Etheric Researcher: A Kurtherian Gambit Series (Etheric Adventures: Anne and Jinx Book 2)

by S. R Russell

  >>Yes, ADAM informed me of that.<<

  Despite making changes at a cellular level, it doesn’t necessarily make changes to our instinctive reactions. Even knowing that if a spider bit me my nanocytes wouldn’t allow it to damage me in any way, I still shudder and want to run if I see a spider. Dogs have a pack instinct, and I’m guessing that seeing another dog in her den would bring out Jinx’ alpha tendencies.

  Anne is correct. Even knowing you aren’t really a dog, seeing a strange dog in my home space would make me want to fight you. I could tell my talking-mind that you were not real, but my pack-mind wouldn’t listen. My hackles want to rise just thinking about it. Jinx felt somewhat stupid admitting the problem, but her reaction was what it was.

  >>You biologicals are very complicated.<<

  If you remember that biological beings are just as likely to react emotionally as logically, we won’t surprise you, Anne said while she thought, Just wait till you have to deal with me during my period. If Anne were honest with herself she was a lot easier to deal with at that time of the month than many girls at school, and she had her mother to thank for that. Despite the problems and flaws her mother displayed, she had always been an example and a teacher. “Not feeling well is no excuse for bad behavior,” her mother would say if Anne got difficult.

  Thinking back on it, she wondered if that was why it had taken Jinx to figure out that Anne had leukemia. Anne had been taught from an early age not to let pain and discomfort show. Anne shook her head, remembering how her mother would not allow them to display anything but the best image in public. She made herself a mental note to message her father to see how her mother’s therapy was progressing.

  Anne and Jinx spent the rest of the trip home in companionable silence.

  Since she wanted to start testing now that she had samples, Anne stopped at one of the Guardian Marines’ messes to get takeout meals for her and Jinx.

  Anne sat in the chair closest to the door and Jinx laid down at her feet. Ever since the evening they had heard one of the Marines mumble about dog hair in his food, she and Jinx had stopped entering the mess any farther than necessary.

  “How are my favorite two ladies this evening?” the shift cook asked when they came in.

  Anne snorted. The cook looked to be in his forties, and like all the Marines he was in good physical condition. “You must be hard-up if a girl in high school and German Shepherd are your favorites.”

  Jinx looked around the empty mess. “We’re his two favorites at the moment,” she said, “and look at our competition.”

  The cook staggered a step backward, one hand over his heart and the back of his other hand to his forehead. “Ow, ouch, the wounds!”

  Anne used her hands to cover her mouth as she giggled at the cook’s theatrics.

  The man straightened and asked, “What can I get you two this evening?”

  Jinx almost had to lick her lip before answering, “I’ll have two double cheeseburgers, please. Mayo, but none of that vegetable stuff!”

  The cook laughed. “I’ve seen you sparring and I prefer to keep my appendages non-perforated, thanks. Your burgers won’t even get on the veggie side of the line,” he promised Jinx.

  “I’ll have a BLT with a side of fries,” Anne ordered when the cook looked at her, “and this will be to go tonight. Thanks.”

  “White or wheat?” the cook asked.

  “Sourdough, toasted and buttered, no mayo on mine.” Anne couldn’t refrain from crinkling her nose in distaste at the thought of mayonnaise on her sandwich.

  “Got it. No mayo with the veggies, no veggies with the mayo.” The cook smiled as he turned toward the kitchen. “Be about five to ten minutes,” he told them as he disappeared through the door.

  Eight minutes later, with delicious smells coming from the two bags she was handed, Anne and Jinx thanked the cook for their suppers and headed home.

  —

  On opening the door to their place, Anne noticed the newly-installed monitor on the wall. Both she and Jinx watched as the camera on the top of the monitor rotated to aim at the doorway.

  The monitor displayed equalizer bars that moved up and down with the cadence of Seshat’s voice. “Welcome home, Anne and Jinx. Or should I say Jinx and Anne?”

  “Doesn’t matter, either is fine,” Anne said as she set the bags on the coffee table beside a box with her name on it. She headed to the kitchen to grab herself a Coke to go with her supper.

  “There are still enough people on the MR who see me as an animal that we’d probably have fewer complications if your name was first,” Jinx said to the room, knowing Anne would be able to hear her from the kitchen.

  “Why not make it random if it’s just the three of us, but use my name first if there are other people with us,” Anne suggested as she entered the common room with an open Coke in one hand and a plate for Jinx’ burgers in the other.

  “That works for me,” Jinx agreed as she sat with her rear end quivering, waiting impatiently for Anne to unwrap her dinner.

  “Implementing RNG if it is just the three of us, and Anne is primary if there are others within hearing distance.” The equalizer bars fluctuated as Seshat acknowledged the new directive.

  Anne broke Jinx’ burgers into bite-sized pieces and put them on the plate for her friend, then unpacked her own supper and looked at the monitor.

  Jinx looked at the monitor after she swallowed her first piece of burger. “RNG? What’s that?”

  “RNG stands for ‘Random Number Generator.’ It’s a subroutine to provide random numbers. If it generates an even number, I’ll use your name first. If the result is an odd number, I’ll use Anne’s name,” Seshat explained.

  Jinx almost bit her tongue as she tried not to drop the piece of burger she was chewing,

  “What’s so funny?” Anne could feel the amusement through her link with Jinx.

  “Seshat already knows you’re odd,” Jinx chuffed in amusement.

  “For the equation to work, I needed to assign certain values,” Seshat stated, “and I assigned those values randomly as well. There was no evaluation of personality.”

  “It’s all right, Seshat.” Anne was concerned the EI would think she’d done something wrong. “This goes back to our conversation on biologicals. Our thinking doesn’t follow logical paths. When you assigned me the odd factor in your equation, Jinx chose to put a different interpretation on the word ‘odd.’”

  Jinx had finished her burgers while Anne talked to Seshat. She was heading to her water dish, but she paused. “I was trying to make what is called a ‘joke.’ I just found it amusing that you assigned Anne as the odd designation.”

  “Was that incorrect?” the EI asked.

  “No!” Jinx was emphatic. “I chose to use one word in a different context. You did nothing wrong.”

  “It was just another example of our non-linear thinking, Seshat. Do you have some avatar choices to show us?” Anne asked, hoping the EI was satisfied with their explanation of Jinx’ attempt at humor.

  “I found it a difficult exercise since I had no references to use when examining images,” Seshat informed them.

  “Did you just select images at random, then?”

  “I broke them into age groups first, then selected images at random from each,” Seshat told Anne. An image appeared on the monitor. “This one is from the twenty-year-old group.” The image was a young woman who seemed like a stereotypical librarian. Hair in a bun, eyeglasses, and a rose-colored blouse that might have been silk but looked shiny enough Anne thought it was satin instead. A black knee-length pencil skirt and black flats finished off the look.

  The young woman faded from the screen and was replaced by a different one. “This one is from the nineteen-year-old group.”

  Jinx looked up, then went back to her water dish. Anne nibbled a french fry as she looked at the picture. This young woman had her blond hair in a ponytail and was wearing a plaid shirt and skinny jeans.

  Anne was only partl
y listening while she reached for her Coke. Seshat said, “This one is from the eighteen-year-old group.” Condensation ran down the bottle as Anne paused with the Coke halfway to her mouth. There was something different about the girl on the screen. It wasn’t just the brown hair that looked like it would hit her mid-back if she weren’t facing the room, or the black bandeau under a heavy-strand black fishnet top, or even…

  “This is from—”

  “Wait! Go back,” Anne shouted as she half-stood from the couch.

  “I do not understand the command, since I have not—"

  “Return to the previous picture!” Anne snapped. Then she sagged back onto the couch and finished bringing the Coke to her lips. “Sorry, Seshat, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I just wasn’t finished looking at that last picture.” Anne looked at the gray eyes under the sculptured brows of the girl who was back on the screen. She shook her head, not fully understanding her reaction. “I like this one.”

  “You haven’t seen all the options,” Seshat told her.

  “Do you remember my comment about biologicals?”

  “If I remember that biological beings are just as likely to react emotionally as logically you won’t surprise me?” Seshat waited for confirmation that she had recited the correct information.

  “That’s the one,” Anne said, nodding. “There’s just something about her,” Anne pointed to the image on the monitor, “that I like. No idea why, I just do. There is no sense in looking at the last two. This is my choice.”

  “Do you wish to see the other images, Jinx?” Seshat asked.

  Jinx took a moment to swallow her water before answering. “Nope, I really don’t care what human form your avatar is. I’m good with whatever you and Anne decide.”

  The static image on the monitor suddenly started to move. As she straightened from the pose she’d been frozen in, the girl’s hand brushed the long hair from her face and she smiled. “I am the avatar of Seshat,” the young woman said. “It is nice to meet you, Jinx and Anne.” The girl smiled again, and Anne watched in fascination as the image grew fangs. “Do I get to have a set of teeth like ArchAngel’s?”

  Anne was momentarily speechless. Seshat had just asked a question that was unrelated to any of the directives given her. Oh God, Anne thought, please let me get this right. “Do you think the teeth improve your image?” she asked, trying to understand what motivated the question.

  “I have reviewed footage from some of ArchAngel’s communications. The appearance of teeth seems to produce a more positive outcome,” Seshat replied.

  “Are there any common factors involved in those situations?” Anne was pretty certain she knew the answer, so she tried to get Seshat to make the correlation.

  “Yes,” Seshat answered after a brief pause. “When ArchAngel displays her teeth in adversarial situations.”

  Just as I expected, Anne thought to herself. “Do you think the teeth improve your image?” Anne crossed her fingers—she hoped she wasn’t pushing Seshat’s capability for independent observation too hard. Anne watched as the avatar morphed from fangs to no fangs several times.

  “I like the teeth,” Jinx inserted into the conversation, opening her mouth to display her own impressive canines.

  “From an aesthetic point of view, I don’t think the teeth are an improvement,” Seshat finally concluded. “However, as previously noted, the presence of fangs does assist in obtaining a beneficial outcome in certain scenarios, both in terms of ArchAngel’s communications and looking at human responses to dogs displaying their canine teeth.”

  “Why don’t you use that as your guideline, then?” Anne suggested. “If you encounter a situation where displaying vampire fangs would be advantageous, then by all means show a set of teeth like ArchAngel’s.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Jinx felt bad about being bored. Anne was working to solve the energy transfer issue, but it was difficult to stay engaged. They’d spent the last three days doing the same things: school, training, homework, supper, test samples.

  Jinx was losing the fight to keep her eyes open.

  Anne had developed a system. When new samples arrived from Cheryl Lynn, Anne would move them from the shipping box to a plastic storage container. She would take a sample from the storage container, list what it was for the recording Seshat was making, then trickle Etheric energy into it. Seshat would note the reaction, usually a warming of the material, and Anne would repack the sample in the shipping box. Before they had begun Anne had said, ‘I think we’re looking for a sample with no reaction, because that would mean the energy is going somewhere’.

  Jinx managed to suppress a sigh as she stretched and closed her eyes. Maybe she could get away with a short nap. Her feet were twitching as she dreamt of running the obstacle course. She only had to clear the last barrier, and she’d manage a perfect score. She turned the corner…

  “Shit!”

  The shout and Anne’s subsequent frantic movements penetrated Jinx’ dream. She was awake and on her feet, her hackles up, before the sound of Anne’s cry had faded.

  Jinx bared her teeth as she looked for a threat. Anne scrambled from the floor onto the couch and came to a stop almost sitting on the back. Not seeing an immediate threat to her person, Jinx scanned the room. Her gaze was quickly caught by a red glow emanating from a hole in the floor. Only after noticing the glare did she register the heat, along with a hissing and spitting noise. The glare died suddenly and the hissing with it, and within seconds the heat faded also.

  What happened? Jinx demanded.

  “We had an unexpected reaction,” Anne told her as she climbed off the couch and pushed the coffee table out of the way to reveal the hole in the floor.

  As Jinx joined Anne she saw a hole in the table, right about the place Anne had been setting her samples while testing.

  It burned through the table?

  “You are correct.” Seshat’s voice came from the speakers. “Watch the monitor.”

  Jinx looked at the monitor that normally displayed Seshat’s avatar while the EI was interacting with them. She saw Anne place a sample back in the shipping box, then take a sample from the plastic storage container. Anne placed a red item on the coffee table and said, “Ruby, synthetic industrial.” Anne was still for a couple seconds, then she jumped up as the ruby suddenly flared to bright red and burned through the table. The camera continued to record the ruby as it started burning a hole in the rock floor. Jinx watched Anne climb on the couch in the background, shock clear in her expression.

  You all right? Jinx asked her person.

  “Ya, just startled. I wasn’t expecting anything like that,” Anne admitted.

  They looked at the small hole in the floor.

  Is it still in there? Jinx wondered.

  “It should be,” was Anne’s response, “unless it melted somehow.”

  “How do we get it back out?” Jinx asked.

  Anne looked at the hole, rubbed an eyebrow, and pushed her hair out of her face. “No idea.” She shrugged.

  “Do you have any dowels?” Seshat asked.

  “No idea what that is, so probably not,” Anne replied.

  “Wire coat hanger?” was Seshat’s next suggestion.

  “Where are you coming up with this stuff?” Anne was curious how the EI was getting her information.

  “I ran a search on retrieving small items in restricted spaces,” was Seshat’s answer. “It shows numerous videos of people with thin objects placing some sort of adhesive on one end and then sticking that to the object to be retrieved.”

  “What about those metal sticks that had the cooked meat on them that we got from the mess last week?” Jinx almost licked her lips at the thought of the chunks of meat they’d had for their supper that night.

  “Skewers?” Seshat asked, the image of metal kabob skewers appearing on her monitor.

  “Them,” Jinx agreed.

  “That’s easy. Let’s head down to the mess and see if we can get one,” Anne
offered. She stood from where she’d been kneeling next to the hole in the floor.

  —

  “You’re here late tonight,” Sergeant Thomas Wendville remarked as he saw Anne enter the mess.

  “Here to ask a favor.” Anne nodded to the man. “Something fell in a crack that I’m trying to get back out.” Anne didn’t like lying to him, but she knew that telling him the truth in this situation wouldn’t be a good idea. “I was wondering if I could get one of the longest, skinniest skewers you have.”

  The sergeant wiped his hands on his apron. “I don’t see why not. Hang tight and I’ll see what I’ve got that will work.”

  Since they weren’t at the mess for food Jinx decided not to enter, so Anne dragged a chair over to the doorway and sat with her friend while they waited for the cook.

  “I dug through the pile and found one that’s not in the best condition.” The cook held up a long skewer that was discolored in places. “You don’t need to bring it back.”

  “Thanks!” Anne felt even guiltier about having lied to the man when he was being so helpful. Despite the discoloration, the skewer came to a sharp point. Anne’s forehead furrowed as she inspected it.

  “Problems?”

  “Just trying to figure out how to deal with the point. Should I try to cut it off?” Anne asked the man.

  “What are you trying to get?” he asked.

  “A small gold stud.” Anne pointed to her ear, implying a lost earring.

  The sergeant stood quietly for a moment, then held up a finger. “I’ll be right back.”

  He returned from the kitchen area three minutes later with a small condiment container. “There’s a little bit of flour in here. Add an equal amount of water and mix it up well. It will make a type of paste. Wrap a little strip of paper around the end and tape it in place so it forms a tube past the point. Stick the paper in the paste, then try to get your earring to stick to it.” The cook gave her a big smile and offered a thumbs-up.

  Anne stood and gave the sergeant a hug. “You’re the best. Thanks!” she told the now-embarrassed man.