Web of Light

I found out how does the boiler work. A part of the wand polymer is now a conductor. Plastic. Is. A. Conductor. I did not believe this, but a tester says so and I believe it. Of course it’s not a metal and is getting hotter, but for a boiler it’s not a problem.

In the evening in the park we stumbled upon some jerks. They did not notice us at first and got punched. By Kusaki! I am shocked. It turns out, these guys were bulling me a year ago — I did not got that then! — and Kusaki made them go away. That’s how we became friends. This girl kicks first class. Gave myself a fearsome oath to start jogging and to do workouts. Well, that is: to start jogging, my bones are still growing, they should not be overloaded.

17.

I am jogging in the evening, the mornings are full. Funnily, the breakfast is now more delicious. The fish with rice that I was slowly beginning to be fed of suddenly got new sides to them! Indeed, as they say: the breakfast eaten non-eagerly is eaten one day too early.

I wonder, is our school just that good or is it normal for Japan? Recently I often stay at the physical lab there, the instruments are primitive, but good build. Why? Well, I wanted to measure the acceleration of free fall and other constants. I don’t remember the Plank constant by heart, the Avogadro number seems to match. And the free fall acceleration also matches. Rinko is tailing me, she has problems with physics. Well, its only by name physics, the material is rather history of physics and pretty experiments: what else you need to attract kids? I am in the circle— physics club; it is fun to perform some experiments. Nobody allows me to do chemistry without supervision, biology is pitiful, but physics — I am doing what I want to. The supplementary course has some social overhead for club activities: to show the experiments not in the program and to talk about them. Well, I can do the talking, kids like it, too. Well, now I am not a grumpy kid, but a geeky kid — in others’ eyes. Nobody dares to say this aloud: Kusaki has a hard fist and an even harder boot.

I have got another “friend” called Taiso. To be more exact, he thinks I am his friend, ’cause friends help you cheat in the exam. Man, is he funny. Taiso tries to pimp up in front of Rinko. Nope, not to attract her, but the other way round: “go away, woman!” Now, Rinko indeed understood the law of the impulse preservation: if your opponent is heavier than you, you need to kick him in flight. Oops! They did break the desk.

18.

Rinko is doing kendo now. Well, my fault. I explained the law of the lever, mentioned Archimedes and the fulcrum. An immediate reaction, I was stunned. That’s why I respect my friend: between decision making and execution lie exactly five seconds.

I kept nagging ’till I got a lab laser, for five watt. A good one, made by Hitachi. The diffraction picture is very sharp. I was talking about lasers, then we switched to Star Wars and weapons. Phew, my tongue was tired! Amusing: girls were paying attention just like boys. To break the awe of the lab equipment — only for smart guys and take care! — told them about semiconductor-based laser pointers and shooting range. Curse this tongue! The folks are now willing to do laser tag, thank you my “friend” Taiso! Offered my help, what else could I do?

19.

Before Christmas — they are celebrating on the 25th of December. Shintoists are so funny! Christian holiday? Who cares! — we finished the setup. Senior students helped us a lot: not only they made photoreceivers — red and green circles, sewn on a cloth to have one on the front and one on the back — and also a radio sender for them. Now, upon a hit, the display shows “alive” and “KIA” fighters. Weapons were a separate project. We were forming plastic on our own. Shy Japanese girl were in fact even more active than the guys. Teachers are also happy! Especially the physicist and the one for that thing that Japanese have for labour studies — the students are doing something constructive, and they are at that for few weeks.

We performed a “test” fight in the backyard after the school — and lost to seniors. All grown-up: bushes without leaves are a bad protection from a laser beam. Nobody came up with the idea to lie down on the ground to minimise the attacked surface to zero. Except me. I also “cheated” when shooting two: via the reflection in the window. No one noticed. Rules need improvement; we agreed to meet during the school free time and to start a global shooting in the school rooms. In the end, we got out of the school around 8 p.m., playing and cleaning up took some time.

20.

Oh fuck! No, I did not forget about ayakashi, but to see it “live”… I did not shit my pants only because I forgot to do so. Nope, the amulet is working fine and that crawling shit, something like a huge caterpillar, did not notice me. But Rinko. Me, a good boy, groped the weapon. The “weapon” from laser tag. Probably, subconsciously I still feel like in a computer game. Well, I killed the spirit. From a game pistol, with a laser pointer. “Ferry”, you are a cool thing. And you do trigger in the right moment. A spirit and a boiler are — philosophically spoken — things of a same order philosophically spoken, ain’t they? Fuck, fuck, fuck!

I recovered Rinko with tea. Very sweat tea. She was then spitting, after a litre of consumed syrup. I swear, were we both at least twelve, I’d try the “standard” way of stress relief. Oh, who would heal me… And I won’t go to a psychologist. I sent the girl in her bed and switched off myself.

21.

I have no words. Only letters, and even these are swearing. What is this fucking sex polic— spirit police doing, while huge caterpillars are feeding on people here in the park?! Or do the wraiths only carefully suck people without eating? I did not let my neighbour/female friend think this was a bad dream: she should better not walk alone in the park. What a cool Christmas the day after tomorrow will be…

22.

Nothing happened. Either our psyche is too flexible, or— My parents did something with the block with our house. When I say “my parents,” I really mean Yuuto’s parents, I am used now to call them this. Rinko is cool now, the celebration was OK.

I had a look on the gun. Better not take it to school, or we’ll get dead bodies for real. A semiconductor-based milliwatt laser is now delivering somewhat in the order of half a kilowatt of power. It’s warming, but not fatally, it does not get too hot during a second-long impulse. And the energy this badass seems to take from my own— power? skill? feature? Hell knows how this is called. Minus a wall in the basement — melted lines in the concrete, vertigo, and a great hunger!

23.

I am an idiot. Again. I got Internet access and did not read news. Eight bodies. Eight people did flesh out that fucking mad worm in the park! As it turns out, the police found a madman. Dead. Yep, I killed him. But somehow the magical police did not reach me out. It seems that it’s not too hard to find me. Or is it? As I recall, the Yuuto should be watched by the council of the clans and later by Kuesu. Or did they just tactful look aside? And what the caterpillar really mad? And what was the reason? Or— OK, I don’t want to know it, but it makes no sense to kill people. Ayakashi are killing just like humans do — either their enemies or for a meal. The hunger of the body can be satisfied with a conventional food, that people (sic!) are producing. Nowadays, there are almost no man-eating ayakashi. Compare a raw bland human and a meat pie: hot, just made. The caterpillar did not eat anyone. Maybe, the slayers killed someone from its family? Or the passionate many-legged pal just broke out from a years-long incarceration?

The magic cops thought apparently that ayakashi themselves killed the disrupter. As far as I recall the manga, they have here something like a bund commune, controlled by very strong old guys like Corpse Devourer or River Deity. I wonder, do magic cops have connections to that gang? Manga says no, but “I am not believing.”

24.

I was sitting in the basement and thinking a lot. I got a breakthrough. Was the fright the reason? But now I have another problem. Now I launch the “ferry” only in the basement, as I was playing with a magnet — a stupid small round thing to tap the notes to the fridge. I was holding it in my hands and then put it aside. On top of the mug from which I was drinking my tea. And it just— floated in the air. I froze. That’s what they call “maglev.” A levitation for real, but not magical or something, but magnetic. A funny physical trick, “the Mohamed’s coffin.” Bring a magnet close to a horizontal ring made from a superconductor, the magnet will induce Eddy currents in the ring. The electric current induces a magnetic field, directed strictly opposite, that’s how you compensate the gravity, that’s levitation. The rim of my cup became a superconductor, with my small help. Oh dear, they’ll kill me! Either that or I’ll never get out of an underground shelter — if I show this cup to anyone! A superconductor at room temperature. How, damn it, how it works? Well, I was reading, “there” yet, that ceramic superconductors are theoretically possible. Yep, at 70 centigrade. What a trap! The “ferry” is a devilish dangerous thing. For me, not even for enemies. I have already secured a coffin for me from the oil tycoons, if this cup gets in the wrong hands. Fuck, I am not even sure I can reproduce this! Can I—

25.

Rinko and her parents are back from visiting relatives. Hello, tasty food, nice to meed you again! I ordered some metal racks for the basement, partially to cover up the butched up wall. A safe was too expensive. I also did not order a bank cell. Come on, a nine year old puts his favourite mug into a bank cell, that’s ridiculous! I fear, I’ll soon have more of similar— souvenirs. But my basement is now cool, looks like a military base— or a mall storage. I put the cup on the shelf, that’s the first family artefact, damn it!

26.

The shelf got another five items, the cherry on the cake is, of course, the non-tearable toilet paper. Though, it still has all paper properties: it can be cut, it gets soaked, an so on. Should I conquer the world now or what? I see no other option to research these materials. I wondor, could my relatives do things like this? I think, they could. They would be alive now, otherwise.

Two days until the school break ends. The ability to make shit with my hands — and I’m not talking about cooking — is now under control. It’s easy. I almost broke my protecting amulet — I just love playing with something in my arms, and now I have this large thing hanging on my neck… I got away with that. Looks like I did. At least, no one hurries to me and tries to eat me. But the flash was— wow. Good that it was still day, so no one saw anything. I sweatdropped. Twiche. First, ’cause I though, I’ll go blind; sencond time, when I believed to have lost my protection. I was holding my hands to the eyes— Fuck! I have seen this. Lines. Curves. Sophisticated networks of 3D structures. That all in reverse colour, the background being the light stains in damaged eyes. The retina returned to normal by the evening, I hope, I did not damage my sight. I have seen the seals. I even understood how to turn the “eye jutsu” on. And I have seen myself.

27.

I look like a starfish. I mean— in the special “sight.” A light nucleus with undecipherable structure and spreading forking beams of light. I am moving my hands and the beams are combined to bundles and are shooting from my palms. Some beams concentrate in my head, there are tightening spots in my arms and legs. Everywhere else the light beams equally dissipate in the space around me— up to like 3 meters of distance. In all directions. The house is a one huge seal. The doors, the windows, the floor, the ceiling, the walls — everything is in a thick structure, a mesh of lines. My own structure is touching the house seal. Like— like a tram on the rails. That one thing from the amusement park: small electric cars with a driver and a conductor net on the ceiling. The net is connected with a beam of pantograph. The cars are moving; the net and the pantrographs are striking sparks. That’s very similar to my issue here.

28.

Back to school. Shocked Rinko today: asked her to go out twenty minutes earlier. Yep, she is not leaving me alone: I cannot make her stop thinking that I also was frightened by that “maniac.” Recall that I was the one who killed it— him. Or her. No, I told Rinko that was a spirit, an ayakashi. I even have shown her pictures from Wikipedia. Rinko thought, that’s some kind of an acid trip, a bit more material, but not overly dangerous. Folks ain’t believing in spirits and also not in magic. Considering real magical schools and “sorcerer” as an official job description, that’s strange. But just a little. In my “old” world I have seen similar issues. Maybe we got magi over there too?

On our way I activated the “ferry” view a few times. I need to think of a name for that. The result was not very shocking. This internal light is not just— poning out of me everywhere, it’s interacting with the outer world. The way to school is in chaotic lines, some are on nearby walls and trees. Not a seal, no. It has no particular structure; I don’t know if it does influence something. But my living block is the energy view looks strikingly different. There is a real, specially made seal. Like one kilometer wide. Houses. Trees. The soil, like few meters deep. People! Grown-ups, kids. Even dogs. And cats. And some birds. Everything is in the web of light.

My mind refuses be scared again.

T/N: Note, the character mixes the Groke from /Moomin/ series by Tove Jansson and /Lotta/ by Astrid Lindgren. You know, he read these in childhood that was long ago.

29.

“I’m living in a fairy tale.” But the tale is kinda scary. Astrid Lindgren had a character called Lotta in her Moomin series. Everything she sits on freezes. I am like this. If I stay on a spot for a while, beneath unfolds a blot of light web. Frankly, it does not hold long, if it is not renewed regularly by my appearance, like the way to school is. And the properties of the materials do not change. I think. My own seals, like the one on the superconductor mug or that on the laser gun, look like more condensed and structured mesh of lines. Finally, professional seals of my relatives look— finalised. And extremely intricate. Especially the one on the amulet. I can distinguish in the larger seals — like the ones on the walls of the living block — separate— blocks. Wavy “combs,” some closed rings, more complex elements. The seals on people are more compact, it’s hard to distinguish elements. And the climax: the amulet. Its seal transcends the material borders and it is moving, changing— Enough said.