TF Chapter 5 First Spirit Meld

In this world, almost all the things aren't predictable. Even the most advanced quantum machine we have right now can't predict the causality of what will happen to every droplet of water that falls within a square foot.

I should have seen this coming as I had already gotten a glimpse of her personality, yet, I failed.

"Before we begin anything, I am going to assign some nicknames...you would be, Robot girl...you, Mystery boy...and you... Robot boy!"

I was the robot boy. For some inexplicable reason, it matched with Bora's.

Was this Celeste's bubbly and playful self rearing its head? I wondered even as I saw that at least one of us was about to complain. 

"Why did you call me 'girl'? I am a grown woman." Bora said firmly and aggressively. Her age seemed to be a sore spot for her. Good, at least I learnt something that wouldn't cause me to trip any lines, right?

"Robot girl, I am 178 years old. Could it be that you are older?" Celeste asked with a finger to her lips, a playful pout on them. 

Over 100!?...not to mention closing in on 200!? She looked this good at such an age!? Most people I knew would have appeared middle aged at that number!

I heard a gasp from Bora, signifying that at least I wasn't the only one who had been shocked.

"Now, aren't I qualified to call you a girl?" Celeste giggled. She must have already made the judgement that we were younger than her.

But still, why would we need nicknames? Another weirdo...after Danny boy came Kim Bora, and now, Celeste. Even though she was an instructor, I added her since we were going to be under her for five years...they wouldn't have changed this too, right?

"The first lesson you are going to learn is extraction. Atoms exist around us all the time...scratch that! We are made up of the stuff! Anyway, you see this molten liquid? I want you to try and extract at least one iron atom..."

"I have a question...I believe gas particles should be easier for us. Why do we have to start with that?" After an acknowledgement from Celeste, Bora asked.

"Good question. Gas particles truly are the best place to start, but, they have a shortcoming that makes it so that we don't allow beginners to start with...can you guess it?"

Hmmm...the transparency? That's gotta be it. Though, I didn't rush to answer, feeling that I might embarrass myself with the phrasing.

"Its hard to see gaseous particles." This time, it was Danny boy who spoke. It looked like he had also reached the same conclusion.

"Yes...only for you though. We as instructors and examiners can easily view them with our consciousness, but it would call into question our grading in case a student failed or passed and the others couldn't 'see' the work." 

I nodded in understanding at her explanation. Imagine being told that someone had superior work than you, yet you couldn't even view it. Wouldn't that be frustrating?

"Anyway, Robot girl here had me stray from the topic. This molten metal is made up of atoms vibrating at a very high and specific frequency to appear in this form 'hot liquid'..." She air quoted on the last part, yet it was true. I shook my head at that. Was she really a qualified instructor?

"What I need you to do is try and pick out an iron atom, slow its vibrations to the point that it becomes something akin to a solid and suspend it midair for a few seconds..."

"...and before you complain, this was the requirement during all the previous years. Be thankful that you get to work in teams this year!"

"And how exactly are supposed to work together on this?" I had to ask the most important question here. If this task had been capable of being done by a single individual, then what was the point of us forming teams?

"Simple! You will have to synchronise your spirits and form an amalgam." She jumped at my question like a cat on catnip.

"Synchronise?" Bora echoed, her mind failing to understand how that was supposed to work, just like me.

"Yes. That nascent spirit you just awakened back during orientation. Its a new sense, that I know, but you will have to try and link it with your other two fellows. That means that you must be of one right mind. If there are any disagreements or reservations, it won't work!" 

Now this was going to be a headache. My loner life was drifting further away from me. I scratched at my hair even as Celeste's gaze roamed between the three of us, full of interest.

"How do we go about this?" Danny boy asked, this time with a genuine hunger for knowledge...not the apathy his face showed most of the time. It looked like he too, was taking this seriously.

"Simple! Touch your spirits together."

-----

Two minutes later, we were sitting cross legged in an inner facing triangle, each eyeing the other with an unreadable expression.

I was wondering how I was going to start. I could still feel the strange sensation of having the capability of 'seeing' a few things floating, colliding and bouncing off my skin. For some inexplicable reason, this sense couldn't sense the atoms making up my very own skin and its deeper parts. Plus, surprisingly, the nano suit also wasn't in the sight of this sense?

Should I ask about this? But the others haven't, so, maybe its the same for everyone? 

Even as I pondered, I tried to expand this sense to initiate contact with that of Danny boy and Bora. 

Each of us was holding out a palm, forming a triangle of sorts, where they were just a few inches short of touching. Since the sense only extended a few inches away from skin, we had had to choose which body part to use as the linking hub, with the palm winning overwhelmingly.

Oh! I exclaimed when my spirit made first contact with those of the others. It was a surreal feeling, like you could feel whatever the other person was feeling emotionally, though, vaguely.

I impatiently decided to read into Danny boy's, but it appeared like mist to me. There was something most definitely hidden there, but I couldn't pry the mist apart to reveal it, a very frustrating feeling!

As I was still searching, Bora's intense amalgam bombarded us. It was akin to someone blasting really loud music into your ears. There was impatience, haste, frustration, a bit of insecurity and fear. The last two were a bit surprising since she was a very confident girl outwardly.

I transmitted a thought that she ought to calm down, but it was like adding oil to a flame. The connection broke as her emotional distress overwhelmed the fragile link.

"What the hell is wrong with you two? Were your minds that weak?" 

I blinked rapidly at her outburst. Shouldn't this situation be reversed? I, no, we should be the ones shouting at her. Yet she was shamelessly pushing the failure on us? Hell no!

"Look here Missy! The entire problem was you. Danny boy here and I had a good thing going before you burst in like a T-rex and ruined everything!" I was breathing heavily after that rant. It was really surprisingly rare that I got that angry.

"It looks like this will take some time. I will step out while you work on your issues. Don't take too long as there's the one year deadline for this lesson!" Celeste cheerfully bounced out of the stone house after those words, leaving behind a mess I wanted to get as far away from as possible, yet I couldn't. Why did it have to be this year that we got assigned into teams?

I drummed the ground and stood up, moving away to sink into the wall. I entertained the random thought of how it was weird that Danny boy didn't back me up. Could it be that he had the hots for Bora? I wondered even as the subject matter shifted towards another wall of her own, crossing her hands beneath her thighs, assuming the posture of leaning against the wall.

"Danny boy...you chose her, so you have to handle this." I verbalised my intent since I didn't want to be the one to deal with this mess. I felt a bit of the responsibility burden, which is why I definitely wanted to run away from this and dump it onto another person.

"Nat senior. This is as far as my expertise goes. You are older...surely you have more experience in this area? Right?"

I narrowed my eyes. Did he seriously want to hand the ball over to me? Wasn't he the one who had initiated her into this partnership? Wasn't he the one with the most familiarity with her?

My gaze must have been intimidating because Danny boy actually squirmed and broke eye contact, his gaze roaming everywhere except me.

"Danny boy, did you ask for my opinion when you decided to invite her?"

"Don't talk as if I was dragged into this. I came because of my own free will." Kim fuckin' Bora decided to aggressively join the conversation at this time, sending my rage meter to a very high level.