Crying Over Spilt Light (Sci-fi Mind Bender With A Sexy Muse)

Chapter 2i

Yanni paced up and down the empty room and he was furious.

What was Hermes doing with these kids? Were they using them for some sort of human interaction experiment? Was it safe? If it wasn't safe, would anyone ever know? What morals were they teaching those kids? If one of them hurt the other, what did their adoptive mother do about it?

All reason left him and all he wanted was to yell at the cameras for putting them up to this, for putting Alex up to this, and take the little boy back home, where he would be safe, where he would grow up in a real home with a real mom.

The reasonable part of his brain took over and had him think that they engineered that. The toy was exactly the same as his son's, the kid could pass off as Georgie's brother if he had to. They fixed the whole thing for this response, this was a test. Even if he could take the kid and adopt him and give him a loving family, what could he do about the rest of them? And who was to say that they weren't better off this way? They must have assured colleges and any academic paths they set their minds to when they grow up, as true corporate offspring and loyal to the bone. Who was he to decide to take this away?

He couldn't save them. Especially not now. Maybe in the future, when he had finished his proof. When he had the same pull with this company like Nikos had. Maybe then he could do something for this. Threaten with telling the media. Anything.

But he had to win this battle. For him, for his family, for science, for everyone. This sadistic battle, built as if it was meant to torment him.

He calmed himself and sat down. He hoped he hadn't scared off the kid, but if Alex was startled, he didn't show it.

"Alex," he said with the sweetest voice he could muster. "I'm here to teach you something, would you like that?"

Alex smiled and bobbed his cute head up and down in acknowledgment.

"Okay. Here it goes. You know about computers, right? They must give you tablets and things like that to play games, right?" he asked with an anticipation matching the one of his marriage proposal.

Alex nodded positively.

"Great. Those computers, have a machine brain inside them. We call that a processor. Are you with me?"

"Yes. Pro-scissor."

"Let's call it that, it doesn't matter. The pro-scissor needs to be fast for the games to play fast. We hate it when the games go slow, right? Great. So we make faster and faster pro-scissors but the stuff we put in there cannot go too fast. They are lazy and say 'Oh! Don't push us so hard' and they sit around not doing the job."

Alex giggled and nodded yes.

"Great. So, we need to put faster stuff in there, ones that are not lazy. And you know what the fastest thing in the whole world is?"

Alex shook his head and his eyes demanded to know the answer.

"Light. Light from the sun is the fastest thing in the whole world. It's not lazy at all. But sunlight is so fast that you need something clever to keep it in," said Yanni and cupped air with both his hands. He shook his palms still closed together as if he was holding a wasp. That seem to entertain Alex a lot.

"When I tell the sunlight to do a job, I need to see if he did it or not, right?"

"Right."

"So I take a peek," he said taking a peek in his hands and Alex leaning close to see as well, "but the sunlight finds the hole and spills out!" He opened his hands and let the light leave.

"Heehee! Like. Like the flour."

"Just like the flour."

"Then mommy is mad at the mess we made!"

"Yes! So, we need to find a way to make the sunlight roll around in circles. So when we take a peek, most of the sunlight will stay inside. A man named Maxwell, who had a great big bushy beard, thought of tricking the sunlight into knots. Just like my shoelace, here see? I made a knot, so it won't leave my foot."

"I can't tie my shoelaces yet and that's why I have scratch shoes."

"I know, I couldn't tie my shoelaces either when I was little. But now I can, I learned the trick. And I am also trying to learn to tie the sunlight into knots, so it stays there and not spill out. I just need to find the trick."

"And then you can throw away the scratch shoes for sneakers with shoelaces, who are faster and then you can be faster."

"And?"

"And then you can be fast enough to do the trick to the sunlight to plup-plup around in little... in little knots like the shoelaces and take a peek fast enough to close your hands again," said Alex, peeking into his tiny hands.

So this was how a Eureka moment looked like.

"And then?"

"And then the pro-scissor won't be lazy and do the job fast and I won't have to wait for the slow game!"

Someone clapped. A slow, full clap. Yanni turned around and saw the smart woman from before. "Excellent Dr. Tsafantakis. Come with me. Don't worry, they will come pick up the child in a moment."

Yanni waved goodbye to Alex. The child looked up and asked, "Are you allowed to bring Georgie to play with me?"

"That is the first thing I am going to ask this nice lady. Goodbye Alex," he said.

"Goodbye Mister," said Alex and went back to playing with his toy truck.

Yanni followed the smart-dressed woman in the next room. At this point, he was prepared for anything.