Humans get together to build an enormous, state-of-the-art, station with all the best defenses, and comforts, the universe has to offer. But it has a ton more classrooms than just for kids, and a lot of kitchens. What is the station? A huge cooking school where students, no matter who, or what, they are, can come, live in the dorms, and learn to prepare and serve foods from all over the alliance and beyond. -- Anon Guest
As far as space stations go, it's fairly huge. It's all about the accommodations. There's standard habitats, customisable for any cogniscents needs, the air recycling system, both private and public[1]. There are also crowds of kitchens for any situation. Low-G, no-G, high-G, and equipped with every single cooking and preparation method anyone could concoct.
There are also, because of transportation costs, farms. Cultured meat proteins are fine for learning how to cook them, but there are always the kind of wealthy snob willing to pay for protein from slaughtered animals[2]. So dissection labs are special events.
It's all very well learning in virtuality, but the real thing is always vastly different to the programmed practice. And for some students, even the virtuality is challenging.
"Congratulations, Culinary Student Nus, you have just severed your own thumb," sighed Culinary Tutor Vlax as they supervised a nervous student in the VR labs. "Did you not hear when I said to equip the PPE?"
"I signed the waiver," said Nus, bringing up her documents with the virtual knife as a pointer. "I don't have to if I don't want to."
"And now you don't have a thumb for the remainder of the day. You will be penalised if you attempt to use it. This what we call consequences for inaction. Were this a real kitchen, you would be summarily fired and have to endure the cost of reattachment or replacement with whatever funds you may possess at the time[3]. You would also, I must note, be billed the cost of ruining two Years' worth of meat with your small biological contribution."
Nus paled. "But... I signed the waiver..."
"Waivers do not protect you from everything," soothed Vlax. "Your beliefs will not stop a knife from cutting. Your legal fictions will not stop consequences from impacting your life. This is, as your people like to say, real life. Toughen. Up."
"This isn't fair!"
"By your standards, perhaps. Perhaps you would like to save up and have your arms replaced with artificial substitutes? So you can continue on in your beliefs and thus prove me mistaken in mine?"
"I can't afford that. I could barely afford to get here."
"Which is why I wonder if you understand that we are trying to teach you. You signed a waiver that let you disobey instructions... and yet instructions are necessary to teach. Did you come here to learn?"
Red of face, now, Nus said, "Yes."
"Then this is a learning experience." Vlax reset the simulation. "You will start again. Without the use of the thumb you just excised. You did sign the waiver, so it up to you to decide if you wish to don your PPE. It is also up to you how many fingers you keep."
Nus put the virtual knife down and put on the chainmail gloves. The simulation made one thumb flop around empty. "They're heavy," she complained.
"So are artificial limbs."
"They scratch."
"Better scratched than cut."
There was one every year, it seemed. A Deregger with just enough to get a Galactic education in a terribly lucrative field... and just enough Deregger beliefs to be problematic.
They would learn. Sooner or later, they would learn.
[1] Throughout time and space, assorted intelligences have discovered that, the more you have to do to have good air, the less reliable the system is as a whole. Thusly, plants are a far more economical solution. Space is full of luxurious gardens.
[2] This is more a side-effect of Time as a unit of currency than any movement by the militant vegans. When it costs two Years (minimum) just to get a steak, most people prefer molecularly printed proteins or cultured "tube" meats.
[3] This is more of a threat for some. Specifically, Student Nus.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / sarymsakov]
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