Stephen's Secure Blog #80
These stories about Stephen began was when he was 10 years old, and
moving to a new part of the country to attend a special school for
gifted students, in the 1950's. This was from a time before computers
would fit on a desk, and when people communicated with friends in other
countries by actual letters sent through the postal service. He wrote
225 of them to a friend. He stopped writing to his penpal, but found he
still wanted to record his life, in case he lost his memory again, and
wrote 30 entries in his first logbook. Then he wrote to an artificial
intelligence called Geenee, in the master computer in his school for
gifted students, which he started attending in 2016. Now it's after
2018, and he's continuing to save his memories in a secure blog.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
The stories may not be posted in chronological order.
Stephen is 13 in this story, in the Winter of year 4 of his special
school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #80 "Testing Posintans"
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Before morning, I got a call from Passinchance, telling me about a
sport like judo, called Kopdit. There were different weight
classifications, but I was too little for even the lightest one. I said
"Is there an unlimited class, where anybody can fight anybody?" He said
"There is. But, there are restrictions. You don't choose your opponent,
and if you back out of the fight, it counts as a loss." While we were
talking, I was researching the rules, and found that you could use any
technique to cause a fall, instead of only approved techniques. I said
"When can we sign me up for a match of that type?" He said "They are
held every hour, and the mats are never fully occupied. Two of your
witnesses will be at one competition in two hours." I said "Do you have
all the information you need to get me in that?" He said "Yes. Your GC
citizen ID and Med certification." He said where it would be held, and
when I had to be there with him. I set a time I would meet him there.
We closed the line, and I contacted Rose and gave her the information.
She went home to get her gi, and we met in the living room, and watched
some matches remotely. She commented, "Some of them are fast. Those
extra limbs are tricky." I said "I measured. They have very strong
grips on their outside hands, and good natural leverage." She said "A
few are using Ki, but there's nothing about that in the rules, either
way." I said "I'm going to have to do without the environmental
envelope. The chill and extra oxygen could be factors. I'll just have
to compensate. We'll have to modify the Gi a little." We did that only
to mine. She wasn't a GC citizen, and so couldn't compete. I said "The
only problems I see, are getting whiskers in the eyes, and that smell."
She said "And one of them falling on you and squishing you like a
little paleface bug." I poked her and we both laughed quietly, so we
didn't wake the family.
When the time came to do that, we ported to the hotel, and then took
public transportation to the venue. They wouldn't let us in, so I
called Passinchance, who came out to get us. We got to the competition
area just in time to weigh in for the next series of unlimited fights.
We were laughed at, but I was allowed to enter. My opponent and I were
checked out, and our Med Certs examined. We passed. I went to the
locker room to change, and came out. Then, after a match ended, ours
was set to begin, and we walked out to the mat. It was 10m square and
well padded. It felt good to my bare feet. We were allowed no
protective equipment but jocks, not even a mouth guard. I wasn't going
to bite him, anyway. Yes, it was a male, and MUCH bigger than average.
Almost 2 and a half meters tall. I looked up at him like he was even
taller than that, and we laughed together. There was a referee and 4
corner judges with light wands which would light at the ref's request
for points, in my or my opponent's color. Mine was blue. His was
yellow. Scoring was similar to amateur wrestling. We bowed and the
match started. We just stood there, undecided what to do about that. We
laughed. We extended hands. I let him grab my wrist. I didn't allow him
the time to let go of it, before I went very fast under his arm and to
the outside, so his own grip made him flip over and down. I didn't go
for the pin or submission, so I only received one point for that.
Still, there was a lot of applause for what I had done, but only from
the real experts, because only they saw that it was only his grip and
not mine, which allowed the throw to happen, which was extremely
difficult to do. Almost impossible against another expert, actually.
My opponent knew that, and knew he was going to lose to a master, and
didn't feel too bad about that, but was determined to give me a good
fight. I let him know I liked that, and respected him for it, which he
didn't mind at all. I went down and rolled into his legs really fast,
and swept him to the mat and put a twisted leg lock on two of his legs.
That worked well because they have short thick legs, compared to the
size of their trunks. Unfortunately, his legs were too strong for me to
hold long enough to score a fall, but I got 3 points for the technique.
We stood and I waited, forcing him to attack, which he did with a bear
hug grab, pinning my arms to my sides. Before he could take me to the
mat under him, I opened my arms up, and his arms were flung wide in
reaction to the force I had used. I had my legs wrapped around his long
waist, and I slipped it lower. Then I leaned over backwards and planted
my forearms on the mat between his legs and tightened my stomach
muscles, whipping his body over, face-first into the mat. I got out
from under him and applied a cross arm choking arm lock, but it wasn't
necessary. He wasn't moving. I got the pin, and the match. I stood up,
and the ref and I helped my opponent up. We bowed to each other, and I
said to the ref after he named me the winner, "That was fun! Can I have
another?" He laughed and said, "You need to sign up again for that.
Good luck!"
In the dressing room, my opponent said to me, "You could have beaten
me in an instant. You are much more than you seem, even to the experts.
Are you taking new students?" I said "I don't know your full name. I am
Stephen." He said "I am Memshoch Grumdik. Mem to my friends." He was on
my list. I said "Yes, I'm looking for new students. You might qualify.
There are tests. Tell me, have I lied to you?" He said "You know I know
you haven't, and how I know, don't you?" I said "Yes. What is in my
hand?" He said "A ring." I put it on. I said "Candidate Mem, there is
one more test. It takes no effort from you. If you pass this time, I
can accept you into one of my schools. If you don't, there are future
possibilities. I will align your internal energy centers. If your
abilities increase to the level they need to, to enter our school,
good. If not, we can try again in a year, if you want. This causes no
harm, but in fact causes better health. Do you agree to this test?" He
said "I do." I made him lie down, and did the work. His third eye
opened a little more, to about 3/4 open. I said "There was significant
improvement, but not enough yet. I think next year might do it." He
said "I can feel the difference! Thank you for that. I will strive to
improve for the next test." We exchanged contact information. We bowed
and walked out to the main area. I went to Rose and Passinchance, and
said "What's next?" He was upset. He said "I didn't bet enough on you.
I didn't believe you could win. I spoke to a few experts who saw you in
action, and they said they wouldn't want to try to beat you. I could
kick myself for missing that opportunity!" I said "If you would like
wasn't there to get broken. He said "Oops! Sorry. I'll try not to do
that again." I said "I want another match, but in a different arena, so
they might not know who I am. And I want my candidates to see it."
He said "I understand now. You are looking for students. I wouldn't
have believed that before. Smart, not telling me then." I grinned and
said, "Yes, wasn't it?" He laughed again, but didn't try to get
physical. He said "Winning, even losing, an unlimited earns lots of
credits. That's why it's more popular than it would otherwise be, with
contestants and the public. We made a bundle, even if I didn't bet
much. Three hours from now, in another city we have just the time to
get to, you can have another match with some people on your list
watching." I said "How much time can we have here before we have to
leave?" He said "No more than five minutes." I said "Wait." One of the
witnesses on my list came over to me and asked to be a student. I said
"I have to go to another match. Please go with and speak to Rose, and
do as she asks. If you pass the tests, you and I will speak again soon.
If not, it will be when she says." We bowed to each other, and he went
off with Rose, and I went with Passinchance to the other city.
This time my opponent was less than average hight for his kind, less
than 2m, but he had more skill. I could feel that in his Ki. I let mine
flow to equal his. He noticed the change, and his eyes went wide, and
then narrowed in thought. Then he surprised everybody, and withdrew
from the match, not giving a reason. I was annoyed and let it show. I
waited on the mat for another opponent, and there was some arguing I
could make out through the wall. Two people wanted to fight me. One of
them had been a spectator. And a candidate. I walked over to the
GamesMaster and said, "I want to fight both. Can we do that, one after
the other?" He talked it over with an other GM and said, "Yes, in this
case we can do that, to settle this argument. If you pick who to fight
first." I said to the candidate, "If I fight you first, he won't want
to fight me." He said "I agree. Better if you chose him first." The
other fighter backed away and said, "I changed my mind. Let him fight
the little man." The candidate and I grinned at each other.
We went to the mat and bowed, and then it began. He was very
cautious, and wouldn't attack. We circled, and I rushed at him, but
then swerved before contact, and caught an arm and leveraged it up and
over, and he fell on his back, but did a back summersault to stand
again with his arm untwisted, which he then tried to reverse on me. I
let him do that, but in the air I twisted and wrapped my legs around
his neck and twisted to make him lose his balance and fall from the
momentum he had given me. He landed partially on me, but I wasn't
injured. I captured an arm into a bar and wrist lock, still maintaining
my leg strangle on his neck, which he couldn't pry loose, and he
submitted. We stood and I was declared the winner. In the locker room,
the candidate said to me, "You are looking for students. Do I qualify?"
I said "There are formalities. Tests, which in your case might be
unnecessary, but it wouldn't be fair to the other candidates I turned
down, if we didn't perform them." He said "Master, I am Dattency
Yunches. Dat, to my friends. Please proceed with the tests." I said "I
am Stephen, and the title is Master Teacher, which isn't for you to say
just yet, and I don't care about titles anyway. They are unnecessary
for us. You already passed a test I didn't know was going to happen.
Two of them, before the fight. I'm very impressed. Tell me, have I lied
to you?" He said "You have not, and you knew I would know and say
that." I said "What is in my hand." He said "A very odd ring." I said
"Why is it odd?" He said "It has some extra things hidden under the
stone." I said "Correct. The next test involves mind contact." I did
that and he did very well. "The next test requires no action of you. I
will align your internal energy centers. It causes no harm, and
actually improves things. If the improvement is to the level I require,
you will be accepted. If not, we wait a year. Do you agree to this
action?" He said "Yes. Please." His third eye open wide, and stayed
that way.
I said "If you choose to become one of our students on a different
planet, you will learn to use your body and mind to your full
potential, much more than what is currently accepted or understood by
the science of the GC. It won't be easy, and it will take time, and
starting so late in life, you might not ever fully equal somebody like
me who started in early childhood. What is your wish?" he said "I want
to be a student in your school." I gave him the same talk I did the
Tsuriss candidate. I said "Would you like to see our match, and my
previous match, as my advanced student Rose saw it?" He said "He was
there?" I said "No she wasn't." He said "Please." Rose ported a crystal
to my open hand I had held so that Dat could see. He did look a little
surprised. I said "Control is VERY important to us. You will work on
that for sure. Our technology is very unsafe without it. Put this to
your head to read her memory of what she saw." He did, and said "Wow!"
I said with a grin, "We hear that a lot." He grinned back and said,
"I'll bet! Will making these be one of the things I will be learning?"
I said "Rose is one of my most advanced students, and she just learned
to do that only a few days ago, after trying for a year. After me, only
two others can do it as well as that. It requires a special combination
of talents which few of our students ever achieve. You might. I just
don't know. The same for our porting, like how that appeared in my
palm. That takes such a high degree of control that some of us never
achieve it, and a high knowledge of math to understand the principles.
Here is an example. This ring. See the red tracer light it emits? When
activated and controlled, it emits a laser light which can cut 4cm
thick steel. It's controlled solely by the mind, directly, just like
our bodies are. Would you want to wear it while you are sleeping?" He
said "Absolutely not! I see what you mean about control. I have a lot
to learn."
I said "You are not the first to say that after being told about the
ring, which is the simplest of our mind controlled devices. Will you be
able to use it safely, in time? You might. I think you will. In any
case, goals are important. When can you leave for Zichesshich?" He said
"Earliest would be late tonight. Best would be tomorrow evening." I
said "We have another student leaving with us day after tomorrow. The
candidate Rose tested, passed. Good or bad, you won't be the only one
of your kind at the school. Pack your things, and leave them where we
can pick them up unobserved like we transferred the crystal. And if you
are not observed, we can do that to you, too." He said "That will be
interesting!" I said "Not really. Unless you have a disorientation
illness, which you don't. It happens too fast to experience it. Don't
worry. There are other very exciting experiences you won't believe you
will have had, even after you have had them." He grinned and said, "I
can't wait." I grinned back. I said "I'll contact you by mindtalk when
we are ready to lift. Please maintain our secrecy." He said he would,
and we did our farewells. We left the locker room separately.
I said to Passinchance, "Candidate passed. So did the one Rose
tested. That's all we want for this trip. We have two days to use up
before we leave. Got anything else besides this game, for me? It
doesn't need to have people on my list watching anymore. How about
something involving intelligence or accuracy?" He said "Yes. One which
involves both, and more. Laser Tag." I said "Yes. I know lasers." Rose
laughed, behind me. We went back to the venue near the main spaceport.
On the way, I asked Passinchance, "Is there any way we could enable
Rose to play it too?" He said "Not ordinarily. Is she related to you?"
I said "Yes, but by official clan adoption, like I am with a Tsuriss
clan. He said "Wow! You must be something really special to be adopted
by the Tsuriss!" Rose said with pride, "Yes he is!" I poked her, and
she poked me back. She giggled.
At the city, he made us wait in a park, so he could talk to some
officials. Over an hour later, he came back to us and said, "I have
some news. I don't know how you celebrate. Should I stand well back?"
Rose and I laughed. I said "We can control ourselves better than any
other warmblood can." He grinned and said, "I should know better than
to doubt you. After reviewing videos of your performances, and what I
told them about you, the Sports Monitoring Committee has granted you
both official membership. On this world, that automatically establishes
citizenship. They really like your sportsmanship. We'll note the
additions on your credit disks, at the next terminal we see." Rose said
"I don't have one." He said "Then you will." And that's what happened.
Rose became a citizen of Posintan, and therefore of the GC. We did
celebrate, but mind to mind, and love to love.
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Grant
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