‘Load of nonsense if you ask me.’ I had intended to question the cubs first, to get them out of the way before school. But they’d tumbled out of the kitchen before I had finished my chop (Connie still with her bone in her hand) and I’d had to ask Dusty to round them up. ‘An education’s useful,’ I said mildly. ‘What Eleanor says.’ I’d noticed that Dusty’s speech grew more abrupt when he was preoccupied. He stood up—four legged this time, not two—shook himself, and trotted out the front door. I heard a long drawn out…yelp, is the closest word to it, then a more human ‘Bonnie! Connie! Johnnie! Get your tails down here now!’ I sat back on the puppy-smelling cushions in the living room, and looked at my watch. Not yet seven. Plenty of time yet. NetSchool begins at 8 a.m. It’s mostly Realtime, even though it’s in Virtual. Back in the City kids are selected into nets according to their temperament and ability. I supposed in the Outlands people just formed their own nets with the kids around, but probably used the same programs too.
