.1.

 

David busselled into the classroom, the heavy lecture hall doors slamming home behind him, destroying any chance for David to sneak into his 9am lecture. On cue from the door, most of the students in the class who were not dozing in their seats swung their heads around to meet David. The professor, to David's relief, appeared not to notice his late entrance nor to have started the lecture since she was busy pointing at a schedule to a very flustered student.

 

David smiled weakly at the rows of eyes looking at him, apologizing to the class as a whole with an expression if not any words. David Wilson slid into an open seat beside two women engaged in a heated discussion, the topic both foreign and trivial to David. Sighing again, David slumped in his chair to regain his composure.

 

He really hadn't meant to be late. David had set his alarm clock, even went to bed early. He was really looking forward to this class, this lecture especially. He didn't want to miss it or get on the professors shit list the first day of college. It was just that when David went to bed early, he didn't go to bed alone.

 

'I suppose I should have expected this going to the same school my girlfriend is attending.' David thought to himself, as he pulled out his thin e-pad. A soft blue glow began eminating from the two page sized electronic notepad now sitting on David's lecture hall desk. 'But it's hard leaving her even for a class like this.'

 

Sara, David's girlfriend and the one currently still sleeping in his dorm room bed, hadn't noticed David wake up when his alarm had sounded at eight a.m. She also hadn't noticed David hit the snooze button twice, once to catch a few more minutes of sleep and the second was to catch a few more seconds of her. David could never get enough of watching Sara sleeping contently, her soft cheeks pursed together, her shoulders raising the blankets ever so gently.

 

David knew he looked like a love sick puppy during these moments but he didn't care. The only person who would catch him would be Sara and perhaps his new roommate but David doubted his new roommates attendance in their room. A second year student, David's roommate, Chad, had made it clear, if not in words but in the lack of belongings on his side of the room that being David's roommate was only a nominal position for him.

 

'Good morning and welcome.' Professor Eckard said, finally getting the troubled student squared away and moving to the podium. David shook his head, pushing thoughts of Sara, Chad and his warm bed to the back of his mind. Rubbing his eyes, David raised himself up trying to make the most of his first class.

 

'I, am Professor Lauren Eckard. This, if you are unsure, is 'Introduction to Original Life', a required course here at Winston University. This class will meet once a month.' Murmurs of pleasure ran through the packed stadium of students. No student enjoyed a class more than a class they didn't have to attend often. Professor Eckard picked up on this, her head tilted waiting for this cue since she had obviously heard the jokes being whispered between students many times.

 

'Yes, yes, settle down. As noted in your syllabus, oh shoot, I haven't handed that out yet.' Professor Eckard tapped a few times on the podium and the syllabus appeared on David's e-pad. David gave it a quick glance, the relevant information being in bold text. Meet once a month, no final exam, two assessment papers were due, three meetings with the professor herself to be scheduled later, and full access to the OLM in the library. David returned to what the professor was saying who hadn't waited long for students to read the newly dissementated syllabus.

 

'..And the second of which will be due by the end of the semester. When writing these assessment papers I want you to not only be honest with me but also to be genuinely honest with yourself. Your grade is not effected by these papers, only in so much as they are done and are done on time. There are no right or wrong answers. I know that may seem to be a bit ambigious when it comes time to write but unfortuneatly I cannot give you any clearer instructions. The assessment papers are what you make of them and I do encourage you to make the best of them. Moving on.' Professor Eckard tapped at her podium. David noticed that behind her the syllabus was now being projected against the near spotless white wall except for in the corner where someone had erased part but not all of a message that read 'ers sucks!'

 

'There are one hundred twenty five of you this class.' Professor Eckard continued 'I am also teaching two other Intro OL classes this semester so that brings my total number of students to roughly three hundred fifty. So, as you can easily calculate, if you each need to see me three times this semester then I will have some one thousand odd appointments. The appointments will be brief, only lasting ten to fifteen minutes but even than time is limited. I highly recommend you reserve your time now before the pickings become slim. No one likes a 7a.m. appointment least of all me.

 

And trust me, I will make you pay for it.' Professor Eckard added, the students laughing uneasily, unsure how to interpret this last sentence.

 

'Is she joking?' one student in the third row whispered to her friend beside her while chewing on her stylus.

 

'I don't know.' her friend hushed trying to pay attention. Professor Eckard was not waiting for anyone.

 

'But before we get into the meetings, I'd first like to discuss what this class is all about. As you all know, one of the facilities we have here at Winston University is an OLM or Original Life Machine. Not a particularly creative name I'll grant you but once you've used it you will appreciate it's meaning. I'm sure most of you have been told by your parents or friends what an OLM is and what it's used for so I won't go into too much detail about it although I will try to erase any illusions your friends may have entranced you with about the possibilities the OLM gives us.

 

And the possibilities the OLM gives us are indeed great. For starters, the OLM allows you to completely and discretely visit' and at this Professor Eckard used her hands to quote the word visit 'another person's life.'

 

This caused more murmuring in the crowd which the professor took as a matter of course. Most students new of the OLM and what it did, some even told stories that they had already used one to impress their friends but Professor Eckard knew they were lying. For a machine that is suppose to open our eyes, it is amazing to witness the lies and fantasies told about the OLM Professor Eckard thought to herself.

 

After enough students had finished boasting about their supposed time in the OLM (but not before Professor Eckard had noted their names on her podium) Professor Eckard continued. 'The OLM is not virtual reality. Let me repeat that because I can not tell you the number of students I have had who seem to think otherwise. The OLM or Original Life Machine is not virtual reality. You do not create another reality with the OLM. The OLM only, in greatly simplified terms, only allows you to see what others see. You can not create a life of luxury for the OLM to take you to. That is not how it works.

 

The OLM works by directly linking into your conscious mind so that whatever life you are currently interacting with, to all your senses, that is your life. What that life touches, you will feel and believe as your own. What that life eats, you will eat and eat as your own. What that life thinks, you will think as your own.

 

Now, I'm sure the idea that has popped into the heads of hopefully some of you is, well if my mind thinks it's someone else's mind, what happens to my mind? That's a good question and one that's explained in more detail in the upper level courses. For this course it is suffice to note that your life is essentially put on hold. That while you are interacting with another life, you do not even remember yours exists. Many students claim this is the most disconcerting part of the machine.' Murmurs from the students seem to agree with this claim.

 

'You do not have to worry though. While you are engaged with another life, your own life is in no danger. Indeed, spending time in another life has no correlation to the amount of time spent in this life. You can live an entire life in the space of 24 hours, give or take.' Professor Eckard paused to let this sink in. Most students didn't truly graps the magnitude of this feature but they would soon enough.

 

'When you are done with another life your mind will return to this one. Your original life.' A few mouths opened finally understanding what the name of the machine meant 'You will remember what happened in the life you just visited. Down to the tiniest detail. This, I'm told, is the second most disconcerting thing for new students.'

 

A girl in the front row raised her hand, as Professor Eckard knew she would. If it wasn't this girl, it would be the guy in the second row or someone else somewhere else in the room. The question would be answered but there was always one student who felt they needed to point out this question even if they already knew the answer. Professor Eckard noted this girls name, Julia, too.

 

'But Professor, if I live a whole other life how will I or my mind possibly be able to handle all that information coming back to me. Surely, won't I be crushed under the weight of all those memories, all those senses?'

 

Almost verbatim. This girl had obviously been coached by a parent. Professor Eckard dug her stylus into the plastic screen not really changing the inflection of the check mark next to Julia's name but making a nice ridge in her podium. Looking up, Professor Eckard smiled at the teenager. 'You would think that, as most do, but thanks to Doctor Thadius Monroe, the coinventor of the OLM, this rush of information is controllable. Make not mistake, there is a reason why this technology is accessible after your 18th birthday. Younger minds aren't well equipped to deal with the OLM.' And with this Professor Eckard fell silent, her gaze turned down, leaving the class to pass sidelong glances at each other.

 

After a few akwards moments the student in the front row piped up 'Because they can't handle the information Professor?'

 

Noticably shaken, Professor Eckard looked up. A scowled briefly appeared on her face but was gone in an instant. 'No my dear.' Professor Eckard said gravely in an almost condescending tone 'Because they forget their own lives. Or become so enamored with another that they don't want to come back their original life. No, one must have a suffient level of maturity before spending any time in the OLM. That is why you must be eighteen years of age to be allowed access to our or any OLM machine.'

 

Professor Eckard had paced a few steps away from her podium, as if to assault the class to drive home just how important this age restriction was. Catching herself, Patricia Eckard returned to her podium, ran a hand through her slightly whitening hair and then tapped a few times on her podium, causing the projection on the wall behind her to skip over a few paragraphs.

 

'Now,' Professor Eckard began again, her compsure regained, her tone normal 'Like meetings with me, you must make an appointment with the OLM staff before just showing up. You are required to have at least eight sessions with the OLM, one of which will be an introduction life that everyone must take and will be your first experience with the OLM, three which will be ones I will assign to the entire class, two which I will assign to you personally as I meet with you, and the final two being ones for you to decide on.

 

We have two labs, each with enough terminals to handle fifty students at one time. Since this is your first year, your lives will last no longer than one hour, our time. This does not mean that the life you will be living will only be one hour, just that the time you spend in the lab will only be for one hour. It is tricky at first to differentiate between the two different time zones if you will be once you have used the OLM a few times it's very similar to, well time zones.

 

You may of course use the OLM more than eight times are strongly encouraged to do so. However, students who have no completed their required OLM sessions or upper level students do have priority over extra curricular OLM viewings. And before you ask,' Professor Eckard flashed a glance at Julia in the front row whose arm had started to rise 'No. You do not get extra credit for any extra sessions you may take with the OLM.

 

And that's really the point of this class. While this is a class and you can fail it, that is not the point, not really anyway. I want to impress upon you the privelege of being able to use the OLM. Since it's introduction, valuable insights into our fellow beings and peoples have been shared by one and all. This is not a skill. Not another peg in the ladder that will get you a diploma. This is a pottery wheel and you are a lump of clay. Use it to shape yourself into something beautiful.'

 

Murmurs from the class room caused Professor Eckard to stop and let what she had said sink in. It was going to be a long year and she didn't mind letting her new students gossip about the OLM. With her careful guidance they would each be profoundly effected by the OLM, for better or worse. Patricia sighed. Indeed, worse did seem to happen more the original inventors had intended. This was a point worth telling her new students. Professor Eckard cleared her throat for the class to settle down and return their attention, as it were, to her.

 

'And despite this new technology, this new insight we have been given, men and women do not live in harmony as one would hope for.' A few students shifted uncomfortably in their chairs, whether it was from sitting down for thirty minutes or from the subject matter Professor Eckard was now moving into. 'The OLM can not teach you to love your fellow man. It can not change what is already there. It can only guide, gently shaping your journey on the path of life. Make no mistake, the OLM is not a safety net. I have had more students than I care to remember whose lives ended all to short because they made...poor choices with their opportunities. Neither the OLM nor I will make your choices for you. You are an adult and more than responsibly enough to do that on your own and to live with the consequences. We, the OLM and I, are merely tools to help you. Use us as you see fit.'

 

With that Patricia Eckard fell silent. The classroom took this in, their glee over being able to finally access the OLM being tempered by Professor Eckard's warning. It was true. The OLM hadn't changed much. Sure, people were nicer and governments had changed. But there was still wars, people still living in poverty, man still being evil towards his fellow man. No, the OLM had not fixed that nor was it about to if Professor Eckard was to be believed.

 

Professor Eckard looked at the clock on her podium. Shrugging, she said 'Class dismissed, see you in one month. You may register with me now or online at your convienence. Hope to see many of you soon.' Professor Eckard tapped at her podium as students began to pick up their bags and head out the doors on either end of lecture hall, the giant sized syllabus falling in on itself till it was nothing more than a tiny dot.

 

Resisting the urge to run back to Sara, David forced himself down the stairs towards the Professor Eckard and the few students milling around waiting to talk to the Professor. Sara had probably gotten up by now and either had gone to class, gone to take a run as she usually did (or tried to usually do) or gone back to Sara's dorm. David would meet up with her for lunch and he felt it was only right for him to atone for his lateness by going down and signing up for his first session with the OLM and a meeting with Professor Eckard.

 

David waited as Professor Eckard answered, deflected and ignored the bombardment of questions the seem to spew from Julia's almost persistently open mouth. David rolled his eyes. He hated students like Julia. Always asking questions, even if they already knew the answers to the questions, trying to gain favor with the teacher. It's pass fail for fucksake, David thought. You either do it or you don't. You don't need to butter her up.

 

From Professor Eckard's expression and her curt replies to Julia's questions, she was of the same mind. Looking closely at her now, David having not had a very good view of her from the back of the classroom, he noticed she was not as old as he original thought she was. Her hair had a hint of gray but it was a light blonde to begin with, cut close to ears in the style David assumed college professors must get when they decide to begin teaching. She was thin, her cheeks slightly saggy unlike her eyelids which had deep crevices from likely long nights assisting and worrying about students. David liked her honesty, as Professor Eckard didn't try to coddle any of Julia obvious soft ball questions. If a question didn't meet her standards and David had no idea what those were, she would simply let it fall on the floor, giving Julia a passive stare till either Julia threw out another one or finally got the hint.

 

Julia didn't seem to be getting the hint.

 

David cleared his throat which rewarded him with an annoyed glare from Julia and a carefully concealed grin from Professor Eckard while Julia's head was turned. David smiled and Julia who snapped her head back to Professor Eckard ready to return to her long litany of questions from the beginning just to spite David when Professor Eckard cut her off for good.

 

'Thank you Julia. Please read the syllabus I sent out before coming to our meeting. If you have any more questions, I'll be more then happy to answer them then.' Professor Eckard said with a warm smile. Patricia could count on Julia to take her up on that.

 

Casting another annoyed glance at David, Julia made a short pivot, her braid slapping from one shoulder to the other, and marched out of the room, her head held high, her dignity beyond question.

 

'Sure made chosing your specific life easy Julia.' Professor Eckard said to herself, as David shifted his bag on his shoulder, coming up to the podium. Patricia looked down at her podium, a gallery of student mugshots tiled before her. Finding David, she turned back to greet him.

 

'Ah David Wilson. I'm pleased to meet you.' Professor Eckard said and stuck out her hand for David to shake which he did.

 

David blushed. 'Thank you ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you as well. I assume you must know my father.'

 

'Only professionally. We met once or twice at a conference. In Japan I think it was. How is these days?'

 

'Oh, uh. He's doing well, I guess. He and my mother are spending time in Europe right now I believe. It's been a while since I've talked to them so I'm not exactly sure where they are or what they are doing but I'm sure if you turn on your favorite news source you'll be able to find out as quickly as I can.' David said this with more bitterness then he had intended and his eyes shot up to Professor Eckards in embarrassment.

 

A chuckle escaped from Patricia Eckards lips. She gave David a knowing stare and then said 'While I can not say I know exactly what you are going through, I have had my fair share of living in some one else's spotlight. You may or may not know my mother was a professor at Harvard for quite some time.'

 

'Oh yes, my father has mentioned her on a number of occasions.' David chirped hoping to erase any aspersions he had generated about his father.

 

'He has?' Professor Eckard asked, one eye cocked as if to detect whether David was laying on the bullshit as Julia had.

 

'Well not to me, no. But I have overheard him talk about her with friends at one party or another. I tend to overhear more then most people think I do, if they think about me at all.' David said with a smile, although Professor Eckard knew it was a mask for a deeper issue.

 

'And so you too make it easy for me to chose a life for you, dear David. Either I am getting too old for this or people's problems are becoming far to routine.' Patricia thought to herself. To David she asked 'So what can I help you with today Mr.Wilson.'

 

David paled at this title, his color returning slowly as he began to ask his question. Clearly, David lived in his father's shadow. 'Oh, well I was hoping to sign up for my first session with the OLM and a meeting with you ma'am. I'm really eager to begin using it.'

 

'Have you?' Professor Eckard asked quickly.

 

'Excuse me?' David responded, not sure if he had heard her question correctly. 'Am I?' David hazarded.

 

Professor laughed 'No, have you used the OLM before. I know you turned eighteen several months ago and I assumed with your father's connections and pioneering spirit that perhaps he would have already introduced you to it. I wouldn't be surprised if you had my dear boy, you wouldn't be the first to get their introduction to the OLM outside of our fair school system.'

 

'Oh!' David exclaimed, a little shocked 'No ma'am, I've never used the OLM before in my life. My father wanted me to start using it when everyone else in my class started using it. He's not big on taking advantages of the prestige his life has earned him, at least not with me. And I'm glad for that. Like you said, I do live in his shadow but at least that shadow does not live my life for me.'

 

'Hmph.' Professor Eckard nodded her head. Not the answer she was expecting. 'What a surprising statement from one such as yourself.'

 

'It is ma'am?' David said humply.

 

'Well I suppose it's not but it's surprising to me at the very least. Very well, let's sign you up then.' Profesor Eckard tapped on her podium for a few minutes and than David's e-pad came to life with a calendar now on it. Professor Eckard came around the podium to stand beside David. 'Since you are the one of the first request an appointment, you have your pick of what day you'd like. The lab is open from nine to five and than from seven to eleven in the evening. Remember, most sessions will only be for an hour, however the first introduction life will only be for ten minutes. I recommend you only schedule time inbetween the introduction life and your next appointment. The first experience is....harrowing to say the least.'

 

'Yeah, that's what I've heard.' David said while scanning the dates now listed on his screen. 'My girlfriend is a year ahead of me and she's given me some details about what to expect. Although everytime she talks about the intro life she get's a smile on her face and sometimes laughs out loud. I assume I'm going to be dizzy or something like that, right?'

 

'Or something like that.' Professor Eckard said with a knowing smile. It wouldn't be fair to spoil anyone's first experience with the OLM. Indeed, it was one of the truly unique experiences to have in this life almost similiar to losing your virginity only with less stigma attached to it but much the same rush.

 

Selecting a date a week and a half from that day, David tapped a few times on his screen. After a few moments, a green bar with his name appeared in the calendar at 11pm.

 

'When should I schedule my first appointment with you?' David asked Professor Eckard.

 

'Oh, that depends. Some people often want to meet directly after their first session with the OLM, others wait a little while before being able to discuss what they've gone through. It's really up to you and either way is fine with me.'

 

David's expression skewed, trying to decide which course to take. He wanted to have the meeting right after his first session but he was pretty sure he had a class at twelve and besides he was pretty sure he'd want to talk to Sara first about his first OLM experience before talking to Professor Eckard. Still, he'd like to get it all done in one day.

 

'How about at 3?' David asked, looking up at Professor Eckard who was still hovering above his shoulder.

 

'That would be fine. I look forward to meeting with you.' Professor Eckard said with a smile. She patted David on the shoulder than returned to her podium to log herself out of the lecture hall.

 

As David put his e-pad back in his bag, Professor Eckard said 'Good luck David. I hope you enjoy it.' over her shoulder as she walked towards a door in the behind the podium.

 

'Thanks!' David responded and than half trotted, half ran to meet up with Sara for lunch.

 

.2.

 

David skidded to a hault in front of the campus student center. He briefly glanced into the small campus restaurant to see if Sara had arrived before him. Not seeing her, David crossed back across the building to the suite of mailboxes to check if anything had arrived for him. Campus mail was notoriously unreliable and David had taken to having most of his mail sent to his parents house which was only an hour away from campus. He would go there every week or so to pick up that mail. Most would think this would be slower than letting campus mail handle it but David had been assured by Sara that it wasn't.

 

David pressed his finger against the pad on his micro sized mail box door, the clasp making a thunking noise to alert David the indeed, he was who his fingerprint said he was and that he now had permission to access his mail.

 

'Woohoo.' David said under his breath, the same finger making circles in the air.

 

The three letters that were in his mailbox were addressed to the other students who shared David's mailbox and one that didn't. 'Campus mail at work', David thought to himself. David pulled that letter from the small stack, replaced the two, closed the mini door to the reassuring hissing sound and then tossed to misdelivered letter back into the receiving bin for yet another tour of the campus mail sorting system. In all likelyhood, David would see that same letter back in his box in a week or so.

 

Returning to the lunch room David scanned again for Sara. Not seeing her, he decided to get himself some food and wait for her outside on the porch. As he walked towards the buffet line of pizza, burgers, and other college staples, David checked his cell to see if Sara had left him any messages which she hadn't.

 

Shrugging, he pulled a burger from the mound underneath the heating lamps and collected a nest of fries from another. David hovered briefly over the bins of apples, pears and bananas his conscience giving him a hard time over his diet. One hand reached out for an apple but slowed as it got there. Did he really feel for an apple? Not really. He should still get one though right? Not if he wasn't going to eat it his father would have said. His mother would have responded, well he's not going to eat it if he doesn't get it now is he. This would lead into some arguement about choices that wouldn't really be an argument that David could participate in despite it essentially being about him.

 

David's conscience and mother got the best of him, as it often did, and he picked up an apple, thought better of it, returned the apple and chose a pear from the back of the crate. Grabbing a soda before the sliding door caused him to drop his food, David headed towards the line to queue up for an undoubtable long wait.

 

Peering around the student in front of him he noticed Doris manning the register. Sara had warned him about her as well and David knew this line would move as fast or more likely as slow as Doris wanted it to which would be the later. Currently one student was haggling with Doris over the number of credits he had for lunch. Doris, her resolute cheeks providing adequate walls for any protests the frustrated student might have sat patiently waiting for the student to get fed up and either leave or pay. It really didn't mean anything to her but she wasn't going to let some silly student give her crap. She just didn't care.

 

Munching on some fries, David watched the drama unfold six students away. He shook his head. Maybe he could peek into Doris's life using the OLM now. He shuddered. God, what would that be like. Nothing good, David thought.

 

Sara breezed into the college restaurant, blowing a kiss to David from across the room, who tried to catch it despite being ladden with food, a fry or two dropping from his tray to the ground. David gestured with an elbow to the doors ledding to the patio outside and Sara nodded in agreement. David watched Sara's pony tail bounce behind a shelf of snacks as she decided what she wanted to have for lunch and if she was going to break her tenuous diet. David smiled and then looked down at the ground and the three french fries that had fallen.

 

They were golden brown, cut long and thin like David liked, not the chunky zig zag fries that were the norm here at school. David flirted briefly with the idea of bending down and picking them up but five seconds had long since expired and so had the student at the front of the lines patience and the line now was moving along, the students behind David giving him evil stares and tapping their feet hoping to get to their basket of fries before they got cold. Looking past them, David saw Sara put another order of fries on her tray, so he shrugged, leaving the three fallen potato soldiers to be trampled on till a janitor decided to put them out of their misery.

 

The students in front of David quickly paid for their meals and moved on, their time spent waiting for Doris to outlast the upset student breaking any sort notions of procrastination they might have had. And thankfully Doris had tallied and accepted their payment at her while not fast but at least not Doris slow pace as the students liked to call it. David did likewise, swiping his wrist underneath the scanner after Doris had told him his total. David's brow scrunched up as he saw the bill but he wasn't in a mood to argue about it. Doris wasn't about to give him any sort of discount and neither were the students behind him.

 

Using his back to open the unneccesarily heavy doors to the deck seating, David scanned briefly for an open table that wasn't covered in the detritus left by other students. Spotting one towards the end, he quickly manuevered his way through other benches, standing students and one overhanging tree branch that campus facilities wanted desperately to remove but which students would defend loyally to keep.

 

Using his tray to brush some wrappers off the table he had chosen, David cleared a seat for himself and then for Sara. David didn't consider himself much of a gentleman but cleaning a place for Sara came naturally to him and he did it without even thinking about it. He probably would have cleared her a place even if she wasn't going to eat with him. Satisfied that the lunch table was clean enough for them to eat at, David dived into his burger, making short work of the wrapper and then the burger itself.

 

David sunk his teeth into gooey cheese and moist meat. He rolled his eyes in pleasure. He hadn't bothered adding any lettuce or tomato. David considered himself a purist when it came to hamburgers and in truth he would have left off the cheese if it hadn't already been added for him. David knew this burger wasn't as good as the best he had ever had nor was it even as good as some of the worst he had had but having skipped breakfast, David felt famished and food never tastes better than when you're hungry for it. In five large bites the burger was gone, filling the hole in David's stomach for another six hours.

 

Casually chewing on a fry, David looked towards the door expecting Sara to emerge from it at any second. David wasn't the jealous type nor was he particularly fearful of losing Sara but he hadn't seen her in several hours and she should have been out by now, even if Doris had switched back to Doris Speed. Not wanting to appear to anxious, David flipped open his cell and sent Sara a message.

 

'Doris moving at her usual pace?' he typed.

 

After a few seconds Sara replied 'Slower. She's not even trying.'

 

David sent back a smiley face made out of a colon and a paratheses with a heart after it made with a three and a less than symbol. Sara responded with the same and added 'C U in a sec.'

 

David flipped his cell closed and then turned to look out over the balcony as he lazily stuffed fries into his mouth washing it down with Coca Cola. From the deck, a student was afforded the view of the Winston University campus as it sloped down the gentle hill it resided on. Acadamic and admistrative buildings nestled in plateus and nooks in the hillside with one buildings entrance from the south side parking lot feeding directly into the hill itself. Tall trees lined the small pathes leading from dorms to lecture halls and to the football field sized satellite parking lots that ringed the campus proper.

 

David traced the way back to his dorm although he didn't think he'd go their after lunch. He had a class in an hour and a half and that building was up here near the campus center while his dorm was way down towards the bottom, ironically close to the parking despite freshmen not being permitted to actually have cars on campus. But that was okay, David figured he'd get a run in before class, since Sara had probably already done hers. Hearing the door clunk open behind him, David turned to see Sara headed his way.

 

'Hey, how's it going?' He asked as she got within earshot. Sara kissed him quickly and then sat down across from him, enjoying the same view David had just stopped looking at. She smelled like fresh lilac and something David couldn't place, the smell most women have that both alludes and enchants men. She must have only showered ten or fiften minutes ago and David yearned to run his hands through her hair. David never thought he would be the kind of person to become all love sick over a woman and want to do such things as run his hand through a woman's hair but then here he was, yearning to do just that.

 

'Oh you know, not too bad. Got up about thirty minutes after you left.' She said with a wink which meant it was probably more like forty five. 'Took a nice run up to Miller Hall and then over to Gunner Field. Got back a little later than I thought I would so that's why I'm late. Have you run today?' Sara answered, cracking the seal on her bottled water. She had chosen two slices of pizza which had probably seemed more appealing underneathe flourscent lamps than they did now, the cheese looking hardened and discolored. A banana also rested on her tray with a bag of chips.

 

'No, I was thinking I'd do that before my next class. I brought some clothes with me so I'll probably change up at Gunner and then hit the track.' David answered, trying to catch Sara's hand but she was too busy eating and didn't notice.

 

David and Sara had met while jogging one afternoon, Sara already being a student at Winston while David had come down to using Winston's gym facilities to work out. Since his father was an alumni of Winston, the University let David come and go as he pleased even if he wasn't a student their yet. It was almost assured that David would attend Winston University and the University didn't want to do anything that might jeopardize the lineage David's family had created.

 

'How was your Intro course?' Sara asked, seeing David's hand flopping on the table. She smiled coyly and snaked her fingers inbetween his.

 

'It was alright. I got there late but the class hadn't started so it was good. The teacher knows my father.' David replied and left it at that. Sara knew David's father and she wasn't suprised by this and knew David probably didn't want to be pressed on the issue.

 

'Oh really? What's your professor's name? I wonder if it's the same person I had last year.'

 

'Eckard.' David answered, stealing a fry or two from Sara's basket, replacing the men he had lost. Sara playfully swatted at his hand, a halfhearted attempt to keep David out of her food. David stuck one fry in his mouth, bit down on half of it, taunting Sara to come and get the other. She jumped for it, biting so close to David's lips that he almost felt her teeth brush his unshaven face. They kissed passionately and then parted.

 

'We must look like a couple of love birds.' David said, playfully checking back and forth to see if anyone was watching them. Sara laughed and peaked over her shoulder to see if anyone was spying on their wanton tryst.

 

'I'm sure they're all very jealous.' Sara giggled. She tossed her second slice of pizza on her plate, the poor quality finally exceeding her hunger levels. She grimaced 'Another fine Winston meal.'

 

'Eh, it's not that bad. It's actually pretty good sometimes.' David defended.

 

'You get over that after the first year. Just wait till you go home. After that first meal home, this stuff' Sara waved her hand at the left over wrappers and food that she and David had generated. 'seems almost insulting.'

 

David grinned although he wasn't quite able to meet Sara in her memory. If David went home for the holidays, and he wasn't quite sure whether he was going to do that this year, he was fairly certain his parents wouldn't be there and even if they were they wouldn't be cooking him dinner. Sure, the meals he would have at home would be good and he knew he would like them a whole lot more than he liked the food here. But those meals didn't have any love in them. They were served on cold silver dishs by a wait staff that while pleasant and friendly was not the same.

 

Sara picked up on David's sudden melancholy. She knew about David's parents, everyone did but Sara especially so. When she had first met David she had been suprised by how polite and friendly he was. She had heard stories about the Wilsons and while they weren't bad, they weren't particularly flattering either. There hadn't been many stories about David to be base any real profile on but Sara had always stuck by like father like son and up until David she had not been proven wrong.

 

Deciding she couldn't really avoid the subject Sara decided her best bet was to pick at the lighter side to David's family life. 'So, have they called and told you where they are yet? I think I saw something on the news before I left of them in Germany but I could be wrong.'

 

David shrugged, the sarcastic comment he had thrown at Professor Eckard not coming at all to him when talking to Sara. Sara had shown him a kindness and love that David had been desperate for so long that once he finally accepted that Sara was indeed genuine, his fears turned to not crushing her affections under his neediness for them. 'Probably. I got an e-mail from them a week ago from their agent telling me their itinerary for the week but I really didn't look at it. I think Berlin might have been on there but I'm not sure. He, the agent, said he'd tried to get them to call me sometime this weekend if they could find a phone.' David laughed a unhappy laugh. 'Find a phone? Do people actually still say that? Or is it just some agent speak that's been used so often it's not really about the excuse, it's just a way of letting the person know not to count on it.'

 

Sara's hand crossed the table, grasping David's. David turned down to her arm, his gaze having shifted upwards towards the clock over the door.

 

'Sorry,' He said and Sara knew he meant it 'I'm not sure why I'm suddenly so angry about them right now. I'm actually really excited. Professor Eckard seems to nice and I can't wait to get into the OLM. She made it seem a little bit scary but I'm sure that was just for us to take it seriously.'

 

Sara never got over how easily it was for David to switch from being angry and depressed over his parents to being excited and joyful over something completely unrelated. She knew David was probably used to the change but it frightened her a little bit that he could move from one set of emotions to another so quickly and feared that one day he might have do the same to her.

 

'You should take it seriously.' Sara cautioned and pushed her fears about David behind her 'I remember my first time and I'm pretty sure I had the same excitement you have now. Don't get me wrong, it's a very thrilling experience but underneath that helmet it's a whole other story. My first time I even got a little sick.'

 

'Yeah Professor Eckard said it was disorienting. So you got sick huh? On the intro life?' David teased her. Sara didn't smile though.

 

'You probably will to David. It's not a...' She searched for the right word but there really wasn't one 'feeling I guess you could say, that comes naturally. You really, truly do believe you're that person. And you truly do forget about this life completely. It's not even a memory or a inkling in your mind. Suddenly, everything you know and everything you remember is replaced by someone else's memories and you know what the most frightening thing about it is? You don't even notice it. Oh sure, you notice it when you come back, trust me you'll notice it when you merge back with your original life. But the initial transfer?' Sara whistled and shook her head 'In an instant. Boom, you're there and you don't even know you've gone anywhere.'

 

Sara looked at David, whose eye's were becoming wide with fascination. She rolled her eyes. 'I'm only making this more exciting for you aren't I?' she said. She knew she was but it couldn't be helped. Every new OLM user goes in with the same wide eyes. David would have the benifit of being able to relax in her arms when it was over, Sara would be sure of that.

 

'Hah, yeah you kinda are. Sorry but I've just heard so much about it from my parents and from their friends that I'm really excited about getting in there.' David almost squealed. Sara smiled and patted him on the cheek.

 

David looked up at the clock above the door. 'Shoot, if I want to get my run in, I better get going. Do you have another class today?'

 

'Yeah, two actually. Economics at one and physics at four so I probably won't be over till late if I'm able to get over there at all. I've already got a ton of work and I should probably camp out in the library tonight to get a little bit ahead.'

 

'Sure, that's probably a good idea. I should probably do the same.' David had to force himself to say this. He wanted Sara to come by but he didn't want to appear too needy. David wasn't particularly adept with women but he knew some of the pitfalls that most new relationship often fell into from watching television and movies.

 

Sara and David got up, piled their excess wrappers and container back on their trays and headed back inside the campus center. The line at the register had died down mostly because Doris's shift had ended and one of the students on financial aid had taken over. David took Sara's tray, emptied them and then joined her as she walked back out into the hallway.

 

Sara was headed down the hill towards the Wilson Science building while David was going to go up a little ways to the Gunner Gym facilities. David gave Sara a deep, lasting kiss hoping to keep her on his lips for as long as he could. But slowly, their lips parted and he watched her start down the winding path until it ducked behind a building and she was gone.

 

David turned, slung his bag over his shoulder and ran up to the gym hoping he wouldn't be late to his next class.

 

.3.

 

David as Introduction to Original Life

 

David's hands tapped nervously on his leg as he walked up the curved path towards the Wilson Science building where the OLM was housed. As a special grant to the University, the David's grandfather had built both the science and mathematics buildings and some minor upgrades to a few dorm blocks. David's father in turn, donated a sizeable endowment to the University to build an OLM wing on to the Wilson Science building fifteen years after he had graduated from Winston University. David was sure, in time, when he had graduated and become successfully that he too would donate some building or endowment to this University as it now seemed to be a family tradition, one of the few his family actually had. Well, he was sure he would donate to the school, less sure about being successful, at least in his own right.

 

David wore a tired denim jeans with a long sleave shirt tightly gripping his upper body, his bag slung over his shoulder. David had been so nervous he wasn't sure whether he was supposed to dress up for his first session with the OLM but Sara had simply laughed and told him he was fine.

 

'It's not like there's a ceremony or anything. You'll go in, some aide will give you a short demonstration, slam the helmet on your head and you'll be in there. Trust me, the last thing you'll have on your mind is your clothes.' Sara had told him even as she flicked lint off his shoulder.

 

'I know, I guess I'm just worried. My parents always made a big deal about making sure you've dressed right for big occassions and well, this feels like one of those times.' David tried to justify as he threw on the shirt he now currently wore.

 

'Well, it is a big deal, kinda. But not in the way you think.' And Sara let it drop at that. David moved to the door and as he was about to leave Sara grabbed his arm. 'David.' She said 'When it's over, please come back here.' They were at Sara's dorm since David's roommate and girlfriend had decided to actually use their room for a change. Perhaps David's roommate's roommate had kicked her out. 'I want to be with you when it's over, if that's alright with you.'

 

David gave her a wary smile. 'Well now you're making me even more nervous but not in a good way. What is this thing going to do to my head that's got you so worried? Sara, I know I'll still love you, no matter what I see in the OLM.'

 

Sara smiled and then kissed him deeply. 'Go, you'll be late and the aides normally aren't that friendly to begin with.' David returned her smile, kissed her again for good luck and was off.

 

Once David had gone beyond earshot Sara said to herself 'I hope so David. I really hope so.'

 

Passing other students going to their classes or dorms, David nearly bumping into a few his mind more focused on where he was going that how he was going about getting there, David felt an odd sort of exhirilation. It wasn't the same sort of exhiliration he felt when he first met Sara or when she had said yes to go out with him. Nor was it the same feeling he felt when he had gotten into Winston and that had been a profound day for David. So much had been riding on him continuing the Wilson name at Winston that for months David could barely eat not knowing whether he'd get in. Even with his father's connections, David worried, fearing his best just wasn't enough despite his background.

 

Finally, David arrived at the Wilson Science building. The main building was long with tall windows spaced every four feet, it's extrior a light red color. It was topped by a dome some fourty feet across with a statue of mercury on the top pointing towards the heavens. Flanking the main building were two similiarly designed halls with the exception of the dome. A courtyard with a fountain in the center further seperated the buildings, with trees and benches providing places for students to meet and study. David was sure his father had probably spent time sitting at that fountain, an audience of ten or more science students listening to him enthralled.

 

Passing the first side hall and through the ghost of his lecturing father, David proceeded to the second where the OLM was housed. Entering, David quickly ascended the stairs taking them two at a time. He glanced at his wrist and saw that he was five minutes early and so slowed to taking one step at a time. Reaching the top of the stairs David paused, letting his pulse come back within reason. He eyed the plaque on the wall that said '2nd Floor. OLM Lab. Open Nine to Five and Six to Ten. OLM Stations Only Available by Appointment.'

 

David opened the door to the second floor, the door just as heavy as every other door on campus. David wondered why school door's seemed to need to weigh more than some of the students who tried to open them. It was a work out in itself getting some of them open, especially the one here. David doubted anyone would really try to steal an OLM but then David didn't know how big an OLM was or how valuable it was. He supposed there might be some bizarre billionare out there who didn't care for the government's restrictions on OLM technology and decided to bypass them by just stealing himself one but that seemed so ridiculous even David told himself to relax.

 

When he got nervous, David overthought. His father did the samething, so did his mother. However, when they thought relentlessly, David's parents charted new paths into the unknown. When David thought, he charted new and some old paths into the mundane.

 

As David entered the second floor, the OLM facilities taking up all the available space on this floor and the one above, he peered around trying to get a feel for the place. In front of him was a desk where to OLM aides sat not giving David much attention, wrapped up in what David hoped was monitoring the well being of people currently using an OLM. In actuality, one was playing a simple flash game on the computer in front of him while the other was reading a book on his e-pad. Behind them a long row of offices about ten feet across were built directly in the center of the building with hallways on either side, the offices going all the way to the end of the building. David assumed those must be the rooms where the OLM terminals were held and upstairs was probably where the OLM itself was housed and maintained. David hoped one day he'd be allowed upstairs to see how it all happened.

 

David approached the desk and the one aide who had been reading looked up at him, showing no hostility but than no friendliness either. The two men looked older than college students to David, probably graduate students, David guessed. It must take someone with a reasonable amount of intelligence to run these things and the administration couldn't just leave that to some kid needing financial aid David guessed.

 

'Can I help you?' the one said, with an air of someone who would much rather have gone back to doing what he was doing then helping you. The other aide beside him didn't even bother to lookup, his eyes moving up and down, back and forth, following his character across whatever danger the game was now presenting him with.

 

'Hi, I'm David Wilson. I'm here for my eleven o'clock appointment.' David said letting his arms rest on the desk. The aide turned from him to a screen embedded in the desk, tapped a few times, confirming that David indeed had an appointment with an OLM.

 

'Please scan yourself here.' the aide pointed David to a little arm hanging on either side of the desk. David waved his arm underneath it just as he had done during lunch and for anything else he needed to provide personal information for. His information was quickly brought up on the aides terminal. 'Ah a newbie.' the aide said, probably louder then he had intended although if he cared he didn't much show it. His friend beside him perked up at this and looked up at David.

 

'Ohh really? First time huh?' the second aide said with a sneer that put David ill at ease.

 

'Um yeah.' David said trying to appear more confident then he was. The last thing he wanted was some snotty graduated students trying to harass him just to get a laugh to fill their otherwise boring morning.

 

'Come on, you're in room 12.' The first aide said, getting up and walking to the left of the building. David followed him and out of the corner of his eye he saw the other aide make a kissing motion and then return to his game.

 

'What the hell is that about?' David thought to himself but brushed it aside. He was glad the first aide had looked up first.

 

'I'm Mark.' Mark said in front him although he didn't offer David his hand nor did he look to see if David was following him or listening. 'I'll go over some basic stuff with you, try to get you settled in and then we'll get you started. Don't worry, it won't bite and if you listen everything will work out just fine.'

 

'Thanks.' David replied and then to himself 'I guess.' As they walked, David looked at the doors which were nondescript with only a knob and a thumb pad as decorations. No noise or light came from any of the rooms. The hall was eerily silent, broken only by the sound of the two men's feet.

 

Arriving at a door with no label but which must have been 12 since Mark buzzed it open with his thumb, David walked into a darkly lit room. Loosing his bearings a little, David tilted to the left, bumping into the wall. He noticed it didn't hurt that much and upon further inspection appeared to be padded. Not padded to suppress sound although it probably did that too but padded like when David would wrestle in high school. This did not fill David with anymore confidence then he already had.

 

'Don't worry about that.' Mark said noticing David fingering the cushy walls. 'Sometimes people come back from whatever life they're in and well, it's a bit difficult on them. They get angry, they get sad or any other number of emotions which causes them to break into into physical violence. It's only natural and it's best to just let person work off whatever they are feeling in here. Don't worry, we're not going to lock you up in here and throw away the key.' Mark finished with a grin.

 

'Sure.' was all David could muster. Why would anyone hit the walls. No one had told him about that, not even his father. Maybe his father had never been violent after using an OLM. David doubted Sara had been violent either but maybe she just hadn't used the machine as much and hadn't gotten to a life which caused that kind of emotion. David took a deep breath. This was his introduction life. It wouldn't be anything too dramatic he didn't think. Something nice and easy to get him started.

 

Mark repeated this to David ten seconds later. 'Okay kid, here's how it's going to go. You'll sit here in this chair. It's a comfortable chair and frankly I wouldn't mind having a couple in my house or even one up there in front ' Mark gestured back towards the front desk 'but these are here for you guys since you'll be doing a lot of sitting. Next, we'll put this small helmet on you. It's not one of those funky football sized helments from those old science fiction movies. It's just a band that goes over your forehead. And that's about it, really. You just sit here and it will take care of the rest. Don't worry about moving or your body because you won't move. Just find a comfortable position, sit back, relax and enjoy.'

 

'What if I have a problem?' David asked.

 

The aide gave him a funny look. 'A problem? Like what?'

 

'Like what if I needed to come out before my session was over? Or if something went wrong in the life and I needed to get out.'

 

The aide snorted 'Kid, there is no getting out. Once you're in, there's no way for you to signal to us to let us know that you want to come out because you won't even know there is an us out here. Once you commit to a life, you're in there for the entirety of it. Don't worry, nothing bad has ever happened. We have monitors keeping track of your vitals sure but this thing can't hurt you. If you get punched, beat up, or even killed in a life, it doesn't translate over to this one. You'll remember dying believe me but you won't be dead.'

 

'I can die in a life?' David said with wonder.

 

'Geez don't they tell you freshmen anything anymore. When I was a frosh they'd at least give us some explaination as to what to expect when using one of these things. Typical faculity, always offloading their responsbilities onto the backs of us graduate students. Like we need to be your sheppards too.'

 

David stood there, not sure how to respond, hoping Mark would either continue with his rant giving David some valuable clues about the OLM or take pity on David and give him an introduction to the machine. Thankfully, Mark chose the latter.

 

'Okay, it works like this. You sit here. I put this ring here on your head, then I press a few buttons up here on this control panel and then I leave. Eventually you will be able to use these control panels but you don't learn about that till later.' Mark saw the anxiety on David's face and lightened his tone 'Relax man, it's the intro life. You're some athelete competing in some stupid track and field meet. It's only three hours long and the ending isn't that bad. It's really just to get you aquainted with the system before pushing you into anything too strong.'

 

'Oh, that sounds alright. Thanks for telling me.' David said, breathing out for what felt like the first time since he'd gotten there. David sat down in the chair which was indeed nice, it's thick cushioned arms providing nice support for his tired arms. David had gotten in a quick work out before coming here and he hoped his exhaustion from that wouldn't make a difference. He had thought to ask Mark but didn't want to appear any more dense then Mark already believed he was.

 

'Doesn't matter, you won't remember I told you that anyway.' Mark said snapping the ring in place around David's head. Before David could ask what he meant by this, Mark punched a few buttons above David's head and David was gone. Mark waved his hand in front of David who gave no response. Mark flicked David's nose just for good measure. Nothing.

 

'Seeya on the flipside kid.' Mark laughed and let the door slam home as he walked back to the front desk. In the little room, the lights at sunset, David sat, transfixed.

 

-

 

Adam dusted his hands with chalk, the sweat from his previous run making it cling to his fingers. That would help in the next race, Adam knew, the third and final one of the day. Adam had qualified barely in the last heat and he knew he had to give more of himself to the track if he was going to be place in this finals. Competition was stiff, anyone of the other racers eager to take Adam's medal away from him if he didn't try hard enough to make it his own.

 

Sitting on the bench beside the mile long track, Adam Archer sagged his head, giving himself only enough energy to take in deep breathes of air. Saving every other morsel of energy was paramount right now. No unneeded exertion. He would be exterting plenty in a few minutes.

 

Over his shoulder Adam heard his mother and father, two brothers and sister with his girlfriend calling his name, cheering him on but he didn't turn to them to acknowledge that he appreciated their encouragement. They all knew he was focused on the race and would thank them later when he got home, hopefully with a medal around his neck.

 

'Keep yourself steady, find your rhythm and keep pace. Don't lag behind. Move. Keep moving.' Adam repeated to himself over and over again, while the shadows of runner son the tracked danced beneath his eyes, taunting him. Still Adam did not move except for the flexing of muscles in his legs and fingers, his nerves on edge just as much as he.

 

'On your mark, get set, bang!' Adam thought to himself, repeating it again. 'On your mark, get set, bang!' Adam had heard these five words numerous times, the gun blast barely registering with him anymore. Still it didn't hurt to be tense, to know when you mark was, to feel ready.

 

'The final race for the men's eighteen to twenty year old two thousand meter race will begin in five minutes. Racers to your starting positions please.' came the voice that dominated all that went on at the track. 'All other racers practicing or who are on the track, please leave now, I repeat, please leave the track now, we are about to hold the final race.' the referee said, letting go of the P.A. system.

 

Adam didn't move his head but sat there for a few more moments, seeing the race in his minds eye, his fingers rubbing the white chalk deeper into his pores. Slowly his foot started to tap, then the other joined in, part of the starting ritual Adam's body went through before each race. Adam tried to get prepared both mentally and physically, and this two minute work up to moving to the starting line was his way of bringing the two important forces together to help him win the race. Slowly, both legs started to bounce together, his knees getting as high as his chest. Adam's arms began to swing beside his body, his breathing taking on a slow but noticable rhythm. As Adam's feet and arms flailed back in forth in almost perfect unison, Adam counted down one last time.

 

'On your mark, get set, bang!'

 

Up Adam jumped, higher than he expected, his feet nearly missing the ground, his arms nearly knocking over the bench he had been sitting on. Alive with energy, Adam's eyes were wide open taking in everything around him, yet focused squarely on the starting line. He saw but didn't register the rows of families and fans to his left, some on their feet others sitting, all yelling and cheering. He let their cheers, even if they weren't for him, mix with his own internal confidence, creating a frenzy of anticipation and raw agressive charge within him.

 

Legs pumping and arms still making circles in the air, Adam carefully navigated the racing obstacles that had been placed on the side of the track, out of the way of racers, their use done for the day. Moving his way onto the red race track, Adam followed the black, white and yellow lines as they intersected  across the track. He followed the white lines to his starting positions where most of the other contestants had lined up. Some where standing, others crouching feigning readiness, while others were hoping around a few feet away from the starting line, barely containing their excitement or fear. Purposefully, Adam came to a stop in front of his mark, the small piece of paper on his back with his number on it, number 7, flapping in the wind generated by the racers now beside him.

 

To his right, Adam saw his coach making some hand signals while talking to him although the communication of any of it was completely lost in the ten or so feet that divided them. But Adam knew what his coach was saying, what he had always said to Adam before a big race.

 

'Run Adam. Stay strong. Don't exert yourself too early. Think long term. Run Adam, run.'

 

'Run.' Adam thought to himself as the referee stepped towards the starting line to his right, pistol in hand.

 

'Racers ready!' the short man yelled from the sideline. Immeaditly, all seven men in the middle of the track stopped what they were doing and dug their preferred foot into the starting line position. Adam's fingers touched the red track, his fingers hovering gently above the plastic mesh that formed the track.

 

'Get set!' the short man barked next. As before, all seven butts immeaditly shot up in the air, each racer now devoid of any movement, their eyes looking at the ground, their ears aching for the sound of the gun shot. A droplet of sweat left Adam's nose, falling slowly towards his hands. In the few seconds before a race started, Adam always felt a sense of peace wash over him, where time stopped and the simple clarity of the race was all thats stood before him.

 

Adam blinked.

 

'GO!' the referee called with the bang from his little gun adding to the signal. Slowly, all seven's men's bodies seemed to uncoil as one, arms and legs, muscle and sinue all suddenly coming to life in a rapture of energy and mayhem. And then time realized what it had forgotten about poor Adam and put life back into overdrive. Two seconds later all seven men were fifty feet from where they had just been.

 

Scrabbling for position, trying to keep from being pushed by other racers, Adam tried desperately to find his center, to keep his legs and arms moving in sync. The man three spots to Adam's left started inching forward away from the pack, while the two men closest to Adam were staying even with him and not showing any signs of weakness. Adam methodically took in a breath, let it sit in his lungs for just a second, and then exhaled it, completely under control.

 

Coming to the first corner, Adam felt the ground underneath him, hard and unyeilding, his legs barely touching it, they were moving so fast. 'Find your rhythm, win the race, find your rhythm, win the race.' Adam repeated to himself as he and the six others came out of the first turn. 'Easier said then done.' Adam thought in the first joke he had let cross his mind since leaving the bench.

 

But there it was, coming to him slowly as it always did. Number two, inching ahead of Adam, had probably found his rhythm two steps after they had started but for Adam it was never that simple. It took him time, precious time, to find it and while it was certainly the most important thing for Adam to do in the race, it sure would have helped if he could have done it sooner. Adam and his coach had been working on it, his coach giving him tips and tricks on how to realize his rhythm sooner, how to equalize his breathing so it wouldn't be distracting him as he started and make it easier for him to get his legs and arms in sync with his breathing. Adam had practiced this for months, every day after school, even on the weekends without his coach. And still it took him to the first turn to find his pace.

 

'Damnit.' Adam thought to himself. This wasn't how he wanted to start the race. No doubting himself. Not worrying about his breathing or his rhythm. He needed to be focused on keeping pace, on making sure he didn't exert himself too early and most importantly, making sure he didn't fall too far behind the other runners.

 

By the third lap, Adam was in a pack of three other runners, Adam on the outer front of the pack, jockeying for position. Number two, the racer who had moved ahead at the beginning of the race was a good fifty feet in front of Adam's pack with no signs of letting them catch up. Behind Adam, the two other men soldiered on, not willing to give up but knowing full well that they would not be winning the race. Adam pushed away any thoughts or pain that would lead him into that pack.

 

Crossing the line which lead into the fourth and final lap, Adam saw his teammates on the sidelines cheering him on, his girlfriend beside them since she was on the women's track team. He heard his parents in the stands, still cheering his name, probably on their feet by now, his mother the most excited of them all. They had all driven down from their home in Henderson, about an hour away to see Adam run. Adam couldn't let them down. He couldn't let them see him fail, couldn't let their trip to watch him be for nothing.

 

Making the first turn with ease, Adam felt a surge of energy and pushed forward, breaking away from the pack. Adam did not want to put too much into this push, didn't want to tire himself out. Number two was still a good thirty feet in front of him and they still had well over five hundred feet of track still to cover. Behind him, two of the other runners saw Adam's push and didn't bother to try to match him, feeling either content with their current pace or that Adam was a fool and they would pass him once Adam had burned himself out in a few seconds. The third man didn't share their laissez faire attitude about Adam's sudden attack on first place and charged with Adam trying to overtake Number two. If Number two saw their sudden push forwards he didn't show it, nor did he take any steps to keep his lead.

 

Soon, Adam and Number Four were neck and neck coming into the second and final turn, Number Two only ten feet ahead of them, and the finish line only fifty feet further from that. Adam was pushing himself as much as he dared, his leg muscles already screaming at him for rest, his muscles burning him like a fire that could not be extinguished. His breathing had turned haggard and it was a challenge for Adam to even catch a gasp of air to cool down his aching lungs and muscles. Fortuneatly for Adam, Number Four was having similiar problems, unable to notice or take advantage of Adam's troubles. Number Two though, was casually making his way to the finish line without a care in the world. Adam would have cursed him if it wasn't too painful to do so.

 

And then it was over. Number Two crashed through the finish line, the tape snagging around his abdomine, the crowd going up in cheers and outrage. Three seconds later, Adam and Number Four came to the finish line and in a last ditch of energy, Number Four pushed ahead using some power that Adam could not match. Adam simply limped across behind him, a mere half second behind Number Four. The other runners followed behind, Adam not paying attention to what order they came in, as he tried to walk off some of the pain and keep the cramps from pulling him to the ground.

 

For a few seconds Adam just stood their in the center of the track, slowly walking around, his head tilted towards the sky, his eyes squeezed shut. He didn't want to look at his family, didn't want to look at his girlfriend or his teammates. But he especially didn't want to look at himself. Third place. Third fucking place. After all those months, weeks and days of practice it had all come down to third place. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. Adam squeezed the tears in his eyes from coming down his cheeks.

 

Sensing someone near him, Adam opened his eyes. His coach, Stephen, was standing beside him in a track suit, a grim expression on his face. He knew Adam was upset and didn't want to make light of his feelings. Still, Stephen was proud of the kid and put his hand on his shoulder.

 

'Better then we thought you'd do.' Stephen said matter of factly.

 

'Better? I came in third.' Adam said testily.

 

'Yeah. Heh, actually a lot better. I didn't even think you'd place to be honest.' Stephen said, bracing himself.

 

'Bullshit.' Adam snarled but a smile was starting to appear on his face.

 

'It's true. Me and Rosco, you know Tim's coach the kid who came in second, didn't think you had it in you. I hoped you did but let's face it, with those scrawny legs I was gonna be just happy if you crossed the finish line before dark.'

 

'Next you're gonna tell me you bet against me.' Adam joked still moving in circles on the track.

 

'I would have.' Stephen said grabbing and putting Adam's head in a lock between his arm and shoulder 'If I had known you were going to pull that shit out of your ass, I'd have bet Rosco in two seconds and he'd have taken me up on it. Would have made a pretty penny too, Rosco doesn't think much of you. Could have taken him to the cleaners. Next time you feel like going and winning a race let me know so I can get a little action on the side going.'

 

'I'll try.' Adam said, although the words were muffled coming through Stephen's thick arm.

 

'Well, with your first win it'll probably be a bit harder to get good odds anyway. You might just have to lose a few so we can make some good money.'

 

'What do you mean my first win? I came in third Steve.' Adam said, breaking free of Stephen's vice grip, his hair sticking up in patches.

 

'Shit kid, even if you don't come in first, you still put in one hell of a race. You came in third, so what. Would you rather be the poor schmoe who came in last? Would that make losing any more real? No. You won a small victory here today kid. Don't shit on it.' Stephen said quietly, so only really Adam could hear since they were now back on the sidelines, with other runners and their coaches milling around.

 

'Thanks, I guess.' Adam replied, still feeling sorry for himself but Stephen noticed a bit of the original anger was gone and in time he knew Adam would come to appreciate what he had done this day.

 

'That was amazing!' Adam's sister, Mary, yelled from behind the fence, bouncing into it so hard that the chain fence bowed in resistance. Behind her, the rest of Adam's family was picking their way carefully down the bleachers, slower then Adam's younger sister had who had probably bounded down the seats two at a time, her mother calling after her. His sister wore a sweat shirt that was two sizes to big for her with the initials for Dickinson University on the front, the hood flapping behind her, her two hands somewhere in those long sleeves.

 

'Thanks short stuff.' Adam said to pushing at the fence. Mary gave him a face but it barely stopped her excitement.

 

'I really thought you were going to win.' Mary said with glee 'Dad said you were stupid for trying to attack so early but Mommy hushed him and told him you knew what you were doing and you did Adam! You were this close! Oh my God, Me and mommy were on the edges of our seat cheering you on. It was great.' Mary squeeled and then had to take a deep breath of air. Adam looked at her with a wry smile on his face. He knew his younger sister looked up to him but he had never seen such excitement come from her for something that had nothing to do with her. Adam was honestly and truly touched.

 

'Heh thanks Mary.' was the best Adam could do. He felt two thin arms circle his waist and felt the hot breath of Sheila on his neck.

 

'That was a great race!' She whispered in his ear nearly biting it.

 

'Eh, I guess?' Adam said slyly as he pivoted around to meet her face. Sheila gave him a coy smile. Her race had ended several hours ago but she was still in her track suit, her gym bag by their feet. Adam kissed her, bringing his arms up behind her to pull her close even though hot splinters of pain told him it would cost him.

 

'Ewwww.' Mary said in exhaggertion, turning her head to the side with her tongue hanging out, still balancing on the top of the fence.

 

'You said it Mary.' Adam's brother Tom said as the rest of the family finally managed to get to where Mary was.

 

Adam blushed in embarrasment while Sheila rubbed her lips, looking at the ground.

 

'Oh hush you two, just wait till you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend of your own. Then we'll see if you brother treats you that way when you're in front of him.' Adam's mother clucked behind Mary, gently picking her up off the fence and handing her to Adam's father, and then taking over Mary's recently vacated spot. 'Ohhh, I'm so proud of you.' Adam's mom cooed, trying to grab his cheeks with her fingers but Adam was too far away and he backed up a little more to keep it that way. Sheila, seeing Adam's Mom's open arms, smirked and gently pushed Adam towards her.

 

'Whose side are you on!' Adam only half protested as he came closer and closer into his mother's pinching range. Soon it was too late, she grabbed him in her arms and pulled him close. Adam sucked in a air as he suddenly met with his mother and the fence, one soft and comforting, the other sharp and well just sharp. The smell of his mother soothed his nerves and he knew in the end that he had done his best and his mother would never fault him for that. For a few seconds, Adam wanted nothing more then to stay there, his Mom protecting him from the world.

 

'That was a good race.' His father said in a gruff voice, patting him on the shoulder 'Wasn't sure whether you had it in you to try to push ahead so soon but damn if you didn't stick with it. Guess all those nights at the track finally paid off.' This was the most encouragement Adam could hope from his father. He stood behind Adam's mother, flannel shirt and jeans, with a John Deer cap on.

 

'Thanks Dad, I really tried. You're right, I almost wish I had waited a little longer to make that push, it really took a lot out of me.'

 

'Naw, you had it in you son. Hell, you showed those others boys what a McGraw can dish out. Proud of you.' Adam's father said with his earnest, giving Adam's shoulder another shake. Behind him, Adam's two other brothers were mingling with friends, not really paying attention to Adam's minor victory. Catching site of this, Adam's mom let out an exasperated sigh and call for them to come over.

 

'Tom, Andrew, get over here right now.'

 

Tom, who had been kicking at the ground only a few feet away, turned and walked over to where the rest were standing. Andrew either didn't hear or didn't care what his mother said and continued talking to the group of friends he was with, his back turned.

 

'Good race.' Tom said, shaking Adam's hand.

 

'Thanks Tom. Glad you could make it out.' Adam said to his older brother.

 

'Yeah no sweat. Boss gave me some time off.' Tom said with a smile, giving their father a look. His father snorted in response.

 

'I swear that boy will be the death of me.' Adam's mother was saying to his father, referring to Andrew who was walking away with his friends.

 

'Don't worry about him.' was all Adam's father could say. He too worried about his son but he wasn't about to show it. Adam's mom gave him a look and then waddled over to Adam again.

 

'So are you coming back to our house or are you going somewhere with the rest of the team?' she asked, clearly hoping Adam would come home with her. She didn't get to see Adam as much during track season, the team traveling all over the state going to meets and having practices on the days when they were home.

 

'I think so. Coach said he wanted to talk to us for a little bit afterwards but I don't think he has anything planned. Did you hear about anything Sheila?' Adam asked her behind him.

 

'No I don't think so either. Some of the girls are going over to Jamie's house but I didn't get invited to that.'

 

'Guess you're just not cool enough.' Adam teased her.

 

'I'm cooler then you McGraw.' She teased back.

 

'I'm cooler then both of you!' Mary squealed, hoping back up on the fence, much to her parents dismay.

 

'Sure you are kiddo.' Adam said reaching over and hauling Mary over the fence. Every muscle in his body ached at the exertion but it was worth it to see Mary's eyes go wide, a smile going from ear to ear. She squealed louder as Sheila dug fingers into her sides, tickling her as Adam swooped her around.

 

'Be careful!' Adam's mother said from behind the fence, wanting to step in.

 

'She's fine.' His father said, hugging Adam's mother close to him, a smile on his face as well now. Still Adam's mom pouted a little, worried about her youngest in the arms of a tired runner.

 

Feeling both the weight on his mother's fears and the new internal scars from the three races he had run today, Adam quickly brought Mary to the ground who tumbled to the grass, laughing uncontrollably.

 

'Oh yeah, that's going to hurt in the morning.' Adam said squinting his eyes while he swung his arms in the air.

 

'Come on.' Stephen called to him. His coach was standing with the other runners from his team. Sheila's group was also gathering down a ways further and her coach was scanning the track looking for her. 'Time to hit the showers before I let you guys go home.' He said and they started heading towards the small building at the end of the track where the men's and women's locker rooms were held.

 

'Guess I gotta go.' Adam said, turning to his parents.

 

'Me too. I'll call you later tonight, okay.' Sheila said. Adam nodded. She gave Adam a kiss on the cheek, waved to Adam's parents, and the hurried off to meet up with her teammates who were already on their way to the locker room.

 

'We'll meet you by the car. We're towards the back, almost near the street.' His father told him.

 

'Sure, no problem.' Adam said, making a quick note of it in his head. His father shook his hand again and then bent over the fence to pick up Mary who was still giggling. Tom was already heading in that direction, with Andrew nowhere in sight anymore.

 

Adam's mom hugged him again from the side. 'I'm so proud of you Adam.' she said quietly. Adam turned his head down, resting his chin on the top of her head. He thought he could hear her crying but wasn't sure. After a few seconds she pushed him away. 'Go, hurry, your coach will be waiting.'

 

'Thanks Mom, I'll see you a little while.' Adam said backing away. She shooed him on, blowing one last kiss to him.

 

Adam turned away from her, not having the heart to see her walk away, and jogged painfully to where his teammates were standing. A few said hey to him but most were looking towards the coach who upon spotting Adam, got up on a bench.

 

'Alright, now that you're all here I'd like to congratulate you all on a good day. With the strong performances by Reese and Givens, we managed to hold our lead over Clementine and with the surprising performance by McGraw we even picked up a few points in the division. So that means ladies, we're one step closer to making it to regionals this year and we've all worked ot hard to start phoning it in now.

 

We are not a shoe in. Clementine and Orson aren't that far behind us and would just love to see us fuck up a race or two. I don't want to see anyone slacking off this next week. We have practice tommorow and again on Wednesday. Next meet is a week from Thursday so I don't want any of you going soft of me during the break. That means you McGraw. Yeah, you did good today but only by the seat of your pants. I want to see you and everyone else here, bright and early tommorow.'

 

'Yes, coach.' the team members said half heartedly. The last thing they wanted to think about was more running, more hurdles and more sprints.

 

'I can't hear you!' Coach Stephens yelled bending over, pulling his ear lobe out.

 

'Yes, coach!' they chorused, hoping it would be enough for him to let them go and get changed.

 

'That's better. You guys did good today. Go, get changed and I'll see you tommorow.' He said, jumping down from the bench.

 

Adam trudged off with the rest of the guys, too tired to joke with his teammates.

 

'Gonna pull that crazy shit again next week Adam?' Jerry said, siddling up beside him.

 

'I dunno, maybe. Nearly killed myself doing it today.' Adam said weakly, his head still looking at the ground.

 

'Man, Coach Stephens nearly blew a gasket when you charged like that. Surprised he didn't run on the field just to beat you down for being so stupid.'

 

Adam laughed which hurt his chest 'He probably have if he wasn't worried about...'

 

 

-

 

 

David blinked, his eye's focusing on the black wall in front him. Unsure of where he was, David looked back and forth, only seeing dark walls and a few glowing red and green lights.

 

'Where the fuck am I?' David thought to himself. And almost on cue, a few words flickered to life in front of him on the black wall.

 

'You're OLM session is over. Please wait patiently.' the neon blue words said as they danced on the wall.

 

'OLM?' David thought for a second and then remember. Of course, he had come for his first OLM session. Man, this was worse then waking up from a bad dream. His head throbbed. He wanted to leave this small room but when he tried to open the door, he found there was no handle and pushing at it didn't seem to make any difference.

 

The light flickered again on the wall and a new message appeared. 'Be calm and wait for the merge. This will only take a few moments.'

 

'Merge? What the fuck is a merge?' David thought or maybe he said it out loud, he wasn't sure. He pounded his fist against the door but only wound up bruising himself. The throbbing sensation in his head soon became too much for him and he fell back into the chair.

 

'Arrgh.' David winced. A sudden rush of pain sweeped through his forhead. 'God, what the hell was that?' David thought, then regretted it since thinking seemed to make the pain worse. Wrapping his arms over his head, David put his forhead on his knees. Slowly the pain seemed to lessen, each new wave that brushed over him causing a fraction of the pain the previous wave had caused.

 

And with each wave, memories began to form. David remembered Adam. David remembered racing. He remembered the aching in his muscles and sweat on his cheek. He touched his cheek but it was dry and his arms felt fine. David moved his legs but they didn't hurt nor did they move as Adam's legs had, without the same spring.

 

David remembered Sheila's touch as if she was still behind him and feared he had cheated on Sara. He remembered the looks of joy in Adam's parents faces, the look of childhood adoration beaming from Mary's face.

 

David knew all these things and yet didn't know them. Two streams of thoughts screamed through his mind.

 

'Who were they?'

 

'You knew who they were, they were your family.'

 

'But why do I know who they are?'

 

'Because you were there. You were Adam.'

 

'No I wasn't. I'm David. I've never met this Adam before in my life.'

 

'That's true, you've never met Adam and probably never will. Adam died thirty years ago and the brief part of his life you lived was in his teens, some sixty years prior.'

 

'But that doesn't make any sense.'

 

'It does and you know it.'

 

David couldn't control himself anymore. He rose to his feet and let out a yell of frustration and grief. Slowly, he sank to the floor, no tears coming but dry heaves of one who was still very much sad.

 

Ten minutes later, the door behind David opened, Mark's form filling the doorway. David didn't look up, still a ball on the floor shivering as if cold.

 

'You okay?' He asked genuinely concerned. The best David could do was nod from the ground, trying to keep his teeth from chattering. 'Geez, it really knocked you for a loop. Here let's get you on your feet.' Mark offered, coming into the room and putting an arm under David's shoulder. While Mark wasn't a small man, David was bigger then him and David gave little help in moving himself out the door.

 

'Hey Mike!' Mark yelled 'I need yah down here, newbie didn't take to well to his session. We better put him justiation room before he spirals to far gone.'

 

David could hear Mike, the other lab aide, curse and laugh a little. Dealing with students was probably the last thing Mike considered to be part of his job. Soon, David could hear footsteps approaching, Mike making some joke to Mark which David couldn't hear but to which Mark let out a grand laugh in response. If they were worried about interrupting other student's OLM sessions they didn't show it. Mike knelt down and placed David's other arm underneath over his shoulder. Slowly, the two lab aides raised David from the floor who was feeling the world slowly come back together. He tried to express this but couldn't make the words fit.

 

Mark saw David trying to speak and said 'Don't worry about it kid. You're not the first to have a bad reaction to the OLM and you certainly won't be the last. Shit, Mike over there nearly shit his pants the first time he went in there.'

 

'I did not!' Mike yelled with outrage, almost dropping David's arm. Again, Mike's lack of care for other students in the building surprised David but he didn't say anything about it. Since he was being carried, clearly they knew more about what was going on then he did.

 

'Not what I heard. Peggy said you called her breathless and she had to bring you a new pair of underpants.' Mark added, still laughing.

 

'Bullshit. Besides, it wasn't my first time. I tried taking on a twelve hour life and I hadn't gone to the bathroom before I went in. I'd like to see you try that.' Mike confessed.

 

'Holy shit! You actually did shit your pants? Hahaha, I thought Peggy was just making fun of you. Holy cow, you are not going to hear the end of this. Mike shit his pants in the OLM.' Mark howled with glee.

 

'Shut up!' Mike yelled. They had reached the opposite end of the building from where the aide desk was. A glass room was in place of where the lab aide desk was. The doors to the room hissed open and Mark and Mike deposited David on one of the large, stuffed couches in the room.

 

Mike let almost immeaditly, grumbling about how he was going to give Peggy a piece of his mind and put her in a twelve hour life without going to the bathroom while Mark stayed in the room with David, whose head had rolled backwards on the couch. A look of honest concern had crossed over his face, the laughter over Mike's embarassment having evaporated.

 

'Listen, the feelings you are feeling now are only temporary. Well, not really temporary. I guess you could say the side effects are temporary. The nauseua, the vertigo, the headaches and whatever else you're going through is all perfectly normal. It's just your mind and body dealing with the sudden rush of new memories and feelings. Sorta like a drain, the water slowly trickles down till it's gone. In your case, the pipe is very small so it's going to take a while but you'll get there.

 

When you're feeling up to it, there's some cookies and apple juice over on the table there.' Mark pointed to a small table in the corner which had the treats he had just mentioned. 'When you're feeling up to it, use the door just to the left of this room. It'll take you to the stairs and bring you out behind the building. From there you should be able to get home.'

 

Mark got up and headed for the door and then stopped. He turned back. David had managed to raise his head and he was beginning to collect his thoughts. 'Do you need me to call anyone for you?' Mark asked. David shook his head no although this made the confusion in his mind worse and he again let his head fall back on the couch.

 

Mark's eyes softened. 'It was pretty bad on me too. I didn't shit my pants like Mike over there but I probably wasn't doing much better then you're doing right now. I really can't remember how bad it was. I think I've blocked most of that out. To be honest, I really can't even remember what my first intro life was. They change them up every two years or so. They try to make them warm and happy, so you don't have to deal with any bad emotions on your merge.'

 

David nodded, saying yes the life had indeed been warm and happy. Mark gave him one last look and then shrugged his shoulders. For minimum wage, he wasn't a OLM counselor. If David had any issues let one of the pros on the fourth flour handle it. Mark walked out the glass door, returning to the lab aide desk where Mike was busy yelling into his phone, probably talking to Peggy.

 

David sat in the glass room for a few minutes, staring up at the ceiling, not really concentrating on anything in particular. He could feel his mind slowly beginning to accept the information that was Adam's life and processing it in a way that was foreign yet oldly familiar to David. Adam's memories weren't his memories, David knew, yet they felt as strong as his own. How did people cope with this? How did this help you? David shivered again and raised his head.

 

Moving to the table he poured himself a little paper cup of apple juice and chose a vanilla flavored cookie with a cherry center from the platter on the table. Somehow the combined power of sugar and apple juice seemed to work magic, whether it be from giving blood or recovering from an OLM session.

 

Sitting on the side of the table, munching on cookie, David noticed one, then two students leave from different rooms along the corridor. Some seemed like nothing was the matter while others seem as disturbed as David had been. After sitting there for about twenty minutes, David had seen some six students leave and enter different OLM rooms. Why had they not objected when Mark and Mike had been yelling? Wasn't that distracting? Perhaps the rooms were sound proofed. Made sense. Probably why Mark and Mike hadn't heard him banging on the door.

 

What had Mark said about the OLM session. That once you were in, you were in totally for the length of your session. Maybe the other students didn't hear Mark and Mike yelling because they couldn't. David tried to think of his time with the OLM, tried to bring back any memories, any David memories of his time within the machine.

 

Nothing.

 

David couldn't remember a damn thing about himself or what he had done during the one hour session. All he could remember was Adam. Adam's life, Adam's memories, Adam's feelings. All Adam. No David.

 

David shook himself. God, was this weird. He hoped it would get better because doing this another eight times or more was not something he looked forward to. David needed to talk to Sara. To see if she could explain some of this to him. And then he had his appointment with Dr.Eckard. Hopefully she would be a little more patient with David and explain some of these...feelings was the most generic word he could come up with. But it was so much more than just feelings. It was thoughts, it was emotions, it was everything that it meant to be Adam.

 

It was life.

 

.4.

 

Doing his best to make his way to Sara's dorm, David bumped into as many people as he had going to the Wilson Science building. This time though, his thoughts were clouded, his boyish anxiety muted, his body moving mostly on autopilot rather then on what was actually happening. David couldn't be sure but he thought he noticed one or two people threaten him but by the time their warnings got to his brain he had moved on.

 

Arriving at Sara's dorm, across campus from his own, David scanned his arm underneath the reader at the door and was quickly prompted for the room he wanted to go to.

 

'Sara Lancaster.' David mouthed, the words coming out slow and oily. Ugh, he really had to get over this. He couldn't operate like this, couldn't feel like this, it was just getting to be too much.

 

The door beeped at him and David waited while it signaled to Sara that she had a visitor. A few moments later, the door buzzed open, the screen beside the door saying he was allowed to stay in the dorm for no more than four hours.

 

'Sure, whatever.' David snarled. Dorm RA's could use the buildings tracking system to kick visitors out if they really wanted to but most knew the other students who came by and no RA was really that strict to enforce it. Four hours was some arbitrary number the administration had dreamed up, completely out of line with sort of practical application.

 

Climbing the stairs, David rubbed his temples, hoping to clear his mind of any confusion before he talked to Sara. David still felt like he had cheated on Sara with Sheila and while every other part of his mind told him he hadn't, it was still a lagging doubt. He knew he'd tell Sara. David hoped she would understand. He really didn't want to lose her.

 

David knocked on Sara's door which was covered with photos of the two roommates, flower cut outs with Saras and her roommate, Tiffanys, name on them, as well as a glossy screen embedded in the door to leave text or voice messages with. Almost immeaditly the door swung open, Sara standing there, a look of excitement and anxiety on her face, a towel wrapped around her head with water still dripping down her cheeks, a bathrobe thrown on quickly as it was only barely tied.

 

'How are you?' were the first few words out of Sara's mouth. David opened his mouth to respond but couldn't. He couldn't because he wasn't sure how to phrase all that was going on his mind but also because seeing Sara there with the anxious look of sympathy and warmth nearly broke him. David quickly stepped forward, bringing her close to him, hugging her as tightly as he could. For a few moments the two stood their in the door way, a small pool of water slowly forming below them.

 

'That well, huh?' Sara finally said into David's now damp shirt. She laughed, seeing her wet face print in his shirt. Sara pulled him inside, kicking the door closed behind her.

 

'I...don't know.' was all David could manage. He fell onto Sara's bed but sat bolt upright, unsure where to start.

 

Sara crossed to Tiffany's bed and sat with her legs tucked underneath her. 'Well, first let me talk. I want you to know something David. I wanted to tell you what was going to happen but we're told expressly not too. For some reason, they feel it's necessary for new OLM users to go in with no warnings at all. It makes no sense to me but they take it pretty seriously.

 

I want you to know I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you what to expect but I couldn't.'

 

David shook his head. 'No, I understand. I don't think if you did tell me what would happen that I really would have understood what it would be like. I'm actually glad I didn't know what I know now going in. If I did, I'm not sure I would have gone through with it.' David's back relaxed and he looked at Sara, her earnest eyes searching his 'Sara I want you to know, in this life, this guy, Adam, had a girlfriend and I don't know why but I feel like..'

 

Sara cut him off 'Ohh David. It's okay to be confused about the feelings you have for this other woman. What was her name?'

 

'Sheila.' David answered, surprised.

 

'Right, Sheila. Don't worry about it. You didn't cheat on me and believe me, I don't feel like I cheat on you when I'm in a life with another boyfriend, husband or whatever. It's strange at first but you can used to it. It's all a part of the lief and you just have to accept that it's not you even though it feels like it is.'

 

'When you say it like that, it makes a little more sense. I'm glad you understand Sara.' David said, very relieved.

 

'Of course I do. I've had more OLM sessions then you've had and have probably dated, married and divorced more men then you really care to think about. I've even dated a few women.' Sara explained.

 

'What? Women?' David was shocked. 'You can be a man?'

 

Sara laughed 'Sure. And you can be a woman. It's not something you get into till your second semester since it adds another level of confusion but not only is it perfectly possible but it's also encouraged. The whole point of using the OLM is to get another perspective and what better perspective is there then to get the opposite sexes?'

 

David had to concede the point even though the idea still revolted him.

 

'So,' Sara continued 'tell me about the rest of your first OLM experience.' She asked, shifting in a way that caused her robe to drop slightly. David tried not to look but couldn't help himself.

 

'Um, yeah, sure, but first Sara, you're going to have to finish getting changed. I really can't concentrate with you half naked like that.' David said, half blushing, trying to keep himself from jumping across the room.

 

Sara looked down, as if noticing herself for the first time, laughed, and then scampered into the bathroom. 'I was in the middle of taking a shower when you buzzed me. I should probably jump back in for a few seconds if that's alright with you.' She called from the bathroom, and the sound of running water told David it really didn't matter what his answer was.

 

'Yeah sure that's fine.' David called, laying back on the bed.

 

David relaxed, taking in the warm and comfy sorroundings of Sara and Tiffany's small room. David like Sara's room. Where David and Chad's was cluttered, confusing and cramped, the two girls had managed to create space and cleanliness out of the impractical and ludicrous that was campus life. Sara's room had a soft glow to it, almost like it pulsed womanhood. The walls were the same white of David's dorm but where his were virtually devoid of anything, the two girls had festooned their walls with posters, pictures, nick nacks and other things that reminded them of home or of things they had recently done. Sara had even told David that there was a small place in the room that had a tally for the number of guys each woman had brought home. She assured him that had long since past, part of her younger freshmen year but she still refused to show it to David. He had looked for it twice, finding only tampons and potpurri instead, David gave up, assuming it was just a silly tale to get him worked up.

 

David crossed the room to the small fridge that was wedged in between Tiffany's bed and her desk, a small coffee maker on top of it with a few mugs circling it. One mug held some plastic spoons and knives, another held sugar packets and other condiments a college student might need on a moments notice. Inside the fridge there were few items but the essentials. Alcohol, a crumbled bag of ground coffee, a few cans of soda, what looked like leftovers from a restaurant which must have been Tiffany's since David and Sara hadn't been out to eat in a while (David made a mental note to make reservations someplace this weekend). Grabbing a soda, David sauntered over to Sara's computer, tapping on a few buttons to bring up his e-mail.

 

On Sara's desk were a few academic books, a binder, a bunch of pencils and pens with a several highlighters since Sara liked to highlight certain sections certain colors, a picture of David and Sara from last summer with Sara jumping on David's back a look of glee on her face and one too on David. David picked up the photo remmebering that day, that moment. While he had a smile on his face, David remembered the sudden pain in his back and legs as Sara jumped on him. David was in fairly good shape but Sara had jumped down from a tree limb and it was all David could do to keep from crumbling to the ground, bringing this new and wonderful girl down on top of him. Perhaps that might have been a smooth move David thought now but at the time he thought it would be best to impress rather than revolt.

 

Hearing the water turn off, David put the frame down and quickly turned to the computer. Punching at the embedded keyboard in the desk, David brought up his school e-mail messages. He had three, more then he had expected today. One was from Sara, reminding him to come over when he was done with his OLM session. The second was from Professor Eckard's assistant, reminding him of his appointment in, shit, fourty five minutes.

 

The last was from Daniel Hawthorne, David's parent's personal assistant, the man who travelled with them where ever they went and planned what ever they did, down to the last detail. David didn't hate Daniel, he just didn't care to hear from him, especially when he knew it was just a perfunctionary e-mail to let him know where his parents were. David was sure Daniel had farmed out the assignment to one of his many assistants, a job that assistant didn't do all that well David thought, and it made David angry that keeping in touch with even just his parents whereabouts was just so impersonal. David knew his parents loved him and wished him all the best. He wasn't resentful of their life or their time away from him.

 

He just wished they wouldn't so easily forget about him. That they wouldn't pass off paying attention to him as if it was some other book signing that they were forced to do. David scowled but opened the e-mail, more curious than not over his parents current situation.

 

'Greetings David!

 

Your mother and I' Despite David knowing Daniel or one of his lackies wrote the e-mails and them knowing he knew they wrote it, they still felt felt it necessary to write the things in the tone of his parents, like his father had really spent the time to sit down and pen a quick summary to his son. It was more irritating that reassuring. 'are here in Berlin, meeting with several key figures in what we hope to be a most landmark convention. Of course we can't go too much into the details but I'm sure if you watch the news, you'll know what we've been up to.' Translation, we're meeting with some other pompous bigwigs who ignore their kids too, if they have them, so we can raise money for this or move support in favor of that. David had heard it before.

 

'We're glad to hear you're enjoying your first week of school.' This surprised David since he hadn't talked to his parents since starting at Winston. Daniel had probably gotten updates from some of the faculty here, whether he had passed it on to his parents he wasn't sure. 'We're sure you're doing well in your classes and we expect top honors from one as bright as you. Your mother has taken a keen interest in the geopolitical situation here in Eastern Europe and we're delighted to hear that you're taking a class on classic European history. We will have to discuss this when we see you.' Huh, Daniel had done his homework. David hadn't even had that class yet much less tell his parents he was enrolled.

 

'Our schedule is pretty tight but I'm sure we can make some time to come back stateside for a few days. We leave for Prague tommorow, then to Paris. Hopefully sometime in November we'll be able to pull ourselves away our pressing duties. As you know, the world waits and watches our every move and your mother and I must abide by those pressures.

 

Love,

 

Mom and Dad'

 

And that would have been it, was usually it, when it came to a letter from his parents or Daniel. The same pleasentries, the same false promises of spending time together, and the reminder that David's parents lives were filled with pressures and concerns he could barely fathom yet. Except, as David casually scrolled down the e-mail he noticed a scribbled message towards the bottom. Someone had chosen instead of typing, to write on the e-mail, to leave a personalized message for David. Daniel would never have done that, it was too unprofessional and Daniel was that too a T. Reading it, the tone and brevity was all to personal as well.

 

'Dearest Daniel. I do hope this letter finds you well. Know that your father and I are wishing you all the best in your time at University and using the OLM. It is with great happiness and sorrow we see you enter this chapter of your life since the OLM has brought our family an abundance of both. Know that we are here for you, whenever and wherever you may need us.

 

We Love You,

 

Mom and Dad'

 

And this time the two names were done in a wide looping hand that instantly reminded him on his mother. A small tear welled up on David's face and he brushed his hand up against his eye to keep it from falling. His mother had actually taken the time to write to him. Had take the time to scrawl a quick note that got attached to this e-mail. David wondered if Daniel even knew that his mother had done this, it was so out of the ordinary.

 

'Whatcha reading?' Sara asked leaning against his back, looking over his shoulder. Sara's warm blow dried hair tickled David's neck as he turned to look at her.

 

'My parents.' was all David could manage, a lump in his throat keeping back any other words.

 

'Really. Where are they now? How's Daniel doing?' Sara asked. She knew of Daniel's role in David's parents life and how he was the one David mainly communicated with. She thought it callous and despical that David's parents could ignore their son like this, to not even take the time to write to him themselves. They had a terrific son, who was smart, friendly and honest. Sara wanted to track the two parents down and yell at them at the top of her lungs. Make them realize what they were doing to their only child. Make them love him and she loved David.

 

'He's fine, I guess.' David said regaining his voice. 'They're in Berlin I guess, probably leaving for Prague in a day or two. Daniel must know someone in the teaching staff, he found out I'm in Wilkes's Intro to Classic European History tommorow. Haven't even been in the class yet and already he wants my mother and I to have a debate about it.' David said with a laugh.

 

'What's that?' Sara asked pointing at the little note at the bottom of the screen. David had been circling it with the mouse pointer, rereading the words with each revolution.

 

'Oh. That's a note from my mother.' David answered and then paused. 'An actual note from my mother.' He said quietly and Sara knew the signifigance of that. She quickly read the words over his shoulder and had to keep herself from clasping her hand to her mouth in surprise. In those five sentences, Sara saw more love and affection from David's parents then she had ever seen in the entire time she had known him. What had sparked this sudden expression of emotion? Was it something Daniel had reminded them with? Had they finally remembered their lonely son?

 

The words, 'Using the OLM' jumped out at her. They must have known David was going to be experiencing his first OLM session. Could they really care so much about David to care about his first time with the OLM. Sure it was a life changing first experience but so was coming to school, so was learning to drive, and so were many of the other things David had told her they had missed. What made this experience so much more important.

 

Of course, Sara knew of David's rather unique ties with the OLM building here on campus, even their ties with the OLM project as a whole. Did they know something about the OLM that had them worried about David using it? Of course they did, they practically breathed the technology. What they knew about the OLM in their pinky could baffle Sara for centuries.

 

Sara hesistantly asked David 'So, what do you think it means?' Sara hoped this was a safe question to ask. David was having a pretty rough morning and the afternoon wasn't shaping up to nicely either.

 

'I don't know. I guess...I guess she just wanted to let me know they were thinking about me. That they knew I'd be going through my first OLM experience and they of anyone would know what that's like. That I might have the reaction that I did.' David hesitated.

 

'That I might be worried that I did not live up to the standard of my family.' Daniel almost whispered. Sara wasn't sure how to respond to this and so brought her arms tightly around David's shoulder, resting her chin in the corner of his neck. She breathed him in, the musky smell of sweat and aftershave sending her own emotions soaring. Sara loved the smell of David, loved the simplicity of it, the raw manliness of it.

 

After a few moments of sitting their locked together David murmured 'I'm fine. Really.'

 

Sara twisted her head around his shoulder to look him in the eye. She gave him a crooked stare, hoping to determine just how fine he was by his facial expression. Seeing this, David gave her a haphazard smile, doing his best to put on a brave front for her. Over Sara's shoulder, David spotted the clock which read two fourty five.

 

'Oh shit!' David yelped, nearly knocking Sara over in the process.

 

'What's wrong?' Sara asked, backing away a little.

 

David was grabbing his bag from the corner he had thrown it in 'I have to get to Professor Eckard's office. I have a meeting with her at three to go over my first OLM session. Figured I'd get my first meeting with her done the same day. Now I think I'll be late because her office is way up top in Samson.'

 

'Oh shit is right.' Sara agreed, curling up on the bed, still in her robe although more dry now. 'Damn, and here I was hoping we'd be able to spend a little time together.' She said silkly, letting her finger trace down her shoulder. David had to look away or else Professor Eckard would sitting alone at three o'clock.

 

Still looking away, David inched over to the bed, trying not to bang his head on the overhang. 'You know I want to stay here with you but I really need to see Professor Eckard. I don't want to make a bad first impression since I was already late to her class once. Besides, I hope she'll be able to provide some insight into using the OLM. I don't know much and the lab aide seemed to be pretty scarce with the details.'

 

'Oh, she should be a big help. I've heard good things about her. She really tries, you know. Unlike the jackass I had, who only paid lipservice to students who came through his class.' Sara said, using her left leg to run alongside David inner thigh. David gritted his teeth, bent down quickly, turned to Sara in a flash, kissed her square on the lips and then bolted from the room.

 

'Love you!' He called from down the hall, the sound of his body thumping into a door marking his sentiment.

 

Sara laughed and called out to him too but he was too far gone. Lazily, Sara got up and walked to her window. She saw David burst from her dorm's door, nearly colliding with three girls coming back from a late lunch. She laughed again and then looked down at her computer. The note from David's parents still hung on her computer screen, the words still as vivid on the screen as the were in Sara's mind.

 

'Let's hope for both our sakes, he has more fortune then sorrow Mrs.Wilson.' Sara said to herself as she tapped at the screen to close the e-mail from David's parents.

 

Meanwhile, panting, David took the stairs of the Samson buildings twenty odd steps, two at a time, his long legs jumping to each blue and white step, barely touching down before bounding up to the next one. David often wondered if all those hours working out and all those miles spent running essentially nowhere, really made a difference. Today, he found, they did. David was winded, his button down shirt sticking to his sides, beads of sweat swimming in between David's thick black hair. But he wasn't tired. He was getting there and if the Samson building had twenty five or even thirty steps then it would be all over and David would have simply passed out on those academic steps while Professor Eckard looked down from on high in her cozy office, shaking her head at poor David.

 

Once again, David burst through the heavy doors of the Samson Lecture building where he had attended his Intro to the OLM class only one week prior and where some faculty offices were held. David quickly scanned the office addresses posted in a large, glass covered box just inside the building. Of course, Professor Eckard's office would be on the fifth floor and David spent no time considering whether he could waste time waiting for an elevator to take him there. Eyeing an exit to a flight of stairs, David continued his run, briefly looking at his watch to see how late he was.

 

The little black hands on David's swiss army watch told him he was just between two fifty eight and two fifty nine, which caused David to quicken his pace. Was his watch slow. He couldn't remember whether he had to add two minutes or subtract two minutes to whatever time it told him. David crossed his fingers as he barrelled through another set of doors, just seeing the elevator doors to his left close, barely out of reach.

 

'Wouldn't have been slower anyway.' David comforted himself, as the friction of landing on each solid stone step began to wear on his feet and joints.

 

Passing students either talking to each other in the stair well or going up or down themselves in a blur, David managed, in a last push of strength, to get himself to the fifth floor, whose doors were thankfully opened by someone going down the stairs. David rushed by, scanning the doors for the room number he had seen only seconds ago.

 

'David?' a voice called out from behind him. David wasn't if he had heard his name for sure but slowed down just to be safe. Turning he saw the person he had blown by was Dr.Eckard herself, looking a bit amused. She was carrying a coffee cup in one hand which was covered by a long, warm looking sweater that covered most of her body.

 

'David?' She asked again 'Are you alright? You nearly knocked me down these steps here.'

 

David raced over but slowed to a few paces away when he heard Professor Eckard's last comment. 'I'm sorry Professor, I was just really rushing to get here on time. I apologize for being so late. I lost track of time and then when I realized what time it was I was on the other side of campus and I tried running here as fast as I could.' David said in a blinding torrent of words that probably did little to win favor with the Professor. She had probably heard it all before, heard hundred if not thousands of apologies from students who were tardy. It must come with the territory. David sank a little, waiting for Professor Eckard's wrath.

 

'Is it three o'clock already?' Professor asked, almost shocked. Tilting her empty coffee mug to bunch up the long sleeve on her other arm, only to find that there wasn't a watch there at all. 'Oh shoot, must have forgotten to put that on this morning. Oh well.

 

I take it it's three then David?' Patricia Eckard asked David, cocking her head down to put it on level with David's face. All David could do was put up his arm to show the Professor his watch, the recent sprint finally catching up with him, as he bent over trying to pull in more air then his lungs would allow.

 

'Oh, so it is. Must have slipped my mind. Well alright then. I was just on my way over to the student union to get some coffee. Would you like to join me? I'm sure they have some sports drink their for you.' Professor Eckard asked while turning, not really expecting David to say no which he didn't. Limping after her, David entered the elevator which had beaten him to the fifth floor after all. Having emptied all it's occupants, only David and Professor Eckard remained.

 

'So, how are you?' Professor Eckard said in a slightly mocking tone. She looked at David with a quizzical eye, trying to see if he was just suffering from symptoms caused by over exertion or from something else he had done that day. In truth, she had forgotten about their appointment. There were so many, Professor Eckard rarely bothered to track which she had planned for that day and just let students show up. Oh sure, it was handy to have them schedule an appointment but that was more to have a nice, aggregate procession of students and not just one lump sum right before dinner.

 

'I'm ' David puffed a few more times 'doing okay.' He managed, wheezing a little to get the last word out.

 

'Is that so? Frankly, I think you need to work out a bit more. You know, go running every once in awhile, not stay in your dorm all day long and study.' Professor Eckard cautioned, quoting the studying part because she had been a teacher long enough to know few students studied, much less in their dorms.

 

'I do run. Three times a week if I can.' David said and raised himself as if to prove to Professor Eckard that he was indeed in good physical health.

 

'Really? Well, better make it four or five then shouldn't we?' David looked wounded but Professor Eckard's playful smile told him she wasn't really giving him an assignment. 'So anyway, enough with the formalities, let's get right down to it shall we? How was your first session with the OLM?'

 

David looked at her in shock and then looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to them in the slightly busy corridor of the Samson building which they weren't. 'Uhh, couldn't we wait to get back to your office Professor. Shouldn't we wait to talk about that in private?' David said as the exited the building, the number of people doubling them as classes were just getting out.

 

'Pah' was the sound Professor Eckard made in response to David's question. 'I doubt very much that anyone will overhear us and even if they do, so what? It's not like they're going to go and write about it on their website. Well some of them might but really what are the odds of that?'

 

David actually knew the odds or at least knew that the likelyhood of an overhearn OLM conversation would not go unnoticed. There were quiet a few websites out there that maintained long lists of OLM experiences, some user submitted, others not. David had spent several hours reading them, the stories both alarming and fascinating with a quiet a few that were side splittingly funny while others made absolutely no sense at all. David now understood why and he didn't want his first OLM experience to be put up there to be mocked by thousands of faceless visitors.

 

Seeing David's expression Professor Eckard sighed. 'If it will make you feel any better we won't go into any details out here but don't keep me on the edge of my seat boy. At least tell me how you felt. Was your reaction to good or bad? Were you sick? Were you angry or were you confused? More importantly, did you understand what you saw.' Professor Eckard asked in quick succession and David didn't know which question to answer first. Clearly Professor Eckard knew what she was fishing for.

 

'Uhh well, I guess the best thing to do is start from the end since that's what I remember the most. I was dizzy, very lightheaded, and my mind felt like it was battling something but I really can't think of a word to describe what it was. I think I nearly past out and one of the lab aides, Mark I think his name was, helped me out of the OLM room. After eating a few cookies and resting a little while I felt a little better but I can definitly say I had the rug pulled out from underneath me and I did not catch myself gracefully, not even slightly.'

 

'Well that's to be expected. I don't know too many students who accept their first OLM session all that well. A few seem to handle the merge a little more quickly then others but most people's reactions are similar to yours. I hope the lab aides didn't scare you too much. I've been hearing reports recently that they're not providing the kind of support they are employed to give. What did you think of them?' Professor Eckard asked, referring to the lab aides.

 

David thought back to before he had put on the OLM ring and those memories were hazy at best. 'Mark was nice. He seemed a little exasperated that I didn't know that much about the OLM or what I was going to do but he helped. He was the one who came and helped after..' David hesitated, rememebering the akward feelings 'my session.' David finished and then added 'The other guy, Mike I think his name was, was alright too I guess but he seemed to be paying more attention to his computer then to any of the students who came in.' David caught himself but the words had already left his mouth. David didn't like incriminating another person even if they were in fault. He felt guilty about impacting another person's life and didn't want someone else to do the same to him or worse, have someone else find out and do worse to him.

 

'That sounds about right from the things other students have told me. Micheal's a fourth year grad and probably thinks it a bit beneath him to deal with undergrad OLM sessions especially freshmen. It's Mark's second year their and I hope Mike hasn't rubbed off on him too much. He's a good kid and I'd really hate to see another Mike sitting at that front desk in a few years.'

 

'Then you should probably get them on different shifts.' David said and again regretted it.

 

Professor Eckard gave him a half smile although she had taken a slightly serious tone 'I would if I had any other graduate students to exchange them with. But unfortuneatly, the OLM budget only allows for six lab aides right now and none of the others I have can cover the hours Mark and Mike currently work.'

 

The two walked in silence for a few steps, the gentle fall breeze knocking leaves in between their feet as they made their way to the student union. As they approached, David was about to head down the stairs to the main entrance which was protected by a slew of tables and chairs. But Professor Eckard hung a left, moving up a path that David had never gone. Soon they came alongside the student union near where deliveries were made and Patricia Eckard opened an unmarked door beside a loading dock.

 

Walking inside, David noticed a different atmosphere then the one he had been expecting. David had thought they would be in some storage room or go into some stairwell that would lead them back down into the center of the student union where the cafeteria was. What greeted David instead was a small, cozy restaurant, glass counters displaying tempting baked goods and deli meats. About a dozen small tables and chairs were arranged around the room, a few professors and teaching aides sitting in ones close to the walls. Classical music wafted from an unseen speaker and an air of cleanliness was so abundant to David that he couldn't help but stop and be amazed. David knew that the teachers had a seperate dining room in the main cafeteria over in Stinson but here in the student center? It was almost too perfect.

 

'I'll have a refill Doris, if you don't mind.' Professor Eckard told the woman behind the glass counter. Breaking out of his amazement only to find himself equally amazed, David saw Doris, slow, unyeilding Doris, accept Professor Eckard's mug with a smile and little hello and then almost gracefully walk to a counter where she filled the same mug with piping hot coffee. David had never seen Doris move, let alone get something for anyone in his entire life. Had he tripped into another OLM ring and had somehow been transported into a bizarro Winston University.

 

'Do you want anything?' Professor Eckard said over her shoulder. She was eyeing a danish, prominently displayed on top of the counter, a big glass cover keeping Patricia's fingers from snatching it away. 'The pastry here is always really good. Doris has quiet the touch.' Professor Eckard suggested, shooting Doris a smile which was returned pleasantly. David looked too and found only a stone wall expression on Doris's face.

 

'I'm fine.' David croaked.

 

Professor Eckard gave him a sidelong glace, making sure her companion was indeed the winded boy who had shown up on at her office only a ten minutes ago. Shrugging, Professor Eckard ordered 'I'll have that danish right there, diet be damned. Oh and a orange juice too. Anything you'd recommend today Doris?'

 

'Oh, the danish is a good choice. Blueberry are my favorite. The croissant are also very good, I made them with chocolate today. A bit of a guilty pleasure of mine.' Doris said, picking up a pair of tongs to start getting Professor Eckard's order.

 

David's jaw nearly hit the floor. Doris could speak? When did this happen? Sure, it made sense, it would almost be ridiculous for her not to. But no one had ever heard Doris speak. She had always made her thoughts known through either grunts, stares or just blinding boredom. He'd have to tell Sara about this.

 

'Oh that sounds good too, I'll have one of those too.' Professor Eckard said, her mouth pursing in glee. Turning to David she said 'Find a seat anywhere you like. We'll have our meeting here. It's about as private as my office is and I really doubt anyone in here who overhears will care.'

 

David scanned the two tables that were occupied but they had even looked up when he and Professor Eckard had entered much less when she had told him to find a seat. Still, he chose a table towards the back, as far away from the others as possible even in such a small cafe. David didn't think Doris would repeat anything she overheard in this room but then he hadn't thought she could talk up until today so for all he knew she ran a OLM website.

 

Professor Eckard sat down beside him, two thin paper bags holding her goodies with a can of orange juice in the same hand, the mug filled with coffee in the other. She pushed one bag and the orange juice across to David.

 

'Here, you looked famished.' She said prodding him with the backed goods. 'And don't tell anyone I'm all motherly. The last thing I need is a bunch of whiny, sniveling students coming to me because they miss their mommies. I get plenty of sniveling students as it is and I don't want to become a den mother to the lot of you.' Professor Eckard warned.

 

'Well aren't you though?' David asked, pulling the croissant from the bag. He was famished. He had skipped lunch and all he had eaten for the past couple of hours had been those two cookies at the OLM lab and that run to make his appointment with Professor Eckard hadn't helped any either. Sensing Professor Eckard brow furrow, David hastily appended 'I mean in regards to the OLM. I dunno, it seems to me like your sort of suppose to guide us through this...sorta like a mother in a way I guess.'

 

Professor Eckard chewed on her danish for a few moments, trying to decide whether she accepted David's analogy. When it all boiled down to it, yes, she was very much a mother to most of her students and she liked it that way. Helping new students to become well adjusted to the OLM took a lot from her and while she was happy to give it, it did leave scars on her. Another reason David's example worked. She conceded the point with a nod of her danish.

 

'Be that as it may, we're here to talk about you Mr.Wilson, not me. So, let's hear it, how was your first session with the OLM now that no prying ears are around to overhear us.' Dr.Eckard gestured with her arms to say the coast was clear. David smiled grateful.

 

'Well, actually I was hoping you could be a little more specific. I'm not really sure what you want me to tell you about it. Do you want me to tell you how I felt, what I went through, what I know now? Frankly, I only really know the answer to the second one, the other two I was hoping you might help me with.' David began.

 

'Alright, well let's begin there. Before you ask, no I don't know what your life was. Those are not decided by me, at least not the initial one. The initial one is selected for you by a host of criteria set forth by the OLM University Planning Committee, a list of things I won't go into. So please tell me, what was your life?'

 

David paused, thinking yes, it was my life. Yes it was Adam's to begin with but it is one we both now share so maybe it is my life as well? Something he'd have to ask Professor Eckard afterwards. David launched into a recollection of the events he and Adam had gone through. David was surprised to find had vividly he remembered details of Adam's track meet and how easily the memories came to the surface.

 

Once David had finished reciting Adam's life, he leaned back, a little exhausted from speaking for twenty minutes.

 

Professor Eckard looked at him from across the table for a few moments and then said 'Good. That you could remember that much detail from Adam's life tells me the merge was succesful.'

 

'What is the merge?' David blurted out, interrupting the words that were about to come out of Professor Eckard's mouth.

 

She frowned, hating to be interrupted and then decided she might as well explain it now anyway since whatever she had been about to say was lost. 'The merge, as we call it, is when your life and the life you're experiencing are brought together. It's a bit difficult to explain but in the simpliest terms, experiencing a life is not like a television program. It's not a passive activity and it's not a a memory you store somewhere deep within your mind.

 

While you may remain sitting for the time you spend in your life, your mind is very much active with not just memories and knowledge but also stimuli to your body as a whole. The OLM tells your mind and body what the life you are in is experiencing and while it doesn't hurt you, it does effect you.

 

The merge is the OLM's way of allowing your mind and body to handle all the new information, if you will although it's much more than just information, that's now in you. What may have only been a one hour session for you, may have been a ten or twenty hour part of another person's life. That time, all that experience, can't just be thrown away but it also can't be totally accepted. Your body couldn't handle it, at least not at first.'

 

Professor Eckard paused to take a sip of coffee and take in David's reaction. He had a confused look on his face, an expression Professor Eckard had seen countless times on countless student's faces. Explaining the OLM was a tricky proposition at best with third and fourth year students only barely getting a grasp on just how profound a link was made between you and life you went into.

 

David sat for a few seconds, trying to organize the storm of questions he had circling in his head. Picking on at random he asked 'Does it get better?'

 

'Does what get better? The lives? Well, I suppose that depends. Each life is different and some you may enjoy more then others but the point isn't to enjoy the life. It's to learn from it, to make a connection between that life and that point of view. To have it help you shape your own perspective.

 

But, I'm guessing you probably meant do the physical side effects wear off over time? And the answer is yes, they do although for some, it's never a pleasent experience. But for most, going in and out of a life becomes almost second nature. Oh, you must wait after each session, to let it all sink in before leaving. I'm told getting up really quickly isn't a good idea. But yes, it gets better David.'

 

David nodded at this, thankful. David hoped he wouldn't be one of the few who didn't take to the OLM. Professor Eckard looked at her watch. 'Almost time for my next appointment.' She said although really it was just time for her to mosy on back to her office. There wasn't too much guidance she could give David at this point, at least not until he had gone through at least another life or two.

 

'Oh. Um before you go, is their any words of advice you might have for me? You know, to make this a little easier I guess.' David asked, getting to his feet as Professor Eckard did the same. She stopped and looked at him.

 

'The OLM is not easy David. It's not intended to be easy. It's a very difficult learning tool because it opens up more doors then it closes. For some, it is an enlightening experience. For others, it's terrifying. That's the best I can tell you.'

 

'Oh.' was all David could respond with. Professor Eckard studied his face for few more seconds while Doris refilled her mug and then headed towards the door with David following her.

 

As they reached the steps, David turned to go down them but turned to ask Professor Eckard one last question. 'So are the rooms sound proofed or something?' He asked, trying to end on a light note.

 

Professor Eckard smiled 'Why yes they are. I'm glad you noticed. Feel free to make as much noise as you want. It's healthy.'

 

Professor Eckard turned and waddled up the path back to her office, her mug of warm coffee tucked inbetween her two hands. Shaking his head, David jumped down the stairs to the student center.

 

.5.

 

Sara as Carmen Renaldo.

 

Sara flowed out of her 18th Century European Literature class, the crowd of exiting students keeping her from making any real headway. Her OLM appointment was in ten minutes and while the Wilson building wasn't far from where she was, she didn't want to give the lab aide's any reason to give her a hard time when she got there. Sara had gotten to know a few of the OLM lab aides, chatting to them before she went in for her sessions. She did this partly to be friendly but also to make sure she got a good OLM room. The rooms on the left side of the building had recently been renovated with new chairs put in. The ones on the right had okay chairs but they weren't nearly as nice as the ones on the left.

 

The ones she had known had all graduated or moved on to other things since last year and Sara wanted to make it a point in her first time back in the OLM after summer vacation to make a few contacts. Sara hoped the two guys David had run into in his first session weren't there, they didn't sound all that friendly and Sara had an immeadite dislike for anyone who  didn't take their job seriously.

 

After David had returned from meeting with Professor Eckard, Sara had taken him down to some benches near her dorm which provided a nice amount of seclusion with a good vantage point for people watching. Sara had found this spot her freshmen year and came to it whenever she felt like being alone or discussing something with someone privately. It was her own little shangri-la at school and Sara guarded it jealously, a scowl appearing on her face any time she noticed someone else sitting on her bench, even though it had been dedicated to Mr and Mrs Johnston in 1979.

 

Sara and David had talked for several hours, David doing most of the talking. Sara let him control the conversation, prodding him only a few times for more information. Whatever he and Professor Eckard had talked about had clearly opened the gates on David's OLM experience. Sara didn't remember her first OLM experience this well although it was probably jumbled in there with the dozen or so trips she'd taken back to the Wilson building. Maybe if she had had someone her freshmen year to talk to about her first OLM session, her first merge, maybe things would be more clear in her mind. As it was, that first introductory life was hazy at best and Sara couldn't remember for the life of her the person's name or what she had done.

 

After drowning each other in words and hugs, Sara and David returned to his dorm and went to bed in each others arms. Sara had asked David if he'd still love her by the end of the year, a question she had been nervous to ask but almost impatient not to. David had hugged her close and said 'Of course, why wouldn't I?' as if the question was as farcical and ludicrious as the notion of an OLM machine had been to scientists thirty years ago.

 

Sara had shrugged her shoulders, not really wanting to press the point, letting David's body soothe her nerves as he fell asleep. Unfortuneatly it took several more hours for Sara to fall asleep. Sara had known several couples who had seemed perfectly in love before visiting the OLM but she knew few that were still together afterward. The first session or two didn't have much effect but after the first semester of lives at least one person in the relationship had changed signifigantly enough to either call it off or have the other feel so alienated that they wouldn't speak to each other afterwards. Sara hoped that wouldn't happen to her and David but some of those relationships had years of commitment behind them and even they didn't fair well. She and David had only been dating for three months and while she couldn't see him not in her life, perhaps one day David might not see her in the same way. Or maybe she might not see him as the same loveable boy whose parents never called.

 

Sara shuddered trying to drive those demons from her mind, willing herself to fall asleep. Slowly, she did, the fears and doubts she had for their relationship deciding to attack her dreams which were easier prey then her her conscious thoughts. She had been having dreams like this for weeks now and it was effecting both her school work and her patience. She had snapped at David twice in as many days for reasons neither he or she really knew.

 

'Is this how it starts?' Sara thought to herself as she opened the door to the OLM wing. 'Do I become so haunted with fear and doubt about our future that I'll just push him away to avoid being hurt by him later? I've never done that before, why would I do that now?'

 

Sara wanted to tell her fears to David but worried that he wouldn't understand where they were coming from. Having less experience with the OLM, David found each new relevation about it hard to bring into focus with the utopian vision he had had in his mind. Most new students shared this notion and Sara knew within a few months David would be just as dissillusioned with the OLM as she was. She just wasn't sure she could manage another couple of months without a good nights sleep.

 

Entering the OLM lab, Sara crossed quickly to the front desk since she only had a few minutes before her appointment. Neither lab aide looked up at her and Sara guessed these were the same two who had helped David a couple weeks ago. Shrugging, she put her wrist underneath the scanner. It read her information and spit out a room number on a screen embedded in the desk. Sara noted it as well as a message that said that her room was currently occupied and to please wait till it became free.

 

'Great.' Sara thought. 'Someone's freaking out after their life and these two schmucks aren't going to do anything about it. Meanwhile, I'm here sitting on my thumbs waiting for this poor kid to deal with whatever's going on in his mind.' Sara shifted her purse on shoulder up a little bit as she circled the foyer for a few minutes.

 

It didn't seem like anyone was leaving any of the rooms in either hallway. They couldn't all be full could they? Maybe she could get one of these two snobs to transfer her to another station and she could get on with her life. Taking a deep breath, preparing for the frustrating conversation to follow, Sara approached the front desk again.

 

'Hi, I was wondering if my OLM room could be changed. My appointment was at four and it's still not open yet.' Sara asked in as sweet a tone as she was going to use with these two.

 

The one to the left, who she guessed must be Mark since he looked up at her, told her to scan her arm again which she did. The other lab aide did nothing, barely acknowledging that Sara had spoken any words in his direction.

 

Mark snorted 'Look, you can't switch your room just because you want a new chair.' and then turned back down to his magazine.

 

'What?' Sara was surprised. 'I don't care which side it's on, I just want to start my session.' She could feel the hair on the back of neck begin to bristle. Things were going to get ugly for these two lab aides if they didn't start changing their attitude real soon.

 

'Sure you don't. We know you know the rooms on the left have nicer chairs. We're tired of students trying to switch to them. Just wait your turn and maybe one of your next appointments will be on the left hand side.' Mark said, not looking up from his magazine. Mike made a gutteral laugh in agreement. His young protege was coming along nicely.

 

'Look asshole, I don't care about the damn chair. My appointment was now ' Sara looked at her watch 'fifteen minutes ago. I don't want to spend my entire evening here, so if you don't mind, please figure out why my room isn't ready or give me another one. Either will do.' Sara said with more anger then she had intended on but it felt good lashing into these two pompous jerks. They probably didn't deserve it, being a lab aide was probably an unrewarding job but that didn't give them a free ticket to give students a hard time either.

 

Mark looked up at her, a look of annoyance on his face. He hadn't been a OLM lab aide long but he had been a graduate student for long enough to know he didn't have to take any bullshit from a undergrad. He was about to go into a verbal assault on both her intelligence and confidence when something she said caused an alarm to ring in his head.

 

She'd been waiting fifteen minutes? That must have meant that there was someone still in an OLM room way past their time period. A cursing undergrad was one thing but if something had happened to one of them while in an OLM session during his watch he could kiss any chance of working on the fourth floor goodbye. Mark quickly turned to Mike but he was gone. Mark paniced. He had never been left alone at the front desk before, let alone with an emergency on his hands. Where had Mike gone?

 

'Okay, first things first, try and figure out what's happening in this ladies room. Maybe there isn't an emergency. Maybe it's just a glitch and there isn't a student having a bad merge somewhere on this floor. Yeah, probably just a glitch.' Mark thought to himself. He quickly tapped at his computer a few times to see which room Sara was referring to then got up to investigate.

 

'Don't worry about it.' Mike said returning from the direction where the room in question was. 'Kid forgot to put the OLM ring back on the receiver so the thing thought it was still on his head. Happens all the time.' Mike said matter of factly, returning to his seat. Mike had come to this conclusion far quicker then Mark had and had casually gotten up when Sara first started complaining. 'Go ahead miss, room's yours. It's on the right side.' Mike added, with a note of sadistic pleasure.

 

'Thanks, you've been a real help.' Sara said sarcasticly, giving each of them a glare before heading towards her room. Mike laughed, Mark still shaken from the jolt of excitement.

 

'That was it?' Mark said after a few minutes.

 

'Yup.' Mike answered 'This job isn't that hard Mark. Real hard to fuck up. The designers took a lot of time making sure it was difficult to do anything too dangerous with the OLM so there's not too much for us to guard against. They of course decided to skimp on detecting whether a person was actually using the OLM ring or not but I'm sure that was some managers decision.'

 

'Huh. Yeah you're probably right.' Mark said, his fears abated. The door opened in front of them, another student coming in for their OLM appointment. The two returned to what they were doing, ignoring the new student.

 

Sara rolled her eyes in disgust as she watched the new student try to get the two aides attention. Mark might have some good in him but like David had said not with Mike around. But that wasn't her problem at least not today.

 

Sara went into her hotly contested room which was indeed unoccupied, settled herself in the chair and put on the OLM ring.

 

-

 

Carmen fanned herself, her two young children running around her chasing each other in a neverending game of tag. It was another hot night and her air conditioning still hadn't been fixed. She was used to the heat by now, the broken air conditioning problem going on three months now, and was just stalling before getting in front of a hot stove to get dinner ready.

 

Carmen had been to the market earlier that day, the ingredients for tonights meal of churiso, beans, and rice were laid out on her counter although Carmen didn't make any movement to start preparing them. Jose still wasn't home yet and while he had said he'd be late getting home from searching for jobs, it was later then usual and much too late for Jose to be in an interview. Carmen checked the clock again, the fifth time in the past fourteen minutes.

 

Still worrying, Carmen caught each kid by the arm and brought them into the kitchen to help her. Marta sqealed and ran ahead to the kitchen, putting on her own apron which had been a gift for Christmas last year, while Pedro squirmed in Carmen's motherly grip, trying hopelessly to get out of doing any chores. After a few more minutes of this, Pedro stopped his protest in favor of sulking moodily around the kitchen. Carmen had expected this and hadn't really planned on getting any help from her seven year old son. She just wanted to keep an eye on him while she made dinner. Carmen didn't want him playing out in the yard when it was this late.

 

Dutifully, Marta had begun chopping up onions for her mother, a chore she seemed to do with terrific zeal and happiness, small tears beginning to form under her eyes. Carmen watched as Marta chopped away happily as the knife came crashing down and Carmen's fears jumping to her throat with each passing chop. Putting an emergency room visit out of her mind, Carmen turned to her duties.

 

Pouring oil in a big black pan, she turned the heat on low for a pot that was to hold the beans. Next, she filled  another pot with water and set it on the stove but did not start boiling it, the rice only taking a few moments to cook. Finished chopping up the two onions, Marta knowing the recipe her mother was making, picked up the cutting board and brought it above the skillet. Marta used the blade of the knife to push the chopped onions into the warming oil, popping and hissing noise starting to fill the kitchen. A spurt of hot oil jumped from the pan and hit Carmen on the hand but she hardly noticed it. She had long since shrugged off the common pains and bruises of kitchen life and short of cutting off a finger, nothing in the kitchen really phased her.

 

Carmen finished cutting up the churiso sausage up into bite sized pieces and added that to the skillet with the onions. The pot full of brown beans was bubbling gently, little bursts of escaping air causing bits of bean to plaster against the walls of the pot. Carmen stirred it automatically, while adding spices to the churiso and onions. Meanwhile Marta was deveining a pepper and dumping the seeds into the sink. Pedro was still sitting sulkly in a chair to Carmen's left, looking over the top of the chair at the work the two women were doing.

 

'Please set the table Pedro.' Carmen called over her shoulder. She had let him sulk enough and it was time for him to start helping out. Pedro ducked behind the top of the chair as if not being able to see him would make his mother forget that she had told him to do something.

 

Carmen did not forget. 'Now.' She said in a stern tone, still not turning. Pedro knew not to test the limits of his mother's patience. Going to bed hungry was not the kind of defiance he was looking to get. Dutifully, he got up, pushed the chair to the counter beside across from where Marta and Carmen were cooking and opened the cabinet where the plates and glasses were. Picking up four blue plates, Pedro jumped down from the chair, Carmen's heart jumping as well. She didn't want to have to buy anymore plates right now.

 

'Pedro!' she exclaimed once he had gotten the plates to the table. 'Don't you ever jump around with our plates. Please, take your time.' Carmen admonished her son.

 

'Sorry mama.' He said but still quickly moved to get the rest of the dishes.

 

'That boy will be the death of me.' Carmen though, inspecting Marta's work with the peppers and chives she had just chopped up. Smiling at her daughter, Carmen nodded to the pan for her to combine the ingredients with the ones already cooking.

 

Fifteen minutes later, the meal was ready, the plates and bowls sitting on the table, piping hot food waiting to be devoured which was just what Pedro was intending to do, eagerly sitting on the edge of his seat. Marta too seemed very eager to eat, probably hungry from chasing Pedro all day long Carmen thought. But Jose still wasn't home and Carmen didn't like eating without him. He didn't get angry if they did but she still felt it was only right for her and the kids to wait for their bread winner to begin dinner.

 

After another fifteen minutes, Carmen gave into her children's hungry eyes and let them dive into the plates of food. Carmen eyed the door for a few more minutes, hoping her husband would appear in a plume of smoke. But the door remained closed, it's solid wood frame more resolute then Carmen's faith in her husband. Weakly, she turned to her food, picking at the beans and rice on her plate, only eating half of what was there.

 

With dinner over, Carmen retired to the porch, hoping to spot Jose as he came home, mentally preparing her anger to make the best use of it. Her two kids went into the living room to watch television, thoughts of their father's safety barely crossing their mind. Carmen wished she could be so blissfully ignorant, that she could go through life not caring the outcome, not worrying about what her husband did or didn't do.

 

But she did worry, she did care what happened to her family and Carmen wouldn't have traded any of it even if that's what she was currently thinking. Life with Jose had been hard but they were doing well compared to some of their neighbors. Jose had been out of work now for two weeks but he was bound to find a new job soon. He was educated and had held a job for thirteen years so other employers would know that he was reliable.

 

But Jose had come home each night, exhausted, with no luck and barely any leads. Carmen admired that each day he got up, bright and early to leave the house before the kids got up so they wouldn't ask questions about why Daddy was home on a week day. But soon it wouldn't matter how early Jose got up if he didn't get a job and soon. Carmen was all to intimately aware of their finances and knew they couldn't keep going very long without some new money coming in.

 

Around ten, Carmen gave up her vigile and went inside to put the kids to sleep. Pedro protested but Marta dutifully pulled her brother into the bathroom to get ready. Marta was only fourteen but she was suprisingly mature Carmen had noticed. Carmen worried her daughter might have to look for work soon if Jose's prospects didn't pick up. Carmen shook her head, not wanting to consider letting her little girl go out into the world just yet.

 

With the kids asleep, Carmen turned back to waiting for Jose. Her anxiety had reached a fevered pitch and Carmen didn't think she could stand sitting outside anymore, watching cars and people go by, hoping beyond hope that the next one would be her husband. Carmen fixed herself a drink and then wrapped herself in a blanket on the couch in the living room, the evening bringing with it a sudden change in tempature.

 

Carmen was just taking her first sip when Jose burst through the door, his eyes wild and his clothes in disarray. Jumping to her feet, knocking her glass to the ground, Carmen rushed to her husband.

 

'Are you alright?' she exclaimed. There was blood on Jose's collar and he looked like he had been rolling around in the dirt for several hours. He didn't have his cap on which she knew he had put on before leaving that morning and his shoe laces were untied.

 

Jose noticed her looking at the blood. 'It's not mine.' He said, calming down a little after his entrance. He immeaditly moved to the kitchen, grabbing a rag from the sink to clean his face, it still moist from cleaning dishes. Carmen followed him, still waiting for an answer to her first and only question.

 

Jose poured himself a drink from the bottle Carmen had brought down and then leaned against the counter letting the liquid move through his body. He shut his eyes and Carmen wondered whether he was tired or whether he was trying to decide what story to tell her. Jose had never lied to her before or so she thought but there was suddenly something in the air tonight that made Carmen feel less trusting of her husband.

 

'I was looking for work today.' Jose began, easing into his story of the days events 'went to an interview over at the call center in Ortiz but they weren't looking to fill any positions at the moment. Tried a few other places up there with little luck.

 

One of the guys I was sitting next to on the bus ride home said he had heard workers were striking at the cement plant. He was headed there because the foreman was paying hour and a half wages while the workers were striking. I don't know anything about cement but time and a half is good money and I didn't have any other prospects to look forward to today anyway.'

 

Jose took another big gulp from his drink which caused him to grimace before he continued. 'What the guy didn't tell me was the reason the foreman was so willing to pay time and half was because the laborers were making it difficult for us to even get on the plant, even getting a little violent with a few workers who talked back to them. From what I gather they put two people in the hospital yesterday and the police had to come and break up the crowd for all the good it did.

 

I barely made it in without them ripping my shirt off my back. I think that's when I lost my hat but a this point who knows. Some guy probably has it on his sign. Anyway, I get in, the foreman takes one look at me and sends me over to get changed for work. Finally, I thought to myself a bit of good luck. It's not a job I plan on keeping but at least it's something for right now.' Jose said into Carmen's eyes. She nodded knowing how it must have hurt her husbands pride to take whatever work her could get. But he was a good man and his family came before his pride.

 

'They had me sign some papers, told me I would be paid in cash at the end of the day which was fine with me. I got some coveralls and was put to work pouring, mixing and moving hot cement from one section to the next. I feel like I must have  burned off my eye brows.' He checked in a mirror that was above the sink but his two thick eye brows were still there to his relief. 'It was hard, uneventful work but nothing I couldn't handle. Like the man said, I was paid in cash. I was considering going back there tommorow if the workers were still striking.

 

And then....' his voice trailed off. Jose's seemed to disappear as if watching something again in his mind, his current sorroundings barely visible. Carmen waited, her instincts still telling her something was wrong. She was glad Jose had made some money today and hoped it would be enough to last them for a little while. Pedro needed books for school and Marta was in desperate need of new shoes even if she wouldn't admit it.

 

'And then it got ugly.' Jose said, breaking out of his trance and breaking Carmen out of her mental checklist.

 

'What happened?' Carmen asked, a worried look now coming to her face. She had heard stories of union workers taking their hostilities out on the men who had been hired to do their jobs. She had read about the strike at the cement plant this morning in the paper and she remembered reading the reporter saying that talks had broken down and things were going to reach a boiling point very soon.

 

And her husband had been in the middle of it. Carmen wasn't sure whether to be angry at him or happy that he had gotten home safely. Remembering the blood on his collar she knew it must have been close.

 

'I don't know what started it.' Jose continued, and from his face Carmen knew he was telling the truth. 'I was in this seperate building they have as a locker room, getting changed. I had just gotten out of the shower if you can believe it.' Jose said dusting off his shoulder some more. His fingers nails were caked with wet dirt and Carmen could see parts of his hair was matted down in places.

 

'I heard shouting coming from outside. There was a few of us in their changing and the next thing we know, bottles are hitting the windows nearby, some on flames. Another new worker came running in telling us that the picketeers had started advancing towards the building. Someone or something had sparked some dispute and things were getting out of hand. One of the cops that was there got knocked off his horse and I guess the mob just took over and they started coming at the plant.

 

The guy told us that the foreman was telling people to either get inside or get out of there. Since I didn't really know where I was and didn't like my chances out there among those union boys, I followed the other men as we ran into the main building, trying not to get hit by cans, rocks and who knows what else. The plant manager locked the doors behind us just as the mob got to the door. I've never heard anything like it. Like a wave hitting the beach. I nearly thought it would give but they have some pretty well reinforced doors there. I doubt it was to block unruly mobs but I thanked God just the same.'

 

At this point, Jose took another swig from the glass, some of the color coming back to his face, his breathing returning to normal. Carmen had never seen her husband this badly shaken up. There had never been an reason for him to be in this type of situation. He had had a civil servant job for almost all his life up until only a few months ago. Carmen's husband wasn't the type of person she now saw before her.

 

'We waited in there, huddled together, hoping the doors would hold. We worried that they might try to set fire to the building but to be honest, that plant is already half on fire to begin with and the parts that aren't don't burn all that easily. And at any rate, at least someone in the mob knew they wouldn't be getting their jobs back if they burned down them down.

 

It was a tense. I thought of nothing else but of you and the children, hoping beyond hope that I would see you again. I was nearly driven mad in there, the constant banging, the howls of excitement and rage, and the threats, oh God the threats. I've never heard such vile things be said about a fellow man. It was despicable.

 

After what seemed like a lifetime but was really only a couple of hours about when you and the kids were sitting down to dinner I imagine' Jose had seen the plate of cold food waiting on the table for him. He wasn't mad about them not waiting for him. Carmen suspected he was mad at himself for not being there with him. Sensing his hunger, Carmen picked up his plate to reheat it in the oven while he continued his story. 'The cops finally arrived. We saw them march in from the windows on the second floor in the foreman's office, batons ready, at least two dozen on horseback. They shot tear gas into the crowd and that's when the crowd began to break up.

 

There weren't any real criminals there. Just a lot of people fed up with being poor. I'm sure there was a few instigators in the crowd but for the most part they were just like me. Just wanting to work.' Jose said quietly since he knew it was the truth. If things had been only marginally different, it wasn't that hard for Carmen to believe that Jose would have been in that crowd, been a part of the violence that was going on in the streets.

 

'It didn't take the cops long to get the streets outside of the cement plant cleared. They told us to walk home in pairs, saying there were probably some guys still hanging around just looking to find some guy they didn't know wandering the streets alone. Guy didn't even have to have worked at the plant to be a victim. Anyone was fair game according to them.

 

We called out our neihborhoods and I found two others guys who lived near us. We grouped up and slowly the cops started letting us leave the facility making sure we knew the risk we were taking. I didn't really want to walk the streets tonight but I wanted even more to be home here with you so I pulled my coat up and we walked away.'

 

Jose took a break from talking to sit down at the table. Carmen opened the oven to check on his dinner and she found it was warmed. She got a fork and a knife from a draw and sat Jose's now warmed dinner in front of him which he excepted gratefully. Carmen let him eat a little while before nudging him for more of his evening.

 

'So how did you get so dirty?' Carmen asked, inspecting his clothes, making quick mental notes of which pieces of clothing she'd need to spend more time with.

 

Jose seemed to slow, chewing his food in prolonged bites. After he swallowed, he said 'About five blocks from here we ran into a group of guys, hanging out, clearly looking for trouble. I don't know whether they were from the cement plant or some other job site that had laid off workers but they didn't have anything better to do tonight that was for sure. We tried to brush past them but that only egged them on. Soon they were yelling at us, calling us traitors and dogs. Like we had somehow stolen something very precious from them.'

 

'To them, their job is very precious.' Carmen said quietly and regretting it.

 

'Don't you think I know that!' Jose burst out, throwing his hands in the air. 'Where do you think I've been all week, all month? Getting drunk like the guys I ran into tonight? No! I've been looking for work. Nearly getting killed looking for work.'

 

'Shhh, quiet down, you'll wake the kids.' Carmen hushed him to avoid apologizing. Jose was about to protest but thought better of it and stuck a chunk of churiso in his mouth to keep himself silent. He glowered at his plate.

 

Carmen, for her part, rolled her eyes. She wanted to feel sympathy for him right now, she really did. She wanted to hug him and have him tell her everything was going to be alright. But either Jose had forgotten or maybe Carmen had just never told him, that her father, Miguel Renaldo had lost his job to some scabs the dock managers had brought in. The strike had ended in a week but not before Carmen's father was replaced for good. Why hire back old employees who essentially quit the fish merchants had said to each other. Carmen knew Jose hadn't been trying to steal anyone's job, that he was only trying to protect his family, but it still pained her to know that her husband had done what she had hated someone else's husband for doing all those years ago.

 

After sufficent time had passed, Carmen asked 'So what happened?'

 

Jose picked at his plate with his fork, moving the rice and beans around in circles. He was still angry, she could tell but she knew he was probably more angry at himself. 'So, they're calling at us to turn around and be men.' Jose began again 'And of course we don't. Next thing I know, the guy to the left of me get's hit in the head with a bottle that shatters glass all over the place.'

 

Carmen's hand went to her mouth. Jose looked in her eyes, 'I want you to know Carmen that I tried, I really tried to help but...' and he broke off, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. After a few moments, he got his emotions back under control. 'As soon as that first bottle hit, I wanted to run. I'm not a fighter, you know that. I've never been in a fight in my entire life, let alone one where people are throwing things at me. But I couldn't just leave that guy there. He was bleeding pretty badly and the men behind us started coming towards us.

 

The third guy we were with split as soon as he saw the first go down, not even thinking for a second about our fallen friends safety or mine. One moment he's there, the next gone. Poof! I've never seen a man move so fast. Coward.' Jose spit and then broke down in tears again.

 

'A coward!' he said, his voice raised. 'How can I call that man a coward when I am nothing better. I tried to get the guy up off the street but before I knew it the gang behind us was on me. One man in a hood pushed me forward and I fell in a puddle on the side of the road. The laughedl, as if it was some big joke, as if hurting defenseless people was funny.

 

I didn't know what to do. There was at least three people in between me and the other worker with four more sorrounding him. He was moaning and they laughed. They didn't care. And what was I to do? And you know what I did Carmen? You know what I did!' Jose exclaimed grabbing both of Carmen's arms, bringing her close.

 

'Ow, you're hurting me Jose.' Carmen snapped and he really was. It was more anger in her husband then Carmen had ever seen before and it scared her. He let go, his eyes registering the shock of hurting his wife.

 

'I ran away.' Jose whimpered, slumping down in his chair. He weeped for a few moments and it was all Carmen could do to keep herself from doing the same. She put an arm around his hunched back, trying to sooth his conscious with soft murmurs of reassurance.

 

'I ran.' Jose said into his hands 'I ran to you and I ran away from doing the right thing. The men who had followed us let me go, calling after me, laughing. They already had one victim, they could find another soon enough.

 

And then I was home. Here with you Carmen. And I've never felt more relieved in all my life then to have walked through those doors. I don't know if I'll be able to look at myself in the mirror tommorow but at least, tonight, looking at your face, I know I made the right decision.'

 

Carmen said nothing, still massaging his back, her face close to his. That sat there, alone, in silence, comforting each other in the only way they could.

 

A knock at the door caused them both to jump bolt upright. Carmen looked once to the door and then to the her husband, as if to ask 'What have you brought to our home?'

 

Reading this expression from her, Jose whispered 'Whoever it is, don't tell them I'm here.'

 

'What if it's the police?' Carmen asked.

 

'Even if it's the police. I don't want them to take me down to the police station to fill out some meaningless report only to have me walk home alone again. No, I am not here Carmen. Do you understand that?' Jose said, backing away, moving to the backroom.

 

Carmen scowled but said nothing, her silence agreement enough for Jose who had taken up refuge behind a wall in their living room. Carmen grabbed a shawl from a chair as another, louder knock came from her door.

 

'Coming!' She called in the tone of one who was not happy to have been woken up.

 

As she opened her door, a bright spotlight was shown directly into Carmen's face temporarily blinding her.

 

'Evening miss.' a voice said from behind the large white ball.

 

'Good evening officer.' Carmen hazarded a guess. Only a police officer would have shoved a latern in her face.

 

The officer turned down the flashlight, pointing it's focal strength at the ground. After a few moments Carmen was able to make out one officer in riot gear in front of her and two other men on horseback behind him.

 

'Have you heard anything strange around here tonight?' the officer asked, not waiting for Carmen to get her bearing.

 

'There are a lot of odd things that happen in this neighborhood in these difficult times officer.' Carmen answered rudely. She didn't like being treated like a criminal even if that was a police officers natural disposition to people.

 

Carmen thought she saw a grin form on the young man's face behind the plexiglass shield that protected him. 'I understand that ma'am. What I mean is, did you happen to notice anything odd in the past half hour or so.'

 

'Not especially. Why do you ask.' Carmen answered again, leaning against the door frame.

 

'Well a man was pretty heavily beaten about two blocks from here. He's pretty banged up and they're not sure whether he'll make it. He's at the hospital as we speak. We think he was part of some workers who left the cement factory tonight and your husbands name was on the list. Did your husband make it home tonight miss?' The officer asked and as he did he turned up his flashlight to scan Carmen's home.

 

'No.' Carmen said flatly, not even hesitating to consider.

 

Spotting nothing, the officer turned his flashlight back down. 'You sure?' he asked again.

 

'Yes.' Carmen answered again in the same quick tone. Carmen hoped Jose had enough sense to keep quiet and that the police officer didn't ask to come in.

 

'Well okay then miss. If he does come by will you please have him come by the station. We'd like to know if he saw anything and to make sure he got home alright.' the officer said backing away.

 

'Out of curiousity, who was beaten up?' Carmen asked. She wasn't sure why the question mattered to her but something within her told her she wanted to know the answer.

 

The officer stopped and removed a notepad from his breastpocket. He flipped through several pages, stopping occassionally and then continuing on. It had been a busy night for him and it probably wasn't going to let up any time soon. Finding the right name, the man said 'Carlos Guirrez. Does that mean anything to you ma'am?'

 

Carmen felt a bolt of electricity run through her veins. Without thinking, she turned around and marched into the living room. Jose was there, cowering behind the couch, whether he had heard Carmen's conversation with the cop, she couldn't tell. Picking him up with his ear between her two fingers, Carmen proceeded to march Jose out to the police officers who had taken defensive stances to Carmen's sudden movements, hands on their weapons, one other officer dismounting.

 

Jose yelped as Carmen pushed him out the door to the officers who were too shocked to know what to do with him. Carmen filled them in 'Here's my husband officer. He was there when Carlos was attacked. He's all yours.'

 

The officers blinked. They were rarely greated with this kind of cooperation. Jose was leaning over, one hand over his ear, Carmen blocking the door. Quickly, the officer who had been talking to Carmen coming up to speed, took hold of Jose's loose arm. The man nodded towards Carmen and proceeded to drag Jose from the house.

 

'How could you!' Jose yelled.

 

'He is our next door neighbor Jose!' Carmen yelled back. Jose cursed at her, something he had never done in all the time they had been married. Carmen moved to him, the officer cutting her off before she got to close. Over his shoulder Carmen said 'I'm sorry Jose but tonight you lost your courage. For you, for us, and for your children, I will have to bear that courage on my shoulders for the both of us. I know, with time, you will understand this.'

 

Jose seemed about ready to yell at her again but either a nudge from the officer or perhaps Jose's guilt had finally caught up with him but he cut off whatever he was about to say. He simply nodded, a scowl still on his face.

 

Soon a police car showed up to take Jose and the officer who had first knocked on their door away to the police station. The two remaining mounted police officers continued on down the street, continuing their vigil. Carmen watched them go, not knowing what the future held but knowing at least this part of her life would not be marred with the cowardice her husband had displayed tonight.

 

Returning to inside, Carmen found her two children awake and looking at her. They had been watching from the front window and Carmen could only guess what they were thinking.

 

'Come here.' She said in a tone that did not leave room for objection. Obediently, her two children followed her to the couch. Taking a blanket, Carmen pulled them close to her. 'I want you both to know that your father still..'

 

-

 

Sara blinked her eyes, suddenly free of the OLM's hypnotic trance. God, she hated it when they cut off a life in the middle of a sentence. It was just plain rude, to her and to the life she had been viewing. Assholes, Sara thought, so exact about their time limits.

 

Sara knew better then to get up right away. She had made the same mistake as David in her first visit but now she knew making any sudden movements after an OLM session was not the right thing to do at all. You had to wait for the merge. Let it wash over you, even if you didn't feel anything at first. It was coming and you had to wait for all the feelings and memories to be organized in your brain before you attempted to do anything else. You just couldn't handle a merge and movement at the same time, it just wasn't possible. At least, not possible for Sara.

 

Sara relaxed in the chair, resting her arms in the thick cushions, feeling a prickle on the back of her neck, knowing that the sudden rush of Carmen's life was beginning to filter it's way into hers. Sara felt tape and noticed the chair she was in was one of the old ones, which had been patched up for a few more years of life.

 

Ah well, it was still comfortable, Sara thought, closing her eyes.

 

.6.

 

'I'm so excited!' Sara sqealed as did her car's tires as she and David pulled out of the campus parking lot. Sara was driving her old, beat up Volvo her parents had given her after her first year with David as the passenger, him not being allowed to have a car on campus just yet. 'I've never been to Chez Le Auberge but I hear it's really good. Maybe a little to fancy but most people say the food is out of this world.' Sara continued, her giddyness warming David's heart.

 

David wasn't a big fan of restaraunts like Chez Le Auberge. Not because he disliked the food or thought they were too pompous but because he had eaten in places like Chez Le Auberge all his life, all over the world. And the food David liked the most and the food he seemed to get the least, was home cooked meals prepared by a loving parent. David had eaten at Sara's parents house twice and while the visits had been at times akward but overall accepting, the dinners he had had there told him that Sara came from a special family, one that gathered around the dinner table not because they had to eat but because they wanted to eat together.

 

'I'm sorry it's been so long. I meant to take you out a month ago but then you were busy with that project for your physics class.' David cut himself off before saying 'And it didn't seem like you wanted to go out with me anyway.' He had noticed Sara being distant those first two weeks after he had begun going to the OLM. But after his second OLM session, Sara had returned to her usual self and things seemed to be back to normal. David continued 'And when I did try to make a reservation for this place, they told me they had a two month waiting list.'

 

Sara cast him a look while keep one eye on the road. 'Then how do we have a reservation for tonight?' she asked.

 

'Oh well, I called Daniel and he pulled a few strings. He might as well be good for something right? Two hours after I had talked to Daniel, I got a call from the maitre'd who was calling to confirm my reservation for tonight. I don't like the man but Daniel sure can get things done.'

 

'I'm glad he's good for something.' Sara said with venom soaking each word. David gave her a look but she had returned her gaze to the road since they were on some back streets and parked cars made it difficult to traverse the now one lane road.

 

'He's not that bad.' David said defensively of Daniel. David didn't have any reason to defend Daniel, didn't even like defending Daniel but David felt Sara was being mean to his family which unfortuneatly, Daniel seemed to be a part of.

 

'If you say so.' Sara said, still focused on the road. David knew those words and knew Sara had more to say about the subject but since she had let it be at that, he wasn't about to spoil the evening. Daniel's honor didn't mean that much to him after all.

 

Once they reached the restaurant, Sara circled around, looking for a spot to park with David pointing out a few spots which were rejected on the grounds that they would require parallel parking to be involved and Sara was not fond of that manuever. Neither was David, but he was hungry by this point and knew that Chez Le Auberge would not be quick when it came to serving his meal or providing a large enough portion that his stomach was demanding.

 

Finding a spot about two blocks away from the restaurant, David quickly got out of the car opening an umbrella as he turned past the hood of the car. It had been drizzling when they left campus and now by the time they had gotten to Chez Le Auberge, it was raining fairly heavy. David opened Sara's door with one hand while the other held the now open umbrella up high. Sara gave him a winning smile, always enjoying it when David felt like doing something gentlemanly. She kissed him on the cheek, her lipstick leaving a small circle. Sara tucked her arm under David's free arm after he had closed the door and they proceeded to Chez Le Auberge, Sara's giddyness returning, the small christmas lights outlining the awning twinkling in the dark, wet night.

 

Shaking himself off, David checked his and Sara's coat with the receptionist and the maitre'd picked up two menu's and told them to follow him. David smiled at Sara, as she dutifully followed the man in the tuxedo, her eye's awash with the luxiurious decorations that now sourrounded her. Inside the Chez Le Auberge, the mood was quiet yet warm, only a few diners already present. Tables were spaced genorously apart, some cut off from each other by plants and dividers. Two large mirrors hung on either end of the dining room, giving it the room a sense of neverending possibilities. The walls were plain but painted in a rich red that matched well with the roaring fire near to the entrance to the kitchen. A fish tank was built into the walls of the building which circled almost the entire restaurant, the fish free to swim around the guests, watching them eat.

 

Pierre, the maitre'd, took David and Sara to a small table near the back which was only ten or so feet away from the fireplace, leaving them with menus and the name of their waiter who would be with them shortly.

 

'This place is incredible!' was all Sara could say as she took in the everything that was around her. David, for his part, only took in Sara, her reactions and her wonder. That was more then enough for him and easily made whatever the evenings bill would be, worth it.

 

Presently, Sara was able to regain control of her eyes, to look at her menu. She noticed David looking at her instead of his menu and she blushed. 'David!' she whispered, suddenly inspecting tonight's specials very carefully.

 

'What?' he said with a boyish grin. He moved his hand across the table and caught her hand that was resting beside a silver fork. 'I like watching you smile.' he said as an explaination.

 

Sara sunk a little bit, truly touched by how romantic David could be at times. 'I bet you say that to all the girls you take here.' Sara teased.

 

'Oh, well of course. How else will I get them to go home with me?' David said with mock sincerity and then with honesty, he gripped Sara's hand 'But you're the only one I've meant it to.' He said, a small smile on his face as he leaned forward. Sara met him in the middle of the table, their lips pressing above a small flame that nearly caught fire to David's tie.

 

'Oh look out!' Sara yelped, seeing the flame and snapping back, pushing David back to the other side of the table, his tie only narrowly missing the flame. They laughed at the danger that Sara had just avoided for them. 'You look very handsome tonight.' Sara said 'Especially without a tie that's on flames.'

 

'Well I was going to soak it in gasoline ' David responded, fingering his tie 'But I figured that might be against the dress code here.' Sara giggled.

 

'You look lovely as well.' David said, his menu still sitting on his plate. Sara brushed his compliment away with her hand,  a grin telling David that she appreciated the compliment.

 

A small cough came from beside them, their waiter in a smart black shirt and trousers with a white tie offset that was tucked into his waist line with a notepad.

 

'My name is Paul and I'll be your waiter this evening.' Paul began, with a smile that had won him large tips in the past. 'Would you like to hear tonights specials?' David and Sara both indicated they would and so Paul continued. 'The chef has prepared a nice tomato and leak soup to start. This is garnish with a small dollop of creme fraiche and parsley. Tonights entree is venison which is gentley braised in a red wine reduction with turnips, shallots and figs. The venison rests on a puree of fingerling potatoes and shallots. We also have a filet of swordfish which is very nice, lightly seasoned and grilled.'

 

'Ooh the swordfish sounds really good.' Sara cooed. Sara loved eating fish, swordfish especially. She loved how succulent it could be if done right, how it was almost as dense as steak.

 

'Can I start you off with something to drink?' the waiter asked, pretending not to hear Sara.

 

'Um..' David trailed off looking at the wine list that the maitre'd had also left with them. The names meant little to him but he dutifly scanned the list as if making the right decision their wine for the evening would make or break their meal. After a few moments, David gave up and asked Sara 'Do you want wine tonight?' The waiter would have scowled but he was too professional to let something like that slip. Sara nodded but continued looking at her menu, not giving David any clues as to what wine she would prefer.

 

Giving up, David closed his eyes and stabbed at random on the wine list. Upon opening them, he realized he had selected a bottle of wine that per glass was fifty five dollars, the bottle being triple that. He shook his head, making sure Paul hadn't written anything down and then stabbed again, this time with one eye open to direct his index finger.

 

'Uh, we'll have a bottle of the Di Ceci Amalfi Reserve.' David said doing his best to pronounce the name correctly. Paul continued to smile despite David's poor linguistic skills, scribbled something on his pad quickly, took the wine list from David and then was gone.

 

'Oh, you might like this.' Sara said from behind her menu but didn't make move to indicate what she was referring to.

 

'What?' David asked, picking up his own menu. He really didn't have any idea what he felt for that evening and if Sara had decided for him what she thought he should have well he was happy to go with that.

 

'Trio of Foie Gras.' Sara answered finally, sticking her tongue out above her menu, making a face of total disgust. 'Who orders that?'

 

'I will.' David said, cheerfully. He had had Foie Gras before and while it wasn't his first choice, he had, over time thanks to one too many of his parents receptions aquired a taste for it. In one instances he had even enjoyed it very much when a piece of foie was sauted and them layered on top of a piece of filet mignon. The juicy foie gras suprised David, being more used to the patee kind then anything like this. Since then he had kept a more open mind about foie gras and other food in general.

 

'Oh don't be silly David, I was just kidding.' Sara said partly pouting.

 

'I wasn't and I'm going to order it for my appetizer.' David responded with a devilish grin. 'I may even make you try a piece.'

 

'Oh will you now?' Sara said as her eyes flicked up to the waiter who had returned with the bottle of wine David had ordered. Paul poured a splash into David's glass and having seen his father many times swirl, sniff and sip a glass of wine before chosing whether to accept it, did likewise. Of course when it came to his father, the man had opinions on wine and what he would and would not drink. David had not inherited that palette though and so the outcome was the same for every bottle of wine he ordered. Perfectly acceptable.

 

Paul turned to Sara and filled her a glass with dark red wine. Meanwhile, David turned to his menu in earnest since he figured Sara was probably ready to order and Paul would be all to happy to take it right then and there. Scanning the menu quickly, David decided he did want to have the foie gras as his appetizer, if just to harass Sara, and then have a interesting pasta dish with a variety of wild mushrooms in it.

 

'Are you ready to order?' Paul asked, as he settled the wine bottle on their table with a stark white cloth wrapped around it's body as if it had just came out of the shower. David saw that his glass was now full and that Sara was sipping as he had at her rather full glass. Sara could handle her alcohol but even she might be having a hard time by the end of the night if she had too many more glasses that full.

 

David looked at her across the table and she nodded over her wine glass that yes she was. 'I think so.' David said and Paul's notepad was almost instantly in his hands.

 

'For the lady?' Paul inquired, leaning down so that he wouldn't miss a single syllable of Sara's order.

 

'Oh, it all looks so good.' Sara repeated which Paul tried to ignore. It was a comment he had heard countless times and at a four star restaurant like this one what did the customers expect? Crap? Chef Francois did not make crap and these diners were lucky enough just to sample his creations. None of this appeared on Paul's face though as Sara said 'I'll start with the arugula salad with cherries and walnuts. And then I think I'll have the swordfish special.'

 

'Excellent choice madam, I had a taste of the swordfish myself earlier and it is divine.' Paul commented as he scribbled Sara's order on his pad and turned to David. 'And for you sir?'

 

'I'll have the trio of foie gras to start.' Paul answered, ignoring the look Sara was giving him from across the table 'And I'll have the pasta with wild mushrooms.'

 

'Very good sir.' Paul thanked him as he made a few last ticks on his pad. Taking their menus, Paul receeded into the background while two other waiters appeared by David and Sara's table to bring them bread and pour them glasses of water.

 

'Ohh, it's warm.' Sara cooed, as she moved the white blanket covering the piping hot piece of bread. She smeared her piece of crusty french bread with butter and bit into it hungrily. 'Are you feeling okay David?' Sara asked in between bites.

 

'Of course? Why do you ask?' David answered, helping himself to a piece of bread that had courrants buried deep within it's nooks and crannies. He too spread butter across his piece of bread which he quickly devoured.

 

'Oh I don't know. I guess you normally order more then just pasta. I thought you were hungry.'

 

David rolled his eyes 'Believe me I am. Starving actually. But coach has me on this mean diet to help me lose ten or he thinks fifteen pounds which I don't think is going to happen but we'll see. He thinks if I drop some weight it'll will shave a few seconds off my lap times. He wants me eating carbs and only small portions of protein. Hell, keeping all my portions small.' David was a part of the Winston University Swim team and had swam almost all his life. He had been a lifeguard when he was a teenager and had been in one swim team or another at every institution he had attended.

 

'Your kidding?' Sara said, her hands dropping to the table making noise which caused a few other diners to look at them and the maitre'd to give them a glare of disgust. 'You don't have an ounce of fat on you. Where is fifteen pounds going to come from?'

 

'I don't know. My ass I guess.' David said with a weak smile. Sara gave him a weak laugh for his efforts. 'I'm just doing what coach tells me. He'll probably give up in a few weeks and I can go back to eating steak and potatoes just like everyone else on the team.'

 

'Let's hope so. I don't want you getting any more thin then you already are.' Sara said in a motherly tone. David wasn't too thin, his broad shoulders supporting a well exercised body. As Sara had said, David didn't have an ounce of fat on him to speak of and he worked out constantly to keep it that way, always following his coaches instructions to the letter no matter if it made sense or not. Sara hoped one day David would quit swimming, quit listening to other people tell him how to manage his body, so that David could relax a little bit and spend more time enjoying life, even if it did mean gaining a few pounds.

 

Sara thought about herself. She hated her thighs most of all and she really didn't care too much for her hips either. It was all really one big mess as far as she was concerned. She didn't know what David saw in her. Sara could rattle off a list of ten other women on campus who were easily more attractive then she was that would have jumped at the chance to date David. If it wasn't for David's shy demeanor, he may very well have been dating any one of those other women and that's what Sara worried about the most. Would the OLM rob David of this? Would it also rob her of their relationship?

 

'Sara?' David asked from across the table.

 

'Huh?' Sara said, snapping out of her brief lapse into worry.

 

'Your salad is here.' David said, pointing with his fork to the plate of greens that now lay in front of her. On the end of his fork was something of brownish which didn't really appetize Sara in the least. 'It's a piece of foie gras.' David answered. 'What to try it?'

 

'Oh God no.' Sara said in disgust, pushing his utensil away with hers. Sara dug into her salad, trying to get the memory of that brown piece of food out of her mind. David simply shrugged and popped the piece into his mouth.

 

They ate in silence for a few minutes, David content to eat his foie gras in piece with Sara just as content to let him do so as long as he did so on his side of the table.

 

'You'll like it.' David said out of the corner of his mouth in a sing song manner. 'You'll never know if you like it, if you don't try it.'

 

'Oh for godsake David are you ten?' Sara said, giving him a rueful smile. 'You know what? Fine, I'll try it, if it will make you happy. But you have to do something for me if I do.'

 

'Well you're not going into it with a very open mind if I have to bribe you to try it.' David teased.

 

Sara gave him a grimace. 'I'll try it.' she began 'If you give me a massage when we get home.'

 

'Well that doesn't seem quiet fair to me.' David said, leaning back in his chair, considering her offer.

 

'Take it or leave it Mr.Wilson. A fifteen minute massage for a small piece of foie gras.' Sara said and stabbed a piece of foie gras on David's plate to let him know she was serious about going through with the deal.

 

'Well if you insist on trying it.' David agreed with a smile.

 

Sara hesitated. She hadn't been prepared for David to accept her challenge and now that it was time to stand and deliver she was caught in the headlights with nowhere to go. 'Shit,' she thought 'I don't want to try this. Although a massage would be nice. But at what cost?' Sara looked at the piece of bland looking food skewered on her fork. It didn't look menacing but then Sara had tried a lot of things that didn't look awful but had turned out to be very much just that. Oh well, it was too late to turn back now. Better bite the bullet, or in this case foie gras, and get it over with Sara reasoned.

 

In one bite it was in her mouth. Sara let herself roll it around on her tongue briefly and then finding this to be an unpleasant way of tasting it, began chewing very quickly. This was better but not by much. Across the table, David was smirking.

 

'To be honest.' David said, trying to keep from laughing 'I was going to give you a massage tonight anyway. But it would have been for thiry minutes but the terms of the deal we just made were for fifteen so I'm going to hold you to that.' Unable to keep it in, David let out a laugh that was apparently to loud for the ambiance of Chez Le Auberge and received another stern look from the maitre'd.

 

David nodded his head in the maitre'd's direction, putting his hand up as if to swear that something like laughing would never happen again so long as David was a customer there. Raising his head, still pointed to the reception podium where the maitre'd was standing, David noticed two people entering which took any hints of laughter straight out of his voice.

 

'Oh shit.' David breathed.

 

'I knew it!' Sara said from across the table, finally managing to swallow the piece of foie gras that her stomach had so far been rejecting. 'I knew you didn't like that stuff. Why do you order things like that David, your parents friends aren't here. You don't have to impress them.' Sara said while swallowing some water to get the foul taste of foie gras out of her mouth. Then seeing David still staring away towards the front of the restaurant, she asked 'What's wrong?' as she turned to find out for herself.

 

'Shit, shit, shit.' was all the answer that was coming from David's side of the table.

 

As Sara took in the scene in front of her, she saw a man and a woman following the maitre'd just as David and she had done only twenty minutes prior. The man and woman were both dressed very elegantly, definitly a few tiers higher then what Sara and David were wearing. The man wore a dark, rich suit which seemed to be expertly tailored to fit precisely to his, Sara had to admit, chiseled frame. The woman he was with, wore a skin tight red dress that provided the world an ample view of just how perfect her body was. Long curls of blonde hair splashed down her shoulders and Sara was nearly blinded by the many rays of light reflecting from diamonds that were on both her ears and fingers. Sara hated her instantly.

 

Sara felt her hand being pulled across the table. She turned to find David leaning across, an earnest look of worry on his face. 'Oh, this is just going to be terrific.' Sara thought to herself, her defenses immeaditly coming up.

 

'Listen Sara.' David started, almost pleading with her 'I want you to know that there is no other woman out there who you need to feel threatened by. I love you completely and I don't want you to worry that I'm looking for anyone else other then you. You believe that right?'

 

'Um...Of course David, I know that.' Although she hadn't, not really, up until this point and it worried her now more then ever that David had felt it necessary to tell her this, just as those two people had come into the restaurant. And then it clicked for Sara.

 

'She's an ex isn't she.' Sara asked although she knew the answer. Her face had lost much of the joy it had once had at the beginning of the evening and this caused David more distress then anything else that had happened so far.

 

'Kinda. I mean sort of. It's a bit difficult to explain at the moment.' David began, trying to find the right words to correctly explain what the two people Sara had just seen meant to him.

 

'Well go ahead then David. I've got all the time in the world. And it's back to a thirty minute massage now.' Sara said, removing her hand from David's and crossing them over her chest.

 

David breathed out a little. 'Fair enough.' At least she still going to let him touch her by the end of the evening. 'I would but I have a feeling they'll be coming over in three, two, one...'

 

Sure enough, moments later Sara's ear drums were pierced by a sound louder than anything David or her had made that entire evening, yet no one in the restaurant seemed to pay it any notice, not even the snotty maitre'd.

 

'Figures.' Sara thought sulkily. 'And I bet she's terrific in bed too.'

 

'David!' the woman in red called with astonishment that Sara felt was just a little bit too fake. 'What are you doing here?! It's so good to see you!'

 

David smiled 'It's good to see you too Janice.' and then to the man who was standing behind her 'Hey Trent.'

 

'Hey David.' Trent said, shaking David's outstretched hand. 'Good to see you. You're looking well.' Trent's teeth were flawless Sara noticed.

 

'This is Sara, my date.' David said quickly, turning to introduce Sara, who got up as well.

 

'At least he remembered I was here.' Sara thought. She'd been on too many dates to remember where the last thing to occur to her would be suitor had been to introduce her to his friends. This warmed herself to David once more but only a little. To the two people standing before she said 'Pleased to meet you.'

 

'Oh aren't you darling.' Janice said in a compliment Sara had never heard before.

 

'Oh, thanks.' was all Sara could offer, unsure in this circumstance. Trent smiled his winning smile at her, with a wink that lasted a little too long for Sara.

 

'I didn't know you'd be here.' Janice said, slapping David on the shoulder. 'It's been too long David.' David responded only by smiling.

 

Trent picked up on this and offered 'Well don't let us keep you from your dinner.' David and Sara's dinners had in fact arrived while they had been paying attention to Trent and Janice, the waiters mysteriously managing replace plates on their table while not intruding on the akward situation now developing only a foot or two away.

 

'Oh nonsense.' Janice scoffed, now hitting Trent on the shoulder. 'Where are your manners Trent. We haven't seen David in ages. I want to find out how he's been.'

 

'Uh, you know, I've been good.' David responded, hoping to keep this conversation with Janice to a minimum. Perhaps if he filled her in quickly she would be satisfied and leave them alone. 'I'm attending Winston now.'

 

'That's wonderful. I'm so glad you decided to go to your father's alma mata just like he wanted you too. I hear they have a great math department there.' Janice said although David didn't know whether this was true or not. Probably, he guessed to himself.

 

'And how do you know David.' Sara asked, jumping into the conversation. David shot her a look that said 'Please don't get her started.' but Sara had her held tilted away from David, her curly brown hair the only part of her head he could see.

 

'Oh David and I used to date.' Janice answered without a moments hesitation. 'But that's ancient history now. David, you'll never believe what's happen.'

 

'Oh I'm sure I will once you tell me.' David said under his breath.

 

Whether Janice heard him or not didn't matter since she barged right into her next sentence. 'Trent and I are engaged.' Janice pronounced and as if to prove it, shoved the giant diamond ring on her finger into David and Sara's faces.

 

'Holy crap that's big.' Sara thought to herself as she tried to adjust her eyes to take in the full scope of Janice's ring. 'At least I don't have to worry about her being a threat though I guess.' Sara wratched down her dislike of Janice by a few bars but only just a little. Shoving that ring in Sara's face hadn't won her any points.

 

'Looks amazing.' Sara said out loud. 'When's the date?'

 

'Oh we haven't booked a date yet. We're going to wait till we're out of school and then go from there. It is a long engagement and you know how much I hate those David but I don't want to lose this one.' Janice said putting her arm around Trent who smiled down at her. He was disconnected from the conversation, not appearing all that interested in getting caught up with David.

 

'Well that's terrific Janice. I'm happy for you two.' David said sincerely and then shook Trent's hand.

 

'See Trent? Was that so hard? Now we've caught up with a dear old friend. You don't always have to be rude.' Janice admonished her fiance.

 

'Yes dear.' Trent said halfheartly. He was starting to move back towards the table where the maitre'd had seated them, Janice's arm in one hand.

 

'It was good seeing you.' David said, hoping to cut off any further catching up that Janice might have in mind.

 

'You too! Tell your parents I said hello' Janice called as she was dragged away by Trent and then to Sara 'It was nice meeting you Sara. Take good care of our David.'

 

'Will do.' Sara answered with a forced smile. 'Slut.' Sara thought which brought a smile back to her face.

 

'I'm sorry for that Sara. I really am.' David apologized taking his seat.

 

'No need to apologize to me David. You had a social life before me and believe me I had a social life before you.' Sara returned to her seat 'Such as it was.' Sara thought but did not add that.

 

David still had a troubled look on his face but he didn't know what to say. Sara for her part, had started eating her dinner not willing to let Janice let her food get any colder than it already was. The swordfish was still at an excellent tempature and the succulent pieces of fish went a long way to settling both Sara's stomach and mood. Not wanting to disturb her, David began his meal as well.

 

'So how did you two meet?' Sara asked casually, not looking up at David. She didn't want to show him just how interested she was in this part of David's past and knew her eyes would betray her if she looked his way. Sara did not want to let David know just how jealous she was of Janice and how Janice seemed to embody everything that Sara feared the most.

 

David picked at his food, not sure where to begin. David hadn't had many girlfriends in his past and the one he would have liked least to show up in the middle of his date with Sara had done just that. But there was nothing he could do about that now and David wanted to be honest with Sara so he decided to tell her.

 

'About eight months ago, I was staying with my parents in England, attending a small boarding school. We accidentally met up with some friends of theirs at some hotel where a reception was being held, I can't remember the name off the top of my head. I learned later that it wasn't incidental that we met the Goldman's, Janice's parents, there but it was more a greater part of her and my parent's grand scheme to set us up together. They introduced Janice to me and told me that Janice would be starting at the academy I was currently attending.

 

I'll admit I was attracted to Janice when I first met her.' and with this David looked up to see if this caused any reaction on Sara's fast. For her part, Sara simply chewed her food, her face expressionless, giving David her full attention. David continued 'She's a nice person underneath, I think. We had some good times together.

 

But she was very controlling, very self centered and not the kind of person I liked being around. But even knowing these things I still didn't want to break up with her.'

 

'She was your first girlfriend, wasn't she?' Sara said, more as a statement then a question.

 

'...Pretty much yeah. I mean I had gone out with a few other girls before and too schools dances here and there but nothing long term. Janice and I dated for a good six months and while I really ended up regretting it towards the end, we did make a fairly good couple so my parents weren't completely off the mark.'

 

'Six months..' Sara thought to herself. So that meant David had been dating Janice before he met her. That was frightening, now knowing the standard to which you were probably compared. Sara shivered in her chair, doing a mental comparison between herself and the goddess who had just left them. Despite feeling inadequate, Sara asked the next question on her mind. 'So...how did you two break up?' Please let her have cheated on him, please let her have cheated on him, Sara pleaded to any Gods who were in charge of relationships.

 

'Huh? Oh, I think that's obvious don't you?' David said with a little smile.

 

'It is?' Sara was stunned. If any clues as to the end of their relationship had been dropped in the fifteen minutes when Janice had been talking, Sara had not picked up on them and she was fairly good at it too.

 

'Sure. I broke up with Janice when I met you.' David said succinctly, taking her hand once again tentatively, hoping she wouldn't pull away.

 

At first Sara didn't realize what David had just told her. She looked at his hand in hers then at the silly expression on his face. Slowly, the words creeped down into Sara's brain, connecting with other neurons till finally it dawned on her. David had broken up with Janice, goddess Janice, to be with her? Plain old Sara? Why in Gods name had he done that?

 

Sara put her free hand to her mouth, not sure which words to use. David simply smiled at her and then said 'I don't want you to think I was dating you while I was still dating Janice. Janice and I were falling a part a long time before I ever met you and when I did meet you that day on campus I realized exactly why I was so miserable with Janice. What I saw in you that day was exactly what I did not see in Janice. I did not see the laughter and joy that brings a smile to my face every time you talk to me. I saw a person who was down to earth, warm and playful, who cared more about being herself then trying to be someone else.

 

And most of all, I did not see in Janice the love and compassion that I see in you every day.'

 

Sara didn't know what to say, she was too overwhelmed by the sudden outpouring of emotion from David's end of the table. Unable to keep looking into his eyes without breaking into tears, Sara turned only to find herself looking in the direction of Janice herself with her fiance Trent. She was laughing at some joke Trent had made, a glass of white wine in her small, delicate hands. As if Sara's stare had tapped her on the shoulder, Janice turned and gave a dainty wave in Janice's direction, oblivios to the role Sara had played in the destruction of her relationship with David.

 

'Plus, she's a real slut.' David said beside her quietly. Sara's head snapped back. She had called Janice a slut to herself but to hear David say it seemed vulgar and disgusting. Sensing Sara's sudden shock David answered 'See Trent over there.' David crooked his head in the direction of the other diners although Sara knew full well where they were dining. 'He used to be my best friend. Out of all the schools I've been to, out of all the countries I've stayed in, I've probably spent the most time with him at one point or the another. His parents were a lot like mine, constantly moving, constantly jocking around trying to find us a better school to attend, trying to find some other institution for themselves to chair.

 

I found out later that he and Janice had been sleeping with each other off and on for years. Before, during and after we broke up. I guess they finally decided to make it official.' David said with a bit of disgust in his voice now.

 

'How did you find out?' Sara asked, half glad that she now knew that Janice was not the perfect person she had been imagining her to be.

 

'Oh you know, you find out. Someone tells you and then another person. Just thought you'd like to know they all say. Of course this is after you've broken up with the person and theirs little chance of you actually getting angry at them. As if telling you, will help you after the breakup. Not that they would dream of telling you while you were actually seeing the person. No, that would be too honest. Why would I possibly want to know that information then.'

 

'I'm sorry David.' Sara said honestly. Sara had been cheated on twice and each time it had been as painful. And David was right. Her friends had all told her how awful the guy was and how they just knew he was cheating on her with someone other girl they all knew who slept around. But none of them had told her that when it had mattered.

 

'Don't be. I'm not. If they're happy together, fine. I haven't talked to them in months and I wouldn't have talked to them if they hadn't shown up here tonight. I should be the one whose sorry really. I'm sorry if they and my history has ruined this evening for you.'

 

'Oh don't be silly David.' Sara said squeezing his hand 'I was scaried at first I'll admit. I mean look at her.' Sara gestured with her other hand at Janice who thankfully did not notice this time. 'But knowing about you and your past is something I want you to tell me about, not to hide from me. I don't want some dark secret to come up ten years from now that might have been just a small thing now but will be so exagerrated by then that it might really hurt us.'

 

'Oh, well then I should probably tell you about those test results I got back after I stopped dating this other girl I met during summer camp. Don't worry, the doctor's says it's begnin but it may be something we'll have to revisit if and when we want to have kids.' David confessed. 'I hope you can forgive me.'

 

Sara slapped him on the hand. 'Don't be cute. We both know you've never been to summer camp.'

 

'Oh do you now? That's another dark secret I've been meaning to bring up.' David said, getting into it now 'Now, I don't want to alarm you but it was what you'd call a fundamentalist camp. Sort of a survivalist meets amish thing. I can't tie a knot worth a damn but drop me in a forest anywhere and I'll build you a barn in no time flat.'

 

Sara started laughing and they kissed over their plates, again almost burning David's tie.

 

.7.

 

David as Luke Preston

 

After having used the OLM twice, David was less worried as he climbed the large steps to the second floor. True to form, Mike and Mark were at the desk and they didn't move a muscle as David scanned his arm underneath the scanner. The screen in the desk spit out a room number, R-17, which meant that David would be on the right hand side of the building today which Sara had told him was the good side. Ignoring Mike and Mark ignore him, David strolled to his room since he had a few minutes to spare having finally arrived early to an appointment.

 

'Now how did this work again.' David thought to himself as he entered the darkly lit room. David was fairly comfortable with the OLM now but he still didn't know quiet how to get things working. The first time Mark had breezed over the directions so quickly David didn't even have a chance to figure out what he was saying, let alone remember what he had to do to start the life. The second time, Mike had helped David when David had given up in frustration after twelve minutes of clueless button pushing. Mike had been even less informative then Mark and had gone about setting up David's OLM session in a better then you manner that annoyed David to no end. More still, his OLM session was docked twelve minutes and David still didn't have any clue as to how the to start his current one.

 

Not wanting to talk to either Mark or Mike again, David turned to the only person who could think of who would help him. Dialing Sara's number on his cell phone, David hoped he remembered her schedule correctly and that she wasn't in the middle of class. If she was, Sara wouldn't answer it even if she heard the call which she probably wouldn't since school policy turned off all cell phone reception once students had entered a lecture hall and class had begun. After four rings with no response David feared he'd have to go ask the two arrogant men manning the front desk.

 

Before he left the room, David had a thought. Perhaps Professor Eckard could help him. David doubted she would like him calling her to ask such a simple question but even she had agreed with him that Mike and Mark didn't do a good job of explaining things. He knew this would just be another nail in their careers as lab aides and wouldn't earn him any points with Professor Eckard either but if David wanted to be told once and for all how to operate an OLM, his best bet at the moment would be Professor Eckard.

 

Looking up Patricia Eckard's campus number on his phone, David hit the send button and hoped for the best. After two rings, Professor Eckard picked up.

 

'Yes?' She said as a hello.

 

'Hi, Professor Eckard. This is David Wilson. Are you busy, I have a quick question.' David started, hoping Professor Eckard wasn't in the middle of an appointment.

 

'No I'm not busy at the moment. What can I help you with David?' Professor Eckard answered and David thought he heard a sipping sound coming from the other end.

 

'Oh, okay. Thanks. Um, well I'm at the OLM Lab and I was kinda hoping you might be able to walk me through starting my session. I'm a bit hazy on the details.' David asked and crossed his fingers.

 

'Are Mark and Mike busy with other students?' Professor Eckard volleyed the question back to David.

 

'Uhh, no I don't think so.'

 

'Well, I'm sure they can help you out David. That's what they're there for.' Professor Eckard answered, getting ready to hang up the phone.

 

'Umm, yeah I know.' David began 'But they've both gone over it so quickly that I'm really no better off then I was before. I don't want to lose anymore time from this session or a future session and I'd really like to be able to do this on my own ma'am. If you could just walk me through it really quickly I'm sure I wouldn't need to bother you or either of the lab aides again.'

 

There was a brief period of silence from the other end of the line as Professor Eckard considered David's request and David tried heroicly not to hang up the phone in embarrasment. His father had never asked for directions, David was sure.

 

Professor Eckard sighed and said 'Alright David but listen closely. I'm only going to go over this once and I don't want you calling me again about this. You're a big boy, you should be able to figure this out on your own.'

 

'I know ma'am. I appreciate this immensly ma'am.' David apologized profusely. 'I won't call you again, I swear.'

 

Professor Eckard just cleared her throat and began reciting things for David to do. David's arms began to move as if controlled by Professor Eckard from afar and in some ways they were. Her voice guided David and slowly he could see the OLM coming online and the familiar buzzing sound fill the room that always occurred just before David began his new life. What was reassuring David was that even though he was moving very quickly, going from one direction to the next, Professor Eckard firing away each requirement at him in rapid succession, David still felt the words remain with him. He knew somehow that these instructions would be stuck in his subconscious for as long as he lived and he wouldn't need Mike, Mark, Sara or Professor Eckard to help him start an OLM session again. Well, at least not a simple one like this.

 

'And that should be it if I remember my OLM mechanics correctly and I should think I do. Are you all set there David?' Professor Eckard asked, finishing her seemingly one line long instruction set.

 

'Yeah I think so. All the indicator lights are green and the countdown is beginning so I better get the halo on. Thank you very much Professor Eckard, I really appreciate this.' David answered, truly grateful, but Professor Eckard had long since hung up. Shrugging, David flipped closed his phone, sat in the chair, and rested the OLM ring on his head just as the countdown timer reached zero.

 

-

 

The ice cubes fell into the short glass, making a soft clinking noise that was lost among the laughter and stories being told at the bar. Luke Owen watched as the bartender poured a single malt scotch into his glass, his partner in crime Kevin Newman going on beside him about how they had just trumped the D.A.'s office.

 

'And did you see the look on her face when I turned to the jury with that piece of cloth. A simple piece of fucking cloth! That's all it was. But damn if she didn't know that that little rag was going to put the kebosh on her case. And sure enough it did. Man I wish I had a picture of that so I could blow it up real large, frame it, and put it in my office just so I could see that look of total dread every day. That's what we are man. We bring dread and despair to any silly public attorney that tries to put one of our clients away for something they may or may not have done. Let them try I say.'

 

Luke simply raised his newly poured glass of scotch to Kevin's bold statement not wanting to burn any bridges with any D.A.'s, assistant or otherwise, that might be lurking around the bar. This was a popular hang out for lawyers on both sides of the courtroom and Kevin was being pretty foolish, bragging so loudly in a room so full of ears that always listened and never forgot.

 

'And you man. That close? Unbelieveable. If I had any doubt about our case up until that point it was gone after you sat down. I was blown away and so was the jury. I'm surprised they even bothered going back to dilberate, you could see the verdict on their faces.

 

Not guilty!' Kevin yelled aloud to a chorus of cheers from defense attornies and dirty glances from prosecutors.

 

'Great.' thought Luke 'Blow any chance we'll ever have at getting a plea bargain on this or any other case we have with any of the prosecutors in this room.' Scanning the room with his meticulous eyes, Luke spotted at least three public attornies he knew, one he had slept with and a fourth who Luke was almost certain would report back to her boss about Kevin's bravado.

 

Turning back to the bartender, 'Give her another one of whatever she's having and put it on my tab.' Luke said gesturing towards the woman he felt would speak ill of Owen and Newman LLC come Monday morning. The bartender nodded and took a martini glass from the wrack above his head. With one problem solved, Luke turned to stop Kevin from creating any new ones.

 

'Sit down.' Luke said in a calm and collected voice when what he really wanted to do was grab Kevin by the shoulders and throw him out of the bar. Kevin was embarrassing their practice and more importantly, he was embarassing Luke and if there was one thing Luke could not stand was being the butt of someone else's joke even if Kevin thought he just having a good time.

 

'Ahh come on.' Kevin answered but did turn around to sit on his stool. Luke couldn't wait till he was able to ditch Kevin and join a more prestigious law firm. Kevin and Luke had shared a room in law school and had decided to go into practice together after they had graduated. Luke thought of Kevin as a stepping stone, nothing more, and like a stepping stone, Luke would have no qualms about leaving Kevin behind.

 

'I don't want you embarrassing us anymore then you already have.' Luke responded in his usual quiet voice. 'We don't know if the verdict is not guilty yet and I don't want to be known as the law firm that goes around bragging about our losses.'

 

Kevin seemed to be about to say something then stopped. He took a long pull from his beer and then hunched over the bar. 'Yeah I guess you're right.' He said finally. 'I'm just excited that's all. I first big murder trial and you know we nailed it. You know with the press we're going to get from this things are really going to start to change around here. Might even be time to start thinking about renovating the offices.'

 

'Maybe.' Luke said into his drink. Big changes were in the works although they did not include Kevin or anything to do with their office. Luke had been approached by two rather large law firms looking to bring him on as associate partner and much like Kevin, it was a stepping stone in the right direction.

 

'I think the first thing we should do is overhaul the conference room. We really need a place to meet with clients and other attornies in a very professional manner. Meeting in our offices is so amateur.' Kevin suggested, knowing that Luke would respond well to anything that added prestige to their budding firm. Kevin suspected Luke of being only half interested in their joint venture and Kevin was prepared to do what had to be done to keep Luke around. Of the two, even Kevin knew Luke was the better lawyer.

 

'I can't accept this.' a female voice said from beside Luke. Both men turned their heads to face the lovely sound that had entered their conversation.

 

Standing before Luke was the woman he had just ordered the drink for. Immeaditely Luke put on his winning smile. 'And why not?' Luke asked, in his charming voice that worked well on both juries and women alike.

 

'That's my cue to exit.' Kevin said to himself and slunk off to find someone to brag to. Luke barely even noticed he had left.

 

'Because I'm an public attorney and you're a defense attorney, a very good defense attorney, and I can't help but think this is some sneaky trick to gain favor with me.' the woman said, pushing the martini glass towards Luke.

 

'Oh my God, she's serious.' Luke almost said aloud. 'How precious.' and then to the woman who was standing in front of him 'Don't be silly. You are far too intelligent to be so easily persuaded by one cheap drink. Here, let me do a better job of it. What were you having?'

 

'Um, a cosmopolitan.' the young woman answered almost immeaditely. She hadn't intended on talking to this man any longer then necessary but his sudden intensity had caught her and he didn't seem like he was ready to let go.

 

'Oh a cosmopolitan. My apologies. I would never try to persuade someone with a cosmopolitan, that's too low brow for you and me don't you think? No, if I was going to try to ' and on this syllable, Luke let his voice linger ' seduce you, I would have used something a bit more sophisticated like oh I don't know, champagne at least.

 

Care for the glass?'

 

Before she knew it, the woman was accepting a tall flute of bubbling champagne from Luke which had suddenly appeared in his hands. Much to the dissappointed of magicians everywhere, Luke's trick was done not with slight of hand but from years of frequented this bar and having nurtured a healthy report with the bartender. As soon as Jack the bartender had heard the word persuade, he knew he had better hurry and fill two glasses.

 

'And who should we toast to, Mrs...' Luke asked but he already knew he her name was Linda Summers.

 

'Summers. Linda.' she said, raising her hand to shake Luke's and caught herself before he raised his. 'Look this really wasn't what I had in mind when I came over.'

 

'It wasn't? What did you have in mind, may I ask?' Luke asked her, taking a sip from his own flute. As agreed upon, Jack had used the cheap champagne. If things went well, he'd switch it up to something better come the second or third round but Luke thought there was no point in wasting good champagne and good money on something that might very well be thrown in his face no matter how charming he was. Fortuneatly, that rarely happened and neither did it look like it was going happen this time.

 

'Well, Like I said, You are the opposition and I don't really think it's right for..' Linda tried to explain but Luke cut her.

 

'Can I ask you question Linda, do you mind if I call you Linda?' Luke asked. She shook her head no. 'Linda, are you the lead prosecutor on any of the cases that currently be tried with my firm?'

 

'No, I've never been lead.' Linda answered.

 

'Of course you haven't.' Luke thought visciously and then to his new friend Linda 'Ohh that's too bad. But then surely you're assigned as counsel to one of the cases my law firm is represented?' This too would be false. Owen and Newman was only able to manage a small handful of cases and Luke was sure he had not seen Linda at prosecutors table. Possibly she could be relegated back to doing clerical work on one of the cases he was involved in but Luke felt it was a safe bet that Linda had never crossed pathes with Luke Owen till this very day.

 

'Uh, No I don't think so. Why do you ask?' Linda confirmed Luke's suspiscions. She had even begun to take dainty sips from her champagne flute which Luke found endearing. There was something about finding a deer, or in Linda's case a fawn, in your headlights that Luke found enticing. Most people would yell at the poor deer to get out of the road but not Luke. No, Luke saw this deer for what it was. An oppurtunity.

 

'Well you were just saying that you wouldn't accept my kind drink offer ' Luke not mentioning that Linda had in fact already done so ' so I had to figure there was some reason why you couldn't. But as we have both established, there is no conflict of interest and you really have nothing to worry about from me other then perhaps a nice refreshing glass of champange. Shall we?' Luke finished her off by tilting his glass in her direction, indicating that they should toast to their victory although for the life of her Linda could not tell what she had just won.

 

'I guess not.' Linda answered weakly, dinging her flute off of Luke's who sipped his in triumph. The rest of the evening was cake. Linda was near puddy in his hands and Luke suspected it wouldn't be more then two hours before they were back at his place. One if he was lucky and he challenged himself to meet that.

 

While Luke's plan was working great for the first thirty minutes with Linda slowly but surely moving closer to him till she had her arm around his waist, it wasn't long till Kevin returned to spoil Luke's evening once again.

 

'Happy New Year!' Kevin yelled, as he crashed in between Luke and Linda, spilling Linda's drink on her in the process.

 

'It's October Kevin.' Luke said dryly as Linda let out a scream.

 

'Happy October then!' Kevin yelled again this time with laughter from the crowd. Kevin was clearly wasted, a trait that Luke found distasteful and one which Kevin seemed to be more inclined to do when they had a victory coming. Another reason to leave him, Luke knew.

 

Behind Kevin, Luke saw his sweet, naive angel, Linda being shepperded away by friends to the bathroom. Once there, she was beyond Luke's reach and almost certainly lost since it was almost assured that at least one of the three women who were helping Linda to the bathroom would certainly have known, have heard of, or would make up stories about Luke to dissuade Linda of ever returning home with him. While Luke was sorry to see this as the end of his relationship with Linda for the evening, he was certain their paths would cross again, and he made a few mental notes for their next encounter.

 

Kevin on other hand, was proving to be more of a liability then he was really worth. Luke looked down his shoulder in disdain as Kevin lay there, slouched against him, drool starting to come over his lip.

 

'Wonderful.' Luke said to himself 'You are exactly who I want to end the evening with Kevin.' Luke motioned to Jack to call Kevin a cab and got a nod in return. Moving Kevin's head carefully off his arm, Luke let his partners head come to rest on the bar. If there were pretzels or peanuts underneath his face Luke neither knew nor cared.

 

'Make sure he get's home alright Jack.' Luke said, picking up his coat from the bar stool. Jack nodded to him again while cleaning yet another glass. Even if Luke did not care for Kevin all that much, he wasn't about to show that disdain to the other patrons in the bar. The least Luke could do for his partner would be to ensure that he had sufficent transportation home.

 

Knocking back the last of the champagne, Luke did a generic wave to the rest of the people in the bar and left. As he exited, Luke noticed the two off duty police officers who also happened to be the two officers who had arrested Luke and Kevin's client, the one who Kevin believed, they had just freed.

 

'Evening officers.' Luke said with a smile. Never hurt to be friendly to the cops.

 

'Drop dead.' One said, while the other mirrored his sentiments with his eyes, his mouth currently occupied by a beer bottle.

 

'You wound me good sir.' Luke said gallantly as he passed them. The two men snorted, calling him a few more names which Luke was unable to hear. Once behind the two men, Luke again gestured to Jack, pointing down at the two men. Perhaps buying these two men a drink would work where it had failed with Linda. Luke knew they'd accept his drinks where Linda had tried to refuse. They weren't ethical enough to refuse some uptight lawyer from buying them drinks. It probably wouldn't buy him any favors but it didn't hurt to try.

 

Once outside, Luke made to hail a cab, thought better of it and decided to walk the five blocks back to his apartment. The night was cool and vibrant and while Luke wasn't returning home with anyone, he still felt that electric charge as if he was. It was a good night to be alive. Things were moving his way and if it all worked according to the plan Luke had so laboriously thought through, he would soon be in a corner office with Wilkinson, Pitt and McDonald by the end of the week.

 

'And Owen.' Luke said out loud and laughed.

 

Reaching his building, Luke held the door open for an elderly woman who was just leaving. Luke gave her a winning smile, told her to have a great evening, and then made his way to the elevator. Soon, he was opening the door to his apartment, the light on his answer machine indicating that he had no messages to return.

 

'Oh well.' Luke said, still feeling estactic. Moving to the liquor cabinet by the bookcase in his modestly furnished apartment, Luke poured himself yet another single malt scotch, the one he had been drinking earlier having been interrupted by Linda.

 

'Ahh Linda.' Luke thought to himself, his excitement growing once again. How delicious it would have been if he had managed to bring her back here. It would have happened, Luke knew it, just as much as Kevin knew they were going to win their murder trial. It had been a terrific evening even if it hadn't ended as Luke had hoped.

 

Standing on the balcony of his apartment, highball in hand, Luke felt his energy start to slip, the big city in front of him slowly taking away everything it had given him that evening. The cool, clean decor of his apartment dulling his excitment.

 

'No, I' not going to end this evening on this note.' Luke said to himself and walked inside to pick up his phone.

 

A few comments later, Luke was back on his balcony a wicked grin on his face. Yes, this city would give just as much as it would take and you had to be strong and aggressive to take what you wanted from it Luke thought to himself. That's what Kevin didn't get. What he'd never get if Luke was to judge and he felt he was. In order to be good, to be really good, at anything, Kevin would have to be ruthless like Luke and take what he wanted, whether it was in the courtroom, in the bar or anywhere else. And Kevin just wasn't that man. He could try to be and maybe one day he would be but Luke doubted it.

 

But Luke was.

 

The doorbell rang to Luke's apartment rang. Luke left his glass, half finished, on the glass table on the deck and moved to open the door.

 

'Evening Luke.' a woman in a long dark coat said when Luke opened his door.

 

'Good evening Cynthia.' Luke greeted her. 'Come in.' and she did. A man behind her nodded towards Luke who nodded back, making a silent agreement.

 

'And what fantasy can I fulfill for you tonight?' Cynthia asked, letting her dark coat slip from her shoulders to the floor, revealing that all she was left wearing were her high heels.

 

-

 

'Holy Shit!' David exclaimed, nearly bolting upright but catching himself at the last second. Sara had warned him about moving around after an OLM session.

 

'Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.' David mouthed, the merge slowly coming, feeling only slightly less akward as the clammy sweat on the back of David's neck.

 

'Holy fuck.' David muttered.

 

.8.

 

David's face was grim as he look at the luminscent numbers on his computer screen telling him his checking account balance. It was a lot lower then he had hoped it would be. The dinner at Chez Le Auberge had been double what David had been expecting to spend and while he was happy to spend it on Sara, his bank did not quiet hold the same feelings towards Sara as he did. In fact, they really didn't know each other all that well despite being directly linked by David, a relationship often ignored by most new and old couples.

 

David was sure he could call Daniel and after explaining why he needed the money end up getting a couple hundred dollars transfered into his account. David doubted Daniel would trouble David's father with something as trivial as money but then David's father was quiet frugal when it came to his children or rather child, David. You wouldn't know it by looking at him and what he sorrounded himself with but David's father had come up from a very meager background with a father who had instilled in him the honesty and pride a hard days work. His father had already told David he wouldn't be receiving a very large inheritance, the bulk of their families fortunes being given to the various causes David's mother and father were off now fighting for.

 

And David was fine with this. He really didn't want to go to his parents with his hat in hand, everytime times got tough. David thought of himself as a fairly self reliant person and he was going to be damned if he was going to have to crawl to Daniel every couple of months just to have a few coins in his pocket.

 

'Well, I guess that means you'll need to get a job.' David's roommate said to him that evening when David in a last ditch outlet to relieve his burdens, decided Chad would be as good and hopefully confidential person as anybody else.

 

'That's super advice Chad. Really, I appreciate it. If I was a sophmore perhaps I would have come up with that answer but I'm just a dumb freshmen, right off the boat, can't think of what to do to earn myself some money. Oh woe is me.' David said in mock sincerity, the bitter sarcasm in his voice more evident then normal due to his present money problems.

 

'Fuck you.' Chad returned, giving David a scowl. Chad was packing his bag for another long week with his girlfriend and David doubted he'd see Chad till the following week or whenever the clothes in the bag ran out.

 

'I'm sorry Chad. I didn't mean to be so childish. It's just, I know I need a job, I just...I just don't know where to look for one.' David said a bit sheepishly. Sure, David knew about going on the Internet and searching for a job but David was hoping to find something a bit more local and a bit more immeadite to fill.

 

'How the fuck would I know?' Chad said over his shoulder as he moved to leave. If David's parents were successful then Chad's parents were twice that, with a fortune that they had no qualms about using or passing to their son. Why Chad was at school was a mystery to David, probably just a place for the eventual billionare to be for four years. And Chad treated it as such.

 

'Yeah.' David responded to Chad's lack of information. David slumped into his chair, preparing to mill through the hundreds of vague job postings in the area.

 

Chad stopped in the doorway and turn back to David. 'Look.' Chad said 'I don't know of any open jobs but one of Natalie's frineds was over the other night and she said they have some listing over at the student center for jobs on campus. Don't ask me where it is or what kind of jobs are there.' Chad said holding up his hands, causing his bag to slip down his arm into the V his arm made. 'But if I were you, and thankfully I'm not, I'd look there.'

 

With that, Chad slung his bag back onto his shoulder and headed out the door, flicking a hand gesture goodbye in the air as David yelled thank you to him.

 

David followed Chad out of the building but instead of going towards the other dorms at the base of the hill, David turned upwards to go up the long curving path to the campus center. David felt his stomach growl and it seemed fortunate that he would be able to kill two birds with one stone.

 

Coasting into the lobby of the student center, David did a three hundred sixty degree turn to see if there were any signs that would lead him to this campus job listing Chad had heard about from his girlfriends friend. Not the most reliable source of information David had to admit but there had to be some job postings for odd jobs students could pick up to help cover costs while at college. Admittely, Winston University was not a school you sent your kid to if money was an issue nor was it a school that accepted students for that same reason. To attend Winston meant you had to have a certain amount of backing, the word the administration liked to use, or money as Sara would say. So financial aide on the Winston campus was a very small office indeed with it's sole purpose for being to help place altruistic students in jobs that needed doing no matter what campus you were on.

 

David was exactly their type of canidate, even if they and he did not know it yet. Giving up on finding the list himself, David went over to the round help desk placed in the center of the lobby.

 

'Hi, how can I help you!' said a very cheeriful woman, whose hair was tied back in bows. David nearly had to shade his eyes from the brightness of her smile.

 

'Uh, yeah hi. Um, I'm hoping you can help me. A friend of mine told me there was a list of job openings here on campus down here. Do you know where that is?' David asked.

 

'Right here silly.' said the girl with an equally bright laugh. She pulled a small e-pad out from behind the desk, tapped on it a few times, and then placed it on the counter in front of David. 'Here's the list of open jobs right now. Click on anyone to get a more detailed description. Beside them you'll see three stars. Each star represents the urgency at the which the job needs to be filled with three being immeadite. Beside that you'll see the phone number to contact or you can just send them an e-mail through the e-pad. All campus jobs pay minimum wage unless otherwise negotiated between you and the person in charge of the job. If you have any other questions, please let me know.' the woman, her name tag said Megan, chirped.

 

David wasn't used to this kind of helpfulness on campus and was a bit shocked when his question had met with an honest answer. 'Thanks, I appreciate it.' He managed and then took the e-pad to a bench that was beside the help desk.

 

Scanning the list quickly, David's heart sank. Most of the positions seemed to be for office aides, which probably meant you just sat around, made copies, graded papers, and got the professor coffee when he or she asked. Which wouldn't have been so bad if most of these jobs didn't have in big, bold letters 'Must Be Junior or Senior'. The pickings for a freshmen were looking slim.

 

Towards the end of the list, David noticed a posting that seemed to good to be true. 'Assistant to Swim Coach For Teenagers' the title read and David nearly broke the screen pressing down on it trying to get more information about the position.

 

'Open to all students.' It read 'Must have at least four to five years of competitive swimming experience. Must be punctual and have attention to detail. Would be required to help plan and run practices during the weekdays and on alternating weekends. Please e-mail or see Coach Linderman to apply.'

 

David could hardly believe his luck. This was perfect. David had been a lifeguard the past two summers and had helped teach kids how to swim and do first aid only five months ago. David was a shoe in, he just knew it. There was a small 'Apply' button at the bottom of the screen and David pressed it eagerly. He quickly filled out his information and clicked submit, crossing his fingers that the job wasn't filled yet and that Coach Linderman thought David was as good a match as David thought he was. David hadn't met Coach Linderman, hadn't even tried out for the swim team upon getting to Winston, and David hoped that would be an issue.

 

David scribbled down Coach Linderman's phone number on his own e-pad and then handed the school e-pad back to Megan, who took it with the same unwaivering smile.

 

'Best of luck.' She wished him as David got up to go.

 

He smiled, crossed his fingers in her direction and then went to get something to eat. Grabbing a burger and a soda, David got in line behind other students who were patiently waiting out another long Doris line. David figured he'd eat on the way over to Sara's place, she probably being home by now from her OLM appointment.

 

The line moved steadily along, Doris apparently feeling in a charitable mood today. When it was David's turn, he pushed his burger and soda in front of Doris who scanned them in her usual pace. Doris gave David a bored stared, not caring that David had seen her outside of the student lunchroom. But David could see a bit of recognition somewhere deep within the bowels of Doris's unyeilding resentment to the kids she served food to. David gave her a smile, probably the first one Doris had ever received while checking out students. If she cared about David's token sign of friendship, she didn't show it and David was soon pushed ahead by the line.

 

Shrugging, David squirted a great big pool of ketchup into the center of his overdone burger, made a napkin like container around the burger with the unwrapped foil and then proceeded to Sara's dorm. It was a warm day and David was feeling pleased. He couldn't wait to tell Sara about his potential new job and he was sure she would be happy for him. Sara too had a job on campus, assisting a professor in the art department. David didn't know the specifics but on first glance Winston University had rejected Sara's application. It was only after events that Sara had never gone into with David, that Winston accepted Sara with open, if not willing, arms. Sara's employment was completely voluntary and while David knew this, he couldn't help think it was somehow tied to the circumstances for her admittance to Winston.

 

Arriving at Sara's door, David was surprised to find it closed, even though he saw light coming out from underneath the door. Usually Sara kept her room door open since she was very social with everyone on the floor and didn't mind the occassional drop in. As David bent closer to the door, he thought he could hear a soft sobbing coming from within Sara's room.

 

Once David realized what the sound was, he was opening the door in a second saying 'Sara are you alright.' Across from him, on her bed, David saw Sara in a ball, crying into one of her large pillows. David's heart nearly broke and he quickly rushed toward her.

 

'Sara are you alright? Has someone hurt you?' He babbled coming up beside her on the corner of the bed but there was no response from Sara.

 

'Sara?' David asked, placing his hand tentatively on her shoulder. Immeaditely, her shoulder shrugged his hand off, Sara's body unraveling in a mixture of tears and anger.

 

'Get the fuck off of me!' She yelled at him and David jumped back three feet before realizing what Sara had even said to him. This was the first time Sara had even raised her voice to David except in a few times when David had been picking on her a bit too heavily for one evening. David had never seen her so upset, so angry and so hysterical that it took everything in him to keep from going to her to comfort her.

 

'What's wrong?' David pleaded, not sure what else to say, not sure what had caused his girlfriend so much grief.

 

'What's wrong? What's wrong?' Sara mocked getting up now and pacing around the room. 'I'll tell you what's wrong David. You men! That's what's wrong. With your dirty looks and your smartass comments. You can never keep your hands to yourself and when you can't control yourselves? What do you do? You take what you want! That's what you do! That's what you always do!' Sara screamed the last sentence before falling to the ground. David moved to her but Sara's hand shot up telling him to back off.

 

'Just leave David. I don't want you here, I don't want you touching me and I don't want to see you right now. Just go.'

 

David was stunned, all the cheer and happiness he had been feeling, completely dissipaiting in the face of Sara's anger and resentment. David didn't want to leave, not like this, not for something he didn't even know he had done. Had he done anything? David couldn't think of anything but at the moment his thoughts were clouded by the events unfolding in front of him and the yearning to help Sara who seemed to be worse then when David had gotten there.

 

'But, Sara I don't know wha..' David began but Sara cut him off.

 

'You didn't do anything. But just get the fuck out David. Please.' Sara pleaded with him through tears with the first sign of control David had seen. 'David's it's not you. It was my life. I just can't deal with you and it right now. So please, just go home. I'll call you later okay?'

 

'Your life? What happened Sara? Is there anything I can do for you?' David asked, once again moving towards her.

 

'No!' She screamed 'Just fucking leave!' Sara yelled at David, pointing towards the door.

 

David stood there, immobilized by the hatred Sara was throwing at him. Quietly, David said. 'Okay. Call me when you want.' and then stroad out of the room, not looking back.

 

'David.' Sara croaked, the misery of what she had done to him welling up inside her, causing her to fall back onto her bed. 'It's not your fault David. It's not your fault.'

 

Meanwhile, David strode purposefully not to his dorm but towards the Samson building, the anger in his heart growing with each step. The person he had left in that room was not Sara. Not the Sara he knew. Sure, she looked like Sara and sure she probably was Sara but to David, that wasn't Sara. Something had happened to her and David didn't know what that was but he could guess that something had happened during or after her OLM session to cause Sara to change so deeply.

 

Maybe this was what Sara had always been worried about. Why she had always seemed so hesitant when either she or David would go to the Wilson building for their appointments. Maybe she knew something like this could happen. And if Sara knew something like this could happen then David was sure someone else knew this could happen and David was damn sure he was going to find out.

 

David was about to bang Professor Eckards door open when he stopped himself. As angry as he was with Professor Eckard, he knew she wasn't fully to blame. And it was quite possibly there was a student in there with her right now who didn't deserve having their meeting with Professor Eckard interrupted by David's fury. David paced around the suite where Professor Eckard's office was located, letting his anger simmer, trying to gain control of the arguments he was going to use with her. David didn't want to go in there half cocked and knew he had to think this through.

 

'Do we have an appointment today David?' Professor Eckard asked coming into the office suite with a cup of coffee in one arm and a pile of books in the other.

 

'Uh no ma'am.' David said, surprised and then nearly fell over as Professor Eckard tossed the load of books she was carrying towards him. With her arm now free, Professor Eckard pressed a finger on the door handle and opened the door to her office.

 

'Well I guess you can come in then. But don't tell any of the other students I saw you without an appointment. I don't want them thinking they can just come in here willy nilly whenever they please. Life needs order, Mr.Wilson even if at times we seem to struggle to undo it.'

 

'And what kind of order do you call bring an woman to tears?' David asked, dropping Professor Eckards books in a chair.

 

'Excuse me?' Professor Eckard answered, adjusting her glasses.

 

'I went to my girlfriend's dorm today to see her. When I got there she was in tears, barely able to speak except to yell at me for something I don't even think I did. In fact, I know I didn't do anything. But you know what I do know?' David paused but Professor Eckard said nothing, waiting for David to continue 'I know that she had just gotten back her OLM session. I don't know what her OLM session was about but I imagine you probably do. So I ask you again, what kind of order, what kind of life, makes people cry?'

 

'Real life David.' Professor Eckard said seriously. 'The only life that there is. But before I can answer your question though, I need to now who you girlfriend is.'

 

'Sara Lancaster.' David answered, deflating a little.

 

Professor Eckard typed at her terminal for a few minutes, bringing up Sara's information on her computer.

 

'You're dating a sophmore?' Professor Eckard asked although David didn't think he needed to answer her since they both now knew that he was.

 

'Please sit down David.' Professor Eckard told David but David did no such thing.

 

Continuing without David's compliance, Professor Eckard began 'Well David, while I can appreciate that your upset and want to protect your girlfriend, I never want you to come back here expecting some sort of justification for anything that happens because of the OLM. It is not your business or ours to discuss other people's reactions to what they experience in their lives nor is it very professional to peak into their files to see what has happened to them.

 

I understand Sara is very important to you and that it is difficult for you not to feel the brunt of her experience with the OLM but I would be remiss if I did not try to stop you from bringing this to us. Sara's OLM time is between her and her advisor which is not me and even if it was I still would not discuss it with you.'

 

Professor Eckard paused for a few moments, to let what she had said to David sink in. It was a rule, a very imprortant rule for David to understand, that just like a student seeing a doctor, Professor Eckard was not allowed to discuss anything that happened between Sara and the OLM. Professors had been fired for doing so and huge ethical battles had been fought over concerns for people's privacy and lives. It was not a subject Professor Eckard wanted to get into with David just now but she did want to stress upon him the importance of keeping OLM experiences seperate.

 

'What I can talk to you about is the life that Sara had today. I won't discuss how it might effect her or what the life was trying to teach her. But since it's a life you will eventually have as well, I don't think it will spoil you too much find out about it. Please understand David that I'm not doing this out of friendship but out of a respect to you and Sara. It's the best and only thing I can offer you.'

 

David nodded that he understood what Professor Eckard was warning him about. Seeing this, Professor Eckard continued.

 

'The life is of a seventeen year old girl returning home from school. The life starts before this but that's all really backstory, you'll find out about that later. The traumatic part of the life is what happens in her walk home. The young girl is ackosted by a man in an ally. I think we both know where it goes from there. A normal session, and by normal I mean one designed by the school here not an indepedent life taken on by a student with different parameters, ends right before the sexual assault. But this is not before the man beats her, not before the young girl yells and trys to get away, and not before the last second when the man begins ripping at her clothes.

 

It is not a very enjoyable life to say the least but one that is given to every student that comes through these halls. If one chooses to go through with the entire life, they will see the horror of the attack and the long dark aftermath that follows. It was decided that only the beginning was needed to impart the true meaning of what happened to students. Believe me David, and you will when you take that life, that it is the most terrifying eight minutes of your life.'

 

David and Professor Eckard were silent for a few moments, one trying to understand what he had just heard while the other studied to see how he understood what he had just heard.

 

Finally, David said 'But why make people go through that at all? I mean, if it's so horrible, why make people go through it in the first place?'

 

'It's exactly what the OLM is for David. Excuse yourself from Sara's experience with it. Put yourself in that situation. Say you were someone completely different. Someone who maybe thought it was alright to take what they wanted. Who thought it was alright to hurt a woman if she resisted him. How do you think that person would react to becoming that which he hurt?'

 

David didn't have an answer to that. After awhile, he moved to the door. 'I can understand that Professor Eckard.' David said in the doorway. 'But I can't understand you doing that to Sara.' and then left.

 

'No my boy, I too cannot tell you why we do it to everyone. I'd like to say it's for the greater good, that doing it to you and Sara somehow justifies it.' Professor Eckard turned to her computer and switched to a news feed. 'But somehow, it just doesn't seem to be working.'

 

.9.

 

It was five weeks before David stepped foot into the Wilson building again, two weeks more than when Sara had finally let him step foot into her dorm, one week more before she let him hold her again, and one day more then when Sara had finally, almost painfully, let David kiss her again. It had been a horrible experience for David, one which he knew he would have to experience again only this time, first hand. David now dreaded that day, whenever it came, the thought of that life keeping him up at night, making him want to hold Sara all the more close.

 

But the more David tried to comfort Sara, the more she pulled away, repeatily asking for space and time. David could understand this, he knew that he should give Sara as much time as she needed but there was some part of his brain that defied all the logic and caution the rest of David's brain was throwing up. It wanted to help Sara, it wanted to be there for her, even if she didn't want it. This part of David had caused the first, but unfortuneatly not the last, big fight that David and Sara had ever had. It had been a shock to David's system, to see Sara turn at him with such rage and malice in her eyes, to yell at him uncontrollably, to bring up things about himself that David had never thought anyone would use against him, least of all Sara.

 

By week four, David was crushed, completely devestated by what had happened between him and Sara. David let his classes slip, didn't schedule any more meetings with Professor Eckard for fear of what he might say or more likely yell at her, and especially did not go near the OLM lab. For what had once been a place of wonder and yearning for David, the Wilson build had now become anything but with David purposefully avoiding even walking by the building on his way to classes if he decided to attend any that day.

 

And then, without warning, David got a call from Sara. David had been lying upside on his bed in his room, looking up at the ceiling which seemed to be his usually past time these days. His roommate, Chad had begun to stay longer at his girlfriends, saying David bummed him out too much and David really couldn't blame him. David depressed himself and he didn't see any way out of it. Until Sara called.

 

'Yeah?' David barely said, as he picked up his cell phone to stop it from ringing. He had been half inclined to turn off the cell phone instead of answering but decided he wasn't doing anything else so he might as well.

 

'David?' Sara asked into the phone in a tentative voice.

 

'Sara!' David said raising himself, which caused his weight to shift on the bed and caused David to slip off the bed onto his upper back with loud thud. 'Ow, fuck.' David said rubbing his back.

 

'Are you alright?' Sara asked, the first time David could remember in a long time she had even mentioned those words.

 

'Yeah, I think I'm okay. I just fell off my bed and landed wrong. I'm okay though.' David paused, unsure how to proceed 'Um, so uh, how are you Sara?' He ventured, trying not to let loose the hounds on probably nervous Sara.

 

'I'm...okay. I'd like it if you would come over so we could talk David.' Sara said in a voice that was not quite sure it was really willing to let go of the words.

 

'Really? Are you sure?' David asked, exhuberant and then because he had walked into this trap before 'I'm not coming over so I can be your punching bag again Sara. I don't deserve that. So if you've thought up some new things to be angry at me for then just put them in your blog and I'll catch up with them later if it's all the same to you.'

 

'No David!' Sara's voice came back with an anxious tone to it that David had not heard in a long time, as if Sara was worried about letting something slip through her fingers. Till this point it had seemed everything in the world could just fall to the ground for Sara, David included. 'Please, for me. Just come over. I promise I won't yell at you.'

 

Not convinced, David asked 'What's changed? Why now? What happened to the depressed and angry Sara that replaced the one I loved? What's different Sara?'

 

'Somethings. Nothing. Maybe everything. I suppose I should tell you that your father came to see me.' Sara told David. David had been expecting any number of things to come over that receiver, from finding God to finding another man, David had been prepared for almost anything. But David's father? What could David's father possibly have talked to Sara about that would have caused her to come out of her depression.? How did his father even know Sara existed?

 

The questions screamed through David's head and he couldn't catch one to start with. Thankfully, Sara still knew what David must be thinking and said 'It's okay David. If you come over, I'll explain everything or at least as best as I can but I'd really rather not do it over the phone.'

 

David sat there for a few moments, his mind realing at the change his day had taken. A minute ago, David had been pondering the great mystery of his dorm room ceiling and now here he was being told his girlfriend, or so David still thought Sara was but that might have changed too, had met his father, David's father who didn't even take the time to visit David while he was there, and now wanted Sara wanted to talk to him.

 

In the end though, David realized, he didn't have much of a choice. He knew he was going to go to Sara's room, he knew he wouldn't be able to stay away, wouldn't rest till he knew what she and his father had talked about. Maybe that was the way his father wanted it to be. Who knew. David answered Sara 'Sure. I'll be there in a few minutes.' and hung up the phone.

 

David hunched over, fighting the cold winter air, as he made his way to Sara's. His body was cold but his mind was electric, thoughts and speculation running rampant with unanswered questions providing easy fuel for David's fears. David tried to get himself under control, tried to get his thoughts into some sort of order before reaching Sara's place. But before that could happen or perhaps because he was trying to hard to do it, David found himself at Sara's dorm and then at her door. Tentatively, he knocked, feeling every fiber of his hand bounce off the wood of Sara's door.

 

'Here goes nothing.' David thought to himself, as the door swung open. There stood Sara, in sweats and a t-shirt, her hair pulled back in a scrunchie. David had to fight himself from throwing himself at her. David found Sara to be the sexiest when she was just lounging around, when Sara thought she was at her worst. Sara smiled at him.

 

'Hi David. How are you?' She began.

 

'Uhh, pretty good I guess. Yourself?' David asked, doing his best to remain calm.

 

'Better.' was all Sara said and David could tell that was the best he could expect from her right now on that matter. She went further 'David, I'd like you to come in but please sit on Tiffany's bed, she's not here. Believe me, I'd like nothing more then for you to hug me or kiss me but believe me when I tell you David that that's the last thing that will happen tonight.

 

The best thing that can happen for us tonight is to just talk. If you think you can handle that then please come in. If you don't then please leave and never call me again. Do you understand?'

 

For a brief second, David was ashamed to admit her briefly considered leaving just then. That Sara was no where near worth the trouble of going through this sort of sit down meeting, as if they were some warring mob bosses. Like they needed rules to talk about their feelings. Did David really need this? Sara was great but honestly, David wasn't sure that if she really loved him she'd put him through all this.

 

But that thought was quickly replaced when David looked into Sara's eyes and saw a earning, a need and a pleading look, practically yelling at David to simply come in the room so they could go forward. That Sara too thought this was all really silly but she knew something more then David and understood why it had to be this way.

 

And he saw her, Sara. Simply just standing there in the door way. And David remembered thinking he would do anything for this girl, cross any mountain, bridge any stream. Had those words been for nothing. This was one of those mountains, this was one of those rivers. And if David didn't stand up here, stand up for him and Sara then David knew he would have difficultly standing up at all there after.

 

'So...are you coming in or not?' Sara asked, a slightly annoyed look on her face.

 

'Shit.' thought David. In his mind, David practically had the cape waving behind him but in reality, there was Sara waiting for him to answer with David standing dumbly in the corridor.

 

'Sure.' he mumbled sheepishly. 'What a great start.' David thought to himself, rolling his eyes as he followed Sara into her room.

 

David took a seat on Tiffany's bed like he had been told while Sara moved to her bed, curling up with a pillow. The lights were turned off and David found it hard to see Sara across the room, the overhang over Sara's bed casting a deep shadow.

 

'I'd like you to let me just talk for a little while David. I'm sure you have plenty of questions and believe me, so do I, but before we get into those, I'd like for us to both be on the same page and in order for us to do that you need to let me talk, uninterrupted for a few minutes. Is that alright?' Sara asked David, her voice coming from somewhere in the shadows of her bed.

 

'Yeah, sure, that's fine.' David answered, sitting on the edge of Tiffany's bed not sure how comfortable he was suppose to make himself. Sara's instructions hadn't given him and details on that part and David feared breathing too hard might cause this whole thing, whatever it was, to come crashing down around him.

 

'Well I guess we should start where you probably want me to start. Your father.' Sara began 'I want you to know that I had no intention of contacting him nor did I. He just showed up at my door three days ago, without warning. He told me your advisor, Professor Eckard I believe her name is, had contacted him recently. She had written him about you and about how you and I were doing in the face of that...' Sara stalled, some painful memories surfacing briefly '..life.' Sara spit the words.

 

'Apparently I'm not the only one to have had a bad reaction to it.' Sara said with sarcasm and David could tell that a bad reaction was only the tip of the iceberg for Sara. 'He told me there was a point to having people go through that life, that there were many who felt it had a strong value to students, that it was one of the reasons people should be using the OLM in the first place.

 

I'm glad to say, your father at least, is not one of them.' Sara said, and David couldn't be sure but he thought he felt a smile come from Sara's direction.

 

'He told me, that while he understood his colleagues points of view, the psychological damage it was doing to students was just to great. That we really didn't understand just how profound the merge is when emotions and actions are that high. That they, the people who decided which lives we get to access I guess, can only make a best guess at what is an appropriate life and even sometime they are wrong.

 

There is a growing group who want that life taken out of the OLM program for students but there is still a large majority who feel it provides a valuable lesson and that the other side has not offered another viable replacement for it. Your father said he and your mother along with several others are working towards the goal and while he was sorry they had reached it yet, he did feel they would by the time it came for you, David, to experience that life.

 

And I'm glad about that. At first, I was angry about this. That somehow you managed to escape that life and I was punished by it. But as he explained it, you won't be escaping it. It will be toned down but no David you will go through it or at least something very close to it. And once he had told me that, I found myself feeling a great sorrow. Because I don't want you to have to go through what I've been through David. I don't see what the point of it is, even if your father says there is one. I don't want that to happen you you!' Sara said and then began crying into her pillow. David made to move from his seat but caught himself. Would this violate the tenuous agreement he and Sara had struck at the doorway? Would going to her now cause her to pull even farther away from him? The part of David that wanted to comfort Sara said no but thankfully, the part that knew better won out and David sat, letting Sara cry into her pillow.

 

After a few minutes Sara said 'Thank you David. I didn't think you'd be able to sit there. I don't think I could have. But you made the right choice. I'm not ready yet but that time is coming. Soon. But I haven't finished explaining how we got to be here.' And David saw parts of Sara's hands spread out of the shadows, although David's eyes had now adjusted to the dark and he could see that Sara had once again composed herself.

 

'After explaining to me about debate over that life, your father told me he had arranged for me to have a special OLM session, one that was not part of the library here at Winston. At first I told him to take his damn life and shove it up his ass. I wasn't some guinea pig for him to mess around with. I think...

 

I think I actually swung a fist at him David.' Sara said a bit shocked, as if the memory had finally decided to show itself.

 

'Don't worry, I'm in the same club.' David said which to his relief got a laugh from Sara.

 

'I can imagine. But anyway, after a lot of cajoling and kind words, you father finally managed to get me to the OLM lab. I'll tell you one thing, you father certainly has a way with words. I can see where you get that talent from.' David hoped Sara could not see him blush.

 

'But instead of going into the main OLM lab, David, your father took me to the fifth floor of the building. Yeah, I was surprised about that too. I didn't even know there was a fifth floor. But then, I suppose your father knows a lot more about that building then anyone else.

 

He told me he and your mother had been searching a long time for a life David. A life that would somehow counteract the evil and pain of the one I had just gone through. They've been searching for this life for a long time and while they still don't believe they've found it nor do they even believe now that it even exists out there, they have found quite a lot of other lives that comes close. And that is what they had me do. They had me experience another life.

 

Your father told me I shouldn'te tell you about it and I believe he's right. It's something that the OLM was specifically built for. To live not to be told about. I couldn't possibly do this life justice if I tried to tell you what it was about and it wouldn't help you understand me anymore. Maybe one day you will go through both of these lives and you too will understand why I can't explain this any further but for now you'll just have to accept that.

 

Can you do that David?'

 

Almost without hesitation David said 'Yes, of course. At least I think so.' David could faintly see Sara smile at this answer.

 

'Good, I'm glad. And you'll be glad to know that this life did help me. It didn't fix anything that the other life had broke since I don't think it really works that way. Things are never truly broken, at least your father doesn't feel that way. They're just aligned differently and it's a fine line of appropriately giving each life it's own time to effect you. I think your father still doesn't know how powerful the OLM is but he and your mother are working hard at figuring it out.

 

I wouldn't say I've been healed but at least I've been changed for the better. I have a new confidence in life which I haven't experienced in weeks. I think I'm finally able to move forward with my life. I'll always hold with me what I experienced in each of those lives but for now, I'm able to do that without it draggin me down.

 

And I hope I can do that, in part, with you, if you still want to.' Sara finished, hesitantly.

 

'I'm glad.' David said honestly, not sure if the temporary ban on his speech had been lifted. 'I want to be there with you, I always have.'

 

'I know David. I know. It's something we'll have to slowly work on but I think we can do it.'

 

'I think so too.' David said with a deep sigh of relief. Things were turning out better then he had expected.

 

'I'm sure you're angry with your father for not visiting you while he was here.' Sara said, the statement jarring David back, realizing that things weren't quite over yet. 'Ahh here is the other shoe.' David thought to himself.

 

'I...don't know if I'm angry with him.' David started to say and then stopped. And it was true, David really wasn't sure. Perhaps he hadn't quite taken in everything that had happened in the past, David looked at his watch, hour and a half, holy shit had it really been that long? David began to feel the pressure of everything Sara and told him start to press on his shoulder and he sagged back into Tiffany's bed, not thinking about how it might effect the rules.

 

'David?' Sara called from across the room.

 

'Yeah.' was all David could manage.

 

Sara let him lay there, knowing it must be tough on him right now. Sara too let out a deep sigh of relief. Things had gone a lot better then her fears had told her it would. David had let her talk and it was the kind of exhausting speech she had needed to make. She felt like she had opened the windows to herself and the wind was blowing through her home and she was finally clear of this whole mess. Sara was certain there were still many dark days to come but with this guilt off her shoulders and hopefully with David by her side she knew she could face it. Almost wanted to face it with the new energy and confidence she was feeling.

 

'I guess I shouldn't be surprised.' David said from across the room and Sara jumped 'It's really par for the course isn't it? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he came and I'm glad he helped you. Really glad. I guess, that's all he had in him though. Shouldn't be surprised. It's about all he has in him at any given time anyway.'

 

'That's not true David.' Sara said earnestly. 'Your father does care for you. He just has a very hard time of showing it to you.'

 

'No kidding.' David said, getting up. 'But that's my cross to bear and something we don't need to go into tonight Sara. Please tell me that we are okay. At least, somewhere close to where we were a few weeks ago?'

 

'Yes, David, we're close. Just let me take things on my own pace. It'll be like we're just beginning to date. Again.' Sara said with a little laugh.

 

'Oh really. You mean I have to start all over.' David said sarcastically, with good humor in his voice 'That I have to buy you flowers and chocolates and take you to the movies again? Is that where we are?'

 

'Sorta, yeah.' Sara said seriously.

 

David moved from the bed to a kneeling position in front of Sara.

 

'Then that's where we'll start.' David said with a smile.

 

.10.

 

'My it's been a long time David.' Professor Eckard said, looking up from her desk. David stood in the doorway to her office, his bag slung over his shoulder, his posture hesitant, as if to say he wasn't really sure he was going to enter the room and Professor Eckard had better not pressure him to. But pressure Professor Eckard did. 'Only one month till the end of the semester and you have two more OLM sessions you have to complete plus one last meeting with me which I assume this is.' Professor Eckard looked at David who still hadn't entered the room. '..Unless I'm mistaken David.'

 

'I thought we had the whole year to complete our OLM lab time.' David asked, entering the room, not taking a seat.

 

'Well yes that's true, it is a year long course. But we recoginize some students who have a particular inclination for using the OLM and normally finish their OLM sessions by the end of the first semester so they can do an indepedent study program for the second semester. I had thought you would be one of those students given your background David. Don't tell me I'm going to owe Professor Wilcox ten dollars because you lost the wind in your sails?'

 

'You bet on your students?' David asked again, not horrified but quietly intigued.

 

'Not bet, so much as make guesses and estimates. It's really just a diversion here amongest those of us in the OLM department. To see if we can accurately pick out students who understand the OLM and those who understand it more then we do ourselves.'

 

'And you thought I'd be one of those people?' David said matter of factly.

 

'Yes.' Professor Eckard answered. 'I wouldn't say it's an honor or anything that grandiose but it's not something to snear at David. Your peers have thought you more adept at handling the OLM then most.'

 

'Handling the OLM? Hardly. Why because my father helped design it? Because he endowed this University with enough money to start an OLM lab? Why would I have any idea what an OLM does or does not do then anyone else in class? Huh! I don't know shit about it!' David said in a spit of anger and this time he meant it. He didn't want to come to see Professor Eckard. Didn't want to meet with her or discuss himself with her. If it wasn't for passing the class, he wouldn't be there. He'd be at home with Sara where he wanted to be.

 

Professor Eckard, for her part, took David's anger in stride. Professor Eckard did not take kindly to students raising their voices to her no matter whose son they were or how much the Dean said they had donated to the school. No arrogant bastard with a rich father was going to give Patricia Eckard lip.

 

And yet she let David. Professor Eckard paused to consider this. It wasn't David's father that was keeping her temper down or any threat from the administration. No, It had to be David himself. She was truly proud of him even if he didn't know it, not yet at least. The poor boy had gone through more then most did their first year. Dealing with a relationship and the OLM never made for an easy life.

 

'No David, I don't suppose you do know anymore then anyone else.' Professor Eckard said, moving a pencil on her desk casually. 'But why haven't you gone back David?'

 

'Gone back? What, to the OLM lab? I will.' David answered.

 

'Why haven't you yet? It's been nearly a month since Sara let you back into her life. What's keeping you from using the OLM?'

 

'How do you know how long it's been since Sara and I made up? What do you guys have spies or something around campus? What business is it of yours when I have my OLM sessions. You said it yourself, first day of class, we could take them any day we wanted. What's the big rush?' David said protectively.

 

'Oh no big rush I suppose. And as to how I know about you and Sara, David please. It's not that large of a campus and I do meet with more students then just you. I'm not that out of the loop as you might think. I suppose you could call them spies but not really.' Professor Eckard answered David, hoping to bring down his anger since her's was begin to rise. 'I suppose why I ask is, some might say, the reason you haven't been back, is that your scared.'

 

'Scared? Oh what?' David exclaimed, shocked at the notion that he could possible be scared of a machine.

 

'Some might say David. Not me, for one, but some. And don't be so quick to judge someones fears. You wouldn't be the first to be scared by the OLM. The OLM shoes us things we sometimes don't want to see.' and Professor Eckard gave David a look that said, 'yes like the life Sara had' and continued 'Still others fear it for what the OLM does to them and the ones they love. That fear, David, is one I think you can understand.'

 

David said nothing, dropping into a chair. If Professor Eckard wanted to play mind games with him, that was fine, but he wasn't going to stand around while she did it. David was tired from working out and really just wanted to go home.

 

'Tired David? Hard day at the gym?' Professor Eckard asked.

 

'Oh come on, how do you know that? Seriously, it's spies isn't it.' David said throwing his hands into the air.

 

'Uh, no David. You have you gym bag over your shoulder and your hair is wet from I assume having just taken a shower. But yes, you are correct, I had my legion of spies taling you these past few days, tracking your every move.' Professor Eckard said sarcasticly. For a bright boy, he sure was pretty dumb.

 

'Oh.' David grumbled, slouching more in his chair.

 

Professor Eckard smiled inwardly and said 'For the time being let's assume you're not afraid of the OLM. I think we can assume you are but you're clearly not ready to discuss that so why push it.' Professor Eckard raised a hand when David shot her a look about being afraid. 'I'd like you to go to the OLM lab David tonight if you have some free time. There's a life I think you should try and it might just change your outlook on it and life.'

 

'Why should I?' David asked and Professor Eckard had to stop herself from snapping 'Because I said so.'

 

'For one, I'm assigning this one to you, it's in your syllabus if you don't remember. For the other, it'll prove to me that you're not afraid of something as silly as the OLM David. Since you're not afraid you shouldn't have any problems right?' Professor Eckard asked, knowing she had trapped David into an answer he couldn't say no to.

 

'I don't have an appointment.' David said as a last ditch excuse which he thought would work since he didn't.

 

'Ah, don't worry about that. I've called ahead and made sure you have a slot open for you. If I can't pull a few strings in my own department then what have I been doing for the last....well let's just say years David, it's not polite to ask a woman her age.' Professor Eckard responded and this got a smile from David, the first Professor Eckard had seen since he'd shown up.

 

'Well I guess I don't have much of a choice then do I?' David asked, getting up.

 

'Not really, no. If it's any consolation I didn't really fight fair from the start.' Professor Eckard said as a diplomatically as she could.

 

David asked 'What time is the appointment?'

 

'What time is it now?' Professor Eckard shot back, looking at her own wrist as David looked at his.

 

'A little after four.' David answered her looking up.

 

'Really? Huh, my watch must be slow. It says it's a little after 3. Oooh that's not good.' Professor Eckard said, a frown appearing on her face.

 

'Why? What's the matter?' David asked.

 

'Well two things really. First, it means I won't have time to go home before meeting Professor Wilcox for dinner tonight and secondly it means you only have fifteen minutes to get to your OLM appointment.'

 

'What!' David yelped. Did he have time to make it there by four thirty? Maybe. Did he have any plans? No not really. Well I guess I'll be going to the OLM lab, David thought to himself starting to move towards to the door.

 

'David.' Professor Eckard called, catching him before he left the office. Professor Eckard walked over to David casually, picking up her coat from a chair by the door. 'Must couples don't make it through the first three months of one person using the OLM, let alone two. The fact that you and Sara are still together is...well remarkable. That's why I think you are more adept at using the OLM than other students.'

 

David blinked at her. Was that true? Did most people's relationship fail because of the OLM? Why had he and Sara had stayed together when many others had not?

 

'Off you go David. You'll be late.' Professor Eckard said brushing David out her office. David glanced again at his watch, realized how late he would be if he didn't start moving now and took off down the hall, not bothering to ask Professor Eckard anymore questions.

 

'Kids.' Professor Eckard thought to herself. 'So predictable. Always fall for the old professor's watch is too slow trick.' Professor Eckard shook her head while smiling, putting her coat back down on the chair and picking up her coffee cup. She'd be in real trouble one of these days when one of these kids wised up.

 

Breathless and annoyed David charged into the OLM lab, barely brushing his arm under the reader. For their part, the two labs aides didn't really take much notice of David's blustering entrance or care that he was actually early to his appointment. They heard the door to David's OLM room shut down the left hall and thought well if he has any trouble he'll ask, and went back to doing their own work.

 

David stood in the OLM room, heart still pounding from exertion and anger, his white hot grip on the strap of his bag beginning to loosen with each passing heart beat. David began moving around the room, setting up the OLM for his session before it dawned on him that he was actually in the OLM lab to begin with. He stopped, mid movement, the OLM halo in one hand and David's index finger on a button.

 

He hadn't been back here in awhile. What had Professor Eckard said? A month? Had it really been that long. David couldn't be sure but he knew in the back of his mind that she was right. But scared? David wasn't scared of the OLM. He wasn't scared of what it would do him. Maybe he was scared of what it had done to Sara but he was more angry about that than scared. Yes, angry. That's why he hadn't been back here. Because David had been angry with this building and this machine. For what grief and pain it had caused Sara and himself. Why would someone want to throw themselves into that.

 

David turned to leave, not really caring if Professor Eckard had made special arrangements for him. What did he care. He'd be back. He wasn't scared of going into a life. He just didn't want to do it right now, that was all. Sure, he didn't have to do anything else at the moment but that didn't mean he was scared of the thing. Stupid.

 

But still David didn't move. He heard the countdown timer behind him, tell him his OLM session would be starting in fifteen seconds and to please sit down. David wanted to move out the door but found himself unable, his body unresponsive, his mind telling him to say. Paradoxically, as David tried to move back to the chair, he found he also couldn't move there either. His hands felt clammy and the sides of his eyes began to pinch.

 

David had experienced this feeling a couple times before but the most vivid time had been when he was twelve. David had been at swim practice and another kid, Tommy, had been teasing him all during training. Finally David had told him to shut up. Tommy laughed and continued to tease David, with David's anger swelling with each passing lap. Finally David yelled at him to put his money where his mouth was. And that was exactly what Tommy had been waiting for.

 

'I'll meet you outside after swim practice.' Tommy had almost whispered to David from across the lane, as they bobbed in the swimming pool. David felt a sudden shock to his system, like a lightning bolt had hit the water. Was he really going to fight Tommy? David had never fought anyone in his life. David thought he could but then he hadn't had any real world experience so what was he basing that on?

 

With each stroke, David's anxiety rose. Tommy had stopped calling to him from his lane but the damage was done. David was petrified. His legs began jitter and his strokes became shorter. David's coach yelled at him to pick up the pace but David couldn't do anything about it. Out of the corner of his eye David could see Tommy smiling, sailing through the water, no a worry or a fear in his eyes.

 

'Damn him.' David thought to himself, small tears welling up in his eyes, quickly washed away by chlorinated water.

 

After practice, David stood before the large doors that led outside. His hands were clammy and David felt like a giant stone had replaced his stomach.

 

'Why had this happened? What had he done to Tommy to make this happen?' the questions ran through David's head but the one that kept repeating was 'What do I do? Do I run and hide? Do I go outside and face Tommy? What if he's there? What will happen if I do fight? Is someone picking me up or am I walking home? If I run, will Tommy and his friends follow me?'

 

Seizing on his terror, David pushed through the large gym doors, praying for the best but expecting the worst. What he found was neither although at first David found it to be the best. Tommy simply wasn't there. No one was there. Just an empty parking lot with a bike still chained to a sign. David didn't think he was the last one to leave but then he had taken longer getting ready, knowing what was waiting outside for him. Had everyone left?

 

David checked his cell. Yup, Dad was sending someone to come pick him up. David flicked it over to GPS mode and saw that the car was coming down Main Street now and would be there in about five minutes if there wasn't any traffic which there usually was.

 

'Five minutes. Five minutes to wait for Tommy to show. What could really happen in five minutes?' David thought, trying to raise his confidence which was having none of that. As each second ticked by, David lost twice as much confidence as he tried to build.

 

'Where the fuck is he!' David wanted to scream to the empty parking lot. David was here. He hadn't backed down. If Tommy wanted to beat the crap out of David that was fine but the least he could dow as show up and do it. What was taking Tommy so damn long? Did he have an appointment with someone else to beat up? That was really rude, David thought sarcastically.

 

A beep from behind him made David nearly jump up on the chained bike. Turning, David saw the black sedan that his father had sent for him. Looking at his cell, David saw the green dot now hovering above his location. Had five minutes really gone by? It hadn't felt like that much time had passed.

 

'Time.' David thought, breaking out of his childhood memory. He looked at the read out. Two seconds till the Life began.

 

'Fuck it.' David said, jamming the OLM halo on his head and taking a seat with the same rush of courage that had propelled David out of that locker room so many years ago.

 

'Beginning OLM Life.' the read out blinked and David didn't worry anymore.

 

-

 

David as Chen Qian.

 

Chen walked down the grassy path beside the small babbling brook that flowed past his home which slowly gurgled it's way downstream. Chen smiled as he walked, remembering how this river had been so faithful to his family. He and his wife Lin had spent many hours watching the water trickle down those rocks. If Chen could be honest with himself he would have remembered that he had spent many hours watching Lin watch the water trickle down the rocks but at the moment Chen was appreciating the land he had lived on for nearly eighty three years.

 

Chen stopped his routine walk and moved closer to the small stream. Using a gnarled up tree root that had been there as long as Chen Qian could remember, Chen bent down to let his fingers graze the waters surface. Chen mused that his fingers were almost as gnarled as the tree root they were hanging onto. Such was life, he mused.

 

[Put more about Chen here but seriously it's killing you to write about him since you know nothing about being an old man and what he'd do. Come back and make something up for him to do before what comes next.]

 

Chen moved to the wooden rocking chair on his porch, the remaining rays of sun warming his aged face. Using his cane to push him off, the extertion taking with it most of Chen's remaining strength.

 

'I've lived a good life.' Chen thought, as his fingers became cold. 'I've loved my family and they have loved me. This is where I want to die. On this farm where I have lived my entire life. I am at peace here.'

 

Chen rocked himself, with each passing rock bringing him one second closer to the end of his life. Slowly, Chen's eyelids began to falter, the strength in Chen too little to keep them open. But what strength Chen still had, he put into keeping a smile on his face.

 

'I remember this world and I remember it with a smile on my face.' Chen Qian thought to himself one last time, the sun finally setting behind the great mountains to the west. Chen Qian died with a smile on his face, the rocking chair slowly coming to the end of it's life to.

 

-

 

David blinked, a smile on his face. David blinked again and noticed tears beginning to well up in his eyes. David rubbed at his face, trying to keep back the tears that David knew were only a few moments away. David knew he wouldn't be able to keep the tears back when the merge came. It just wouldn't be possible to contend with that and the feelings of Chen's death. That would hit him like a brick in a few moments and David wasn't sure he would be able to take it.

 

David let out a laugh and he immeaditely covered his mouth with a tear soaked shirt sleeve.

 

'Why are you laughing?' David thought to himself bitterly. David got angry with himself with helped block some of the tears. 'Good. The angry will be good when the merge comes. Make me stopping crying. God, was that it? Chen just sitting there and then he was gone? That can't be all there is to life.'

 

'But why are you sad?' David heard himself say to himself. But it wasn't David or at least not in the David's own voice.

 

'Because Chen...because I died.' David answered himself and whoever had asked the question.

 

'But why.' David thought to himself in Chen's voice. 'Because I'm happy.'

 

.11.

 

Sara watched David leave the OLM wing from behind a tall and Sara hoped dense tree about thirty feet from the door. Sara had been waiting in the courtyard of the Wilson building for her OLM session when she had spotted David coming out the side door of the OLM lab. Sara wasn't sure why she had hid so fast but before she knew it, she was behind the bark and sap of this tree.

 

Well, Sara did know why she had hid from David when she saw him, if she wanted to be honest with herself. David had placed a sort of moritorium on himself on going to the OLM building and it had also sort of applied to Sara since Sara guessed she was the cause of David giving up any more OLM sessions. But David hadn't asked her whether she wanted to stop going to the OLM lab, wanted to stop expereincing other lives. Maybe David thought he was protecting her, maybe protecting the both of them from any other experiences like the one Sara had gone through.

 

But David couldn't protect them from the OLM, Sara knew, since there wasn't anything to be protected from. Certainly, the life she had experienced had been one of the worst she had ever gone through while in an OLM session but it was by no means the only disturbing life she had ever been in. The whole point of the OLM was to push you into these new lives that may no gel all that well with your own life. It was to open your eyes to new horizons, even if you didn't want to see what those vistas held.

 

Sara knew this and assumed David must know it at some basic level too. But he was new to using the OLM and Sara rationalized that his sudden defensive reaction was justified if a little overzealous. But that didn't mean the same conclusions applied to her. So Sara had begun once again to go to the Wilson building for OLM sessions only without telling David. Sara felt bad about doing this but if she did tell David what she was doing she knew it would only led into a long and unnecessary fight. Once David had gotten over whatever mixed feelings he was having about the OLM, Sara thought she might tell him but not right now. Getting used to using the OLM again was hard enough without dealing with David's self righteous indignation.

 

And then it dawned on Sara. Why was she hiding? David was the one who was leaving the OLM lab, not her. David hadn't told her that he was restarting OLM visits. It should really be him hiding behind this tree! Sara thought to herself, nearly exposing herself.

 

'Who am I kidding.' Sara thought, shaking her head and then looked at her watch. Her OLM session was going to start in about five minutes. 'Better talk to him tonight. He probably has a good explaination for being here while you Sara...you don't, not really anyway.'

 

Sara watched as David headed down the small hill towards the center of campus till he was out of sight. To be safe, Sara skirted around the courtyard and went inside the main Wilson building. Taking a quick left, she open the door to the stairwell which ran up the side of the main building and on the second floor connected to the OLM lab. Once on the second floor, Sara opened the door to the OLM lab. She was at the opposite end of the OLM lab and so had to walk the entire length of the building to the front desk to check in.

 

At the front desk, Sara noticed that one of the lab aides was a girl she knew. 'Hey Sandy.' Sara said, as she scanned her arm to check in.

 

The female aid looked up from her book to see who was talking to her. 'Oh hey Sara. Haven't seen you in awhile. How are you these days?'

 

'Oh you know, pretty good. Classes and OLM appointments.' Sara said brushing her arm through the air to remind Sandy where they were.

 

'Heh, yeah I know what that's like. All work and no play right?' Sandy answered with a laugh.

 

'Well I wouldn't say that.' Sara responded with a wink which got another short laugh from Sandy. And that would have been it, the full extent of any small talk between Sara and Sandy. But the back of Sara's mind itched with an idea and before Sara knew what she was doing, she was already asking the question. 'Hey Sandy?'

 

Sandy looked back up from her book, a little surprised that their conversation was still going on. 'Yeah Sara?'

 

'I thought I saw my boyfriend leave the building a few minutes ago but I couldn't tell if it was him, I was too far away. Is there anyway for you to check the recent student visits?'

 

'Yeah, sure, that's not a problem. But why do you care if he had an OLM appointment or not?' Sandy asked as she began to tap on her console.

 

'Oh no reason really.' Sara said and left it at that.

 

Sandy shrugged. If Sara didn't want to trust her boyfriend that was fine, didn't bother her, Sandy thought to herself. Another couple on the road to breakup.

 

'What's his name?' Sandy asked, scrolling down to the right time frame.

 

'David Wilson.' Sara said, hoping Sandy wouldn't make the connection between the person and the building they were in. If Sandy did, she didn't mention it.

 

'No...I don't see any appointments here for a David Wilson. Huh. That's weird.' Sandy said, scanning that afternoons appointments.

 

'What?' Sara asked, trying to keep herself from leaning over the desk. The lab aide to Sandy's left peered over to see what Sandy thought was odd.

 

'Huh? Oh, it seems like Professor Eckard made a special appointment for someone. Doesn't say for who though. Is there any way to find out Julie?' Sandy asked the lab aide beside her. Julie shrugged her shoulders indicating that she wasn't going to be any help.

 

'That's okay.' Sara said, beginning to move towards her OLM room. 'Professor Eckard is David's advisor. She probably made an appointment for him. I'll just ask him about it when I see him.'

 

'Ah, okay.' Sandy said, returning to her book. Two months, tops, Sandy thought to herself about Sara's relationship with David.

 

'Why did Professor Eckard make a special appointment for David?' Sara thought to herself, as she busily began getting her OlM setup for her life. She was a couple minutes late for her appointment and the counter on the OLM told her just how much time would be deducted from her session. 'Maybe Professor Eckard was forcing David to get over his fears of the OLM?' Sara reasoned. It made sense. Of anyone here who would push David back into something he obviously feared, Dr.Eckard would be the one to do it. Lord knows Sara wasn't about to make that push.

 

Pushing thoughts of David, Professor Eckard, and everything else that was going on her life aside, Sara sat the OLM halo on her head and relaxed.

 

-

 

Sara as Charlie Durban.

 

'Easy now Tommy, not to fast, just ease this puppy into place.' Charlie called to his friend Tommy who was operating the crane. Tommy was about sixty feet below Charlie but thanks to the little microphone sitting alongside Charlie's face, Tommy could hear Charlie just fine. Maybe too well.

 

'Jesus christ Charlie, you don't have to yell goddamnit. I can hear you just fine.' Tommy called back, although at a more reasonable volume.

 

As an apology Charlie said 'Okay nice and easy. Bring the girder down just a little lower. Hey Jose, how does it look on your end!' Charlie yelled to the man who was thirty feet across from Charlie. In his ears, Charlie could hear Tommy curse at him again.

 

'Jose's got a fucking mic too Charlie. Are you trying to make us all deaf over here?'

 

'Eh shuttup.' Charlie replied. From across the scaffolding, Charlie could see Jose raise a thumb, giving him the okay. That was more like it. None of this fancy bullshit. Just simple hand gestures, that's all we need, Charlie thought to himself.

 

Charlie looked down to make sure his end of the I-Beam was in place, then gave a thumbs up back to Jose. To Tommy in a slightly quieter voice Charlie said 'Alright. Everything looks good up here. We're going to fasten it in now. Keep er steady Tommy.'

 

'Yeah, yeah.' Tommy said, as if this was his first job.

 

Charlie straddled the girder he had been standing on and then brought himself close to the new girder they were putting in. To his left, Charlie could see Jose doing the same thing, already using his powerful screw gun to rivet the I-Beam into place. Swinging his own off his shoulder, Charlie quickly and professionally sank eight large screws into the new I-Beam. Confident in his work, Charlie looked over to see if Jose was done. Jose was one his last screw, trying to get a good angle on the one opposite him. Charlie smiled. He may be fifty four years old and probably a good twenty years older than Jose but damn if he couldn't still screw in a girder in nothing flat.

 

'Alright Jose's almost done.' Charlie said into his mic and then Jose gave Charlie another thumbs up to say that he was. 'Alright, we're good. We're going to go out and remove the hooks.'

 

Charlie and Jose each began walking across the new I-Beam, each without much concern for their own safety. They had each done the work and trusted the other to know they were in no big danger other then the usual. Reaching the middle of the cross beam, Charlie unhooked the large metal hook from the top of the crane lift, the heavy bagging underneath going limp. Jose did likewise, the two hooks dangling in the air now.

 

'Alright Tommy, you're free. Bring er down.' Charlie said, turning to head back to his side of the new building.

 

Charlie wasn't more then three feet before he heard Mexican shouts coming from Jose's side. Charlie didn't know much Mexican but he knew a few words and the ones coming from Jose were not the ones he liked. Instinctively Charlie ducked, a large claw swinging by where his head would have been.

 

'Jesus christ!' Charlie yelled. 'Tommy, what the fuck are you trying to do, kill me?'

 

'What?' Tommy yelled back. If Charlie wasn't going to respect the volume levels, then neither was he. 'I thought you said you were clear.'

 

'No dumbass, I said you were free. I didn't say Jose and I were clear yet. You nearly took my head off with that thing.'

 

'Oh fuck. I'm sorry Charlie. I really thought you was out of the way.'

 

'Yeah yeah.' Charlie mumbled into the mic. Charlie was pissed but knew it didn't make sense to get into an arguement with Tommy right now. 'We're coming down, it's almost time for lunch anyway.'

 

'Okay.' Tommy answered. Charlie watched from a safe distance as Tommy began to lower the cable to the ground level, taking a bit more caution in doing it now.

 

'Damn kids.' Charlie thought to himself. 'Think you can do everything in half the time.'

 

Charlie met up with Jose at the service elevator on the north side of the building and Charlie gave him a earnest hand shake.

 

'Thanks a lot.' Charlie said to Jose 'You really saved me out there.'

 

'No problem.' Jose said with smile with a little bit of a twang at the end of problem. 'You would have done the same for me.'

 

'You know it.' Charlie said authoritatively. If you didn't protect your brothers up here, well then you couldn't expect them to protect you either. Charlie had worked on hundreds of teams before and the one thing he had learned was you wanted to make sure that the man watching your back also knew you were watching his.

 

'I'm gonna fucking kill Tommy when we get down there.' Charlie added and Jose laughed as they started to descend the tall shaft.

 

'Look Charlie, I'm sorry.' Tommy yelled, running up to Charlie and Jose as they exited the service elevator. 'I really thought you guys were clear.'

 

'Yeah, I bet you did.' Charlie said, giving Tommy's arm a playful if slightly hard punch.

 

'Ow, fuck, go easy.' Tommy yelped, realing back a little. Charlie just grinned, as the three men and a few others walked over to the pile of I-Beams yet to be installed. A few men hoisted themselves up on top of the pile of metal while others either settled for hunkering down beside or laying down in the dry mud. Charlie and Tommy opted for the top of the pile. Something about being up high always appealed to Charlie more then being low.

 

'Probably why I got into this business.' Charlie said outloud to himself.

 

'What?' Tommy asked, taking a big bite into his tuna fish sandwich.

 

'Huh? Oh nothing. Just talking to myself'

 

Tommy nodded as he chewed and then stopped and swallowed quickly. 'I can tell yah why I got into this business.' Tommy said pointing across the street. 'The beautiful view.'

 

Charlie followed Tommy's finger across the street to the two women walking down the street. And Tommy couldn't be more right. One blonde, the other brunette, with legs that went up and up. Charlie let out a whistle of appreciation.

 

'You said it Tommy.' Charlie said hitting him on the shoulder again. Tommy gave him a sly grin, as he took another bite from his sandwich. A few of the men below Charlie and Tommy saw what they had been looking at and chorused their agreement.

 

'Hey baby!' One of the men below Charlie called out 'Why don't you come over here so we can get to know one another.'  The rest of the men including Charlie and Tommy let out a huge laugh, one man nearly following off the pile of girders. If the women noticed, they didn't show it and after a few seconds they had turned the corner, leaving the crew of men with their memory.

 

'Awww man.' Tommy said. 'Why you always have to ruin everything Carlos?' Carlos, the man below Charlie and the one who had called out to the women just laughed at Tommy and continued with his lunch. Charlie too shook his head laughing.

 

Soon the crew finished up lunch and returned to work. Five hours quickly flew by and before Charlie knew it, he was back on the ground.

 

'Either these days are getting shorter or I'm actually beginning to enjoy this shit.' Charlie said to Tommy as they got into Charlie's car.

 

'The day's must be getting shorter then.' Tommy replied, laughing at his own joke. It was the same thing they said each other every other night, the joke never getting old and never getting any less true.

 

'How are Tessa and the kids?' Charlie asked once they were on their way. Charlie knew they were fine, he had asked the same question the day before but it was the same question he asked every day on their ride home.

 

'Oh, you know they're good. Jamie's in band now. You believe it? One of my kids actually has talent?' Tommy answered, almost as shocked as he had been the first time he had told Charlie.

 

'I hear yah. Amy's into gymnastics like you wouldn't believe. Get's up almost as early as I do to go to practice. Brings a smile to my face.' Charlie added.

 

'No kidding.' Tommy said and then looked out the window for a few minutes, the bulk of their conversation used up already. As they passed a baseball diamond, Tommy turned back to Charlie 'Too bad one of us didn't have a boy. Little league's probably starting up soon. Be nice to go to the games and root for one of ours.'

 

'Yeah it would.' Charlie said in agreement. Charlie and his wife Amber had argued about trying for another kid, specifically a boy. Charlie wanted dearly to have a son but Amber had explained to him that they just couldn't afford another kid whether it was a boy or a girl. Charlie had slowly come around to her point of view but only begrudgingly.

 

Soon they were at Tommy's house and he hopped out.

 

'Seeya tomorrow Charlie.' Tommy called over his shoulder and then turned 'I'll try not to kill yah this time.'

 

'Yeah, yah better not or else you won't have a ride.' Charlie called back jokingly. Tommy laughed as he took the stairs to his home two at a time. From the door, Tessa waved at Charlie as he pulled away.

 

Pulling into his own driveway, Charlie parked and pulled his lunch box from the back seat. Charlie's big, black lab was already scratching at the door to Charlie's truck, barking. Shadow, Charlie's dog, had been Amber's gift to Charlie after they had finally decided not to have another child. While it wasn't the same as having a son and it almost cost as much as having one, it was a fair comprimise Charlie had to admit.

 

'How you doing boy.' Charlie asked Shadow, as Charlie gently pushed his door open. Shadow obediently moved back, letting Charlie exit his car. Charlie wasn't out of his car for more then two seconds before Shadow and jumped up on his stomach. Shadow was much older than a pup, barely three years old and sometimes Charlie couldn't handle the energy this dog had.

 

'Easy there boy.' Charlie said with a smile, crouching down to be closer to the dog. 'So how was your day? Did anyone try to take your head off with a crane?' Charlie whispered into Shadow's ear, as he scratched them.

 

'What!' Amber screamed from behind Charlie, causing both Charlie and Shadow to jump.

 

'Jesus Amber, you'll give me a heart attack.' Charlie said, turning to his wife.

 

'What you do you mean someone almost take your head off at work? Don't tell me they have some new guy working the crane?' Amber continued, disregarding Charlie's warnings about heart problems.

 

'No, it was Tommy, he just didn't realize Jose and me weren't clear yet. It's okay babe, this things happen.' Charlie answered, pulling his wife close to him, giving her a hug.