"Be with the other children then. Play with them. You'll need each other to live on New Earth--eleven years from now." * * * * * He thought sullenly, how can I play with them when they're _flat_? But he didn't object out loud to Mecmother. He didn't like her this way. Explanation was Mecteacher's job and discipline Mecfather's. Mecmother should be warm and loving. Mecteacher appeared and asked Adam to call in the other children so the science lesson could start. He found them tanning in the sunroom, their unclothed bodies evenly browned from invisible light. They followed Adam without question, but seemed to take a long time doing it. Joseph insisted first in donning clothes, but he put on protective clothing first. Then, realizing the absurdity of it, he switched to his formality suit--the loose-fitting robe Mecteacher instructed the children to wear to lend dignity to the classwork. During Joseph's delay, the girls ambled off somewhere and returned only when Adam shouted after them in exasperation. Quickening his pace, Adam reached the classroom first and asked Mecteacher, "Are the other children--deep?" "Deep? Yes, Adam, Mecfather explained that to you. Why are you confused? It's us, the mecs, who are flat. The other children are healthy, living beings. The cells from which all of you were born were selected after years of controlled breeding. Your parents were the finest the human race could produce--intelligent, strong, healthy, high survival quotient. Is this what you mean by deep?" "Partly, but also--_feeling_. I think I feel things better." The other children waddled in, took their seats and switched on robomonitors in the ritual of classroom procedure. They all looked at Mecteacher in the central panel. Mecteacher motioned Adam to his chair-desk and began the lesson. He described Old Earth and how it circled Old Sol with the other worlds and the way the moons circled the planets--all of them condensed into spheres and all the spheres turning in harmony. He interrupted himself when Mary's robomonitor registered only partial comprehension. "What don't you understand, Mary? Is it _sphere_?" "I know what a sphere is," she said, remembering a previous lesson. "A sphere is an apple or an orange--" * * * * * Mecteacher detected a covert wince from Adam's monitor. The teacher appeared to Adam on his desk panel where the others couldn't see or hear. "Do not think this is because she is not--deep, Adam. She is only seven and not as advanced for her age as you are. You understand how we mecs are pre-set?" "Yes." "In the classroom, then, if we don't go fast enough for you, try to be patient. We can only deviate within set limits. It is not a new problem, Adam. On Earth, it impeded the educational system from the beginning."