Chapter 6: Hana

There was no work for me to do at the office, so I stayed home and worked on what we now called the Triple-U, for universal utility units. They had photocells on top, with sealed electronics underneath. There was a tank with water and trash connections, so stuff could be put in the unit. The electronics sensed if there was something in the input tank and went to work. Water was evaporated and then condensed in a separate tank, where it was treated with ozone to kill all bacteria and viruses. Remaining sludge was moved to another tank, where it was chemically worked by 'friendly' bacteria to make methane, which was pumped into yet another tank under pressure. The little that remained from that step was either treated to low heat, to dry it completely, sterilize it, and make fertilizer; or to high heat, to convert it into biodiesel. I used whatever tanks and pumps were available for the prototype, and it looked terrible: but it worked. The most complex part was programming the tiny computer so the unit worked automatically and so it could not explode or catch fire or poison the users.

When I finally announced the completion the device, Zulie demanded a demonstration. To say she was excited would be an understatement. Have you ever seen the National Geographic films of Masai warriors doing their lion dance, where they jump high in the air? She looked like that. She was ready to send the prototype directly to her village immediately. Chellie overruled her, fortunately, and decreed that we needed to build demonstration units. Freya located specialty shops that built models and one of a kind pieces of equipment. She got cost estimates, selected one, and faxed them the plans. Almost by return fax, we received a query about buying several for the workers in the shop.

The shop built several different styles of demonstration units: a 'contractor' unit, a 'green' unit, a 'wilderness' unit, and an 'international' unit. These demonstrators were impeccably put together and polished until they shone. Once a real unit was put in service, it would be mostly ignored and soon lose its sheen, but the demo units looked great in photos and we had more requests for information and prices than we could easily handle. Once I got the photos and prices on the Itzamna, Inc. web site, we had people sending us checks in the mail, requesting to be placed on waiting lists, if necessary, so they could order a unit.

The contractor unit had an 'industrial' design look; it was made of the highest quality materials and coated with high-density rubber to protect it from damage and help it last a long time under hard use. Chellie proposed, but didn't actually build, demos for medium and large sized units, useful for work crews from ten to fifty. She ordered a small unit, for a crew of five to ten. The contractor units could be carried easily in a pickup or flatbed truck and could be installed on a small concrete pad or used directly from the back of a truck. Zulie took the contractor demo unit around, first to our job sites, then to the construction companies in town. She even sent photos of the unit to her dad. Every contractor wanted to buy at least one, recognizing that, even if it cost $10,000, it would pay for itself by the second job where the electric or gas company had to run special wires or pipes to provide service to a new building site.

Green units were designed to be installed next to a house, and didn't need the industrial strength pipes and padding of the contractor units. People who lived, or wanted to live, away from the urban and suburban crushes bought them. First purchasers were people who lived 'off the grid' - away from the regular utility services - if there was no utility service where someone wanted their house, utilities could easily charge them $5000 per mile to run wires; even more for pipes. These units would provide water, gas, and electricity for a family and also reduce the amount of garbage and waste which needed to be removed or buried.

For backpackers and campers, we sold the wilderness units. The tanks of these units were like heavy-duty balloons and could be collapsed so one would fit in a backpack or small case. People who wanted to spend time in the wilderness without damaging fragile ecosystems could order these units. Just carry one to the camp, set it up, supply some waste, and in a few hours there would be drinking water, gas for cooking, and electricity for lighting. Although these units cost hundreds of dollars, they sold very well. People realized that they could pay that much just having propane tanks filled and replacing batteries, without even calculating the cost of water purification systems or the effort to burn, bury, or pack out of the wilderness loads of disgusting garbage. Most states ruled that the dried remains from our units could be safely spread on the ground and would help plants to grow, an added benefit.

Zulie's heart was held by the international unit. These were larger than the green or wilderness units, and weighed considerably more than even the larger contractor units, but they were cheap! For slightly over a hundred dollars (American), a unit could process waste and provide water, gas, and electricity for a small village. The units could work together for larger villages; some smaller cities in India and China bought groups of the devices to provide normal utilities at a much reduced cost.

We eventually realized that there were also many people who were sick of paying enormous utility bills and could calculate that one of these devices would pay for itself in one or two years. Some plumbing and electrical contractors started new businesses just installing the units and made a good living at it. Of course, the utilities were unhappy and sued us, claiming all kinds of things, which mostly amounted to 'we will go out of business if you let people buy these things.' Our lawyers agreed with them, and the judges who heard the suits agreed, too - if the utilities lost money, they would have to go out of business. The utilities eventually made arrangements with people who owned these units to sell the extra electricity, methane, water, fertilizer, or diesel fuel, and stayed in business, just smaller and better controlled.

Zulie tried to pay for the first international units herself and have them sent to her village. Of course, Chellie sent the units to Zulie's home town free, along with an installation crew and many photographers. It was the best possible advertisement - photo spreads from the installation appeared in magazines and newspapers in almost every country in the world. We had thousands of orders within a month.

Her slow recovery from the baby frustrated Freya. Many days, she had to stop working and rest. She wanted to be handling orders or arranging for more assembly line time and workers to meet the demand. Finally, after almost a week, she corralled Chellie and asked if Chellie could help restore her to 'normal'. They spent several hours locked up together as Chellie worked on Freya's body and told it to repair itself. On Freya's next visit to her doctor, the doctor declared she couldn't understand it, but Freya had become completely healthy, weeks before she should have been. After being given a clean bill of health and told she could go on with her life, Freya came home to give us all the good news. It was too early to start another baby, but that night we celebrated anyway.

There was a delay the next morning, because we all slept in. The celebration was a success, but we were all tired, mostly from feeling five orgasms at a time until we were too exhausted to move.

At breakfast, near noon, the first item of business after food was finding an accountant. Chellie explained the problem. "What I did before, mostly, provided a few transactions with large amounts of money. I would sign a contract with a small group and they would pay me some large amount for arranging the deal or overseeing the project. But this is different: we need to collect money from large numbers of individuals and groups and take some of the money and have devices built and shipped to the sites. It needs one person just to keep track of the income and orders. We need to hire a full time accountant."

We had no problem with that statement, only with finding the right person for the job. Freya wanted to call a 'temp agency' so we could get someone immediately.

Tiennie had a problem with that. "We need to consider security. We can't let anyone near us until they have been checked for security problems; that can easily take a month or more."

"We can't wait that long!" Zulie was adamant. "Every day we delay, children die."

"I know one accountant that could do the job." Chellie began. "Her name is Hana, and I worked with her before. She is a wizard with numbers. The only problem is that she is working for a large accounting company right now and it might be hard to get her out of her contract, if she is even interested."

"Buying out her contract is no problem. We have money coming in so fast, we can't keep up with shovels," Came from Freya. "Bring her over here and we can talk with her. We can interview her tonight if she can't make it any sooner."

Everyone agreed with that, so Chellie put in a call.

It wasn't quite 5:00 that afternoon when she rang the doorbell. Tiennie was prepared, and answered the door. She ushered in a tiny, square girl, with a flattened yellow face and short black hair. After spending time getting to know Tiennie, I knew this girl wasn't Chinese, but she was definitely from Asia. Chellie introduced everybody. "Gang, this is Konohana Benzaiten. She was born near Sapporo, on the Northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. She will give you all of the important details as you get to know her. Konohana, this is Freya, Johnny, Tiennie, and Zulie."

"Please, call me 'Hana.' My name is too long for English." She had a shy smile that escaped infrequently, but it made her very pretty when she let it out. "Chellie said you need an accountant? I already have a nice job, but she said I would want to hear about this one, so I left work early."

Freya went into hostess mode. "Have a seat. Would you like something to drink? We have iced green tea, or soda. There are snacks on the table, help yourself."

It might have been a little too much to take in, Hana seemed dazed. Finally, she spoke, "Iced tea sounds wonderful. I may eat some a little later. Right now I want to have my mouth empty to ask, and answer questions. Shall we start?"

As Chellie explained about Itzamna, Inc. and the project, I could see Hana's round eyes get bigger and bigger. When Zulie spoke about villages needing clean water and power, Hana's mouth opened.

"My family lives in a small town outside of Sapporo, Japan, as Chellie said. We are Ainu, native peoples in northern Japan, and the majority hold us in contempt because we are different. Many times our power is shut off or our water dries up. I would love to buy one of these units for my family, or for my whole village. This is a project I would love to be working on." Hana paused while she thought. "I still have almost six months on my contract, but I can work evenings and weekends until it expires. Perhaps they will even let me go sooner, if I ask."

This was Freya's territory. "Don't worry about that. Our company will buy your contract. We need you to start immediately." Freya's smile told the rest of us that Hana had passed the 'Freya Test' and everyone in the room nodded or spoke in the affirmative. Freya continued, "Why don't you take a walk around the grounds with Chellie and Johnny? They can show you some of the demo models and some of the other work being done. The rest of us need to start on supper. Of course we want you to stay for supper, if you can?"

There wasn't much to say after that. Chellie and I took Hana for a walk. We showed her the different models of the Triple-U's and she went 'ooh' and 'ah' at the appropriate times. The new construction was next, and Hana liked the office building that was rapidly rising near the house. Chellie explained that we had an extra bedroom and that part of her fringe benefits included 'room and board' if she liked. Then we took a walk around the lake and explained about the dam and the generator unit.

A look of concentration filled Hana's face as we walked around the lake. The borders, artistically laid with trees, bushes, and flowers were stared at, but not seen. Finally, she broke the silence. "Someone must have attacked you."

That startled Chellie and me. She was the first to recover. "Why do you think that?"

"Because you are fortifying your wall, improving security, and moving your offices away from the downtown to be inside your wall. Also, you are installing backup generators and water purifiers. Someone probably tried to attack here and cut the wires first. Since you are still here, the attack failed, but there was an attack."

"Does that mean you don't want to work for us? We can't promise there won't be another attack."

"There must be at least two of you working on the security: I detect two different styles. That means the chances of an attack are reduced by a factor of four; and a successful one by at least ten. I calculate," Hana's voice stopped for several seconds, "the odds of being hurt in an attack here are half the chances of being in an accident on the way to work. If I live here, on the grounds, I should be safer."

My mouth must have been hanging open. Chellie closed it gently and said, "I told you she was great with figures, Johnny."

The walk back to the house was silent. Each of us was thinking our own thoughts.

Freya talked Hana into staying for supper. Tiennie had produced something with chicken and vegetables over rice. Hana enjoyed the meal, commenting that it was very much like some of her mother's dishes.

I was coming to enjoy the variety that the women added to the meals and even was able to try new things without making a face before trying them. Freya told me she was proud of me. I was just glad that I had more things I would eat, as that gave me more to eat.

After supper, I cleaned up in the kitchen while the ladies conversed in the living room. After cleaning up, I went to my bedroom to read for a while. I could still hear the women chattering as I fell asleep. Freya and Zulie surrounded me when I woke. The gave me the shortened version of the conversation, 'because a man wouldn't understand all the details.' It turned out that they had omitted some important ones.

"Poor Hana," started Freya, "she thought she must be crazy because she understands figures better than other people. Fortunately, Zulie showed her that she understood them, too."

"She deduced the types of markets were were aiming for, and said that the Internet would be one of our best sales tools. I think she has additions she wants made to the Itzamna, Inc. web site, Johnny." Zulie was enthused, she felt that Hana was a kindred spirit, both because they had a warm spot in their hearts for the Triple-U project, but also because they understood numbers and processes as few others did.

"Anyway, I scanned her and there is no trace of insanity in her. Just incredible mental quickness." Freya always wanted to make those around her feel better about themselves. "And isn't she just the cutest thing? She can't weigh over a hundred pounds, but she is just so pretty. Isn't she?"

(I knew better than to disagree with my wife. I was still learning about Freya, but I did know that she was always right about people. If I didn't see the good, or beauty in a person, it was because of a failing in me, not in the other person. Freya was teaching me a lot.)

My job became much more hectic that week, when the first sample shipments of the Triple-U's arrived. I had to test each one and find any design or manufacturing errors and make recommendations about avoiding the problems in future manufacturing runs. Every night, I went to bed late; and every morning, I woke up tired. My loves tried their best to make sure that I got enough food and sleep, but I was running on the edge of exhaustion.

Every night, I would climb into bed after the rest were already asleep and the lights out. I would kiss and fondle whoever was next to me and barely have energy enough to recognize who it was and to tell her that I loved her. One night, either Thursday or Friday - I was too tired to know - I climbed into bed and found a small body next to mine. I assumed it was Chellie because it was too wide to be Tiennie. When I kissed her, she kissed back, but she reacted differently than Chellie would. I inhaled and, instead of Chellie's jungle and tropical spice scent, she smelled like northern woods, like cedars and honey. Something was wrong.

I turned the lights on and looking at me were the dark eyes not of Chellie, but of Hana. Her small body was naked in the bed next to me. Of course, I was naked too, I habitually slept in the nude. But why was a woman I barely knew naked in my bed in the dark? I yelled, and everyone in the house woke up. "What is going on here? The day I can't tell a woman I love, even in the dark, I will have to be sent to the old-folk's home." They all had been part of some plot to bring Hana into my group, without telling me. I was angry that they would try and trick me.

Hana looked like she was going to cry and Freya looked like she was going to loose lightning on me. They both tried to explain at the same time.

Freya won. "Look, Johnny. We just told Hana how wonderful you are and how much we all love you. I thought she needed to be loved, too. Don't you think she deserves to be loved?"

But I was too angry to be tricked. "Freya, you know me better than that! If you want my help, just ask. But don't ever, ever try and trick me. It just makes me mad."

Now Hana tried to explain. "Johnny, do not be mad. When I told them how I felt, like I was crazy, they all tried to help me. They even said that I should give myself to you, because you would make me feel so good. It sounded wonderful and I agreed to try. I knew that I should not try and trick you, but I wanted so much to feel the way they said, that I agreed. Now I see that you do not want me; however, I cannot change the way I feel. I want to give myself to you, even if you do not want me." There were tears leaking from her eyes as she went on. "I will not make you do anything you do not want to do. If you do not want me, that is all right. But I must belong to you."

She was crying steadily, but silently, now. "Will you let me give myself to you, if I promise to not ask anything from you after? Please accept my gift as part of my apology for trying to trick you."

I nodded. What else could I do? Freya was there, wanting me to take this girl, to make her better. And Hana, the little girl, only asked to give, not wanting anything else.

Hana sat up on the bed, then climbed onto the floor and knelt next to me. Small and helpless, naked and shivering, heated and chilled, she gave herself to me. "Johnny, I am completely yours, to use or to ignore. I will be happy just knowing that I belong to you." She said it twice more, then smiled, as happy as a child on Christmas.

A gasp escaped from Freya when she touched Hana's naked shoulder to help her climb back into the bed. "She can see so much information that I never even imagined, Johnny. Wideness of vision, layers of information, and all the interconnections between the parts. She can see how we are connected, and now I see that she is connected to us, as well."

The girls wanted to explore Hana's mind and talents; I just wanted to sleep. Hana told them that I was going to sleep and stopped the conversation by snuggling up against me and closing her eyes. She felt tiny, but warm next to me and that warmth let me relax quickly. I was asleep in less than a minute.

Hana was still next to me when I woke in the morning. The first thing I could see were her eyes, deep black wells, watching me sleep and now, watching me wake. "I told the rest to go start breakfast, Johnny. It will be ready whenever you are hungry. Would you like a shower? I could wash you - washing someone you love is important in my country."

My mouth didn't seem to be awake yet; when I tried to speak, it just flopped open and closed. So I nodded.

The helpless little girl who had cried in my bed last night had become someone to be obeyed - even Freya had obeyed her. Hana slid out from under the blankets and offered me her hand to get up. The room must have been cool, I could see the nipples on her tiny breasts tighten and harden, but she did not even seem to notice. Hana was totally intent on me.

Her small hand held mine in a firm grip and helped me sit, then move to the edge of the bed, then stand up and walk into the bathroom. She released me and turned to start and adjust the shower. She stayed turned away while I used the toilet and brushed my teeth. When I finished rinsing my mouth after brushing, I saw that she was standing patiently next to the shower, eyes lowered, just waiting.

"The water is ready for you, when you want, Johnny." She invited me. As much as I loved Freya, it sometimes felt like she was giving orders; Hana was just waiting, for me. She followed me into the shower stall and started preparing a wash cloth with soap and water, making a billowy lather.

I rinsed myself from head to foot, waking up my body and getting rid of the sweat and dirt from the day before. My back was wet first, then I turned to drown my front. The water soaked my hair and ran down my face, blinding me for a moment. I moved around until my entire body was streaming with water. My hands reached up to squeegee the water from my eyes, and I felt the washcloth scrubbing my back. It felt wonderful on my tired body, so I just stood there and let her rub the dirt and tension away. She lifted my arms, one at a time, and washed each from fingertip to armpit. She worked on my hips and butt, then rubbed her way down my legs all the way to the ground. I felt a small tug on each calf as she reached the top of my foot on that side, signaling for me to lift that leg so she could wash the bottom of the foot. Finished, she worked the cloth up my legs and all the way back to my neck before she stopped.

Child-sized hands pushed and pulled on my hips and turned me around. The shower rinsed my back, assisted by those little fingers, checking that all the soap was gone. Then she started on my front. "Please keep your eyes closed, Johnny. I will wash your face now, and the soap may burn your eyes." Her voice was tiny, like her body.

I kept my eyes closed as she scrubbed and rinsed my face. After my face was rinsed, the cloth moved steadily down my front. Clean the neck and shoulders, rub the tummy, lather the groin (ignoring the growing stiffness there), and scrub down the legs. Then, as on the back, it moved up again and double-checked that nothing was missed. My eyes still had not opened because I was enjoying the feelings. I felt the rinse water carefully missing my face, but removing soap from my neck down, followed by those soft, sure fingers. When it stopped running down my body, I heard Hana rinse the cloth and squeeze the water out of it several times. Then it tenderly passed over my face, removing the last of the water drops.

"You can open your eyes, now." I opened them and saw a small, square, dripping wet water sprite stretching up to hang the damp wash cloth. "Would you like to let the water just run on you for a while, or do you want to get started with your day?"

What I wanted was to go back to bed. It would even be fun to wash my shower-mate and run my soapy, slippery hands all over her body. What I needed to do was to continue testing and fixing problems with the Triple-U's. Since I seemed to still be unable to speak, I turned for the shower door, which Hana opened for me. She ran to the shelf and dragged a large towel down, unfolding it as she stepped back to me. The towel wrapped itself around me and I felt her hands rub me through the terrycloth, drying every part of me as she worked. When she was convinced that I was dry, she returned to the shower and shut it off. Still dripping, she escorted me back to the bedroom and started to help dress me.

This was too much. The shower was wonderful, but I could dress myself. And I didn't feel right having her shiver and drip just to help me pick out clothes. "I can dress myself, Hana. Go finish your shower and get dry." I said it softly, as a request. She obeyed: she walked to the bathroom and got herself a towel, which wrapped several times around her tiny, nude form. When she returned, she picked up my damp towel and unwrapped herself, leaving her small, sexy body exposed to my eyes. The two towels were carried back to the bathroom and hung on racks to dry, and the naked sprite walked back into the bedroom and proceeded to pick up her clothes from the night before and walk out the door, back to her room, unconcerned with her nudity.

There was a lot of work that needed doing. Hana must have been doing her part, because the flow of money smoothed out and poured into our accounts even faster than before. She still took time to bring my lunch every day, and sat with me to be sure I ate it. Most days, she sat silently, watching me eat or think. When I looked in her direction, I could see the concerned and caring look on her face. I didn't exactly ignore her, and I never forgot her, but there was no need to entertain her. Even as busy as I was, I tried to hug and thank her when she brought food or took the plates away, and I made a mental note to myself to smile whenever I saw her, so she would know she wasn't being ignored.

Freya had sent an application to the patent office to secure our invention from copycats and thieves. As is usually the case, it was returned with a request for more detailed information. Even though she had hired a patent attorney, there were some things on the application that only one familiar with the product could declare correctly. When it came back, Freya handed it to me. "Can you make sense of this, Johnny? Neither the attorney nor I understand the problem. And I'm sorry, but this is very important and needs to be done immediately."

My mind is hazy on the exact date, but I think it was a Sunday, and I was still working on the testing and manufacturing improvements. When Hana brought lunch to me, she noticed that I was working on the patent form, rather than the test and manufacturing documents, as I usually did. "What's that Johnny?"

"Ugh! The patent office wants more detail on this patent, and I don't know what to write."

"Can I help? What is the problem?"

"The only thing I know is that they are claiming that we are using stuff that is already patented and just sticking it together, which is not allowed. We need to explain how this invention is 'new, creative, and non-obvious' or they won't give us a patent. If we don't have a patent, any company in the world can buy one of our Triple-U's, study it, copy it, and sell the copies. Without the patent, our months of inventing and testing, and our thousands of dollars of costs will be wasted."

"May I see it? Oh, they say that 'processing water to remove pollution, converting garbage into methane, and generating electricity from photocells are not new or creative.' They may be right in that, but what is the point of the Triple-U? Isn't it that separate devices could do the work, but they would end up more expensive and less efficient because they would be working separately. What you want the patent to say, Johnny, is that the combination of processes, even if the processes already exist, can improve efficiency and lower costs."

"Wait a minute, while I write that down. Hmm,... 'combination of processes, ... improve efficiency and lower costs.' I like that! But they want examples. I thought the current system was the example."

"Maybe it is AN example. But probably not the only one. Let me see. What about combining a heater with a filter and a purifier? That would allow cleaner air than just a filter or a purifier, and would be cheaper to use because the heater is already providing the energy to move the air. Your wonderful Triple-U combines water purification with garbage removal, methane production, and electricity generation. Each of the functions is easier to do because the others are already handling part of the work. If you used the separate devices, it would be too large, too expensive to manufacture, and impossible to transport. The idea is that, sort of like tissues in a plant or organs in an animal, multiple functions are necessary, and the device or organism uses the combination of these functions to provide all of them more easily and cheaper than separate processes would."

"We could call it 'Bio-Innovation' - inventions like life! And we could list a whole bunch of things that work the way plant or animal cells do. Like the circulatory system, moving something while pumping a fluid, like blood, which provides energy, cooling, and removes wastes. Like the kidneys, removing waste while maintaining the balance of different chemicals and water in the system. Now I can think of many examples, I only need to put them in mechanical, rather than biological terms. Thanks, Hana. That helps a lot and I don't know what I would have done without your help." I gave her a quick kiss on her cheek and she turned red, but didn't say anything.