by Mark Lingane
EPILOGUE
HE WALKED OUT of the Tesla® San Diego headquarters into the late afternoon sun. The morning rains had passed, and the air was clean and fresh. It had been a good day. The interview had gone well. Actually, it had been a disaster. They had argued. They had fought. Long equations had been written down. There had even been pointing. He knew he was right. The science was good. The math was good. He knew it. They knew he was right. It was based on their rules.
He knew they were going to offer him the job, but he couldn’t take it.
The bus was waiting to take him back to the car park. He waved it away, preferring to walk. Lately, he found himself distancing the old technology of petrol- or diesel-powered monstrosities. He found it odd, here in the heart of electric transportation, to see such relics. Several business people, suited and determined, Segwayed past him, all smiling. Their discussion of shares and options floated over his head. Was money important when you could change the world?
He made his way along the edge of the curb, alternating between ten steps on the road, ten steps on the grass curb. When he was at step six on the curb, his path was blocked by a young woman. He stopped and looked at her. She was stabbing the ground viciously with a stick. She felt his shadow and looked up, squinting into his face. He was fresh-faced and had an easy way about him.
“What are you doing?” he said.
She returned her focus to the stabbing of the guilty-as-charged grass. “Waiting for my mother to pick me up. I’ve got a freaking piano lesson to get to.”
“Aren’t you a bit old to be driven around by your mother?”
“If I want the trust fund, I have to stay at home until I either get married,” she said, making a gagging motion, “or take over the company.”
“Take over the company? You’re way too young for such responsibility.”
“I’m older than you.”
He leaned toward her. “I sincerely doubt that.”
She snarled and glared into his eyes.
“What’s up with your eyes?” He squinted into them. “Are you wearing contact lenses with an ‘@’ on them? Are you being all post-modern?”
“I’m being literal. If you want to message me, you can do it while you’re looking into my eyes.”
He stood back, folded his arms, and watched her. “I’m going to sit by you for a while.”
“No, you’re not, freaky person.”
He sat down and folded his hands over his knees. He looked up at her and gave her a big grin.
She moved away, and then glanced back at him, smiling. “Are you a weirdo?” she asked.
“Nope.”
“Just annoying, then.” She went to speak, then hesitated. She closed her mouth and threw her stick into the road. It landed in the center of a puddle. She turned and stared at him, letting her eyes roam over his face. He sat on the ground beside her, smiling. She was quiet.
She turned back to the road. “Did you go for a job at the campus?”
“Yeah. But I’m not interested,” he replied.
“You’d be the only person in the world.”
“I decided I want to see some of the world first.”
“Me, too. I’m literally dying, waiting to see what’s out there. What do you do?”
“I studied electromagnetic wave theory at MIT.”
“Is that like teslas and stuff?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Something like that.”
“Does that mean you have a magnetic personality?”
He didn’t laugh.
Her grin faded. “Fine, be like that.”
She received a message on her phone. She tapped out a long reply, occasionally glancing up at him. “You say you went to MIT, right? And you promise you’re not a weirdo.”
“Guilty on both counts.”
She put her phone away and turned to face him. “But you’ve got no job. How are you going to see the world? Are you rich?”
“In some ways, I am.”
“What about in other ways? Do they involve actual money?”
“Not so much.”
There was an awkward pause. She held her hand halfway between them, leaning back and feeling the sun on her face. She closed her eyes.
“You want a ride into the city?”
“Nah. I hate cars,” she replied.
“I didn’t say I had a car.”
“Magic carpet? Hoverboard? Flux capacitor?”
“What if I said all of those?”
“Then I’d say there’s a reason you don’t have a job and you’re broke.” She frowned. “What’s your name?”
“Sebastian. Yours?”
“You can call me … Melanie.”
“Is that your name?”
She looked around distractedly and rubbed her ear. “Maybe. Some names can be too seasonal for my tastes.”
“Can I call you Mel?”
“No! God, that sounds like something Candy would say.”
“Now you’re the weird one with talking desserts.”
“Candy is Candice, my amazingly annoying younger sister. She’s just like our mom. Except younger. In body,” she added. “Saggy and fat.”
“You want to go somewhere?”
“Are you going to axe-murder me? Because if you are I’m not interested. Oh, what the hell, I reckon I could easily take you down.”
They walked along the street underneath the great oaks lining the way, and talked about how annoying parents were and how dull life was. He thought she had a vivacious attitude toward everything in life. She though he was possibly the first male she’d ever met who wasn’t a complete idiot. And he was pretty cute, too. They both thought that this was a good step forward.
They approached something bright and silver parked by the side of the road.
“This is it, my bike.”
Her mouth dropped open. The aerodynamic lines and aggressive stance made her feel excited and strangely uncertain. “How does it go? Is it electrical?”
“Not really. It’s water powered.”
“No way!”
He smiled at her excitement. He stroked the front of the bike, and a fleeting melancholy expression crossed his features. “We’ve been through a lot together.”
“Does it go fast, and is it dangerous?”
Sebastian nodded.
“Good,” she replied. She also nodded.
He straddled the seat of the bike. The setting sun shone down into his face.
Melanie hesitated. She brushed the floppy hair out of his eyes and stared into his face. “Wow. Your eyes …”
“What?” He held out his hand and she grasped it. She flinched as a spark jumped between them.
“You said it wasn’t electrically powered.”
“It’s not, that’s just me.”
She gave him a withering smirk. “My ‘magnetic personality’ was better.”
“I wasn’t joking.”
“You’re weird.” She lifted her leg over the bike. “Close your eyes,” she whispered.
“What was that?” Sebastian said as he started the engine.
“Nothing. Just something I say to myself.”
The bike gently rumbled under her. “This dying sunlight makes it look like your eyes are glowing.”
He turned around. “I’m planning on never taking them off you.” He gave her a smile followed by a wink.
“Take me away on your valiant steed. I believe I’d like some excitement.”
“You should be careful what you wish for. Wishes can come true,” he shouted over his shoulder. “But let’s give it a try. I believe the world is an amazing place full of hidden treasures.”
She closed her eyes and rested her head against his back. She had a wonderful feeling of being home. “Sounds good. I’ve always wondered what lies beyond belief.”
;-)
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I write, and have written, a lot over a long time. Not much of it is interesting. Even if it sounds interesting, it isn’t. For those who are interested, further comprehensive and quality insights about my past, and future publications, might be found at: mark-mywords.co
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Acknowledgements - A special round of thanks for my awesome launch team:
Toryanna Williams, Nathan Benjamin, Frank Ramirez, Christine Adams, Kerry Chorvat, Al Burdekin, Bianca McCartney, Ben Fitzgerald, Andrew Western, Jenn Cockrell, Damon Hatton, Richard Aaroe, RedMan Aragon, Alex Slater, Randy Boman, Alan Rogers, Stephanie Carter, Duncan Whittington, David Cook, Betsy Payne, Krysi Joseph, Daria Tarrant, Sophie David, Krystal McAllister and Cameron Clear.
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Also by Mark Lingane:
Para-noir-mal Detectives
Beyond Belief
Sucker
The Tesla Evolution (Teen Science Fiction)
Tesla
Decay
Faraday
Fusion
The Hadron Damnation (Science Fiction)
Fault/lines
Blink
Short Stories
NT-5
The Second-Story Girl
Notes
1. Canberra is the site of Parliament House and the seat of the government of Australia and home to numerous government departments and agencies. Need I say more!
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionic_polarization
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_flare
