The Girl Who Speaks With Algebra

21: Confrontations

"I'm kind of an idiot really," Sine admitted, as me and Paige came around to the front of her deck chair. "Think about it. For all intents and purposes, I'm two-dimensional, while your human world is three-dimensional. The only reason our encounter is even POSSIBLE is because we're in a place that makes no sense, dimension-wise. Right?"

"I guess that makes sense," I agreed, sitting on the deck chair next to Sine and putting my computer down beside me. I looked up at Paige. "Did you want a deck chair?"

My blonde girlfriend was simply staring at Sine. "You're a sine wave," she said after a moment. "You've even got the..." Paige made a motion on her forehead, mirroring the wave of hair that Sine sported.

Sine nodded. "And you are?"

Shoot. I leapt back to my feet. "Sorry, Sine, this is Paige," I said, gesturing. "Paige, Sine. Paige is a math major, so she can probably help us out. Also, I wanted a more objective viewpoint." Another thought occurred. "But Paige? If I jump on you? Let me. It means I'm waking up, and I don't want you to be trapped here."

Paige merely continued to stare at Sine. "I need to sit down."

I created a new deck chair, then moved to grasp Paige by the arm and help her down into it. "Will your friend be okay?" Sine wondered.

"Oh, sure." I patted Paige on the hand. "I think maybe she just didn't believe that my talking to Algebra was a real thing."

That seemed to snap Paige out of her momentary trance. "Rose, no," she said, turning to me. "I always believed you were having these dreams. I mean, okay, there was always a bit of doubt as to whether they were caused by something hallucinogenic in the pills... but I didn't crawl into your bed tonight believing nothing would happen. I had faith in you, the same way I do – or did – when I was brought up to believe in God."

Paige looked back at Sine. "What I'm having trouble with here is wrapping my head around trigonometry being such a pretty brunette. She's different than I pictured."

"Did I not mention she was a brunette?" I asked.

"You might have," Paige said. "And I recognize that math and its equations are beautiful. Thing is, I never thought Rule 34 would apply to functions."

"Rule 34?" Sine asked, looking to me. I shrugged.

"If it exists, there is porn of it on the internet," Paige explained.

I frowned, snapping my fingers in front of Paige's face as she continued to stare at Sine. "Okay, hi! I realize that compared to me you've spent WAY more hours of your life adoring mathematics, but you haven't forgotten that I'M your girlfriend, yeah?"

Her gaze tracked back to me, her stunned look gradually replaced with a hint of a smile. "No, silly. But seriously, why is Sine brunette? Why Caucasian? Why FEMALE? Is it because we're lesbians in Canada or something?"

"I can hear you talking," Sine observed, crossing her arms over her chest. "But if my appearance troubles you that much, Paige, consider the following – we're in a reality that's been shaped at least in part by Rose and myself. Perhaps if you shaped reality instead, I would look different? For that matter, why assume I'm the only Sine that exists? There are an infinite number of my transformations out there."

I glanced at Sine. "I thought they all looked like you. That whole issue with 'looking at yourself' from last week."

"All the ones *I* know about look like me," Sine corrected. "But twice infinity is also infinity. And maybe I only know what I look like because of you, Rose. Who's to say that there aren't more Sines of a different heritage? For that matter, who's to say that there isn't some human girl out there, in your world, who is drawing yet another version of me that isn't just as real and wonderful as the Sine you see before you?"