The First Ones

Learning

 Luci did not remember enjoying the concept of education this much. As a younger on Seerin she had been schooled, of course, but had never looked forward to it like she did now. On her second day on Earth, the very morning after her arrival, she had woken up to a pair of beautiful songbirds chirping on her windowsill. She unlatched the pane to speak to them, but found herself speechless at the airy shine of the city's sunlit skyline outside before she could even part her lips to say a word.

"If you're still wondering," said Tra'nath, who had appeared at her bedroom door with a tray of breakfast, "Earth is closer to its sun than Seerin is to ours. That's why it's so bright here."

"I'd wondered about that," said Luci thoughtfully, as she stroked the head of one of the birds. "These are pretty birds. We never have these back home."

"Those are Talimaran dawnbirds," Tra'nath explained.

"Talimaran? What does that mean?"

"Talimara is the most powerful nation on Earth and a leading entity in the Confederacy," said Tra'nath. She pointed out its location on the wall-mounted map. "Over four thousand years of history, and for generations the humans have called her the Nation of Brilliance."

Luci nodded. "Were they responsible for all that?" she asked, gesturing out the window.

Tra'nath nodded. "Yes indeed. Millennia ago Talimara made the discoveries and inventions that led to their technological level of today. Come now, Luci. Breakfast."

As Luci sat at her bedroom's table eating, Tra'nath opened a case and took out a small device no bigger than those large marbles the boys in Fallon-Toulu loved playing with. This one was metallic and glowed a bright chrome yellow along lines on its surface. "Don't be afraid, girl," said the Redani, as she approached Luci. "This device is a neural-connection and interface trans....." She trailed off as she saw Luci's blank look of incomprehension. "Never mind. Put simply, this device will put knowledge into your memory for you. Anything you could possibly wish to know."

"Anything?" Luci's eyes bulged.

"Everything," Tra'nath said. "But not at once," she added, as the Armui younger sprang to her feet. "Now hold still."

"What is it going to teach me?" Luci asked, but Tra'nath didn't answer as she held the metallic marble in front of her face. The thing hummed, then floated cleanly off Tra'nath's palm and hovered at Luci's eye level. It shone a bright beam of light into her eyes briefly, and then Luci felt a surge of energy washing into her brain. Illumination felt odd, she had to agree. As soon as it come it had gone. "I don't feel any different."

"Is that so?" Tra'nath asked, picking the marble out of the air and placing it back in the case. "You must feel something."

"I don't," said Luci.

"You can understand me."

"Of course I can," Luci replied.

Tra'nath laughed. "Good. Now let me try speaking an Earth language." And she switched so swiftly Luci would have missed it otherwise. "How about now?"

The Armui was amazed. She could hear that Tra'nath was speaking in an entirely alien tongue, yet by some miracle she could understand perfectly what she was saying.

"Take it slowly, Luci," Tra'nath said. "Try to reply."

"I....I can understand you," Luci slowly said. It was an astounding thing. Seerini and Redani were the only dialects of language she had ever known, but when she thought of the reply in that language, for some reason it turned out in that alien speech. All she did was follow the prompts, coming mysteriously from the recesses of her mind. "My goodness, how is this done?"

"That device, Luci." Tra'nath held up the case. "It taught you."

"You mean...?"

"That's right. In just a few seconds that device taught you the Earth language and imparted a fluent level of familiarity into your brain. What would have taken years of study to master thousands of years ago now takes mere seconds."

"What language is it?" Luci asked, exploring the thousands of words and phrases in her mind.

"That is the Talimaran language, no less," said Tra'nath. "Constructed from a large number of distantly-ancient human languages. Thanks to her vast historical influence, nearly all humans know how to speak it. And if they don't-" she held up her case again- "one can very quickly learn."

"It's a beautiful one," Luci said. "Could I learn all the other Earth languages from that thing? Everything else?"

Tra'nath laughed. "Such enthusiasm. I'm afraid not, Luci. If you would know everything you need to know, a mere marble won't do. We need to visit the Compendium."

Luci was too excited to even care what the Compendium was. "When?"

"Right after you finish your breakfast," said Tra'nath, and she nodded and left the room.

In a very short time the two First Ones were heading through the city to the Compendium Terminal, placed in a snug location at the foot of the towering skyscrapers deep in the urban jungle. The walk there barely took twenty minutes, but during that short time Luci had seen, heard and felt so many new things that she knew she would take hours to learn about it all. She had seen antigravitational devices, flying automobiles streaming in between the buildings with deft grace, children wearing clothes that changed color and patterns as they moved, robotic automatons which vendored snacks and things to people, brilliant music playing from stores, and more, and more, and so much more. Twice on the journey Tra'nath pointed out people telling stories to attentive audiences, and told Luci that they were, in fact, not human at all, but simply highly-advanced, sentient intelligences.

"There's too much for me to learn here," Luci declared, as they stepped into the Terminal. "By the way, where's Random?"

"She disappeared to look at books at the institute library," said Tra'nath, "in rather a random manner."

"Suits," Luci quipped. The doors of the Terminal closed behind them and the younger found herself and her guide in a small entrance chamber.

"You may feel nothing," Tra'nath began, "but this chamber we're in has already moved to another place within the building to make way for new visitors."

Luci gaped at her guide, and nodded. "Now what? There's nothing here."

"Just hold on, Luci."

As if on cue, a small pillar rose from the ground, atop which was balanced what appeared to be in the simplest sense, a cloud of light. It swirled and glowed, and Luci didn't know whether she should feel intrigued or afraid. And then a disembodied voice began speaking. "Welcome to the Terminal of the Compendium, the Artificial Intelligence Suprema."

Then the flash of light hurtled a beam across the room, and that new cloud coalesced into a very human form, that of a young girl. She was maybe no older than ten or eleven biological years, and had flowing brown hair and gentle green eyes. The girl wore a small silver bow in her hair and a splendid, long white dress that reached her bare feet. Luci's jaw dropped with a clang. "Who are you?"

The only answer she got was a calming, mysterious smile.