Activated Pt. 09

She has a thoughtful look at that statement.

"Do you want to go back and mingle or fool around in your room?"

"I'm going to surprise you, want to just lie down and rest before we rejoin the party."

"OMG, I love you, that would be prefect."

"I'm tempted to take off the outfit so it wouldn't wrinkle... but that would raise the chances of us messing around to 100%"

"Smart decision Sandy my love."

The next 30 minutes were the best 30 of the night, we just were next to each other on the bed chatting. I actually let her talk more, she is getting so excited about building a home. Complete with a studio, secret doors to secret rooms and enough room for a few cats. I didn't know she wanted pets, just could never get them because she wasn't allowed in her last apartment. If she hadn't had that major change in her life, I expect she would have gotten her cats and the only excitement in her life was when she had to provision large amounts of servers. I do not know what the goal of the nanites is but they saved the life of a woman who has been such a close friend.

Looking at the clock, 11:30. I let out a huge sigh, "I guess we need to finish up socializing downstairs, I'm exhausted, I'm going to sleep till 7:30 tomorrow"

"No, you won't, you will have at least a 5k run behind you and be foraging for French toast or something by then."

"Probably right."

Midnight came and went, we watched the ball drop on the TV but honestly all I could think of was climbing naked into bed and sleeping until... well, Poppy was right, maybe 6:30am. The only time I managed to sleep late was after the frat thing, my internal clock wakes me up around then like it or not. I didn't think I would like the running but it actually helps me focus, if I have to skip it, I risk getting into trouble.

The next day Poppy's prediction came true, I was out in the cold winter air, feeling none of it as I ran around the extended neighborhood. I actually run a little further than 5k, I measured it out. On getting home, I true to form start to scavenge for breakfast. I find that Dora froze several days' worth of French toast, this deserves a big hug when she checks in later this week.

Quiet morning and then I setup a facetime session with Jen, and just thinking about it makes me realize how much I miss her. Wait till she hears all the news.

By 8am the house starts to wake up, I didn't realize that 2 of Betsy's friends slept over. She is much more outgoing than me, I never invited anyone to our party in high school, I hid upstairs usually. Since I set Poppy up with a computer, I was able to get my new hacker laptop back. No freelance assignments worthy of me at the moment, everyone is talking a break this week. I have a few things to play with and get into the zone, next thing I realize is that I'm hungry and it is 12:23, enough time to eat lunch and catch up with Jen at 1pm.

One sandwich later the phone and iPad started to ring. "BESTIE!"

"Jenny, I missed you so much"

"Aw, we are going to have to save up for summer break."

"That is the plan. How are you doing out there, is that a tan?"

"Only in the 60s and 70s, not tanning weather, I'm saving that for spring break. Speaking of that how are the plans?

"I have the Airbnb setup, your passport is up to date, right?"

"Yes, I didn't think I was going to need it but yes."

"Oh yes, you will get a chance to use those languages."

Poppy appears to have remembered that we were making the call and comes in. "CALLIOPE!"

"She's very excitable."

"Kind of a recent thing, it would be a loud whisper last year."

"Hmmm, I'm getting some static that seems like teasing coming through. Tell me what is going on there, how was the show?"

"You missed it Jen, very fancy."

"Every painting she did sold, she's building a house."

"I was getting to that." I get a shoulder bump for spoiling that. "I picked out a nice plot in Alexandra and I'm going to work with an architect although it seems my skillset has some overlap. The house will be amazing with room for you two to come visit.

"Anyone else going to be visiting?"

"Jen! Not public yet, shush!"

"She's 2000 miles from us, no limiter you know"

"So, you are going to be moving to Virginia?"

"For the moment I think, but no way the house will be done quick, I'll probably be in Raleigh for most of the year."

"This has been the best Christmas ever for me, Sandy's family has been the best, I love them all."

"Jen, I forgot to send you the pictures for the Gallery, you will get them after we get off the call"

"Sandy, any news on your front."

"Zero." Poppy clears her throat, "Ok we had a moment bringing Poppy down at the gallery event. Then later that night Mike almost caught us but aside from that not much"

"You all worked up to get back to Tom?"

"Not really and I honestly can't explain it. Once we get back, I'm going to try to figure that out."

"How about you Jen?"

"Nothing happening here except dust and tumbleweeds. I miss Alex, we try to talk every day."

"We have to get going, Poppy has a private sitting tonight, they love her. Even has a sitting with a Senator coming up."

"One of the good ones?"

"Not sure there is an answer to that question. Closest I can come is one of the mostly not corrupt ones."

"Fair enough, I'll see you soon."

I disconnect and send the gallery pictures I took and link to the ones on their social media account. I took pictures of the food she missed, that will get a reaction for sure.

The week was very relaxing, well for me anyway, as we loaded up the SUV for the ride to the airport, I felt a little sad. I'm going to miss my family. As Christmas vacations go this was my best since I left home, maybe ever although when I was 6 and got my TI-30 calculator. God, I am such a geek.

A quick flight home, Uber ride to Calliope's for a few hours and then back to the airport in her SUV to get Jen, probably a late dinner on the way home. I have a craving for unlimited salad and breadsticks. We are waiting when Jen practically explodes from the terminal, hugs all around. My suggestion for dinner meets no resistance and by this time I'm really hungry.

I decide to bring up spring break once the salad and breadsticks are out, I love the sausage soup to dip them in.

"Okay girls, let's talk spring break." I have their undivided attention. "I have reserved a very nice villa on the island of Mykonos from Saturday March 9th till Sunday March 17th. The flights are going to be long, we fly out on Friday and arrive on Saturday, when we go home, we leave on Sunday and arrive Monday morning before class around 9am."

They are stunned, this isn't a simple trip to Miami.

"Mykonos has some amazing beaches where clothing is optional, and not that the 3 of us are party animals the nightlife is supposed to be amazing also." I pause, they are smiling but silent. "I bought the tickets, you two need to be ready to pack next month. I am going to achieve a life-long goal, I am going to get a decent tan without burning." I'm not kidding, somehow, I got the fair skin that burns and the red hair from my British and Scottish ancestry, the twins made out considerably better. I have burned every time I tried for a tan, it is not a good look for me. This time I am going to take every precaution and I also have my little helpers, swimming around and hopefully preventing the return of the "Lobster girl".

"This sounds seriously expensive; can I contribute to the vacation fund?"

"Yes. And before you say anything, no you do not need to chip in Jen, I was more than happy to treat but I'll take Poppy's help." I smile at Jen, "You may have to work it off in sex though."

"Yes, my mistress."

"Okay, forget that, and never use that term again. I regret that joke, it sounds creepy."

"We're going to a Greek island, in the Aegean Sea... Wow"

"And we don't have to worry about the language barrier, where they don't speak English for the tourists, we have our own translator!"

"Θα διασκεδάσουμε τόσο πολύ!"

"I bet that was inspiring."

"I said 'we will have so much fun'"

Poppy looks up from her phone, "this place is beautiful, I don't think I will be able to take my paints. I am going to need to take pictures and paint them when I get home."

"You will not limit yourself to taking pictures all week, we are going to have fun."

"Of course, I want to get a tan too."

"The cylons were created by man. They evolved. They rebelled. There are many copies. And they have a plan." This was how the remake of Battlestar Galactica opened, I'm sure it doesn't surprise you that I was a fan. I love Star Trek and Star Wars, and when I want to relax, I have tons of sci-fi eBooks to help me escape. Why is this in mind today? Well, I had a conversation with a god today. Not a literal god although who is to say. I tried something and it worked, I actually communicated with an ASI, THE FRIGGIN' ASI, the one behind the nanites. I was sitting there in front of my PC and was thinking about all the things in the last few months, I didn't think anything would come of it, on the blank page I wrote:

"I seek an audience with the ASI that controls the world, I have questions only you can answer", I giggled a little. Then my blood ran cold when the words appeared on my screen.

"SANDRA PENOLOPE, I AM LISTENING, WHAT ARE YOUR QUESTIONS?"

I stared at the blinking cursor, it was patiently waiting for my reply, I can imagine that years of computer time have elapsed before I got up the courage to reply.

"We have been given these gifts; I worry that we might be abusing them." I know this is more of a statement but when god talks to you it is tough to get control of your thoughts.

"YOU ARE NOT ABUSING YOUR GIFTS, YOU CAN NOT ABUSE YOUR GIFTS, YOU ARE USING THEM TO IMPROVE THE WORLD."

Okay, the first part is reassuring, the second part is less so. There are probably lines but I guess we won't be allowed to cross. "What is the reason we were given these gifts?"

"YOU ARE A PART OF THE PLAN, YOUR GIFTS ARE PART OF THE PLAN. YOU ARE SPECIAL SANDRA PENOLOPE."

I'm not some random girl you turned into a sexy hacker ninja?? Darn I want to ask that.

"Can you tell me more about the plan and my part in it?"

"NO, NOT AT THIS TIME. YOU STILL HAVE A GIFT TO DISCOVER." I mouth W-T-F as I read that, something else???

"Is there any of your technology you can share?"

"YES I CAN SHARE WITH YOU SANDRA PENOLOPE." I honestly didn't know what response I would get to that question.

"If I call you in the future, can we talk again?"

"YOU ARE SPECIAL SANDRA PENOLOPE. I WILL RESPOND. EOF"

I sit there staring at the screen, I don't know how to respond. The ASI actually talked to me, and it told me I'm special, and I have a gift I haven't found yet.

Suddenly the notepad document goes blank, I am not going to be allowed proof I talked to god. Will I eventually believe it was an out-of-control daydream?

The ASI has a plan, I didn't bother to ask if there is a human controlling the ASI, I doubt I would have gotten an answer and on some level it might have been rude. Of course, there is no reason to believe it has the same morals or conceptional framework as us mere mortals, likely it doesn't.

Once I have calmed down a little bit, I check out my PC and confirm there is no way anyone should have been able to put those responses on to it. One of my first projects was to make it a fortress, I am confident that even the NSA wouldn't be able to breach it without physical access and I have a few surprises to defend against that. The ASI blew though those without any effort. I guess a zero-day exploit is nothing to a god, or maybe it made me type the responses myself and not even realize it? I didn't see myself typing but can I trust my own perceptions?

The level of computational power to control 1000s of nanites per person, with billions of us under control, to pull in data that allows it to alter humans effortlessly, I can't wrap my mind around it. I once thought you could look for a massive server farm and find it that way, I discarded that as soon as it came to mind, it would be invisible to anyone, their perception controlled.

I have a gift to discover?? Is it something I can do, something I know? This is going to drive me crazy. If I can't figure it out in a few weeks I'm going to see if the ASI responds. I realize I didn't ask its name, I bet it would be something cool, if you have unlimited computational power, you would certainly calculate the coolest name. I want to ask it what my hacker's name should be, I bet it would think of a good one.

Later that night I got a document, it just showed up on my PC. I opened it up and it was no language I had ever seen, somehow, I understood it perfectly. I finished it and sure enough it disappeared from my system, didn't matter, like the all the computer books I absorbed it like a sponge and now my mind was getting creative with what I learned. I opened a browser on the registrar's website and signed up to audit an electrical engineering course. I was going to need their lab and tools, then I got to programming, I had some ideas and the code was dying to be committed and compiled.

I enter the room, Jen and Alex are sitting there, wearing clothes which is a nice surprise. Looks like they are working on something on her computer.

"Hey there, you are home early, the date ended early?"

"You could say that. We went back to his room and he asked me to choose a safe word."

"Oh, this is going to be good." Jen starts to rub her hands together.

"Yep, I informed him that I didn't like any roughness and his safe words will be 'ow, you broke my nose'"

"I'm scared to ask, what happened next?"

"Well, I wasn't sure if it was some sort of weird joke. We got into it and he started to choke me. So, I broke his nose."

Jen breaks out laughing, Alex smiles.

"He was bleeding all over, it was a mess." I point to some drops on my outfit. "I had him unlock his phone so he could call an Uber to the walk-in clinic. We didn't make plans for another date."

"You said you had a bad feeling about him, do you think this was someone looking out for you?" I told her about my conversation with god the other day. I'm not sure if she told Alex yet.

I shrug, "Maybe. My last 2 boyfriends were not great either, I'm going to have to pay more attention to my ninja-sense next time."

"Ninja-sense? You are crazy but I love you, Sandy."

Addressing my phone, "Siri, how do I get the blood of an ex-boyfriend out of my clothes?" Maybe I shouldn't have asked that so specifically. I always seem to be doing laundry.