A black-haired, tan-skinned Nekovalkyrja's image quickly fades into view on the image panel. She is centered in the camera, with a shadowed electric blue background. She wears a red wool blazer, with a light periwinkle blouse underneath. Her hair is flawlessly pushed behind her black-tipped ears, framing her face in front of a dark curtain of silk.
"Good morning, Yamatai — this is SANDRA."
Off to the Neko's left, on the panel's border, the word "SANDRA" vertically appeared. Below the Neko, inside a little graphic, was the Neko's name — Ogama Mio. It was written in Yamataian and Nepleslian, though the Neko spoke Nepleslian.
"The Yamatai Department of Education today announced the creation of an educational system for Nekovalkyrja younglings born into the civilian world. The Gakuen system provides an accelerated learning structure for Nekovalkyrja designed around their rapid growth into adulthood. It includes socialization time with human children and a focus on team building and interaction with others.
"The system is comprised of several academies across Yamatai and its sister planets, with the size of the academy proportional to the Nekovalkyrja population of the area."
Cut to a scene of a young, dark-skinned man with brown eyes and fuzzy, short black hair, wearing a light grey business suit, silk tie with shiny red and matte red stripes, and a white shirt. He stood at a podium with a dull blue curtain behind him, looking off-camera.
Across the bottom of the screen, a name in white Nepleslian letters on a light blue background flashed — Raymond Akiyama, Minister of Education.
"This system fulfills our promise to the Empire's citizenry of free, quality education to those who swear loyalty to the Empire." He pointed to someone in the audience, and listened to the question.
"We considered fully integrating Nekovalkyrja younglings into the current system, but their biology makes it too impractical. We would have to quadruple the size of some schools just to hold the students, let alone teachers and support staff keeping track of younglings that are around for a month at most." He listened to the same reporter follow-up with another question. "No, we don't consider it 'separate but equal.' It's a necessity based purely on biology, not racism. This way, Nekovalkyrja younglings get the quality education they deserve in an environment that's tuned to them."
He pointed to another reporter and listened. The man was, at best, in his mid-thirties. "The foster system is going to be used on several other planets, and in the northern and southern reaches of Yamatai. There are a few areas in the Vela plains that might adopt it, but that's for those prefectures to work out." He listened to a follow-up. "Yes, we stress the local control. Prefectures, guided by the situations of their municipalities, know what's best for their youths."
An older-sounding reporter spoke up without being pointed to. Akiyama listened, visibly stone-faced. "At this time, Mr. Trumbo, no separate agency is in the works for the Gakuen. DOE deputy ministers will be the superintendents, working with their prefecture counterparts to handle the load." He listened to a follow-up, the stone of his face cracking a bit. "Every program at the beginning has its rough edges. We're confident that the locally hired staff and other officials will work it out, and as we learn more, we'll work to streamline the process."
He took another question from a female reporter. "We don't believe that many younglings are going to be joining the Star Army that soon. Municipalities did a lot of study on this before they brought their suggestions to us, and they found a lot of Neko want their younglings to be ready for civilian careers the Star Army doesn't always have room to provide. We're going to be there for those mothers and make sure their younglings get that education that's going to set them for the future."
The screen returned to Ogama.
"The government says the largest academies will be in the Kyoto/Melanchol/Koriyama Tri-Prefecture area. Melami Prefecture has announced it will create one centralized academy for its students, while Jhuniata Prefecture, which still is rebuilding, will use many smaller schools to serve its scattered population."
She paused for just a couple of beats. "This is SANDRA."
"Good morning, Yamatai — this is SANDRA."
Off to the Neko's left, on the panel's border, the word "SANDRA" vertically appeared. Below the Neko, inside a little graphic, was the Neko's name — Ogama Mio. It was written in Yamataian and Nepleslian, though the Neko spoke Nepleslian.
"The Yamatai Department of Education today announced the creation of an educational system for Nekovalkyrja younglings born into the civilian world. The Gakuen system provides an accelerated learning structure for Nekovalkyrja designed around their rapid growth into adulthood. It includes socialization time with human children and a focus on team building and interaction with others.
"The system is comprised of several academies across Yamatai and its sister planets, with the size of the academy proportional to the Nekovalkyrja population of the area."
Cut to a scene of a young, dark-skinned man with brown eyes and fuzzy, short black hair, wearing a light grey business suit, silk tie with shiny red and matte red stripes, and a white shirt. He stood at a podium with a dull blue curtain behind him, looking off-camera.
Across the bottom of the screen, a name in white Nepleslian letters on a light blue background flashed — Raymond Akiyama, Minister of Education.
"This system fulfills our promise to the Empire's citizenry of free, quality education to those who swear loyalty to the Empire." He pointed to someone in the audience, and listened to the question.
"We considered fully integrating Nekovalkyrja younglings into the current system, but their biology makes it too impractical. We would have to quadruple the size of some schools just to hold the students, let alone teachers and support staff keeping track of younglings that are around for a month at most." He listened to the same reporter follow-up with another question. "No, we don't consider it 'separate but equal.' It's a necessity based purely on biology, not racism. This way, Nekovalkyrja younglings get the quality education they deserve in an environment that's tuned to them."
He pointed to another reporter and listened. The man was, at best, in his mid-thirties. "The foster system is going to be used on several other planets, and in the northern and southern reaches of Yamatai. There are a few areas in the Vela plains that might adopt it, but that's for those prefectures to work out." He listened to a follow-up. "Yes, we stress the local control. Prefectures, guided by the situations of their municipalities, know what's best for their youths."
An older-sounding reporter spoke up without being pointed to. Akiyama listened, visibly stone-faced. "At this time, Mr. Trumbo, no separate agency is in the works for the Gakuen. DOE deputy ministers will be the superintendents, working with their prefecture counterparts to handle the load." He listened to a follow-up, the stone of his face cracking a bit. "Every program at the beginning has its rough edges. We're confident that the locally hired staff and other officials will work it out, and as we learn more, we'll work to streamline the process."
He took another question from a female reporter. "We don't believe that many younglings are going to be joining the Star Army that soon. Municipalities did a lot of study on this before they brought their suggestions to us, and they found a lot of Neko want their younglings to be ready for civilian careers the Star Army doesn't always have room to provide. We're going to be there for those mothers and make sure their younglings get that education that's going to set them for the future."
The screen returned to Ogama.
"The government says the largest academies will be in the Kyoto/Melanchol/Koriyama Tri-Prefecture area. Melami Prefecture has announced it will create one centralized academy for its students, while Jhuniata Prefecture, which still is rebuilding, will use many smaller schools to serve its scattered population."
She paused for just a couple of beats. "This is SANDRA."
