brain. “Yes, fell out of the sky ages ago in some little dark corner of Scotland.”
Jared placed a marker in his book, coughed and then sat up. “That dark little corner happens to be in my family’s territory.”
Duncan snorted at her faux pas and then yelped when Allie got him in the ribs with the toe of her boot.
Zeb nodded. “A hundred and fifty years ago to be precise. A young lord and a small group of friends were out hunting. That night a fire blazed across the sky and the meteor struck the ground near Coulags. Warmed by a large quantity of whisky, the lord and his friends decided to set off in the dark to find the object that had fallen from the heavens. A glow drew them to a remote area where they found a large stone lying in a crater, smoke still rising from the surface.”
“Sounds rather poetic when you put it like that,” Allie said.
“Some time later, the men who handled the stone in those first few days noticed a strange phenomenon. They didn’t have to wind their pocket watches. Ever.”
Allie flicked a glance to Weasel as she figured out the implication. “So the stone somehow makes wind up devices run indefinitely?”
“Yes,” Zeb’s tone crept higher as he became excited about the monumental discovery. His hand gestures became more effusive as he spoke. “But we recently discovered the effect of the stone is far greater than just that.”
“For over a century it was a fabulous garden ornament at our family estate,” Jared added to laughter all around. “Then thirty years ago my family had the meteor taken to KRAC headquarters in Edinburgh where Lord Lithgow, Zeb’s father, began his experiments.”
Zeb carried on with his history lesson. “Through his experiments, my father found that devices left by the stone acted in a manner beyond their intended scope.”
Allie sat up, swinging her feet off Duncan’s lap and down to the ground. Weasel moved closer, to lean against her skirt. “What do you mean beyond their intended scope?”
Zeb scratched his head, trying to find the right words. “Well, most of it is highly classified. But as an example, a musical automaton supposed to play a set list began composing. The devices took their basic programming and then exceeded their predefined limits.”
She glanced down at her little friend. “Like a rodent controller who decides it doesn’t like mice?”
“Exactly! Through trial and error my father found he didn’t have to leave the entire device touching the stone, just the core componentry.”
Allie tried to translate Zeb’s words into something she could understand. “You mean the brain?”
Zeb screwed up his face at her crude description. “Of sorts, yes.”
Her eyes ran over the disobedient creature at her feet, in size only slightly larger than a kitten. “Which for a creature like Weasel, would be rather small. I imagine just the sort of piece that might be easily overlooked and slipped into a pocket.”
Zeb shifted on the sofa and began staring at the fire surround.
Duncan dropped his large hand onto Allie’s shoulder. “Leave Zeb alone, you’re making him all squirrely. Yes, he sneaks stuff into the main lab but we would never tell on him, he’s our friend.”
Allie let out a sigh. Everyone thought she would steal the school silver while Zeb walked away from a military base with his pockets stuffed of top secret components. It seems breeding is the difference between a thief and an experimenting genius.
Jared pinned her with his gaze. “The Scottish government and KRAC allow other governments, military and businesses to leave components near the stone, so that all nations can share in the sentient technology.”
“And your family take a cut of that business?” Allie asked.
Jared met her gaze. “Yes.”
Allie ran through the implications and they were staggering. She let out a low whistle. No wonder Eloise said he was one of the highest ranking nobles here and probably the wealthiest as
Jared placed a marker in his book, coughed and then sat up. “That dark little corner happens to be in my family’s territory.”
Duncan snorted at her faux pas and then yelped when Allie got him in the ribs with the toe of her boot.
Zeb nodded. “A hundred and fifty years ago to be precise. A young lord and a small group of friends were out hunting. That night a fire blazed across the sky and the meteor struck the ground near Coulags. Warmed by a large quantity of whisky, the lord and his friends decided to set off in the dark to find the object that had fallen from the heavens. A glow drew them to a remote area where they found a large stone lying in a crater, smoke still rising from the surface.”
“Sounds rather poetic when you put it like that,” Allie said.
“Some time later, the men who handled the stone in those first few days noticed a strange phenomenon. They didn’t have to wind their pocket watches. Ever.”
Allie flicked a glance to Weasel as she figured out the implication. “So the stone somehow makes wind up devices run indefinitely?”
“Yes,” Zeb’s tone crept higher as he became excited about the monumental discovery. His hand gestures became more effusive as he spoke. “But we recently discovered the effect of the stone is far greater than just that.”
“For over a century it was a fabulous garden ornament at our family estate,” Jared added to laughter all around. “Then thirty years ago my family had the meteor taken to KRAC headquarters in Edinburgh where Lord Lithgow, Zeb’s father, began his experiments.”
Zeb carried on with his history lesson. “Through his experiments, my father found that devices left by the stone acted in a manner beyond their intended scope.”
Allie sat up, swinging her feet off Duncan’s lap and down to the ground. Weasel moved closer, to lean against her skirt. “What do you mean beyond their intended scope?”
Zeb scratched his head, trying to find the right words. “Well, most of it is highly classified. But as an example, a musical automaton supposed to play a set list began composing. The devices took their basic programming and then exceeded their predefined limits.”
She glanced down at her little friend. “Like a rodent controller who decides it doesn’t like mice?”
“Exactly! Through trial and error my father found he didn’t have to leave the entire device touching the stone, just the core componentry.”
Allie tried to translate Zeb’s words into something she could understand. “You mean the brain?”
Zeb screwed up his face at her crude description. “Of sorts, yes.”
Her eyes ran over the disobedient creature at her feet, in size only slightly larger than a kitten. “Which for a creature like Weasel, would be rather small. I imagine just the sort of piece that might be easily overlooked and slipped into a pocket.”
Zeb shifted on the sofa and began staring at the fire surround.
Duncan dropped his large hand onto Allie’s shoulder. “Leave Zeb alone, you’re making him all squirrely. Yes, he sneaks stuff into the main lab but we would never tell on him, he’s our friend.”
Allie let out a sigh. Everyone thought she would steal the school silver while Zeb walked away from a military base with his pockets stuffed of top secret components. It seems breeding is the difference between a thief and an experimenting genius.
Jared pinned her with his gaze. “The Scottish government and KRAC allow other governments, military and businesses to leave components near the stone, so that all nations can share in the sentient technology.”
“And your family take a cut of that business?” Allie asked.
Jared met her gaze. “Yes.”
Allie ran through the implications and they were staggering. She let out a low whistle. No wonder Eloise said he was one of the highest ranking nobles here and probably the wealthiest as
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