Attunga - 20. Part 20

ATTUNGA Part 20.

***

“I go away for six days and when I get back I think I must have come to the wrong place! What's going on?”

The returned Comet was docked and after the flurry of reunion the trio was sitting in a transit lounge to take stock. There'd been an exchange of messages while Thom was travelling of course, the highlight of which had been his excited transmission just after the Comet reached the turning point one and a half light hours away and broken every speed record existing in the Solar System, but for a real catch up nothing could beat face-to-face. Thom was talking about the hundreds of asteroids parked close to Attunga, which hadn't been there when he left.

“You mean the asteroids? That's only the start of it. The Witness Council took the advice of the AIs and is building a huge reinforcing shell round the whole of Attunga. We're all going to have a look tomorrow because Sonic is curious about how the changes will affect the new dolphin level.”

“Why do we need reinforcement? Is it something to do with K74?”

“Partly, but they're going to add banks of big drive engines like the ones on the Warrakan, and part of the shell will hide them so no one will know they're there.”

Thom's eyes rounded.

“But Attunga's already mobile. What are the big engines for?”

“More options. The old engines only boost Attunga to 0.15G and the new ones will lift that to .8 G.”

“That's amazing! They're turning Attunga into a giant spaceship.

...And were having a look at all this tomorrow? ...Why am I always the last one to find out about everything?”

“Dingo head! ...Because you're the first to find out about other things.”

“... Like what?”

“Like seeing Titania before anyone else. ...Or doesn't that count?”

“That's different.”

Thom laughed at the inadequacy of his answer then grinned and a very pointedly said nothing.

“Well? ...Go on.”

“You want me to tell you about Titania and the other moons?”

“Dingo brain! Get on with it.”

Wirrin put a bit of 'get on with it' tone in his voice as well as saying it and Thom turned serious, excited and eager.

“You really need to go and see them sometime. It's exciting enough just being there with real moons, and Uranus looking so unbelievable, and then when you get to the Habitats it's even more unbelievable.

You know about their big reaches? Well, when you see them its almost like being at Monkey Mia. Every moon has built a gigantic reach over ninety kilometers long and forty kilometers wide and it's the wideness that gets you, because you look out and all you see is water. Sonic would totally love it.”

“Forty km? Even the Warrakan reaches are only one or two km. Why do they make them so big?”

“Everything is big. It's because they're moons and not space habitats and they think differently. At any rate, the biomass was seeded on each moon as soon as we unloaded it, and the reaches will all be ready only a month after ours here. The dolphins will have so much space they won't know what to do with it.”

The dolphins would know exactly what to do with it, but Wirrin understood what Thom meant.

“Did you fly the Comet much?”

“More than the main pilot, and all the time when we were travelling between moons. I learned how to deploy the big dust scoops on the way back and they were slightly better than expected, so that's good news for Warrakan.”

“Dust? What do they want that for?”

“Calen! How can you not know that? It's the fuel for the mass/energy converters and it means that when Warrakan starts on its big journey it won't have to eat into its own mass.”

“Hmm! That's interesting. Did you talk to any dolphinarium people while you were there?”

Thom shook his head in disgust and Wirrin laughed at Calen's disregard for things mechanical.

“I don't know if they've got any. There aren't any dolphins there yet and the rangers and companions are probably all still here. Guess what was amazing on Titania?”

“Tell us.”

“There's a giant chasm that's fifty times as long as Attunga and we flew right over the top of it.”

“How deep is it?”

“A few kilometres. The whole moon expanded and left a crack nearly all the way from the equator to the pole. There are chasms everywhere and lots of big craters too.”

“Not from volcanoes. It's all ice isn't it?”

“Yes, they're impact craters from meteors and rocks.”

“Did you go to Uranus?”

“Yes, but not to land. We didn't have time. No one lives on it except for scientists at a tiny Habitat. Guess how fast the wind blows.”

“How can we guess, except it must be really fast or really slow from the way you're asking.”

“Yeah, try 900 km/h. Anyhow, you'll get to see all this yourselves when we take the dolphins there.”

“We will? How do you know that?”

“Because Sonic is travelling with them and that means we will be too, and since he's looking at each of the reaches we'll be there for at least two weeks. There'll be lots of time to explore all around. And we'll be staying four or five days when we visit the Freedom habitat too, so that's more exploring time.”

“The last one to find out about everything? That's a joke. I haven't heard anything about Sonic going to Titania or Freedom.”

“It's on the Comet's security logs. I saw it when I was checking the projected flight plans for the next twelve months.”

Wirrin quickly used retinal mode to check, and sure enough there it was, nineteen days at the Uranus Habitats and six days at Freedom.

“Thom, it's time to move. We'll talk while we're on TransCom.”

“Where are we going?”

“Home! Sonic will be there by now and he's missed you. He was going to be here in his transport module but Puck and Flute wanted him with them while they visited little Comet.”

***

With Thom casually and confidently at the controls, the Comet left its special docking bay and went gliding towards the construction area where a complete new level was being added to Attunga. The view was all encompassing of course, since they were on the Comet with its state-of-the-art observation and display equipment, and they marvelled at the enhanced images of the gathered asteroids as they manoeuvred along what Thom said was a designated transit lane. Most of the asteroids needed some sort of enhancement as they emitted no light.

“Look at that big one! It's nearly four km in diameter and made of nickel-iron.”

Wirrin stared at the misshapen blob Thom was pointing out and wondered what was familiar. Oh yes, its surface was similar to Warrakan's.

“How many are out there?”

Wirrin was about to use his retinal mode but Thom already had the answer.

“643 at the moment. Seven with a diameter greater than one km, and the rest ranging down in size from there. But this is only the start and most of these will be used for the dolphin level.”

'Where is the dolphin level?'

“I'll show you.”

Thom adjusted the main display screen and a jumble of girders and reinforcing walls appeared, stretching the complete length and breadth of this surface of Attunga.

'Is there any water?'

“Not yet. They'll bring that later when the major framework is complete and the grav-field generators and reach containing walls have been built.”

'How long before we will swim there?'

“Um. ...I don't know. Wirrin, how long?”

“... Another fourteen months. That's incredibly fast Sonic. They have to build all the infrastructure to make things work before they do anything else and it's a huge volume of living space. It's the biggest building project that Attunga has ever tackled. The reinforcing shell will be even bigger but it's nowhere near as complicated as living space.”

It was indeed huge. 280 cubic kilometers in fact, and much more complicated in structure and function because it had to accommodate both human and dolphin needs. It was also the first time a complete level was being constructed in one fell swoop. Previously it had been an accretion process of one sector at a time and built according to the demands of population growth.

“Wirrin, can you access time logs of all this growth? If we could see it in a speeded up time frame it would be interesting.”

It certainly was. The red glow of picobot activity growing the new walls and girders turned the whole scene of scintillating activity into a frantic process which emphasised how much had happened.

“It's just a cluttered mess everywhere you look. How much building before they reach the new outer barrier?”

“...Not much, another two hundred meters and they'll be able to start enclosing everything.”

With several stops to check out points of interest, the comet finished its sweep of the length of Attunga and Thom turned to Calen and Sonic.

“Where to next? The asteroids are closest but it's only a short trip to anything else.”

'A little asteroid please. They are very interesting.'

Knowing he was being teased about his liking for the biggest and best, Thom shook his head and set the Comet moving in a new direction. Everyone watched the motley collection of asteroids gliding past. ...till a small piece of rock became centred in the display then grew, and grew, till it was a great wall stretching in all directions.

“This one's little. Only three km across.”

'What is that big patch of red we can see?'

It was indeed interesting. Thom moved the Comet so the patch was dead ahead and only a hundred meters away and everyone stared at the glowing red area.

“I can't move any closer. The energy warnings are at danger levels unless I take special measures. I can zoom the image though.”

That didn't help much because the red glow just became blurred and indistinct. Wirrin worked at his Info-Station to find out exactly what was going on.

“... Move across to the edge of the patch Thom. We should be able to get a better idea there.”

Moments later it was very clear. The red cloud, really trillions upon trillions of picobots, was embedded forty or fifty meters deep in the asteroid surface.

“They're dissolving the nickel iron and converting it into special building materials for Attunga, then transporting it in that picobot tube to the building areas.”

A thinner version of the construction tubes they'd seen when the Comet was being built snaked off towards Attunga, and when Wirrin adjusted the display they could see more tubes leaving from different locations on the red cloud. No wonder the Comet was confined to specific areas.

“According to my information this cloud is eating into the asteroid at a rate of just over three m every five miniyes, so if we watch carefully we should see the embedding get deeper.”

After that had happened Thom moved the Comet further along the asteroid to where another cloud of picobots had burrowed so deep they could just make out the glowing red mass 400 meters into the main body.

“Those big holes look mysterious. Why don't they creep evenly over the surface instead of making tunnels like that?”

Wirrin started to look it up but got completely distracted when Sonic wanted to take over the Comet from Thom.

“Not here Sonic. I don't think you've learnt about the navigation beacons have you?”

'That's easy. Turaku will look after that for me.'

“Okay, but that means you won't really be in charge. Why don't you wait till we've seen the new engines and the asteroids are out of the way?”

'Take us to the engines, fearless pilot.'

Grins went all around as Thom mumbled something about a bossy little fish, while Sonic moved as close as possible, judging whether he could send a splash of water without hitting any electronic equipment.

The image on the display screen lurched as Thom changed the direction of the Comet. There was an excited burst of native dolphin speech and Wirrin turned his head to watch the whole pool of water rotate in its containing field. Sonic was now as far away from everyone as possible. What? How did that happen? Thom's satisfied look of victory was the clue. Knowing his fish comment would get a response he'd partially negated the grav-field of the pool area so that ordinary inertia came into play when the Comet changed direction. It showed he was building very impressive skills at fine control of the internal workings of the ship. Oh well, Sonic would get him somehow, that was certain.

Viewing the installation of the big new engines involved manoeuvring behind the extensive screen which had been built to hide the development from prying eyes, and which had so surprised Thom on his return from Titania. It looked massive but being temporary it was only several centimetres thick and would be removed if Attunga started to move.

“Wow! Look at all the mooring points. Are they all for engines?”

“There are twenty of them Calen. They need that many to move something the size of Attunga.”

“How many have they got for Warrakan then? It's much bigger.”

Wirrin had to look that up.

“They've completed twenty-seven so far and they'll finish up with forty-four. They're bigger though. These Attunga engines have been scaled down a bit.”

The Comet moved closer to one of the two construction bays where the engines were built and they watched engine number two lifting slowly under the control of space tugs. The schedule showed the next placement of an engine wasn't due for almost two weeks so they'd picked the right day for a visit. The Comet moved as close as was safe and they marvelled at the size while Thom conjectured on what one of these ninety meter cross-section drives would do on a smaller asteroid.

'It's my time to drive now.'

“Not yet. We're behind the protective screen. After we've seen the new Comet we'll ask Turaku if there are too many K74 drones to go further out.”

'Take us to the new Comet, official pilot.'

Official? So Sonic knew Thom was playing games with him. There would be a lot of carrying on tonight when they relaxed in the pool at home.

The new Comet wasn't very far away since all the major construction facilities were congregated on this face of Attunga, and before long the pico-tubes connecting the pico-factories to the partially modified asteroid were in full view.

“There doesn't seem to be much happening?”

“There's no deadline so they'll finish in two months instead of three weeks this time.”

“Two months is still amazing for how big it is.”

“Big? Isn't it the same size as the Comet?”

“Bigger, about fifty meters of extra length and there's more space inside. Do you want to hear about it?”

'Yes please, so I can drive it when you're not around.'

Thom gave Sonic a funny look and went ahead. He'd woken early to spend time learning all the details and developments with the new Comet.

“Well, it's not really another Comet, which was specially built for Sonic and transporting dolphins. It's been designed as a defensive ship with long range scanning equipment.”

“Defensive? Against what?”

“Practically anything Calen. It's broad-spectrum energy beams are more powerful than the ones on the Comet and they're built to work at a much longer range in space. The security AIs have worked out that the most successful type of attack against Attunga could be with multiple kinetic projectiles.”

“Meaning exactly what?”

“Throwing rocks at us, very quickly.”

“That sounds ridiculous but I can tell it isn't.”

“No, it's not. If an asteroid even half the size of the comet was accelerated for long enough its kinetic energy would take it straight through Attunga's walls and vaporise millions of people when the energy was converted to heat.”

'Very bad thought.'

The silence as everyone took in Thom's graphic depiction was in total agreement with Sonic. Wirrin knew about the kinetic projectiles but he hadn't pictured in his mind what they could do.

“Is that why the new shell around Attunga is so thick?”

“I hadn't thought about that, but it could be.”

All eyes turn to Wirrin. Turaku, Comet-Turaku really, could have answered but they'd learnt that he expected any tricky answers to come from the Info-Station.

“...It is, but only partially. It's also a barrier against cosmic rays, radiation belts and other kinds of space hazards.”

“What? We've been protected against those ever since they built the first anti-grav habitats.”

“Yes we have Thom, but not against artificially amplified versions of them.”

“Man-made?”

“Yes, scientific institutes have had them available for research purposes, but if they were used as weapons they could be very dangerous.”

“And I suppose you're going to tell us that K74 is building them?”

“No, but they have been considering the possibility for the future. At the moment they're expecting results from the Embassy when it's set up and the other information exchanges coming from the delegates meeting.”

“Hey, I'd forgotten about that Embassy. Has it started?”

“It's started, but it won't open for at least three or four months. All the materials have to be ferried to the right location and assembled carefully.”

“What? They could build it here in the construction area in a couple of days.”

“Thom, wake up. It's for K74. Would you build it in three days when you could take four months?”

Thom's eyes lit up.

“Hey, that's good. I like it. Whose idea was that?”

“The Witness Delegates I think.”

Thom went serious again.

“Does Pirramar think that K74 might get serious with any of these possibilities?”

Wirrin was impressed. The proposal for the reinforcing shell had indeed come from Pirramar just a day after the Comet had left for Titania.

“He does Thom. He's in permanent communication with that AI on K74 and they keep a close eye on everything that goes on there. The Cadre wants to make sure that K74 is the most powerful and influential Habitat in the solar system and they work on any strategy they think they could use to make that happen.”

“That's crazy. They're already at least twice as big as any other Habitat.”

“ Not the planetary ones. They're all much bigger.”

“They wouldn't try to tell the planets what to do. That would be even crazier.”

“They wouldn't tell them directly. They'd use sneaky tricks to influence them like they did about the Earth dolphins, but the AIs aren't really worried about that because it's getting harder for them all the time with Habitats getting more and more open.”

“So they come after us instead because we're smaller?”

“Not because were smaller. They've focused on us because we stood up to them and because they know we've got special technology they could use. It was a big shock when their tiny little neighbour suddenly walked all over their efforts.”

“How serious are they with these threats?”

“They've only talked about them as possibilities so far, but Pirramar thinks that because the Cadre is so determined to get its way, it's certain they'll eventually start different developments. It should be four or five years before they're capable enough to do anything though.”

“Really? Then why the big rush with the reinforcing shell?”

“It's not rushed. It will take at least two years to finish.”

“Looks rushed to me. I go away and there's nothing. I come back a week later and there are hundreds of asteroids lined up and construction work going on in every direction around Attunga.”

Wirrin laughed and pointed at Sonic.

“You can blame him. The dolphins are the reason it's going ahead like this.”

'Dolphins don't give trouble. Wirrin will get sucked into whirly-water tonight.'

Not really. Whirly-water needed at least three or four dolphins to be effective and the pool was too limited in space anyway.

“No whirly-water thank you. ...It's because the capabilities of Attunga's pico-factories have been geared up so much to build the new reaches and levels, and to finish the Comet so quickly. They are so advanced and ready that this shell project is quite an easy one. It's very big in size of course, but that's just a matter of scaling up and they're expert at that.”

“Wirrin? You must know more about K74 than anyone else on Attunga.”

That was most likely true in some ways but Wirrin wasn't going to say so.

“Pirramar does know everything and he tells me about it. We have a talk most days.”

“Well I've never even met him. Are you sure he exists?”

A shocked look appeared on Thom's face as he started floating slightly above his seat. He grabbed with one hand to steady himself and frantically tried manipulating his controls till they went out of reach and he floundered helplessly in mid-air.

“Hello Thom! Lost control of your localised grav-field?”

Thom relaxed into a more controlled position, he was after all very proficient in zero-G situations, and stared in total astonishment at himself, standing close by with an absolutely classic Thom look of cheekiness. Except the voice was completely wrong. The tone was Pirramar's normal one but Thom couldn't know that.

“Oops! I forgot the voice.”

This time it was Thom's voice exactly and Wirrin and Calen dissolved into laughter at Thom's momentary bewilderment. Their merriment was enough to clue him in and the slight shimmer as Pirramar presented his usual image set him smiling.

“Put me down, you crazy bunch of electrons.”

There was a slight bump as the gravity supporting Thom normalised and he landed in a sitting position. Realising he was outclassed he laughed and put on a show that he'd been bruised by rough treatment.

“Okay! Okay! It looks like you really do exist.”

In complete contrast to the mischievous demeanour of a moment ago, Pirramar gave a traditional Old Country greeting of Welcome.

Thom was surprised but responded perfectly.

“Welcome home Thom, you far traveller. I watched your journey with great interest.”

“You watched it? Which bit?”

“All of it. Any action of your trio or the Comet has possible implications for K74. ...I hope I didn't bruise your ego or your posterior?”

“They're both in agony, so that means you owe me. How did you do it? I didn't know it was possible.”

He wasn't talking about his ego. That was definitely open to bruising.

“A fine-tuned version of what you did with Sonic's environment.”

“But that's a whole designated area. You worked on a tiny fraction of one.”

“The capability is a necessary part of the Comet's function, to allow for adaptability in crisis situations. I'll show you how it works, though it is rather complex for the human time frame.”

“Ah! ...Sometime later. What was it like living on K74?”

“It nearly sent me crazy. I had to get out.”

That was a direct allusion to his comment about AIs and K74 the night before he left for Titania and Thom knew it. Pirramar really did see anything that connected with K74. Wirrin decided to give Thom a further indication of just how capable an AI was.

“How long did it take you to watch Thom and the Comet's journey?”

“That's a complex question Wirrin. Some of the data came from ongoing Comet transmissions, some came from external sources at the various habitats, and some came from the Comet's logs. In total it took 76 nanoseconds for the input and, so far, 29 milliseconds for consideration.”

'That is even faster than a not so slow dolphin can swim.'

“A very apt use of litotes my dear dolphin.”

Wirrin laughed at Thom's bemused expression.

“Ignore them Thom. Pirramar has caught the strange-word disease from Sonic.”

“I don't see how I can. One sends deluges of water at me and the other sends me into orbit. What will happen if they team up?”

'We will turn you into fish paste.'

Thom nearly made a cheeky reply but he was wise enough to realise that after his teaming up comment, discretion was the better part of valour. He asked another question instead.

“So, how does the AI who's on K74 at the moment stay there? It must be hard for him too?”

“It is Thom. Very hard and getting harder. There is a scientist there who's bringing new controls to the electronic systems which are making it increasingly difficult to remain independent. The Attunga gestalt has been providing special support to help him maintain his equilibrium.”

“Hey, look at that. It's another engine.”

Calen was pointing and all eyes turned to the display screen where a group of space tugs was moving an engine towards the new Comet. Thom took over again.

“It doesn't look very big compared to the Attunga drives but it's built in a very different way. Four of them will give the new Comet an acceleration capability of 17 G. That's 4G less than this Comet but it's not designed for the same fast trips.”

For a while longer Thom manoeuvred to whatever point of interest on the new Comet he was directed and then, after passing the extension screen, he relinquished control to Sonic.

Wirrin had to smile when Thom's critical eye couldn't find any fault with the way Sonic took the Comet on an impromptu journey round Warrakan.

***

The doctor was practically helpless with laughter as Thom tried to hold Sonic's tail-fin to prevent being swamped with barrages of water. It was an exercise in futility as there were still two free flippers and even the occasional drenching from a calculated and powerful head swish, and all he was accomplishing was having his arms nearly pulled from their sockets and his body jerked up and down or in what it ever direction Sonic felt like.

A moment before, Sonic had been floating sedately on his back and having a tummy massage, which he sometimes claimed was the reason human hands had been evolved.

Calen dived from the edge of the pool and Thom was gone, dragged under and restrained so Sonic could butt him in the stomach. As it continued the doctor's laughter changed to a dubious look.

“Aren't they going to let him breathe?”

“Not till he needs it. They know exactly how long he can last.”

“Well, I'm glad they don't do it to me. I'd be breathing water by now. How long can they hold their breath?”

“A couple of minutes for Thom, and Calen can last nearly twice as long. Sometimes we reckon he must have been given gills along with his other implants.”

Thom burst through the surface, gasping for breath. He'd had enough. The powerhouse of energy and action transferred to smiles and relaxation as he and Calen draped themselves over Sonic's sleek back and drifted slowly round the pool.

“I think it's amazing Wirrin. You really are a family.”

'I'm the father who has to manage the intractable children.'

The doctors gaze flicked from Wirrin to the far end of the pool.

“Don't forget that his hearing is much better than ours.”

“It's hard not to forget. He fits in and acts so much like a person.”

Wirrin nodded his agreement.

“He's getting more and more expert at it too. You should have seen him on his Nursery round last week. It only took him a few minutes and the children were laughing and talking as if he'd been their friend for years.”

'Children are wonderful to talk to.'

“Takes one to know one.”

'That's why I practice with you Thom.'

Thom grinned and said nothing more.

'Thom is correct doctor. I am very much a child and I revel in the activities enjoyed by all young dolphins. I am also conscious of other aspects of my being and I continually think about their relative importance and how I should integrate them.'

“Do you have much certainty about your conclusions?”

“For personal decisions I mostly feel certainty. Decisions which involve second or third-hand information are more difficult and involve varying degrees of doubt.”

Sonic towed Thom and Calen closer to where Wirrin and the doctor were sitting then flipped on his back for easy seeing. The trio listened quietly to a serious discussion about the links between personality and perception, and their differences for humans and dolphins. Wirrin battled to understand the concepts and finer points at times, and watching the doctor's fierce concentration wondered anew at Sonic's capabilities.

'Excuse me doctor. Puck is calling. Please return soon.'

After a quick nudge against Calen and an exchange of dolphin speech Sonic arrowed through the access way to the reach and disappeared into the dark.

“Did you understand what he was saying?”

“Yes Thom, but I had to work at it. Is a heavy conversation like that a normal part of your routine when he's here?”

“It's normal, but it's never routine. Sometimes simple questions get complicated answers and complicated questions get answers that seem too easy, but it's mostly spontaneous like tonight. You should hear him when he really gets going.”

“That sounds like it would be amazing. What starts it happening?”

“When he has the conferences with the scientists. There are a whole lot of topics I haven't a clue about but they're always amazed and excited by what he has to say.”

“How often does he have the conferences? I haven't heard much about them lately.”

“They used to be every month but with so many other things happening they've been missing out. They might have to wait till after the dolphins have moved into their new reaches for the next one.”

“How are the new reaches going?”

“Turaku says they'll be ready in another five weeks, but we'll see for ourselves because Akama has asked for an official preview next week.”

“Akama works hard for the dolphins.”

“He sure does. He loves being with them too, especially Sonic.”

The doctor looked at the access to the reach.

“Did you hear Puck calling? I heard absolutely nothing.”

Wirrin and Thom shook their heads and left the answer to Calen.

“I usually can but it depends how far away she is. I didn't tonight because my head wasn't under the water.”

“Your implants must feel completely natural by now?”

“Yes they do. I'd be completely lost without them.”

“Well, I guess I should head off. We have a busy day tomorrow. You don't have any questions do you?”

“Not really. We know we'll be hooked up to your machines for forty-eight hours and won't be able to do much.”

This was the biggest of the age extension treatments where the majority of the new health-bots would be instituted under full monitoring.

“Not really? In other words you've got something on your mind.”

“We were wondering if having the treatments so many years earlier than usual might have any different effect?”

“Yes it will, but minor and positive. Your bodies will function at full efficiency as soon as the treatments are done instead of the 95 to 97% efficiency the standard health-bots give.”

“What about our appearance? Thom's been wondering if he can keep his baby-face look for years and years.”

Thom thought no such thing and Calen received an elbow in the ribs for making the comment.

“It's a very good question Calen. Your maturation factors aren't affected by the treatment so your appearance will change as normal for the next four to six years till that stabilises. After that any changes will be your own choice.”

“So Thom can go back to baby-face if he wants to?”

The doctor winced at the whack Calen received this time.

“Thom, careful. Not really. Your maturation level is like a baseline. If there were some special reason for reverting to your late teens it would require special regrowth of skin tissue and minor restructuring of your facial and body features, somewhat like the repairs after a major physical trauma.”

Thom laughed and said Calen would be having a major physical trauma if he kept on being an idiot.

“Calen's the one who needs to keep his baby-face doctor. All the kids in the Nurseries will want him to stay as the Dolphin Boy.”

There was a general pause as everyone contemplated the idea, which they all knew was quite well founded.

“Hey, we're all Dolphin Boys so it doesn't just apply to me, and I'm not going to be stuck with everyone thinking me as a boy for the rest of my life. They'll just have to get used to us looking older.”

The doctor chuckled.

“We'd have Peter Pan flying through water instead of air.”

Thom and Calen looked at Wirrin for an explanation.

“He was the boy who never grew up. Don't you remember the story from Nursery when we were little? There were pirates and a crocodile.”

“Oh yes, the crocodile swallowed a clock.”

“Could Attunga Health AIs do that? Stop someone from growing up?”

“I suspect they could Wirrin but I've never heard of it happening. It would be arrested development and I can't imagine a situation where it would be ethical.”

"So whatever we look like in our mid-twenties is the way we'll stay? We could end up like older versions of this Peter Pan boy.

***