Teylon: Meets someone Ten seconds later the internal door was opened by a lady, probably early thirties, mid length auburn hair. The tag on her jacket said 'Captain Sarawatch'. Her face said she was extremely annoyed. "You boys! If you press that bell one more time I shall call out the real police and bust your... Shit." She finally managed to take a look at Teylon. At the same time, Teylon was granted a look into her soul. Which at this time appeared to be preoccupied with a live action relay of a flashback she was having: Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Sarawatch Police officer Sarawatch went to the next door in the building. Behind her, other police officers were checking out other doors. The report was that something was going on, without explaining what. Truncheon in one hand, she pushed open the door and smartly stepped through and to the side. Oh crap. This is really bad. A man was standing unsteadily. He was unshaven, his hair sticking up all over the place, his body twitched and jerked, the alcoholic fumes from his breath almost made Sarawatch gag. One hand was holding a gun, his other arm was around the neck of a teenage girl. She was standing there, eyes open, looking blankly ahead, not reacting to anything, her body limp in his hold. Where the hell did he get a totally illegal gun? He spoke first. "What are you doing here? This isn't what they said!" He waved his gun around even more. Sarawatch went in to hostage defusing mode. In a perfectly calm voice, she said "Sorry about that, but you know how things go. Perhaps you want to talk about it?" Unfortunately the man was beyond reasoning. Brain cells completely scrambled by his drinking, me barely managed to get out a semi coherent "Stay back or I will shoot you!" But he was so addled that his pistol was pointing at the girl when he pulled the trigger. Sarawatch moved without thought, using her truncheon she bludgeoned him senseless. But it was way too late, everyone was covered with blood, it was way too late, too late. A day later, she was at the debriefing with two men in black suits she had never met before. One man was explaining: "You need to understand that there was no girl. The man managed to shoot himself dead with his own gun when you walked in on him. Obviously he was totally off his head from not only alcohol but various drugs, and just didn't know what he was doing." A blank stare from Sarawatch. "What, I know what I saw, there was definitely a teenage girl, and he shot her, not himself!" The two suits were unmoving. "Sorry, but the story we have to present is that there was no girl." Sarawatch began to go nuclear. "Like bloody hell! That shitty man was just a little bit knocked up! There definitely was a girl!" Still they were unimpressed with her logic. "Sorry, but that is the official story." Blood pressure rising, red spots beginning to dance in front of her eyes, she gripped the edge of the desk. "What the hell is going on? How did that man get shot? What's with that girl?" Their faces were like granite. Unmoving. Cold. They waited, with the patience of rocks. Sarawatch continued to protest. Until the men stepped up to her, held her immobile, and a nurse entered the room and injected her with something. Teylon: Teylon was beginning to get used to these weirdly vivid memories from another person's head. This time he managed not to sag or lose his composure. This must be a classic case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.. Especially considering there is some sort of cover up involved. The police can have it hard, sometimes. Only sometimes, mind you. "That's fine, fine." he said, waving his hands so as to invite her to sit down. She did. He had just seen the coffee making machine, presumably so the watch people can calm down the occasional agitated customer. "Why not have a coffee? Since you look like you're freaking out. Unfortunate past memories, perhaps?" Let's see if I can get her to talk about it, without making it obvious that I already know a lot. "Yeah, I'll have a coffee. What's this about me being stressed out?" "Well, aren't you?" Sarawatch slumped into her chair, sipping her coffee. "OK, OK. When I was a proper police officer, I saw a girl shot dead in a hostage situation." But what about the cover up? This maybe ties into my task. "I heard that once upon a time, a century or so ago, the police force had no backup support for their members. But, now-a-days, they have learnt their lesson and they employ proper professionally trained counsellors when it is required." Sarawatch slammed her coffee cup onto the counter desk, splashing coffee everywhere. "Like fucking hell! They didn't give a shit! I freaked out over their cover up and they just shoved me out of the door! Then they demoted me and put me in this make-work placement. Neighbour watch my arse! Most of the neighbour watch stations are just collections of pathetic incompetent oldies that don't want to do anything that involves the least bit of effort, or green behind the ears school kids who don't really know what they are doing anyway." She came to a halt, and stared at the mess on her desk. "Ah, did you save 'cover up'?" said Teylon, trying his best to make it sound like a casual little throwaway query, no problems expected. Sarawatch was practically snarling. "I don't know what they hell they were up to, but they were covering up the very existence of that girl. So who was she? What about her parents?" Teylon was silent, thinking he had gone as far as he could, for the time being. Sarawatch gave a start, and got herself composed. She used some tissues to wipe her desk. After a while: "Well, you know, you're a bit of a slick and devious rat, aren't you? Getting all of that out of me. Apart from some of my fellow police officers, I've never told anyone else." "Ah, yes, as to be expected of the Teflon Rat." said Teylon, before he realised what he had just said. Shit, did I just tell her my self-anointed handle? I've never told anyone else before. Sarawatch seemed to have gotten back to normal. She looked at Teylon with more than a little bit of a speculative glint. "You mean a non-stick Teflon Rat? So, what was it that doesn't stick to you? Did you pinch your little brother's chocolate ration and make your parents believe it was someone else?" Shit! She's getting a bit too close to the truth, here. I had better plead guilty to a small misdemeanour, to deflect her suspicions. "Touché. You're rather clever yourself, you know. It was my family nickname..." For the time being, she appeared to accept that. Apart from the initial flashback, Teylon had received nothing extra from her. "Oh, by the way, what were you calling in on me for, anyway?" said Sarawatch. "You want to be a part time watch officer? Really? You realise that if you join this branch, I will expect you to actually work for your wage, you know? If you want easy perks, you need to apply to one of the others. I'm sure they'll accommodate you. When I was assigned to this dump, there were a dozen workers. They got so upset about me making them get out and help the public, they all decamped for other branches." "No, I'm not afraid of helping the police keep our city peaceful and orderly." As long as I don't have to assist the police with their inquires... "So, there's no one else here?" he said. "Ah, I had a stroke of luck. Those nameless, gutless, snivelling, cowardly, ... Sorry." She took a deep breath. "Those people in charge saw fit to assign me someone who is actually of some use. She might not be so good at restraining drunken louts, but when it comes to computer systems, she's a positive genius. Here, I shall introduce you; she's in the back office." Teylon: Meeting a genius programmer He was introduced to a teenage girl. She's cute. A cute doll. Even if she is tall. She appeared to be surrounded by computer monitors. Currently all eight monitors were showing excerpts of code. Teylon, who was an accomplished amateur computer programmer in certain narrowly defined fields, was impressed. In spite of the fact that he did not understand any of it. He was going to say hello, when he was hit with another soul reading. This time, it was a simple reading of her current thoughts. Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Adalace Ha! An old man. Should have no problem with my cute little girl act. They are always such pushovers. He'll be forgetting that my programming skills are so high that he will never be able to even comprehend them. Teylon: She matched her actions to her thoughts, by putting on a nice soft smile, opening her eyes just a little bit more than usual, tilting her head to the side, and looking totally innocent. "Hello, I'm Adalace, pleased to meet you." So, this is an act? So, what is the real Adalace like? Obviously someone who loves computer programming, amongst other things. And what was that about me being an old man? Teylon decided that he was going to fight her cute facade. He went into attack mode instantly. "Say, is all of this code yours? I'm impressed, even though I don't even recognise the language - ah, it's some sort of Lisp variant?" He continued to get snippets from her thoughts. Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Adalace Crap, he's ignoring my cuteness display and going straight for my programming powers. Time to ramp it up! Smiling even more broadly, and holding her hands together, exuding enough cuteness to make a little kitten with a pink bow tied around its neck blush with shame, she said: "Oh, that's just a bit of code I wrote, it's nothing, really." Actually it’s in my very own computer language, which is a lot more effective that Lisp - but only to a super programmer like me! Teylon: She's still trying to fight back, eh? Well, time to get serious. I'll praise her work and ask for some explanation. "I say, is this your own self designed language? I know a little about such things, although not as much as you, obviously. It looks like some sort of cross between Python and C-sharp, with, is that an assembly language insert?" He was mainly bullshitting; he didn't have a clue what sort of language it was. Although it did have a lot of brackets. At least a dozen different kinds. Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Adalace Hey, maybe he actually knows a small amount about programming? Teylon: Her display of cuteness slipping by the second, she started to expound about her work. "No, no, it's nothing like such ancient languages! There has been much work in the decades after those languages were created ---" Twenty minutes later, after having demonstrated the coding of her latest program, and what it did, a very amused Sarawatch managed to get a word in edge ways. "Hmm, Adalace, I think that will be enough for the time being, I need to give Teylon some forms to fill out." Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Adalace Oh shit, I have totally dropped my nice girly display. Now what, will they treat me with disdain? The emotions that accompanied this thought were dark and dismal. Teylon: What's all that about? But Teylon was not granted any further readings. Oh well, just try to reassure her. "OK, Adalace. That was most interesting. I wasn't all that sure about working at this branch, but meeting you has alleviated my concerns totally. I'm really looking forward to our future work corroboration." Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Adalace Really? He's not upset by me being a computer nerd? And what about Sarawatch? Teylon: "And I'm sure Captain Sarawatch must really appreciate having such a highly competent team member." "Sure do!" said Sarawatch. Sarawatch lead Teylon to her own office, and closed the door behind him. She promptly started giggling. "Why, that's amazing. You broke straight through her facade and got her to show off what she really cares about. And it looked so effortless, too. As to be expected from a Teflon Rat." She was looking at him with that speculative glint, again. Change the subject, fast! "Oh, so you had worked that out, also?" "Yeah. Wasn't all that hard, although I suspect there is still more stuff going on down in the depths." She turned her attention to the required paperwork. Half an hour later, he left the branch, clutching a piece of paper saying he was a trainee neighbour watch person. He also had entered into his mobile the telephone numbers of Sarawatch and Adalace. He was volunteering to work the afternoon shift, five days a week. Since, by Narrative Causality, Adalace was definitely going to be part of the story, he had decided he had better work the same shift as she did. That night, stretched out in bed, he summarised his achievements so far. One Judgement of a hired assassin, which also proved that there was something going on. One sort of ex-police officer, suffering from PTSD. One cover up involving a murdered teenage girl whose very existence was being denied. One genius level programmer teenage girl with a unique esp ability. He still had no idea how this was going to all work out. Deep underground A few kilometres below the surface, and eighteen kilometres out from the centre of the Verdant City dome, was a void in the Martian bedrock. A huge cavity in the rock, with an office building and some houses built to one side of its floor, and connected to the main dome by a maglev track. This cavity, and the track, was not on any maps publicly available. In fact, it was not on many private maps, either. In one of the meeting rooms in the office building were four men and one woman, just finishing their morning coffee break, with scones and cream. Their leader clicked on his computer screen, bringing up the next item in their agenda. "Next, this Teylon person. You have all read the report, any comments?" said Lenny the leader, who was sitting at the head of the table. "Well, I suppose the question is, did he have anything to do with the assassin’s death?" said Arnold, the man sitting at the side of the table near the head. "His death, and the autopsy, was very peculiar." said Teresa, sitting further down the table. "Yeah, almost like some sort of esp ability was used. But, Teylon is from Earth. And he is way too old to have any esp ability." said Terrence, who was sitting opposite the woman. "It's strange all the way round." said Prakash, the man sitting opposite to Arnold. They all looked at the man at the head of the table, and waited for a reply. "I've been thinking, he could be making a challenge. Maybe he has somehow deduced, or found out, about our plans. Probably not the whole thing, but enough to know that something worthwhile is at stake. Maybe he wants a piece of the action. Maybe the assassin’s death is his way of thumbing his nose at us, saying he is on his way." "He must be awfully confident, then" said Arnold. The Lenny smiled. "Yes, indeed, he must be. Only time will tell if he is a worthy opponent. I suggest that we try our intelligence contacts on Earth, to see what we can find out about him. And, as for direct action, let's start with a little probing. Nothing much, nothing that he would complain about if he was totally innocent, but enough to indicate to him that we are aware of him, should he be not so innocent after all." They all agreed. They were all hoping it was going to be an interesting fight. It did get a bit boring going through the endless minutiae that was involved in the running of the Mars civilisation. Teylon: Scoring a level zero, and meets someone who finally has somebody to feel superior to. Teylon looked at his latest email. Which appeared to be a polite request to report to the Institute of Esp Testing for a test. Sorry? I thought that was only for, you know, actual espers? He spent a bit of time browsing the subject. This doesn't make any sense. The first espers started to appear only twenty five years ago, and things really took off about five years after that. Hmm, there were some well-published tragedies with the first attempts, too. He did some more reading. He already knew some background information, but now he was filling in the details. For example, the interesting fact that the esp implant or whatever it was could only be given to a foetus, at just after the first trimester. Any other time, or trying with an adult or child, resulted in rather unfortunate side effects. Like death. That's a bit gruesome, it implies that they had to experiment to get it right... Although they try to play down that line of inquiry. The requested time was in the early afternoon, so it would still allow him to report to his watch shift on time. Ah, I get it. Perhaps this is in response to that assassin’s death. They are saying they suspect me of something, and intend to keep an eye on me. A cat and mouse game. Except that this small Teflon rat doesn't have a clue about what the game is. He reported on time to the Institute. He was directed to a waiting room, full of teenagers and younger kids, and told to take a seat. Oh, my God, I feel so embarrassed, the only old person in the room. His number was finally called out, and he followed the nurse to the examination room. "Hello Mr Teylon. For espers with developed abilities, the testing can be complicated and involved. However, for cases like you, it is very easy." said the nurse. True to her word, the test itself was fully automated and un-complicated; he sat on a chair, and the nurse lowered a large helmet over his head. Just like one of those old-fashioned hair dryers. The nurse pushed some buttons, something beeped, and it was over. On the way out of the room, the nurse gave him a small printed card, with his results on. Implant Status: no implant detected Ability level: 0 Ability Index Code: - Ability Name: - "That's actually very unusual," said the nurse, "normally people without implants register at about level ten. The lowest I have ever seen is a level seven." "So, I'm a perfect zero, hey?" The nurse laughed, and went to collect the next client. He carefully negotiated the descending steps outside the front. It was deceptive; the gravity was so low it felt like he could easily hop down the steps three or four at a time. The first and only time, he had tried that, he had made a high velocity meeting with the ground beyond the last step. Think about slamming face first into the carpet. Fortunately, the staircase had been only a single story high, and he ended up with no more that slight facial bruises. So he carefully stepped down on each step, making sure to control his speed. At the bottom, he was interested to see a diminutive teenage girl, with short blond hair, busily tearing up a small printed card and throwing the pieces into a bin. She was muttering to herself: "Damn this! Damn this! I should just give up! Why did I choose to pay again for another test? Still only a level seven! I can't even get a normal non-esper level ten! I'll never have a super power!" The last of the pieces went into the bin just as Teylon was passing. So he stopped. "Never mind young lady. Here, look at my results. I'm a perfect zero!" She looked at him in surprise. Teylon’s Soul Reading of: The Girl Ugh, is this old man trying to chat me up... Wait; did he say a level zero? Teylon: Oh, so I'm getting a soul reading. Or, this time, more like telepathy. So, she's going to play an important part? And why do they all think of me as an old man. Damn it, I'm still young! Teylon’s Soul Reading of: The Girl The girl, who looked as if she was going to take a step back, reversed direction and stepped forward, and plucked the card out of his hand. "You're right! You have a level zero. But how is that possible? Wait, wait, this means that there is someone who has a lower score than me." Momentary elation. Followed by the realisation that it isn't going to do her any good, anyway. I still have no ability. Sigh. And I can't even afford an ice cream at the Frenzy, my credit card has flat lined until my next pay check. Teylon: Another hint. It really is useful getting these little nudges all the time. Allows me to have some idea of which direction to go. "I say, young lady. I know another young lady about your age who will right now be getting out of her school, so what say I ring her and arrange to meet at the Frenzy for a chat? I'm paying, of course." Teylon’s Soul Reading of: The Girl Is this bloke for real? But, if it's all public at the Frenzy, and, more importantly, he pays, well, then... Teylon: "Sure." said the girl, "Also, my name is Sarsaparilla." She got her act together, and looked up at Teylon with a lovely smile. My, she's a real sweetie, isn't she? Except when tearing up her results card. He rang Adalace on his mobile. Also called his wristband. It had many purposes, making phone calls was just one of them. "Hello, this is Teylon. You know, I have just met another girl your age, and I think you and she might get along well together. So why not we all meet at the Frenzy? For this first time, I'm paying, of course." he said to Adalace when she answered her phone. Adalace was agreeable. Although wether it’s the thought of meeting a potential new friend, or the thought of getting free ice cream, that swayed her... Now, what the hell, and where in hell, is the Frenzy? "I say, I think I've gotten myself slightly confused as to where I am. Could you point us in the correct direction...?” Grandma Frenzy served two extravagantly constructed ice cream concoctions to the two girls, and a standard white coffee, no sugar, to Teylon. She also waved her right wrist close to his right wrist, and the wristband that was on it. Teylon had chosen one that looked like an old fashioned watch. Grandma had one that looked like a fancy bracelet. Both girls had ones that looked like thin bands, although Adalace had two, one on each hand. Not only where they health monitors and mobile telephones, they functioned as personal computers. Amongst other things, they could be used to access the owner's bank account. So by making the appropriate gestures with his fingers, Teylon was able to authorise the transfer of money from his account to the Frenzy's account. I can afford it. Now if I take a back seat and let the girls talk to each other, what will happen? Adalace went cute, looked at Sarsaparilla and asked "Hello, I'm Adalace. How long have you known Teylon?" "We just met outside the Testing Institute." "I see. What is your level?" Sarsaparilla wiggled in embarrassment. "Seven. I have no abilities what so ever. What is your ability and level?" "Ah, mine level is 350. But I'm sure that with sufficient application you too can advance, after all I made it up from level 50 by lots of effort." Sarsaparilla buried her face in her ice cream. "I have tried. And tried. But it never works. But, what is your ability?" Now it was Adalace's turn to look uncomfortable."Well, you see, I can make computers work much better than normal." "Really? That sounds really useful. And can you also program them?" Adalace started to drop her cute facade. "Yes! In fact I'm very good at it!" "That sounds wonderful. Your family must be very proud of you..." Adalace's face appeared to be unable to decide whether to portray cuteness or serious, and cycled through the two of them for a few seconds, before ending up with a composite. "Well actually, they prefer me not to talk about my abilities. They say it's un-girly like." "They do? I don't think so. I wish I had an ability to boast of. Any ability will do, say making a puff of wind. Or something." "You don't mind? Gee, you must have had a supportive family." Sarsaparilla's face went neutral. "Actually, I grew up in an orphanage. We were always competing for the affection of the few adults that were around." "Right. OK, forget I said that. Say, are you named after the famous old fashioned non-alcoholic drink?" Sarsaparilla rolled her eyes. "Yes I am, but please don't remind be of it. I don't know what my parents were thinking of when they gave me that name." "So, I presume they, ah, were no longer around when you got to the age of being able to ask them?" "No, I was extremely young when they died in a dome depressurisation event." Sarsaparilla paused for a moment, spooning up the last of the ice cream and fruit, her face looking as if she was trying to remember something. "That's right; the first ever computer programmer recorded in history is a woman, one Ada Lovelace. Surely it's not a coincidence..." "I didn't expect you to realise that so soon. Yeah, my original name was Adelina, which I never particularly liked. So after, ah, after my thirteenth birthday I announced that hence forth I was going to answer to the name of Adalace. I took out the 'love' part because I found it a bit embarrassing." "Good on you! But did you parents accept it?" Glum look from Adalace. "No, they didn't, they were extremely unenthusiastic. But, nonetheless, after some drama they allowed me to legally change it." "Don't look glum, I think it is great to make up your own mind like that!" Big smile on her face, Sarsaparilla raised her hand. Adalace switched back to cute, and with much fan fare, the two tapped their hands together. Well, that's a promising start. I think. Adalace: Reflecting on her first meeting with Sarsaparilla Adalace lived in a small self-contained unit in an underground complex. It had a small bedroom big enough for a single bed, a combined toilet and bathroom, and a kitchen area. The kitchen table doubled up as her study desk. By using a smaller than usual refrigerator and putting it on the unused bench top electric hot plates, she was able to free up enough room to place her personal computer. Actually, make that a complete computer system. The rack framing reached from floor to ceiling, and had an amazing assortment of servers, blades, routers, disk drives, laptops, desktops; all crammed into the chassis and joined with a spider web maze of connecting cables. As part of her academic support, the authorities had been kind enough to install a special high power electric mains outlet, free of charge. Also extra air conditioning to take away all of the heat. Oh, and of course she did not need to use the electric hot plates. She just used her ability to heat the frying pan or pots directly. Although she did have to rest them on insulated stands on either the table or the sink. Unfortunately, her ability didn't let her off when it came to using the microwave. Because her ability could only heat up metal. And human food was definitely non-metallic. That night, she was sitting at her kitchen table, finishing off her homework. All done by computer, naturally. In between typing out her answers (using finger twitches, of course, Adalace didn't even own a computer keyboard), she was waving her hands in front of her face, trying to cool down a little. I'm going to have to ask them to install a more powerful air-conditioner. Those latest additions I made to my system are taxing the current one something chronic. She reflected on the fact that she could not use her powers to run her home system. Since, if she did, it would only work when she was within three metres, and only when she was awake. Which would not be convenient, at all. "Done" Adalace was not one to find her homework all that difficult. She leant back on her chair, her head coming to rest against the wall. Did the meeting with Sarsaparilla go well? I think so. She visualised Sarsaparilla sitting opposite her, eating her ice cream confection. Sigh. She's such a diminutive girl, just like a doll. And she has such nice hair and lovely copper brown skin - I can't do anything about my skin colour, but perhaps I should cut my hair to be the same length? She's bright and outgoing and always hopeful... Adalace remembered a few occasions when Sarsaparilla had not been projecting that aura of cheerfulness. Well, not always bright and hopeful. She must have had a few little difficulties in her life. She felt even more interested than before. Perhaps I'll be able to get her to confide in me about them... Adalace was beginning to come to certain conclusions about herself. Let's think about that later, shall we? In the meanwhile, I must keep up my act of being a nice, cute girl. Even if I did slip the facade a few times. But still, I don't think she minded, after all, it was only revealing that I like computers. Nothing else, she couldn't see anything else. I have to keep up the act. I really want to become friends with her. I don't want yet another failure. I don't want Sarsaparilla disappearing from my life like my friends back then. Adalace suddenly remembered that there had been another person present. Isn't it a bit strange for an old man like him to be socialising with two teenage girls? Well, he did bring us girls together. And he seems to be a perfect gentleman. Whatever. She went back to thinking about Sarsaparilla. Sarsaparilla: Reflecting on her first meeting with Adalace Sarsaparilla was also sitting in her room that night. In her case, it was a combined bedroom and study room. A very small room, barely fitting her single size bed, her desk and a combined wardrobe and bookcase. The kitchen and bathroom facilities she shared with a dozen other female students. Her room, just like Adalace's, was also underground, and thus had no windows. She was finishing her homework, although it had taken her longer than Adalace. Like any other student, it was on computer, and naturally she used finger twitches to type. Unlike Adalace, she used just a single hand. In fact, most students just used a single hand; those who took the extra effort to learn to coordinate the use of two hands were few and far between. She put away her laptop and books, put her head down on her desk, closed her eyes, and ran through today's activities. Mainly the meeting with Adalace. She's really cute, even if she is tall. Slim, tall, and lovely long hair and such pure white skin. And so adorable. Most of the time. And when she occasionally gets serious about her computer work, it's adorable in its own way. She has a level 350 ability, she's good at school work, she's a brilliant computer programmer, she's got a really nice personality, and she looks so pretty. Sigh Even if she did like girls, she'll never take a look at me. She's obviously way out of my class. Sarsaparilla gave a groan. But, if I keep up my bright sparkly front, don't give her any hints of what might lie beneath, maybe she will become a friend? Maybe this time not everybody will be taken away from me after a while. Shall I try again? In her mind's eye, she pictured Adalace, going from cute to serious as she talked about her computer system at the watch office. Hell yes. I shall try again! Even if it is so hard. And where does Teylon fit in to all of this? Am I actually somewhat friendly with an old man? Weird. But, I suppose he did introduce me to Adalace, so...