Sarsaparilla: Being a miserly level 7 is no joy at all.

Sarsaparilla walked out of the Institute of Esp Testing building and hopped down the steps two at a time.

She was not very happy.

Darn it! I've been here for two months already! I've followed all of the recommended exercises! I've spent all of my money on extra tuition! But my score is still practically zero!

She got to the bottom of the steps and halted, body sagging in dejection. She held the results card in one hand, with the other she tugged at her short blond hair in frustration.

The card read:

Implant Status: present and active

Ability level: 7

Ability Index Code: 132

Ability Name: Blank

Oh geez! Ability level only seven! The best espers have ability levels up in the eight hundreds! Even the worst tend to be about a hundred.

And mine is only level seven. That's no better than random background noise in the brain! Hell, even normals without implants are ten or twenty or so!

And I still don't know what my ability is!

She tore up the card; tore it into tiny pieces and dumped the confetti into the nearest bin. A gust of wind swirled around and scattered the pieces onto the ground. It also fluffed up her hair even more.

Oh shit, another bad hair day! I hate days like this.

Grumbling under her breath, she picked up the pieces and made sure they got into the recycling bin.

Then, with apathy and misery in every step, she turned towards the shopping district and started walking.

Although, since this was Mars, her walking would have looked slightly strange to someone fresh from Earth. The gravity here was only a third of Earth's, so Sarsaparilla weighed a third of what she would have on Earth. Accordingly, each step she took was much longer, and her body followed a trajectory that was higher, compared to what it would have been on Earth.

So picture her taking two-metre steps, gliding along with her feet not touching the ground between each step. She, being a native Martian, did this with casual elegance and poise, in perfect balance. And, in this very particular case, with noticeable despondency.

She moved through the local shopping precinct. Around her were the evening crowds. There were parents with small children in tow out for a family treat. High school children going home after having been to movies or coffee shops or clubs. A few older office workers also going home. A couple of police officers talking to someone in the neighbour watch centre. Occasional delivery vans making deliveries.

And, in a few cases, people were doing amazing things.

Over there, a high school boy, maybe eighteen, with a group of like-minded boys. Only, instead of walking, this boy was floating along, feet two metres off the ground. No one paid the slightest attention. Although one of the boys said

"Hey! Get back down to Mars, we want to talk to your face, not your shoes!"

On the other side, a teenage girl was having a heated discussion with her group. Small metal nails pinwheeled around her head as she gestured. Her companions, without the gravity-defying nails, argued right back.

Up ahead, a small boy, hand in hand with his mother, had a surrounding nimbus of glowing air.

"Johnny! You have to turn that off when we get inside the movie theatre, otherwise, no one will be able to see the screen!" said the mother.

"Yes, mum."

The glow disappeared.

All of these casual displays of esp powers were totally ignored. Except by Sarsaparilla.

She was grumbling to herself and beginning to grind her teeth.

Everyone is sooooo happy to show off their superpowers, but I don't even know what mine is!

She stopped again.

Must. Calm. Down. This won't do... Hello, what's this?

'This' was the shop front she was right in front of. It proudly advertised itself as the 'Chocolate Ice cream Frenzy'.

She had not seen this place before.

Sarsaparilla's gaze was magnetically attracted to the prominent menu displayed. Her mouth began watering. Her mind instantly took into account how much money she had on her credit card, how much she needed for next week's food and rent, how much she would be earning in her part-time job this weekend and produced an answer.

I can afford to splurge a dollar and sixty cents. Oooh, and there's a chocolate ice cream basic frenzy, small, for exactly that!

Her body moved on its own accord and she was inside and plonking her school bag onto an empty table before she knew it.

If I can't have an esp power, at least I can have an ice cream!

She put on her best cheerful face and went to the counter to order.

The middle-aged, slightly plump lady behind the counter smiled at her. She was wearing a red and purple checked apron and a headscarf of the same pattern.

"Hello lovie, I haven't seen you before, new to the town?"

"Yes, I've just moved halfway around Mars to be able to attend the best of schools. And can I have a small basic frenzy?"

"Sure, sure."

The lady smiled, hesitated slightly as her eyes momentarily focused on nothing, then leant forward on the counter.

"Since you're new here, and looking a bit despondent, how about I upgrade that to a chocolate ice cream deluxe frenzy with extra fruit for the same price?"

"Really? I'll love it!"

Although I didn't realise I was showing my feelings so clearly on my face...

Sarsaparilla went back to her seat.

Things are looking up! I won't give up yet, I'll keep on trying!

The counter lady constructed the deluxe frenzy and brought it over.

I shall make friends. And, for once, keep them. And I shall one day claim my superpower!

Also, with all of this ice cream, I won't need as much food for my meal tonight, so I end up saving money. Win, win, all the way around!

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

Adalace (pronounced Ada-Lace): Getting her custom-designed computer

Adalace presented herself to the chief engineer's lab.

Put on a medium level smile, put head slightly on one side, and look up when he sees you.

Just as well he is so tall, even compared to me.

"Hi, Adalace, come to check on the progress of your computer?" said the engineer, smiling in return.

"Yes, sure have."

She did her best to dial up the cuteness to another notch.

The engineer smiled even more.

Yep, it's working!

"Well, the computer circuit boards were delivered, so we now just have to assemble them to your specifications."

He was holding one of those boards. A metre square and a centimetre thick, it looked nothing like the old fashioned computer boards that were now found in museum display cases. Instead, it looked like a solid sheet of copper, which for some reason had felt the need to imitate a slice of Swiss cheese. Swiss cheese which also had a multitude of electrical connectors embedded in it.

"Ah, yes, I remember these boards, I was on the team that assembled the supercomputer that used them. A decade or more ago. State of the art, it was at the time."

"Really? That computer must have looked real cool when it was finished. All of those power supplies and liquid nitrogen cooling systems."

"Sure was. Each one of these boards had to have a cubic metre or so of cooling machinery, plus massive bus bars providing the high current electricity. And there are a hundred such boards. The outside ventilation stacks for the final heat discharge went up ten metres! And they got pretty warm, I can tell you. And now it is obsolete. A bit of a shame, but still, it's nice that they are going to be used for something."

At this point, the engineer looked puzzled.

"So, exactly why are you mounting all of these boards flat to each other? Some sort of abstract computer art? Although, in that case, why are you fully specifying the electrical and data connectors between each plane? When fully assembled, you can't see them from the outside."

Here comes the part when I have to tell him what I'm aiming for. It’s going to be hard to keep up the act. Oh, well, here we go.

Adalace smiled and clapped her hands together.

"Ah, but you see, it's not art. It's going to be a fully functional computer. In fact, I'm going to overclock it like crazy, it's going to run faster than the original."

Oh-oh, he's got that look that says 'I had better humour the little girl, don't want to hurt her feelings'.

So, before he could reply, she got in her explanation.

"It's my esp ability. To run this computer you need massive amounts of electrical power. Which, when it is configured the way I want it, would melt the whole thing down to a puddle of copper in mere seconds. However, using my ability I can connect the boards to the power grid and power them up as much as is required, and then I can magically take away all of the resulting heat. In fact, I can cool down the circuits to liquid nitrogen temperatures. All by my little own self."

The engineer opened his mouth to comment, then stopped, and thought about it.

"Well, if you can remove all of the waste heat with the requisite amount of control, I suppose it would work... But what about the programming?"

A big toothy grin from Adalace. The engineer could see she had a small gap between her two top front teeth.

"Oh, programming. No problems. I'm a genius."

Give him a big smile. Make sure he still sees a cute little girl, well, cute little tall girl, even if she is a genius programmer.

Yep, I think it's working.

A week later.

The boss of the neighbourhood Watch Centre number 77, Captain Sarawatch, took the delivery.

"Come through here, turn right, OK, put it on that bench."

Two big blokes, muscles bulging from the effort, lifted the cubic metre of copper and plastic, not to mention all of those Swiss cheese holes, onto the reinforced bench. It creaked slightly under the load.

Adalace's desk was right next to it. She stood up and patted the top of the computer. She was almost jumping for joy.

Wow, it's here! Now I can start connecting up the exterior data connectors, and installing the software!

"So, Adalace, when do we get to see a demonstration of this little wonder?" said Sarawatch.

"Oh, well, you see, maybe a few weeks. There's still a lot to be done."

"Fine, fine. But you still need to do your normal shift, you know. And, just incidentally, go to school."

"Yes, yes."

Ugh. Still, I suppose the authorities have been so generous in donating me the circuit boards and allowing me to run it at work and to connect it to the city's systems, so I can't complain.

So smile nicely at my boss, and then get going.

A month later.

Finally, I can demonstrate it!

Adalace was sitting at her desk. In front of her, and wrapping around the sides of her, were eight computer monitors. Large, high definition monitors, stacked four across and two high. To her right was the big computer; to her left was her office computer. And behind all of this was a snakes den of computer cables. Big ones, small ones, all the colours of the rainbow. Connecting the monitors, and both computers, they also spread out and joined to other equipment in the office. There were also very high-speed optical link cables linking the big computer to the city's computing infrastructure. Adalace had hacked out holes in the walls to allow access.

And there were the insulated copper busbars carrying the current to run the thing. The city's engineers had installed a whole power substation, especially for this purpose.

"OK, captain. It's all connected to the city's systems. As long as I'm within three or four metres of it, I can use my esp ability to make all of the waste heat just disappear. I've already turned it on, see the power gauges?

Sarawatch had indeed seen the power gauges.

"Hmm, that's an awful lot of power."

She touched the top of the supercomputer. It was cold to touch.

"The insides are even colder." said Adalace, "I carefully manipulate the temperature gradient so that the internals are at liquid nitrogen temperatures, while the casing is just below room temperature. Otherwise, the surrounding air might also liquefy - which would make things a bit unpleasant for us."

I think I've reached the limit for her patience with technical explanations. I had better move on.

"So, perhaps, for a first example, we can look at the surveillance cameras..."

On the top row of monitors appeared multiple views from multiple cameras.

"Now, I run one of my specially designed programs - let’s say we want to track all males with red jumpers."

Adalace didn't use a normal keyboard. No, far too slow for our genius programmer. Instead, wrapped around each of her wrists was something that looked like a normal wristband. Everyone on Mars wore at least one of these clever little devices. They monitored the health of the owner, plus provided many other functions. For example, they could pick up the faint electrical pulses from her muscles and convert them to keyboard commands. Many people, but not all, used such things instead of computer keyboards. Adalace took this to the extreme. She could produce two independent streams of keyboard commands, one from each hand, and do so far faster than a proficient touch typist would.

She held her hands free and twitched her fingers in precisely controlled, rapid patterns. The resulting electrical pulses in her muscles were detected, amplified, and subsequently converted, somewhere along the line, to keyboard commands, which in turn were fed to her big computer. Its custom-programmed code turned these into the appropriate actions, and rows and rows of live camera scenes appeared on the top four of her monitor screens. Mostly showing males in red jumpers.

"Hmm, that one looks like a young girl in a red top. And that one is a mannequin in a shop window." said the captain, pointing to a couple of images.

"Well, nothing is perfect."

"Let's now refine the search, to all cases of one male in a red jumper, together with a woman, and set the search area to be the back alleys of the industrial location."

Most of the camera feeds disappeared. Now there were only three. One showing a teenage boy and a teenage girl walking side by side. One showing a woman pointing to a wall, with the man holding a paintbrush and a can of paint. And the last one showed a woman backed up against a wall, with the man looming over her, his arms reaching out both sides of her, hands on the wall.

"Oh, we'll zoom in on that one..."

The image filled one of the monitor screens. Held captive by the man, the woman... stood on her tippy toes, leaned forward, and kissed him. He did not seem to object, either.

"Oh."

Adalace went red in the face and hurriedly removed the image. Sarawatch laughed.

"Err, anyway, that is a little bit of what it can do."

"So, I take it that your ability is what makes all of this possible?"

"Yes. With the sort of power this uses, the entire thing would melt very rapidly, if the heat wasn't removed fast enough."

"Hmm. You know, having an esp ability like that is very useful, given that you are also a genius-level programmer..."

That's what I like to hear!

"Yes, it is. Personally, I think it is far too much of a coincidence. I think the esp ability is also upgrading my programming abilities. After all, most of the high-level espers that require lots of implicit computation, like magnetic control and shielding, are also very good at mathematics."

"I suppose that makes sense. Whatever."

Sarawatch, who was too old to even have esp powers, left to attend to her own duties.

Adalace leant back in her office chair, adjusted her hairclip with the plastic flower, and idly entered a few more searches.

Let's see, how about a search for all high school girls walking through the alleys?

Images of schoolgirls appeared.

Now narrow that down to, say, all of those that show only two.

A half dozen video feeds of pairs of schoolgirls: some walking side by side, one pair carrying a bulky parcel between them, a bigger girl and a smaller one taking a dog for a walk, two girls with their arms wrapped around each other and kissing each other...

Her face going red again, she started to zoom in on this last image.

Then her body gave a little jump and she wiped the images from the screens.

Shit! What am I doing! Using the surveillance cameras to spy on people is explicitly forbidden. Crap, why am I doing this? Remember, the city's systems will be logging everything that I access!

I don't want to blow my cover as a cute little girl!

She decided she had better get back to her normal work duties.

But the image remained in her mind for the rest of the shift.

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

Teylon, the Teflon Rat: Decides he had better immigrate to Mars. Immediately.

Teylon wiped the sweat from his face and head, and then put his wide-brimmed hat back on. The track he was walking on was sand, dry sand with a smattering of dead gum leaves. On either side of him was bushland, thinly filled with small eucalyptus trees and sparse bushes. All soaked in the heat of a typical Australian summer. Teylon continued along the path, getting in some exercise. He kept on going a few hundred metres, occasionally nodding to people as they went past. Since he looked so genial and non-threatening, most of them smiled back as they passed.

Time for a break. This bench will do.

He sat back and got the weight off his feet. He stretched out his right leg, which had once been broken in his childhood. It always ached after too much exercise.

He yawned. He started ruminating about his professional life.

Now that I've successfully finished that job, I wonder what I should do next?

Hmm, that job was extremely lucrative. I certainly don't need to do any more work for the rest of my life.

He was a bit over fifty years old. Too early to retire.

Find some other job to do? It's getting a bit of a chore, you know. One day I might make a mistake...

He looked from side to side. Nobody happened to be in sight at the moment.

I suppose I should get up and get some more exercise. It's so hot, but.

There was the sound of leaves being disturbed behind him, so he looked around.

What's that toddler doing there all by himself?

The toddler in question was walking along, striding ahead with the complete confidence of those who are completely unaware of any dangers.

Like, for example, the large one-metre long dugite snake, currently lying on the sand. Probably flaked out from the heat, and definitely not wanting to meet any humans.

Shit.

Shit.

He got up and looked around. Still nobody in sight.

What can I use to grab the snake?

He did not have anything suitable.

My hat?

Shit.

He took off the hat, wrapped it around his right hand, stepped around the bench, and realised that he was running out of time. The kid was very close to treading on the snake. The snake was beginning to stir, to turn its head towards the kid.

Shit. Am I really doing this? What am I, some sort of freaking hero?

He lunged forward, trying to prevent the snake from reaching the boy. There was a moment of furious movement, the snake whipped around, sending dust flying. It then rapidly slithered away. Teylon hit the ground and stretched out flat. The boy stood there, a surprised look slowly appearing on his face.

"My son, where are you?"

The female's voice was nearby, but its owner was obscured by the bushes. The boy decided that Teylon was, obviously, a suspicious character, so he turned and ran for his mother.

"Please, don't go off like that, there are all sorts of strange men around!"

Teylon, lying outstretched on the ground, nodded his head in agreement.

Yeah, all sorts of strange men...

He looked at his lower right arm. He must have been enthralled by the sight, as he didn't look away.

Two red marks.

Two red marks.

Right. So does that mean I was bitten?

Yeah, I suppose so.

I had better get up and find help.

How long does the poison take, again?

He seemed to remember that the reaction time was variable, depending on where the bite was and how much venom the snake had.

He was not feeling too well.

Need to get up and get help.

He tried.

Damn, I can't even stand. And there's no one around.

And that mother doesn't even know I saved her child.

Why is the venom so fast? Did the snake hit an artery?

Looks like I don't need to worry about retirement, after all.

His face centimetres above the sand, he watched a couple of ants walk past his nose.

Damn. Think of that kid. At least I saved him. That makes it all worthwhile. Right? Right? Even if no one knows.

Shit.

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

He was sitting on the bench again. Feeling perfectly fine. Even his leg did not ache.

What?

There was still no one around - wait, a lady was sitting on the other end of the bench.

Middle age, slim, wearing an elegant business dress, the sort that a funeral attendant would wear. Hands clasped in her lap, looking at him with just the faintest touch of a smile on her face.

"Hello, Teylon. You may call me Esmeralda." she said.

She made no further introductions, but Teylon knew without the slightest doubt what she was. An Angel of Death. This feeling of certainty was probably a side effect of being dead.

Oh.

"You know, I am an atheist, after all, so I find this a bit hard to take. Well, I suppose I was an atheist."

Nothing like direct scientific evidence to contradict a previously firmly held belief is there. Let's hope it isn't held against me.

"No, that's fine. What we're mostly interested in is what you did with your life. And, especially, the moral choices you made." she said

"Oh, right. You can read my mind."

"Of course. Reading your mind and soul is very useful when it comes to Judgement time."

Oh-oh. This could get unpleasant.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. Although, when we finally get around to Judgement time, I'm sure we will have a fascinating talk about how you made your fortune, Mr Teflon Rat."

"Ah, well, I like to think of it as redistributing the unjustly gained wealth of the corrupt to more deserving beneficiaries. Instead of it being accumulated in overseas banking accounts it is put to direct use in the local economy... Ah"

The angel held out her hand to stop him from continuing. She looked annoyed.

"As I said, we will have a very detailed and thorough talk about this later. I'm sure you will pass muster, even if you won't be enjoying it."

That sounds both ominous and hopeful at the same time.

"But right now, you are being sent right back to your mortal life."

"Because I saved that child?"

"Hmm, actually no. Not quite. Although we appreciate the moral choice you made. And even the fact that, after you realised you had no hope left, you still considered it worthwhile."

"Well, then why?"

Amazing, I am talking about my death to my judge, with perfect calm and poise.

The angel momentarily nodded in agreement to that thought, then continued.

"Sometimes, we are permitted to meddle in the affairs of mortals. When the stakes are high enough and the payback is big enough. But we operate under severe constraints. We can't intervene directly, we have to get the cooperation of a human. Of course, only humans with the necessary qualifications need apply."

"And I qualify?"

"Yes. Your particular and somewhat peculiar combination of moralities is just what we need."

"Pleased to hear it! Ah, and what job have you lined up for me?"

"In short, you will be going to Mars. As soon as possible. And, once there, you will seek out and eradicate the evil that currently exists at the core of Mar's society."

Silence.

"Evil? Err, do you mean something to do with the esp stuff? Although I wasn't aware that it was particularly evil, not that I have paid much attention to such things, mind you."

"Certainly it's to do with esp abilities. Unfortunately, I can't explain it any further. You need to rely on your own efforts, and the efforts of those you find and convince to join you, to carry out this task."

"But, but, I haven't a clue how to do all of that, or how to find people to do it..."

"Don't worry. Too much. Things will happen that will help you. Think of the phrase 'Narrative Causality'. To some extent, your life will be like that."

"Excuse me?"

The angel ignored his objection and kept on talking.

"I will also be loaning you some powers. You will be able, as far as I allow it, to read a person's soul and find out what sort of person they are, what sort of life they have read. And, if you decide, on your own free will, you may ask me to Judge that person."

"Judge that person. Like, as in they die there and then, and you take over and do, whatever it is you do normally?"

"That's right."

That's one scary power I have, what if I make a mistake?"

"You might make a mistake, but I won't. I'll just ignore your request."

"And you can't just directly, err, Judge the person yourself?"

"Unfortunately not. We need to do it in this roundabout manner to satisfy our divine directives. I'm afraid I can't elaborate any further."

"Right. Fine."

"And lastly, just because you have been given an extension to your life doesn't mean you get off scot-free. As soon as your task, and whatever obligations you might accrue along the way, are discharged, you will be meeting with me again. For real. And if you decide not to carry out this task, you will also be meeting with me shortly thereafter. Remember that."

Gulp.

"Right. I'll remember..."

Oh crap, she's gone.

Tell me again, how do I save Mars? It's not exactly something I have any skills in.