?


    The science fair was now in full swing. Callisto had convinced Sylvie and Alice to go off and look around at the other exhibits. It was a tough argument, and in the end, Callisto had been forced toe along. Hank stayed behind to watch over their stall, while Lily did the same. Kat? Well Kat was technically part of the exhibit.


    Kat was pretty sure that most of the people that came to visit were also participants in the fair. It wasn''t too busy, and only about half of the spaces that had been set aside for participants were actually filled with people. Kat was a little annoyed by that, wishing for a bit more space. She was constantly moving around to avoid smacking people with her wings, while still giving them the ability to see the posters.


    A lot of the visitors were young children, five and below. Kat wasn''t sure why that was, perhaps the older kids had grouped up? Most people didn''t understand the diagrams or theorems Sylvie hadid out, they just looked at Kat''s outfit and stared for a while before moving on. Granted, Kat could see them doing the same at other stalls as well, but it was a bit annoying.


    *Sylvie put in so much effort to work out what potential humans have for wings just so I coulde and most of it''s being ignored! It''s all ''look at the prettydy with wings'' and sure, that''s very nice of you children but that''s really not the point. At least nobody is screaming demon.*


    Kat quickly tilted to the side as another kid tried to grab her wings, "Now, please no touching. These are quite heavy you know? I need to be really strong to lift them. I don''t know if could lift you AND the wings," said Kat, making sure not to lie. *That was close. Technically I don''t know, for certain, that I can''t lift him and the wings. Though that''s more a question of if the wings will fall apart then if I have the strength it still counts.*


    One of the nearby parents grabbed the kid and said, "Sorry about that, he''s very curious,"


    Kat nodded, "That''s ok. I understand the desire to try and grab at things, especially when they''re little. I''ve worked with a lot of young children so it''s no surprise, and I''m not annoyed, but my sister did put a lot of effort into these so I don''t want them damaged,"


    "Oh, of course, of course, you have a good day now," said the parent as they started to walk away, whispering to the child as they left. "You can look, but not touch. I already told you how much effort some of the other kids put in. You wouldn''t like it if someone ruined your sandcastle right?"


    "No mamma," mumbled the kid.


    "See, it''s like that," said the mother.


    Kat smiled as they walked off, knowing she wasn''t supposed to hear that example. *That''s not a bad way to exin it to a kid… might have to steal that one.*


    [Kat, there aren''t any beaches around here. How would most of the kids know what a sandcastle are?]


    *Um… sandpits?*


    Kat continued to stand around with Lily watching off from the sides on a chair, letting the crowds past by. Eventually, Lily needed to duck to the bathroom, and it was almost as if the gods themselves had nned it that way, because as soon as Lily was out of sight, a small child, looking to be about Sylvie''s age, or slightly older was looking at the equations Sylvie had posted. "That one is wrong,"


    "What?" asked Kat,pletely shocked.


    "That one, it''s wrong," said the little girl pointing to one of the pages of equations. The girl in question had short messy copper hair, and looked remarkably like a young boy. Only Kat''s many years of experience around children let her identify the difference. They had scuffed pants that looked like they''d seen better years and a ck shirt with a smiling bear on it.


    Kat looked over at the numbers and could already feel her brain starting to hurt. Sure she wasn''t bad at math, but Kat had never done any of the advanced stuff, and had basically just memorised as much as possible to get good math grades. Sylvie was a much better mathematician, and so was Lily.


    So Kat was looking at a mess of numbers, that frankly, meant nothing to her, and this small child was saying that it was wrong. No exnation as to why, just saying that it was. Um… Lily where are you at the moment?


    [Just left the hall why?]


    *Ah… nothing.* Kat closed the link carefully. *Can''t bother Lily, she left for a reason. But what do I say?* "Is it?" asked Kat due to her panic.


    The small child looked at Kat, with a pitying look. "I see… you''re not very smart are you?"


    Kat winced at the girl and looked around. Already a number of other guests and parents were starting to leave. *Shit I was hoping her parents would be around so I could see how they were reacting. I know if she was a kid at the orphanage I''d have words to her about talking to people like that… but she isn''t my child, not even one I''m watching.*


    "Why do you think that?" asked Kat to see what the girl would say.


    "Because it''s easy?" asked the girl, clearly confused as to why Kat would even ask. The girl truly did see the equation as easy. *Ah shit. I''ve got another Sylvie on my hands… though this one might just be limited to math.*


    "I see… and what would your parents say if they heard you calling me stupid?" asked Kat. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Well, I don''t really know because my parents are dead and I didn''t say you were stupid, just that you weren''t smart," said the girl as if this was somethingpletely reasonable to think.


    "I see…" said Kat slowly. Right. Orphan. These are your specialty. "Well, I''m sure a smart girl like yourself can see how saying someone is ''not very smart'' is quite simr to saying ''you''re stupid'' right?"


    "Of course, but I was told not to call people names like stupid… so I didn''t? I used other words, so it''s fine," said the girl.


    *Ah… she''s going to be one of those.* "Well, it seems we''re going to have a long conversation," *If only because I want to keep you here until Sylvie gets back to introduce you to her.* "so I''ll introduce myself. My name is Kat, what''s yours?"


    "My name is Penny," said the girl firmly.


    "Hello Penny, as I said before my name is Kat, and to answer your earlier question, I do not considered myself an idiot, but I surround myself with people much smarter then I am, and might have skewed my perceptions because of that. I cannot tell you if the equation is wrong, I didn''t write it, and I was not the person who double checked all of the math work. From what I know of them both, I''d be surprised if it was wrong, but perhaps they missed. Now that I''ve answered your question, can you answer one of mine?" said Kat.


    "That seems fair," said Penny without actually agreeing with anything.


    Kat wasn''t sure if that was intentional, but Kat went forward with her question anyway, "I''d like to ask if you understand why what you said before was rude?"


    "That''s a funny question," said Penny.


    "Well perhaps I''m a bit of a funny person," responded Kat.


    "I guess… um… no, no I don''t understand why it was rude," said Penny.


    Huh, I''m a little surprised she didn''t try to lie. Guess I can still do the ''you can tell me anything'' look well. "That''s ok, you''re still young-" Kat couldn''t finish speaking because she was cut off by,


    "I''m not young, I''m TEN" said Penny firmly.


    Kat knew how to make the most of this though, "Really? Well I''m seventeen, and if you''re not young… what does that make me?"


    "Old, obviously," sneered Penny, in that cute way only children could.


    "Well if I''m old, then what about my friend Chekov, he''s over thirty?," asked Kat.


    "He''s SUPER old!" said Penny.


    "But then what about Gramps? He''s more than eighty" said Kat.


    "He''s very old," insisted Penny.


    "Is that older then super old?" asked Kat.


    Penny seemed to frown at this. Obviously no, eighty was bigger then thirty, Penny was great at math, so she knew her numbers. But calling someone very old was less impressive then ''super'' old so that should mean Chekov was older? Penny was confused by the question. "Maybe?"


    *Right. Seems she''s just a math wiz.* "Well, eighty is more than thirty, so regardless of what youbelled them, Gramps is older," said Kat.


    "What does this have to do with your earlier question though?" asked a confused Penny.


    Kat smiled back, "Nothing, but my little sister Sylvie is now standing behind you, and she can answer your questions," Sylvie frowned at the sudden intense gaze the little redhead was sending her way.