Chapter 22

The underground bunker for housing the computers had been completed. A work crew sent by Dan Biggerstaff was busy wiring the room to support the network that would tie the computers together. It was a massive job considering that they were linking ten thousand computers together. It was made even more difficult due to the fact that they were physically located on four separate floors.

The room was cold. The air conditioner was set up to cool ten thousand machines, but there were only empty racks at the moment. Each rack would hold ten machines, a backup power supply, and an optical switch. There were three special racks. One rack would hold ten machines and serve as a gateway to the satellite downlink that would feed the databases storing the massive quantity of economic data. The database machines would be on a rack of their own. These machines would have monster arrays of disk drives with special controllers to maximize input and output. The final rack would hold the master controllers that tasked all of the other machines.

William and Lucy walked around taking in the layout of the room that constituted the fourth floor. Spinning around, Lucy said, "It is gorgeous."

"Yes, it is," William said knowing that it took a special eye to see the beauty of a room like this. Most people would see empty racks, loose wires, and bare walls. Lucy saw the million virtual worlds that would be created within those bare walls.

The sound of the elevator opening caused them both to turn to see who had joined them. Dan stepped out of the elevator and said, "You'll get the computers at the rate of five hundred a month."

"Only five hundred a month?" Lucy asked feeling a little disappointed. At that rate of delivery it would take almost two years for the facility to come up to full speed. She wanted to see the answers now, not in two years.

"It was a good balance between the ability to manufacture them and to install them. We'll have three men here installing them five days a week. They can only install and configure twenty-five machines a day," Dan replied knowing that Lucy was anxious to get the facility up to full running capacity as quickly as possible.

"Oh," Lucy said realizing that she hadn't thought through all of the logistics associated with a project of this size.

Dan smiled at her and said, "Don't be embarrassed. This is the biggest project that I've ever overseen."

"I didn't realize," Lucy said looking over at William.

William said, "I've got a feeling that we'll be seeing results before you know it. We'll get updates every day rather than every hour."

"It has already been four months," Lucy said looking around the room. Despite the fact that most of the exterior of the building had been pre-fabricated even while the hole was being dug, construction on the building had taken almost three months. Installing the infrastructure for the machines had taken a month. Another twenty months would put the system coming up to full speed two years after she had found the transform functions.

Pulling her into a hug, William said, "You're going to have to accept a slightly different view of time from now on."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked confused by his comment.

"We're working on a project that takes longer than we will live to complete. We'll have to take actions that won't produce results for twenty years. We will live in the now and in the future simultaneously," William answered.

"I haven't thought about that," Lucy said. She realized that she would be joining him in his world view.

Dan listened to the conversation wondering what they were discussing. Lucy had stated her need for the computers without telling him what she needed them for. William had been just as closed mouthed about the project. He was fully aware that the programmers didn't even know what it was about. He asked, "What is this program supposed to do?"

"Do not worry about it," William said with a sad smile.

"I'd like to be able to advertise this," Dan said. He looked around the room thinking that this was the largest computing project in the world. To be able to tell the world about an installation of this magnitude would really help his company.

"You can't," Lucy said covering her mouth with her hand in horror. She was sure that if anyone discovered what they were doing, there would be an entirely new kind of war.

"You mustn't even breathe a word of what we are doing to anyone," William said. He knew that if anyone else discovered what they were doing that the model would be rendered ineffective.

"Come on, it can't be that bad," Dan said.

William stepped forward and said, "Touch my medallion."

Those words sent a chill down Dan's spine. The last time he had been told that was when Ed had discovered that pit of evil. He reached out and touched the medallion. The room dropped away and he found himself in a meadow.

"This is the second time you've come before me," the fat man said in a feminine voice.

Dan stared at the naked fat man. The grotesque figure was slowly masturbating his very small erection that more closely resembled a clitoris than a penis. Uncomfortable with the onset of an erection that was hard enough to cleave diamonds, Dan said, "I'm sorry."

"What will we do with you?" the fat man said. His breasts started growing and his features became more feminine.

"I guess you will do with me what you want," Dan said realizing that he was naked. It was taking every bit of willpower he had to keep from grabbing his erection.

The fat woman laughed and said, "What I will do is ask you to do something for me."

"What?" Dan asked discovering that his hand had started stroking his cock in time with the fat woman's hand that was now plunging in and out of her cunt.

"You will do everything in your power to support William in his work without asking what he is doing and without saying a word to anyone else," the fat woman said.

"Yes," Dan said finding it difficult to talk while his lust was overwhelming him. His hand was now a blur on his cock.

The fat woman said, "Come for me."

Closing his eyes, Dan thrust his hips forward and experienced the most intense orgasm of his life. He opened his eyes after coming down from the mind shattering experience. The first thing that he noticed was William and Lucy were standing in front of him and watching him thrusting his hips forward -- humping the air. He managed to get control over his body. He blushed when he realized that the front of his pants were wet with his come.

Shaking his head, he said, "I hate when that happens."

William patted him on the arm and said, "It happens to everyone who meets one of the Gods or Goddesses."

"It happened the last time too," Dan said.

William looked at Dan surprised to learn that this wasn't his first time to face one of the Powers That Be. He said, "I didn't know that."

"I will not ask you what you are doing. I will support you however I can and will tell no one," Dan said. He felt a great relief upon saying those words.

William looked Dan in the eye and said, "I will hold you to those words."

"A greater power than you will hold me to those words," Dan said. He looked down at the wet spot on his pants and said, "I better go change my clothes."

"Don't be embarrassed by it," William said.

Dan gave a weak little laugh and said, "I look like I wet my pants."

William looked off into the future and said, "When you get in the house, wait two minutes before pressing the elevator button. No one will see you."

"Thanks," Dan said.

Lucy waited until Dan was out of the room to say anything about an epiphany that she had while Dan was touching the medallion. Once the elevator closed behind him, she said, "I realized a few minutes ago that we will soon share a common view of the world. We will both see the now and the future; you through your gift from the Two-Sided One and me through the program."

"That's true," William said.

"You never needed the program to complete your service," Lucy said looking into his eyes seeking confirmation of what she had realized.

Nodding his head, William answered, "That's true."

"You've worked for your whole life to allow me to share your vision of the future with you," Lucy said finding that her throat was suddenly tight.

"Yes," William said.

With tears in her eyes, Lucy hugged him tightly. She asked, "Why all that effort when you could have been doing other things?"

"Because I love you and I want to share every part of my life with you," William answered.

Lucy was overwhelmed by that simple declaration. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Crying, she said, "I love you."

"I can't breathe," William croaked.

Releasing her hold on him, Lucy said, "I'm so sorry."

Tenderly William placed his hands on her cheeks and kissed her. With his thumbs he wiped away her tears. In a quiet voice, he said, "You know that you never have to apologize to me."

"I love you so much," Lucy said.

"You are the one true love of my life," William said looking lovingly into her eyes.

Every fiber of her being wanted to reach out to him and draw him into her. Lucy said, "Let's go back to our room."

"Okay," William said. He paused one moment to take one last look around the room and said, "It is impressive."

"It is magnificent," Lucy said. In creating it, she had thought of it as a surprise for William. Now she viewed it as a temple built by William's love and dedicated to her.

Lucy had worn William out over the course of the afternoon and evening. Her libido had kicked into overdrive and he had been the lucky recipient of all that energy. Even the half dozen times together had not slowed her down. She rose out of bed and looked upon his sleeping figure in the weak light that filtered in from outside.

Not wanting to disturb his sleep, she slipped out of the bedroom. Pacing nervously around the living room of their suite, she decided that a little late night hot chocolate might calm her down. After drinking a cup of hot chocolate, she was still not sleepy. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was 3:30 in the morning. Wanting to move around, she slipped out of their quarters.

Walking aimlessly, Lucy made her way through the dimly lit first floor of the house. The only light came from the floors above and the huge window that gave view to the canyon outside. Even in the dim light, the house was comforting. She agreed with William that living there was like being embraced by the Earth Mother at all times.

She could hear the noises of one of the body guards going about his business on the upper levels. She paused to listen to the sounds of the house. It was never absolutely quiet. The air conditioner was a constant presence. There were people working around the clock and they made the typical noises of busy people. The design of the house dampened the noise, but one knew that it was always present.

Without realizing it she found herself at her favorite spot. She moved over to the chair and sat down to gaze out the window. There was a half moon visible just over the horizon. She sighed and looked out over the dimly lit canyon. She sighed and said, "No woman has ever been loved like me."

A tear rolled down her cheek while thinking of what William had done for her. It was unimaginable to her for someone to dedicate the first twenty one years of their life to make it possible for another person to share their life with them to such an extent. It was hard to accept that he worked for the first fifteen years of his life without even knowing her.

She looked out upon the floor of the canyon and asked, "How does one return a love like that?"

She thought back to the afternoon spent there in her favorite spot with Juanita. The Hispanic woman had shown her what it was like to give without expectation and to accept without obligation. It had been a lesson that was unnecessary for her with regard to William, but there were other people in their lives. Their time together had never progressed beyond holding hands, but Lucy treasured that time together. She had learned a minor lesson in love. In learning it, she realized just how much more she had to learn.

Thinking of what William had done for her, she doubted that she even knew how to love him in a manner that was the equal to his love for her. The energy, the dedication, and the money he had poured into this project were phenomenal. Up until now, his entire life had been spent making that program possible just so that he could share that aspect of his life with her. That program was his Taj Mahal declaring his love for her.

While sitting there, she knew that she couldn't even talk to anyone about what William had done for her. She realized that William had never really explained fully what he was doing to anyone. He had presented small parts of his work to different people, but the only one who understood the full scope of what he was doing was her. His family knew about his ability to see the future and that he was to make sure that the future was filled with peace. They only had a little idea of just what he was going to do to accomplish that. She knew that all of the clues necessary to put the whole picture together were there for others to find, but no one had all of the clues.

William had trusted her and her alone. In trusting her with that secret, he had shifted a small portion of the burden of his service to her. He had someone with whom he could talk. He now had someone with whom he could share his hopes, his fears and his triumphs. She swore that she would dedicate the rest of her life to making sure that she would be there for him at the best of times and the worst of times. She would be the perfect partner.

"That's a foolish decision, little one," a voice said to her.

Looking around, Lucy didn't see anyone. Scared, she asked, "Who are you?"

"William wears my medallion," the voice said to her.

Swallowing heavily, Lucy knew the identity of the speaker. She asked, "Why is my decision foolish?"

"You do not need to be perfect. You just need to be there for him," the voice said to her.

"Oh," Lucy said.

"Sleep, little one," the voice said.

Lucy fell asleep in the chair even before the Two-Sided One had finished speaking. The sun rose and the room brightened around her without disturbing her slumber. The normal noises of day filled the house. Breakfast was served to those awake, people arrived to work in their offices, and the cleaning crew went to work making the house neat and orderly. Lucy slept through it all.

William sat in the chair next to hers watching her sleep. He had searched around the house for almost half an hour before finding her. A small smile of contentment appeared on her face shortly after he had sat down. He thought, 'I'm so lucky to have her in my life.'

He reached over and took her hand in his. He drifted off to sleep. The cleaning woman running a vacuum cleaner woke the pair not even knowing that they had been there. Lucy woke and discovered William waking beside her. She smiled at him and said, "Let's get some breakfast and then get to work. We've got some elections to win."

"Sounds like a plan to me," William said with a smile. He held out a hand for her. She took it and rose from the chair.

"I guess I met the Two-Sided One last night," she said.

"Oh," William said looking at her. He wondered what had caused the Two-Sided One to intervene in her life.

They entered the dining room to find Juanita and Amanda finishing breakfast. Still unable to accept what she had learned on her date the previous evening, Amanda said, "I can't believe that Les is coming here to work."

Juanita smiled at the blind woman and said, "You do know that you're going to have to share him with me."

"Who are you talking about?" Lucy asked taking a seat across from the two women.

"Les Rodriguez," Amanda answered covering her mouth with her hand. It was a habit that she had adopted to hide her emotions. She didn't want to broadcast to everyone that she was in love with the young man.

Seeing how Amanda was reacting to her suggestion that she was going to have to share, Juanita said, "He's going to be our husband."

Amanda frowned at the reminder that Juanita wanted her as a wife. After three years she still didn't know how she felt about that desire. Confused, she said, "I still don't understand that."

William was silent for a moment trying to remember where he had heard the name of the young man. He recalled something about a young man from his hometown asking Dan for an internship years ago. He asked, "That's the young man that Dan is mentoring, isn't it?"

"Yes," Juanita answered. Les was ambitious, but not in a bad way. His ambition was tempered with humility. Before graduating college with a degree in computer engineering, he had gone to Dan Biggerstaff to find out if he could get an internship at the company where Dan worked. After he graduated, Dan hired him to work in his department designing new computer hardware architectures.

"He's from our hometown, right?" William asked wanting to verify if he was remembering things correctly.

"That's right," Juanita answered. She glanced at Amanda and said, "He was my first love."

"Oh," Lucy said. She thought about how Amanda would feel about the young man as a result of having shared that special time. She asked, "Do you still have special feelings for him?"

"Yes," Juanita said. Les had always been special even within a town of people who had learned to love. She appreciated his gentle nature and the way that he could make her feel like she was the most important person in the world.

Amanda nervously picked up her folded cane and played with it a bit. Her feelings towards Juanita were confusing. She was strongly attracted to the woman, but felt that loving a woman was wrong. Still, when Juanita stroked her hand all thoughts of it being wrong fled. She said, "I still don't understand why you want both of us."

"Because I love you both," Juanita answered in a very soft voice.

"Oh," Amanda said.

Lucy walked over to where Amanda was seated. Standing behind the blind woman, she leaned over so that her head was next to Amanda's ear. Without knowing why she did it, she shifted her position and kissed Amanda on the neck. In a soft voice, she whispered, "Don't question it. Go with what your heart tells you."

"I don't know what I want," Amanda said biting her lower lip.

"Yes, you do," Lucy said.

William watched the exchange with a small smile. Knowing that there would be very little talk, he suggested, "Why don't you and Juanita take a day off to talk?"

Amanda bit her lower lip and answered, "That might be a very good idea."

"It is a very good idea," Lucy said with a grin.

Juanita rose from her chair and took Amanda by the arm. She led the blind woman from the room. When they had left, William said, "Juanita reminds me of Mom Kelly at times."

"Yes," Lucy said. She had heard the stories about how Kelly had worked to create the family that she wanted. In the process, she waited for Beth and John to be ready to make the commitment necessary to make the family a reality for almost two years.

"I think Amanda will be happy with the choice," William said.

"You don't know," Lucy asked looking at William.

Shrugging his shoulders, William said, "My ability to see the future of those that I love is a little limited now. When I can see, I don't look except when it is important."

Confused, Lucy said, "How do you know if it is important if you don't look?"

"I just know," William answered.

"Let's have breakfast and then get to work," Lucy said.

Winking at Lucy, William called out, "Peter, how about one of those egg muffins like they make at the burger burner?"

"Don't compare my cooking to a burger burner," Peter called back from the kitchen. He slammed a pan down on the counter.

William said, "He's in a good mood this morning."