Chapter 11

It started with music. Very avant-garde music with strange electronic noises, it somehow carried a melody that reminded Solomon of ballet. A slow, sensual dance, perhaps, like Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ with modernistic overtones, but definitely classical. It was clearly coming from all of the speaker systems, but it also seemed to be coming out of fixtures that shouldn’t be able to produce music. Could the source create harmonic vibrations that resonated in desks and lighting fixtures?

Then the lights started wavering along with the music. Solomon decided he wasn’t going to be able to concentrate on his studies any more, so he may as well investigate. “Stand by mode,” he said to the room’s computer.

As he walked into the hallway, Solomon was even more surprised by the light show. He hadn’t realized the various lighting sources were capable of producing colored effects. Come to think of it, they probably hadn’t been before someone (and he had only one guess) reprogrammed them. When he saw a few servomechs go waltzing by, also in perfect time to the music, he was sure he was right. The little robots had been designed to perform simple functions such as moving objects, cleaning, and serving, never dancing!

Solomon went directly to the room of Robert Winston Wood. As soon as the scanner read his neural patterns and announced him to Robert, the door slid open.

Naturally, Robert was seated in front of his computer console, a smug grin on his handsome features. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back as Solomon entered.

“They’ll trace this back to you, you know.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Robert protested, the grin getting wider. “There seem to be some sort of strange commands emanating from the computer of the Head Administrator, going directly into the school’s control center. If anyone’s to blame, it must be him.”

Solomon smiled. “Very neat,” he agreed.

“I thought so.”

“And I like the music. Did you compose it yourself?”

“Well, sort of. It’s a variation – a rather liberal one, I might add – on an ancient piece by someone named Debussy.”

“It’s good. It has a surrealistic air of sensitivity, of delicacy, and yet at the same time it’s – I don’t know. How can I describe it? It’s quite earthy, almost pantheistic.”

“Solomon, you are remarkable! You’ve hit it exactly. It’s based on a piece called ‘Afternoon of a Fawn,’ which is all of those things. So I’m afraid I can’t take credit for the mood of the music.”

“Well, I’m sure your modern variation is quite good. But how you made those servomechs look graceful – well! That was quite impressive. They don’t normally have much mobility, and I didn’t know you could do choreography.”

“I have many hidden talents, my boy,” Robert said with mock condescension, from his lofty advantage of being two years older.

Where Solomon was small, frail and plain, Robert was tall, strong and rather good looking. When they had first met, Solomon had admired the black, almost ebony tone of Robert’s skin, which glowed like a dark, velvety night. He had contrasted that with his own pasty white color, and wished his flesh had at least a few colorful tones. Robert’s tightly curled black hair practically crackled with energy, while his own pale hair hung limp and thin down the sides of his head. It was the only time in his life Solomon had ever felt jealous of another person’s physical appearance, as opposed to feeling quite content that he had never met an intellectual equal.

Solomon’s serious nature was perfectly counter-balanced by the great sense of humor and constant pranks Robert was prone to playing on the school, and especially the Head Administrator. He was especially good at reprogramming all of the various computer and electronic systems. The proof of his skill was that, after six years, the administrators still had no idea which of their students was the guilty party. In spite of their vast differences, the two had pretty much hit it off from the beginning. They considered themselves best friends, notwithstanding the fact a lot of the other students considered Robert a great friend.

“So how long is this show going to last?”

“About thirty more minutes. Just long enough for the Head’s vocal cords to tense up by a factor of three.”

“Well, you mind turning it off in my cubicle? I’ve got a lot of studying to do.”

“You’ve always got a lot of studying to do, Solomon. You need to get out and have fun more often.”

“Actually, I consider what I’m studying to be really fun. So do you mind?”

“Don’t you think it would be awfully suspicious if the only place it isn’t on is yours?”

“Humm, you have a point. Well, what am I going to do in the meanwhile?”

“You could always try talking with that girl you used to chat with all the time,” Robert said slyly. “Remember her?”

Suddenly, the ghost of the smile on Solomon’s face was totally dead. “You mean Aimee Keiko Saito?”

“That’s the one. Or you could come with me. I was just about to go down to the main dining hall. There ought to be a pretty good show going on right about now. Care to join me?”

“No, thanks,” Solomon said sadly. “I think I’d better follow your first suggestion.”

A large chunk of Robert’s good humor also disappeared. “Oh. I take it you haven’t told her yet.”

“No. Not yet.”

“Well, can’t say as I blame you for putting it off.”

“That’s exactly what I’ve been doing,” Solomon admitted. “But it’s time to get it over with.”

“And I don’t envy you one bit. Me, I think I’m going down to the dining hall. I much prefer comedy to tragedy.”

“So, how goes it with you, Solomon Barnaby Smith?”

As soon as the system went back to normal, Solomon had placed the call. With mixed feelings of pleasant surprise and dread, he found Aimee in her cubicle studying when the connection was made.

“Well. How about you, Aimee Keiko Saito?”

“Great, actually. I’ve completely finished all of my civil classes, as well as the basic courses in electrical, mechanical and electronics. I’m in my third class in both advanced structural and computer, and I’ve done electives in metallurgy and robotics. They don’t normally let you do robotics with artificial intelligence until fifth year, so I must be doing something right.”

“I’m sure you’re doing it all right. You angling to be the first person Assigned as a City Engineer right out of Advanced Training?”

Solomon said it teasingly, but he could see from the slight flush on her face that his remark had hit home.

“You know that would be presumptuous of me, Solomon Smith. I just want to be the best engineer I can be.”

There was a slight, awkward pause. Solomon was still embarrassed, and Aimee was feeling a little defensive. It had been nearly a year since they had spoken, and they both felt awkward. It wasn’t like they were kids anymore. No matter how intelligent, the pair of them were barely into their teens. They were still unsure of how to handle their own maturing bodies and their increasing awareness of each other as members of the opposite sex.

They were also both aware that they were growing apart. They were in their fourth year of Advanced Training in very different fields and in totally different locations. Because of their Selection scores, they had each been sent to the top schools in the world, Aimee to Frankfurt and Solomon to Palo Alto. Whereas Solomon had totally immersed himself in his studies, Aimee was more socially active. She was frequently asked by most of the boys in the school (and a few of the girls) to go out with them. While Aimee gradually gained more confidence in her interactions with others, Solomon become more reclusive.

Solomon gazed at her appearance on the screen, acutely recognizing how lovely she had become. She was equally aware of his plain and frail features, although only in contrast to how most of the boys looked. Aimee was still more impressed by his intellect, which shouted out from his quiet demeanor. They stared at each other on the screen.

The word ‘screen’ was a hangover from the days when computer video conferencing actually took place on screens, projecting first two- and then three-dimensional images on the video display screen. With the advent of TotalVid, substantial looking holographic images of the other conversant stood or ‘sat’ near a user and talked “face to face” with the person. Like TotalVid, the size and overall realism of the display depended on how expensive the receiving unit was. In very expensive units, multiple parties could ‘sit’ in a circle and have what was virtually a live conversation. A lot of business was conducted in that manner. Depending on the sensitivity of the conversation, heavy security filters were often used.