Tunnel Rat

Chapter 226: Time for Schooling

Milo pushed aside his anxieties about dealing with Belinda to the back of his mind. There was no use worrying about things until they next talked, and he had to focus hard to erase the shame of dying in a sewer trap. He was mostly successful, beating her five out of seven games, despite Minerva insisting he needed a "scouting partner." She sat beside him, pointing and yelling, "Lookout! Sewer Monster!" whenever she spotted an open manhole. When Milo glared at her, she only giggled and said innocently, "Helping!".

The big news was the change in schooling for the twenty children living in this quadrant of their floor. Instead of using the old computers and VR helmets at the school located two floors up and across the section, they would be learning using brand new MK VII pods that would be part of the new facility Big Butch would oversee. They would have access to the pods for educational purposes, and if they did their assignments, they would be rewarded with hours of gaming. The inclusion of Genesis brought a round of cheers. That Big Butch got to go to work in Genesis had always generated a sentiment of 'Adults get all the cool stuff!'. It didn't help that he told them about his job when he was home and exaggerated the best parts. He stressed now that getting to do the tutorials and starting areas of the game was totally dependent on finishing their daily and weekly assignments.

To his surprise, Milo wasn't excused from this program. Big Butch took him aside later for a discussion. "From what I'm told, you've kept up with your schooling and even done advanced classes. But, knowing how to reprogram a food processor or do fancy math won't get you a technician's license someday without proof that you went to school. We need to show that you did the classes. Mr. Smith is helping with that. He said that since your files are sealed, we can give you the tests, starting with the basics, and you can advance through the tests as far as you can. That way, you get credit just like you had been taking official courses over the years. Then we start you on the classes that will take you higher. Trust me, it will come in handy someday when you want to try for a good job, maybe at that company that makes the gloves."

That made sense to Milo. They were creating documentation. "That shouldn't take me long."

Big Butch shook his head and smiled. "Oh yes, it will! You're going to take your time doing this. Use that big brain of yours. What happens if you finish years of tests in a few days? Now I have to kick you out of the program. You're done."

Going slow wasn't something Milo had ever considered. He did so now and saw some of the advantages. Increased socialization with others, and he didn't widen the chasm between himself and them. That would be counter-productive.

"Learn to slow down, son. Take your time and milk the system a little. Have some fun playing games on those fancy machines with the other kids. Or tutor some of them when they get stuck. You can learn a lot about yourself when you spend time teaching others. And you can help me with running this fancy program. I'm going to need an assistant." Milo thought for a moment and then agreed. This was all a new experience, but he was moving in the direction he wanted.

After a few hours, he said some quick goodbyes and prepared to leave. He had things to do. One of which was to finish exploring the underground cavern and then start the long climb back up through the tunnels to Shadowport, far above. Ironic that Belinda and he were sitting next to each other, and days of travel away, both at the same time. He nodded to Belinda as he left, and she held up two fingers about their meeting. After leaving the apartment, he walked past her guards and into another part of the habitat. Normally he scrambled quickly into the ductwork, but he had become predictable. He needed to vary his paths, both in the hab and ducts and drops. He noted that one of the unused apartments that fronted the courtyard had someone moving in. The older man was stooped and using a cane. He looked ancient to Milo with a wispy white beard and bald head. He waved absently as Milo went by, slowly moving several small boxes and plastic trash bags into his small apartment.

Some apartments in the habitat were oddly shaped and small, where walls and corridors met and produced a space smaller than normal. The residents referred to them as slivers. They were always small, often oddly shaped and triangular. The benefit they came with was single occupancy. A glance into the room showed Milo a cramped living area with barely any floor space. Without asking, Milo flipped one of his braces around, used it to hook one of the bags, and pulled it into the small room. The old man nodded his thanks. "Appreciate it. They moved me up here to get me out of the black mold over in G, but they dumped my stuff by the door." He patted Milo on the shoulder after moving the last bags into the space. "You make it look easy, and you've got two canes to my one." He laughed a bit and then coughed. Milo noticed his faded and much-patched coverall had a patch he didn't recognize.

"You worked in maintenance? What patch is that?"

"Yep. For about ten years, a long time ago. I was working in the 'ponics section. Nice work, lots of plants, and even some fresh food now and then if no one was watching. Made the air better. But they shut it down and moved me to plumbing. I haven't worked in a few decades; I just hide inside and play games. But they don't make clothes like these any more. Comfortable and don't wear out as quickly. And people ask me about the patch." He smiled at that. Milo noticed that the plastic trash bags held dozens of video games. He pointed to them and then to Butch's house.

"We take our games pretty seriously. I'm Milo. Butch lives over there. Tell him you have stuff to trade if you need new stuff to play.

The old man's eyes lit up, and he nodded. "I might at that. I mostly sold my extras before the move. Less to pack with me. But I wouldn't mind something new. I'm James or Jimmy. Or Old Jim. Most folks call me Old Jim now. Take your pick."

"Nice meeting you, James. I've got to go. Make sure you talk to Butch."

As Milo moved down the hallway, Old Jimmy watched him go. He'd watched the polite boy closely, but he hadn't tried to steal anything. He'd stopped to help an old man. Quite a contrast to what he was used to. This might not be a bad place if the other kids were half as nice and had games to trade. But he'd be careful; old habits died hard. After a nap and food, he took an ancient Gameboy and hobbled over to sit by the horrible-looking fake tree. He sat and played with the sound turned up louder than normal until he was noticed, and the local children came to investigate him. The youngest child handed him a paper plate with two pancakes and real syrup. "Mama says welcome. We have extra dinner, and she thought you might be hungry." Jimmy took the food and ate a bite. Surprisingly good. This was a well-off family.

They became very friendly when he asked for Butch and mentioned trading games. They brought forth their games, and some trading was done. He declined an offer to eat with the family. One step at a time. He was cautious but optimistic about his move to Section E and retired to his little room in a better mood than when he'd arrived.

Milo, meanwhile, had arrived home and crawled from the ductwork into the water tank. It seemed smaller all the time. He wanted a larger area but wasn't trading security for a bigger room. His idea to build a hidden area underneath the habitat had failed when his machine had found something else buried there. Until he knew what it was, it would be foolish to relocate. And he was so curious about what it was. The large tunneling machine was for excavating, not scouting. He solved that problem by spending money on a new machine that was used to map underground areas before large-scale drilling or excavating was done. The Carson T-3 Underworld Cartographer was made by the same company that made the large machine.Unlike the huge tunneler, it was designed to shift only enough dirt and stone to let the machine move through areas that need mapping. It trailed a three-inch hose behind it that disposed of the crushed rock. Milo had it delivered to a warehouse below section H and forged the paperwork to hide his purchase. He programmed it to find the edges of the hardened area and map its shape, along with any caverns, water and power lines, or transportation tunnels that it found. It would report back its progress, and he'd check in each time he was out of his pod. He knew he had to be careful. Unlike the game world, this wouldn't be a ratkin Hollow or a Dwarven Engineering Outpost.

With that job started and nothing else pressing, he got into his pod. It was time for another half-day of exploration and then a long walk back up through the tunnels. He had plenty of time to get to Shadowport for his date with Belinda. Date? No! Meeting. Talk. Why had she used that word?