The livetar smiled. “I do aim to please,” replied MINIMCOM, shrugging in a very human-like manner. Then the expression on his bullet-shaped head became more serious. “However, now we must see if Rei can stand.”
Since we have to get on with the story, what do you think is going to happen?
Entry 5-108: April 18, 2017
Engaging gravity
A few days ago, we saw that Rei's nociceptors became active just a few minutes after his spine was repaired by "Dr. MINIMCOM" and yesterday, we could see that motor function was returning. However all of this means nothing if Rei cannot get up and walk. And he can't walk without gravity, well at least without magnetic boots. Some MINIMCOM decided he'd gradually turn on the ship's artificial gravity to see how Rei holds up:
The livetar unbuckled Rei and carefully maneuvered him around so that he was perfectly vertical. The livetar pressed down on Rei’s shoulders ever so gently until Rei’s feet were flush against the floor of the cargo compartment. MINIMCOM waved to Rome and Russell. They came over and each put one hand on Rei’s shoulders to keep him in place. Rome pressed her hand against Rei’s chest. Dr. Montrell pressed his hand gently against Rei’s upper back so that he stayed in one position vertically.
“I will now begin to engage the artificial gravity,” MINIMCOM announced. “We will increase it in small increments and see how Rei tolerates it. Rei, are you ready?”
“Absolutely,” Rei said. He lifted his arms and placed one across Rome’s shoulders and the other across Russell’s shoulders. “Let’s do it.”
“Very well,” MINIMCOM said. “One-tenth g.” In the background, they could hear the gentle whirring of the magnetic shields drawing back and the superconducting magnets coming up to speed.
Rome could feel her body pressing ever so gently into her boots. She looked at Rei’s face as he stared down at his own feet. They flattened slightly. Rei looked up and nodded. “More,” he said.
“Very well,” MINIMCOM said. “One third g.”
This time, the increase in gravity was noticeable. Rei’s knees bent slightly but then he straightened up again.
“Any pain?” MINIMCOM asked.
“None,” Rei said. “I’m ready for the full load.” He waved his hand in a circular motion trying to encourage the livetar.
“Rei, we should take our time,” Rome cautioned. “There is no need to hurry.”
Rei sighed. “You’re right,” he said. “No sense in taking chances. OK, MINIMCOM, just bump it to one-half g.”
“Very well,” MINIMCOM replied. As the gravity increased, Rome could really feel Rei’s arm across her shoulders now. Rei’s knees did not change at all.
Rei nodded. “More,” he said. This time it wasn’t a question.
“Three-quarters g,” MINIMCOM announced. As soon as the gravity increased, Rei’s knees began to buckle.
Uh-oh. Rei needs to be able to stand under full gravity to return to the planet. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
Meanwhile, below you can check out my brother Bruce's vision of Rei getting off the table. As before, MINIMCOM is missing his cape because it would have blocked the image. Also, Bruce made Russell Montrell bald. He kind of reminds me of Mr. Clean. Finally, this is the closest you will ever get to seeing Rome's face until we get the Netflix series made.
Entry 5-109: April 19, 2017
First Steps
Yesterday, "Dr. MINIMCOM" declared Rei sturdy enough to take on some gravity. They started with .1g then stepped it up until they finally hit three-quarters g. Obviously, Rei is going to have to be able to stand in one full g to go back to the planet but right now, he had trouble with the three quarters. Rei's knees had just buckled which cause a bit of panic but at this point, I think he is ready to take the plunge. Let's see:
“Back it down,” Rome shouted with alarm in her voice.
“No,” Rei said. “I’m OK. I just have to figure out how much force to exert. Look.”
He straightened up again. He bent his knees and then stood upright to demonstrate he had full control. “I got this,” he said.
“Please try and flex your back as little as possible,” MINIMCOM cautioned. “The mixture of bone and constructors is set and it is true that with each passing minute, it will become more solid. But I would like to keep the stress to a minimum.”
“Well, if I’m going to go back to the planet, I have to be able to take full gravity. Let me try a few steps.”
“Rei, are you sure?” Rome asked.
“Yeah,” Rei said. Rei removed his arms from both of his two helpers’ shoulders and simply placed one hand on each. Satisfied, he pushed each of them away, reaching down only to hold Rome’s hand. Carefully, he lifted his left foot and took one step forward. His knee seemed to give out slightly but Rei was able to recover quickly. He took a step with his right foot and there were no noticeable effects.
“OK, guys,” he said, letting go of Rome’s hand. “Here we go.”
Like a little boy trying on new shoes, Rei took small careful steps, walking from one end of the cargo bay to the other. As he walked, his confidence grew greater and greater until he was walking in what looked like a completely normal gait. Russell Montrell whistled his approval. Rei bowed his head slightly then came back to stand by Rome and he took her hand again.
“OK, buddy,” he said to MINIMCOM. “One full g. Time to get this show…”
“On the road,” Rome chimed in. “All right, MINIMCOM, full gravity.”
“As you wish,” replied the livetar.
The change from three quarter to full gravity actually seemed less noticeable than the prior increments. Rei tested his ability to walk again and did quite well. In fact, on his last lap, he actually jogged a bit.
“I know I should be overwhelmed,” Rei said, walking over to MINIMCOM. “But you’ve always been there for us, buddy. I guess I never had any doubts.”
He did it! He can now walk in one full g. Time to return to the planet and ferret out who did the dastardly deed.
Entry 5-110: April 20, 2017
Double-edged Vest
Yesterday, "Dr.MINIMCOM" completed the restoration of Rei's back and turned on the artificial gravity. After a little bit of conditioning, Rei was able to walk unassisted in one full g so that meant, in his mind, he was able to return to Deucado so they could begin the search for his would-be killer. But the livetar was not quite ready to discharge his patient:
MINIMCOM said, “Your recovery is far from complete. Your spine is still very delicate.” The livetar turned away then turned back with a contraption built of two black plates held together by leather-like thongs. The front plate was sculpted in the form of a human chest. The back plate was smoother. About 18 inches from the top were four straps attached to the frame on both sides.
What is that?” Rome asked, coming over to see.
“This is a portable, miniature self-sustaining PPT tunnel,” MINIMCOM said.
“What’s it for?” Rei asked.
“Allow me to attach it and I will explain,” MINIMCOM replied. The livetar lifted the two plates up and lowered the assembly over Rei’s head. Once the upper thongs were resting on Rei’s shoulders, MINIMCOM cinched the lower straps along the sides until they were snug around Rei's waist. After checking the fit, MINIMCOM waved his hands over the front and suddenly, Rei’s chest, in fact his entire torso, disappeared. It looked like his head, arms and legs were completely separated from each other.
“What the hell?” Rei exclaimed as he tried to wrap his head around what he was seeing or in this case, not seeing. “Why do I need this thing?” he asked.
“Your spine is solid and clearly you can stand the strain of being vertical. However, the mixture of bones and constructors do not have as much reinforcement against lateral sheer. This vest will prevent anything from coming in contact with your spine until you are fully healed.”
To demonstrate, MINIMCOM pushed one of his hands through the region where Rei’s stomach would have been. The
arm emerged from behind Rei’s back as if he were not there.
Rei reached around to poke his own hand in the tunnel but MINIMCOM grabbed his arm and pulled it away.
“You must be very careful with this,” MINIMCOM cautioned. “As you know, the edges of a PPT tunnel are sharper than any blade in the universe. Nothing must come in contact with those edges.” MINIMCOM squeezed Rei’s wrist. “For example, if something were to be inserted within the tunnel and you turned suddenly, whatever it was would be severed immediately. And that includes limbs.”
MINIMCOM shook Rei’s arm to emphasize his point.
The sentence in bold is very important. I used it to set up the mid-novel climax. But you'll have to wait a bit until we get there. This PPT vest is the precursor to Aason's PPT "armor" that he donned on Hades when seeking out the colonists from the Ark IV in The Milk Run but that's a story for another day.
Here is a picture of Bruno Catalano's "In Search of Missing Pieces" which is a statue is in France:
Entry 5-111: April 21, 2017
The Invisible Vest
Yesterday, MINIMCOM unveiled a vest to protect Rei's spine while it heals. It consists of two plates, one in the front and one in the back. Together, they form a continuous, miniature PPT tunnel such that anything that comes in contact with Rei's torso or back would punch through the other side, essentially going around Rei's spine rather than bend it.
My brother Bruce made an animatic version of the book trailer for Rome’s Evolution and tried to capture this. However, we had decided to abandon the idea of a book trailer altogether so all I have are his sketches on what would have been in the trailer. Here you can see MINIMCOM's livetar with a cape, finally. Basically, this is just Rei lifting his shirt, showing you that you can see right though him and then him lowering his shirt again:
The mechanics of how the shirt doesn't just get sucked into the portable wormhole will be covered tomorrow.
Entry 5-112: April 22, 2017
Emancipation
Over the last couple of days, I have presented you with some technology that isn't all that far-fetched. It will certainly occur within our children's lifetime. But what nobody considered was the human spirit behind it. I say human on purpose. Even though MINIMCOM is a livetar, an ambulatory computer shell, the spirit behind it is very real and very autonomous. Everyone from our generation would think of computers as things, the same as a car or an airplane. But MINIMCOM is much, much more than that. He just doesn't happen to be biologically based.
This becomes abundantly clear in the early parts of Rome’s Evolution when Dr. Montrell assumes that MINIMCOM can be commanded to do anything the humans want, regardless of MINIMCOM's desires:
“I get it,” Rei said, pulling his arm away from MINIMCOM’s grasp. “I’ll be careful.” He looked down at his chest or at least the region of where his chest should have been. “But, like this is really weird. I understand why I need it but how am I supposed to walk around with no chest? It’ll scare Aason. It’ll scare everybody.”
MINIMCOM held his hand out and a long brown shirt appeared, somewhat reminiscent of Rei’s normal attire. “Put this on,” the livetar said, shaking the garment.
Rome helped Rei put on the shirt. Once all the buttons were fastened, it completely covered up Rei’s invisible chest. “Hmm,” Rei grunted. “Weird but that’ll work.”
“Yes,” MINIMCOM said. “It is coated on the inside with an electrostatic material. It acts as an inflating agent. I have tailored the fabric so that your torso will appear normal to the outside world until you no longer need the vest.”
“So how long do I have to wear it?” Rei asked, running his hands down his chest carefully. Knowing what was under there was really bizarre.
“You will need to wear it about a month,” MINIMCOM said. “You may take it off to shower and to sleep. But that is all. After a month, your spine should be completely and totally healed and you will no longer require this protection.”
Rei looked over at Rome and raised one eyebrow. “Are you going to be able to handle this?” he asked.
Rome winked at him. “We’ll be fine,” she said, laughing. “It will remind us every day of what a wonderful friend our MINIMCOM has been.”
“This is beyond friendship,” Russell said. “This is an incredible advancement in medicine. You must share this with the world at large. Think of the good you can do.”
MINIMCOM’s eye slits narrowed a bit. “I do not know if I am ready to reveal this just yet. I have only recently shared my secret of the continuous PPT drive with the next generation of fastships. I have been heavily involved in their training. It is very time-consuming.”
“There’s no comparison,” Russell said insistently. “This is far too important to keep to yourself. Rei, can’t you make him share it? He’s your ship.”
“No,” Rei said. “He’s not my ship. MINIMCOM was emancipated a long time ago. He is his own entity. He’s not a thing. He’s family. He chooses when and where he goes and what he does. You’ll just have to trust him to do what is right and in his own time.”
“Thank you, Rei,” MINIMCOM said. “Dr. Montrell, as Rei said, you will just have to trust me to do what is right. All I can promise you is that I will get around to it eventually.”
“An emancipated ship,” Russell muttered to himself.
“And loving father,” Rome threw in. “He has a child of his own.”
Russell lowered his eyes to the ground. “I guess there are just some things I’ll never get used to.”
Get used to it. MINIMCOM is not a machine. He is a member of the family. And while he may do what you ask sometimes, no, many times, it is because he chooses to do so not because he is commanded to do so. Think about that the next time you get into your car and put on your left turn blinker.
Entry 5-113: April 23, 2017
Somebody tried to kill me
Now that MINIMCOM has repaired Rei's spine and outfitted him with a miniature self-sustaining PPT tunnel for protection, it is time to revisit why so much rigmarole in the first place. After all, Rei had nearly been blown to bits. Rome, Rei and MINIMCOM returned to the planet to discuss the situation with Rome's parents who were watching Aason:
“All this is well and good,” he said, “but everyone here is forgetting one thing.”
“What is that?” Fridone asked.
“Somebody tried to kill me. In fact, that bomb was set to kill all of us. If Rome and Aason hadn’t been delayed at the library, they might be dead too.”
“Who would try and kill any of you?” Binoda asked, horrified. “You have done nothing but good ever since you arrived at this planet.”
“We discussed this very fact and we can only come up with one explanation,” Rome said.
Rei nodded. “It had to be one of the Darwin people. When we rounded them up and sent them off to Helome, there’s no way we got them all. There has to be a couple of them left, running around crazy.”
“Even so, why would they want to kill you?” Binoda asked with a furrowed brow.
“You don’t know these people like I do,” Rei said. “They were none too happy when we shipped them off-world. It doesn’t have to be a very complex reason. I don’t think we need look beyond simple revenge.”
“If that is all it is,” Fridone said, “then they will find out eventually they did not kill you. What is to prevent them from trying again?”
“Nothing,” Rei said. “Our only hope is to figure out who it was and track them down. That’s the only way to stop them before they try again.”
“They could be anywhere on this planet,” Fridone said with increasing frustration. “We must be ever vigilant.”
“There is no we, Beo,” Rome said. Rome touched her finger to her temple. With a whoosh and pop, both MINIMCOM’s all-black livetar and Junior’s smaller one appeared in the room. Junior’s livetar had darkened significantly and was much larger as compared to when he was originally ‘born’. The current version stood well over a
meter and half tall and his skin was now a deep slate gray. Every day, he looked more and more like his father.
“Hello, Auntie Rome,” Junior said. “Onclare Rei. I’m glad you’re out of the hospital. Dad filled me in on what he did.”
“Thanks, Junior,” Rei said. He turned carefully back to face his in-laws. “Rome and I talked about it. We don’t want you or Aason around until we’ve caught the assassins.”
I've mentioned many times that while I really like Aason, he gets in the way of superior action and adventure. It is easier to ship him off to another planet for a while so Rome and Rei can get to work fleshing out the novel. Unfortunately, in this case, they shipped him off to the wrong planet as you will see later in the book.
Entry 5-114: April 24, 2017
Where do we go?
Yesterday, after Rome and Rei had returned from space with Rei's surgically repaired back, the couple announced to Rome's parents that it was no longer safe anywhere on the planet and they had to leave. They need Aason as far away as possible for his own good. Rome and Rei had picked out a destination. Unfortunately, and unknown to them, the destination wasn't far enough.
Tales of the Vuduri_Year Five Page 17