Incipience

Chapter 17 pt 2

True to her word, Councilwoman Firodi had a package full of everything I'd need for my first day of this internship at my doorstep within a few hours. I spent the entire weekend pouring over what she gave me. I used the first day to read through the informational packet and memorize my assigned material while the rest two were spent getting my butt whooped. The material for the presentation is easy enough to understand given that the topic has to do with Earth and our public transportation systems, but what was—is, honestly—really tripping me up was putting a presentation together with the tech she gave me.

Ugh, for the first time in my life, I actually understand how my parents feel when my siblings and I explain technology to them because learning how to use new devices is hard! Apparently the holowatches and tablets the Inovarians gave us are just the human-friendly archaic editions of what they have, because the devices Councilwoman Firodi gave me to use have a lot more features that are way more complicated than what I already have. The tech's interface has nothing to do with anything that I'm used to, so it feels like I'm starting over from scratch and it doesn't help that a lot of the core functions only respond to Inovarian commands. Thankfully, Vorem took this weekend off, so he was able to teach me the basics but I still feel like two days isn't enough for me to get a firm grip on everything.

I had Vorem quiz me on the different features of my new tech all yesterday and part of this morning and I'm still worried that I'll forget a feature of my presentation or say the wrong command and make a fool of myself. He's been assuring me that I'll be fine since we left the apartment a few minutes ago but I'm still feeling very jittery, which is pretty uncharacteristic for me. I've spent so much time of other people giving class presentations, running at regional meets, and being on stage during my debate competitions, so I don't mind having an audience, but the reason it's never bothered me before is the fact that I knew what I was doing. Unfortunately, I don't have the same confidence in my abilities in this situation so my nerves are starting to get the better of me. Sure, I know the material I'm presenting but that doesn't mean I know how to present it well enough to feel comfortable.

Vorem lets out an exhausted sigh from across the hovercar. "Charlotte-Amalie, you will do well. You have done nothing but study the ins and outs of this presentation for the past three days. I am confident in your abilities and if anything goes wrong, I will be there to assist you."

"I know you'll do what you can if something goes wrong, but the fact that something went wrong in the first place would be a failure in itself." I run my hands through my twists, "ugh, I hate how bent this has me feeling."

The confused look Vorem gives me lets me know that I just introduced to him yet another piece of slang that he doesn't know, but I'm too consumed in my own stress to bother breaking it down for him. Oddly enough, the next question out of his mouth isn't for his sake, it's for mine.

Vorem leans forward to give my hand a comforting squeeze. "You told me that, 'Positive is how I live' is one of the mottos of your home, correct? Would you not like to apply it to this situation? There is a very small chance that anything will go wrong during your presentation, after all. You are well prepared, so you will be able to compensate for any unlikely deviations. I suggest that you think positively, especially since people are more prone to making mistakes the more worried they are, do you not agree?"

I can't help but stare at Vorem. I can't believe he remembered that. I told Vorem the VI saying in passing almost two weeks ago when we were walking around before the attack, so I'm surprised that he remembered all of that even after all of the chaos that transpired that day.

Vorem takes his hand off of mine, his face taking on an expression of mild guilt. "I apologize, I must have overstepped when bringing up your home. I know you miss it."