Simon's fingers drummed a nonsense rhythm onto the counter beside him, causing the thirium in his bottle to ripple slightly. It was the beginning of the 2039-2040 school year, several months after Markus's peaceful demonstration succeeded and the integration of the remaining Android Deviants into society began; this time as equals instead of servants. Markus had made multiple trips to the US capitol throughout the last few months, the visits accumulating to the events that placed Simon into the classroom he currently stood in, tucked into the front left corner.

A human walked through the door, causing the Android to look up sharply as it was still twenty minutes too early for any students. The woman glanced up from the paperwork she held in her hand, a faint smile on her face. "Ah, of course."

Simon recognized the woman immediately, she had accompanied him on the walk to the school. She and the school principal had joined him, North, and Markus a block away, bringing Simon through the school past a group of protesting parents when North and Markus couldn't go any farther. "... Hello, my name is Simon."

The woman walked to her desk, placing the tablet onto the center of it. "Yes, the new assistant teacher. News had spread through the school of an Android beginning to work here, we just weren't sure where they would be placed." Simon went to open his mouth to speak as the woman looked at him with a wrinkly smile, green eyes startlingly contrasting with her dark skin. "My name is Mrs. Esi. It'll be a pleasure working with you."

Simon stood with his mouth open for a moment, startled. He had been prepared to apologize, or assure her he wouldn't cause any trouble. Most humans still harbored ill feelings toward the deviants, so it was a surprise, yet a relief, whenever they were met with warmth. "... Thank you. It'll be a pleasure working with you too."

Mrs. Esi smiled, before her gaze traveled to Simon's arm, smile fading to a small frown. "Wasn't the law in place repealed?"

Simon blinked, his gaze shifting over to his arm. The brown jacket he wore, given to him by the principal, had a blue band on the right arm. She had given it to him apologetically, as the rule that androids needed to wear the bands had been repealed a few months prior. "Some Androids dealing with public work still need to wear a band. Since I'm working with children, they want to be sure the children are safe."

Mrs. Esi shook her head, but didn't comment any further. "While we don't have enough room to get you a desk, why don't we get you a chair?"

Out of a class of 20, only 6 students showed up. Two were siblings.

Simon was seated in his chair next to the teacher's desk when they started filing in, Mrs. Esi cheerfully greeting each family as they arrived before directing them to their seats. He could see the student's family members looking uneasily at the Android, his hands folded patiently in his lap. It was almost twenty minutes after the class was supposed to begin when the realization dawned that no one else was coming, possibly due to Simon's presence in the classroom.

Mrs. Esi cleared her throat, standing in front of her desk. "Good morning students and family members. It's nice to see you all on the first day of this school year. My name is Mrs. Esi, I'll be your childrens' teacher." The woman recieved a round of hellos from the others in the room before she motioned toward Simon. "This here is Simon, he will be my assistant teacher this year. Simon?"

The Android gave a weak wave, smiling uneasily. "Hello, everyone. Welcome to class 156."

After a bit of questions and some discussion, Mrs. Esi had Simon hand out the tablets that would be used for the student's work throughout the year before moving into describing what a normal school day would be like. She kept charge the entire school day, going through and repeating routines for the classroom and the hallway. Simon went along, doing as he was asked. The day quickly went by without accident, and soon the class had come to a close. With the classroom mostly clear, Simon had started cleaning up left out materials when he overheard a conversation that he hadn't intended to eavesdrop on.

"Are you sure that thing is safe to have around? With what happened this year-"

"Dr. Sweeny says Simon is perfectly qualified for working with children." Mrs. Esi replied, opening a drawer on her desk and rummaging through it.

"My cousin's android went haywire and attacked her. She was lucky to get out of that alive. What if this one does too? Will Dr. Sweeny be responsible if it decides to hurt one of the children?"

"The school principal is certain Simon would never harm a child, even if he had an inkling of a desire to. Now, Mr. Walker, I would suggest being more careful about the volume of your voice the next time you talk about someone behind their back."

Simon hadn't realized that he'd stopped cleaning, a glue stick still in hand. He swiftly put it away, hearing Mr. Walker grumbling behind him and exiting the classroom. The Android grabbed his thirium bottle and teacher's tablet off the counter, the device having been given to him by the principal sometime in the middle of the school day, and started for the door.

"Have a good afternoon, Simon. I hope I will see you tomorrow." Mrs. Esi called, not looking up from her desk.

Simon paused at the door, looking back at the woman and giving her a weak smile. "Of course."

"Good." The word followed him out into the hallway, ending Simon's first day of school on a good note.

"Why don't you lead music time today?"

Simon looked up from helping Amelia with her writing assignment, kneeling next to her seat. "Excuse me?"

The past two months had gone surprisingly smoothly, the protest in front of the school having shrunk within the first month. A few new students had finally started coming in after the first four weeks of the school year. Up until now, Mrs. Esi had been in charge of each activity, as expected, while Simon been helping students with assignments or grading their work. Simon didn't mind.

"I want you to lead the class in our music activity today." Mrs. Esi repeated, fixing her glasses slightly. "Do you know how to do that?"

"Of course, but I-"

"Good." Mrs. Esi cut him off, heading back to her desk. Simon gaped after her for a moment, before a tug on his arm got his attention.

"Mr. Simon, I don't need help now."

"Alright, Amelia. Good work."

It started with a few activities. First music, then math, then Simon announcing when they would transition from one activity to another. Over a month, Mrs. Esi had Simon taking over the class for longer periods of time, and by the sixth month of the school year the Android was practically leading the entire class time.

"Could I ask you a personal question, Simon?"

School had just let out for the day. Mrs. Esi had stayed behind to finish grading work while Simon cleaned and moved tables for the next days' planned activity.

Simon looked up from the table he was wiping down, not stopping the movement. "Sure, Mrs. Esi. What is it?"

"What did you do before?" The Android froze for a moment, then put down the bottle and rag he was holding. "If it's too personal, you don't have to answer."

"No, it's fine. I just haven't told this story to many people." Simon reassured her, standing and turning to face the teacher's desk. "I used to work at a daycare center. I met Dr. Sweeny there, she brought her daughter in for two years."

"That's why she is so confident in your abilities as a teacher."

Simon smiled. "I suppose so."

"If I could ask, what happened that you're not working there anymore?" Mrs. Esi asked, tablet abandoned on her desk.

"The center had been run by an old woman, Valorie. She... was like a mother to me. I was with her for a few years, and she treated me almost as if I was like a son to her... Up until she passed away. Her daughter took over afterwards, and decided to order a new, updated android model for the center. The children who had been there for some time were devastated to know I was going, and I... decided I didn't want to be decommissioned. I wanted to leave the center on my own terms, it being the one thing I could have control over after losing my only family. So I waited until the night before I was going to be replaced and fled."

"I'm sorry... That must have been hard."

"It was, at first." Simon replied, turning and kneeling back down next to the table. He picked up the cleaning supplies again. "I wandered through the streets for a few nights... Then I stumbled upon a place I realized I could call home: an abandoned freighter. And, over time, others began to arrive. A people gathering together in their new home. Jericho."

"At least things turned for the better, and that you're here now. I'm glad to have met you, Simon."

Simon made his way to a cabinet, kneeling and putting the cleaning supplies away. "I'm glad to have met you too, Mrs. Esi."

The woman smiled. "Call me Asha."

The last day of school. There was a buzz of excitement throughout all the classrooms, and the kindergartners didn't want to sit still. As the students filed through the halls for the last time as kindergartners, time was ticking down like a bomb.

"It was nice meeting you all this year, you've all done very well and improved so much! Good luck next year as first graders!" Mrs. Esi said as the group came to the school entrance, where the children's families were waiting to pick them up.

Simon turned to the kids, smiling warmly. "Simon Says: Have a great summer! Your last class is dismissed." The children scurried off to their family members in excitement, a few eager to go home. Quite a few didn't really want school to end.

The entranceway slowly cleared out, and soon only Simon, Mrs. Esi, and the front desk secretary were the only ones left by the doors.

"I'll go back to the classroom and finish cleaning up. You can go home, Simon. Do you have everything you need?" Mrs. Esi nodded toward the small stack of papers Simon had tucked under his arm. They were gifts from the students; drawings of the Android, of dogs, of flowers, and of the unexplained.

"Yes, I do. Thank you, Asha." Simon replied as Dr. Sweeny poked her head out of her office.

"I hope to see you next year, Simon."

The Android looked at the principal with a smile, shifting the papers from under his arm to one hand. "Of course you will. I would love to come back next year, I wouldn't miss it for the world."