BOOK 2: COMMUNITY / CH. 16:DISCOVERIES

MONDAY MORNING, 24TH JULY.

Karen and George worked their way through the wide selection of metals, plastics, composites and fabrics in the laboratory store. If there was a pattern, they weren't quite sure what it was at the end of their first day. Iron worked to transmit thoughts, as a pipe, sheet or wire. Copper, which is a far better conductor, didn't work as a wire, but did, just, as pipe, and was perfect as a sheet between their hands. Wood and plastics didn't transmit thoughts except some specific ones. Some composites worked, others didn't. Fabrics seemed to be universally effective at blocking thoughts when dry. But even soaking wet sponge blocked it though some other fabrics didn't when slightly damp.

“I think I'm seeing a pattern, George,” Karen said, near lunchtime.

“You are? Great. Make a prediction. I've just realised we didn't do aluminium, so it's next.”

“Like copper, unless it's too oxidised.”

“Ah. Well, we have available an anodised aluminium sheet, cooking foil, and thin aluminium wire.”

“I'd predict probably yes for the cooking foil between our hands, not for foil on a piece of foam. If it works for hands then it'll work if we put it on top of a sheet of wood. Anodised shouldn't work unless we make electrical contact somehow, say by holding the wire too.”

“Wow. That's some prediction. If you'll accept kisses then I'll give you two if you're right.”

“Why two?” she asked curiously.

“Because I want to kiss you if you're wrong too.”

“Ah. Cunning. In the circumstances, I might accept your generous offer.”

“Then let's test them.”

Karen got two kisses.

“Hey, this is a lab, not a love-nest!” Ivan called from the doorway. “Was that a celebration, or just getting distracted?”

“Celebration,” George said red faced. “Karen made correct predictions.”

“Oh ho! Write it down quickly and we'll tell the others.”

“Oh, staff meeting? I must have forgotten.”

“Yes. And you couldn't have forgotten, Kate's just called it. George is honorary staff too.”

“Is this an honour, or a duty?”

“Oh, an honour, I believe.”

----------------------------------------

“OK, family, I've decided to call this meeting because I wanted to tell you all something I've just been told, and there are a few other announcements too. Firstly, most of you've heard that we were involved in breaking a major crime spree last week. The news I've just had is that the culprit has shockingly enough confessed quite a lot and pleaded guilty. This is so unusual at this stage that investigations are continuing to try and find out why, not to mention to gather evidence on several other counts.

“Secondly, Pete and I have set a date for our wedding, and you're all invited.” She paused for the cheers to die away. “To avoid a conflict of dates, we'll be getting married in under four weeks’ time, or in other words just after Sarah and John get back from their honeymoon. John, several people have pointed out that you've been acting as assistant director for a while, so when you come back that'll be your title. Probably your first duty will be to take charge of this little crowd while I'm away. And you'd better have a very good reason indeed to call me.”

“Urm, thank you, Kate. This is a surprise. Are you sure about the promotion though? I know there are others with far more seniority than me.”

“Yes, I know. Sorry to them. But they're all doing really important jobs where they are. Don't worry, the promotion doesn't come with a raise, just more work.”

John groaned dramatically and everyone laughed, even those who'd just been passed over for the job title. “Thirdly, round about the time I get back, we expect that we'll be playing host to a reporter who's going to be attached to the Institute for quite some time. I presume they'll be coming and going rather than staying full time. They'll be Security cleared, and roughly speaking will have permission to report about all the fun stuff we get up to, so long as it's published data and doesn't identify anyone. Details to be announced as soon as we know more. But basically the intention is to let the press in now, in a controlled manner, so that when we go public about the mind reading we don't get an angry mob storming the gates.”

“We'll probably still get reporters sitting at the gates,” Horrace said.

“Yes, and we'll probably have the security barriers up with copies of the UN declaration all over them, in big print. Meanwhile our friendly reporter will be giving reports with nice pictures of the flowerbeds, taken sometime when there's no one around, and explaining why the UN restrictions were put in place to begin with. Karen, could we use part of your story to show the risks of A.I.'s?”

“Um, yes, sure. Should I work on a suitable version of it?”

“Oh, yes please. Any other questions?”

“What will the clients think? Won't they see it as a reduction in security?” asked Will.

“I hope not. That's one of the reasons that we're not wanting it to happen very quickly — we'll give everyone a few days to review the idea and rationale and then a couple of weeks to check out the reporter. If there are objections, we can make sure that the reporter doesn't meet the individuals concerned.”

“I have a question,” George said. “Just how much do we need to tell this reporter? Is everyone going to stay almost incognito in front of them, or assuming I'm still here, would I tell him or her that I'm a mind-reader helping the Institute and using it as a safe house at the same time? That last bit seems too much information. Likewise, I assume that no one mentions Karen's status, but the reporter will surely notice the guys from Security unless we get a blind reporter.”

“Or one who leaves earlier than the rest of us do,” Karen suggested.

“Good question, George, good suggestion, Karen, but of course it doesn't prevent them waiting to see how we travel.”

“No. Maybe some level of limited disclosure is reasonable?”

“I wonder,” Karen began “we're going to try to get a serious, respected, experienced, recognisable reporter, aren't we?”

“That'd be ideal, yes.”

“Then as far as John and I are concerned, probably Sarah too, the point is almost certainly moot anyway.”

“Eh?” George said.

“I've met an awful lot of that sort of reporter. They're where they are, at the pinnacle of their profession, because they're good. Very good. Because they remember names, faces, incidents. John Williams with a metal leg, easy. Sarah Smith, slightly trickier, until someone mentions that you lost your parents, or how you came here. Me, they're probably going to remember me from some official reception or something. That's probably about fifty of the top hundred reporters. Ten or fifteen of them played tiddlywinks or hide and seek with me when I was little, and Daddy was in some big meeting they'd come to report on. If we get into single figures they read me stories in some airport in exchange for a one on one interview.”

“So, maybe it's a question of handing them all the info on a plate or letting them play detective and finding it out anyway?” Sarah asked.

“Yes, that's about right,” replied Karen.

“We'll probably get advice on that anyway,” John guessed.

“I expect so,” Kate replied.

“Is there anything else, Kate?” Ivan asked. “If not, I'm curious about what Karen and George have found out.”

“You've got results?” Kate asked, “That's great! Come on, share them!”

“Very very provisional, but we found that it's not just one factor. Thoughts don't go down a piece of soft wire, and they don't go down every rigid structure, by any stretch of the imagination. But if you have both an electrical connection plus something that's rigid enough to transmit sound, it seems to work.”

“Karen predicted that foil on top of a piece of wood would transmit, but foil on top of a piece of sponge wouldn't. She was right.”

“That's fascinating. I wonder what's happening there!” Sarah exclaimed.

Karen then added, “Of course, one prediction could be a fluke, and it could be something even weirder, or it might be that something we were doing differently between samples contaminated the data. But we just couldn't get any thoughts through a piece of sponge, wet or dry.”

“It's certainly going to make building test equipment interesting,” Ivan observed. “Sponge isn't exactly the ideal precision building material.”

“But it might work as part of whatever we use to clamp the sample,” Horrace said.

“True,” Ivan admitted.

“Well, complete your tests, youngsters, it's all good science.”

“We hope. I'm having doubts,” Karen said.

“Why?”

“Because if it's right, then we're going to need a whole new mechanism for the intention thing, and that makes so little sense.”

“Then what else could it be?”

“I don't know, but I want to re-run some of those tests, George. I think we were further apart for some tests than we were for others.”

“Of course we were. Oh.”

John suggested, “You could look at the camera records, if that'd be faster than retesting everything.”

“Or get the computer to, maybe,” Sarah added.

“Sounds much easier,” George agreed.

“So, if we add a column to our table for distance between our heads during the test, Karen, Ivan?”

“Good start. Can the computer recognise when you did the test?” Ivan said.

“Just before we reported the result, I'd assume,” George said.

“Worth a try,” Karen agreed.

“OK, people, anything else to report?”

“I did a double batch of pizza bases on Friday,” John said, “and if someone could put the unused half in a freezer, that'd really help. We're running out of space.”

“So you two are really doing the catering for your own wedding?” Janet asked, amazed. “I thought it was a joke.”

“It's a family tradition,” Sarah said.

“And it saves a fortune too,” John added.

“But surely, the extra stress!” Will exclaimed. “You're just setting yourselves up for a fight.”

“If our tempers can't stand a little stress before the marriage, Will, then we can practice forgiveness,” Sarah said, philosophically. “And if we can't forgive each other, maybe we're not as ready for marriage as we think we are, and that's better discovered before the wedding, don't you think?”

“Wow,” Will commented.

“So if I'm covered in bruises on Saturday, then you'll know the stress got too much for my beloved and she finally carried out her threats to trample me into the ground.”

“John! I wouldn't do that! You know that.”

“Yes, it would ruin the wedding pictures, wouldn't it?” he teased, with a grin.

“I think, Sarah,” commented George, “that you're discovering that you should only threaten what you would not mind doing in the cool light of day.”

“Especially if there's a reporter around to witness it,” added Karen.

“OK, I understand. Less violent threats. Better, no violent threats. But that is going to be hard.”

“Changing bad habits always is, Sarah,” Kate offered. “But it's not like you're in it alone.”

----------------------------------------

It was lunchtime, and they were walking in the park. Something was obviously nagging at Sarah's mind. “John. Could you listen to this?” Sarah asked. “Is this like the echo you heard? You know when we sent our ears to Enoch?”

And she got her wrist-unit to play her saying some test sentences.

“I think the echo wasn't that long after the sound, Sarah.”

“That's what I think as well. It's odd.”

“How so?”

“Well, assuming that I've got my basic maths right, this is how long light would take to go right through the middle of the earth to Enoch's home and back again.”

“But does it need to go both ways? What's it sound like if it's just one way?”

“It's got to go both ways though!”

“What does it sound like, Sarah?”

“Oh, all right, like this,” and she played the sound with half the echo time.

“Better, but still slightly too long, I think.”

“Hmm, I agree.”

“So?”

“So if our perceptions of how long the echo is are right, and if the mechanism doesn't introduce extra delays somehow, then the gift is certainly beyond anything physics can study.”

“Urm, could you explain?”

“Did you hear the echo a bit like this?” and she played the recording again, with the echo exactly right.

“Just right! Well done. Where does that get us?”

“Roughly from here to the middle of the earth.”

“So thought moves four times faster than light?”

“Maybe. Or maybe the echo isn't from you hearing me directly and over there too.”

“But if it is?”

“Then either thought is going through hyperspace or some other thing from science fiction, or causality is broken and we're in trouble.”

“Causality?”

“Any event that causes another event is seen to occur before the event that it causes by every observer.”

“Basic physics?”

“It's a basic assumption for some things. It might even be philosophy, I'm not sure. Where you are looking from shouldn't change which one happens first if there's cause and effect.”

“Oh.”

“But if thought really beats light, then in theory you could turn on a laser pointed at Mars because you see through the gift that someone on Mars has turned on their laser. But to someone on Earth it would look like your laser turned on first.”

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“And that's a problem?”

“People will say that you couldn't have done that. Either you did it first, it was independent, or there was some other timing signal.”

“Urm. I still don't get why anyone will be in trouble.”

“Nor am I, if you don't mind being considered a liar. If sequence and cause and effect isn't a problem. It's not quite as much a mess as time travel would bring, of course.”

“I think I understand, almost. But you said there was an alternative. Hyperspace or something? How would that work?”

“Well, it's possible that if our universe is all warped in another dimension and that if you can escape the universe and go through that other space, then you can get round annoying things like the speed of light, and get the space hero home in time to marry his girlfriend. Or space heroine back to marry her boyfriend, of course. But somehow that's rarer in books.”

“That sounded like there were a lot of 'if's in there.”

“Oh, there are. More than I said.”

“But wasn't there something about time being different, so if he goes fast enough he gets home quicker?”

“Yes, if he goes off of his fifty light-year trip fast enough, then for him it can be all in a day's work. Unfortunately his girlfriend isn't as young as she used to be — by about fifty years.”

“Ah. So I'd better take you with me, my beloved?”

“Or not go gallivanting around at nearly the speed of light, yes.”

“So where does this leave us?”

“Refusing to worry and enjoying a walk on a lovely summer's day?”

“That sounds right. And don't forget that a day is like a thousand years for God.”

“And a thousand years like a day. I know, God is outside time.”

“So, Sarah my love, is there really any reason that a spiritual gift should obey known physics?”

“I guess not.”

----------------------------------------

Karen and George, not permitted to enjoy walks together, were eating in George's flat. The convenient thing about using the power while eating was that they could chew and talk at the same time, just by touching.

[George?]

[Yes, Karen?]

[Happy anniversary!]

[Of what?] George tried to work out what had happened a year ago.

[It was about this time of day a week ago that you told everyone including my mother that you would marry me.]

[Karen, anniversaries are usually years, not days! It's in the word.]

[They don't need to be, though. Meanings change.]

[Thank you, Karen. I owe you my life.]

[Thank you, George. I owe you my hands.]

[Hardly compares.]

[I know. All I did was check on you then pass on some information. But you carried me most of the way back down the tunnel, ignoring protesting muscles and exhaustion, not to mention my stupid protests. Thank you, George, for that self-sacrificial love.]

[It came naturally, Karen. I'd been fighting against being in love with you so long, because of the prophesy. It was so wonderful that you were the woman of the prophesy as well as the girl I thought about almost all day and night.]

[And there I was thinking you were stand-offish and formal, never even shaking hands when everyone else was all for ‘greeting one another with a holy kiss'.]

[I did get some of those ‘holy kisses,’ Karen. Some weren't so very holy, unfortunately.]

[Oh? Do I have rivals?] Karen was surprised at the strong jealousy that thought stirred in her.

[Not from my point of view, Karen. Oh it was nothing very serious, but there were some who seemed to be keeping score of how many kisses they could get, and others who I think saw it as a challenge to see if they could sneak up on me unawares.]

[How did they manage?]

[Normally by working in pairs. Around Christmas Sandra cornered me — literally — and declared that if I didn't let her give me a kiss then I was no Christian. Her thoughts were full of victory when she kissed me. Possibly from a bet, I'm not sure.]

[That's terrible!]

[Moderately. It could have been worse.]

[I'm sure.]

[You'll find out, Karen, I expect, that people think of all sorts of things when they are just going about their daily lives. And when they're upset or on an emotional high they talk to themselves, and well, you can't avoid hearing sometimes.]

[Which one was it for me?]

[Pardon?]

[When you learnt that I had contacts? I heard you thinking that when I first tuned into you.]

[Oh. {shame}]

[Come on, George, out with it! It wasn't so accidental, was it?]

[I don't know, Karen, I don't know, but probably not. Maybe it was just I paid more attention to what I heard from you. But you know, there were things like you helping me move tables before and after meetings. I'd start moving one on my own and someone would help. You helped me more often than anyone else, I think.]

[You are a good person to do it with, I never got bruised shins when I moved tables with you.]

[Now you know why. The tables had metal rims round them, so I heard you thinking `oh, watch that step', so I could stop when you did.]

[Ah. So I sought you out for my shin's sake, then you enjoyed listening in?]

[And sneaking glances at your expressions and your beautiful hair, yes, and yes, I listened in so that I wouldn't accidentally hurt the one I loved.]

[So that's when you heard?]

[I think so. No, actually, it was in connection to the bailout device, I think. I remember you thinking ‘maybe Pris should have one of these, no, in her job she'd need something portable.’ I didn't know who Pris was then but I guessed her job was with Security, or undercover police work. How is she?]

[Recovering slowly. Thank God for regrowth medicine.]

[Yes, but I was actually thinking of emotionally, spiritually.]

[The whole thing is really hard on her. About all she can do is listen and think. Even reading's hard. They don't even want her talking much because of her nose. Plus she's bored.]

[Can't your mother find her anything to do? Analysis or something?]

[{surprise} Pris? Analysis? Well it's not normally her thing, but maybe it'd be better than boredom.]

[Anything's better than boredom. And get her one of those eye motion controls for her unit, then she doesn't even need to give voice commands.]

[That's an excellent idea, George. Your reward is this,] and she leant across and kissed him.

[Karen? What do you feel towards me? I mean, we're giving each other kisses on special events, we're spending a lot of time together, eating meals together holding hands, and you know how I feel for you. But the closest thing you've said about how you feel was back on Tuesday when you said ‘I know I will love you.’]

[Ah, but you'd caught me all unawares with that beautiful gift then.]

[So that's the only time you'll tell me how you feel, when I give you a nice surprise?]

[No, George, not at all. But the truth is, I don't know. I like you, we get on well, and if it's an encouragement, I felt really really jealous at the thought of having competition just now. So I guess you could safely say that I don't want anyone else to get you, which I guess means I appreciate and want your love. But... am I in love with you? I don't know. Does my heart speed up when you're near? A little. Do I want your arms around me? Sometimes. Do I cherish a hope that there might be another time when you carry me a mile or more? Yes and no. It was embarrassing for me and hard work for you. But I like knowing that you can, and that if you decide it's necessary you will.]

[So in short, we're growing closer, and you're not really sure you can call it love yet, but you don't object?]

[I don't object at all, George.] Then, not really knowing why until she'd done it, she hid her thoughts. George noticed that and looked at her quizzically. She smiled at him, not wanting to worry him. Then using the table to steady herself, rather than the crutches, she stood, then she twisted on her good leg, wrapping his arm round her waist as she sat back down beside him and she lent her head against him. Unhiding her thoughts she asked, [Did I surprise you, George?]

[Yes. Urm. Very much so.]

[You see, George, now is one of those times I want your arm around me.]

[I guessed that much, but you could have just asked.]

[Wasn't it more fun this way?]

[I suppose so, but it was a bit worrying when you went away like that.]

[George, if I do that, then it's because I want to surprise you. If I'm cross I'll let you know, don't worry.]

[I'll try to remember that.]

[Should I practice surprising you then?]

[If you like. But why, Karen? Why do you want to sit like this?]

[Don't you want to?]

[Oh, Karen, I'd like to hold you this close and closer all day long. I'd like to feel your pulse and breathe the scent of your hair, and I can't wait until we're engaged and then we can get married and can do those things and more all day and all night.]

[But?]

[I don't want to rush you. You told me not to, remember? For very good reasons. I'm happy to have what I have of you and don't want to to make you uncomfortable around me or frighten you away. But what made you decide to do this?]

[I guess I'm seeing what different aspects of closeness are like, George. I thought I might like this. I do. Does you not rushing me mean I have to initiate every closeness, every step nearer to each other?]

[I don't think so, Karen, but what if I'd suggested we sat like this some days ago... Or even this morning?]

[I might have felt pushed, I don't know.]

[So, how do I know when you want to behave like we're a courting couple, and when you want us to stay friends? Are you going to feel like sitting like this is normal tomorrow, or might it be too close?]

[No! I hope not. Maybe. I'm sorry, George. I guess there's no way you can know unless you look in my thoughts and can see better than I can what my messy emotional state is.]

[So, in the interests of not getting too intimate for your comfort, I read your mind? There must be an analogy to that. I can't think what it might be though. Brain surgery to see if you've got a headache? Whatever it is, it's a crazy idea, my love.]

[Really? You've read my mind before.]

[Yes. Looking back on it, it was too intimate. Like, I don't know, you'd asked me to look while you were changing.]

[Really?]

[Yes.]

[But you've linked minds when we were rescuing people. Is that so different?]

[Yes, but that was for important stuff. And not with you. I'm not sure why that makes a difference.]

[Well, George, I think we've got two problems, then, not one.]

[How do you mean?]

[I'm OK with mental intimacy up to a certain extent anyway, and you're not, but you're OK with physical intimacy, I presume up to a certain extent, but I'm not.]

[I've spent most of my life trying to avoid reading peoples' thoughts, Karen.]

[And I've spent most of my life in formal situations, where my parents hardly held hands in public, and anyone except them kissing me would have sparked a diplomatic crisis. But now, George, you're holding me in an embrace that I'd only allow you to hold me in. But given our status as considering engagement, it is not at all culturally inappropriate, here at least. Plus it's nice. So...]

[Let me guess, you want me to ask myself why it's OK for me to link minds with John, Kate or Sarah, but not with you.]

[Yes.]

[Because I love you so much. You're my greatest temptation. You know that, surely, from when you scanned me. And we need to set limits.]

[Ah. I think I see. So, let's link minds and decide on limits together? But for only a shallow linking of minds, and before we link minds, we set temporary limits?]

[OK, my precious one. We don't explore each other's memories? We don't explore emotions?]

[And we don't explore why you calling me your precious one did strange things to my spine.]

[It did?]

[Yes.]

[Should I avoid doing it again?]

[For the moment. Later, urm, that depends.]

[On what?]

[Tell you later. Limits first.]

[Merge?]

[Yes, George.]

[We're both making adjustments, aren't we.]

[Both getting closer together.]

[It's odd, we're still talking, but...]

[There's better communication. Do you understand why I wanted to talk limits like this?]

[No misunderstandings. Do you see why I wanted to avoid this with you?]

[Not really. But we're not exploring emotions or memories right now, and that one's both, almost!] Karen thought.

[So, limits.]

[Touching, that's an easy one, I hope.]

[Skin is off limits unless it's public?] George suggested.

[Public skin, there's a strange concept, but yes, certainly. By that you mean hands, face and lower arms are OK?]

[And feet, lower legs, upper arms?]

[Legs and feet feel riskier than upper arms to me. Lets put them off limits for romance, but OK for, I don't know, putting a plaster on a blister or something.]

[OK. And otherwise, clothes set the limit?]

[Except for ball gowns. {image}]

[{shock} You wore that in public? Hey, I got that image from you.]

[You did! Interesting. Of course the gown made a big impression on me.]

[And every male in the hall?]

[Urm, I was modestly dressed. You know my visual memory's no good. I'm probably misremembering.]

[I hope so. Do I dare ask what other ladies were wearing? Don't answer — memories are out of bounds.]

[But I want to see if I remember the picture you gave me!]

[No memories, especially emotional ones. Until we've set the limits.]

[Cruel man. Next limit: kissing.]

[Not the same as touching?] George asked.

[No!]

[Then could you be specific?]

[Face, lips, hands, lower arms are OK, and urm, no tongues.]

[Fine by me. Let's not swap germs until we're married. What about your neck, or shoulders?]

[Let's put them in a maybe category. What about yours?]

[I don't know if they're particularly sensitive.]

[Or erotic?] Karen asked.

[You'd have to tell me that.]

[Urmmmm... pass, so let's put them in maybe too.]

[Next limit. Topics of conversation,] George suggested.

[Oooh. Hadn't thought of that one.]

[I urm, understand that marriage preparation needs full and frank discussions.]

[So not so much a limit as a not yet?]

[Sounds a good idea. Lots of topics to not discuss now, none to be left on the list, what a month before the wedding?]

[We'll need certain decisions before then, George.]

[OK, but let's not talk about things until it's more appropriate, OK?]

[Agreed.]

[Next one?] George asked.

[The gift?]

[The big topic indeed. But first the power. You mentioned feedback, last week, and it seems relevant. What is it?]

[I'll ask Sarah more soon. But I know they can't sit like this now, can't even hold hands for long, unless one of them hides.]

[Why not? What happens?] George asked, confused.

[Sarah feels John's love for her, responds with greater love, he responds to her, and so on.]

[So their emotions get linked and both are ready for the wedding?]

[Yes. Very by the sound of it. But George, they've had it happening almost since they met!]

[I guess John wouldn't be able to carry Sarah down that tunnel then. It hadn't occurred to me that a long engagement could cause a problem. But I guess it could, couldn't it?]

[They probably couldn't do the experiments we're doing either. But you're right, either we get engaged before we're as emotionally entangled as they are, and manage to stay relatively cool towards each other until the last few months, or we plan for a short engagement. But that'd be awkward for my parents.]

[I'd actually assumed that we would at least finish university before we got married, Karen.]

[Then should I avoid falling in love with you? I don't think I can do that, George.]

[Let's unmerge, Karen.] She heard worry in his thoughts.

“What is it, George?”

“It was a scary thought. What if the feedback comes from merging thoughts?”

“So by discussing it there we were inviting it?”

“Yes.”

“I think Sarah said that they'd had it for a while before they found how to link their minds. Something else I need to ask her.”

“Can we not link minds until you have asked her please, precious.”

“You did it again, George.”

“I'm sorry. What's the problem with me calling you that, Karen?”

“I like it too much. Urm, George, I think there's a memory there, and I want to find out. I know you want to avoid linking, but please? To find that memory?”

“Let's discuss using the gift first then. Or shall we finish with the power?”

“Limit for the power: we don't play with feedback.”

“Agreed. Feedback sounds to me like something for our honeymoon, not before.”

“Agreed. No playing with feedback until after our wedding. If it happens, we adjust so it doesn't.”

“Yes. What about the gift?”

“Concern about physical and moral safety are reasons to use it on each other.”

“Moral? You mean if one of us thinks the other is falling into sin?”

“Yes, but not just the obvious. You know how John got all tied in a knot last week? Sarah said she scanned him, saw the problem and was able to pull him back to his right senses before it got too bad. She used the gift from concern for his state of mind. I want you to know that I want you to feel free to do that.”

“Yes. Agreed. You can do that too. Shall we call it physical, moral and psychological safety? I mean, not every crazy thought is sin, is it?”

“Oh, probably. It's either going to come back to pride or lack of trust or something like that. But yes, George, of course. Perhaps we should just say, “if we're reasonably concerned about the other one?”

“OK, so if I'm concerned that you're not eating enough, say. Would that be a good reason?”

“If you think it is from a mental problem, yes. In my right mind I'd see that as some kind of sin. Maybe a worshipping of body form, or something.”

[I like your body form.]

[George!]

[Sorry. Slipped out. True though. You're beautiful.]

[So, if I'm concerned about your sanity as regarding my beauty?]

[Then I don't think you should scan me. It might feed your pride. And your telling me about that ball gown might not help me keep my thoughts pure.]

[George, you know my visual memory isn't great. You'll see what it's really like.]

[So do you still have it?]

[Yes. And there was a reason that I thought of it, George. I'm going to wear it again.]

[Urm. Before our wedding?]

[Yes. According to the doctor I'm certainly going to be out of this cast by the time of an annual fund-raising ball my parents help organise. It'll be expected that I go, and either I take you or I'm going to be at the mercy of the rich young heathens.]

[You want me to stand by you protectively, or actually dance?]

[Dance. And if you'd given me that ring by then, well, there'd be fewer questions about why I wasn't dancing with anyone else.]

[Karen, you're serious?]

[About the ring or dancing? Both.]

[But Karen! I can't dance!]

[Would you be willing to learn?]

[Of course!]

[Then that's all right.]

[Karen, can you teach me with crutches?]

[Probably not. But we'll solve that one somehow.]

[Karen, but what about the ring? Are you seriously saying you'd like me to propose before then?]

[It'd solve some problems.]

[But would you feel ready to accept that soon?]

[I think I will be, George. Another limit on the gift, George. Please?]

[What?]

[We don't use it frivolously, but nor do we refuse to use it to help each other.]

[You want me to scan you?]

[Or link minds. I want to explore that memory, and I can't do that on my own. Also I want to know how I think about you, and I can't do that alone either.]

[Oh, Karen. I love you, but must you force this?]

[I think I must. If you're going to hesitate to use the gift now, when I'm asking you to, what about when you need to check on me because I'm acting oddly?]

[I don't know, Karen. I don't know why I feel I shouldn't use it.]

Karen reached a conclusion. George was hung up about something, and it was hurting them both. [George, then let's leave me to one side. I'm concerned about you. Scan or merge?]

[I don't know, Karen. What's concerning you? You're the one who showed me the ethics statement and talked about breach of mental privacy. Shouldn't I grant you that privacy?]

[George, is this about you or me?]

[I don't want to be a ‘peeping Tom,’ Karen. {distress}]

[I don't understand, George. {compassion}]

“Oh, scan me, Karen,” he said aloud. She did. She saw that there was a lot of shame in him. She saw the source, his worry, his struggles. She stopped looking and analysed. He had such a good memory, and he was remembering a lot about her. What she said, how she said it, her expressions, her clothes, her skin. How sometimes there was more skin visible than there should have been. It wasn't quite lust, she saw, but it was certainly difficult for him to keep his God-given desires under control. He had grown afraid of seeing her thoughts too, as if that would be like stripping her bare, feeding the thing he was fighting against. Her exaggerated memory of the ball-gown hadn't helped, she was sure. She knew there had been a picture taken at that ball, and published somewhere. She'd find it and correct the exaggeration. [George,] she thought, [I'm sorry.]

[What for?]

[Wrong memory of the ball gown, this top, I've not been helping, have I?]

[You saw then. I'm sorry.]

[I don't know what you have to be sorry for, George. You're fighting it. You're not pawing at me or deliberately looking at what you can't have yet. You're winning, but there are two things I want you to do.]

[Yes?]

[Actually three. One, I'd like you to repent of thinking that being attracted to me is sin. That's just silly. You're supposed to be attracted to the woman you love. It's actually incredibly flattering. Second, you need to realise that if you look in my brain for a year you're not going to find a picture of me standing unclothed in front of a mirror. I'm not that vain.]

[And three?]

[I want you to kiss me and as you do to give me a little scan.]

[Why while we kiss?]

[Seems appropriate for what I hope you'll find.]

[You've decided you do love me?] She heard the hope in his voice.

[I refuse to say and if you don't give me my kiss then I'm going to be cross.]

[I love you, my precious Karen,] George said as he kissed her and scanned her as she'd requested.

She'd been right, of course. No pictures to fuel his desire. He did see that her thoughts about him had crystallised into love, and that their conversation about limits had been a key part, but other things too, like realising she'd made it difficult for him. She was sure that her memory of the gown had become exaggerated and she wanted to correct it with a picture. And as she'd heard him call her her precious, it had triggered an old old memory.

[Karen, love, I've found your love and the memory.]

[You have? Sneaky man for triggering it.]

[Merge, so I can show you?]

[Yes, my love.]

[See there, that memory? You were talking to your Daddy.]

[Yes! Of course! He said I would always be his precious little girl, but one day I'd fall in love and then I'd be that man's precious wife too, just like Mummy became his precious.]

Having looked at the memory, they separated their minds.

“A special moment?”

“I liked the idea of being precious and treasured. I still do, so you're in luck, me too, in fact.”

“Do I guess why?”

“You're not going to need to wait until I'm fifty, and I've met the man I'm going to marry before leaving university.”

“That's ambiguous, you know. Did you want to marry before we leave, or just meet me?”

“Urm. The original plan was just meet, fall in love with, maybe get engaged to. Let's see how long we can date without feedback, shall we? Feedback sounds like a pain.”

“Starting married life on campus doesn't sound that easy either,” George pointed out.

“It's generally frowned upon, I believe. But maybe not as hard as not marrying and staying pure.”