Spheria (10 page)

The African women then spoke with a thick accent. “I am the biologist for the team, even though we are not actually doing biology, so my role is more of a consultant. I was born in Ghana…”

“You forgot your name,” interrupted Max.

“Oh, sorry. My name is Abina Andam. As I was saying, I was born in Ghana to a poor family and spent many of my teenage and early adult years as a safari tour guide. That is where I learned much about animals and the environment. Over time, I saved some money and through the United States Embassy was able to get a sponsorship to come study in America. There, I met my husband, who is American, so I was able to stay here and become a citizen. Using my biology major and my hands-on learning, I design the creatures that populate Spheria. I never in my dreams expected to be working with computers rather than animals. But I am enjoying this experience. It allows me to express creativity.”

“And if you get sick she can cure you,” said the Italian man.

“Yes, that is true,” agreed Abina. “I come from a long family tradition of practicing Vodun. Most Americans know this as the more famous Haitian version Voodoo. Here, this is for you.”

She handed Min a small pouch on a string necklace.

“It’s a gris-gris and will bring you luck and keep you safe. Wear it at all times except in the shower.”

Min fondled the leather pouch and could feel a couple of small solid objects inside it. It was sewn shut so she was unable to see what they were. She looked around the room with a puzzled expression.

Rash pulled his out of his shirt, as did two others she hadn’t yet met. Apparently, this was a common token for the team.

“Thank you,” she said.

“You are welcome,” said Abina. “If you are ever feeling sick, you come see me.”

“I will,” replied Min, not ever expecting to take her up on the offer. She did place the gris-gris over her head because… when in Rome.

Next up was a muscular, bald black man who looked like he could be a pro wrestler. He spoke in a deep but clear voice. “Hello, my name is Desmond. I’m a hardware engineer and report to Max.” If you closed your eyes, you would think he was a radio announcer. “I built the computer system that the Qubes attach to. I also maintain the workstations that everyone has, which contain some specialized components. Something nobody knows about me. Hm. Well okay, I used to work for Apple in its consumer electronics department. It was disbanded by Steve Jobs when he came back as CEO. We designed a bunch of wacky products that had nothing to do with computers. My group was working on an electric razor, not kidding, that used ultrasonic waves to give the closest shave possible. I still have a prototype and use it on my head. That’s why you'll never see any sign of hair up there.”

“Either that,” said Rash, “or you just made all that up to explain your low testosterone.” Rash unconsciously combed his right fingers through his thick head of hair.

Desmond answered him in an even deeper voice. “What do you think?”

“I… get the point,” added Rash.

“I guess I’m next,” said a thin Caucasian with an acne covered face. He looked too young to actually be part of this project. “My name is Tim Feynman, and, fun fact, I’m actually related to Richard Feynman. Why’s that cool you ask? Because he's the physicist who formulated the theory of quantum mechanics. So, if we go back far enough, he's the reason this project is possible. When I heard about it, which was just a random act of chance, I called Max and begged him to add me as a programmer. He wasn’t at that stage yet, but he kept my contact information, and I bugged him enough that he ended up hiring me. That and he wanted some star power on his staff. Also, I’m very humble.”

“I can tell,” said Min. “That’s a pretty cool claim to fame.”

“Top that, pizza boy,” he said, turning to the Italian man.

“I think I can do that. Min, my name is Frankie Pompeo, and I’m the 3D designer and world builder on this team. In contrast to how Richard Feynman
theorized
about how the world works, I actually
create
how a world
works!” Turning to Tim, “Oh yeah, you're cowering now.”

Tim countered with, “Nice try. But it’s easier to know the rules when you make them up.”

“Okay fine, you win,” said Frankie. “So in case my title didn’t give anything away, it was me that conceived of the virtual world as being on the inside surface of a sphere. It’s mathematically called a Spherical Eversion, which is like a planet but inside out, and provides us a world with no out-of-bounds to deal with, except for the Rift. That was created to segregate the two halves so that we could someday run a second experiment on the other side. So I create the building blocks of the world. In the human universe, everything is comprised of atoms, which as you know are very small. In Spheria, everything is made from a 3D polygon or a polyhedron. These much larger building blocks allow us to construct a world relatively quickly. And with Lee’s help we’ve got programs that can build forests, mountain ranges, and otherwise terraform an area. We can also reduce a polyhedron into smaller polyhedrons, so the size of things isn't limiting. So, say one of our inhabitants decided to dig a hole in the ground. We can take the large ground polyhedron and instantly subdivide it into smaller ones. This allows the smaller pieces to be removed thus allowing the hole to exist. So the world is always changing. Not only by the rules we set forth, their equivalent to laws of physics, but because we’re constantly adding things. The work is rewarding, and I love adding little mysteries or obstacles for the Polyans to encounter. I could, of course, go on and on because this is super fun stuff.”

“You certainly are passionate,” commented Min.

“Yep, let’s get together over the next couple of weeks and I’ll show you how I do this.”

Max added, “He loves showing it off. Actually, I've got to admit he exceeded my expectations. I’m glad we found Frankie’s creative genius to make the world alien, but not so foreign that we can’t understand it.”

“Thanks, Max. Other than work, I have a passion for photography. So if I’m not here, chances are I’m outside photographing something. I sometimes work on the weekends taking photos at weddings for extra cash, since these research jobs don’t pay as well as I'd like, hint hint. Max couldn’t convince any of his game industry buddies to move to Connecticut, so here I am. Lucky me, and I don’t mean that sarcastically. Oh yeah, and I like pizza.”

Chuckles all around. Then the room fell silent.

“Lee?” asked Max.

The thin Asian man feigned waking up. “Oh, yeah, who? What? Right.” He shook his head then turned to Min. “Nice to meet you Min. My name is Lee Chang and I am the software architect on this project – the glue that holds it all together. Before this, I worked at Raytheon designing missile guidance systems. The work and mathematics were complex and challenging, but not at all creative. I am pleased Max took a chance and brought me in. Like Max, I don’t have any hobbies. I am either here working or at home sleeping. I love coding, and I help Abina give behaviors and actions to the creatures she creates.”

Lee fell silent and looked around the room. Max finished with, “Short and sweet.”

Min jumped in without prompting, “Thank you all. This was most helpful and you sound like a great bunch of people to work with. I’m looking forward to my internship here.”

“In case you don’t know,” said Max, “one of Frankie’s professors gave Min glowing remarks, which is one of the reasons we selected her.”

“Yeah,” said Min. “I’m also a student at CCSU but am taking a semester off to get some work experience and to build my resume. This seems like an amazing opportunity and I’m thrilled to be able to join this project. After my interview, I did some research, and it’s the coolest thing I've ever seen. As I said a little while ago, I was born in Vietnam, and my parents emigrated here when I was three years old. They ran a motel in Arkansas until I was eight and had saved enough money to get a loan for their own motel. They ended up buying one in Newington, Connecticut, after a long national search. It’s not the best area, but they’ve done well. So I’m going to school now for Data Analytics. I’m actually still a Vietnamese citizen. When I turned eighteen I kept it that way so that I could someday return to my homeland and try to make some positive changes there. I've got a permanent work visa, however, and consider myself to be completely American.”

“Thank you, Min, we’re happy to have you on board,” said Max.

“Yes we are,” said Dana.

“Hear, hear,” said Frankie, raising his coffee mug. Most of the others made the same gesture.

Max closed with, “Sorry that went so long, everyone. I hope we old-timers even learned a thing or two about each other. I’ll make the rest of the meeting quick. Does anyone have any significant progress to report? If it doesn’t affect anyone, let’s save it for next week.”

“I do,” said Lee.

“Go,” said Max.

“Really quick. I added some code to auto recycle blue Qubes. When a Polyan dies and if the associated Qube is over 50 percent blue, the system will assign it to another Polyan. This will remove the need to manually monitor and reset them on the panels all the time. We only have to deal with the red ones that we decide we want to destroy.”

“Awesome. That’ll save me a ton of time,” said Desmond.

“How fast does the recycle happen?” asked Jean.

“There is a slight delay before the restart sequence occurs. But it all completes within ninety seconds.”

“Thanks. We won’t have to go into the server room every day then,” finished Max.

Chapter 10 - The Fertile Field

“Gold is a treasure, and he who possesses it does all he wishes to in this world, and succeeds in helping souls into paradise.” - Christopher Columbus

When Sa∙ma was young, he worked quicker than most his age. When he finished his daily routine, he liked to explore outside the Colony in his extra time. He never crossed the mountains, not yet having the knowledge to do so. But he’d venture farther each time, making mental maps of the region. It was a skill he was good at and was one of the reasons he was later selected to become a Lumen Seeker.

One day, when he was farther than ever before, he came upon a land formation that looked unnatural. It seemed like a hill that had been cut to have vertical sides. As he investigated it, he found an opening in one side, and, being brash, entered. Inside, in the center of a hexagonal room, lay a glowing yellow crystal. Seated beside it was an old and feeble Polyan who Sa∙ma did not recognize.

“Come and sit,” said the Polyan, “I've been expecting you.”

Sa∙ma did as he was told, choosing a spot on the other side of the yellow crystal. “Who are you and why were you expecting me?”

“This dwelling you are in is called the ‘Lumen Grotto.’ It’s a resting place of sorts. As you know, it’s quite a distance from the Colony. Normally, Polyans are much too insecure to venture this far. Only the excessively confident actually do so, and those are bound to eventually find me. When you do, you pass the first test.”

The old Polyan fell silent and just stared at the yellow crystal. Sa∙ma pondered the word ‘test’ and debated how to respond.
Who is this crazy one, and how could he possibly have been expecting me, and why would there be a test, and do I even care
? Somehow, he didn’t exactly know why, but he felt that how he responded would affect the rest of his life.

“I came seeking you,” he said.

The older Polyan looked up at him and paused for a long while. Then asked, “How do you seek that which do you not know exists?”

“Many things exist which I don’t yet know. The reason I'm here is I’m seeking to learn about things, discover things, that I didn’t know yesterday. That’s why I sit before you. That’s why I found you.” The age of the Polyan before him was apparent, so he added, “I seek knowledge” for good measure.

“Then you've found some. A Lumenary firstly seeks knowledge, for only through knowledge can you then find solutions.”

Sa∙ma stared hard at the old Polyan. “Lumenary you say? Go∙ma is our Lumen Master, and we don’t have a Lumen Seeker yet under him. So who are you?”

“It’s a misconception that a Lumen Seeker is promoted to Lumen Master only when the previous one is dead. That’d make the transition abrupt and unplanned. We don’t like to leave such matters to chance. Therefore, as the Lumen Master gets old, he goes into seclusion and a Lumen Seeker takes his place. This isn't known to the Colony. Thus, you share the incorrect belief that the previous Master has died. I was the Master before Go∙ma. I trained him. He was my Seeker. When my master died, I took his place here as Lumen Elder, and Go∙ma became your current Master. In this way, we always have a backup in case the current Lumen Master meets an untimely death.

“Additionally, since Go∙ma is in such high demand, he won’t have the time to give you complete instruction. I will fill in the gaps. He’ll focus on acclimating you to the ways of nature and the world. I’ll give you the history and lore of our people.”

“Wait, does this mean I'm a Lumen Seeker?”

“It does should this be the path you desire.”

“It’s been my dream since I first learned of this way, and my hope that it would someday open for me.”