't 'finals' like we do. Its all problem solving. They give you a scenario and let you use your skills to solve it, with zero outside help. In Aiesu's case, this would be studying a real patient and curing them."

"Did you have any classes in mind?"

"A few actually. I've glanced over the prerequisites they have for the classes I have in mind, and I'm able to get in. I'm thinking about expanding my engineering capabilities beyond cybernetics. I was starting to take engineering courses back when we were in the service, but, well, that was kind of cut short." Miles spoke, sounding wistful. "I'd likely take courses in engineering, advanced chemistry, applied mechanical science, and a piloting course. Perhaps two condensed courses in Lorath language and history."

Miles felt that his explanation came out like some sort of shotgun shell of pick-and-choose, before he elaborated; "I'm looking to obtain a certificate to indicate a qualification in starship design, engineering, and repair. I'm versed in most of it, but there are some recent advancements which I'd love to examine further." There was a chuckle from Miles at that point "Perhaps directing a work crew and building us a new ship could be my dissertation." he spoke with a wide smile.