trans_9 | (no subject)

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True to his word, Allen has diagnostic exams ready for the taking. A stack of personal screens from the media lab sits next to his work table in the Engineering department, all programmed with tests. Long ones, since they're diagnostic, not cumulative.

One of them is, in fact, programmed with Superboy's name on it. Because Allen is a smartass like that.

"You know Stace, it would be nice if I could have a sign for the door. 'Open Call for Students-slash-Teachers,' something like that," he says, as he roots through the engineering department, looking for just such a thing to make a sign with.

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A hesistant head pokes around the corridor. Yuri's never gone to school in something that has organs and a pulse of its own. But school is a semblance of normalcy, even if she's never been at the top of her class.

"Ah, hello, is this the place where we're gonna have school?"

This time she won't have to fight anything with dozens of eyes, right?

Allen glances at the small girl as he picks up a media pad.

"Probably not. But this is where you take the diagnostic test, so make yourself comfortable."

There are some fleshseats and unoccupied chitinous work tables.

"I'm Allen. What's your name?" he asks, handing her the pad, looking at her curiously. There is something in his gaze of a scanner - as though he's taking in data, not looking at her.

"Yuri. Yuri Ohtani." She says as she takes the pad. She feels the gaze sweep over her. That's totally a teacher look right there. It gives her a little butterfly in her stomach but at least it's familiar.

"H-how much time do I have?" She says as she sits down and takes up something that could just as easily be a pencil, a branch or a dried up tentacle.

"Much as you need, sweetheart. Just stop when the problems get too complicated, or you don't know how to solve them. This is gonna let me know how much you already know. You're not getting graded on it."

She's so little and nervous, and these are things that provoke compassion in functioning humans, and Allen is no exception.

She had caught him working, though, and it can take a little bit of time for him to get out of working and into socializing mode. Not much, but a little. The scanning gaze, having collected enough data, has gotten softer, more human. There's inflection in his tone again.

"O-ok." Yuri sits down at the skeletal table, finding a set of printouts already there for her. She sets the alien on her head down next to her where it flicks its ropey tongue in boredom.

In little over half an hour we've found exactly where she is: an average student in the equivalent of seventh grade. Below average in math. Above average in biology (Borg's influence, probably).

"I think i'm done..." She hands the paper back. That wasn't as bad as she thought it would be!

"Thanks." Allen takes the test and runs it through a quick scanner. "Looks like you're doing fine - where are you from, again?"

His eyes flick to the head-alien, a curious momentary glance.

"Tokyo. Ah, Japan, on earth. I was about to start my first year of middle school when I was...brought here. I'm probably the youngest student so i'm sorry if I hold people back..."

Borg doesn't understand why people keep staring at him.

"Don't think of yourself as holding people back. The way things are looking now, we're not going to have grades, so much as we'll have all of you guys learning what you need to learn, as a group, from the same teachers. With everyone getting that much attention, there's no way you can hold someone else back. And if you need help, there are plenty of tutors on call."

Allen smiles at her. "Try and think of how school could have been, in a way that you would have liked - that's what we're going to try for here."

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