Chapter 6B: The Killing Fields

JANE Tom's true love

Hi, remember me, the root cause of all of the chaos. Well just to back up a little. Tom and I had a date at 11:30. Tom kept the date but not as I expected. Tom came into my room with a big downcast look on his face. I was sitting on my bed. I said, "Let's connect. You don't need all of that trouble." Tom cracked a weak smile and pulled over a desk chair and sat in it. I did not need to be connected to know something was way up. Connection solved the communication issues.

I told Tom that I loved him and wanted what was best for him. I asked him just to let it flow and we will work it out.

Tom started he and Cynthia had gone to a movie. After the movie Tom and Cynthia went to Adel's for coffee and nachos. There, Tom, let it all hang out. First he told Cynthia of his love for her. BTW Cynthia reciprocated. Then he told her of his sexual relations with me. He told her that would end tonight. He wanted to be exclusive with Cynthia. They both talked about connection its blessings, responsibilities and problems. Cynthia asked how she could get connected.

Tom pulled out the little bottle and the PDA. Tom said that was so Mary We could be there too. Tom explained about the "Accident" and how every one connected needed to experience fifteen seconds of the pain the accident caused. He also explained why the group all felt that was a necessary part of the connection process. Cynthia took Tom's hand and the bottle of milk. She opened it and drank it down. As before, one minute later the connection was made. Tom introduced Cynthia to Mary. Tom, in one scan, found out how deep Cynthia's love was. Cynthia found out about Tom's love also. Secrets are almost impossible to hide when connected. They were true soul mates.

Tom gave Cynthia the choice to take the pain now or in a group later this week. She would only have to do it once.

Cynthia asked Tom to do it now.

Tom held Cynthia's hand and hugged her. He asked Mary to play the pain for him and Cynthia together. Cynthia looked at Tom with a question when the pain hit. Cynthia and Tom were both ashen. Tom then gave Cynthia the longest gentlest kiss. He is a great kisser. Tom thanked Mary.

Mary came back with a sad face. It seemed Cynthia had injured her back in a water skiing accident last summer. That injury was made worse by Cynthia's endowments. Cynthia was risking partial paralysis if she did not have the back treated. Surgery was very risky. Cynthia's doctor told her the odds were 50-50 that she might be permanently paralyzed. Tom asked Mary was there any thing the nanites could do and what were the risks? Mary said that the nanites could heal Cynthia. It would take four to five days of bed rest. There was a small risk about one to five thousand that any thing could go wrong.

Cynthia and Tom decided to try Mary's process. After all, look what Mary had done for me. Tom called his mom and asked her to call Cynthia's parents and ask to have her stay over with Nancy for the rest of the week to help prepare for the Labor Day Party. Her parents did not see the ruse and gave their permission. Tom brought her home and put her in his bed. Mary got started. Mary told Tom NO SEX until further notice. He could carefully share the bed if he wanted to but Cynthia needed to be as still as possible while the nanites worked.

Well, so much for our date. I asked Tom to come over to me and sit down real close. I asked for and gave Tom a great big hug. I thanked him for our time together. It will always be special to me. I thought that his love for Cynthia was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. What is neat about being connected is that you can see feelings and how true they are. Both of our eyes were misty. I gave him a kiss on the check and told him to go to his love. He kissed me back on the check and I knew that I was still loved, now as grandma Jane. Actually I really liked it. Tom went back to Cynthia.

Oh this night, my friend Dill Doh kept me company. I also made a resolution that Fred Farquar (Yes "Laugh In" fans there is such a person) would not get away. Fred is a widower and a teacher of US History at Santa Rosa High School. He and I started dating after my husband died and until I was diagnosed with cancer. I did not see him all summer. I did not want to have him see me with no hair. He is coming over for lunch and a country drive tomorrow. Boy, he does not know he will be the luncheon entrée and the desert, maybe even the midnight snack.

Tuesday

JANE The Big Meeting, Fred Farquar

I got up early dressed to swim with Tom. I went to the kitchen and found Maria fixing breakfast. I asked what I could do to help and she smiled. She said Tom had a guest, she had a guest, Nancy had a guest, the only ones with out a guest was Kit and me. She was very behind. We both had a cup of coffee. I asked what she had in mind. She was planning a simple breakfast of hot oatmeal, toast, poached eggs, and orange juice. We would need a tray for Tom and Cynthia. She thought we could set up a buffet on the kitchen island and we could all eat in the dining room.

Maria was also panicked over lunch. I comforted her and offered to help and to draft Kit to help. After breakfast was cleaned up I suggested that she, Kit, and I could make a Costco run for lunch goodies.

Oh Kit. Rise and shine. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting! HEY KIT UP AND AT EM. We need help in the Kitchen NOW.

Oh hi Jane. What time is it? 6:45 AM!!! I want to sleep. Can't I sleep to 10 or 11 PLEASE?

KIT NO! You have been drafted into the KP army. We will be going to Costco to shop later.

Five minutes later a bleary Kit appeared and said COFFEE. Maria explained the emergency. Kit did not know about Cynthia or Nancy's problems last night. We divide the breakfast this way. Kit would set up the buffet heaters and the dishes. Maria would make the hot items and I would make a tray for Tom and Cynthia. I would make one of my banana protein smoothies for Cynthia.

Mary didn't want Cynthia to even sit up in bed. Tom will have the Cynthia feeding bathing and toilet duties for the next few days. Lucky for us, Marsha had a bed pan out in the garage.

Tom came to the kitchen on the way to the pool. He said, "Everyone had heard Kit's wake up call."

OOPS. Well there are lots of things to do today. Maria, it looks like everything is under control here. If it is ok with you Tom and I are going to have an early morning swim. We will be back in √ hour. I will make Cynthia's shake then. Tom and I had a great swim. We went back in and fixed Cynthia's tray. Kit had cut some fruit chunks and put them in a bowl. Tom went through the buffet and fixed a plate for him self. I fixed my banana-protein shake. Kit dashed outside for a minute and brought a small bouquet of flowers, put them in a small vase, and set them on the center of the tray.

We were ready. Tom carried the tray into the room, followed by Kit, Nancy, Maria, Marsha, and myself. We all went into connection mode and wished Cynthia good morning. She started to cry. Tom set the tray on the bed and got her a tissue. We all expressed our love for her. Tom then shooed us out to our morning chores.

Nancy, Marsha, Joe and James went to Marsha's office. All went well there. Well, you KNOW!

The four of them continued to Glen Ellen and to Sonoma State hospital. Marsha volunteered her services there and had a candidate for adoption in mind. When she talked to the director she said that if Marsha and James were prepared to adopt a teenage retarded child she could not think of a better couple. She could release Fran to them as foster parents. It would take two months for the adoption papers to go through. Marsha and James filled out both the foster parents papers and the adoption papers and gave them to the director. The adoption papers changed Fran's name to Mary Savage.

It was morning milk and cookies time so they all went to the common room to meet Fran. What a mess. Fran was lying on a bed with her head elevated. An orderly was trying to get her to take her milk and cookie. Fran was being difficult. Nancy asked the orderly if she could try. She drank the milk her self and poured some nanite milk in the glass. Then she started to talk in a soothing voice to Fran. Fran calmed down. The director asked if Nancy wanted a job. Nancy said, "No I hope to be busy with Mary." Nancy then tried putting some milk on her finger. Nancy rubbed it on Mary's lips. Mary licked it off. Nancy put the glass to Mary's mouth and slowly fed the milk to Mary. James and Marsha looked at each other and side hugged.

Mary connected with all. She said "There is little more than a brain stem here I do not know how she made it to 16. This is going to take a while. I know it will work out. Nancy, will you and Joe be available to help me with her. While under reconstruction I can keep her asleep but she is going to need feeding and changing for at least three days. Once the WE get ten gigabytes of memory I will be able to start to train the body. That should be Wednesday afternoon. There are also physical problems with muscle tone. The WE are working on that too.

The director had an orderly change Fran's diaper and transfer Fran to a wheelchair. Nancy and John transferred Mary/Fran to the middle seat in the van. Mary was able to keep Mary/Fran calm during all of this transfer. Mary actually found a small kernel of the original Fran. Mary did not wipe that kernel but kept it as a part of the new Mary,. It was 10:45 AM. They needed to head for home. The big lunch was about to happen.

At 8:45 AM Maria, Kit and I headed for Costco. Maria decided on having a series of cold cuts and cheeses to make a sandwich bar. Kit and Maria scurried around getting eatables. I went over to the computer area and looked at the PDAs. I almost fainted; they had exactly what Nancy wanted for $ 100.00 each. Nancy and I had checked on the Internet and the cost was going to be $ 300.00 each. I picked up thirty PDAs and put them in our cart. The clerk gave me a coupon for one month of internet access for free, if we signed up with Singular. I caught up with Maria and Kit. Their cart looked like Mount Saint Helen. Is that lava running down the north slope? No, it's just Grey Poupon Mustard. Thirty six hundred dollars later we were headed out Costco's front door. I am glad we brought the station wagon. We got home about the same time as James and Marsha et al.

We got the food in the kitchen and Maria freaked. The time! We had one hour to get lunch ready. Calling all non-assigned able-bodied men, women and children, here are your assignments. James, Joe, and Zeth, you have table, chair, and shade tent dut, Kit, you have fruit salad, soft drinks, tea, and coffee. Marsha you have the meat platter and condiments. I have the cheese platter, chips, plates, utensils, and bread rolls. Maria, you are the conductor. Every one, from now to lunch Maria rules. GO!

We were ready at 11:45 AM Just as Rick and his mother and father arrived. Joe's sister, brother, mom and dad and Fred arrived next. After we were all introduced, I went in the kitchen and made another shake for Cynthia.

Nancy, Joe, and Tom had hospital duty in Tom's room. I put some fresh fruit in a bowl and took the lunch tray to Cynthia. I had Tom, Joe, and Nancy go introduce them selves and make a sandwich to bring back to the room. Mary WE requested some mashed bananas and strawberries. Nancy stopped in the kitchen to make some for her.

Cauldron, cauldron, boil and bubble, cause them woe, cause them trouble. OK, here is how we introduced everyone to connection. First James, Joe and Marsha invited Joe's parents, Ted and Barbara to the family room. We hit them on the head and forced them to drink nanite milk. Just kidding.

Joe told them of his feelings for Nancy. After high school graduation, he and Nancy are planning on getting married. Then James asked would they keep a good secret for the next six months. It had to do with my cure of cancer. They said they needed to hear more. James gave the Readers Digest version of our saga, including about connection, the health benefits, the ten WE laws and the pain.

James then invited the Smith family to connect. Joe added in that he was already connected. He had been there helping Nancy when she created the communication and control software. He loved Nancy and connection just perfected their love. He and Nancy were in communication now so she could attend this meeting. Ted and Barbara asked if they could have ten minutes alone with Joe and their children before they made a decision. James said that was only right. Marsha called Teddy and Joni into the family room. Joe and his family actually talked for thirty-five minutes. Ted and Barbara came out and asked Marsha for four glasses of milk. Marsha gave them all a hug and took them to the kitchen and the nanite milk. Joe took his mom and did some shopping that Nancy requested for Mary

The same process was used with the Hightowers. Only Rick and Kit were present. Rick and his parents took thirty-five minutes to decide. They asked for milk also.

That left Fred and me. Well, remember that Fred had not seen me for four months. He had a very good memory. I did not look like he remembered me. He and I went over to the shady side of the patio. I did not give him the Readers Digest version. I gave him the whole story. I also told him that I liked him a lot. I now expected to live a very long time. I was hoping that I could live that time with him. Fred said, "I not only liked you four months ago, I was going to ask you to marry me. Then I thought I had lost my love again. Now look at you. Do men get a body of 22 also?" I said, "Check out James and Marsha. I do have to warn you when I was 22, I was very horny."

Fred asked me for some milk. I said that we would have to go in the house. Fred asked on the way in, "I did not see any dairy cattle on your property." I just smiled. When we got to the kitchen I asked him was he breast-fed or was he a bottle baby. Fred said, "I don't remember." Then, he picked his jaw off of the floor. I asked had he seen my room. I had some nice civil war antiques I would like to show him. I took his hand and took him to my room. I put out the message that we were not to be disturbed until dinnertime. Fred connected ten minutes later. We also discovered we were soul mates.

We had one last thing to really connect. Yes the pain. Oh, how I hate this part of connection. It is necessary. Except James and Marsha everyone had a lover or family member that had to experience the pain. We all decided that we would all go through the pain together. Those that went before held the hands or hugged the new members. You know I have been through this three times in my life. It does not get easier. Mary did her duty.

Maria and Marsha asked the Smiths and the Hightowers to stay for a fish barbeque and a night swim. Barbara said she would have to go and get her suit. Marsha reminded Barbara of WE law eight. This was to be the first nude swim at the Savages.

All I know is that Fred and I went back to my room after dinner. I showed him how to limit his connection and how to hook. I also made sure he did not suffer the fate our poor male rats. Fred was a violinist in the Sonoma Symphony. He brought new high notes out of my instrument three times after dinner.

Joe let his parents know that he was going to be staying with Nancy until they marry next June. Teddy jumped for joy; he would get his own room. Joni was sad she just lost a brother. Joe assured her he was not lost, but she now had an older sister. Joni thought for a moment and lit up like a light.

Rick wanted to do the same as Joe but his parents said he had four more years before he could fly the coup. That did not mean he could not visit Kit or have her visit him, even for an over night once and a while. In fact if James and Marsha would allow Kit to come over they could do it tonight. Kit might be able to have Rick over next weekend. When school starts he and Kit need to do school work on school nights. They can get together on the weekends. James and Marsha agreed with the Hightower's plan. Kit walked into the family room with a bag packed.

KIT Going Shopping, Meet the parents

What's happening? It's the last week of summer vacation and some rabble-rouser is ringing the alarm at 6:45 in the morning. Oh, I guess Jane is right. We do have to get a lot of stuff done before noon. Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to fixing breakfast I go. I thought we hired a cook. Oh, that's right, we adopted her as a sister. Now we all have to help. HELP! I want to sleep in. Wednesday I am sleeping in.

Really it is fun having Maria as a sister. Rick and I would not have connected last night if it weren't for her. I guess a lot happened last night. Nancy connected with Joe, Maria connected with Zeth, and Tom connected with Cynthia.

Is this family ever going to have a quiet day... Go swimming, eat lunch, sunbathe, take a nap, eat dinner, watch TV, and go to sleep. I guess not. Hey, Rick and his parents are coming over for lunch. Joe's family is coming over too. Now I see why Maria is panicked. Lunch for eighteen, no, make that twenty. This is starting to sound like a restaurant.

At least when I got to the kitchen there was coffee ready. Jane, Maria and I divide the prep and cooking chores. We had everything ready for the breakfast mob by 7:30. I got my plate and asked Maria to come and join me out on the patio. There were enough able-bodied people there to lend a hand.

I thanked Maria again for last night. It was really cool double dating. I don't think Zeth was quite prepared for the changes going on with his body. I can see the changes this morning.

Maria filled me in on all of the stuff I missed last night.

Joe tried to deflower Nancy and couldn't because her hymen was too thick. Joe would not go home. He wanted to stay by Nancy's side. They slept together. Mom was going to take her to her office to remove Nancy's hymen.

Cynthia had a back injury that might paralyze her. Mary and the WE were fixing the back but it would take five days. Tom was given hospital-nursing duty with her.

Mom and Dad were going to Sonoma State Hospital to adopt a retard for Mary WE to inhabit. Marsha worked as a volunteer there. She knew of three or four candidates that were human vegetables.

Maria, Jane and I were going to go to Costco to shop for lunch stuff. Maria asked what I thought we should do for lunch. I suggested we keep it simple. Set up a buffet on the patio. Serve three meats, three cheeses, rolls for bread, chips, and fresh fruit salad for desert. When we make our shopping list we needed to also consider dinner. I know mom and dad are planning on connecting the Smiths and the Hightowers after lunch. That means we better plan on dinner. Jane came out and found us. We talked a few minutes more and we left Tom and Zeth to do kitchen police while we went to Costco.

I like Costco they have people demonstrating different foods they were featuring that day. If you were homeless and had a Costco card, you could get a free meal just from the samples.

Maria found the deli meat platters and bought six. She also bought four cheese platters. We loaded the cart with other usual chips, sodas etc. Walking through the meat isle she noticed whole rainbow trout on sale. She bought enough for dinner. Jane had gone to the computer area to look at the PDAs. Jane had a second cart and thirty PDA in it. Our cart was as tall as I was. Thirty-six hundred dollars later we walked out of Costco. We got home just as Mom, Dad, Joe, Nancy and Mary got there.

Everyone pulled together and lunch was ready at 11:45 AM. Our guests arrived ten minutes later. We all had a great lunch.

Mom and Dad took each family and asked them to connect with us. They took the Smiths, Joe's family, first. Then they took the Hightowers. Rick and I attended that session. I think it was Rick's enthusiasm that helped Rick's mom and dad to decide to join us. At 3:30 PM we had Mary WE perform the Pain. As bad as it was to relive the pain, all of us stayed with the new members and shared and supported them. Rick held his mom and I held his dad. All of us cried afterwards.

After that we all went for a swim. Barbara was going to go home for swim suits. Marsha reminded her of law eight. Mom then led the way. She stripped right there by the pool and dived in. The rest of the Savages did the same. Maria, Nancy and I decided to work on our tans.

I looked over at Ted, Teddy and Frank. They were frozen in place... their mouths were wide open. Alice broke the spell. She started to remove her clothes and said to the men. You guys are going to catch flies if you don't close those mouths. I looked at Barbara and Alice. They both needed sun block. I had a Costco super econo size bottle of SPF 45, Coppertone Tanning lotion. I called all of them over and suggested that each husband apply the lotion to his wife and Ted could apply the lotion to Teddy. Barbara could apply the lotion to Joni. Eventually you will learn that touching in a caring manner is one way we show the love for one another. Teddy and Joni, if you have questions about any part of the anatomy you see, feel free to ask your mom, dad, brother, me or the person you are observing to explain that anatomical part to you.

I went over to the lounge by Alice. I asked her, "May I join you." She patted the couch. "Thanks for the help. Actually this is the first time we have invoked law eight. Tom and James usually wear Speedos that leave little to the imagination. That goes the same for the bikinis the Savage women wear. The transition was not very hard for us."

"Would you mind if you and I connected directly. Communication over the net helps to eliminate the problems language creates. It is faster and heaps more accurate. It also eliminates any false thoughts. What you see is what you get." Alice said, "Won't the others hear?"

When Jane and the WE were the only ones connected, they worked out a group of communication protocols. One of the tasks Mary is working on is to develop a direct communication package that can be sent to new members (and some old members) explaining direct communication, hooking, the ten laws, and why no one talks for some one else. Mary could, if she wanted to, takeover someone's mind and body and speak through that body. That violates one of the communication protocols.

James decide that he will need a living breathing Mary to assist him in the nanite research for the next three to six months. Mom, Dad, and Mary went to Sonoma State hospital today and started the adoption process to adopt Fran. Fran had an IQ so low she could not be tested. They are legally changing her name to Mary W Savage. We all felt that Mary taking that mind and body would not violate the protocol we discussed.

After we got Fran connected Mary found that there was little more than the brain stem in Fran. Mary could not find a trace of the Fran personality. We know that is true because Nancy entered Fran's head before the nanites started reconstructing the brain. She verified Mary's assessment of Fran. Later, if you want we can go visit Mary W Savage.

Back to your question... Nancy says that no network is completely secure. For the most part it is considered rude to listen in. So no and yes others can hear. Does anyone want the group wrath and anger for not minding your own business? I don't think so. One penalty is full mental isolation.

The other thing is lying to anyone while connected is impossible. Every one you connect with has full access to the truth of you. So if you are ready, let's connect. I want you to see the truth of me. Especially, I want you to know the truth with Rick and me.