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Chapter twenty-Seven: Upgraded Realities
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Tahiti Islands
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November 1821
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Charles and Charlotte had just been about to unclick from their Cousins' Mind Construct when they/it felt the song…
What's that?
It wasn't really a question. It was more of a mental frown. Some awareness that wasn't there before but which pulled them/it into another highlighted direction.
The Mind had learned to use its members wherever they were to increase its range but it was still restricted to said members' senses.
As usual it was Charles who decided that they needed to get nearer to what they could sense but only as a vague -if powerful- presence.
Get your father and let him direct the board. You'll get there sooner and they will be less worried.
A part of Charles mind took hold of his mind-share with his parents and signaled his wish to discuss.
His father was, of course, immediately up.
Father could it be possible to come with us? I think I've seen something out at see and I'd like to have a look at it… With you we would be there faster.
Fitzwilliam was immediately aware that it wasn't Charles -at least Charles' mind- who had entered a mind-share with him.
Charles had this weird habit to avoid using verbs. This was either his mind clicked with his sister's or the whole mind-thing he had spoken about earlier.
Of course, let's get your mom and the big boards and we'll get you out there.
To Fitzwilliam's surprise there was no protest about taking their mother with them.
Definitively not Charles alone.
- The kids would like to go out there, but they'd prefer to have us with them. You care if we take them on our boards and move out there?
Out there being the direction he was pointing at.
Lizzie having felt her son's distance frowned but was immediately up.
The fact that it was the very first time that the kids wanted them to accompany them was a signal! She wouldn't just dismiss their demand out of hand.
- Why not? We do gender boards or cross boards?
- Charles seems in a hurry. I'll take him we'll be there faster, and you'll join us at your leisure.
- Let's do that…
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What had from the shore looked like waves breaking on a coral reef was in reality a huge school of little fishes being herded by around a hundred humpback dolphins very busy hunting their dinner.
The show was awesome and they soon had half a dozen of the smart critters dealing with them while the rest of the pack bubbled the school a few hundred yards away to be able to do their feasting without being bothered by curious Humans.
One of the eight adult dolphins in charge of the interloper, an old female who had already eaten her share for the day, approached the forward board and delicately glided upon it coming from its front.
The board was imbalanced but since she had come from the front it wasn't lopsided.
She glided towards the little human and touched him with her beak.
And the world exploded in her mind…
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One moment the sea around them was the very expression of movement, grace, frantic activities, and diversity.
And then everything stopped.
As if a magic wand had stopped the time.
Of course, the shoal of fish went on for a few seconds before disappearing under the surface but every dolphin present stopped its former activity to find himself or herself gathered around Fitzwilliam's board with every attentive eyes looking at Charles.
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The Mind had immediately understood that it was encountering something new.
Well not new.
Since the Mind could feel that there was another mind facing it.
The problem was that it was unable to understand that other mind.
That's frustrating…
Indeed.
The mind was not a monolithic construct like a human mind. It could have become one but Mom Jane's efforts had prevailed and the members of the mind had never really accepted to be absorbed into what the mind could have been had they given up their individuality.
So, there was always a current of contradictions and exchanges even while they were clicked together.
Let's try something else… Ask your dad to touch the female, Charles. And make him send his thoughts toward her like he does with you. She's perhaps capable of listening to them.
Pappa, could you please touch her and send her a greeting?
Fitzwilliam who was in mind-share with Lizzie clicked out and approached his hand in direction of what he had just discovered being a female of the species.
Her eyes were, if he could judge another species' eyes, full of curiosity and what very much looked like mirth.
She let him touch her and he made a great effort to send his thoughts in the exact manner Charles had explained -tried to at least- him how to do it.
Hello fair Lady, I'm delighted to meet you…
Something like pleasure and a mental embrace rolled in his direction.
Also, from the female but not only. Clearly his message hadn't been as focused as he intended to.
Sorry I try to be focused but it looks as if I still tend to broadcast my thoughts. Hy to everybody around me, then…
The Mind, who knew perfectly well how Fitzwilliam thought-pattern was working, had no problem to eavesdrop on his thoughts.
And the "Hy, Welcome, Joy, He Speaks…" came over like a wave.
The Mind focused immediately on the female who had been able to send the sentence.
She was extracted from the mass -and mess- and focused upon.
Indeed, we speak fellow mind…
For a few seconds nothing happened and the Mind began to go over every other solution they had at their disposal when a message came over.
What are you?
The question was more complex than it appeared. The used "You" was at the same time a plural and a singular but not like in English but like a concentrated of both concept in one thought.
We are…
And to send the mental images of all the members of the Mind.
And I am the Mind.
How do you do the *link*?
The concept of *link* was awfully difficult to explain but the Mind had no problem to realize the complexity of the action below the question.
And since they had spent a huge number of hours trying first to understand it and then explain it to their parents, they had no problem to answer.
We click our individual minds into what you feel like the *link*.
How do you avoid the *vortex*?
And this other concept was exceptionally easy to understand since it was exactly what Mamma Jane had warned them about. And what she had taught them to avoid. Or, in a certain manner, to tame it.
There is more than one way but the easiest is to never have all the members of the Mind clicked in at the same time in the same *link*. So, you have always someone who's able to recall you and force you out of the *vortex*!
It has been tried but the *vortex* was always stronger than one or two staying outside.
It's not staying outside, it is being at the same time inside and outside. Being outside alone doesn't work, we concur.
How can you be outside and inside at the same time?
Because what is inside is not the same than what is outside. It is a question of critical mass…
Critical mass?
Let me explain. We are twelve…
Only twelve? That is awfully small a number.
It's enough to do what we have to do and not overwhelming when it comes to deal with the *vortex*.
And with such a small number the concept of critical is easier to explain.
We have learned that we can click into a link from two to twelve minds. We never try to click with twelve because twelve is above the critical mass and the only way to not let the *link* degenerate into a *vortex* when you are twelve in the link is to have an outside supervisor…
So, you are more than twelve…
No, we are twelve but, in fact, we are cheating. The outside supervisors are our moms and their link with each of their children is stronger -at least it still is- than the *link*. So, they can pull their little ones out of the *link* before it becomes a *vortex*.
How do the mothers create the link with their offspring?
You have one of them here. Ask her, she's not the one who has discovered how to do it, but she has followed the lessons and from what we can judge, she succeeded.
Why isn't she in the *link*?
She's not wired like us…
Wired?
Her brain is different. She can create links but she cannot click into the *link*. It's a question of fear, I believe. Her mind -and those of her sisters- is scared to lose its specificity and so they refuse to see the ultimate possibility their brain offers them. It's a shame but when you consider that they were born without any possibility to link at all, we can only admire the way they accepted to cover.
They were born without? How is that possible?
That's because of the intervention of the bug… It has transformed them and since we are their offspring born after said transformation, we are the first post-mutation generation of Upgrade Humans. We had Homo Sapiens who mutated in Home Progredior until the Homo Species reached its utltimate goal: Homo Excellis aka us!
Since we have no scared moms, how could we do it?
Create a dual *link*.
What is a dual *link*?
There is not one *link*, you know that I suppose. There are multiple different *links* and each *link* is different depending on who's entered said *link*. But do you know that a *link* can enter another *link* to create a third *link*?
No, what would be the reason behind such a convoluted method? Why would you do that?
Because when an included *link* dissolves all the *links* he's been a part of has no other choice but to disappear too!
Its components are no longer available…
Exactly. Each different *link* is the sum of all its initial components. It exists only with said components. If one of those disappears the *link* is wavering and begins to enter a research loop to recreate itself. But after a few seconds of unsuccessful frantic tries it must admit that its components no longer all exist and it ceases to exist, freeing by said disbanding, everybody who was a part of the final *link*. It will try to recreate another different *link* but since such a *link* cannot be established without everybody's approval it stops there and the *vortex* ceases. One refusal is always enough to stop the whole endeavor.
It is convoluted but seems efficient…
It is. A *vortex* is a very strong mental prison and because of that a component, aka a *link*, cannot, even if he knows that he is about to be drowned into the *vortex*, leave the final *link*. But each dual *link* is only a normal *link*. Very easy to open… So, if you have, like we do, four dual *links* who enter a final *link* there is literally no chance that a *vortex* will be able to pop-up. One of the intermediary is always ready to pop out of the construct. And if our experience can be taken into account most of the time all four of the dual *links* are popped open at the same time.
And thus you are safe…
And thus we are safe!
Fascinating…
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- What is currently happening, here?
Lizzie wasn't worried, the dolphins were all very quiet and focused on Charles and there was no threat included in their behavior. They were just looking at them with a focused curiosity that was, if one was frank, rather unsettling for animals.
Charlotte answered in her 'outsider' voice which Lizzie associated with her little ones being in mind-sharing activities with the rest of the brood.
- We are teaching them how to avoid being caught in a *vortex*.
- I suppose you do fathom the huge number of questions that last dozen of words is about to generate?
- We do, but it is important, mom, they seem to have been unable to find a usable solution to avoid a *vortex* situation.
The 'mom' was one of those other very strong hints that she wasn't speaking with her daughter but with the collective Mind the kids had created. Charlotte and Charles always called their parents Mamma and Pappa as was the bennet family's tradition. The fact that its Anglo-French usability had helped to maintain said tradition.
- Your answer would be more of an explanation if I knew what you mean with that *vortex* of yours.
- It's the final risk to lose one's mind in a *Mind*. We have created ways to avoid and eliminate that risk but they seem to never have thought about them. We are explaining the easiest methods to them…
The fact that they had found ways to avoid and eliminate the risk was the important part of the message and Lizzie decided that she would ask another time about the losing-of-one's-mind-in-a-*mind* risk! Clearly the little band of mind-sharing geniuses they were trying to raise weren't worried at all about that and so she decided that she wouldn't be either.
- Do they have a language?
- They have a mind-share method which is rather primitive, but we should be able to build on that to teach them more evolved ways…
Not ready to acknowledge that Homo Sapiens had no mind-share method at all, she decided to use the opportunity to ask questions with possible and acceptable answers.
- Are they more than animals?
- Humans are animals too, mom, came the immediate answer. But if your question were to know if they are sentient beings, the answer is clearly yes. Each of them has a defined personality and they have names, like we do. They do have a hunter-gatherer civilization but are highly socialized beings who have developed an ultra-sound-based language. Luckily for us they have discovered mind-sharing. We won't have to learn their language.
She looked at a small dolphin who was looking at her and tried to send a thought.
That's not how to do it. For now, their thoughts are on a higher frequency than ours. We will have to adapt either ours or theirs. But that is a mere technicality. The *Minds* are fine-tuning the whole thing. Since we are less numerous, we will make the effort to attune our thoughts. And since the *Mind* gives us the broad learning skill to memorize it more easily, we should be able to do it soon.
- Will we be able to speak with them?
- No, their language is to awkward to utter. But we should be able to teach you to uptune your thoughts.
- Uptune?
- Think of it like your normal voice pushed a little more into the treble. It is the same thought but just a little different on the frequency scale. It won't be easy but with the right interlocutor it should be possible.
There was an abrupt silence.
- Go on try to send thought around you, said finally Charlotte. I'll ask if one of the present dolphins hears something…
- Thanks, said Lizzie and began to declaim her favorite poem from William Blake, one of the few poets who had joined the Bennets not because of their notoriety but to support Jane and Lizzie during her anti-slavery crusade. He was often a guest at Pemberley and Lizzie's support of his work had, finally, lifted him out of his abysmal financial problems.
- You could have chosen something less dire, mom.
- I love Blake's depictions in Marriage of Heaven and Hell, dear and it isn't dire, it is all-encompassing.
- If you say so, but it did have the wished-for result. We've two of them who have been able to feel something. They are coming here.
And soon two dolphins' head emerged just at the board's side.
One was a truly enormous male and the other a rather small young female.
- He is Sings the song of the Shoals and she is Small gurgling wave. He is a great hunter and a superb bubble shooter. She's about as young as Lionel and not yet sure of her skills. She's probably the one who will stay with you. He came out of politeness but he's not really convinced that making contact with those who walks on their tails -that's us by the way- is useful. She's a lot more curious. And since she's just a teenager, she's not very useful for the hunt. If she stays, we will have to feed her. She's not yet able to solo hunting…
- We'll find a way. Can I touch her?
- Why not, mom, but it is not useful, you know.
- Making skin contact with her will help me to feel her. You did note that I'm the hugging sort of mom, didn't you?
- Indeed, we did, said Charlotte with a smile. And we do like your hugs.
- Ans so will she, said Lizzie while looking around her seeing the majority of the dolphins slowly swimming away.
- They are leaving, said Charles from his father's board. Some of them will be back tomorrow with a Tiki. They say it will be easier to make contact with a Tiki around. But they won't come here; we will have to take a boat and move outside of the reef.
- What about Small gurgling wave?
- She is willing to come with us if we protect her against the other Tail Walkers.
- The locals hunt dolphins?
- No, not in the usual way, but they don't like them near the beaches. Lone dolphins who come near the beaches are often old or injured outsiders who tend to hunt where it is easier to catch fish. And while doing that they scare the fish away and the Tail Walkers tend to look at it with distrust. It has happened that some Tail Walkers' chase had been too energetic for the dolphin's survival.
- Let her know that we will protect her against other Humans.
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- You speak with the dolphins?
The old woman's frown which was even during a normal talk quite impressive became even grander.
- Not yet but we are about to learn to communicate with them, answered Lizzie who had, since their arrival been the one dealing with the native population.
They had been very friendly and even if they had probably no idea who she and her family were they had been helpful each time they had needed them and their hospitality had the whole sojourn been perfect.
- And one of them has accepted to stay with us to do just that. But she's a little afraid since they have tales where the Tail Walkers chase and kill dolphins who come near the beaches…
The frown wandered in direction of the grandiose.
- They have tales about that?
- Indeed, and even if it is not for us strangers to judge how you live, it is not a very friendly way to deal with creatures who, for the time we've been together look more friendly than aggressive…
- They have the whole ocean to hunt! The lagoons are where we fish. If we let them come too near the fish will run away and crawl into the reef and in the reef, there is no possibility to fish with a net. Without the fishing nets we will starve…
- I can only concur but there are perhaps other ways to deal with them, won't you agree. You could perhaps work together?
- We'll see if you are really able to communicate. We know that dolphins are smart but they are not that smart! I'll let the fisher know that there will be a dolphin in the beaches' vicinity. Just make sure that our guest doesn't roam everywhere on the beach, we still need to have places with fish to catch.
- I'll try to make her understand the concept of no-go zone.
- If she's as smart as you pretend, it should be possible, now shouldn't it?
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- She will stay with her family today, at the outside of the lagoon, near the reef where the Fishers never go, said Charles. We can get her tomorrow when we move to meet the Tiki…
- What's a Tiki?
- I'm not sure, said Charles, but from the description they made I think it is a whale.
Fitzwilliam couldn't help but make a grumbling noise. He had whalers aplenty in America and Canada. And if they came to any arrangement with the whales and the dolphins those whalers would lose their livelihood.
- Whales are mind-sharing too?
- If what the Dolphins have explained is true, and I don't see why they would lie, mind-sharing is a whale technique they had taught to the dolphins! But that was a long long time ago. They seem to be able to communicate…
Lizzie couldn't help but see her husband's worried mien.
- You are no longer the Regent, dear. The Whalers are William's problem now and if we really discover that the whales are sentient, he will have to make decisions. It won't be easy, but it will be difficult to go on allowing that sentients are hunted for their fat, their meat and their ambergris.
- We kill Human sentients every day, sighed Fitzwilliam.
- But not to eat them or use their innards to make cosmetics. There is a difference and I'm quite sure William will have no difficulty to understand that the whalers will, very soon, be very angry…
- There is another way, said Charlotte. If we succeed in creating a mind-share with them it will suffice to tell the whales where the whalers are. Once they stop finding whales to hunt, they will have no choice but look for another job…
- Not sure that is a gentler way to proceed, said Lizzie. A lot of people will lose their jobs, and some will lose their investments.
- Politically it is a much easier way, said Fitzwilliam. If William forbids whaling the whalers will want to be compensated and they will be angry that the King interferes with their choice of occupation. If they quit because they no longer get anything to catch, it will be a lot smoother. William and the government could still offer them a sort of compensation, but it wouldn't be his fault. And that's worth quite a lot, believe me. If they stop because the business is no longer worth it, they will applaud his compassion and the government's aids will be welcome! If he's forced to forbid the whaling, they'll hate his guts and some will try to resist.
He looked at the children.
- If the smooth way can be organized, it will be a lot better.
- If we know where the whalers are, we should be able to warn their prey and organize their escape.
- Even if it is expensive to get that information together it will be a lot better than any orders coming from the Throne. And don't forget that this solution will also stop the whalers who aren't based in America or Great Britain and because of that under William's authority. The French have some and the Japanese have even more.
He shrugged while a smile appeared on his lips.
- Without preys they will all have to look for another job. No more whales, no more whalers… And if we don't make the mistake to babble about our interference, nobody will know the truth for quite a few years and once the whalers are out of the business it will be a lot easier to bring the people to admit that Whales and Dolphins are worth to be protected and respected.
- It's perhaps a cowardly approach, said Lizzie, but the smooth part is undeniable.
- And smooth is good, agreed Fitzwilliam.
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- That's a hell of a huge whale, whispered Fitzwilliam when the whale finally surfaced just at the boat's side.
The whale was accompanied -Surrounded? Guarded? Protected?- by a school of dolphins who seemed a lot more active today than the day before.
- Let's go into the water, said Charles.
Fitzwilliam's frown was of the wondering sort not the accusing sort?
- You are sure about that?
- Touching the Tiki will facilitate the contact. You should come too, mom, dad, if you touch you should be able to listen.
The fact that he didn't just jump into the water but wait onto his father's nod spoke volume about who was in charge within their son's mind.
Fitzwilliam nodded once and immediately Charles and his sister were in the water.
The fisher shot them a worried glance when they signed him to wait and they soon followed.
As soon as they were in the water a score of dolphins gathered around them.
- Take hold at their fins, mom, dad, they will bring us to the Tiki.
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It has been a long time…
The voice had jumped into their mind as soon as they had touched the Tiki's barnacled skin.
We thought you'd been killed… The Tail Walkers are a bloodthirsty species who kills each other too easily.
Fitzwilliam who was after all, when all had been said and told, the delegation leader made the necessary efforts to focus his thoughts without shouting them.
They have probably been killed because we've never heard about Humans able to speak with the Whales.
You are not them?
I fear not…
That explains a lot. What do you want?
Fitzwilliam who was in mind-share with the rest of the family, looked at Lizzie.
Do we want something?
Say hullo and eventually propose to make regular contacts?
Why would you want that?
The surprise of the Tiki was genuine.
I'm a loner and I'm way too old to look for female company. I'm just swimming along and meditating about the sense of the world's existence.
Some Humans hunt you, intervened Charles, that's bad…
It is, youngling Human, but we have fought about that for a long time. Hunting others is a part of the life cycle and one day any creature's existence ends.
Sure, agreed Charlotte, but you are sentients, one does not hunt sentients to eat them…
There was a literal wave of good humor that surrounded them.
But one is allowed to kill a sentient to take his land or his hoarded treasures?
What really felt like a laugh drummed around them.
You know that that happens?
We do and we also know that you do that every day to your own. Why do you even believe that what you do daily to brothers and sisters could be forbidden while doing it to others you are unable to even consider sentient?
Pappa has spent decades uniting people and avoiding wars…
The huge eye of the Whale turned to look at Fitzwilliam.
So, you are one of their Leaders?
I was. Now it is my Nephew who's the ruler. But Charlotte is right, I did work hard to avoid wars and conflicts. But even I wasn't totally successful. Humans are indeed an aggressive and unyielding pack.
That they are.
There was a lengthy silence.
Do you really believe you could convince them to stop hunting us?
No, but I could create an early warning system to warn you about the whereabouts of whalers. If you knew where they are, I'm quite sure you would avoid to be at the same places at the same time.
Most of us would but some younglings in body or heart believe themselves immortal and would refuse to obey to your warnings. They will say: they have the lands, why do they try to take away our sea?
We have the same and it is those we send to war…
War, that's the name you give to your internecine killings?
Indeed, and it is a cultural habit that is very ingrained into my people's minds. I tried to avoid them but even I during my eighteen years in office I had to deal with four different wars. They weren't on a large scale and the death toll was small, but it does seem that even the ruler's will to avoid war is not enough…
Don't be too bothered. War exist also in the seas. Our small joyful friends around us have been, more than once, pulled into trying to push other shoals out of what they consider their own fishing grounds. It rarely degenerates into what you would call warfare but there are casualties and, from time to time, even fatalities. Life is also about showing off before the females. And all males know that females love brave and brawny fighters more than slow and smart thinkers.
Some females prefer the slow and smart thinkers, said Lizzie.
The Tiki's eyes looked at her.
I feel in your consort's mind his absolute belief in his lineage's superiority. He was perhaps slow and smart, but he was also powerful and influential. Would you have been attracted to him had he only been slow and smart?
Lizzie who had often discussed their lives with Jane and Mary had no hesitation on that point.
I would have and since my family wasn't nor powerful not influential, I'm quite sure that Pappa would have agreed to the match. And we would have built a happy if more modest life.
I'm glad for you and I hope you're not floating in your own illusion but to come back to our first topic, some of us would not listen to the warnings but most would… Would it be enough to put an end to what you call whaling? I doubt it because there are places, we all need to be at least occasionally to meet with other members of our species. If we stop meeting, we stop finding partners and we stop having little ones and creating families. It would, in the end, have the same result: our extinction.
If you *link* you would just have to change your meeting places, said Charles in his mind voice. We could teach you and once you know how to *link* distances no longer have a signification. You just need to click into the *link* and you know where everybody is and how to meet those you seek. And without specific reiterating meeting places the whalers would never be able to find you…
What is that *link* thing, youngling?
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The school of dolphins' presence was clearly upsetting the natives and it had been decided, with the family's approval that they would compensate the fisher for their loss even if said loss was, in Lizzie's opinion, a lot less acute than the villagers' spoke woman was alluding.
But paying a score of pounds more to have the kids ecstatic was a small price Lizzie would have paid easily had it not reeked into the sky as a scheme to skim a little more money out of her pocket.
- You have your 'I'm going to make them pay' frown, dear… You should stop wallowing in what you consider a robbery…
- That's because it is…
- It is a small price to pay to have the kids in high gear happiness, said Fitzwilliam. And there are a lot less fish around the beaches than a week ago. The dolphins do empty the villagers' fishing grounds. They eat each day ten times as many fish as the average villager. I can understand the villagers' fear to see the school staying once we are gone.
- We already said th…
- Those are villagers, dear! We have the same around Pemberley. How long did it take to convince them that tourists would be their new main source of income? Most have followed our advice but not all of them. What about Molly Graham and Clyde Wilson? They would earn ten times as much money with two B&B than with their current farm. And still they go on farming while frowning at their neighbors who clearly had betrayed them…
Molly and Clyde had been for years Lizzie's special endeavor.
They were both fine old people who had welcomed Elizabeth with opened arms and lots of advice but they clearly had been unable to understand why they needed to change they life to accommodate strangers they had no real desire to meet.
- They are old and it is diff…
- And the villagers here have very old traditions that tell them that a shoal of dolphins in the lagoon is foreboding starvation in the coming months! We are lucky they just frown and ask for more money. They could be running along the shores with pitchforks, staves and spears. Those are wise and quiet neighbors we've got here, Lizzie. You should thank them for their trust and patience not prepare your ugly revenge…
- I'm doing no such thing…
- And I'm very happy to hear you saying it. Now I want a smile, a kiss and the promise that you'll stop wallowing in what you consider a highway robbery and look at it from the natives' point of view.
- I try but…
- No but…
He pointed at the beach where Charles and Charlotte were playing with their new friends.
- We've got happy satisfied kids, Lizzie, and their new friends look as happy and satisfied as them, so just embrace that very mood and accept that all this has been rendered possible just for a little expense more. Do we really have a better use for the money we hoard than making our kids deliriously happy?
Lizzie took a long breath and shook her head.
- Good and we should begin to envision a more durable habitat here.
- Why would we do that?
Once more Fitzwilliam pointed at the score of younglings of both species madly playing with each other.
- Do you really believe they will accept to never ever see their new friends again?
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The villagers' spokeswoman's frown took, once more huge proportions.
- That would be a bad idea…
- It…
Fitzwilliam stopped his wife with a hand on her knee.
- And why is it so?
- Because the school must not be invited to stay. The school wanders and goes from island to island. If you settle here and they like you as it looks like they like you, they will stay, and we will starve.
- We…
Once more Fitzwilliam stopped her because he could feel that she was only reasonable on the surface, not so deep down where she was seething and Elizabeth Darcy in seething mode was not a thing he wanted their neighbors to see.
- Is there an Island where we could settle without bringing starvation to a local community?
- There is Tupai. Nobody lives in Tupai!
Lizzie's mistrust was immediatlely up.
- Whys is that so? Is there a problem?
- There are two problems. There is no breach to cross the reef. But with your airships and your explosive sticks that should no longer be a problem. And there are the Spirits...
- The Spirits?
- The Spirits...
Feeling that both women were on a collision course, Fitzwilliam glid into his Regent self and coughed twice while patting his wife's knee.
- Could you be a little more precise? We know that there are Spirits everywhere on those islands and they don't seem to hold you back.
- Tupai's Spirits are angry and not welcoming, answered the village spokeswoman. But since you know how to speak with the Dolphins you'll be, perhaps, able to speak with them and ask them to accept you?
We could ask the Sprites to look at the problem, acknowledged Lizzie. If there are Spirits here it could be a chance.
We'll ask Jane to make an investigation.
- We could indeed try, agreed Fitzwilliam.
- You could live there, and the school could visit you when you are present. And since there is no village there, we could provide people to build and maintain your estate and the outbuildings…
Once more Fitzwilliam stopped Lizzie who was about to say very unkind things about the villagers. She could be really unreasonable when angry.
He couldn't help but smile at his memories with his beloved wife being seething and angry.
- That would be a great idea. We will still need an estate here to host the crews and the servants.
- It would be better to hire local people, insisted the old dragon who, even if aware that Lizzie was in a bad mood wasn't about to give up any advantage she could get for her people.
And Fitzwilliam who liked dedicated people was quite satisfied with the woman's insistence.
- I agree but I want you to do the hiring. You know your people and you know who's trustworthy. Those are the people I want and you'll be the one to be accountable if said trust has been broken.
- I can do that…
- I'll hire you to do that, of course. And to make sure that whenever one of us wants to spend a few days here or in Tupai, everything's ready to host them.
- I can do that too…
- Good, I'll order an airship to come and be stationed here the whole year. With it the trips to Tupai will be easier for everybody. There are Typhoons here, aren't they?
- We call them Tupuhi, and they happen at least once a year. Most are mere nuisances, a few are major catastrophes.
- We will need your expertise to build houses that resist to even the worst of them. If necessary, we'll import concrete and steel rods to build houses that will resist to anything while looking like yours. Do we have a deal?
- We do and if you want to visit Tupai it would be better to wait on the next incoming airship. It's a three hours trip at your airships' speed.
- I'll ask Richard to send me a squad of seaplanes, said Fitzwilliam with a smile. If we envision to have an estate here and in Tupai, I'm quite sure the government will insist that we have a small protective force on site. And the presence of a squad of seaplanes will probably be welcome for medical reasons considering the distances here between the isles.
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- You would have been unreasonable, love. I could feel it…
- She grates on my nerves…
- She's dedicated and not easy to intimidate. A combination I quite like in the people I hire. She will be perfect to manage our Polynesian estates. And she will be the one who hires and keeps an eye on the crews. I'm sure she will be as efficient here as Mrs Reynolds is in Pemberley and once you've learned to see the other's strengths you will be able to work efficiently together.
- It's just that…
- Jane's not here…
That stopped Elizabeth.
- What do you mean?
- I just mean that Jane's soothing influence is missing and that you are a lot more prone to be angered and negatively excited when she's isn't around. She has that marvelous tiny gift to always know the right words to pull the people she's with out of their bad mood and to invite them to look at the world in a more positive manner.
He smiled at his wife.
- We should invite her and the rest of the brood. I'm quite sure they would love to be introduced to the school of swimming mammals we are currently hosting.
- And how would we do that? We are on the other side of the globe, love. Even with Charles best and speediest airship they still would need a week.
- What is a week nowadays, dear? We live in a high-speed Era, remember? And we should perhaps ask Betty to use her special travelling method to come and have a look at our new estate. There are perhaps some interesting nodes around here. It could cut the journey drastically.
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- By all the Spirits of Snow and Ice this place is Hell!
Everybody turned around and looked at MazymKhan.
- It is! Hot, sweaty and with way too much water to be safe.
He pointed at the lagoon where the kids and the Dolphins were playing.
- And look at those fish they are as large as ponies! And look at their teeth! Those could easily clip a finger off your hand.
- They are friends, said betty. And the water will be marvelously warm not at all like our wedding lake. You'll like it, you'll see.
- You are kidding, aren't you? Look at that sun! It will scorch the skin of my face away.
- We no longer do sunburns, said Lizzie. Stay with us a week and your people will believe Betty came back with a Polynesian.
- And there are the surf boards, said Fitzwilliam. You need to try it out. It is the ultimate gliding experience.
Fluffy who had arrived under her usual cat disguise had looked at the school of dolphins, studied them and hadn't hesitated a second before jumping in the sea. A cat had entered the sea and a dolphin had swum towards Charles and Charlotte.
- So, you want us to find a node?
- It would facilitate the journey towards here, said Fitzwilliam. With their newfound friends here the kids will want to see them more often and a node would give us the fastest means to travel. I thought that perhaps nodes could also exist in the sea…
- I'm quite sure they exist but I will have to scout the lagoon and the reef to feel the telluric streams around here.
She looked at the dolphins.
- They seem friendly and enthused. Would they accept to be used as underwater mounts? With them and my water-breathing weaving we shouldn't take very long to know what's around here.
She turned around and looked at Mazymkhan who was busy unclothing everything but his silk trousers. He was indeed an exceptionally fine specimen of Humanity and the envious looks of the local females did bring a possessive smile on her face.
- You spoke of another place you wanted me to visit?
- It's another island in the North west of here. Two hours airship flight say the locals. It's deserted so the kids' new friends won't push a local community into starvation if they visit. The locals say that it is the abode of Pere the Goddess of Fire and Passion. There are perhaps some special places to find there.
She nodded while looking at her aunt.
- I'll ask Fluffy to fly there and have a look. Once she has seen it she will be able to teleport me there and now that she has tried her new underwater body-style if there's something to discover we'll discover it.
She looked at the house they were standing in front of.
- You wouldn't have a set of bathing suits you aren't currently using, Aunt? I have nothing against bathing naked but it could be considered as unseemly for a first wife to be seen without any veil.
She winked at her Aunt.
- By the way, I was right your bathing suit suits you perfectly. One understands why the saturnine and aloof Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley Derbyshire did fall for beautiful Elizabeth Bennet.
- He fell for my mind, not for my body, said Elizabeth while inviting Betty to follow her.
- I'm quite sure that the fact that the perfect mind was wrapped in a very attractive body did nothing to make him change his mind.
- Probably not, but those are things a well raised Niece doesn't say to her Aunt.
- That's probably my new Mountaineer environment that's causing my uncommon lapses. Very crude people those Kazaks, you can't even imagine. My good education didn't resist more than a week.
- We all witnessed as much… Why isn't Ayalla with you? She would have loved it here, too.
- She's anxious about teleporting while with child. She has a silly picture in her mind about their bodies mingled and mixed. So, she prefers staying at Samarkand for the duration of her pregnancy. And she will use an airship to reach Pemberley in April.
- Airships are good things when pregnant… Soft and quiet and with every available luxury. The absolute best way to journey.
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- There's indeed a fire node in Tupaï. And guarding it I found a Fire Spirit. Not the most sympathetic fellow around -hence the deserted island- but he was rather open to our apparition.
The kids had been waiting on her return. Charlotte who would be, some day, a weaver like Betty, was the most interested.
- Is a Fire Spirit dangerous?
- Marginally more than a Sprite since for him it is rather easy to put whatever displeases him on fire.
- And what can we do to please him?
- The Sprites are working on it. The Node is fire aligned but it is underwater in a cave under what was, an eon ago, a volcano shaft. Should I be able to find a node in a volcano somewhere the Fire Spirit could be taught to wander between the two. He would regain his old strength by living within a volcano.
- Would that be a good idea?
- He's still strong enough to injure a Human being or a dolphin. But once he's back at his best level he will be able to do a lot more. But do not worry, as we've seen in Pemberley, I believe that Spirits can be grateful. And, once regenerated, the estate will have a strong and impressive Guardian Spirit. One is never too well protected. And the Sprites are hoping that he will agree with them using his node. It is filled with hot water but it is not scorching. If you don't linger you'll just be overheated. But a fire shield should help with that too. Since it has been flooded, they should be able to warp its energy to allow a transport node. Should he agree we would have a direct link to Pemberley, Kipandu Lake and all the other nodes. Water and Fire.
- Would a Fire node not be dangerous to arrive within?
- I would indeed advise to arrive with a fire shield up, answered Betty to her young cousin. Without it the newly arrived would be burned to death.
- Couldn't he just come back?
- Being burned alive does funny things with your concentration, Charlotte dear. It is possible in theory, but I doubt such level of pain can be born long enough to wish yourself back. That's why it is a good idea to let the Sprites feel the link before entering. They will feel if it is not a water node.
- What other nodes are they?
- Water, Fire, Air and Earth… A volcano could have an Earth and Fire node. Some traditions Aunt Mary had studied mention another type of node within what they call Ether. But since we don't really know what ether really is, we are wondering…
Charles who wanted to visit Tunaï as soon as possible looked at his cousin.
- Will the Sprites succeed?
- He's been alone for a very long time. It seems that some special company agrees with him. They should get him to accept just because of his loneliness. But should I be able to find a link to a volcano, that would settle the deal quite nicely. Now that I have seen and felt a Fire Node it should be easier to find another one. I will still need to go there to find them. Thanks Uncle Charles for airships, planes and gyrocopters. Without them we would spend years visiting the Earth.
- Is the node in Tupaï accessible for dolphins?
- It is in a cave complex. There could indeed be an exit towards the lagoon. We would have to look for it. Why do you ask.
- Because of Wave… I'd like to invite her to visit Pemberley.
Betty looked at her Aunt.
- Wave?
- Small Gurgling Wave, to be more precise. It is the name of the young dolphin female whose mind waves are in synch with mine. She's been designated to help us finding a cross-mind-share something that should give us in the future a way to mind-share with the dolphins and the Tiki.
- The Tiki?
- The world community of Whales…
- There is a world community of Whales?
- We've discovered that yesterday.
- Fascinating.
- We agree, dear, we agree.
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