Chapter 24

Time: Saturday, August 12, 2006 8:44 AM

I woke up a couple of minutes before Melanie. I turned over slowly to her and could feel the warmth of her naked body against mine. She sighed and stirred but did not awake. I watched her as she slept and thought about the past week.

Our work lives have really taken off. Melanie somehow became a key person in Biotherapeutics' most critical and visible project, and they've been pressuring her for all her available time. Melanie negotiated a compromise of working very long hours weekdays but keeping her weekends free. I'm so glad to have her for the next few days!

She needs time to unwind, and we also have our first counseling session this afternoon.

She's so cute! Melanie will come to bed naked if she just wants to be cuddled to sleep, and dressed in pajamas if she's sexually interested. She knows how much I enjoy undressing her. This whole week though, I hadn't seen much of her after our early morning run. She comes home after 9 PM very tired. I have a light dinner prepared. We eat and chat for a bit, and then she takes a shower and then collapses into sleep.

"Hi Sweetie!" smiled Melanie, as she brushed my hair.

"Good Morning Pumpkin! You look ravishable!"

Melanie laughed as we kissed. "Ravishable huh? What a week! I think I'd like to be ravished today! Let's definitely set aside some time for petting."

"Sounds good to me..." I reached across and hugged her. It's a pleasure to watch her wake up. Her eyes are so bright and alive, and in the morning so full of curiosity and playfulness.

"Eric, your kinetics! How are you doing?"

"I'm right on the edge of invisibility. Want to see?"

Melanie backed up a bit. "This is so scary to look at, but go ahead. AH!" She couldn't stop herself. She was suddenly lying next to an extremely faint blood-red shadow of a ghost. "Eric, you're so dim, I can't make out your features clearly! You're just a super faint reddish-black shadow. Otherwise I see right through you."

I nodded. "The red band of visible color is from 610 to 750 nanometers. I'm locking everything shorter than 745 nanometers. I'm right at the edge. By lunchtime I should be completely invisible."

"Would you mind shutting down? I'm still uneasy seeing you like this." We were cuddling a moment later. Melanie sighed. "What a week! My life is filled with business deadlines and my husband is learning how to become invisible! Have you done much thinking, about where all this might be heading?"

"Oh yeah! Lots of thoughts..."

A long moment of silence passed. "Tell me?"

"Well, I've noticed you haven't called me your god-in-training lately. Melanie, the powers are growing exponentially! When would you consider I've achieved my Bachelor's of god-dom?"

"Yeah, pretty soon. An awesome responsibility Eric, to have a Bachelor's of god-dom."

"Exactly! I worry about the Superman syndrome. How did Superman ever find the time to chat with Lois Lane? With so much injustice in the world, shouldn't he be on call 24/7 saving people. Is that what I should be doing? My sense sphere right now is 1327 meters. I could patrol it with my mind; make it a crime-free, drug-free zone."

"Eric, you can't be responsible for the universe! That's God's job, the real God! You don't have to use your power, do you?"

"No, it's completely voluntary. It's just as easy not to scan as to scan. It's my choice."

Melanie considered. "So, isn't Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #242 appropriate here? More is good... all is better." Melanie smiled at me. "There's no downside to more power if you don't have to use it. It just give you more options, more degrees of freedom. How can that be bad?"

She lightly caressed my thigh under the covers as I thought. I finally answered, "Well, not bad maybe, but different. I think the principle involved here is: Influence Changes Perspective."

"Ah..." Melanie nodded thoughtfully. "Go on."

"Think of diabetes. A hundred years ago no one could influence the course of that disease. It was a death sentence. People would say, there's nothing we can do. It's God's will."

I shrugged and continued. "But now it's treatable. What's changed? Has God's will changed, or has our own influence changed, which then changes our perspective of the world and what God's will is?"

"I see your point Eric. With the new powers, you have to decide what to hold yourself accountable for... What an awesome job... If I may make a suggestion, perhaps don't try to solve the world's problems. We can just use your abilities to lead a wonderful but private life..."

"Yeah, well... That sounds like Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #261, A wealthy man can afford anything except a conscience."

Melanie looked troubled. "True, it does... But Eric, how will you decide what to be responsible for?"

I sighed. "I still don't know. I've got a lot of thinking to do... How about you pumpkin? What do you spend your time thinking about?"

Melanie blinked and then lay back down, resting her head on her pillow. I came and pressed lightly against her side. My hand came up and held her breast.

"Me?" she said at last. "I've been doing a lot of thinking about Patty."

"Ah..."

"Eric, can I ask you something really personal, if I promise absolutely not to be offended by anything you say?"

"Of course, shoot."

"Why do you like Patty? She tried to destroy our marriage, and did not apologize for that! And yet... you accepted her offer for friendship."

"Yes... that's true..."

"Do you think her body is super hot?"

"Huh?" I looked at Melanie closely.

"Be super honest sweetie. I trust you so much now, I will completely accept any fantasies you might have about doing it with her, as long as they remain fantasies."

"Oh no. Seriously pumpkin, I don't fantasize about Patricia. I guess it's a dim boost to my male ego, to have another female... well... But I don't dream of Patricia. I really don't."

"So you like her... why?"

I thought for a long moment. "Let me ask you a question. If you had your M.D. degree and were practicing medicine, and had a choice to be spending your next hour effectively treating a sick child, or doing clinical research that would lead to a cure for a disease, or spending a hour replacing a rotor brush on a generator that was powering your clinic, what would be your least preference?"

Melanie laughed. "That's a no-brainer! I'd much rather be caring for a child or doing science, compared to mucking around with a greasy generator!"

"Yes! And I'm pretty sure Patricia would pick just the opposite. And as for me, all three sound interesting. I like working with materials, woodworking or re-building engines.