Building the Collateral - 93 - Early Access (Patreon)

Now that the worries which had personally plagued me were somewhat assuaged for the moment, it was time to turn to much grander issues at hand. It mostly manifested in the form of rather unexpected political resistance. I suppose it’d been a bit too smooth sailing for a little bit.

This manifested primarily in minor objections levied by the Reformists political bloc, that side which favored internal development. They weren’t exactly pleased by the idea of a foreigner taking the Director of Education role, something that they argued should be filled by a local candidate instead. To be more specific, they were fine with foreign money coming into prop up our centers of learning- but not so pleased by the face of it all.

Chloe did reach out to me privately during the debates and mentioned that she didn’t mind, given Kishi seemed quite competent during initial deliberations. But plenty under her banner harbored a few misgivings, which were honestly quite fair. Maybe they were even just putting up this resistance on behalf of their constituents, or held worries regarding the presence of a megacorporation in the lives of very impressionable learners.

Hmm. An interesting spot of bother.

We did already have a very large majority between the progressives and moderates, so Kishi was pretty much already confirmed for the role. It’d take a greater number afterwards to remove her, something that those worried reformists would be unable to muster. But I didn’t want to see the matter glossed over, as it was a very valid concern. We needed to strike a balance here, between what Kishi insists are her genuine efforts to respect regional learning and what is actually necessary to take a step onto the wider interstellar stage.

First of all, let’s make sure that existing schooling isn’t simply smothered by the SSC. We’ll put into our code of law a rule that primary education is still chiefly handled by local communities, which should keep the big companies out unless explicitly invited in by those regional leaders. At which point, whatever floats your boat- but you better believe that the Cavia Committee will be conducting regular inspections and audits to make sure that everything is above board. I’ll not have local councilors pocketing manna by selling out their people, thank you very much.

Additionally, we’ll need to emphasize a minimum level of acceptable education for our little globe. I recalled some sort of saying from my past life about how the best democracy was only as smart as the dumbest voter; a dark, yet accurate statement. Populist movements that coast off immediate emotions instead of measured logic have sometimes been the undoing of a people’s government. So let’s try to at least insist on everybody being able to at least read and write to a certain degree. They don’t necessarily need to be able to quote classics from memory, but they should at least be able to be versed enough to participate intelligently regarding their immediate community.

It was the next step up that I believed we could start allowing elements of those megacorporations to make themselves known more openly. Once citizens accomplish a sufficient level of literacy, then they would be able to apply themselves to higher learning if that should be their calling. This is the big thing that has been mostly lacking from Cavia all this while, meaning that we were stepping a little into the unknown here. If this was what scared some members of the reformists, then I could really understand their fears.

But such things are not impossible to overcome with sufficient planning and cooperation.

While our ideal would have multiple campuses across the planet, some likely specializing in a specific relevant trade in the region or maybe a launch off point for something elsewhere. Smith-Shimano Corpo and Harrison Armory had their own colleges that might have a presence her eventually, though that day was fairly far off for the moment. We had to start small, a single general purpose academy in our capital.

Kavgarad would be the very center of this development, something that did assure some of those on the fence. There was a great symbolism in having the first academy so close to our seat of power, something that even the most jaded of reformists could beam in pride at, even if it was going to be funded by megacorporation charity. The outskirts specifically had plenty of suitable land to claim for this matter, eventually being linked via public transit to remain quite accessible. The costs of labor and materials was covered by Smith-Shimano, and the workforce itself was one of our army corps getting to work.

Ah right. There’s the worm in the apple, the entire military angle of our Half Committee and SecComm ancestry. How much did we really want our armed forces to be involved in what went on here? That was a discussion that had to be hashed out before the first syllabus, as it would undoubtedly set expectations for those who passed through these halls in time.

I could already tell that this was going to be a great debate, both in our halls of congress and in the datastreams that were slowly beginning to envelop our world as our society pulled itself forwards.

Kishi hummed to herself as she waited for the room invite. Another day, another discussion, another revision. School hadn’t even begun yet, but she was handling so much administrative work already. Though honestly, like she always insisted to the most stubborn student, better to do one’s homework well before the actual due date.

So even though the final confirmation of her position was still up in the air, the SSC NHP was already acting like she had the responsibilities of the role and endeavored to see them through.

Among them was the ongoing debate that still was going on in the government. It was a curious one, regarding the nature of the entire structure itself. She listened to it via the media broadcasts with one ear, seeing the intriguing perspectives of the humans- but not quite personally understanding the gravity of the matter. Which was...novel.

She reviewed her prior assignments. In a good majority of them, what she taught was usually what was just demanded by the executive or legislature. Maybe even a combination of the two, usually in a rather swift determination. This was quite different, in that there was apparently nuance to the entire matter. Something that she was unfamiliar with [or Had been overwritten].

Now that Kishi was curious to enlighten herself, she sought out one who might be able to parse the conflict into something to take into herself. On that very note, the room invite pinged and the schoolteacher accepted, shifting about in the server. Her little office vanished and was replaced by another, a familiar one. “Good day to you, Miss Veronica.”

“A pleasant day to you as well, Miss Kishi,” the executive adjutant returned. “Your message indicated an error. Was there an exception I need to handle?”

“Yes, though it isn’t necessarily a logical matter like that,” Kishi clarified, hand reaching up to flick her ear. The stream link was passed through and Veronica wordlessly tilted her head, accepting and opening the ongoing media coverage too. “It’s a rather curious argument, isn’t it?”

“Please elaborate.”

“I mean, listen to your Premier-General. He’s going on about officer qualifications,” she pointed out, slightly frowning. “A bit of an odd matter to fixate on, isn’t it? After all, all who attend this academy are surely to be enrolled in the local equivalent of a reserve corp. That’s how such things go, right?”

“Ah. I understand the matter now.” Veronica let her digital pen vanish and brought that freed hand to her lips, thinking. “It...hmm. My apologies, as I find it difficult to truly describe to an outsider.”

“If it’s too much, then no need. I’ll just accept and go along with it-”

“No,” the aide sharply said, surprising the other NHP slightly. “No. I...do not wish for you to labor in ignorance. Not when you are a key player to this matter too, requiring a level of comprehension to what ails the Commander and his administration.”

Veronica was quiet for another few miliseconds, her shackles briefly glowing. A sign that her own casket was surely warming up from the processors overclocking. “You are not wrong in your preconception that this will be a source of future military leadership. However, you appear to have achieved the misconception that it will be exclusively that.”

“Oh?” This did pique Kishi’s interest, most indeed. “So civilian careers are also permitted?”

“If anything, I believe the overall draft that Commander Moores and I have worked upon would have the relationship reversed.” Now that she was getting into the explanation, her room seemed to shift and warp to help illustrate her reasoning. The landscape changed from that of a slightly mundane office to something quite different. A school, located on a moon if Kishi had to guess. “I believe it best to disclose that part of our inspiration comes from observing operations of this multiple institutions. The first is something that the Commander and I are very well-acquainted with: The New Theseus War College.”

Kishi slowly blinked. “...New Theseus? But Theseus Shipyards-”

“Is on the real Luna yes, the lone moon that hangs above Cradle. Not even mentioning that those shipyards themselves are now IPS-N museum pieces.” Veronica pressed her lips into a thin line. “Though given the apparent influence of that same megacorporation within the Half Committee, perhaps they had a hand in this one’s creation too.”

“Hold on, I feel that we might have skipped a step. Why that name, of all things?”

“Ah, on that,” Veronica shifted the background from that of the space and towards the terrestrial planet below, one that wasn’t quite that iconic image of humanity’s birthplace- but close enough to be striking. “Recall that the Half Committee was established on the presumption of being the only true legitimate successor to SecComm, rather than ThirdComm. Meaning that plenty of those who had been attached to those forces that would establish the polity were very close to the Metropolitans, with some even hailing from the Sol system itself. To better...establish their legitimacy, it could be seen, they envisioned themselves as founding a new Cradle. A new Terra, if you will.”

“That’s, um,” Kishi struggled to find the words for that, prior tyrant bosses not quite matching up to this delusion. “Quite something. So they would even go so far as to call their new moon, er, the moon?”

Veronica’s eyes seemed to glow as she spoke distantly. “Close. They would name the bigger one Luna, then smash the smaller into it in an attempt to erase its presence. That impact crater would be the site of the New Theseus War Collage in time.

“It would in time become known as the primary source of higher education within those territories claimed by the Half Committee. There would be no finer place of learning in that part of the Diaspora.”

“Ah, but your tone indicates it wasn’t so respectable,” observed the SSC representative. “Go on, what was the catch?”

“Enrollment was technically free and fully subsidized to all- pending a pledge to serve in the Half Committee’s armed forces afterwards. One that was quite strictly enforced, with assignment based entirely on assessment.” The NHP turned quiet, thinking about her former organization. “Should one or their family provide substantial donation instead, then they may be diverted to a branch of their preference. That would be the choice of House Moores, to put Matthew through. He unfortunately failed pilot qualifications then, though he would retain a high enough score to achieve admittance to the naval courses.”

Now the new head of education on Cavia was frowning, trying to understand where this was going. “That’s...pretty normal, isn’t it?” she listed out. “I mean, I will concede that my own viewpoint is possibly limited, my most immediate point of reference being Gogaku Enclave.”

“Gogaku Enclave,” Veronica repeated, then spoke again as if reading from afar. “A workshop that specializes in honing the mind. Those who present themselves for refinement are expected to repay their maker in full.”

Kishi didn’t ordinarily feel fear, but this was the same sort of creeping sensation she felt around Jean. She checked and Veronica’s shackles were still laid upon her, albeit glowing even more intently now. “Is everything alright? Do you require assistance?”

“I...no. I’m quite alright.” The digital world dissolve back into a blank space as Veronica eased up on her cores, freeing up memory space to properly handle the apparent sudden influx of data. “Forgive me, I simply have moments like those. It is nothing so unusual.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” the other NHP muttered, but she wasn’t going to pry. Not when she didn’t know Veronica well enough to judge that claim. “But returning to the conversation, you are entirely correct. You pay for a service performed upon you with a service in turn. The blade cuts two ways.”

“Which appears to repeat the methodology utilized by the New Theseus War College.” Veronica summoned up a final image, something that was much more easier to recall with a veteran of this institution providing direct testimony. “For the final case study, we refer to the famed Purview Interstellar College. And what do we see? The same pattern again.”

“Admission with service,” Kishi noted, thinking. “This is becoming a very common thread among established universities.”

“Indeed, which would suggest that it remains some sort of ancient tradition. Perhaps one that could even date back to pre-Collapse methods.” The aide to the Premier-General exhaled, the expression surely matching the whine of her casket’s cooling systems. “However, Moores...he wishes otherwise so. He wants to rollback the influence of the military.”

That...no, surely not. Kishi must be missing the necessary context libraries to understand the message behind the statement. She seized upon the opportunity to remedy that. “But that weakens his position, surely. It’s entirely illogical and would even put your position in the Diaspora in peril,” she laid out. “Your standing forces are all that stands against you and that of others. Especially those who would not hesitate at such niceties.”

“Hmm. Allow me to better define my prior statement.” Veronica tried to explain it again. “Matthew Moores wishes to withdraw the presumption of armed service associated with subsidized higher education.”

“Whatever is the difference?”

“I believe that his interpretation relates to his seeming disdain for over-militarization.” As she spoke, the room changed. “Commander Moores has shown prior dismay regarding the narrow utilization of an armed force. As shown by previous decisions alongside that of his Resolution of Soldiering in Peace, he seeks not just an officer corp or specialist cadre that this academy would produce. No, I believe instead that he does look to benefit the general population too.”

Finally, things began to assemble for Kishi. “He’s trying to branch out and include both of them. Military and civilian. A multi-purpose campus?” she murmured, trying to envision how it would look. She...honestly couldn’t say, and that was almost exciting. “So this entire part about reserve candidacy….”

“I believe it to be him differentiating a potential candidate, and a willing leader,” Veronica supplied, sitting back into a newly manifested armchair. “A candidate that shows aptitude for officer training needn’t be ‘encouraged’ to join for further benefits. They ought to be offered for sure, but the primary motivation will and always should be a desire to serve then. Reserve militia training as a provided alternative if that should fail to entice, and if the method fails entirely? Then it simply is the student’s choice.

“No more. No less.”

“But can we afford not being able call up that talent?” She had stopped referring to the matter as an observer from afar now, talking as if it too was her home on the line. “Wouldn’t that just be a great waste?”

“The Commander believes otherwise. That a talented mind as such will be able to apply itself best to where their true interest lies instead of forced service.”

“Naive,” Kishi labeled, unaware she was echoing a hated colleague. “You aren’t in a position to negotiate.”

“Hopeful,” Veronica quietly corrected, echoing her own superior too. Her hand absently reached out and picked up a scroll laying on her desk. “It’s what gotten us this far. He sees more than all of us.”

“Maybe so. Perhaps I’ll give it a shot,” Kishi conceded, blinking before looking around. “Hold on. What’s this?”

The office space had morphed multiple times during the conversation, transitioning seemingly based on whatever was most relevant for the conversation. Now it settled into an apparent natural resting spot, which curiously wasn’t the professional workspace that Veronica had displayed so far. No, this was something quite personal, resembling...a library?

“Oh. Ah, um…” Said NHP was blushing slightly, gesturing with the scroll she had just picked up. “The Commander has been...encouraging me to partake in a hobby. Called going dormant when off-duty as not counting. Considering his advice then, I have been partaking in borrowing entries from omninet libraries to peruse. As they will surely help me with my work!”

She exclaimed that a little too quickly, Kishi noted with a slight grin. Especially when she recognized one of the tomes resting on the desk. Either that, or she had yet to learn how a series about lancers fighting with half their shirts missing related to governance in this universe.