Jal was not about to explain to Jan that it had asked Eiske to read the paper first. “I apologize. I wanted you to read it at the same time the teacher is reading it.” Jan waited for an explanation. “I’ll sit with you while you read,” Jal said. Jal opened the document and handed its tablet to Jan.

“You wrote a three-hundred-sixty-eight page paper?” Jan stared at Jal.

“About one hundred of those are documentation.”

It wasn’t long before Jan looked up. “Jal, it seems to me that you made things more complicated than the assignment called for. You’re saying that the premise of your project was to disprove the myths that there are monsters beyond the mountains, as well as to provide two clear examples of the ecosystems of the land biome?”

“Yes.”

“How did you keep track of the information?”

“I created a huge collection of material and indexed it. As I collected information, I made an outline of the points I wanted to make.”

“It was a huge process.”

“It was. I tracked the hours I studied and when I accessed specific sources so I could track them down again if I needed them.”

Over the next few days, Jal worked on its homework in the sitting room, while Jan read Jal’s paper. Jan was shocked at the details that Jal was able to provide, particularly the close-up pictures of unnamed animals in their natural habitats.

When Jan reached the chapter with clear pictures of the houses in villages, towns, and cities, Jan was overwhelmed. “I am so sorry for not believing you. Are they still talking to you when you meditate? I want to hear them. Will you teach me?”

“Of course.”

After Jan read the last page, it turned off the tablet and sat thinking. Jal waited to see what it would say. Jan sat in silence the rest of the morning as Jal listened to lectures and did schoolwork. They ate the noon meal and lingered over the fresh bees in the terrarium.

Jal’s communicator beeped. “Jal Jomari, I’d like to have a face-to-face conversation with you and Sage Elvan. Right now. In my office.”

“Oh, boy,” Jal muttered. “Jan, I need to get my backpack.” It picked up the electronic tablets and tucked them inside. It inhaled silently, “Is this it? Is this the evaluation for my project? I’ve got to stay calm and speak clearly.”

“Ready, Jal?” Sage Elvan waved its wand and motioned for Jal to transport first.

A minute later the two Stafriez stood in the office of Instructor Padeedah Bano. “Where shall I begin?” she asked rhetoricly as she motioned to several chairs around her desk.

Jal set down its backpack in one of them and took out two electronic pads. Jal pressed the buttons on one and initiated an audiovisual recording. It leaned the tablet against its backpack and picked up the other one.

“Just a moment, please,” Jal chose its words carefully, “I haven’t had a chance to tell Sage Elvan about our agreement. This conversation and the paper are to remain confidential and cannot be shared with anyone, without my written permission.”

“I’ve changed my mind. You are a child and you are my student! Children do not write confidentiality agreements. Anyway, student work is the property of the school.”

“I may be your student, but I am not a child. I am an adult.”

“You’re only seven.”

“I am legally an adult.”

She looked at Sage Elvan. “Jal is an adult,” it said.

“According to the student handbook,” Jal stated, “any work created by a student using materials not provided through the academy is the property of the student. I did the work outside of the classroom, using materials from many different sources. It is my work; therefore, it belongs solely to me. I created the confidentiality agreement to protect both of us.”

“Both of us?”

“If you speak of this without my permission, and you are threatened with dismissal from your position, you have a legal obligation to maintain confidentiality. According to the school policy statements, you cannot be dismissed from your position if you refuse to disclose material covered by this type of agreement. However, the school will not protect you if you break an agreement of confidentiality.”

“Now you’re a lawyer?”

“Why would you say that?” Jal responded. It wasn’t about to mention the fact that it had put Julien de Clerk on a retainer, and asked him to write up the agreement.

“I want to know how you obtained the data in this report!”

“Instructor, I have given you a report of my work on this project every week. I clearly stated where I was doing my research and provided lists of the resources that I was using.”

“What exactly are you going to do with this?” She slammed her tablet onto the desk and the screen shattered.

Sage Elvan spoke calmly, “Are you angry about the nondisclosure agreement? Or about the paper itself?”

“I want to know who you thought I would call, Jal? Who are we hiding this from?”

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“We are not ‘hiding this,’ as you call it. We are protecting it, so that it is presented at the right time, to the right person or persons.”

“Who is that?”

“Who do you suggest we speak to? Who is the first person that you think we should call?” Jal asked curiously.

“I need to contact the school superintendent.”

“What exactly would you tell him?”

“I’d tell him that the Protectorate officials will be here soon to close our school down.”

“Why?” Sage Elvan demanded.

“Because if we don’t, the students will accuse us of hiding information from them. It will be a big mess that will destroy our school.”

“I’d like to remind you of the fact that I agreed to give my report when the other students give theirs. That’s two months away.”

“Those two months aren’t going to stop what’s going to happen.”

“What exactly is going to happen, Instructor Padeedah?”

She didn’t answer the question. “I’m obligated to report any irregularities in the information my students use.”

“Would you tell us which irregularities you’re referring to?” Sage Elvan asked.

“This entire report is an irregularity. Jal never should have written it.”

“Instructor Padeedah, you approved this project after I wrote the proposal for it.”

“You have not kept me informed of the information you were accessing.”

“I’ve provided you updates of my progress each week. You approved the outline. You read the introduction when I used it for another class assignment. The entire process has been documented in the system the Stafriez Academy uses. You could have stopped the process at any time.”

“I’m withdrawing my approval for you to proceed with this project.”

“I entered this project into the system as the final product when I turned it in to you. You acknowledged receipt of it."

Jal’s teacher shifted in her seat as she considered how to handle the situation.

Sage Elvan glanced over at Jal, who seemed unbothered by the instructor’s glare. "I presume that I'm here to listen to the discussion about the project, see the grading process, and hear your determination of the final grade?"

When Jal didn’t withdraw its work from the evaluation process, she snapped, “Initiate audio-visual recording. Jal Jomari, Eighth Year Project. Final Evaluation.”

For nearly two hours, Instructor Padeedah fired one question after another at Jal about the project. Jal responded evenly and her agitation grew. Vague questions about reference facilities were mixed with insinuations about an inadequate outline. She alternated between informing Jal about the use of the punctuation throughout the documentation pages and questioning the format Jal had used. Jal’s explanation, that it had applied the settings that were clearly stated in the rubric that had been provided, did not appease her. The teacher grilled Jal regarding the acquisition of the images in the report, questioned Dr. Gyasi’s credentials, and insinuated that Jal had misappropriated drones for unauthorized personal use. When she demanded specifics regarding animal reproductive behavior and the uses of specific plants by humans, Sage Elvan watched as Jal calmly reminded her that those details had been left out of its report because of the length it would have added to the document.

“I want you to tell me what you found that is not in this report!” she nearly shouted as she leaned over her desk.

“My goal was to present information regarding two biomes. There are several thousand pages of reference material in my files,” Jal responded.

“Tell me what you’ve seen that you haven’t written about!”

“Is there something specific you’d like to know about? Residents, animals, or the environment?”

“What are you hiding?”

“Hiding?” Sage Elvan looked at Jal.

“What are you going to do with this report, now that your project is complete?”

“My project is not considered complete until you have entered the grades for it into the school computer.”

“Grades? You mean, grade.”

“We spent a lot of time going over the Stafriez Academy rubrics, Instructor Padeedah. You explained it during a lecture to the entire class. During my first consultation with you, we spent most of the hour going over it. You stated that one grade is given for content. A second is determined for the electronic visual presentation of the material following scientific standards and documentation guidelines, and a third for the explanation and defense done today.”

At this, the instructor pulled out the rubrics and went through each one, writing in the scores. “Here are your grades. You haven’t answered my question.” With the score sheets lying on the desk, she sat unmoving. She made no attempt to hide her growing hostility.

“Your question?”

“What exactly are you going to do with this report, now that your project is complete?”

Jal had already said that it knew the project was incomplete until the scores were in the computer. It didn’t need to say anything. A minute passed, then two.

Jal knew how to do this. It had played this game with Aren Moshe. It had sat for three days in silence on its last visit to the Sanctuary of Revelations.

As Jal gazed at the Instructor, it focused on becoming curious. It was the one thing that made the waiting easier. It wondered who the Instructor really was. She was clearly not an android. She had not remembered the section on requests for confidentiality or understood the logic of it. It was evident that she was afraid of someone or something. Instructor Padeedah thrummed her long nails on the desk, harder and harder. Suddenly one broke! She turned to the computer, opened Jal’s file, and as Jal watched, she typed its grades into the boxes and hit enter.

“What are you going to do with this report, now that your project is complete?”

“Thank you for this evaluation. This process has certainly opened my eyes as to how the scientific research process is used in classes at the university. I’ve noted what high amounts of stress can do to people. Have a good evening,” Jal said quietly as it rose to its feet.

“I asked you a question, Jal.”

“I’m going to sit with another person while they read it and answer any questions that come up. Then that person and I will have a discussion.”

“Who are you asking to read your report?”

“I haven’t decided yet. Do you have a suggestion?”

“I suggest that you speak with a Luminary.” She watched for alarm or pleasure on Jal’s face.

Its neutral expression didn’t change. “Which Luminary do you suggest?”

“Hmm. Perhaps Devram Lalit.”

Jal shook its head, although it recognized the name. “I don’t know who that is.”

Instructor Padeedah’s brown eyes and hair flashed purple and orange for a split-second, and the hairs at the ends of her braids curled. She smiled sweetly, “She’s the Luminary on Nacturis. She and I are old friends. Hm. Just a moment. Perhaps Hari Yagyasan would be a better option.” Jal looked at her curiously. “Yes, you should talk with Hari. He would be most helpful for you. He’s the Luminary on Iragos Peninsula.”

Jal recognized the look of deceit, and said quietly, “I would think that it’s nearly impossible to get an appointment with him.” It stood and began to gather its things together.

“Hari and I went to school together, back in the day," she lied and her hair became black. He’ll see you, I’m sure.” She opened the communication program on her computer. She slammed the keys as she wrote a message.

Jal stepped to the side of Instructor Padeedah’s desk and picked up the score sheets for the project. As it glanced up, it saw the unusual color of the email. Jal realized that she was sending an urgent request to the luminary. It folded the sheets in half and slid them into its backpack as it looked at the screen.

“I’ll see you in class tomorrow,” she smiled. Jal saw a few hairs on the back of her head turn colors and curl.

“Ridali Tower!” Sage Elvan waved its wand.

A few minutes later, Jal sent messages to Eiske, Solrio, Lonc, and Dr. Gyasi. It wasn’t long before four messages arrived in Luminary Hari Yagasan’s message box suggesting that he meet with Jal Jomari.