I have the car today. The engine might be sounding rough, or it might be my imagination and guilt for magicking it without having a clue of what I was doing. The Honda should be okay for what I want to do, though. It'll be parked at Carleton all day until I go meet Lance at the warehouse, then it'll be in moderate traffic that moves fairly steadily instead of the stop-and-go of Bank Street.
I do hit the gym today, giving myself a good workout to try to work off all the calories I picked up thanks to the parties over the weekend. My arms and legs will feel it later tonight, but the shower helps mitigate the expected stiffness. Refreshed from both the workout and the shower, I run off to class.
Most of the lecture is taken up by the return of the previous assignment and questions about it. Once it's done, I rush out, trying to beat the bulk of the crowd. Okay, I'm a little excited over what Lance wants me to try tonight. I managed to try a few things last night before Trish got home. Nothing big, though; I didn't want to have to explain broken lights and such to her. Even then, I almost took out the balcony door. I stopped after that.
The drive to the warehouse isn't too bad. I make sure I avoid the cluster of high schools so I don't get caught in a traffic jam. Last thing I want to do is be late. I don't want Lance to think I'm not serious about the whole magic thing.
When I pull into the warehouse's parking lot, Lance's car is already sitting there. I park beside his Toyota then check my watch. I'm not late. Lance could be here to set up for me, too. I get out of the car and go into the warehouse.
I smell coffee when I enter the main room. Lance is sitting on one of the couches, one arm stretched out on the back of the sofa, the other with a cup of coffee in hand. He waves to me when he notices me. "Hi, Jackie."
"Hey, Lance." I drop on the couch beside him. His coffee sloshes in its cup but doesn't spill. "How was work? Anything new about that hiccup?"
"Nothing. It hasn't happened again, though." He sets his mug down. "Did you practice last night?"
I nod. "Not for long, though. Roommate came home. It'd be hard to explain a flying pillow to her."
Lance laughs. "You'll get used to that, too. Are you ready for tonight's work?"
"I hope so."
"Good." He stands up and walks over to a pool table. I get up and follow. The billiard balls are out, ready for a game of eight-ball. "Here we go. You're task is to put the balls into the pockets."
"What's the catch? Oh, wait, I know. I have to push the cue ball magically like I was using a cue stick, right?"
"Close." Lance grins. He's kind of cute when his face is lit up by his smile. "You have to push the balls directly. Start with just two and don't worry about being fancy or calling your shots."
I look down at the table. The task sounds easy enough. It's a matter of geometry and angles. I've been known to shoot a decent game from time to time. This shouldn't be much different. I'll start with just pushing one, to get a feel of the force needed and direction. The air typing is getting familiar to me; I can call up a menu in half the time I did yesterday. The air around the ball does have the options I want. I set up the speed, the direction, and try to keep the altitude untouched. It's difficult for the latter; the magic itself wants to impart a lift to the ball.
I send the spell on to run on its own. The nine ball clacks against its neighbours before rolling away on the felt. It bounces off the corner of the pocket and slows to a stop near the other end of the table. I look over at Lance. "Like that?"
"Close." He puts the nine ball back where it started from. "That, but two balls at the same time."
"And in the pocket."
"If you can. Getting them in the general area is good enough for now."
I return my focus to the billiard balls. Lance must be joking. I have no idea how to tie two spells together. Even if I consider the group of balls as one object, I won't be able to get it to go in separate ways. Wait, I'm overthinking the problem right now. He just wants two. Two balls in one group can be done. There, I have a plan. They won't go into the pocket together, not unless I can nudge them while they're moving.
I set up the spell, covering the two and the nine balls. I let the spell go. The balls move without the rattling I had last time. They even go in the same direction together, towards a corner pocket. Lance nods, visibly pleased with what I've done. The two even falls into the pocket. "Yes!" I exclaim.
Lance retrieves the balls to return them to the formation. "Impressive. However, try sending them in different directions this time."
My elation drops. "Different directions?"
"That's what I said."
I look to the balls then back to Lance. "How am I supposed to do that?"
"The same way you moved them in the same direction."
"I treated them as one object, though. How do I get one item to go in two different directions?"
"The same way you get your arms to swing in opposite directions when you walk."
I want to tell him that what he said makes no sense at all. I can't make heads or tails of it. At the same time, he's treating me like an adult, letting me work things out for myself. It's a great way for me to learn. I'm much more a hands-on learner than a book-learner, but it'd be nice to see an example of what I'm supposed to do. Guesswork was never my style, either. But, this is my metaphor, probably unique to me. Lance telling me what to do would be like describing the colour blue to a blind person.
Maybe another perspective would help. I start pacing around the table, trying to find a better angle. Half way around, I become aware of what my arms are doing. I stop mid-stride to try to figure out how they're moving while I walk, then realize that it's hard to do that while stopped. Resuming my circuit of the pool table, I try to work out the arm movement. When I ram my thigh into the corner of the table, I give up. I throw my hands over my head.
Lance has his hand over his mouth trying to stifle laughter. "Jackie, take it easy. No need to get frustrated."
"I could use a better hint."
"All right, Jackie." He comes over to my side. "When you walk, your arms swing, right?"
"Unless I'm trying to figure out how they do that, yes."
Lance smirks. He takes one of my arms, his hands firm but soft at the same time. "So, you know that when this arm goes forward," he pushes the arm he's holding ahead of me, "your other one comes back."
"Yeah, but I don't see what you're getting at."
"Your arms are part of you, but can go in different directions. They're still joined to you, so they can't go flying off. But the balls, once your spell is done, can go where you sent them. See yet?" Lance lets go of my arm.
I swing my arms, trying to understand Lance's explanation. The dawning of realization is reaching me. I bring my hands to my sides, the swing them out away from me. "I think I have it."
"Good, good. Give it a try."
The fun part, putting theory into practice. I've done enough labs, both physics and chemistry, in university and high school to see where theory and practice disagree. Now, I'm using magic, something whose basics I don't have a grasp of. Still, Lance didn't correct me, so I should be on the right track. Just treat the balls as one object with an elastic between them, then let the elastic stretch as the balls move. The variables are more complex, but I can keep them all in my head while I compose the spell.
I'm not happy with the final result. It's a kludge, sloppy would-be spaghetti code if this was a real program. My profs would have a fit seeing it. But, it's all I have. I cast the spell. The balls move, this time in their own directions. The two ball coasts toward the corner pocket. The nine, however, hits the ten and the sixteen, starting a chain reaction through the rest of the balls. I shake my head.
"There you go," Lance praises.
"I messed up the nine ball."
"You sank the two."
"But I gave it the same intructions as last time."
"Keep working. You're getting it. Once you get two balls going in the right, move on to three." He starts walking away.
"Wait, you're leaving?"
Lance turns to face me. "Not for long. I'm just getting some groceries for dinner."
"Dinner?"
"We have a lot to cover tonight. This is just the beginning."
"So this is just the warm up."
"Think of it as a stretching exercise. This time, though, we're stretching your beliefs. How do you feel about chicken parmagian?"
I shrug. "Won't it be cold by the time you get back?"
"Oh, I'm not getting take out." He resumes leaving, a saucy grin plastered on his face. "I'm making it myself."
"Oh." I'm almost speechless. I hope Lance didn't notice the total lack of intelligence I displayed. I never expected him to want to cook for us. I'm impressed.
The front door closes, snapping me out of the wonderment of a man offering to cook for me. I've never had that happen before. Take me out for dinner, sure, but not make me dinner. To be fair, I've never made dinner for anyone outside of friends and family. This is a pleasant twist to the evening.
I return back to my assignment, getting the balls to sink themselves in the pockets. By the time Lance returns, I can move five balls and sink two of them regularly. Moving all of them just results in a lot of noise and me running after several escaping off the table and rolling under chairs and couches.
Lance waves when he walks into the large room. I smile back before returning to the seven ball monstrosity of a spell. The best I'm hoping for is that the ones I want to move will roll somewhere. The angles and rebounds are way too complex for me to work out in my head. Pencil, paper, a calculator, and a good hour, and I'd have the vectors figured out, but this is a magic exercise, not math class.
The smell from the kitchen is distracting. The sauce alone smells wonderful. I can't wait for dinner to be ready. Lance comes to the table to check on my progress once the chicken is in the oven. "Getting there," he says as he looks over the table.
I set the billiard balls back into their starting position. "You try working force vectors for over half a dozen balls at once."
He raises both his hands and wriggles his fingers in a precise pattern. On the table, the balls zip away from each other, making beelines to all the pockets. I try to follow the movement, but I only hear the most of the balls clattering as they sink into the pockets. "You mean like that?" Lance says.
"Um, yeah, like that."
"It took me a lot of practice to do just that. The idea is that you need more than just raw talent. You need to be able to harness the ability so that when you use magic, it behaves the way you want instead of the way it wants."
"And you're getting me to learn control."
Lance nods his head slightly. "Exactly. Not to mention new techniques. Have you gone back to Valor Quest?"
"Not since Friday."
"Play it more. It's not going to help you as much with your metaphor, but it'll give you an idea of what's possible. I'll set up some quests for you if you want."
"I don't think I have time for something involved. Can I just get Jacinda to explore?"
"That should work until you have time."
"Thanks." The aroma from the kitchenette is getting overpowering. My mouth starts watering. "That smells so good, Lance."
"Just wait until you taste it."
"You're girlfriend is a lucky woman."
"She would be if I had one."
"No way."
Lance shrugs. "Between getting a degree, learning about magic, and searching for others like us, I haven't had the time to find someone. I figured I'd have time later."
"That's what I try to tell Trish, my roommate. She keeps pushing me to find a guy and I'm just trying to graduate. I'm not going to bring any hot cooking skills with me like you are, though."
"You haven't tasted the chicken yet. I could be a lousy cook who fools everyone by starting well."
I take another whiff of the meal cooking in the oven. "Trust me, Lance, if dinner is half as good as it smells, people will be impressed."
Lance's cheeks turn red. "I better make sure it's not burning." He returns to the kitchenette.
I retrieve the billiard balls from the table's pockets. I'm never going to be as good as Lance is. I can't conceive of setting up all of the aspects of the balls to control the spell properly. Lance, well, he did it without effort.
I get a few more tries in before dinner is ready. I'm stymied at seven balls; even the ones I could sink before have a mind of their own when I finish the spell. There must be something I'm missing.
Lance sets out the table and calls me over. I'm happy to put aside the billiard balls. Mentally, I'm exhausted. Too much intense thinking. I shake out my hands; air typing isn't as strenuous as the real thing, but carpal tunnel is forever, even if there isn't resistance to a keyboard.
I sit down at the small dining table. Lance places the plate of chicken parmagian in front of me. "Bon appetit," he says. He sits down across from me.
"Thanks." I dig into the meal. The first bite melts in my mouth. "Oh, Lance, this is wonderful."
"You're not just saying that, are you?"
"No, really, this is, wow." I take another bite of the chicken. "Honest, Lance, this is amazing!"
He takes a tentative taste of his dinner. "Not bad."
"I'd kill to cook this well."
"You discovered my secret." His laugh is muscial.
I join in. I don't understand why he thought his cooking was bad, unless he's gotten used to it. Me, if I had dinners this good all the time, I'd be in heaven. Then I'd be in the gym half a day to work off the calories. Food this rich goes to my thighs. But it's so good.
We chitchat through dinner, not talking about school or work or magic. Only stuff, though we work out what movie we want to see Friday, which leads to a discussion of classic movies. Lance reveals he has a soft spot for the Marx Brothers and for Humphrey Bogart films. My preferences run more modern and towards science fiction, though I've enjoyed the occasional chick flick. We do have movies in common, some action, some comedy, though he has a weird fondness for the Zucker Brothers movies.
I clean up after we're done eating. Lance pours us each an after dinner coffee while I put the dishes on to soak in the sink. I join him on the burgundy couch and sip the coffee. "Thanks for dinner."
"Any time, Jackie." He takes a drink from his mug. "How is the practice going?"
"Slow. I can't get seven balls to go right."
"You should be able to control them after you give them their initial push."
"Control?"
"Like you were doing yesterday with the cushions."
I blink. "Lance, I was sending them off on their own. The spells had direction, height, and distance. I had no control over them once I started running them."
Lance looks puzzled. "Even the orange?"
"Even the orange. Why? Wasn't that what I was supposed to do, learn to cast spells and such?"
"Yes, but I was going to teach you the 'fire and forget' method tomorrow. You were supposed to maintain the spells yesterday and today."
"Oh." The pit of my stomach falls. "I screwed up, then."
"I wouldnt say that." Lance puts a hand on my shoulder. "I'm more impressed that you were able to create self-sustaining spells so soon."
"But what about maintaining them on my own?"
"We'll get that figured out tonight. No wonder you were having problems with the billiard balls."
I guess what he's saying makes sense. I messed up, but in a positive way, going past what he wanted. "I suppose."
"Out of curiosity, how did you work out the spells?"
I shrug. "I treated them as scripts. One object at a time, it works. I gave it a vector and a height and let the spell go. More objects, more to track, even if I treat the objects as one group."
"Interesting. Can you figure out a way to maintain a spell yourself?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
Lance raises an eyebrow. "Maybe?"
"I'd have to work it out as some sort of command or executable that, oh, wait!" I'm thinking aloud right now, more for my sake than Lance's. "It has to be like a terminate and stay resident program, something that runs then waits for input without taking up memory. Except I don't know what I'd use for memory." I look over at Lance. "Does magic have RAM?"
"Like computer memory? Not really, but that's never been examined at before."
"Then I'd have to do something to make sure that I can adjust the spell while it's running. Spells are objects, though, so I should, if I can keep up with it."
"Keep going," Lance encouraged. I'm not sure if he was able to keep up with my thought process, but he sounds like he likes what he hears.
I continue, "What if I tie the spell to the object?"
"What have you been doing this afternoon?"
"With the balls? I've been treating them like the cushions yesterday. The balls don't know how to roll, they just react to being pushed. I've been letting the air doing the push, like you taught me."
"So if you were able to create a terminate and . . .?"
"Terminate and stay resident spell?"
"Yes, that. If you could create one, then what?"
I take a deep breath to think about an answer. "I could access the spell and change the variables on the fly as I need. The catch is that I'd have to be faster than the spell to keep on top of everything. But, wait, no, you told me that I should treat the balls as one group, so the group would have the spell, not the individual balls." I stand up. "I think I have it." I run back to the pool table.
Lance follows me at a more leisurely pace. He arrives beside my while I'm deep in thought, working out the different parts of the spell. "Okay," I say when I'm done. The spell is waiting for me to cast it. "If this works, I should be able to control the balls' direction, provided I can change it fast enough."
"Give it a shot."
I launch the spell. The balls roll out away from each other. The two and the thirteen miss the side pockets and rebound off the wall of the table. I access the spell and find the options for the balls. I give the wayward balls an arc to zip across the table and into the opposite pockets. The one and the eight have clacked together, bouncing away on new vectors. I'm able to adjust the one's direction, but the eight comes to a stop before I can get to it. I hear other balls falling into pockets; I hope the two and the thirteen were part of it. The seven rolls past the stopped eight ball. I nudge it towards a corner.
Once all the balls have come to a stop, a third are in pockets and the rest are scattered around the table's surface. The fifteen is still spinning. Lance picks it up to place it in a side pocket. "How was that?" I ask.
"What do you think?"
"This will take a lot of practice. I wasn't fast enough to get all them under control."
"Other than that?"
"Kind of fun, really."
Lance smiles. "Good." He looks at his watch. "We'll have to call it soon. I have some errands to do at home."
"All right. I finish with the dishes." I start walking to the kitchenette.
"You rinse, I'll dry."
We make short work of the few dishes we used and get them put away. Lance walks me out to my Honda afterwards. "Thanks for the session," I say.
"Not a problem, Jackie. Same time tomorrow?"
I beam. "I'll be here." I unlock my car and get in. "And thanks again for the amazing dinner."
"You're welcome." Lance closes my door for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment