Chapter 15

“Well, yes. The first version of the Device couldn’t do anything unless you imagined it happening RIGHT THEN. That was no fun, because, for example, if I were to roll a tennis ball over to you, one of us would have to pay attention to it, or it would just stop moving.

“The one you saw yesterday could handle SEQUENCES of events-- flying birds, disappearing clothes, or other things that happen the same way no matter what you do.”

Katie had mastered event sequences when she changed him into a female, literally setting it up in advance so Jason would go through the changes she wanted.

“This device can handle repetitive or conditional events. That means you can set up some event which happens IF, or WHEN, something else happens, even if you’re not in control of the other events. I can say, if Katie will let me, that IF someone touches the top of the table, THEN it will turn green. I don’t have to stick around waiting for someone to touch it, and then make it green myself. If I set up something like that, Katie could undo it. But if she did, I couldn’t undo it, because she’s holding the box.”

Elsa touched the table, and it did, indeed, turn green. “Neat,” she exclaimed.

Jason tried something else. “Watch this one.”

A thin piece of plastic appeared in his hands, clear, and about a foot and a half square. It had sixteen small squares on it, visible from either side, which were just black outlines. He handed it to Elsa, who took it by the edges.

“Katie, don’t do anything. Just watch. I’m going to play one myself, and not even pay attention to Elsa.”

Elsa still didn’t know what to do with it.

“Touch any box,” Jason said. “Try to get four in a row before the Device does.”