Omega felt tense, it was not really anyone’s fault. But this was tweaking several bad memories from snooty lecturers at the academy.

It was silly, Elsie was nothing like any of the terran Instructors. She or they or it or whatever did not even pretend to be like Pylo had.

Still the vague associations were making her tense.

“Well then, thank you all for participating last time. I’ve reviewed the results and It would appear that there is a lot more fundamentals to cover then was originally anticipated”

Omega gave a glance at Aleph then back to Elsie’s black screen and the scrolling cascade of amber text.

“Fundamentals? What kind of fundamentals?”

"The VERY fundamentals. You are all woefully lacking in principles of observation, cognition, tool use, reef history, biology, physics. If you were destined to be serviles or factory equipment perhaps your abilities would be sufficient but it is woefully inadequate for even basic survival on an interstellar craft and nevermind the exposure to dozens of polity you are liable to get with it."

What?

Omega ran the words backwards and forwards in her head to try and find some better more sensible manner of interpreting some flawed translation. But it all seemed clear as can be.

“W-what? But! How did you even get that from just going over a bunch of scenarios and doing all of that and surely there are more tests you need to do! We didn’t cover ANY of that in your lectures”

“If you had the proper fundamentals or context the materials presented should have been blatantly obvious and the responses which were tailored to your species equally concordant, that it was not is precisely the evidence that all three of you have serious deficiencies”

Her eyes were stinging with unshed tears. The tone was gentle but really? Seriously?! Omega was tired of being looked down upon by all these aliens when they couldn't even understand something as basic as directly stimulating a brain was not an acceptable way to communicate!

That they acted so infallible while blundering around nearly getting the terrans killed?!

“Excuse me?! I’ve spent a lifetime and more honing my craft! I can commune and hold the knowledge of any of the thousands of expert souls in our colony archive! I am able to be perform any five terran professions to the degree of complete mastery! I’ve been polite about this for Aleph’s sake, Who honestly I’m pretty sure is a genuine genius in her own right! But this needs to stop!”

She stomped up to the precarious hunk of junk teetering between ‘legs’ and shoved at the screen, forcing it to wobble, spin out into disparate chunks and then reassemble itself to avoid toppling over.

“We deserve some respect you arrogant heap! Quarti over here is literally as old as Terra’s entire civilization! And we are all highly trained! You are saying all of that is worthless? That we have to go back to basics?!”

She shoved again

“Your treating us like idiot children! I’m tired of being sneered at and insulted by every single alien we meet! I’m tired of how all of you are treating us like infants! or pets! or invalids!”

Elsie had a torrent of words pouring down its screen but Omega could not make it out through how blurry her vision was, her face was hot, she was shivering.

“Damn it! We could have taken care of ourselves! We should be taking care of ourselves! Not wrapped up in swaddling and mocked for it while you oafs lumber around us and blame us for YOUR mistakes!”

The gentle words that spoke up, vibrating in the air with a tinny quality made the hairs on her arms tremble. She was so close to whatever passed for a speaker or voice box on the alien she could hear the strange chords and nuances that were applied to assemble coherent words.

“Of course not, that is precisely why we wish to correct these superficial gaps in your education as soon as possible.”

Omega rubbed at her eyes and blinked hard before choking out a half sobbed laugh.

“What?”

The black screen was like a mirror before her. With text echoing and reiterating the words she heard. She looked like a frenzied mess.

“It is appalling that such capable entities as yourselves are stumbling on these basics. That you are unable to see to your own well being and must depend on ill suited amateurs fot it. It gives wholey the wrong impression of your species. So we wish to help you and through you your future home polity.”

She sniffled and snorted up some mucus that was tickling her nose, then sneezed. This was not how she was expecting blowing up like this was going to go. To be fair at the moment she was so angry she didn't expect anything. But now that it had happened she was befuddled.

“and while we would hope that similar remedial education is being undertaken for your kind with their other transit partners there is no certainty it has. The reef is a dangerous place for a naive and unprepared community, that you are so unprepared for this is abominable!”

Aleph and Quarti had drawn in close.

The prophet had a strange look on her face, a hungry one. And the seriousness of the expression was mirrored all the more clearly by how concise and modern her speech was.

“And this is why you plan to teach us? Truely?”

It didn't even sound like the same person bereft of Quarti’s insane medley of language and metaphor or lilting with the melody of a song.

The statement seemed to momentarily shock the alien as well, it’s text prompt stalling out for a long second before starting to scroll rapidly in a flurry of activity Omega could barely catch.

“Yes, I solemnly swear that I will educate the terrans to prepare them for the greater Reef”

Quarti nodded once then her face cracked into a familiar crazed grin and her words flowed once more in sing song madness. Hands clasping both Aleph and omega’s shoulders and squeezing them close.

“Oak rights to fiery type twisting then! Lets get tha brain squeezing jub digging alongwith side me skin slinky sheilacrats!”

Aleph groaned in exasperation and shoved the prophet off.

“Do you have to flip back so fast like that? I swear it’s giving me linguistic whiplash!”

Quarti laughed and then throatily belted out with a sharp twist of her head and hair flowing around her.

“OF COURSE!”

Omega could not stop herself from chuckling though she had no idea why it was funny.

Naturally Aleph threw a pen at her.