filter it out, ..." She paused for a minute and looked hard at Jeremy. "But you might not, since you're a newbie. It's possible, I guess, that some visual information could be coming through, like the noise that makes the floaters."
She looked down at the table, hard in thought. Jeremy looked over at Hanna to make sure she was doing okay while he and MacKenzie monopolized the conversation. She reached over and grabbed his hand, which was resting on the table-top, and gave it a friendly squeeze. She nodded her head at MacKenzie, as if to say, "She's the one to figure this stuff out."
"Jeremy, I have an idea," MacKenzie said after a minute. "I just wrote a little program that can test what we were talking about."
Jeremy looked at her in surprise. "You just wrote it?"
"She's amazing," Hanna said.
MacKenzie rolled her eyes. "It's no big deal, guys, but listen -- I'm going to send a message to you and Hanna, and I'm going to put some noise in it. I want to know if you can see anything when you get it."
They both nodded, and a second later Jeremy heard MacKenzie's voice through his implant. At the same time he saw a small dark patch, like a storm cloud, hover over his chocolate malt. He looked quickly at Hanna, whose expression told him all he needed to know. He looked up at MacKenzie and smiled. She mouthed 'wow' and stared off into space, deep in thought again.
Chapter 7
"This is amazing," MacKenzie said after another minute of stunned silence. "Jeremy, this is ...." She shook her head at a loss for words. "I just have to show this to my professors. Nobody has ever been able to make this kind of communication work. I don't think you realize the implications of this. I could do my doctoral thesis on the message I just sent you. I need to ...."
Jeremy cut her off, shaking his head and holding his finger to his mouth, asking her to be quiet. "I'm sure I don't understand the technical aspects of it, MacKenzie, but there's something else we need to talk about, before you tell the world. And this isn't the place. Can we get out of here?"
Hanna and MacKenzie looked at each other as if they didn't quite understand why he was being so mysterious, but they were willing to play along. They shrugged and got up to leave. Jeremy didn't speak until they were a block away from the Chocolate Bar and on a somewhat lonely stretch of pavement.
"I've got a story to tell you both, but I need your word that you won't repeat any of it to anybody." Jeremy looked seriously at Hanna and MacKenzie, who almost laughed at him. MacKenzie was still thinking of all she could do with what she had just learned, and how it would impact her academic schedule.
"What? You want me to keep this secret?" MacKenzie protested. "This is the biggest discovery in hole communications in a decade."
Jeremy hung his head and thought for a minute. He spoke without looking up. "I couldn't ask you to keep what we've just talked about secret. That wouldn't be fair." He looked up and stared MacKenzie in the eye. "But I want you to swear to me that you won't tell anybody what I'm about to tell you. Both of you," he added, looking at Hanna. "And I think that after you've heard my story, you'll want to keep quiet about the other stuff as well. At least until we can figure it all out."
Hanna and MacKenzie shared a meaningful look. They whispered something to one another, and then Hanna looked back at Jeremy.
"Well, it turns out that your luck is better than you know," she said. "We're both Covenanters."
She might as well have said they were newspapers for all the good it did Jeremy. He looked at her with a blank expression.
As they turned aside to sit on a park bench, Hanna briefly explained what she meant. Covenanters were a religious group whose devotional practices centered around a series of covenants, or oaths, made with God, and in some cases, with others. Putting it in terms Jeremy would understand, they were a modern form of Puritanism.
Hanna didn't explain
She looked down at the table, hard in thought. Jeremy looked over at Hanna to make sure she was doing okay while he and MacKenzie monopolized the conversation. She reached over and grabbed his hand, which was resting on the table-top, and gave it a friendly squeeze. She nodded her head at MacKenzie, as if to say, "She's the one to figure this stuff out."
"Jeremy, I have an idea," MacKenzie said after a minute. "I just wrote a little program that can test what we were talking about."
Jeremy looked at her in surprise. "You just wrote it?"
"She's amazing," Hanna said.
MacKenzie rolled her eyes. "It's no big deal, guys, but listen -- I'm going to send a message to you and Hanna, and I'm going to put some noise in it. I want to know if you can see anything when you get it."
They both nodded, and a second later Jeremy heard MacKenzie's voice through his implant. At the same time he saw a small dark patch, like a storm cloud, hover over his chocolate malt. He looked quickly at Hanna, whose expression told him all he needed to know. He looked up at MacKenzie and smiled. She mouthed 'wow' and stared off into space, deep in thought again.
Chapter 7
"This is amazing," MacKenzie said after another minute of stunned silence. "Jeremy, this is ...." She shook her head at a loss for words. "I just have to show this to my professors. Nobody has ever been able to make this kind of communication work. I don't think you realize the implications of this. I could do my doctoral thesis on the message I just sent you. I need to ...."
Jeremy cut her off, shaking his head and holding his finger to his mouth, asking her to be quiet. "I'm sure I don't understand the technical aspects of it, MacKenzie, but there's something else we need to talk about, before you tell the world. And this isn't the place. Can we get out of here?"
Hanna and MacKenzie looked at each other as if they didn't quite understand why he was being so mysterious, but they were willing to play along. They shrugged and got up to leave. Jeremy didn't speak until they were a block away from the Chocolate Bar and on a somewhat lonely stretch of pavement.
"I've got a story to tell you both, but I need your word that you won't repeat any of it to anybody." Jeremy looked seriously at Hanna and MacKenzie, who almost laughed at him. MacKenzie was still thinking of all she could do with what she had just learned, and how it would impact her academic schedule.
"What? You want me to keep this secret?" MacKenzie protested. "This is the biggest discovery in hole communications in a decade."
Jeremy hung his head and thought for a minute. He spoke without looking up. "I couldn't ask you to keep what we've just talked about secret. That wouldn't be fair." He looked up and stared MacKenzie in the eye. "But I want you to swear to me that you won't tell anybody what I'm about to tell you. Both of you," he added, looking at Hanna. "And I think that after you've heard my story, you'll want to keep quiet about the other stuff as well. At least until we can figure it all out."
Hanna and MacKenzie shared a meaningful look. They whispered something to one another, and then Hanna looked back at Jeremy.
"Well, it turns out that your luck is better than you know," she said. "We're both Covenanters."
She might as well have said they were newspapers for all the good it did Jeremy. He looked at her with a blank expression.
As they turned aside to sit on a park bench, Hanna briefly explained what she meant. Covenanters were a religious group whose devotional practices centered around a series of covenants, or oaths, made with God, and in some cases, with others. Putting it in terms Jeremy would understand, they were a modern form of Puritanism.
Hanna didn't explain
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