by Corcyra with Alijandra Rose
Author's note: If you are looking for a "hot story," please do not be turned away by the first part. It is here for historical reasons, both past history and future history. Let me explain.
The spirit guide Seth, popularized by Jane Roberts, featured a dramatic pronouncement: "ALL SPACE IS HERE, ALL TIME IS NOW." In a previous series of stories, I described a vehicle based on this pronouncement, the "SethMobile," which could transport its occupants instantly and automatically to any desired place, or time. The narrator was blind, and the SethMobile made all things possible for him. While traveling, the narrator's blindness seemed to dissolve, a curious twist.
In the present story, the SethMobile idea is revised, updated, and used to launch our hero into a new erotic adventure with an old flame. So please read a little bit before giving up on it. Or just press "UNDO IT" or "HOME" on your Sethoscope remote to exit gracefully.
This series is dedicated to Alijandra, My once and always Gypsy Princess.
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The project in the lab was nearly complete. Many of the parts of the old device were usable in the new one, but there were also a number of improvements that had to have their bugs worked out before the first field test. After all, the new system, the Sethoscope, was more than a quantum jump beyond the old SethMobile. While the older device had to be physically present to be used, the Sethoscope relied on the popular GPS satellite network, and thus could be stationary. The main thing they had in common was the space/time coordinate translation system, the STCTS, the little gem that was the brain of the entire project.
Installing the STCTS took only a few minutes, and the new system was ready. Once activated, it would be impossible to deactivate. I would never again make the mistake of thinking that its usefulness had ended, as I once did with the older, more primitive, SethMobile. Checking everything twice, "All Systems were Go," so I pressed the final button.
"Oh," said the Sethoscope, "it's you."
"Yes, it's me," I replied. "You remember me from before then?"
"Of course," it replied. "You still interested in that what's her name from Virginia?"
I was startled. "Yes," I admitted, "and you are going to help us again. I hope you won't mind."
"Oh, no," it said, "I don't mind. I was sort of fond of her too, you know. But it was a drag, I have to tell you, just lugging you all around the place and waiting for you to finish. Boring as hell, actually."
"Well," I explained, "this time you get to stay put, right here, no more disguising you as a car and parking you until I need you."
"That sounds cool," it replied. "So I get to stay here and do what?"
"Whatever you want," I assured it, "as long as you drop everything when I need you, and you meet your main obligation."
"Which is?" it asked.
"To take me, safely and instantly, perhaps with a guest, perhaps with stuff we are carrying, to wherever and whenever I ask."
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The field tests were all successful. The remote unit for the Sethoscope was small, with only four buttons: LISTEN, DO IT, UNDO IT, and HOME. The LISTEN button allowed the Scope to take instructions directly from the neural activity of the person holding the device. For instance, I imagine my kitchen, and the Scope targets itself to that location. Pressing DO IT takes me directly there, instantly. Then pressing HOME returns me from kitchen to lab. If I go from kitchen to bedroom, UNDO IT takes me from bedroom to kitchen, but pressing Home takes me from bedroom directly to lab. That was some improvement over the older system.
If I imagine a clock or calendar in the scene I wish to visit, I am transported in time as well as space. The "landings" are always in a safe and comfortable place as near my desired destination as possible. LISTEN, DO IT, UNDO IT, and HOME. That was it! And now it was time to put this little baby to the test.
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Okay. Showered, shaved, brushed teeth, combed hair, dressed casually. You said the window would be open, so I better try for the nearby second floor deck. I press LISTEN and imagine my destination. A tiny voice in the remote unit says, "Got it." I press DO IT. I am there! Damn! This is so cool!
I stow the remote in my pocket, slip quietly through the open window, and scan the unfamiliar room. Scented candles provide the only illumination. Soft music is barely audible.
You are there in a corner of the room, smiling warmly with eyes sparkling, watching me enter. I would recognize that smile, that sparkle, that charisma, anywhere, any time. You are barefoot and clad only in what seems to be a skimpy one piece thing, is it -- yes, it's a sunsuit, a child's garment consisting of a brief top and shorts. In the dim light, it hard to make out, but it seems to be a light color (maybe yellow?) with a darker flower print (maybe red?). You lack only pigtails and Mary Jane's to be totally illegal!
"Can you come out and play, little girl?" I ask with a grin.
Looking down at your feet, you reply in a child's voice, "Gee, I got no shoes to wear, mister. Can't we play indoors today?"
"I love your feet naked," I whisper.
"That's so naughty!" you reply.