Chapter 7.30: Resignation and new possibilities

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From Alba's diary

TV: "99% of robots left the planet in the last few days, presumably to reach the planet Sixam as they announced during their speech on live TV. In the meantime, the number of legal actions against them is increasing exponentially, just like the requesters of support of those affected in their plans. The New Sixam government is still elaborating an action plan to fill up the workload previously covered by the robotic workforce, but..."

Rowan: It shouldn't matter if they decided to run away and go on Sixam, if they broke the law they should be punished for it, no matter what!

Olivier: I fear it won't be that easy this time. Sixam still has quite an impressive weapons arsenal, now that the robots are barricaded in there it won't be possible to enforce our rules in there.

Alba: ...

Arsenal, isn't this the kind of word people would consider in case of war? I silently shook my head, the sole idea that all the issues we passed through in the last decades had been side effects of a very large and very secret plan plotted by the robots still seemed totally absurd to me. They have lived alongside with us all the time, why didn't they ever say anything about it? And how could we not find it out before, anyway?

And I was feeling even worse thinking that Techna, our Techna, the one I grew up with, had been aware of this plan all along and decided to leave alongside the rest of the robots without giving us a real explanation.

And they weren't the only robot in our lives, either.

One of the very few robots who decided not to leave is our scarecrow. Unlike the others, they just decided to totally stop moving. Who knows, maybe their status of gardening-robot made them think that the arid and cold land of Sixam wasn't right for them?

So, our dear scarecrow suddenly turned into a constant reminder of the robots' choice, always standing motionless in the very middle of our garden.

We really struggled to understand it, were the robots really that unhappy of living alongside us? Or, maybe, concepts like happiness and unhappiness just aren't as important to them as they are to us, and their decision was really dictated by a rational calculation, as they claimed during that TV broadcast?

I really don't know what to think, and I'm afraid we can't really do much else than accept the situation, and focus on what to do from now on. Because all the concerns raised by the TV news are very based, in New Sixam robots have been the main workforce for decades now. Many of the companies and factories over there are really struggling now, and everyone repeats how we should focus on limiting the effects of a possible economic crisis. 

So, even after that big shock, life goes on. Even if, in this very circumstance, I have the strong impression that Olivier would gladly go without it...

Olivier: This time it's really hard to decide what to wish for...

Olivier: Ohi ohi, my poor back...

Given the situation, we didn't really feel like organising a bit party, as we usually do. But this wasn't an event we could ignore altogether, either. 

The years pass for us all, dear diary, and now neither Olivier nor I feel like we want to continue worrying about events bigger than us, problems that we will never be able to solve on our own.  We're tired, that's it.

The more time passes the more we would simply like to resign to the current state of things, deep down we think we deserve to enjoy the years we still have left in peace on this archipelago.

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From Rowan's diary

Rowan: C'mon, hurry up! We still have two beaches to comb!

???: But it's dark already, can't we continue tomorrow?

? ?: In any case, there won't be any more people dumping their garbage here overnight now that the robots are gone, right?

Well, technically he's right. This has to be the only bright spot about the disappearance of the robots that I can think of, suddenly they stopped littering and polluting places like this. And so, from one day to the other, all the results of our hard work begin to be visible, and more and more beaches are returning to their former glory.

However, this shouldn't be an excuse to slack off, they have to try way harder than this to make me change my mind.

??? : Well, if we have to remain here until midnight, apparently, we could at least chat a little while we work. Jill, Have you already decided who to invite to the prom?

? ?: I have an idea, yes, but I'm so afraid to ask him out...

???: And you, Rowan? Have you already invited anyone?

Rowan: (shrugging) I can't really think of anyone I'd want to invite, and I wasn't planning to go, anyway. 

? ?: C'mon, I can't believe it! And what else did you plan to do then, to study on prom night?

I really don't understand why they reacted like that, I was sincere when I said I didn't have anyone in mind to invite, and that I just didn't care about the prom night at all. Was it really such a strange answer?

Rowan: (A little annoyed) Anyway, we are approaching the curfew time a few of your parents set, we can interrupt the activities for today. See you here tomorrow after school, please be on time!
???: (yawning) Okay, team leader...

And so I went home too. I still had so much to do, like finishing my homework, submitting college scholarship applications, and also catching up on the latest news. 

I can't round my head around it. The reckless actions of all those robots had caused so much damage to all the rest of us, why isn't anyone even trying to do something? It was a huge injustice, that's what.

But there was nothing I could do to fix it, at least not yet. All I could do was to make good use of my time, like trying to get enough scholarships to afford to enrol in a good university, to get the best education I could. 

I hadn't yet decided what college to aim for, there were so many, and so different from each other...  And this is exactly why I'm applying to all the possible options I find, I want to make sure I won't find any barred doors in front of me when I'll eventually make that choice.

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Today is Sunday, so no school this morning. I woke up early, enough to enjoy a nice jog before the temperature rose too much. Later on, then, I planned to visit my cousins in Tech Sixam. They have almost finished university now, who better than them can give me advice on this matter?

Rowan: Wow River, so this is where you live?

River: Yes, I share a house with a few other students. We just made coffee, do you want some?

Rowan: I'm fine, thanks. However, I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind.

River: (collaborative) Well, I'm studying international relations. The university here in New Sixam is more famous for the science and engineering departments, but my course isn't bad either. Have you already thought about what kind of subject you would like to study, Rowan?

Rowan: Um…

There are so many interesting subjects, perhaps even more than choosing the university what is really driving me crazy is the choice of a major. There are so many alternatives, so different and yet all interesting in their own way. How can I choose just one, setting aside all the others?

???: Hey, who are you talking to, River?

River: He's my cousin, Rowan.

???: Oh, I see. River's always talking about you. I'm Rick, by the way.

Rowan: Nice to meet you.

Rowan: May I ask what you're studying, Rick?

Rick: What is it, an interrogation?

River: No, Rowan is just looking for some ideas for choosing a college major. 

Rick: I see... However, I'm studying the same stuff as River, so I don't think I can help you much.

This classmate of River, Rick, actually seemed quite grumpy to me. Or, at least, I had a very strong impression he wouldn't have said anything else, even if I had tried to insist more. And probably River thought the same, because he immediately rushed in, to say:

River: You see, Rick isn't a very chatty person. But he's not wrong either, if you're interested in knowing something about our course you can ask me directly. If I had to describe a bit our major, I would say that...

We talked for a bit longer, but the more he added details the more I became convinced that their major wasn't the right one for me. Maybe I'd been more lucky talking with Iris instead.

Iris: What, do you want to talk about college? I'm actually seriously thinking about quitting, I'm finding it so boring!

Rowan: (shocked) What, seriously? But what do you think you'll do without a degree?

Iris: Hey, it's not like it's compulsory to have a college degree, there are a lot of people who are doing absolutely fine also without it. And then I want some time to focus on my music!

And this is how also Iris ended up in the "absolutely useless for the college choice" list in my notebook. Apparently, all she's thinking about now is how to become a DJ, and I'm pretty sure I'm not really interested in knowing more details about it. 

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Alba: Oh, wow, that's a lot of mail! And it's all for Rowan, luckily he'll be back from school soon.

Today mom is in charge of inspecting some small islets on the edge of the archipelago, and we scouts have agreed to give her a hand in cleaning up any possible garbage around.

So I ran out of school as soon as the last bell rang, it's a long swim to get there.

Alba: Hi Rowan! (Excited) Guess who received a lot of mail today?

Rowan: … Wait, do you mean that the answers to my scholarship requests have already arrived?

Alba: I think so!

Mom then proceeded to hand me the pile of letters she was talking about. She hadn't opened them yet, I think she wanted to leave the honour to me, but she already had a very satisfied expression on her face. She was expecting a good result already, I was sure about it.

So I pounced on the letter and ripped open the first envelope. I quickly read all the standard sentences until I got to the answer. 

I had received three scholarships out of the four that I had requested, even the sports scholarship which alone would have allowed me to almost completely pay for the tuition of any university! I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders, the cost of college would no longer be a problem. Now all I had to do was concentrate on choosing the institute and degree course where to enroll...

Next chapter -->

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§HermioneSims§ corner

This time I just want to close with a small screenshot. Because I don't think Rowan can be any more Rowan than in this picture XD

To translate at least the results of the scholarships, he obtained the sports one, the scouts' scholarship, and the one for being an inhabitant of Sulani. He didn't manage to obtain the one for handiness instead.