Ximena smiles. She knows that Professor Miyagi is being modest. He is The Expert (yes, capital letters) on post-collapse history and an ultra-popular—and very photogenic—scientific disseminator. A constant face on the sensonet channels as guest contributor, he is also the writer and producer of the most famous historical sensorial of all times: Fahey’s Legacy, Rowan Prize winner of 2504 for the best drama, not bad for what was just supposed to be a documentary. The man is a genius.
“Autographs at the end of the seminar,” he says with a chuckle. “When I began teaching, I never thought I would have to say that to start a lesson.”
The students laugh again and clap loudly. And keep clapping.
“Whoa, people.” Professor Miyagi casually pulls back his long white hair and smiles, seemingly enjoying the attention of his captive audience. “Enough of that nonsense, or it will go straight to my head. Oh, see what you’ve done? Too late… Now I know I’m awesome!”
This time the waves of laughter and heavy clapping take even longer to fade away.
“Thank you,” Miyagi says, and with the way his smile softens, Ximena knows he means it. “Thanks for that. Love it. Love you people. Love this auditorium. A classic-age amphitheater, no less. Incredible! And the small size, designed to bring us all together, Townsend and Lundev. Just perfect! Can you feel the energy of curiosity? The urge for sharing? The craving for knowledge? For truth? Amazing work.” He points at Ank. “Please make some noise for the finest Shadow-Walker engineer academia has ever produced, Ankhesenneferibre!”
Ximena cheers at the top of her lungs, as does everybody else in the packed auditorium. It takes a while for the noise to fade, but Ank’s ferocious blush takes a lot longer.
“Love it.” Miyagi visibly enjoys the noisy attention. “Love it, people, but let’s chill, all right?” He gestures to the students to sit. “We have work to do.”
As the cheering begins to fade, Ximena feels an electrifying excitement. Professor Kenji Miyagi! Her family is going to want details. How’s he dressed? Like Ank designed his dream suit: elegant and yet with a pointed academic vibe. Ximena even thinks those words in Ank’s oh so perfect Hansasian accent. How does he look? Eastern Asian descent, obviously; youthful in his mid-fifties; plentiful white hair capped at his shoulders.
“Welcome to the first edition of the Global Program. I hope the first of many, because the Global Program lies close to my heart.”
Ximena smiles with anticipation. The Global Program! Miyagi’s concept child to use academic collaboration to warm the cold war that has split the world for a hundred years, and counting. Since the Dreamwars, the GIA and Hansasia have been rival regimes. Ximena’s native Goah’s Imperia of the Americas is the largest in population and expands the inhabitable latitudes of the North and South American continents. Hansasia, while not so populated, is enormous and, Ximena must admit, more technologically advanced. It stretches along the northern half of Eurasia, from the Hansa to China, plus a sizable part of Nubaria across the Portal to top it up. A true monster. And its scientific and cultural heart is, of course, Miyagi’s alma mater: the one and only University of Lunteren-Deviss, or Lundev for short.
“The Earth is getting smaller. Too small for petty differences, I’m sure you all agree.” Miyagi’s voice is lighthearted and practiced, the clean Hansasian accent not unlike Ank’s. Ximena read somewhere that a century ago Townsend’s Montana English was the peak of refinement, but, like most things, that changed after the devastations of the Dreamwars. “It is high time we talk more, so I say let’s start the conversation with the least controversial of topics: science. And, since this Program is my initiative, of course we’ll begin with the sexiest science of them all: history.”
A fresh round of spontaneous clapping and whistling, Ximena’s included, drowns the hemicycle and Miyagi’s words for a few moments. As the noise fades, Ank approaches Miyagi and whispers something in his ear.
“Sorry, people,” Miyagi says, “but first the admin. Where is the…?” He turns to Ank, who swiftly produces a sheet of paper from thin air and hands it to him. “Ah! All right,” he inspects the paper, “health comes first. We are in for a long-format session. You are all aware, right? With so many of us in such a small permascape, time dilation is off the charts, which is great because I plan to keep you trapped in my seminar for several dream-days. We are going to revisit the entire history of the Reformation and the Dreamwars in one go. And in great detail! It’s going to take a while, people.”
Ximena has done long-formats before. No big deal. She actually enjoys the immersion of dream-binging for days without end, no hunger, no tiredness, pure engagement. And this seminar promises to be epic, a detailed insight into the events that precipitated the end of the largest empire Earth has ever seen. Bring it on!
“And you know what that means, right?” Miyagi continues. “After the seminar you must all hold strict dream rest for at least a wake-week, got that? No excuses. No exception. Any porn you need, keep it strictly digital.” He raises his voice at the sudden barrage of laughs. “I’m serious, people. No sneaking in the dreamnet for a week, all right? Let your brains recover.”
He raises his eyes at the benches, to unanimous nodding.
“Good. Next, hmm, Censor Smith sends his apologies. He will miss the early part of the seminar. Okay, what else… Ah!” He looks up again, “You all had your dream pills or are using wu-sarcs, yes? We don’t want people waking spontaneously and missing dream-hours of seminar because it took them a few minutes to go back to sleep.”
More nodding and hums of assent.
“Good, and the last…” He cringes slightly as he reads and then
