Sym’s mother Posao was a chemist, a mining chemist, to be precise, as she would correct anyone who misspoke, including Sym who made a point to do it often in her presence. And she was very very busy. And though she wanted the best for Sym, she had very little time to actually spend with her, as Veridia demanded a lot of her employees. Sym’s Grandmother had worked for Veridia’s company as well, back when it had been run by Veridia’s father. But she had been a miner, working long hours in the uranium mines outside the city limits towards the mountains, but was forced into retirement by a terrifying accident that had left her with a deep seated fear of confined spaces. Her partial pension and later her payout had given her and Posao enough to survive until Posao had managed to secure funding through graduate school. Posao had worked hard to get her position, and with the scholarships Veridia’s company offered supporting promising science students, she had managed just that.
‘Grandmother! I’m home!’ Sym called, smacking the apartment door shut behind her, rattling the small gold statue of the luck god Ketsuri in her beetle form displayed in their entrance way. It was the first thing Grandmother had unpacked when they moved in, placed conspicuously so as to be the first thing someone coming in would see. ‘This is an auspicious move,’ she had said, ‘we have to pay homage to our patron.’
In an effort to save money, Posao had opted to have them live in the subsidized company housing, which tended towards the smaller size. It had three bedrooms, but each of them was tiny, fitting a bed and dresser and no more. Sym’s homework was often done on the kitchen table, under the fond eyes of her Grandmother, the cook in the family.
‘Kitchen, sweetheart!’ Sym rolled her eyes. Where else could she be in this tiny apartment? She could see straight into their tiny living room from the door, and the bathroom door was open. ‘There is chia seed pudding in the refrigerator, and I’m just cooking some figs to put on top.’ She said, her back to the kitchen entrance as Sym came in. Sym swung her bag onto a kitchen chair, making a beeline for the fridge and the tasty snacks it promised. ‘Don’t eat it without the toppings!’ Grandmother chidded, a blow torch in her hand as she carmelized the sugar on top of the figs. Her birthday had been recently and Posao had come through with a gift to all of them this year, a blow torch that Grandmother had been taking every opportunity to use, experimenting with dishes for their every meal.
Sym waited impatiently for the figs, spoon poised in hand. ‘How was engineering club today?’ ‘Um. Good.’ Sym had skipped engineering club today in preference for giving Iseult’s new zombie game another go. If only she could beat that level. Ugh.
Grandmother side eyed her with the knowing look only she could pull off. ‘Uh huh. And how is the cargo and carrying system coming?’ Veridia had recently made a large contribution to the prep school Sym attended for another mishap of Hiru’s, which had resulted in a new engineering club with a focus on mining. Figured. Posao had strong armed Sym into joining, which had been a point of consternation. Sym would have joined on her own, she was particularly interested in the use of artificial intelligence and robotics to improve the safety and increase the operational efficiency, but didn’t appreciate the lack of awareness Posao had about her own daughter’s interests, laser focused as she was on Sym’s future. ‘It’s fine, the new software is kind of giving us problems, though.’ The current project was an evaluation of the storage hoppers and haulage equipment, estimating the desired truck fleet size and assessing whether the design of the access roads was acceptable for the success of the operations. The project had included a trip to the mines to observe the process from underground mining to the yellowcake, processed nearby, which was a thinly veiled ploy of Veridia’s to advertise mining careers as well as the scholarships and internships she offered post-grads.
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Hiru of course was a part of the engineering club, at the behest of his mother, and while Sym didn’t hate him, she didn’t particularly like him either. It was hard to like someone who school came so easily to when she had to work so hard for every grade she got. Not to mention his too cocky attitude. Life must be easy being a mining conglomerate's son. In addition to uranium mining, Hiru’s mother had gold bearing ones as well, which ironically also produced uranium, though as a byproduct.
He had been marginally more bearable recently when they had been paired in the project, both commiserating over their too busy mothers, but it wasn’t enough for Sym to reevaluate her opinion of him.
The sound of the front door opening interrupted Grandmother from her figs, causing Sym to scowl, her eyes glued to the snack. Grandmother was certain to put it away now that Posao was home for dinner. Predictably, Grandmother snatched away her pudding, ‘we’ll have this for dessert instead,’ she insisted, setting out the figs on a cooling rack. ‘Posao honey, dinner will be ready in an hour, can you wait that long?’ Grandmother called out. Of course Mother got offered a snack before dinner. Posao let out a sort of tired grunt, coming around the kitchen Sym saw her eyes with deep bags beneath them, and her frustration unfurled a little.
It immediately resurfaced when Posao began quizzing her on her chemistry homework. ‘Mom! I already did it with Iseult!’ ‘Ah yes, Gual’s girl,’ Posao said with some approval. Being able to rub arms with the rich and powerful was part of the reason Posao saved so much for Sym’s prep school. And there was not too much more powerful than the city councilman’s only daughter. Sym scowled. ‘You make that face too much and it will stick that way,’ Grandmother scolded, tapping her head with a wooden spoon, causing the corner of Sym’s mouth to quirk up. Posao frowned at her mother. ‘Why do you make such ugly faces, you’re such a pretty girl,’ she fussed, stroking her daughter's long shiny hair. Sym shooed her hands away, annoyed by the attention to her appearance.
Sym looked like her late father, and she often saw the sadness in her mother’s eyes when she thought she wasn’t looking. She wished she took after her mother, if only to save Posao from the heartbreak. Grandmother turned away. She hadn’t been terribly fond of Posao’s boyfriend, but it was unkind to speak ill of the dead.
After dinner Posao insisted on reviewing Sym’s homework, despite it being a weekend night. She claimed she would be working over the weekend and would be getting back too late for it then. Sym hurried her through it, and when Posao got to the end and insisted on reviewing with Sym her own chemical equations from work, despite Sym’s exaggerated yawns and stretched arms, finally Sym had enough, and with a firm closing of her text book, stood from the kitchen table. ‘Mama, I’m tired. I promise to look them over tomorrow too.’ ‘Alright, as long as you promise,’ Posao said with a yawn of her own, her eyes scrunching with exhaustion.