Fixer-Uppers, Monday

[endsthegame]

The weekend had come and gone again. Not that his life really got all that different, Ender reflected, because his classes weren't exactly a large drain on his schedule. But weekends had a habit of meaning trouble, and so striking off another peaceful one had its own kind of reward.

Somewhere between answering his emails and puttering around the shop, he did get curious about one thing, though. And so he pulled up Jane and asked her if she knew anything about faulty firewalls on technology from Ben's world. He knew Ben was good at what he did-- which just made the virus all the more curious.

The little blonde girl avatar on the screen shrugged her shoulders a little. "Maybe he just isn't as good as he thinks he is," she said.

Ender squinted at the screen, then clicked back to his email.

Strange.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

"Ho, kreetle," Ben said, coming into the shop. "I have lunch."

[endsthegame]

"And I have an empty stomach," Ender said, stepping through the entrance to the front end of the shop. "Fortuitous serendipity."

[momslilassassin]

"Or Pavlovian reaction to my arrival," Ben replied.

[endsthegame]

"Don't flatter yourself," Ender said, leaning his elbows on the counter. "I've been hungry since an hour ago."

[momslilassassin]

Since his hands were full, he reached into the Force to ruffle Ender's hair. "Well, I'm not cutting my lightsaber practice short because you don't eat enough breakfast."

[endsthegame]

Well, that was... strange. A peculiar expression flitted briefly over Ender's features before he reached up to carefully smooth his hair back into place. "I got distracted," he admitted, "And I wasn't going to send the mouse droid out for something at eleven in the morning."

[momslilassassin]

"Do I need to set it on a schedule like Mini-Morton?" Ben asked half-seriously, putting the food down in front of Ender. "What got you so distracted?"

[endsthegame]

Ender reached over for a sandwich. "If you try, I'll sabotage your droid," he said, also half-seriously. "Just poking through some new data. Nothing really big, just geographical discoveries."

[momslilassassin]

"Such as?" Ben prompted, taking a sip from his coffee.

[endsthegame]

"They found a Formic orchard," he said. "No pictures yet, alas."

[momslilassassin]

"Interesting," Ben said, grabbing his own sandwich. "So they were vegetarian? Or omnivores?"

[endsthegame]

"I think they tended to the omnivorous," Ender said, thoughtfully. He took a bite of sandwich and swallowed it before continuing. "It's interesting to think about, though. That they made orchards. It seems almost human, doesn't it?"

[glacial_queen]

"I read through lunch!" Karla accused from the doorway. "I nearly forgot to eat!"

Yes, Ender, that was a travesty, and yes, it was also your fault.

[endsthegame]

"I'm terribly sorry," Ender said, looking up from the counter. He looked vaguely relieved, and wasn't really trying to hide it. "Though I'm sure Mini-Morton made up for it."

[glacial_queen]

"By snatching my book away!" Karla's tone was injured. "And then he wheeled off into the back room. I assume I can have it back when I'm done eating."

Bully. Mini-Morton was a giant metal bully.

"I should have never let you weld his arm back on," she added, flouncing inside. "That'd teach him."

"Hi," she added, a touch uncertain, as she came up to the counter.

[endsthegame]

"Hi," Ender returned. He made sure there was no uncertainty in his voice, and that the smile stayed securely on. "So does that mean you like the book?"

[glacial_queen]

"It's fascinating," Karla said, propping her chin on her fist. "It gives so much history about what people thought and why they did, but all very simply, too. Not so simple that I think he thinks his readers are idiots, but just like he's telling a regular story, not the history of everything. I wonder if any of the scholars back home have performed any of the same experiments he talks about."

She bent over for a moment, emptying out her lunch sack--it was okay if she ate lunch here, right Ender?--before realizing she'd skipped an important step. "Thanks," she said, sitting back up. "It was a nice surprise when I left my room."

[endsthegame]

"One of Stephen Hawking's many virtues," Ender said, seemingly unbothered by the way she was unpacking her lunch already. "He always felt that 'popular science' - science written in such a way that people who couldn't be expected to know the intricacies of physics - was very important. Stories to make our world make more sense for all of us, not just the lucky few. I'm glad you like it."

One of these days, they'd have to have the conversation he'd spoken to Ben about. But today wasn't that day - hopefully, today was about a little bit of reconciliation, on truthful grounds.

[glacial_queen]

Karla wasn't about to bring it up, that was for certain. She was also here to make peace; Ender was too good a friend to lose over. And, after Raven, Karla was doing her best to be more aware of the good friends she had.

"He lays a very thorough groundwork for us," Karla agreed. "So people who are happy with just knowing that much can finish the book and feel they've learned something, and yet it also acts as a good stepping stone for people who want to learn more. Who is he?"

[endsthegame]

"He's a British scientist," Ender replied. "A cosmologist - he studies the stars and the evolution of the universe, based on the laws of physics."

He gave a nod at the second chair sitting in the corner of the room. She could settle in, if she wanted. "He's one of the most famous scientists on Earth," he said, "Though that's also at least partly because he suffers from a paralyzing illness."

[glacial_queen]

Karla called over the chair, giving Ender a quick nod of thanks as she settled in. Eating while standing was doable, but not exactly ideal.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked. "Why haven't the doctors cured him yet? Does he not have enough insurance?"

There had been a lot of talk about health insurance on the teevee and radio, as well as newspaper articles on her laptop. She wasn't sure what all the fuss was about, bit not having health insurance was bad, she'd gathered.

[endsthegame]

"He has a form of muscular dystrophy that's incurable," Ender said, shaking his head. "They actually didn't expect him to live for more than two years. Given that he's held on to life for decades and changed an area of science forever at this point in the timeline, he's done pretty well for himself."

[glacial_queen]

"That must be wonderful," Karla said a little wistfully. "To be able to devote your life to the study of stars. I wonder if we do have other worlds and things in our night sky, and we just haven't managed to find them yet."

Of course, her idea of what a wonderful opportunity that would be would drastically diminish when she realized how much work was involved in physics, but that was for another time.

"What did he change in his field?" she asked before taking a bite of her sandwich.

[endsthegame]

"A great deal of things," Ender said, "He's been doing research for a very long time now. A lot of the research in the book, he's contributed greatly to - the study of singularities, of the size and shape of space, the birth of universes and the science of black holes."

And really, in Ender's opinion, some things were worth working hard for. Though at this point in his life, he wouldn't exactly choose a life devoted to physics. Anthropology laid closer to his line, but even that was a little much.

[glacial_queen]

"I'm Healer enough to understand that," Kala said with a sigh. "Say the same thing frequently, myself. Still sucks, though."