Halo_ Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe - Eric Nylund [169]
For the Cole family, however, tax records show his family struggling to make ends meet.
Preston Cole’s Fifth Grade Report Card
Missouri Rain River School District
Wallace Fujikawa Elementary School
Homeroom Teacher: Dr. Lillian Bratton
Preston J. Cole (Student ID #: LB-0034)
GRADES:
Physical Education: B-
Pre-Algebra: A
English: B
Art: C
Physical Science: A
Technology II: A
Finchy-Franks Intelligence Quotient: 147
HOMEROOM TEACHER EVALUATIONS:
Sociability: Below Average
Leadership: Average
Classroom Participation: Below Average
Citizenship: Above Average
HOMEROOM TEACHER NOTES:
Preston requires guidance to reach his full potential. A boy of high natural intellect, he tends to work too hard even when he plays. He overanalyzes every strategy when he plays baseball, slowing the games to a crawl. If he does not know how to do something, he looks it up, or if possible derives it (in the case of Mr. Martin’s pre-algebra class) from first principles. These traits in and of themselves are admirable, but he also needs to cultivate his imagination. In short, Preston never seems to have fun. Everything is a task to be finished. Preston also falls asleep in class on a regular basis; I would suggest that his chores or responsibilities at home be relaxed. He is, after all, only ten years old.
Confidential Note: Wallace Fujikawa Elementary School
database / March 12, 2481 (Military Calendar)
The incident in Mr. Martin’s pre-algebra class has been settled. A makeup final exam has been given, and Preston was carefully monitored the entire time. He produced another perfect test score, proving to William (Mr. Martin) that he did not cheat, although a perfect score (let alone two perfect scores) is a feat that has never been accomplished on the standardized pre-algebra final.
Preston’s father continues to defend his son’s driven nature and his family’s antiquated beliefs, insisting that Preston’s education at home has far and away exceeded what is taught at school. He went on to say that his chores were necessary to the family’s financial support and absolutely refused any suggestion that they apply for government aid.
Follow-up with a social worker at the Preston household bore no evidence of physical or psychological abuse when they made a visit at the school district’s request.
{Excerpt} The Viability of Extended Colonization By Preston J. Cole (age 14)
Freshman English / Miss Alexander
Grade received: B
(Teacher’s comments: “Thesis: B / Conclusions: C / Too much speculation and gratuitous use of Yeats quotation”)
The metaphor of a biological system, for example a population of wolves or fungus growth in a Petri dish, is tempting to apply to colonial expansion.
There can be three fates for any biological system. It may grow as long as there are sufficient nutrients, a suitable environment, and no over-predation—the system can enter a balance state of growth and loss—or the system may decline from over-predation, lack of nutrients, environmental disaster, or being poisoned by its own waste products.
Off-world colonies similarly require a stable environment with suitable food and water, and no over-predation. It is considered an open system because there are limitless numbers of habitable planets. (Or at least a very large number within the Milky Way Galaxy. See my Drake calculation assumptions in Appendix B.)
Human colonies, however, differ in one critical aspect: they are, by rule, inhabited by predictably intelligent entities. The values of these entities can diverge from the parent world with each successive generation. That is, while colonies directly seeded from Earth remain very earthlike in social, economic, and political values, they change with successive generations as they adapt to local environmental pressures, and in turn send out new colonies farther in physical distance and values from the original parent.
Such diversification in biological systems is a