Chapter 37

"A glass bottle of mustard."

He went on and I said, "Another can of Coke. Your knuckle is beside an open box of baking soda."

Larry kept moving his hand and I kept talking.

"This is weird."

"It sure is now go to your bedroom and touch things with the cane."

"I don't have to. You could have broken in but you could not know what I touched. There were too many of them. What do you want?"

"You're direct. That's a good leadership quality. I have a small shallow box. I'll hand it to you."

Larry took the box and felt it. Then handed it back. I said, "I have a very low mass ceramic sphere with me. It is very delicate. A crystal is in the centre of it. It will go into the box and then the container will be sealed. Nobody can see through it but you can. There is no transparent material. I want to put it someplace level. You will try to use your mind to move the sphere. You will actually know if it moves."

"Why should I do that?"

I took out my wallet and said, "Hold out your hand." When he did I gave him ten one hundred dollar bills. "You have a thousand dollars in your hand."

"What!"

"Trust me for now and ask your mother to look at the money. Your parents can check it to see if it is counterfeit for you."

"It feels real."

"It is."

"What's it for?"

"Call it a retainer. Push the sphere around if you can. If you can move it from one end to the other I will give you another thousand."

"What's all this for?"

"You can see into more than three dimensions. If you can move matter like I can, then you are of value to me."

"What do I have to do to help?"

"The crystals you saw are composed of molecules. Each molecule has a part to play in making the field you saw. If you can move that giant crystal and the ceramic dust bunny around it then you can move individual molecules with some training. I will be the one to teach you. You see I do this a lot and I get tired. Now if you can take over some of my workload then I will pay you according to what you can do. It may range from only a hundred thousand a year to over a million."

"You don't have that kind of money."

"Larry, I made twenty seven million dollars yesterday and it was no different from the other days. I am in the same income class as Willy Gates."

"Prove it."

"I don't need to. You have, what I say, is a thousand dollars. If you start now then you may waste three hours on a lie. If I'm not lying then you are three hours closer to making another thousand. After that the sky is the limit."

"Set that thing up."

"Where will you work that is flat and will not be bumped. I honestly went to a lot of trouble to make that spherical dust bunny for you. I don't want it broken."

"My work bench."

"For me I find that the closer the crystal is to my brain the better it works."

"Set it up then."

Larry had a wheel for spinning his bowls and such. I took a small piece of clay and stuck the box to the table that was beside the wheel. I had to work a lot until it was flat. I took out another box and put it on the wheel then removed the top.

"Larry can you see the crystal?"

"Ya, but it's not bright."

"Hold my hands."

He did not ask the reason but held both of mine. I used my PK to elevate the small sphere and transport it to the box. "Did you see it move?"

"Yes."

"You were holding my hands Larry."

"It could be a trick."

"Yes, but it isn't. You will know that what I talk about is possible. Now I have to seal the box."

I shifted the box just a bit more so the sphere did not tend to want to go in any direction. With more clay I put the lid on and sealed it. "There is clay under the box to keep it on the bench and more clay in the lid to keep out any stray air currents. Do you want to try now?"

"Sure."

I helped Larry get close to the box. He didn't put his hands on it because of the wet clay but he came close. After ten minutes he said, "You sure this can be done?"

"Touch the box delicately to see that it is sealed."

Larry did this very carefully and touched all he could reach. "Ok."

"Watch." I moved the sphere around the inside of the box for a minute."

"Ya, you can do it, now can I?"

"That is actually a real million dollar question."

"A million?"

"Per year but it depends on how well you do. You can make a lot more."

"More?"

"Larry, don't get greedy. See what you can do. I'm going to let myself out."

"How will I contact you?"

"I will do that. Bye Larry."

"Bye, Wally."

I did variations on this theme to many more people. The box changed to one with a trapped sphere that could be released. The box got a transparent lid. This way the device could be transported. In most cases there was no crystal inside the sphere because most of the people could see.

I had to stop doing this in August. There were a lot of women on the Fonduush with large abdomens and I wanted to be there when each and every one of my children were born. I even had a drone stationed so I had pictures of all one hundred and nine events.

The family was present for many reasons. The first and foremost was because I needed help. Betts, Erica and Connie were part of the family in so many ways and they needed a quiet touch even if the clinic did all the work. With this many children it was possible our minds would be opened more if not ripped open. We prepared for this eventuality too.

They were coming at three a day but peeked at seven for a while. During this peek Betts presented me with a son. The next day Connie and Erica gave me a daughter each. The four Aristis were evenly spaced during this deluge of babies.

Each child I washed and held to me for a few minutes before I gave the child back to his or her mother. There was some worried looks among the Tomma because instead of the usual surplus of girls, I was running about equal. This may disrupt their culture.

I had ordered the Fonduush to actually land on some of the Star Fleet property near Toronto. Nearly a kilometre of ship is hard to find a berth for. My reasoning was that perhaps the children would see earth as their home and not Cralto. The All Mother I had thought a lot about. She actually was the combined psyches or all Tomma. She was something that may save our own race from destruction some day. Humans needed a conscience.

The family cleaned and transported babies all the time. We kept them near to us. The effect I was after seemed to happen. I could feel everybody in the ship much clearer. The ones that had given me children were clear enough to talk to and receive answers. This was also true about the Aristis and my mates though not as strong.

Doc was very happy. He hoped to use this power to help patients or at least help the Star Fleet. The few woman that had not been pregnant wanted to get that way. There was some serious talk and Irene had to wait. Lillian and Leslie wanted another child and June wanted her first.

There was a lot more talk about that until Mom sent June over to see me. For a month June saw to my needs but the last two weeks we already knew that she was pregnant. The orgy started all over even though the Tomma were ready after two weeks. We had a serious discussion and decided that I would not have any more children until I was informed before it was time to conceive.

More people were discovered my way. I resorted to using Purolator to deliver the packages as a game. A hundred dollar bill was enough in most cases to get them to try. We were to give out nearly seventeen thousand 'games' in the next two years but we found roughly one percent that could move the sphere. Larry Payne was one of the lucky few. In fact almost ten percent of those that were blind and could perceive the lines of force seemed to have the ability to manipulate them.

I phoned Larry one morning. "Hello."

"Hi Larry, it's Wally."

"Hi Wally, I was hoping you would phone sooner. I did what you wanted."

"I'll come over with the money."

"How?... never mind. I'll be waiting."

Larry had me sitting in my old spot and I simply gave him the money. "Aren't you going to watch?"

"Ok, do it but I trust you."

Larry moved the sphere around the box then did everything in reverse. To make sure, he went diagonally."

"That's great Larry. You earned the money."

You work for me and you get a hundred thousand a year minimum. You do have to have a medical. Are you interested?"

"Sure."

Without preamble the med unit came close to him and put him to sleep. Less than a minute later he had a better than standard communicator implanted in his skull. Larry stayed asleep as I got the communicator to interface with his brain. The screen was touchy because he had never seen before and some of the usual equipment was missing.

Warren worked with me to make sure everything was done as good as it could in the nonstandard way. The screen shutdown and Larry awoke.

"Shit, I must have fallen asleep. I'm sorry."

"It was not your fault. I made you go to sleep."

"Why? We were getting along just fine," he said as he felt for his money."

"You said you agreed to a medical."

"Not right away."

"Not, not right away either. Now listen. Do you want to see?"

"See what?"

"Everything that you have not seen since birth."

"That can't happen. They did tests. I do not have all of my optic nerves."

"Larry, as your employer, answer the question."

"Yes, I'd love to see. That's a stupid question."

"There are many ways to do this and I chose the quickest. Now you are going to see a white square in your mind. When it appears do not jump around."

"Ok."

The rectangle appeared and I had to use the information from Larry's communicator, computer and from his mind directly by way of telepathy. It took more time to integrate the simple image into his consciousness. The colour changed and I had to integrate each of them but by now the computer was doing more of the work.

Larry sat back stunned by what was happening. He said nothing but I heard groans now and then. Even a simple geometric shape was hard on his psyche when he had never seen before. The image from a drone that was right above his head was fed to his screen. It did not pop out but came slowly as if emerging from a fog.

"That is what I look like Larry. To bad it wasn't some ravishing beauty instead."

"Is that really you?"

"Yep."

His hands went out but they were not where they should be. I took out a pair of dark glasses. "I'll put these on your face. The camera is mounted in them and you can move with more coordination."

Larry moved his hands again and then looked at them. "It's funny I never thought my hands would look like this."

"They don't. It is just the way that most of us see them. Some may see all the spaces between the atoms and see us like a mist."

"How did you do this Wally? Nobody could."

"I can and I proved it. A group of crystals in your glasses directs the image that is in front of it like the way a camera does but it goes directly to your brain."

"Even with your crystals, nobody can do that."

"Larry, I need somebody to help me alter crystals. You could have done it by feel but it is faster this way. Now I am going to take my image away and show you a crystal. The screen that you see is much like a computer screen that you may have heard of. Your regular sight will come back when you are done."

I had to wait and he said, "Ok... try it."

Larry got the images Nadac sent me not that long ago. He got the verbal explanation that went with the graphic. I showed him how the lines of force changed a bit at a time as molecules were rearranged.

"So this crystal lets me see?"

"No, that will convert the magnetic lines of force around our planet into a small amount of power. There are thousands of crystals and they all have specialised uses. You must have heard of the bronze age then the iron age, well I am skipping a lot of other ages and going to the crystal age. With crystals we will have the universe."

"You mean space?"

"Space and the planets. Like I said, the universe. Are you willing to help me?"

"Are you some type of angel or something?"

"I'm as human as you are. I'm not an alien either."

There was a long pause as Larry was given back his sight. He finally said, "I'll help you."

"We have a problem."

"What?"

"Your family think you are blind still. They cannot learn about you seeing, at least not yet. You need to work away from the house at where I do my work. Your parents are not going to understand how or why you can go off on your own. I know that they are very protective."

"Ya, they are going to be real worried and probably call the police or something."

"I have an academy that has been in the news recently. You are going to get a chance to do art there and you have to sleep in residence. Every other weekend you have to go back to being blind with your parents."

"I can fake that."

"That is not an option. You will not see for the period you are with your family."

"If I have to."

"You have to." I brought out a lot of papers but Larry could not read this. It was not braille. "These papers give the school complete control over you. It can't be any other way. You will say that a man came to the door today and gave you these documents. He sat and talked with you for two hours. You want to dearly go to this school. More people with problems seeing will come and you are just the first."

"How do I learn more about the school?"

"Your screen is still a computer screen. I will send a movie to you. You will see a person and you can talk to him but he is not there. It is like sending a television signal. When you need a break just think not say that you need a chance to rest."

"Think?"

"The images go to your brain your brain can send too."

I stood and so did Larry. We shook hands and I said, "You cannot let anybody know that you can see. You will have to ask the computer to provide your sight. Any other way and you will give yourself away."

"And you too?"

"That's right. I would be hounded for my ability and they would work on your brain to find out how you can now see. People, governments and companies are not all nice like they try to make you believe. If you fuck up you loose your sight permanently. There can be no hinting and you have to stick with doing things the same way you always did them."

I took out a bag of crystals and gave them to him. "Experiment with them. I find it easier to call up on the screen what the crystal is like and then alter the image but in reality you are working on the crystal." Matt was put in charge of Larry and I left.

I went downtown until I found Teresa Gallo. She had received the package and did almost as good as Larry. She was sixteen and presently with her friends. Street people had to stick together to protect each other or be eaten by the sharks. I hoped that I was not one of the latter.

Teresa was standing near an alley with three other girls of about her age and two guys both were into their early twenties.

I stopped more or less in front of the group. They looked at me and stopped talking. One of the guys said, "What do you want, kid?"

"I want to talk to Teresa. The restaurant two doors down will do fine. Will you give me some of your time Teresa?"

"Who are you? I never saw you before."

"I know that. I will pay for my time. All of you can have a meal at my expense. Order anything you want. I only want to talk about something important with a little bit of privacy."

The guy said, "You have the money for that?"

I showed him five one hundred dollar bills. He said, "Are they real? Let me see them."

"I'll let the waitress decide. I'm interrupting your talk and I do not mind paying so I can have some of Teresa's time."

"You'll pay for anything we eat?"

"Anything you can take away in your stomach. You pay for your own booze though."

"I can go for that."

Teresa said, "What if I do not want to talk?"

I ripped a hundred dollar bill in half and gave it to her. "You talk and you get the other half."

One of the girls said, "Come on Teresa, you have nothing to lose. We are going to be in a restaurant."

"I don't know. This is kinda creepy."

"He's only a kid, maybe a rich kid by the looks of him. Let's go eat. I'm hungry."

I let the others convince Teresa. I pointed out where I wanted to sit and where I wanted the others to sit. They could see us but not hear very well. I told the waitress that I was going to get the bill for all the food for all of us and any booze was going to go on each individual's tab. This was a Chinese restaurant and I spoke in that language. All it took was an upload to the ram in my computer.

I turned to Teresa and asked, "What would you like."

"Pretty smart talking Chinese. What did you say?"

"That I will pay for the food only for all of us."

Teresa ordered from the menu and I asked what was good. The waitress made her suggestions and then went to get the order.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"I'm the guy that sent all those games out with the hundred dollar bills. The sensors in the device say that you can do the job well enough to get a job."

"I have a job."

"Not one that pays at least a hundred thousand a year without laying on your back."

"What's the job about?"

I handed her a card with the name and address of the academy. "Go there tomorrow or the next day and they will tell you." I took out a similar box to what she had at one time and let her see that I could levitate the sphere though I acted like I was picking up a heavy weight."

"Hey, that's neat."

"It takes a lot of work. We make small pieces of equipment and this ability helps."

"Do I have to take the job?"

"Nope. Show up and ask. You see the way the school is run and you make your choice. There will be others there like yourself."

"Is this something illegal?"

"A school? Be realistic. There are almost eighty students. More are coming all the time. Some of the students can do what you do but they are just starting. Larry will be coming. He is a year older than you. He has more strength but we have not tested him for the fine control yet. I'm pretty good and I make well over a hundred thousand a year."

"How much more?"

"It depends on how good you are. It's not the trick like I just did it is the work down to a speck of dust that we work with."

"What do you do?"

"We make small tools and other gadgets."

I handed over the rest of the torn bill and Teresa said, "What's that for?"

"I talked and I paid. You listened. Now we can just shoot the shit and eat. We got up and sat with the rest now and they looked at us oddly but said nothing. The waitress had no problem with us moving.

We ate and talked about everything. The academy was mentioned but nothing specific. We left a few hours later and I left a good tip. The waitress had to do a lot for us.

Outside we were still talking so I walked with them. Now that I was not an outsider it was much easier to talk. We got a block and a half when Matt said, "You are approaching the two brothers you wished not to meet."

"The Arnold brothers?"

"Yes."

"I do not like them or the way they treat others. Maybe they will pick a fight with me."

"That is possible. They are pushing people out of their way as they approach. They are not alone but with five others."

"Their gang?"

"Yes."

"Good, I don't like them either."

"Shall I inform the rest?"

"There is no reason."

We progressed another minute as I moved to the position I wanted in this new group. All of a sudden one of the girls went stiff and one of the two guys pulled her out of the way and then the rest followed. A fight was less possible now and I prepared for a way of encouraging it. It was not needed because Flick, the older brother stopped to see who they had trapped.

"Well now if it isn't Ron and George. You even brought your cunt with you."

Ron, the oldest of our group said, "Hi Flick. What's going on?"

"Well, you see I'm horny and need a blow job or two. My guys need the same."

"Flick..."

I interrupted, "Why don't you get Grunge to do it Flick. Isn't your whole gang queer? None of you can fart loud. When you move to women, it's for show."

Flick was near my own age but big. He moved quickly too and threw a punch at my face. He was a good street fighter. He missed me though and I hit his noise but just enough to make it bleed.

He stopped to wipe his nose and said, "You cock sucker. Maybe we'll try your pretty ass."

"Your welcome to try."

He swung again but one of his gang moved to block me from moving. I blocked both punches and gave them a tap that stung rather than hurt. Flick was angry now and bellowed. I had moved away from my group to get more room. Flick came again and I blooded his nose a bit more but there was a bit of difficulty getting all of their gang to attack me. I hit and kicked but I gave ground so that I was in a more open area.

Grunge had a gun and so did Flick. The rest had knives but had not brought them out yet. I was not the man of steel so the guns had to go or rather the two brothers. It was only a minute later that the two brothers were side by side when I attacked.

I went full out then and hurt them bad. I might have gone a bit far as some of my anger came out. I was calmed enough with I switched to the gang quickly before they could get away. Only one had time to think of escape but he didn't get even a step away.

When I stopped I saw that Teresa's group did not make a strategic withdrawal. They were worried about Flick's anger at not finding them there when he finished with me. I walked over Flick to get to Teresa and my foot opened his shirt enough to show the gun.

George said, "We got to get out of here."

"Stay!" I commanded with my force full out. "I don't want these guys picked over while they are asleep. Wait until the cops come then we blend into the crowd."

"They'll get arrested."

"Sure they will and it will take them a few months to get out of the hospital first."

"I thought you killed them."

"No need for it this time. It's not our policy to flout the law but like any business, we can use the law to our own advantage."

"The cops will arrest you too."

"I have enough legal representation that they would not keep me more than an hour even if they wanted to do more. They won't get the chance."

Some people were getting close to the gang. I turned, "If any of you get close, I will assume you want the weapons to attack me. I will then attack first and leave you like these people. Fight the police for possession of the guns if you wish." They backed off and I ordered, "Further!"

I turned back to my own group and said, "You can move further away now. The police are coming from three directions. The bystanders will point fingers and you will be chased. Teresa, you have an important job interview. If you miss it you will regret it for the rest of your life."

"What about my friends?"

"We have no opening for them now. I can find them jobs out of Toronto though that pay well."

They just stared at me. It was doubtful if any would move out of Toronto for the unknown. They moved down the sidewalk as a group and they were given lots of room. I moved to the other side of the fight scene and disappeared just as the police broke through the ring of spectators.

Matt said, "There is a 73% chance that you will be identified."

"I will have lawyers waiting. They won't get far. The anonymous person with a camcorder will have visual evidence if it is necessary."

I was late in my self-imposed schedule and had to drive me nearly half way across the city. I stopped at an older residential section and walked up on the veranda and knocked on the door. A woman of thirty five came to the door.

"Yes?"

"Hi. My name is Wally. I represent the people that mailed the games out."

"You are not getting the money back."

"I do not want it back. The game was a test. You passed it well enough to be offered a job."

"What kind of job?"

"I'm not going to fight you. Will you invite me in and offer me a glass of water?"

"I guess so. Come on in."

The place was dirty and cluttered but I pretended to not notice. Nancy Solvoy handed me a glass of water after rinsing it under the tap. "Have a seat."

"Thanks." I took a sip and put the glass down on the kitchen table. "Only a few of us can manipulate the ball. I work at a private school here in the city. We're trying to teach this ability to our young students. We have some success. Everybody has their own approach and it's hoped that one of them will reach some of the students that have not succeeded yet."

"What game?" Nancy was being defensive. I took out my own box and put it on the table. I pulled out the restraining clip holding the sphere then moved it around the inside of the box.

Nancy looked down at it for a moment. "You can do it better than I can."

"I've had more practice. You'll get better, they all do."

"All?"

"We have a lot of people doing this sort of thing. There is no need to move around a large ball though. We make ultra miniaturised components for the school. The parts that have to be moved are much smaller and easier to do. Your teaching job would require you to move across the city. Our research showed that you have three children. As a teacher you'll get the chance to enrol your children. Your salary will start at a hundred and thirty thousand dollars a year but it will drop to a hundred and ten with the children involved. All meals are included and there's a generous clothing allowance."

"I don't have a teacher's licence and I hardly got through school myself. I can't teach."

"You can teach what you know. There is no need for a licence. During the setting up of the charter for the academy, the provincial waved this restriction because of the new ideas we were trying to explore."

"How come they sent a kid to me?"

"I can move the ball around easily. You saw that you are not that much different. I'm young and less threatening to be in your home."

"What if my kids don't want to come?"

"The two boys at home are eighteen and fifteen. Most eighteen year-olds are out on their own and come home to eat and sleep. Boys are rebellious at best. The fifteen year-old can benefit from our curriculum. We make low budget science fiction movies. The school regularly travels by plane all over Canada. We are well funded. We're an academy and as such instill discipline in the students. There's a uniform and in fact there are many uniforms to represent the circumstances. There are failures but we are remarkably successful. The ratio of students to instructors is very low. At the moment it is six to one. That means that each student gets the attention they require."

"What's the catch? That sounds like a good deal."

"You are on call. Many of the children are young and need a mother figure. Sometimes it is just being with them as they do a project or sit and watch television. You, I am afraid, are going to be annoyed at the physical requirements. We all exercise and take self defence courses. This is not an optional subject. You are not expected to be good at the start but you are expected to work hard to become proficient."

"I can't do even one push up."

"Then you will pick up some light weights until you are strong enough to do a push up. It's mostly in the mind that you will get strong. Your body will follow."

"Can I see the school?"

"Sure." I handed her a card and a hundred dollar bill. "The money's for being able to move the ball. By the way, the pay I mentioned is the minimum. I make well over a million a year."

"You look fifteen."

"My parents did not finance me. I got into my job on my own merit. I am a millionaire many times over. You could make a similar figure if you apply yourself and also strive to learn your own talent more."

"I'd kill for a million. Where do I sign up?"

"Go to the school tomorrow. If you get there before eight you can go to the movie set in our bus. You can see the regular classes later in the day. Math is important but each student and teacher gets a computer to assist them. The knowledge of math is not that important because the computer does the majority of the work."

"That's good because I was never good at that."

I saw the ashtrays and the whiskey bottles and said, "Our health benefits are far above the basic OHIP coverage."

As I left the house a young man my age came in. He took one long look at me and started to go upstairs. I said, "Hi, the name's Wally."