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[WP] “…and that class is why Humans are considered the most peaceful species in the universe.” The only three humans in class looked at each other horrified. All the facts about humans that the aliens had were wrong. One student slowly raises their hand.
"Is this going to be on the test?" Claire asked.
"Of course, it will! But I expect you and your friends to have no issues. Don't worry."
Claire looked at Tom and David. They weren't her friends. They could barely stand each other and the group projects were literal nightmares. Nobody could imagine the Humans wouldn't want to work together so they always grouped the three of them. Always. It was for the “human perspective” or some other crap.
"Dude, we're fucked," David whispered and this time, Claire agreed.
"I can't fail this one! I'm already in trouble. And there's no way I will remember all this bullshit," whispered Tom frantically. "You know how hard it was to memorize the history for the Human School? And now this! It will mess everything up!"
Tom was right. Claire liked the Human School they went to every "Saturday" but the history part was hard. And if they were to add this nonsense to the mix... There's no way she's messing her finals because of it! They got the dates wrong, the conflicts wrong, the resolutions wrong...
She's not learning all of that just for one stupid test! She looked at Tom and David. They looked at her. And at that moment, an alliance was forged. As the ancient saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
She slowly raised her hand again. "Will you accept our credits and scores from our Human School? This way we could use everybody's time more efficiently. There's no need to waste academic resources. Maybe we could work on our final project instead?" she offered in her best I-love-school tone.
"Nonsense," mandibles clicked. "It will be quick and easy for you three and you know well enough we don't accept inter school credits."
"The creaky old bug doesn't accept credits," Tom grumbled. "Everyone else does."
Claire hid her smile. He was right. The creaky old bug was the worst.
This time, David raised his hand.
"Yes, David?"
"What if our knowledge is more complex and therefore -"
Therefore? He's using the big words. Count her impressed.
"- our answers would be more complex and seemingly contradictory to what you taught today?"
Mandibles clicked in frustration. "What do you mean? How could your answers be contradictory and complex? Explain."
"Well," David scratched his head, "the reality was far more troubling? It's understandable that it could cause the softer species a high amount of distress so it's omitted in the lectures..."
Tom nodded and followed that up with: "But our species prides itself for learning about past mistakes. And it seems wrong to omit that for the sake of the test."
"Again," Claire joined them, "we understand why it's not discussed in a class. But as responsible Humans we simply have to uphold our species traditions and rites. Learning about one's history is the core of our culture and learning the simplified and sugar-coated version is a direct jeopardization of our culture."
"Exactly," Tom agreed. "It's the highest offense we could do to our ancestors."
"And I'm not saying we would be shunned..." continued David with the heavy implications, they would, indeed, be shunned. Then he sighed. "It wouldn't be pretty."
Their teacher turned ugly shade of purple. "Jeopardization of your culture? My apologies. Of course, that was not my intention."
Claire bit her lip to keep a straight face. Everyone tries so hard not to offend any species and their culture. Sometimes it's a pain in the ass but at least it's useful now. "We understand that. I'm sure it wasn't. But can you see how troubling this would be for us?"
"Can you give me an example of one of those discrepancies?"
They shared a look. David had this glint in the eyes she usually hated. It meant trouble. But this time...
She nodded her head a little.
Tom smiled at him. "You go, buddy. You got thousands credits on the history last year."
He shrugged. "Okay. So..."
Claire shifted in her seat. David was well known for his... Fondness of the conflicts and the war strategies. What era is he going to pick?
She would pick the witch hunts. They weren't competing for the best woman in the village as the professor led the class believe. It wasn't some weird Miss Witch competition for the Earth-God sake!
"So, you know how you talked about the global Earth program for better health and species improvement? People being sent to camps for better concentration performance?"
Oh no. He's not going there! She was aware her mouth was wide open, but the balls of him! Maybe this was too much. This was… Well, at least it’s gonna be interesting.
"Those camps weren't nice? And the whole global initiative wasn't nice?" David continued sheepishly.
"What do you mean?" asked their teacher.
"It was more like a war and species reduction camps?"
Mandibles clicked. "I'm not sure I follow."
"It's called Second World War for a reason," Tom quipped.
"Second World War?" wave of whispers raised in the class.
"Did he said second?”
“War of World?”
“Like the entire planet?”
“Isn’t that a class Four planet?"
"Many people died," said Claire. She for sure didn't remember how many. It was some insane number she forgot right after the test. Some million something.
"Impossible!" clicked the teacher. "I wouldn't stand such jokes in my class. You're having a detention."
They shared a look. Hell they are.
Claire stood up and raised her voice to be heard over the ruckus. "The concentration camps didn't improve mental performance! People were systematically killed there or starved to death."
"And used as ingredients for daily use objects. Like a soap," Tom added and stood as well.
David slowly rised. He shot the teacher a firm glance. "Our history is bloody, violent, and disturbing. We massacred each other and only in the face of the worst crimes and devastation did we finally started working together to reach peace.” His tone was cold and menacing.
The class quieted and the faces of their classmates grow more alarmed with every sentence.
He continued gravely: “We choose peace everytime we can because we remember the horrors. We always choose peace and treaties because we know the depths of violence we are able to reach. We choose to be peaceful because we value life and know very well how fragile it is. Do not deny us our past for we need it to remain better than our ancestors. We know who we are and we won't let you spit on the billions of dead. Only thanks to them we are where we are as a species. Do not stomp on our dead.”
Someone's digital pen clattered to the floor.
“Now, teacher Fixhurati, what do you think about our previous offer?"
The teacher was slightly yellow around it’s many edges. "Yes. You can work on your final project. Class dismissed."
Several students jumped and rushed out of the classroom. Probably to take care of some of their bodily functions. The teacher was way ahead of them.
"Dude, did you really whipped out Terminator 15 monologue?" Tom asked.
David smirked. "I always wanted to do it. And you can’t say it didn’t fit."
"I can't believe it worked," Claire muttered. "Everyone knows Terminator 15. It's classic. How did nobody here recognize it?"
"They're puppies," muttered David darkly in the Terminator imitation. "Soft."
He hold the badass expression for two whole seconds before he burst out laughing.
"I'm glad it worked, man." Tom clapped him on the back. "And hey," Tom looked at Claire, "aren't we already done with the project?"
"Yeah," she shrugged. “They are going to cover this crap for the rest of the semester. Free period is always nice."
The boys exchanged glances. "You've got a point."
"Anyway," Claire said and took her backpack. "Bye." And with that she was on her way to get a cup of goofe before her Xiorish class.
"She's still super annoying," she heard Tom mutter behind her back.
She just raised her hand with a nice pointy middle finger. That everyone still believed to be a peace gesture. Man, she loves being Human.