Tesla: A Teen Steampunk/Cyberpunk Adventure (Tesla Evolution Book 1) (16 page)

“Trees?” Sebastian guessed. The stick hit him on the arm. “Ow!”

“Not
trees
. For vat is a tree other than living vood? Vat makes up vood?”

“Atoms?” Sebastian raised his arms in defense. There was no painful attack. He looked up. Albert was smiling.
 

“
Gut
. Everything, from the biggest sun to the smallest grain of sand, is made from atoms. Atoms are at the core of everything.”

Albert returned to his drawing and placed the end of the stick in the center of the circle, indicating the smaller circles. “Atoms are made up of two things. Protons and neutrons.”

“Didn’t you just say atoms are the smallest things? How can protons and neutrons be smaller than the smallest thing?”

“Ah, I’m glad you’re paying attention. The more ve explore the more ve find. The components of the atom are protons, neutrons and electrons. The three most important things ve vill deal vit. Elementary particles possess an intrinsic quantum mechanical property known as spin. This is analogous to the angular momentum of an object that is spinning around its center of mass, although strictly speaking these particles are believed to be point-like and cannot be said to be rotating. Spin is measured in units of the reduced Planck constant, vit electrons, protons
und
neutrons all having a positive or negative spin. In an atom, electrons in motion around the nucleus possess orbital angular momentum in addition to their spin, vile the nucleus itself possesses angular momentum due to its nuclear spin.”

“What?”

“Maybe ve move too fast.”

“I didn’t understand one sentence in that.”

“Okay, a long time ago ve used to think the atom was nothing more than a tiny indivisible sphere. However, a series of discoveries in the fields of chemistry, electricity and magnetism, radioactivity, and quantum mechanics changed that. Ve found that atoms ver made up of subatomic particles. Electromagnetism discovered the electron. Radioactivity discovered the nucleus, proton and neutron. And quantum mechanics put it all together. Electrons, protons and neutrons give the atom an electromagnetic charge. And when something vit a charge spins, it produces a magnetic field. Do you know vat happens when a positive magnet is put next to a negative one?”

Sebastian thought back to Mr. Stephenson’s experiments at school. “They stick together.”

“
Ja
! They attract. And ven atoms stick together, ve have an element defined by the number of electrons they have orbiting the nucleus. Hydrogen. Helium. Carbon. Carbon can be a diamond, coal or the lead in your pencil. Nitrogen and oxygen make up the air that ve breathe. The building blocks of life itself.”
 

Sebastian was just about following what Albert was saying.

“The magnetic field produced by an atom is called its magnetic moment, just as rotating a charged object produces a magnetic field, allowing us to stick the magnets together, the moment allows atoms to stick together.”

“Are you saying magnetism holds everything together?”

“Everything is bound together by its magnetic moment. So I ask you, Mr. Tesla, vat vould that mean to someone who can control magnetism at the atomic level?”

Sebastian went very quiet. His mind flipped one hundred and eighty degrees and the world changed.

“I’m going out now for a little vile. Perhaps you think about vat you have just learned.” Albert left the room and closed the door behind him.

Sebastian stared blankly at the drawing on the blackboard, his eyes and mind wide open.

*

“Melanie,” said Dr. Rodgers.
 

She had let her mind wander during the eternal tests and was brought back to the moment by the doctor’s wrinkled face suddenly several inches away from her own.
 

“I understand you’re aware of your condition.”

She sighed and nodded.

“Did your original doctors have much experience with the condition?” He looked down at his records.

She shrugged. “They looked old.”

“Age doesn’t always equate with knowledge. Do you remember their names?”

She closed her eyes and repeated the couple she could remember.
 

The doctor pursed his lips. “I know one of these men. I can’t see him making such a mistake.”

Melanie’s attention focused on him like a bull’s eye. “Mistake?”

“Don’t get excited or your hopes up. You’re not well. But you’re not as sick as you’ve been told. I’ve checked your counts twice, and had them double-checked. I’m sorry, the news is still bad, but …” He shook his head again. “Look, perhaps it’s best if I run these tests again. There may be, there
must
be, something I’ve missed.” He tapped the end of his pencil against his notepad.

“Why? What’s different?”

He sighed. “Are you sure, really positive, that they said stage four?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s not something I’d forget.”

“I’m sorry, yes. But according to our tests you’re trending between stages two and three. Now, I’ll admit that’s still terrible, but it’s not as disastrous as level four. I need to call your doctors to find—”

“No!” she shouted. “Please, no one can know I’m here.”

“Has anything happened recently to … this is pointless, no one goes from stage four to stage two. It’s impossible. There must have been an error originally.”

“But I do feel better. Sebastian even said I look better, and boys are the worst at noticing anything, ever.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s still terminal. You will die.”

“We all die, but when?”

“We’ll watch and test continually. But from similar findings I would guess five years, maybe even ten if things go well.”

She fainted.

21

ALBERT RETURNED AN hour later. Sebastian was still staring at the board. He hadn’t moved. Albert started to rub off the drawing of the atom.
 

“How can—”

“No discussion now.”

“But what if—”

“Ve talk later. Now ve experiment.”

“But—”

“Nein!”
shouted Albert.

“Nine what?”

“You think some more. Then ve talk.” He grabbed the stool next to Sebastian and placed it on the opposite side of the bench. He sat on it and leaned forward. “Vere is it?” he whispered.

“Where’s what?”

“You know.”

Sebastian closed his eyes and let his mind unwind. “Your back pocket.”

“Gut,”
Albert replied. “Tell me vat you can see.”

“It’s like everything has been drawn, but in reverse. Like a white pencil on black paper. No, like light chalk marks on a blackboard. There’s shape but nothing’s clear. Some things are brighter than others, but everything’s blurry. He turned his head toward the south. “And I can see a strong line over there that seems to curve away for miles.”

“
Ja
,
ja
, forget that. Keep your eyes closed and look at the bench.”

Sebastian was amazed to see two bright objects with lines flowing between them, like an army of ants. He opened his eyes in surprise.

“Ve believe teslas can read the flow of electrons. Ve think most people have this ability, but it has somehow become tremendously strong in teslas. Tell me vat you see.”

Sebastian described what he saw, and Albert looked pleased. He picked up the aligned magnets and placed them in his pocket.

“Why couldn’t I do this at home?”

“Vere did you live?”

“It was a small farming community.”

Albert shrugged. “It’s hard to know, but maybe your senses have been heightened by being here by the isolines. Or maybe your mind is now open to the idea. Maybe the pressures of the last veeks have changed something in you. I don’t think ve vill ever know. But I’m thankful that you’re now avake.”

“I’m not sure being awake is that great if I’m going to have to think like this. It’s hard.”

“Those who valk around vit the mind asleep are the ones who must face the nightmares of life. An open mind like yours lives vit challenge. The sleeping mind lives vit fear.” Albert looked into the young boy’s face to gauge the reaction to his words, but Sebastian still seemed to be absorbing it all.

“There are two things I vant you to think about.” He raised a finger. “In ferromagnetic elements such as iron, atoms join and are stable, but there is often an odd number of electrons left over, giving an overall magnetic moment. Ven the spins of these leftover electrons are aligned vit each other, the material can produce a measurable macroscopic field, something that is detectable, by you. You close your eyes and you can see it like you just did vit the magnets,
ja
?”

Sebastian nodded. Albert raised a second finger. Sebastian gave him a strange look. Albert turned his hand around the other way so he wasn’t giving the boy a rude sign.

“Paramagnetic materials have atoms vit magnetic moments that are scattered all over the place, ven no magnetic field is present, but align and become magnetic in the presence of an electromagnetic field. That means you may be able to bind atoms together to make elements. The more powerful you become, the more you vill be able to bind. This is the core understanding you must have. Learn it so it is deep in your brain. Then apply it to everything you do.”

“Are you saying I can create things out of thin air?”

“
Nein
. You should only be able to combine existing things, but on this I’m uncertain. Let us learn together.” Albert clapped his hands and a big smile spread across his face. “Now ve do the practical.”
 

He looked excited as he grabbed two beakers from behind his bench. “Here is a beaker of hydrogen. Here is a beaker of oxygen.”
 

He placed the oxygen beaker on the bench top, then placed a slim cover over the hydrogen beaker and upturned it.
 

“Hydrogen is lighter than oxygen, so the two liquids vill stay separated. There is twice as much hydrogen as oxygen. See vat you can do. Focus on the feel of the gases.”
 

Sebastian concentrated. He could sense the gases, but they were faint against the background level of magnetism.
 

There was an intense bang and the glass beakers imploded. Glass scattered over the bench top and onto the floor. Dust flew into the air covering both of them. Albert blinked then coughed a ball of dust out of his mouth. He looked through the debris on the bench. In the center of the shards of glass was one solitary drop of water.

“I vill admit it vill not change the earth, but it is a start.”
 

He went behind his bench, brought out a dustpan and brush, and handed them to Sebastian.

“You need to meditate. Learn to let your mind rest and be open. I believe the more you develop your senses, the more you develop your mind, the better you vill get.”

*

Melanie came around, her head spinning. She focused on the doctor. There was a thin man dressed in black sitting next to him. The two were in conversation.

“What happened?” she asked.

“I would say by the flush in your face you’re happy with the news,” Dr. Rodgers said.

“Until today I never had a guaranteed tomorrow. You just changed that.”

“Well, don’t get too excited. There are many tests we still need to conduct.”

Melanie indicated the thin man. “Is he a doctor?”

“No.” Dr. Rodgers cleared his throat. “There’s a one in a million chance that this idea could help, unless I start believing in miracles, but I’m going to believe that some daily physical activity could delay the decline. Your recent activities appear to be the only thing that’s changed in your life, so let’s go with that.”
 

The doctor indicated the man sitting next to him. “This is Thrown. He is head of training for the army. He’s an old school friend of mine.”

Dr. Rodgers and Thrown were a similar age. They were both old, but where the doctor had a body that sagged, Thrown had a steely sinuousness that made him look threatening. Age had given him hardness, like a calcified oak, from a lifetime of experience in hurting people. And he didn’t look happy about it.
 

Thrown gave her a sneer. It could have been a smile. She narrowed her eyes at him. He narrowed his eyes at her. Time slowed between the two as they measured each other up.

The doctor coughed, bringing Melanie’s attention back to him.

“We’ll be testing you on a weekly basis,” he said. “I’m sorry, but it’ll be inconvenient for some time. Again, I must stress that this isn’t a cure. It’s only a delay.”

“What if it’s delayed until you can cure me?” Her voice and face were full of hope.

“This isn’t something that can be cured. You have to get that into your head. You should still try to enjoy your moments. Quality of life is important.” He handed her a rough map of the area. “Make your way to the training yard. Thrown will be along shortly.”

Melanie got up off the bed and wandered out the door.
 

Thrown turned to the doctor. “What if something
is
curing her?”

“Then it will be time for us to find religion, because I certainly can’t explain it. Anyway, her training regime is here.”
 

The doctor handed a piece of paper to Thrown, who delicately folded it and placed it in his pocket, then crumpled it up out of sight of Dr. Rodgers.

“I think a gentle start would be in order.”

“Right you are,” replied Thrown, with a wink that Dr. Rodgers found disturbing.

*

“Glad you could bother to join us,” said Thrown as Melanie cautiously made her way into the army exercise yard.

“I was just with you five minutes ago. How did you get here so fast?”

“I’m dedicated.”

She gave him a look of disbelief.
 

“See that sack of gravel over there?” he said. “Lift it up one hundred times.”

“One hundred … No.” She crossed her arms defiantly, closed her eyes and lifted her nose in the air.

“You’re not the first person to say no. We have procedures. Say no again and we’ll be forced to follow them.”

“No,” she dared him.

Thrown indicated behind her. “This is Bernheart.”