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In this soup kitchen sits a nun in partial habit, sipping water and frowning at a desk. It is very irregular for adults who aren't volunteering to be at the soup kitchen. It is very irregular for expensive electronics to be in the soup kitchen. The volunteers do seem to know her; they call her "Carlotta".
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"What's being from Thule have to do with anything?"
"Because if you were from Thule I could just say 'it's the þainneið,' and I wouldn't have to try to remember the words and explain what it meant."
"What's that?"
"See?"
"What's that?"
"See?"
Bella goes and gets her desk and asks him how that's spelled.
"Thorn A I N N E I eth," says Sindri. Her desk is not set up to type the first or last letters.
She finds the international characters with a little poking and identifies thorn on her own and has him point out eth and looks it up.
The þainneið is an oath which, in the properly witnessed taking, makes the taker a thane of Thule if they were eligible for that office. Here is its text, in Thulic; here is a translation into IF Common:
I take as my charge this country and its people, and I swear none shall go hungry that my hand can feed, and none shall be killed that my hand can protect. With this oath I become a thane of Thule, servant to its ruler and friend to its people. May I never forget my duty.
"Well, that's interesting but I am not sure how it interacts with this specifically."
"It doesn't feel right in Common," says Sindri.
"What should it feel like?" says Oat.
"It should feel like... like it's exactly the right thing," he says. "The translation says what the words mean, but it doesn't really say what the oath means, and what the oath means is definitely about helping people with more than just avoiding starvation and murder."
"What should it feel like?" says Oat.
"It should feel like... like it's exactly the right thing," he says. "The translation says what the words mean, but it doesn't really say what the oath means, and what the oath means is definitely about helping people with more than just avoiding starvation and murder."
"Huh," says Bella.
"I'm not actually in Battle School to fight buggers, I'm in Battle School because I think it'll make me a better thane," says Sindri. "But if some buggers show up, I'll fight them, because," he recites part of the oath in Thulic.
"'None shall be killed that my hand can protect'?" guesses Oat.
"Yeah."
"'None shall be killed that my hand can protect'?" guesses Oat.
"Yeah."
"I guess it wouldn't make a very pretty oath if you were very careful about exact words," muses Bella.
"It's old, it has cultural connotations," says Sindri. "It's not just about what sounds pretty."
"Yeah. I'm probably just too literal to appreciate it."
"The things about people starving and being killed are more like examples," says Sindri. "And they were really relevant examples when it started being a thing, so they stuck."
"Avoiding starvation and murder are good things, generally," says Oat.
"... Yes," says Sindri. "But they're not the only good things ever."
"Avoiding starvation and murder are good things, generally," says Oat.
"... Yes," says Sindri. "But they're not the only good things ever."
Nod, nod.
Once they have had time to pick bunks and get acquainted with the room their "mom" has them all get in uniform. (Bella asks if she's supposed to change somewhere else. Crane tells her to get over it. That wasn't what she meant, but she shrugs and changes with everybody else.) Oat's uniform is obviously cut down from a larger one. They get to eat, which everyone is delighted to do because they didn't do so before their launch. And now they are all supposed to troop to the gym, which they will have to be in on a daily basis to compensate for the low gee. They are not to be out of uniform at any time they're not in the shower, at which time they should either be actively in the water or wearing a towel. The gym is nice and cold so this shouldn't present a problem. Look at all this nice gym equipment, go exercise.
When they hear the rules about staying in uniform, Sindri and Oat exchange a meaningful glance.
As the two shortest people in the room, they proceed to cooperate in finding the most short-person-compatible gym equipment available.
As the two shortest people in the room, they proceed to cooperate in finding the most short-person-compatible gym equipment available.
Well, the treadmills are pretty height neutral if you can climb them to operate the buttons and use the safety clip.
Bella, meanwhile, neglects weights and cardio in favor of finding a nice open mat and turning cartwheels-and-then-some.
Bella, meanwhile, neglects weights and cardio in favor of finding a nice open mat and turning cartwheels-and-then-some.
Oat cannot really operate a treadmill safely by himself, and even Sindri finds them difficult to handle alone, but they can help each other out.
Eventually their exercise period is over and they are shown to the game room for a look around before their next mealtime.
Games! Nifty! Sindri is a big fan. Oat follows him around and watches him be delighted at things.
That's cute, Sindri has a pet.
Bella likes games where her reflexes give her a massively unfair advantage! Like this one. Wheeeeee~
Bella likes games where her reflexes give her a massively unfair advantage! Like this one. Wheeeeee~
It may be for the best that their time in the game room runs out before Sindri gets a chance to challenge Bella at one of those games.
And now they are introduced to the main event: the battle room! They are not having a battle. They are learning to operate in zero-G.
Bella is learning to fly like a gymnastic comet.
Bella is learning to fly like a gymnastic comet.
The handholds on the walls are spread out such that most children can grab two at once without a lot of trouble, although the littler kids have to stretch. Sindri can manage it with some pairs of handholds but not others; Oat has no hope. Oat, therefore, spends his time on learning how to accurately propel himself from one handhold to the next, and Sindri copies his tricks, finding them more useful to him than the official maneuvers designed for people less tiny.