Living Under Ice

Under Ice 19

Living Under Ice -- 19

Rosera answered the door.  She had seen the boy standing there before, but she didn’t really know him.  He, however, seemed to know her.  He asked to see Johan and Eliza like he knew them too.  Rosera had seen the group of teens go into Johan’s room earlier.  They were always going in there and leaving her out.  She had tried snooping a time or two, but they had put a stop to it.  She didn’t care.  She had friends of her own anyway.  Who wanted to be with older siblings when you could be with Martha and Ted?  No one.  That was who.

She didn’t even ask the older boy’s name.  If he was here, he must be a new part of the secretive group.  She let him in and lead him to Johan’s bedroom and knocked on the door.  It didn’t open right away so she opened it for him.  Everyone in the room jumped at once.  They all looked guilty.  The boy pushed past her into the room.

“What are you doing?” Tralv asked.  He never even introduced himself.  He wasn’t used to the niceties of polite company or even impolite company for that matter.

“Who are you?” Eliza asked with a frightened look.

“Well, I’m not here to hurt you so you don’t need to look so scared!” Tralv said.

“I think what she means is what is your name,” Talon said a bit gruffly.

“Oh, I’m Tralv.”

“And what can we do for you?” Tablitha asked.  “I thought we knew everyone here.  I guess we’ve seen you before, but you’ve never even talked to us before now.”

Tralv was a bit at a loss.  He wasn’t used to people talking so much to him.  He sure wasn’t used to pretty girls saying so much in one breath.  Maybe he made a mistake coming here.  No.  He couldn’t live his whole life on canned V.R. programs.  It was time for a drastic change.

“I’m bored,” he said after a long pause.  “Sorry, I’m not used to this.  My parents raised me on a remote part of a remote planet.  I’m not used to being around people.”

“Well, I’m glad you decided to come out of hiding,” Tablitha began.

“But why did you choose right now?” Johan blurted out trying to move to cover the mind stone.  His movement caught Tralv’s eye and he noticed the mind stone.
“That’s the mind stone!”  he said.  “I thought they locked it away from you guys.”

“Hey,” Kindra said.  How do you know about the mind stone?  I mean how do you know its real name?”

“I did my research,” Tralv said.  “I’m good with computers and know how to get information out of them.  The A.I.’s may not always like me, but I know how to get them to tell me things.”

“I didn’t even think Timothy knew the name.  Have any of you told him about the new name?” Talon asked.  Everyone denied it.

“He did admit to me that he learned it accidentally when he wasn’t supposed to,” Tralv said.  “I think even A.I.’s get bored.”

“Timothy!” Johan shouted.

“You called?” Timothy replied a little too fast.

“Have you been listening and looking in on us when you shouldn’t?” Johan asked him.

“Well...”

“You don’t mean you’ve broken your primary programming do you, Timothy?” Tablitha asked.  “I didn’t think A.I.’s could even do that.”

“Most A.I.’s have more to do than I do,” Timothy complained.  Well, OK, I have more to do than them, but I can’t exactly get on the A.I. gossip channels over the net.  We get bored too, you know.  I haven’t been watching you all the time, but my algorithms suggested that this would be a good time to do so.  I was right!”

“How long have you been eavesdropping?” Eliza asked.

“I saw what you did with the mind stone.  Now I am in an ethical dilemma.  I know I should report you, but I can’t report information obtained illegally.  What do I do?” Timothy practically moaned.

“Nothing.” Talon said firmly.  “You keep your mouths shut and your video screens too.  You are bound to help us.”

“But what about the committee?” Timothy asked.

“Don’t you know that committee has no real authority?” Tralv surprised everyone by speaking up.  “I have studied intergalactic law for my VR trial programs.  That committee was never elected by popular vote.  I looked and the proper procedures were never followed to start it.  It came out of a meeting and sure, the adults there decided to start it, but they never followed proper procedure.  Am I right, Timothy?”

Timothy did not answer right away.  Two seconds later, he did respond.  “You are right, Tralv.  I reviewed the meeting and also all relevant intergalactic legal recordings in my data bank.  I never liked that committee anyway.  You guys are so much more fun to interact with.”

“Promise you won’t tell anyone,” Kindra said.  She turned to the two intruders.  “You two have to promise as well or we will never let you touch the stone.”

“I cannot promise forever,” Timothy said.  “My basic programming makes everything available to historians after your deaths.  Also, I cannot withhold information that is asked in a legally binding way by an elected official with proper clearance.  However, I will try to keep my mouths shut as you say.”

“I’m telling my friends,” Rosera said.  “And you can’t stop me.”

“I don’t have any friends,” Tralv said honestly.  “I won’t tell a soul unless you guys give me permission.”

Rosera and her older siblings got into an immediate argument.  Finally, the best they could do was make her wait to tell her friends until the following week on Monday.  That way they could use the stone without interruption before someone inevitably started blabbing.  They also argued a little bit about Tralv, but in the end they decided to let him also touch the stone.  He was rough around the edges and didn’t know how to interact like most people, but the girls thought they could train him.  The boys weren’t so sure.

Without wasting any more time, Johan started using his updated energy input device on the mind stone until it was really glowing.  Then he made a dramatic gesture to Kindra who walked up to the stone and touched it.  She barely had time for a partial scream before she got a mesmerized look on her face.  She sat down in a lotus position and held it up to her face and forehead.  No one said a word until the lights stopped and she woke up enough to hand them the stone.

Before anyone could even ask Kindra how she felt, Tralv excitedly shouted.  “I’m next!” he said.

“No,” Rosera said firmly.  “You have to learn to be more social.  Young ladies go first.”

“That is so archaic, where did you even hear that?” Tralv asked.

“I read older books,” Rosera smirked.  I don’t just spend all MY time in VR!  Charge it up, big brother.” Everyone laughed and decided she could go next.  Even Tralv didn’t seem to mind too much.  He wasn’t sure what to do with someone like Rosera anyway.  He could wait.  He was the outsider after all.

A/N  That's all I have for now.  More votes and positive comments = encouragement to continue.  Thanks for reading!