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Authors: Felicia Jedlicka
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but no dial tone took its place.
Cori picked up one of the gold bands and stared at it. She was glad that they didn’t have any unnatural pull to her, but nevertheless she couldn’t help but wonder if she would be safer with them on.
She put down the ring, hung up the phone, and left Belus’s office just as she found it.
20
“Everything okay?” Belus said bringing a tray of coffee and cookies over to the coffee table as she came out of the office.
“No, but it’s not any worse than it was before I got on the phone. Are those cookies?”
“Mmm,” Belus answered through his first sip of coffee. “I hear pregnancy gives women an appetite.”
Cori slunk over to the couch and took a seat. They were on the opposite sides from where they started. “I’m surprised you’re letting me have cookies,” she said snatching one off the plate before he could second guess it. It wasn’t store bought, so Belus must have had cooking skills beyond breakfast food.
“First off, I have never been opposed to letting a woman eat.” She giggled through her cookie. “Second, you are nearly to the end, I doubt cookies will hurt you. And thirdly, I think you’ve earned a cookie.”
Cori grabbed another after she washed down her first with her coffee. Belus had made something fancy with cream and sugar already in it, so it wasn’t nearly as distasteful as she expected it to be. She noticed Belus was drinking plain black coffee.
“Aren’t you going to have any?” she asked looking at the plate of cookies.
He shook his head slightly. “I’m not much for sweets.”
“Why do you…” She trailed off realizing she probably already knew the answer to her question. “Danato said he would stop by tonight.”
Belus looked down at his coffee. “Back to your earlier question…” He shifted so he was facing her more and she did likewise, drawing her feet up to get more comfortable. “We refer to this entity as a she for various reasons, but the designation is no more accurate than saying he, it, or they. She isn’t a corporeal being, and never has been. She is simply an energy that exerts its presence through the manipulation of matter.”
He must have sensed that he was losing her because he set down his coffee cup so he could utilize his hand gestures properly—because that was going to help her understand the biochemistry of a nonorganic being.
“Okay, take for example your baby.” Cori looked at her stomach. So far, it wasn’t a baby. It was just a bulge that poked her in the rib cage occasionally. “You are growing a human being unconsciously via intricate cell division that was programmed into your DNA since the dawn of man. You eat food in order to sustain that process.”
“I’m with you so far.” Cori chomped down on another cookie.
“Now, imagine if you could consciously grow a baby without the fixed construct of the DNA blueprint. Imagine if you could grow something other than a human baby.”
“Eww.” She winced, thinking of a horror movie plot.
“No…you don’t understand…this is a metaphor.” He scooted a little closer. She had never seen him quite this enthusiastic about anything. “I’m saying you could manipulate the cells and the DNA. You could create a kitten, or a…spleen, I don’t know. The point is that the female of the species has the unique ability to create brand new life that didn’t exist before.”
“I had a little help…well not little,” she added.
“Cori,” Belus scoffed and laughed. “Can you focus please? This is kind of interesting stuff.”
“Sorry. Okay, so this creature is similar to me, because it can create life.”
“No, well, no. Remember she isn’t corporeal, so she uses her energy to manipulate matter. Like your body divides cells to grow a baby, the creature divides matter to build and create objects, like the house.”
“Doesn’t dividing matter create nuclear energy?”
“Atoms are basically composed of three main
Cori picked up one of the gold bands and stared at it. She was glad that they didn’t have any unnatural pull to her, but nevertheless she couldn’t help but wonder if she would be safer with them on.
She put down the ring, hung up the phone, and left Belus’s office just as she found it.
20
“Everything okay?” Belus said bringing a tray of coffee and cookies over to the coffee table as she came out of the office.
“No, but it’s not any worse than it was before I got on the phone. Are those cookies?”
“Mmm,” Belus answered through his first sip of coffee. “I hear pregnancy gives women an appetite.”
Cori slunk over to the couch and took a seat. They were on the opposite sides from where they started. “I’m surprised you’re letting me have cookies,” she said snatching one off the plate before he could second guess it. It wasn’t store bought, so Belus must have had cooking skills beyond breakfast food.
“First off, I have never been opposed to letting a woman eat.” She giggled through her cookie. “Second, you are nearly to the end, I doubt cookies will hurt you. And thirdly, I think you’ve earned a cookie.”
Cori grabbed another after she washed down her first with her coffee. Belus had made something fancy with cream and sugar already in it, so it wasn’t nearly as distasteful as she expected it to be. She noticed Belus was drinking plain black coffee.
“Aren’t you going to have any?” she asked looking at the plate of cookies.
He shook his head slightly. “I’m not much for sweets.”
“Why do you…” She trailed off realizing she probably already knew the answer to her question. “Danato said he would stop by tonight.”
Belus looked down at his coffee. “Back to your earlier question…” He shifted so he was facing her more and she did likewise, drawing her feet up to get more comfortable. “We refer to this entity as a she for various reasons, but the designation is no more accurate than saying he, it, or they. She isn’t a corporeal being, and never has been. She is simply an energy that exerts its presence through the manipulation of matter.”
He must have sensed that he was losing her because he set down his coffee cup so he could utilize his hand gestures properly—because that was going to help her understand the biochemistry of a nonorganic being.
“Okay, take for example your baby.” Cori looked at her stomach. So far, it wasn’t a baby. It was just a bulge that poked her in the rib cage occasionally. “You are growing a human being unconsciously via intricate cell division that was programmed into your DNA since the dawn of man. You eat food in order to sustain that process.”
“I’m with you so far.” Cori chomped down on another cookie.
“Now, imagine if you could consciously grow a baby without the fixed construct of the DNA blueprint. Imagine if you could grow something other than a human baby.”
“Eww.” She winced, thinking of a horror movie plot.
“No…you don’t understand…this is a metaphor.” He scooted a little closer. She had never seen him quite this enthusiastic about anything. “I’m saying you could manipulate the cells and the DNA. You could create a kitten, or a…spleen, I don’t know. The point is that the female of the species has the unique ability to create brand new life that didn’t exist before.”
“I had a little help…well not little,” she added.
“Cori,” Belus scoffed and laughed. “Can you focus please? This is kind of interesting stuff.”
“Sorry. Okay, so this creature is similar to me, because it can create life.”
“No, well, no. Remember she isn’t corporeal, so she uses her energy to manipulate matter. Like your body divides cells to grow a baby, the creature divides matter to build and create objects, like the house.”
“Doesn’t dividing matter create nuclear energy?”
“Atoms are basically composed of three main
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