By the fall semester Lidda had become quite comfortable with the magiton and looked at it more as a companion now. She stretched her budget to pay for a private dorm room so she could conceal her interactions with the magiton, not to mention it would not reveal itself when others were around. In truth, it was fast consuming her time. Lidda had difficulty tearing herself away. She kept it on her person in the leather pouch Reddge had made for it and told other students it was just a good luck talisman given to her by the Tollsuns.

It likely seemed strange to her classmates that Lidda, the science nerd, would wear a superstitious item, but she really didn't care. The magiton made her feel connected to Casra and Reddge. She enjoyed wearing the leather pouch with its finely detailed hand work knowing Reddge had crafted it himself. She missed both of her friends but couldn't get Reddge out of her mind with his dark, handsome features and tall athletic build. Lidda had to admit she had fallen for him and wondered if he even thought about her anymore. Her feelings were bittersweet after the way he had left. Her dating philosophy was to not put up with any ill treatment; 'if in doubt, get out' sort of rule.

One day while reading about the history of rocket science, Lidda thought of how she would love to witness a launch. She wanted to feel the earth shudder with the force of the enormous engines and see the flames shooting out as it lifted into space. She had laid the magiton on her sunny windowsill to charge and had momentarily forgotten all about its presence there. Suddenly the room was filled with the view of a spaceport, and she could hear the countdown blasting on loud speakers. Incredibly the scene that unfolded was a miniature launch before her eyes.

This was to be the first one of many such displays. Her studies came to life and the illusions were so substantial, Lidda felt as though she was there. She was uncomfortable at first to know the magiton could read her mind, but after a few days she no longer gave it a second thought. As the magiton probed her mind, it would entertain Lidda with visions and dreams from the shadows of her subconscious and forgotten desires. It brought back pleasant childhood memories and avoided the unpleasant ones.

Lidda soon grew bolder and decided to test the limits of its safeguards.

"Show me a king cobra." It was one of the scariest things she could imagine.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

The image of a snake materialized in the corner, curled up asleep.

"No, I want it to come toward me."

The snake uncoiled and began winding a slow path to the center of the room. Lidda held out an imaginary stick and poked it hard. With that it rose up angrily, its hood flattened in a threatening manner. She could see its tongue flicking as though tasting the air. Higher and higher it rose, swinging menacingly from side to side. She had been too enthralled with her game to feel afraid.

"Strike!" Lidda commanded.

She wanted to see if it would, surprised that it actually did. Lidda jumped back instinctively but wasn't quite fast enough. An icy fear gripped her body as she felt a searing pain in her arm where it had connected. The snake was gone as quickly as it had appeared. She hardly dared to look at her arm, but when she did the pain was gone and bold letters appeared across her arm, "Gotcha!"

Lidda had to laugh, "Ok, that you did. Game over. I thought you had built in safeguards."

"Safeguards are not meant to censor. I gave you what you wanted."

In class the next day she tried to act normally, but it seemed everyone could tell something was different about her. Lidda made excuses, saying that her studies were more difficult and kept her busy. In truth her studies were becoming easier to master. It was as though her learning had accelerated. She woke up every day feeling smarter. Her memory was boosted, and she could recall complex assignments effortlessly. Lidda no longer stumbled over new material and began making straight A's in all her subjects, even testing out of a few courses. She knew it was all connected to the magiton.

One night as Lidda lay in bed, she decided to confront whatever or whoever it was.

"Casra! You said you were always with me, so I'm thinking you are right here in this magiton. I want you to reveal yourself, come out and talk to me."

A misty female outline slowly materialized by the side of Lidda’s bed and an image of Casra took form in the night, glowing just enough for Lidda to see it in the darkness.

"I wondered when you would finally figure it out." said the familiar voice.

"You are in there!"

"A copy, Lidda, just a copy of me." There was a smile in Casra's voice.

"OK, now you're freaking me out." Lidda got up from the bed and confronted the image. "Why didn't you just come out and speak to me earlier?'

"Why didn't you go to Castonea Gardens? It would have helped you to better understand things."

"I've been pretty busy." Ok, Lidda thought, that was lame. "Alright, I'll admit I was skeptical about going to that place. But this? This is too weird Casra. You should have explained more to me."

"I was only allowed to give the magiton to you Lidda. It needed time to...to evaluate you."

"Evaluate me? Evaluate what? Just how stupid I am?"

"No, to evaluate your character, your personality. We had to be sure you are suited to the tasks before you. To see if you are emotionally stable. Sort of a test." Casra sounded like her usual self, but Lidda couldn't be sure it was truly Casra talking to her.

"So, did I pass?" Lidda was still angry but couldn't help her interest growing.

"If you didn't, I wouldn't be talking to you now. The magiton would have just erased all memory associated with it and disappeared. You would have forgotten all about it, as though it never existed."

"Except for the journal I've been keeping." Lidda didn't like the implication that her memories could be erased. She had purposefully not kept a journal for fear it might be discovered.

"There is no journal. I would know," Casra replied.

"Of course, you are spying on me as well. Sometimes I'm not sure if I am dreaming all this or if I ever even met you. But my grades in school are real," Lidda said. "Not very ethical either, not that I'm complaining."

"You must excel in your studies to prepare for your future. You have an important job to do. A destiny if you will." Casra said assuredly.

"Just skip the riddles and explain please. What future destiny do you and this rock have planned for me?" Lidda could feel the magiton react to her put down. A strangely human emotion. Amazingly she was connected to it and felt a pang of regret for her careless words.

"AI and robotics," Casra said.

"I think you guys have me beat on that already."

"Your talent is still in its infancy. But we need someone to work with a new android prototype."

"Please explain the talent part since I know nothing of programming robots."

"Your mind is unique it its ability to project, receive, and understand advanced neural net language. Fuzzy logic. A normal person could not be talking to me right now. Remember your phantoms?"

"I do. There is one in front of me right now." Lidda wondered if she might be projecting the image herself. There was clearly something in her communicating on level above simple conversation.

"You can advance in your studies after visiting Castonea Gardens."

"What does growing tomatoes have to do with robotics?"

"You would be surprised how interesting some of their experiments are, but no. You will need to transfer to the graduate program at the University at Provendor."

"Transfer? I haven't finished college yet." Lidda thought Casra had a lot of nerve trying to direct her higher education. The prospect of going to Provendor was exciting, but little more than a dream for someone with her finances.

"You will be able to test into the master's program ahead of schedule if you desire, since you are progressing so rapidly in your studies. My friends at the Gardens have connections with the University and can help you decide. I have to go now. You need to sleep."

"Time for me to go to sleep so you can program my brain all night?"

"Exactly." Casra waved and faded into the darkness of the room.

"No erasing allowed Casra!" Lidda called after her. She knew her mind had been manipulated to learn faster. Now it was beginning to make more sense. This was her new reality and she had to make a choice. She could go with the program or throw the stone away and return to normal life. Who was she kidding? Lidda was hooked. She turned to the magiton.

"Sorry about the rock comment. Do you have a name? Or I could give you one?" She felt that hint of emotion again, this time happy and approving.

The sound of "wee bow" popped into her head. "I should call you 'wee bow'?" Lidda asked, not knowing if she had invented the name or if it had been suggested to her.

"Yes!" came the answer. "But it's spelled 'Widhbo' if you don't mind."

* * *

Lidda was walking down a narrow corridor, the walls were slightly curved, and she realized she was really walking in a large circle. To the outside of the circle there were small, rounded windows or portholes. She peered out and saw endless night with more stars than she could imagine in strange constellations. She was far out in space, far from the familiar skies of home.

Suddenly the floor below her feet changed and turned to ice. A solid sheet of ice. She heard a whooshing and clicking noise only to have Casra come skating up from behind her. Casra slowed to her pace and smiled.

"You always wanted to skate, so what are you waiting for?" Casra asked.

"I didn't know I could skate in here," was Lidda’s confused answer.

"Sure, we can do anything we want," Casra answered as a pair of ice skates appeared on Lidda’s feet. "Come on. I'll teach you."

Lidda cautiously moved her feet and felt herself gliding forward. It was easy, too easy. Soon she was keeping up with Casra and they skated around the circular corridor together.

"Lets move to the rink in the center," Casra said, turning down a spoke like corridor that suddenly appeared leading inward. They came upon a large circle of ice and Casra started showing off with spins and jumps.

"I can't do all of that," Lidda complained.

"Suit yourself," Casra said as she continued showing off. "You can learn if you try. It's like learning to write with your feet."

When Lidda awoke from her dream the next morning, she almost felt tired from the effort, but it was so much fun Lidda decided that she really wanted to go back. It became a recurring dream. She began to pick up more skill. Skating backwards was a thrill, then she ventured to try small jumps and spins.

Over the next few days her dream skating improved tremendously and was almost effortless, but she began to have some strange feelings the following week. She was lying in bed and became acutely agitated. The sensation was mild at first, then more irritating. Lidda couldn't tell what was bothering her, but she tossed and turned before finally getting to sleep. The next evening was worse, and her hands started to burn and tingle. She turned on a light and examined them closely, but nothing. She didn't recall anything she had done to cause them to bother her.

The next night was even worse and the pain intensified. Her index fingers were burning and hurting. It went on for almost half an hour. The following night the pain was excruciating, and a distinctly sharp sensation was in her fingers as though they were being cut. Once again, she found nothing upon examination. By the end of the week, she was dreading bedtime. The pain came again. Lidda felt the sharp sensation intensify and with a burst of pain came the distinct impression of sharp razor blades piercing the skin and protruding out the end of both her index fingertips. She jumped up and checked her fingers, nothing.

"Widhbo, what is happening to me?" she called out in desperation. "I think I may need to see a psychiatrist. I'm going crazy in case you haven't noticed."

"No, not crazy, but it's been fascinating watching you."

"I'm glad to entertain you, but what's going on?"

You should have learned to ice skate when you were younger."

"What are you talking about? I just felt razor blades pop out of my fingers." Lidda turned on her bedside lamp and examined her fingers more closely. It had felt so real she expected to see open wounds, but there were none.

"Yes, you did. Simply fascinating. Your brain is rewiring itself, linking the blades on your feet to your hands."

"What? Why?"

"You are learning to write with your feet just like Casra said. Only you can't write with your feet, so you are linking them to the part of your brain that can write, your hands."

"Oh, that makes perfect sense, to an insane person!"

"You are perfectly sane. I would recommend that you keep it to yourself, however. Others would find it, well 'creepy' as you say."

"Oh, it's creepy alright." Lidda got up. She wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep for a while.

"The good news is, now that the blades have popped out, you're all done."

"I've finished rewiring?"

"Yes."

"Why couldn't you just teach me to skate like you teach everything else and spare me the razor blades?"

"I can program your brain with information and logic, but I can only assist the somatic cortex. Your synapses still must form the proper connections to make your reflexes function. You have always wanted to skate; I hope you don't mind that I helped you."

"It's okay. So now I can really skate? Not just dream about it?"

"In theory, yes. Your fear of falling will inhibit your performance."

"Fair enough. Okay then, but can I have some regular dreams that don't rewire my body?"

"I could arrange a few."

"That would be nice, Widhbo."

"I will see to it."

"Great. Thanks."

In the following week Lidda found herself dreaming that she was aboard a space craft exploring strange worlds. Somehow, she knew that Widhbo was showing her places he had been and she had to wonder just how old the device actually was and where it came from. All she knew was her life could never be the same. Lidda grew more curious about what plans were in store for her. Curiosity had always been a weakness of hers. She would check out Castonea Gardens.