man can get used to anything, after a while.
"Thank you. It's part of the calibration procedure, and things will get much, much better as time goes on, and I really get the feel of your spinal column."
"Right. So just how long is this training period, anyway?" I asked.
"That depends on you, Mickolai. It's over when you complete the course. The record for basic training is three months, but most people take five or so."
"What's the worst record? I just might beat that."
"Oh, I hope not. Some people never do pass, you know. They have to be sent back."
"What happens to them then?"
"That depends. If they were really volunteers, they simply go back to their old civilian jobs. Those who were sent here by the courts go to their alternate punishment."
That meant the vats for me. I decided that maybe I should start taking this whole training course a lot more seriously, even if it did mean staying submerged for a few months.
"Right, Kasia," I said in my best perky fashion. "What's on the agenda for today?"
"I'm still not well enough calibrated to start your actual training program, so we'll spend today completing the calibration. But first some breakfast."
"I'm not very hungry."
"You are seventeen kilos underweight, and you can't pass this course while being a weakling."
"Food is scarce on New Kashubia, or hadn't you heard?"
"It's not scarce in here. Everything is recycled, my stocks of make-up chemicals are full, and you can have as much as you want."
"It's this recycled business that bothers me," I said.
"That's irrational, Mickolai. You have been eating reprocessed food all your life. On Earth, it was reprocessed through the natural biosystem, and on New Kashubia, it has been reprocessed through the hydroponic vats. The only difference is that now it is reprocessed through your own, personal, private system. You should feel good about that."
"I should feel good about eating my own shit?"
"Would you feel better about eating someone else's? Because that is precisely what you do with a large, public system, be it natural or hydroponic."
"But I didn't have to think about it then," I said.
"You don't have to think about it now, Mickolai. It's time for another nap. You're getting sleepy, Mickolai. Very, very sleepy . . ." she said with her soothing, wonderful voice.
I woke up feeling hungry, and Kasia came up with something that tasted just like the beef we sometimes used to get back on Earth! After breakfast, I asked about the day's agenda.
"More calibration, I'm afraid. Only this time, I want you to subvocalize rather than to actually talk. I'll be picking up what you mean to say from the nerve impulses in your spinal column. You were telling me about your trip to New Kashubia."
"Please, one thing first. I'd like to contact my relatives and tell them that I am all right."
"That is not allowed, Mickolai. During the training period, you are forbidden to have outside contacts. Your relatives have been informed that you are in good health, and I assure you that they are all fine as well. Should these statuses change, you and/or they will be informed. No further contacts are permitted."
"Is that legal, to stop my mail?"
"At this point it would be legal to stop your heart! I can legally kill you and send your body to the hydroponic tanks for fertilizer."
"Uh, yes. Well. What was it you wanted me to do next?"
"I want you to continue your story, but rather than speaking, I want you to subvocalize."
Okay, I thought. Is this what you want?
"Just fine. Keep it up, Mickolai."
"Yes, ma'am." Like I was saying yesterday, as soon as we got to New Kashubia, we were divided into two groups, men and women, and we never saw the women again, not legally anyway, except on television. They had us strip off our filthy clothes, for washing, we thought, but we never saw them again, either. Actually, they just burned them, and the ashes and fumes were fed through hydroponic vats. We needed organic chemicals that badly. They sprayed
"Thank you. It's part of the calibration procedure, and things will get much, much better as time goes on, and I really get the feel of your spinal column."
"Right. So just how long is this training period, anyway?" I asked.
"That depends on you, Mickolai. It's over when you complete the course. The record for basic training is three months, but most people take five or so."
"What's the worst record? I just might beat that."
"Oh, I hope not. Some people never do pass, you know. They have to be sent back."
"What happens to them then?"
"That depends. If they were really volunteers, they simply go back to their old civilian jobs. Those who were sent here by the courts go to their alternate punishment."
That meant the vats for me. I decided that maybe I should start taking this whole training course a lot more seriously, even if it did mean staying submerged for a few months.
"Right, Kasia," I said in my best perky fashion. "What's on the agenda for today?"
"I'm still not well enough calibrated to start your actual training program, so we'll spend today completing the calibration. But first some breakfast."
"I'm not very hungry."
"You are seventeen kilos underweight, and you can't pass this course while being a weakling."
"Food is scarce on New Kashubia, or hadn't you heard?"
"It's not scarce in here. Everything is recycled, my stocks of make-up chemicals are full, and you can have as much as you want."
"It's this recycled business that bothers me," I said.
"That's irrational, Mickolai. You have been eating reprocessed food all your life. On Earth, it was reprocessed through the natural biosystem, and on New Kashubia, it has been reprocessed through the hydroponic vats. The only difference is that now it is reprocessed through your own, personal, private system. You should feel good about that."
"I should feel good about eating my own shit?"
"Would you feel better about eating someone else's? Because that is precisely what you do with a large, public system, be it natural or hydroponic."
"But I didn't have to think about it then," I said.
"You don't have to think about it now, Mickolai. It's time for another nap. You're getting sleepy, Mickolai. Very, very sleepy . . ." she said with her soothing, wonderful voice.
I woke up feeling hungry, and Kasia came up with something that tasted just like the beef we sometimes used to get back on Earth! After breakfast, I asked about the day's agenda.
"More calibration, I'm afraid. Only this time, I want you to subvocalize rather than to actually talk. I'll be picking up what you mean to say from the nerve impulses in your spinal column. You were telling me about your trip to New Kashubia."
"Please, one thing first. I'd like to contact my relatives and tell them that I am all right."
"That is not allowed, Mickolai. During the training period, you are forbidden to have outside contacts. Your relatives have been informed that you are in good health, and I assure you that they are all fine as well. Should these statuses change, you and/or they will be informed. No further contacts are permitted."
"Is that legal, to stop my mail?"
"At this point it would be legal to stop your heart! I can legally kill you and send your body to the hydroponic tanks for fertilizer."
"Uh, yes. Well. What was it you wanted me to do next?"
"I want you to continue your story, but rather than speaking, I want you to subvocalize."
Okay, I thought. Is this what you want?
"Just fine. Keep it up, Mickolai."
"Yes, ma'am." Like I was saying yesterday, as soon as we got to New Kashubia, we were divided into two groups, men and women, and we never saw the women again, not legally anyway, except on television. They had us strip off our filthy clothes, for washing, we thought, but we never saw them again, either. Actually, they just burned them, and the ashes and fumes were fed through hydroponic vats. We needed organic chemicals that badly. They sprayed
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