by Andy Coffey
Chapter 26 – Perhaps you can help me, I’m looking for someone
Humphrey was bored. He’d played ‘fetch the stick’ with Mrs Perriwinkle for the last three days, and even though she was getting very good at it now, he felt this particular amusement had run its course.
‘That poor dog’s been left on its own since Saturday morning,’ Mrs Perriwinkle said to Mr Sparkle, the window cleaner, as he wrung out his chamois leather into his bucket. ‘I’ll give that Aiden a right rollicking when he gets back. I’ve a good mind to call the police and get them to send a Black Mary after him.’
‘You mean a Black Maria, a police van?’ Mr Sparkle asked.
‘Yes, that’s it. And some of those nice Panda cars.’
‘Fat lot of good that would do,’ Humphrey thought.
Humphrey had tried explaining to Mrs Perriwinkle that, in all likelihood, Aiden had shifted into another reality, due to his misunderstanding of some of the formulae he’d applied when designing the algorithms to work in the quantum computing world. ‘Wuf, wuuf, wuf, woof, wowf, wow, wow, wuf,’ he’d said to her. And he couldn’t say it any clearer than that.
Sadly, Mrs Perriwinkle misinterpreted this completely and started to tickle his tummy, which was nice but hardly productive under the circumstances. No, it appeared that it was time for Humphrey to take matters into his own paws.
‘Right, I’m just popping to the shops, Humphrey. I’ll be back soon, don’t worry,’ Mrs Perriwinkle said, as she closed the door to Aiden’s house. And that was his cue to go into action.
Humphrey had watched Aiden closely when he’d been working at home on his initial design for the quantum computing operating system. He’d try to give him a nudge from time to time when he realised that some of the calculations were incorrect, like writing the correct version in dog biscuits on the floor and hoping that Aiden would spot it, which he did once.
‘Humphrey, you’re the cleverest dog in the world, even if you don’t know it!’ Aiden had said, as the dog biscuit pattern on the floor inspired him to produce the final part of the equation he was working on.
However, not all Humphrey’s attempts at guidance had been successful. The pattern of seemingly random dog food tins he placed on the kitchen floor (which if applied to one of the Navigation app’s algorithms would have warned Aiden that he was about to move through dimensions) was completely misinterpreted. All Humphrey got was a scolding for being a ‘naughty doggy.’ So, it was now up to him to locate Aiden and help him return safely. And he already had an idea.
Humphrey was well-versed in the laws of quantum mechanics; after all he’d been reading Aiden’s books for a few years and had thoroughly enjoyed them, even if they were a bit basic. He understood the principles behind quantum connections and the role of the conscious mind, working in tandem with the sub-conscious and the unconscious mind. He wasn’t the cleverest dog in the world for nothing.
Humphrey trotted over to the bedside table were Aiden kept his regular phone and tapped through the directory of numbers. Eventually he found a number called ‘Work Mobile QC Nova,’ so he dialled it.