Impossible Dreamers

Chapter 45 (mektwi-sag): A new way with the scanner

As the new organiser of the Festival of Happiness and Invention, Pritch had to find a new invention that could be presented by Tyro. Something extraordinary. Something nobody had ever seen before. He had no idea what it could be.

He talked about it to Piacho and Selentaya. It was useful to have people around who thought in a different way. It helped him come up with new ideas. He was surprised to find that Piacho already had some thoughts.

'This thought-scanner that your leader is so keen on,' said Piacho, 'do you really know how it works?'

'We know that it works,' said Pring, 'but exactly how is not known. That's why the whole thing is a bit hit and miss. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But we mustn't let anyone know that. If they did, the machine would lose much of its power.'

'Ha! Yes, well, that's not really surprising,' said Piacho, 'But if the underlying principle is what I think it is, it may be that you could make it work in a much more interesting way.'

'What way?' asked Pritch.

'Ha! I'm not sure,' said Piacho.

Selentaya laughed.

'What's funny?' said Pring.

'Oh, it's just that I know Piacho so well,' said Selentaya. 'When he has a new, extraordinary idea, it always starts out with "Ha! I'm not sure". That was how wrist-flyers were developed.'

'Ah yes,' said Piacho, 'if I'm right, we'll need some wrist-flyers. Or at least the herelina from them. About three pairs, I'd say. And, of course, one of your thought-scanner machines.'

Pring already had access to the thought scanner. Getting the wrist-flyers was not so easy, though. Pritch would have to get special permission for that.

Pritch was eventually allowed to visit Sleech again in his magnificent office. He was told he would only have a few minutes with him.

Looking across the desk at the High Himester, Pritch gulped before speaking.

'Himester Sleech,' he said, 'for the purposes of my further research, in order to come up with a truly extraordinary invention to be presented by the Great Tyro, I will need ...' Pritch gulped again.

'What will you need?' said Sleech. 'Come on, speak up. We haven't got all day.'

'I will need five pairs of aerial bracelets,' said Pritch. He only needed three, of course, but experience had taught him that you never get what you ask for first time, so it was best to start by asking for more.

'Five pairs? Certainly not,' Sleech said immediately. 'We have only a limited supply of the devices at this time. We cannot spare any of them. What do you want them for, anyway?'

What, indeed, did he want them for? Even Piacho wasn't sure. And how could he convince Sleech to spare them? Then an idea came into his head.

'I believe,' Piacho said, 'after talking with, I mean interrogating, the Grabblers,' Piacho gulped again, and just about managed to resist the urge to stick his finger in his ear, 'that there may be a way to use the power in the aerial bracelets to ... to wage war more efficiently, and to conquer any people who will not comply with Bartyronian rule,' Pritch said.

'Hmm,' said Sleech, his manner softening, 'do you mean that you can use them for a better way of flying?'

'Oh no,' said Pritch, 'not just flying. They can be used for much more than that. My understanding is that the forces in the bracelets can be used extensively to control how people think, how they act, how they ... how they dream.'

'I see,' said Sleech, weighing up this new information. 'Well, if this is something that will amplify our power, perhaps it will be worthwhile in the long run. Hmm.' He tapped his finger repeatedly on his desk, as he thought this new information over. Eventually he spoke.

'Very well,' Sleech said. 'The aerial bracelets will be assigned to you. We cannot spare five, but you can have four. A Guardian will send them to your abode. But take great care of them.'

And so it was that Pritch's household came into possession of four pairs of magnificent wrist-flyers.

***

When Piacho and Selentaya saw the wrist-flyers, their eyes began to swell with tears. They were decorated with the patterns familiar in Seren-ila. They had been used by the people of Seren-ila, a land which no longer existed. Piacho weighed the bracelets in his hand, then looked at Pritch with determination.

'Do you have a sharp knife?' he said.

Nervously, Pritch went and found a kitchen knife. Piacho used it now to lever off one edge of a bracelet. Inside, there were sparkling green leaves packed tightly together. It was strange that the greenery had not faded or dried, but Piacho explained that this was one of the special qualities of herelina. Piacho removed the leaves and placed them on the table.

'Nearly there,' he said. 'Now, I will need to open up your thought scanner.' Pring looked alarmed, but Piacho assured her that he would do no harm.

And so the modification began.