Animalia's facility for those that didn't initially test at a high school level and thus got acceptance into Lyre High School was a fairly large annex building that was close to the laboratory facility where the Animalia Virus was created. It had originally been something of a break room for the scientists, but with Animalia's birth and the decision to let the Animalians live alongside humanity and in many ways integrate into human society worked, getting a facility up and running was critical. While many Animalians might not leave the area that the town/village of Animalia was, that didn't mean that they'd be completely isolated from human society and Robby and Clara had both agreed that knowledge was power and that learning would help Animalia grow and thrive.
Some came for that, though some came for other reasons. Samson scratched his shirt as he practiced writing things out, which was one of the primary things that he really needed. However, much of his reasoning was more to be with Abby. She was soft and kind and always enjoyed talking to him, even before he was uplifted and she transformed. It helped forge a real bond that grew between them after his uplifting and her becoming the beautiful mare that she now was, and it was something that he really didn't have with the other mares on the Brown farm. They were beautiful too, but there was something that seemed to be missing when he talked with them and something that was there when he was with Abby.
"You're getting better, Samson," said a male voice from beside him and he looked to see a human man in slacks and a sweater vest, "though, I believe I asked you to write YOUR name and age."
Samson looked down to the paper in front of him, and there written as plain as nose on his face was "Abby" written across the page. The words were getting better and they did look more neat and orderly, which would be necessary when dealing with order forms for fertilizers and other supplies that the farm couldn't manufacture on its own. If he could blush through his black fur, he would have as he looked down.
"I'm sorry, sir," Samson said slowly, "I guess I've been thinking about her a lot. She's beautiful. She's strong. She's kind..."
"And you love her," the instructor gave a rather fatherly smile, "I can understand. And you are making excellent progress. There are a few things to iron out and then you might be able to move on to the high school if you want."
"And they won't take away my time to work on the farm?" Samson asked.
"Well... you might have to cut down on that during the school year as the public schools have their own standards to meet that the Federal government mandates," the instructor commented.
"And they help with farming?" Samson wondered.
"They can, if you focus on the sciences, I suppose," the instructor commented, "though a lot of old farmers would probably argue that their work was probably the best educator on how to run their farms. Though, you will need some good math skills if the farm is to be successful, be it private or commercial."
"Math...?" Samson wondered, with a low disbelieving snort.
"Yes, helps you balance the books with regard to what the farm earns and its expenses," the instructor commented, "if you spend more than you earn... you're not going to succeed and the banks could potentially seize the property if they feel they're not being paid."
"That makes no sense," Samson commented, "people should live to live, this whole money thing is confusing."
The instructor actually laughed and patted Samson on his muscular shoulder.
"That it is, but that's the way things are," the instructor commented, "Why don't you break for lunch."
Samson slowly nodded and left the work room where many of those attending the remedial classes had their lessons. He made his way to another room that was set up as a sort of lunch room. He collected a tray and and collected his lunch, consisting of a sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes, a few pieces of sliced fruit and a large glass of water. He then walked to table where he noticed one of the newer Animalians sitting alone and chewing on various seeds. He was a male gray and white furred hamster and Samson could easily hear his incisors chewing through the seeds he was eating.
"Hello, Samuel, how are you?" Samson asked to the hamster as he moved to sit down across from him.
The hamster, who used to be Jessica Mariana's pet looked up and gave a semi nervous smile to the stallion as he sat down. Samson and Abby had met with Samuel after his uplifting had even arranged one or two meetings with Jessica, though that was all rather small and couldn't last long. That really hurt Samuel's feelings as Jessica was the ONLY person he really knew. The stallion that joined him at lunch was friendly and his mate was friends with Jessica, but there were a lot of people and Animalians that were new to him and made him nervous. He was rather skittish around a few of the uplifted foxes, bobcats, and lynx in Animalia that in nature wouldn't be above snacking on a rodent. Animalia's edicts might prohibit that, but that didn't necessarily erase the fear in his instincts.
"Doing well," Samuel answered, "I think the instructors here have been very impressed with things that I've learned."
"As an Animalian?" Samson wondered.
"Even before it," Samuel answered, "I can't explain why... but I remember things that Jessica did with regard to her homework... so I think I've picked things up there."
"So... you'll be going to the high school soon?" Samson asked.
"I hope so," Samuel answered, "and to at least apologize for frightening Jessica... she... she seemed so panicked when I was uplifted."
"It's okay, you're fine and she was just afraid that you were in pain," Samson said to her, "Abby was frightened for me when I was uplifted."
"I know... but she's also all that I know and am used to," Samuel answered, "everyone's been helpful, and I can't protest that... but..."
"You like her," Samson said slowly.
"I don't want her to hate me," Samuel answered, "and... I... I don't want her to be afraid of me..."
Samson nodded with some understanding. There was a lot of that sort of thing that went on. Abby's parents had made some commentary that there were some people who were fearful of Animalia after the reports of the accidents that lead to Abby's transformation in the first outbreak and then Sarah's transformation in the second outbreak had lead to fears on how infectious the Animalia Virus could be and why so much was being done to get Animalians to try and keep themselves and their work areas clean to prevent the spread of the virus. There were some fears that people who hadn't had contact with Animalia might push for the government to take more stringent means to control Animalians, but Samson figured that things would get better things settled down. However, the big thing was, that if Jessica was afraid of Samuel now, to find something that would assure Jessica that Samuel was essentially still the same cute ball of fur with cute dark eyes and a twitching nose that she had bought from a pet store.