Max’s little sisters and the Innu girls worked remarkably well together, and all four were years ahead of the standard development that you would expect of a human their age. None were old enough for standard schooling, by human estimations, but they all understood the concepts of holographic design, and with the innate talents of the Innu, they didn’t even have any troubles with programming locations for the objects that they wanted to place in the simulation.

They had chosen to work together while taking notes on the changes they needed to make. But because this was a full-on science lesson, according to the Innu mothers, they wouldn’t just be placing basic objects. They each needed to modify one they placed and show their work, so their understanding of the principles behind holographic projections could be tested.

Max had expected his sisters to struggle with the changes since they had no background in the subject and none of the Innu advantages, but the other two girls did a great job of explaining the parts that they needed help with and only had to refer to Max a few times for clarification.

“Now that the towers are all made and checked, we are going to start on the modification portion of your daily quiz. I want you to hide the tower inside a tree. But the tree needs a secret door, using an incorporeal projection so that those who know it is false can walk into the tower.” The Innu Mother directed the group.

As soon as the lecture was over and Max had stepped back, intending to let the kids freestyle their way through a scenario creation, she had stepped up with specific instructions, as well as a checklist of skills and understanding she expected by the end of the day.

Max knew the type, the super intrusive helicopter parent, PTA mom of the year, and general busybody. But, she was very well-versed in scientific theories, and after seeing Max’s practical demonstration, she understood how the interface worked, so she made a lesson plan for the kids in only a few seconds.

Making the hologram work as intended was a bit more tricky than expected.

The interface was much more technical than most design interfaces would be since they didn’t have a user-friendly software interface as most designers would use, but that was the point of the lesson. If they didn’t understand the projections, they wouldn’t be able to make the one portion of the tree illusionary without changing the whole tree.

Once they were done and proudly showing off their work, Max gave his sisters a pat on the head and then waved his hand through the doorway they had hidden.

“All good, and the tree itself is still solid. Passable.” He informed them.

“You don’t grade on a percentage scale?” The Innu girl’s mother asked him.

“I leave that to their regular teachers. I am personally a results-oriented person, so my grading is a simple pass-fail. As long as it works, it is passable. If it works in ways superior to what was requested, it is outstanding.” Max explained.

“What an intriguing way of looking at the world.” The woman replied, but Max could sense that she didn’t mean it as a veiled insult.

She was genuinely intrigued by the grading system that he used. It was standard for Military Mission Outcomes, where the only part that really mattered was that the job got done and you weren’t dead. You couldn’t very well grade a take-and-hold mission on a percentage scale. You either did it or didn’t.

The father’s thoughts were much more interesting to Max, though. He was a tenured University professor back on his homeworld and no longer taught regular classes. Instead, he helped postgraduate students with their dissertations and worked with the government on research projects that were deemed important to academic advancement.

He had deeply studied the Humans, at least as much as the Innu could with the limited data that they had at their disposal, and the Nanotechnology intrigued him.

The fact that a sentient data net had formed among the population and that it had chosen the humans as hosts to upgrade, but not the whole species, just the ones that were friends of the first group it encountered, was a fascinating study of both human biology and nanotechnology.

If his theory was right about humans being a nearly perfect host for the technology, thanks to their high levels of bioelectrical output, then the reality might be that the upgrades they received were symbiotic and not actually intentional, while the technology simply itemized the changes that it had made along the way.

It would explain how he had heard that the System upgraded what you were best at first, but so far, he hadn’t found the correct way to ask permission to study the phenomenon.

This was his first actual meeting with Max since the staff had greeted his group at the hangar bay doors, and Max could sense him going through dozens of prepared speeches in his mind and weighing them for the likelihood of success.

While he was thinking, the lesson wrapped up, and the girls were putting their notes away to prepare for lunch.

“If you want to ask, now is a great time. Your wife wants to drag you to the spa the moment she can get away from lunch, and the girls have no intentions of making that easy on her since they still want to spend the day together.” Max informed the man before anyone could suggest they leave the room.

“Fascinating, truly fascinating. Tell me, did the system read the brain wave emissions to inform you of my thoughts, or does it work through an active method?” The man asked.

“Honestly, I really don’t know. The extended range readings are outside of our sensory range, and there isn’t enough data to fully verify the actual working mechanism of this particular system function.

Mind-related functions have always been the hardest to quantify since they work on those without the system, but often not as well. If it were never as well, it would be easier, but some mind-related functions, like mental attacks, work much better on those without the system or mind-related powers, such as the Illithid possess.

But we’ve gotten sidetracked. You wanted to ask a question before we parted ways, and now is the best time.” Max finished.

“Well, since you’ve most likely heard all of my proposed appeals already, I will start this way. I have with me formal approval for an indefinite study period aboard Terminus as a researcher of the Human System, as they have officially called the nanotechnology network that those born within the former Kepler Empire possess.

What terms would you require in order to make that a reality?”