The Girl Who Speaks With Algebra

28: Final Preparations

"Sine!" I shrieked. I paddled in a circle. "Sine!"

No answer. With the beach gone, I realized there was another problem here too. My legs were going to get tired. I couldn't tread water all night. If I died in the dream, would I die in real life?

One thing at a time. I closed my eyes, concentrated, and when I reopened them, I'd turned on the sun. I could now see the tips of the palm trees, which helped me to get my bearings. Great. Next? Well, perhaps this was the moment of truth.

I closed my eyes again. I was already floating, high above the ground. Granted, it was because I was in water, but given the whole point to manipulating this place wasn't to focus on the outcome, but rather on the consequences... and seeing as I, for once, was experiencing the actual sensations first hand...

I felt the water level dropping. Was it really dropping? No. When I reopened my eyes, I saw I was doing it – I was floating up into the air. Flying, at last. I believe I let out a shriek of delight, spinning around in the air horizontally before doing a loop de loop.

So much for having to keep treading water. Flying was effortless! Looking back down wiped the smile off my face though. The area was still flooded, and Sine was missing. Or was she? Maybe she was still inside that barrier around her table. After all, she couldn't affect things in the environment to get out, not when I wasn't around.

I simply had to drain out all this water. With that new goal in mind, I closed my eyes, and tried to picture things as they had been on every other day I'd been here.

Sun, flight and... the third time was not the charm. When my eyes opened, the water persisted, and that continued, despite subsequent attempts. I hovered, glaring at the liquid. Well, perhaps I could dive down, and try to reach Sine's barrier that way. Except doing that assumed I could orient myself more precisely. And that she was even down there. And that I wouldn't accidentally inhale and drown.

I gnawed on my lower lip. Perhaps the water problem was that I was trying to do too much at once? If I couldn't get rid of it with a single desire, perhaps I could drain it off gradually, towards the horizon?

I closed my eyes, visualizing the consequences of that, pushing my arms out for emphasis. I looked again. Could I see more of the trees? Wishful thinking? I repeated the process over and over. When I focused again, I was sure of it – this was working. The only remaining question was how long it would take.

I stopped thrusting my arms out pretty quickly, figuring that was going to get as tiring as treading water. Besides, I didn't think it was making a difference. I also took a couple breaks to fly around and do loop de loops, as those sensations were wonderful for clearing my head and allowing me to refocus.

Time passed, as much as it ever did in this place. Eventually, as the water receded, I saw a dark patch, which soon resolved itself into the top of the hemispherical dark area Sine had placed around her work area. Not long after that, Sine poked her out through the top of the dome.

"Rose," she said in delight. "You've saved me!"

An immense relief washed over me. "Heck yeah! I'm like Supergirl! Except in a swimsuit. Also, with the lesbian thing, maybe I'm more like her sister, Alex. If Alex could fly in a swimsuit." My comparison was getting away from me. "Sine, what happened?"

Sine coughed. "Apparently I was very wrong about Statistics no longer being an issue."

"He was here again?"

"Yeah. Fortunately we'd made this barrier such that only the two of us could pass through it. So while I couldn't see or hear his arrival, once I did poke my head out, I saw enough to realize he was in the process of rewriting our whole environment. Except in here, I was protected from the effects, so I hid. I thought he'd trapped me; I realize now it was the water pressure."