Displaced

Chapter 120

Todayis an important day, and I cannot say that my heart is still. My traditional schooling is complete, and sotoday begins my [two-person study—"training"/"apprenticeship"?]. [Friend 1—using the translations found in the Emperor's Tome, I've started trying to figure out phonetics, but it's still early and I don't know if I am even close to being right. Still, my best guess right now is "Ardemun"] believes that my choice to study plants is a poor one. He thinks that I will squander my life with my head buried in a bush. I can tell that [Friend 2—this one my best guess is "Pionmi"] agrees, though she, at least, has the tact to keep it to herself. They each seem to think that I would be better suited entering a field like the ones they chose, and perhaps they are correct. Ardemun is surely correct, as studying the reproduction of a meadow flower will never impact the world in the way that the constant rapid advancements in [cantacrenyx-technology—I've managed to confirm that the first word is definitely referring to the same crystals you use. Still just calling it cantacrenyx technology like it is here is rather blah. Let's call it "Crystech". That reads better] change our society every day. I find myself wondering every night what new marvel will be revealed the following morning in the papers. Still, Ardemun seems to forget my thoroughly mediocre grades in all technical subjects. He has managed to go his entire life so far without learning that things that are easy for him are not always easy for others, and I do not see that changing any time soon.

Pionmi is under no such delusion, which only makes her sentiments all the more puzzling. She knows full well that I am not suited for the study of [tiny-object-existence-movement-space—"physics", maybe? "Tiny" suggests perhaps "particle physics" but it might be something a bit different. Hard to say]. I wonder if, perhaps, she simply fears being alone again. I may be wrong, but I believe she will find far more comradery amongst her peers than she ever did with the other schoolchildren. The others could never understand just how frighteningly brilliant Pionmi is—or perhaps they could, and that is why they [hate-ignore-avoid—I think this means "shunned"... poor Pionmi] her so mercilessly. We are all but animals, after all, and animals fear what they cannot understand.

Ardemun thinks it's simply because Pionmi is one of the rare girls here, and I have no doubts that her gender does her no favors. Most people I know still believe that women have no place outside the home, my parents included. I, myself, believed the same for much of my life. However, that alone does not explain why she was treated so much worse than the other girls. I think it was that she made the boys feel [bad-short—either "insignificant" or "inadequate", I think] intellectually. Her name atop the student rankings year after year—with Ardemun right beneath her—surely hurt their collective pride.

Looking at the last sentence, I once again laugh at all who lumped me in with that pair simply because we spent time together. How I became friends with such a genius pair, I cannot say. I lack their intelligence and their intuition, and even my best efforts, combined with their ample assistance, barely put me [ancient math notation is kind of weird, but if I understand it right, he's saying basically "three-quarters"] of the way up the rankings. Still, I cannot say that I regret whatever [missing-plan-blind-event—so, if I understand this one, an unplanned, unforeseen occurrence... "happenstance", perhaps?] led to our association. I will miss them both dearly.

As for their thoughts on my choice of vocation, I will allow the possibility that they are correct in some aspects. It is very possible that I will grow old and die without a notable [big-action-permanent—"achievement"] to my name. Almost every [plant-scholar—"botanist"? Or maybe just "plant scholar". Not sure what we think of as a botanist matches this perfectly] devotes their [life-labor—"life's work"? Or just "career"?] towards creating new and better crop strains, but such endeavors do not excite me. I just love plants. I want to discover their secrets, not just breed better crops.