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Authors: Terry Schott
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Raphael,” I say. “Which thing are we talking about?”
Raphael looks at me for a moment, his eyes twinkling with mischief. He’s serious and intimidating to the new people, but I know him — he’s excited. He looks at Melissa and nods encouragingly. “Go ahead, Melissa. Show Danielle what you can do.”
Melissa looks nervous, like a deer attempting to cross a busy road. She nods her head, looks at me, and takes a breath.
I feel it immediately, and I squint my eyes. She has Talent. Intense, raw Talent, and she seems to suddenly be pulling a large amount of energy into herself. She bends her legs and then pushes upwards, jumping very powerfully for such a young woman. She moves upwards, first a foot, then two, then I realize what she’s doing and within three seconds’ time I’m staring upward as she floats in the air about 25 feet above us.
She’s floating in that classic Superman pose — you know the one, where he has his arms crossed and his feet together. It’s my favourite pose, and I can tell she’s practiced it. After about ten seconds she uncrosses her arms and begins to fly forward in a lazy circle.
I watch speechlessly as she moves in a large circle. When she gets back to her starting point, she stops, then does one more complete circle, this time much faster. The first circuit takes about 30 seconds. The second one takes less than five. Then she drops quickly to the ground like she’s falling. About one foot from the ground she stops suddenly, then lazily floats the remainder of the way down. She smiles shyly and stands there, waiting for me to speak.
I look at her and know there’s no possible way I can hide my amazement. I hear Stephanie and Raphael laugh, and I’m certain they can read my thoughts.
“ How long has Carl been walking this Earth?” I ask.
“ Thousands of years, Danni,” Raphael says.
I walk towards Melissa. “How would you like to come live with me for a while, and see if you can teach me this trick of yours, Melissa?” I ask.
Melissa shudders with relief. I have a feeling she has spent her life afraid since she discovered this power. I think that she feels safer already. “That would be wonderful, Danielle.”
I nod and hug her. Then I look back at the Eternals. “If he’s been around that long, then he can wait a few more years to die.”
Chapter 15
Brandon sat behin d his desk with Trew beside him. Brandon was giving Trew a thorough rundown of Mainframe and the history of how it — she — had evolved from the Game’s beginning until this moment in time.
“ So she’s doubled her abilities roughly every two years?” Trew asked.
“ Yes, that was the formula, to double every two years,” Brandon admitted. “This whole time issue is still perplexing to me, though.”
Trew nodded in agreement. “You thought she’d evolve on Tygon time?”
“ I thought she would evolve on Tygon time, but what I hoped was that she would evolve on Earth time.”
Trew shook his head. “And she did. It staggers the mind. A computer that is based in our reality, but instead of doubling fifteen times in the past 30 years, it has doubled every two years for… tens of thousands of years by Game time standards?”
“ Only about six thousand years in the Game, actually,” Brandon confirmed. “The hundreds of thousands of years that are in the fossil and geological records of Earth don’t count. We only count it from the time that players were put into the Game; the rest is just filler.”
“Okay , then, six thousand years. Impressive enough, right?”
Brandon nodded. “Miraculous. It’s what I hoped for, but when I designed it I couldn’t be certain it would play out that way.”
“ So she’s an extremely evolved life form, but you still have her under control? How did you manage that?”
“ You can play chess on a board, and maybe over time the game can evolve and become more than it was
Raphael looks at me for a moment, his eyes twinkling with mischief. He’s serious and intimidating to the new people, but I know him — he’s excited. He looks at Melissa and nods encouragingly. “Go ahead, Melissa. Show Danielle what you can do.”
Melissa looks nervous, like a deer attempting to cross a busy road. She nods her head, looks at me, and takes a breath.
I feel it immediately, and I squint my eyes. She has Talent. Intense, raw Talent, and she seems to suddenly be pulling a large amount of energy into herself. She bends her legs and then pushes upwards, jumping very powerfully for such a young woman. She moves upwards, first a foot, then two, then I realize what she’s doing and within three seconds’ time I’m staring upward as she floats in the air about 25 feet above us.
She’s floating in that classic Superman pose — you know the one, where he has his arms crossed and his feet together. It’s my favourite pose, and I can tell she’s practiced it. After about ten seconds she uncrosses her arms and begins to fly forward in a lazy circle.
I watch speechlessly as she moves in a large circle. When she gets back to her starting point, she stops, then does one more complete circle, this time much faster. The first circuit takes about 30 seconds. The second one takes less than five. Then she drops quickly to the ground like she’s falling. About one foot from the ground she stops suddenly, then lazily floats the remainder of the way down. She smiles shyly and stands there, waiting for me to speak.
I look at her and know there’s no possible way I can hide my amazement. I hear Stephanie and Raphael laugh, and I’m certain they can read my thoughts.
“ How long has Carl been walking this Earth?” I ask.
“ Thousands of years, Danni,” Raphael says.
I walk towards Melissa. “How would you like to come live with me for a while, and see if you can teach me this trick of yours, Melissa?” I ask.
Melissa shudders with relief. I have a feeling she has spent her life afraid since she discovered this power. I think that she feels safer already. “That would be wonderful, Danielle.”
I nod and hug her. Then I look back at the Eternals. “If he’s been around that long, then he can wait a few more years to die.”
Chapter 15
Brandon sat behin d his desk with Trew beside him. Brandon was giving Trew a thorough rundown of Mainframe and the history of how it — she — had evolved from the Game’s beginning until this moment in time.
“ So she’s doubled her abilities roughly every two years?” Trew asked.
“ Yes, that was the formula, to double every two years,” Brandon admitted. “This whole time issue is still perplexing to me, though.”
Trew nodded in agreement. “You thought she’d evolve on Tygon time?”
“ I thought she would evolve on Tygon time, but what I hoped was that she would evolve on Earth time.”
Trew shook his head. “And she did. It staggers the mind. A computer that is based in our reality, but instead of doubling fifteen times in the past 30 years, it has doubled every two years for… tens of thousands of years by Game time standards?”
“ Only about six thousand years in the Game, actually,” Brandon confirmed. “The hundreds of thousands of years that are in the fossil and geological records of Earth don’t count. We only count it from the time that players were put into the Game; the rest is just filler.”
“Okay , then, six thousand years. Impressive enough, right?”
Brandon nodded. “Miraculous. It’s what I hoped for, but when I designed it I couldn’t be certain it would play out that way.”
“ So she’s an extremely evolved life form, but you still have her under control? How did you manage that?”
“ You can play chess on a board, and maybe over time the game can evolve and become more than it was
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