Blue: Working out the extents of his new found powers Monday morning they packed their lunches and loaded up their back packs with the notes and text books they needed for the day. Some of Pink's textbooks had gotten mangled in the accident, so until she replaced them she would just have to use Blue's. Not that she really needed them, her memory was excellent, she had no trouble understanding the subjects, and if in doubt, she could always ask Prime. Hand in hand, they walked to the school. "It no longer bothers me what the other students will think when they see us stroll up hand in hand." said Blue. "Hmm" said Pink. They kept their radio links on, so even if they were not saying anything they knew what the other was feeling. "So you need to buy some more text books." said Blue, "But... You don't really need them, do you?" "No, it's all for verisimilitude. And generally, I hold back in the exams also. I aimed to get roughly the same marks as you. Except that your essays in English left a little to be desired, so I allowed myself to get higher marks than you did in that one subject. Indeed, Blue's essay marks were always middle of the road. Good but not excellent. "Ouch. My worse subject." Horatio, listening in as always, volunteered some information, [One of the little benefits of having a radio link to me is that I am able to give you the ability to study much more effectively. One of the little tips Esmeralda gave me. If you do this] - here Horatio gave Blue some wordless guidance on how to adjust his implant - [you can concentrate on the subject matter at hand and memorise things much better than you could before. But you have to turn off the feature when you stop studying; otherwise you will go through life in a perpetual abstracted daze.] "Now that is handy. Also, I've been thinking, if I'm sitting in an geography exam and I can't remember what the capital of Venezuela is, I could just ask you, couldn't I?" said Blue. [Sure. It's Caracas.] "But, isn't that cheating?" [Well, it depends on your goals. After all, what is the purpose of an exam?] "To make sure I know the subject?" [Yes, and why should anyone be interested if you know the subject?] "So if I'm called upon in the future to, ah, use that knowledge - say like a surgeon must use his knowledge of heart anatomy when doing a routine heart transplant." By Blue's day, heart transplants were routine. [But, what if I provided an illuminated guide to the heart's anatomy via your radio link as you were operating?] "Hmm, I see your point. I'm always going to have this link, you are always ready to answer my calls... But on the other hand, that heart surgeon really does need to have a completely internalised, automatic knowledge of how a heart works... Although if that surgeon was me, I could always call on you for some extra bit of information that I currently didn't know..." said Blue. His voice trailed off and they walked along silently for a while. "So, I have to make my own way. Learn the stuff which I really do need to know, rely on you for the stuff which is not necessary to have in my subconscious ready for instinctive use. Right. Sigh. "I still have to think hard, no matter what." said Blue. [Nobody said it would be easy.] said Horatio. "You pinched that from Esmeralda, didn't you?" said Blue. [Esmeralda has a lot of good ideas!] replied Horatio. They were still half a kilometre from the school when the first student who knew them sighted them walking along, hands joined. Now, it is true that the speed of light is absolute, well maybe Esmeralda could do something about it, but mere mortals could not. So there is no way that this piece of extremely interesting gossip could make its way from this first student to all the others in school in any time less that the time a ray of light could cover the distance. But the gossip tried very hard, and it was not all that far behind that hypothetical ray of light. Consequently, when they met James, only a hundred metres from school, also walking along, he was already up to date with the news. Big grin on his face "Hello Pink, hello Blue. Walking to school together I see." "Yes" said Blue. Over his radio link to Pink [Here it starts.] Note that this was the first time that James had ever voluntarily struck up a conversation with either Pink or Blue. Cooperating in saving the life of a child certainly can be a bonding experience, especially with what had happened immediately after. "But, don't you" said James directly to Blue "live on the opposite side of the river?" "Yes, but I spent the weekend at Pink's" James blinked his eyes at this. The gossip was across the school, and this time it definitely did beat that light ray. Perhaps Esmeralda gave it a helping hand? By the time they had reached the school gates, little groups of students all over were already excitedly analysing this information. Various Students: "They must be in a relationship!" "They're already sleeping together!" "Wow, perhaps she's already pregnant!" "Don't be ridiculous, she's so skinny!" "Yes, but wait a few months, and she will suddenly have to transfer out because of 'health issues'..." "But she's so weird, how come I can't get a boyfriend but she can?" "Well, he's no better, really." "In that case, how come they even managed to get together in the first place?" "Maybe falling nine stories, and surviving, can give you a completely changed outlook on life?" "But, but, still, what girl would want him as a boyfriend?" "Well, the pink robot, of course." "You have a point." And so on and so on, ad infinitum. This time last week they would have both entered school without the slightest bit of interest from anyone. So being the centre of attention was nerve racking, to say the least. [Don't worry,] said PInk over their link, [It'll only last a few days.] [Thank God for that.] said Blue. The fates were against them. Blue: The morning classes were Ok. The teachers exercised their skills acquired over many years, and managed to get the students under control and dutifully taking down notes. Just before lunch break there was another disruption. Rebecca purposefully strode to the front of the class, took a deep breath, and said "Please, everybody! If Blue and Pink and James would like to stand up?" She took a deep breath. "Renee is my only sister. She is precious to me. I was there when she was born; I helped nurse her when she got very ill at age three. I babysit her all the time. She, along with my father and mother, are the three people on Earth I love the most. And last week Blue saved her life and almost lost his own as a result. And then, of course, Pink saved Blue. And James helped to save Renee also. So, for the next two or three weeks, I would like to bring lunch to school for these three wonderful people." She looked at James, and Pink, and lastly Blue. "I hope you accept this token of my, and my parents and my sister's, gratitude." Blue was the centre of attention. Again. He fell back into his pre-Esmeralda mindset, trying to avoid any notice. "Ah, honestly, you don't have to do anything, I was just acting as I thought I should, I don't need any reward..." Here, Pink, showing more awareness of what Rebecca was doing, interrupted him via their radio link. [Blue! Rebecca is practically crying. She really wants to return something for your bravery.] Blue stopped and paid attention. Rebecca had a few tears running down her face. She was looking at him, pleadingly. Blue had a flashback: Holding Renee as her feet dangled over thin air, nine stories above the basement. Seeing the stair case swing out of reach and looking down again, at those nine stories of thin air, nothing left to hold him up. [Yeah, right, I do deserve a bit of pampering. Ok.] Simultaneously Blue and Pink bowed slightly to Rebecca, and said, in perfect unison "We will be delighted to have your lunches." There was a collective gasp of wonder from the other students. [Shit! We said that in synchronicity!] said Blue over their link. [Quick, say something and I will say something else.] "Will you be starting today?" said Blue / "Where will you be serving us lunch?" said Pink. The students laughed. When he could make himself heard, James also said that he would be delighted to join in. It was the wonder of the school ref that lunch time. Rebecca brought in a large cooler box and served the three students, and herself and Renee, a scrumptious lunch. There were even leftovers for some of the other students in the same class. [If this continues for two or three weeks, I'm going to be putting on weight.] said Blue to Pink, via radio. [Poor Blue. I can eat as much as I like!" said Pink, "And it's really yummy!] [You're cruel.] The next day was the same, except that Rebecca had adjusted the amount of food so that there were no leftovers. The other students gathered as an audience to these events soon got the message, and by day three everybody took it as just a normal part of their lives. Although people, as they ate their own lunches and interacted with each other, still took notice of what was happening. Teresa: Makes an observation "Did you see that! Rebecca momentarily took James hand! And she's been sitting next to him for each of these lunches!" said Teresa, the second girl that Blue had asked to walk home with him, to another. The other girl stifled a giggle. "Yes, maybe they will become another item? It would be nice; they are obviously made for each other. She's so beautiful, popular with others, good academic grades, great at sport. Exactly not like me. And James matches her. Sigh, he's so dreamy... I wish some boy like him would take notice of me." Teresa said "I'm not sure I would want a boyfriend at this point." she said. And to herself she thought Actually, I want a girlfriend. But I'm not saying so. Yet. Pink and Blue: On Thursday, just as Blue felt like he was getting back to his new normalcy, it was all disrupted again. In the middle of the second class of the day, the deputy vice principle stuck her head in the door. "Sorry, everyone, but the police have finally gotten around to writing up a report of the incident, and they would like to get Blue's and Pink's side of things." "Hello, I'm Sergeant Charlie, I have been assigned to this little case. Sorry to have to drag you out of class like that, but I hope you appreciate that us police have a lot happening, and this is the only free time I have today." He was introducing himself as they walked out of the school, out of the entrance, straight over the pedestrian bridge that crossed the road, and into the police station. "From your point of view, this is mostly just a formality. Things are a bit more serious for the contractors who put up the scaffolding, but that's not for you to worry about." As he led them through the bustle of the police station entrance room to an interviewing room, another police officer handed him a stack of papers. "The latest parking offenses." said the police officer. "Ta" said Charlie. In the interviewing room, he invited them to sit at the table. He produced two reports, one each. "If you can just read these, and I will have a short discussion about some points, and then you can sign them..." He was interrupted again, this time by an older woman police officer. "Here, someone skipped bail in the next city, he is suspected to be moving in this direction." she said as she handed over some more pieces of paper. Barlow took a brief look. "Hmm, nasty one... Ah, thanks, boss." He spent quarter of an hour going over various things, and then Pink and Blue were happy to sign their names. He escorted them to the front of the station, and he was interrupted yet again "Sir, your lift to the court house is here." "Ok, ok. Well, Blue and Pink, thank you for your time. And, ah, Blue, I would like to shake your hand." "Sure." "Good work! That was something to be admired." said Charlie. He also shook Pink's hand. "And you did very well, too!" He stepped into the car waiting for him, and disappeared down the road. "Well," said Pink, "He certainly is busy." "I'm glad I don't have anything to do with those scaffolding contractors." said Blue. They went back to class. Incidentally causing even more disturbance as the other students wanted to know all the details, but the teacher wanted to keep teaching them botany. And that Friday afternoon, as they were walking home, hand in hand of course, Esmeralda gave them their first real assignment. "This is a Judgement case. There is a man who is currently dragging along a child. You need to save the child, and then work out what to do with the man. You have a mental map of where to go. Afterwards, if the situation necessitates it, you may ring the police or get Prime to ring the police. It is best if you play it straight and give them the full story. But, perhaps, at this stage, don't mention that Pink is a robot." she said. Behind her, they could see the cars and trucks and pedestrians; they were all still and stationary in the total silence of suspended animation. She disappeared, everything resumed as if they had never been interrupted. Pink and Blue swerved and started going in the direction indicated by those mental maps. "Right. She looked pretty severe and just a touch frightening, there, didn't she?" said Blue. "Yes. This is going to be, like, interesting, or something. So far, we've only read each other's soul, and you had a peek at Earth Watch Prime's." said Pink. Through their radio links, they could feel each other's uneasiness and apprehension. But, mindful of the fact that this is what they agreed to do, they continued on their path. Holding hands and now running. "Well, the child is likely to be frightened. So how about, when we get there, we let him or her read our souls just enough, to feel comforted. You use your speed and strength to immobilise the man, and we read his soul. From there, we can discuss, using the privacy of our radio link, what the next course of action is to be." said Blue. "Ok." Earth Watch Prime: Earth Watch Prime observed all of this, while prudently remaining silent. He had already concluded that anything to do with Esmeralda's business he would leave strictly to the kids. He somehow had the impression that Esmeralda would not appreciate any direct interference. And Esmeralda was someone he most definitely did not want to cross. Pink and Blue: They jogged half way through the industrial area, turned some corners, went down a side alley, into an empty block, and there he was. As advertised, a man, dragging a little girl by the hand. The girl was crying and looked scared. Both Blue and Pink recognised her. "Renee!" The man stopped and looked back at them. "Who the fuck are you? Get lost!" Pink did not wait any more. There was a blur, and the man now had both of his hands held by Pink. Renee looked around fearfully. Both Pink and Blue simultaneously let her read their souls, just enough to observe the kindly love they had for her. Renee's face went from fearful to radiant grin in an instant, and since Blue was the furthest away from the horrible man, she made a running jump for his arms. "Oof" said Blue, as he hefted her weight up and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her head to his. "Ok, it's all right. Again." said Blue. It was beginning to occur to him that he liked hugging children. Meanwhile, the man had looked at skinny Pink, holding his arms, with complete disbelief. "Let go, you c**t, let go!" But no matter how hard he tried, she stood there. She shifted her balance to compensate for his wild motions, but otherwise did not relent. [Well, Blue, I suppose we can now both read his soul and then discuss it?] she said over the radio link. [Right] They simultaneously made that request to Esmeralda. She deemed it best to only show his soul using the broadest brushwork possible. No need to blight their sleep and give them nightmares for the next month, was there? They got back a mental image that was black from side to side, top to bottom. And in the blackness were shadows, mere silhouettes, of what he had done. Of what he intended to do. Blue and Pink recoiled with horror. Discussion be damned, they instantly requested Judgement with a capital J. Esmeralda happily obliged. From the man's point of view, their eyes flared angry red. The glare slammed into his soul, ensnaring every bit of black there was. Now, if this was, say, Pink or Blue getting this treatment, they might have felt a mild twinge of pain behind their eyes. But then, they had already been prejudged. If it had been, say, someone else from their class, then they might have gotten something ranging from a headache to a bad migraine. But for this man, the full fury of Esmeralda's judgement exploded across his mind like an incendiary bomb. His brain was pulverised, his soul was severed from its body. The man's body screamed and fell and Pink let go of his wrists. The man's soul screamed and stood there in shock, looking at his dead body lying on the ground. Pink and Blue could still see him, or rather his soul, although they weren't reading it, just watching his actions. They watched in fascinated horror as he looked frantically around; as he bent over to try to hold onto his body, only his hands were as insubstantial as smoke rising from a fire; as he tried to touch Pink, only to have his hands go straight through her. Then they could not help themselves. They turned away as - something - came to claim the man. Something that they did not want to see. They could feel the heat on their exposed skin. They could practically smell the man's fear and the man's panic and terror. No, they really did not want to see what was causing that. "You are coming with us." said a voice like the sound of razor blades cutting glass. The man, having no choice, went with them. And just before they all faded out, the - something - said, in a now very polite, cultured voice, like a radio announcer taken to extreme "Thank you, Pink and Blue, for services rendered." Blue and Pink were left back in the normal world. Pink was standing over the dead body of the man; Blue was standing a few metres away, hugging Renee. "I want a hug too" said Pink. Together, arms around each other and supporting Renee, they retreated from the scene. At a good enough distance away, they folded their knees and knelt on the sandy ground, still together. After a few minutes silence, they spoke by radio [That was horrible] said Pink. [But what might have happened would have been far far more horrible.] said Blue. [Yes.] [What do we do now?] said Blue. Silence for a while as they recovered and contemplated this question. [Well, obviously we need to get Renee back home. Then, as per Esmeralda's request, we need to call the police, and, and...] said Pink. As if on cue, Prime spoke up. [I've looked up Renee's address, it's now in Pink's memory. Furthermore, I can see what can only be Rebecca, wandering around about three hundred metres away, trying to find Renee. If you like, I can ring her mobile and tell her that you are coming. And I can ring the police, pretending to be Blue calling from his phone, and inform them of the dead body.] Pink and Blue looked at each other. It was nice to let the adult in the room do it all, for once. [Sounds good to me] said Blue. Horatio started his calls. "And also PInk, can you carry Renee? My back is beginning to give out." said Blue. After Renee was coaxed into Pink's arms, they set off at a brisk walk towards Rebecca, with Horatio giving directions. "Renee! Where have you been?" said Rebecca, running up to them. "And Pink and Blue have looked after you, again!" "I couldn't see you, so I went home. By the shortcut. But this horrible man grabbed me and dragged me in the wrong direction. But Pink saved me from him and Blue gave me a hug and Pink carried me here. So it's all right!" said Renee. Rebecca face turned a couple shades lighter in colour. "A man was trying to kidnap you?! Oh, my God." She practically crashed into Pink in her hurry to pick up Renee and hug her. "We have to ring the police! He may be roaming around, following us! Or he might go after someone else! Or, or..." "Ah, Rebecca" said Blue, coming up to one side of her, and putting his hand on her arm. "There's no need to worry" said Pink, standing on the other side of her and also putting her hand on her arm. "That particular man will not be hurting anyone." said Blue. "But how do you know?" said Rebecca. "Well, for a start, he's dead," said Pink. "... Dead?" "Yes. You know, his soul has been severed from his body. Nothing left but to give him a funeral." said Blue. "Oh" "Why don't we escort you two to your house?" said Pink. There were now sounds of distant sirens, becoming louder. "Only this time, let's not take the short cut through the industrial area." said Blue. "Hear those sirens? The place we just come from is going to be popular with the police for a while." said Pink. "Ah, right, Ok." Rebecca: Have those two suddenly become scary? Rebecca looked from Blue to Pink and back again. She rather got the impression that something scary was going on. And, also, they must already know each other incredibly well; they are practically filling out each other's sentences. Actually, not quite. But they were getting into the habit of continuously updating each other over their radio link, even when in the middle of a conversation with others. They walked along residential roads, lined with young trees and showing the fronts of expensive houses. And as they walked, Blue began to giggle. Pink also smiled. "Err, what's so funny?" said Rebecca. By this stage, Renee was also walking and holding hands with Rebecca. "Remember me asking you if we could walk home together?" said Blue. "Well, here we are, doing just that!" "Ah, yes. Well, so we are." Rebecca smiled also. But what about that dead body? At Rebecca's and Renee's house. "Ok, we must make our goodbyes for now, since the police will be stopping by to give us a lift." said Blue. Prime, hearing this, pretended to be Blue and rang the police to tell them where they were. Renee begged for a hug from both Pink and Blue. Rebecca gave her heartfelt thanks to both, and promised, as soon as practical, to invite them over for tea. Just as a police car drove into their driveway. "Hello, Sergeant Charlie. We didn't expect to see you so soon!" said Pink, as they both hopped into the back seat of the car. And they are on first name terms with the police! What the hell is going on? Charlie: Doing his police duties That is exactly what Charlie was thinking. What was going on? They somehow had managed to find that bloke that skipped bail in the next city. But was he dead when they found him? If not, then, err, what? The police station was the usual bustle as Charlie led them past the front counter and deeper into the building. This time he went further and to another interview room, which was furnished with a more substantial desk and chairs than the first office they had been to. It also had various office equipment like a phone and a computer terminal. "I'm busy, so no interruptions, please." he said to someone sitting at a desk just outside. "Well," said Blue, looking at Barlow across the table who had taken up a pen, ready to write in his notebook, "Esmeralda said to tell you the full story, so..." "Esmeralda?" said Charlie, raising his eyebrows a little. "Yes. This will sound funny, but she's my very own Angel of Death. She said I could call her Esmeralda." "Your Angel of ...Oh." said Charlie, dropping his pen onto the table. He blinked, then picked up the phone, dialled a number. "Ah, boss, could you come in here please? I think you need to hear this also." His boss came him. She was the older woman who had handed him the bail skip report the last time Pink and Blue were interviewed. "Good afternoon, I'm the station boss, Inspector Janet. Pleased to meet you." she said to the two teenagers. She turned to Charlie and looked quizzical. So Blue ended up repeating himself. The station boss stared at the two of them. She then sat herself carefully in the spare chair and politely said "How about you take it from the top and give us the full story?" Blue started talking. Sometimes he would stop and Pink would take over, then Blue would resume. It took a while. Neither police officer took any notes, but they listened very attentively indeed, and without any signs of disbelief or disdain. Blue got up to the part where they read the man's soul, to find out what sort of person he was. Janet suddenly leant forward and said "Esmeralda didn't actually show you what he had done, did she?" "Ah, no" said Blue. "All we got was a image of blackness." said Pink. "And in that blackness were shadows of what he had done." said Blue. "Indistinct shadows, which were bad enough." said Pink. "Right. Ok, please continue." said Janet. Blue and Pink eventually ran out of story to tell. As requested, they left out any mention of Earth Watch Prime and the little fact that Pink was a robot. Janet and Charlie sat in silence, digesting this. "This could prove a bit difficult, you know, what with us having to produce a full report, ah, there's an input form for every occasion, but, I'm not sure which one to use in this case..." said Janet. As if on cue, the computer screen switched from its login screen, to show an entry form. Charlie, being the closest, reached out, turned the screen slightly to face him, and started reading through the form.. "Hmm, this might be the one you want, boss. It’s called the Standard Report for Angelic Assistance, revision 1. Ooh, look, it's even been prefilled with the name of the angel, 'Esmeralda'; her rank, 'Minor'; and her duty, 'Angel of Death'. There you are, boss, I'll hand it over to you." He turned the screen to Janet, and pushed the keyboard over. "Why, thanks, Charlie. I shall certainly make sure to return the favour one of these days." Blue: Blue, through his radio link, said [Horatio, is this your doing?] There was a brief image of him, standing in the room, lifting his hands in surrender. "Honestly, your honour, it wasn't me. This time." Oblivious to this exchange, Janet was reading through the input form. She looked at Barlow. She looked at Pink and Blue. "Ok, this seems clear enough. I shall fill it out...hmm, names of mortals directly assisting angel..." "Mine's Reid Rednoll, also known as Blue." "Mine's Pink Robone, also known as the Pink Robot." Blue giggled slightly at this, and Pink gave him disparaging look. "Right" Janet typed this in, exactly as she had heard it. "Next is, manner of assistance" "Well, I suppose." said Blue. "It could be said we were providing a decision on our own free will." said Pink. "To allow Esmeralda to intervene directly in the affairs of mortals." said Blue. "For the greater good." said Pink. "Ah, yes." said Janet. She typed this in. She continued filling out the form, checked it, printed it out and got Pink and Blue to sign the printed copy, then she clicked 'submit' on the electronic copy, thus sending the form off to the police computer systems.