David's Individual Account

"Hey, I'm Carter Hall, I'm, uh, here to pick up my grandson Kalin, do you ummm, know where I can find room 213?" The lady at the table smiles at me as she continues operating the computer system in front of her, I could see on her desk a name tag, Brant Parker, along with a picture of her young kids. They looked like they were almost Kalin's age.

"Oh it's not too far from here but the school can be difficult to navigate, if you'd like I can beam it to your nav system?" I shuffle a bit before mumbling something about mine not working at the moment. The lady continues smiling, finally pausing her work at the computer to bring up a new window. She asks the computer to print out directions to Kalin's homeroom and almost before the next tick of my watch's hand she's already handing me a freshly inked sheet.

"Here Sir, this should help, if you need any more assistance I can have one of our school's cyber monitors help direct you". I stare at the paper for a moment before gingerly taking it into my hand. I give a quick thanks to Mrs. Parker and make my way out of the office. This school was a truly alien structure, one of contradictions and yet possessing remarkable consistency. Every room I passed seemed to be nearly explosive with the sound of education and enjoyment. Teachers spoke confidently, students played loudly, and the now commonplace AI technology that seemed to be baked into the nervous system of the school constantly made its presence known through its ubiquity among both students and educators alike. I remembered the classrooms of my youth, from before the war. I remember how simple the arrangement was, the teacher gave us information and it was our job as students to adequately receive it. It didn't really work for everyone, I guess that's why they have this now.

But for as loud as the classrooms felt, the school was simultaneously all too quiet as well. New constructions led by AI building suggestions have altered the soundproofing of the classrooms, even someone with a hearing impairment can understand everything as clearly as they need to. It felt similarly odd, like everything had been flipped on its head from my youth. No longer were the classrooms quiet and the halls loud. Yet this was the consistent pattern for every school nowadays. Loud yet quiet, standardized yet oriented to support individual needs. I thought back to my own father, picking me up from computer programming classes as a kid. I remember how alien he felt in a world he didn't seem to understand and rarely appreciated. I haven't seen Kalin since he started grade 2, I haven't even been in a school since I had gotten my Masters now that I think about it. So much has changed but-

"GRANDPA!!"

I turn around and see Kalin beaming at me. I look at the rooms next to me and sigh. Jesus, I hadn't even noticed I had walked past his room. I hope I hadn't embarrassed myself too much in front of him. "Grandpa! Look what I learned!" I watched him eagerly run over to me and start concentrating. He seemed quiet for a minute before suddenly opening his again and smiling!

"There! Grandpa I learned how to use my nav system! I can take us back home now I know the way!". I gently smile and pick up Kalin, nestling him gently in my arms. "Thats great sport! You must have picked that up fast. But we have the car for today so next time you can walk us home okay?". Kalin was too happy in the moment to really mind not getting a chance to use his new skill but he wasn't entirely without words. "Grandpaaaa, you're still driving your own car? But I wanna play games with you on the way home". I smile, "don't worry, I promise we'll have lots of time to play when we get home, I promise". Kalin begrudgingly accepts my comprise and we walk in warm embrace out of the school. I know that this world will never be one I become truly comfortable in, but it doesn't have to be. I think I can accept the future, for the sake of the future. A better life for those that deserve better than what the world before had left them...