Prologue: Somewhere, at some point in time, a conversation was held. "We beseech you, to allow us to act. Many lives will be wasted; many souls will be lost, all for the want of a small amount of intervention." After due deliberation. "Very well. It shall be so." And somewhere else, at some later point in time, another, independent, conversation was also held. "Our surveys indicate, with a probability of 90% or more, that a period of instability will soon be entered. There is a probability of over 50% that this will escalate and spread to other regions. Many lives will be lost, and they could be set back by decades, if not centuries." "We calculate, with a 75% probability, that we have the ability to change this outcome for the better." After due deliberation. "Very well. Let's do it." Blue: Finally manages to find a girl who wants to talk with him. On a bench seat overlooking the river, sat two high school students. They were both seventeen years old and in the same class. A boy and a girl. They were currently eating lunch together, idly watching the tidal surge flow up the river - and feeling extremely uncomfortable. The boy's name was Reid Rednoll and his hair was as red as it could possibly get, without breaking any genetic laws. So, of course, everyone had always called him - Blue. He did not mind that. Nor was he too fussed about the fact that he was the shortest person in class. Although he did occasionally wonder if his current abysmal performance with girls would have been any better if he was a six-footer. He was also intelligent and honest. So he was always regretfully forced to conclude that it was probably more to do with his lack of social skills, rather than anything else. Upon turning seventeen he had resolved to do whatever it takes to get a girlfriend. Unfortunately, he didn't really know what it took. He did his best. There was a very attractive girl in his class, who was popular with the other students and had been elected to be the class representative. He knew that this paragon of perfection walked home in the same direction as he did, so one afternoon he had made an attempt. "Ah, hello Rebecca, ah, perhaps, err, you would like me to walk with you, err, since we sort of live in the same direction?" he said. "Well, that would have been nice, Blue, but unfortunately I have an arrangement with my friends and we walk to each other's houses. So, I'm very sorry, but I can't take you up on your offer." she said. With a very nice smile and very polite demeanour. "Ah, ok." said Blue. He walked home alone, heart pounding, and face red in embarrassment. Now she will probably talk about it with all her friends and I'll be the laughing stock of the class.. He waited a month. Watching the students in his class from the safety of his seat. And did not notice any difference. He had read all of the books he could find about psychology and personality and how to make friends. So it was an easy conclusion for him to realise that he was asking a lady who was, frankly, right out of his league. So he forced himself to try again. With another girl in his class, Teresa. He figured she was maybe roughly the middle of the pack when it came to the socialisation league ranking. Not that he really knew, since all he could go by was what he saw as he sat by himself at his desk in the classroom. She looked embarrassed, looked away, and managed to politely refuse. Damn, now that's two girls I will forever be too embarrassed to even say hello to. Not that I have ever spoken to either of them in the past, mind you. Of course, maybe that's why they have no interest in me in the first place? If he was at the bottom of the socialisation league, then by simple induction, why not ask a girl who was also at the bottom of the league? The girl's name was Pink Robone. She was the shortest girl in class. Although she still towered over Blue; by at least four millimetres, so Blue was still the shortest of everyone in class. But Pink was number one in the timidity stakes, definitely being the most timid student in class. And her hair was bright pink. And it stayed pink, no matter how much it grew. This definitely violated the laws of genetics, but it was the colour it was, so the other students had no choice but to accept it. Several of the other girls had made covert observations in the gym change rooms, and excitedly relayed to news to some of the more bolder boys who had asked- "Yes, she is definitely pink all over!!!" Accompanied by much giggling and laughter. Naturally Blue was not one of the boys who were the recipient of this bit of risqué information. All he could go by was whatever he observed from his solitary viewpoint. Which was still very enlightening. To put it bluntly, Pink was even worse at socialising that Blue was. She was just as solitary as he was, and also made ineffectual attempts at making friends. For example, one day just before lunch, Blue had seen her attempting to talk to one of the boys in the class, who happened to sit right next to her. James had been trying to spin a pencil on his thumb, but it had flicked off out of control and bounced onto Pink. She had, with a fast movement, grabbed it before it could travel further. "Ah, hello James. Sorry, this is yours?" James took the pencil back, and smiled. "Thanks." Pink tried to say something more. But, as usual, her facial expressions and body language were just a little off. Off enough to make everyone who tried to talk to her feel uncomfortable. So James managed, without being rude or anything, to deftly start a conversation with one of his friends. He ended up in a group of boys heading out to play Frisbee. Pink closed her mouth and went back to what she had been doing. Blue, watching this performance from his seat, observed that she did not seem to be upset by this. That is, in so far as he could read anything at all in her expression. Because of this poor ability, and because she would often speak without any discernible emotions at all, the rest of the class had christened her the Pink Robot. But they never used it to her face. So, Blue had reasoned, if it is the bottom of the league for him, then the Pink Robot would be the best choice. Being a seventeen-year-old boy, he had calculatedly gone through her assets: A sort of Ok but plain figure. Although somewhat skinny, especially in the parts that matter to boys. She's intelligent and gets good marks. In actual fact, Blue and Pink were always in the top two when it came to school marks. Sometimes one and sometimes the other. She seems to want to have a friend also. Hopeless at anything to do with communicating or socialising with others. But, but, well, honestly, I'm not all that crash hot, either. Ok, I suppose I can only try... This was a regretful conclusion, but he felt compelled to arrive at it. By sheer logic. Hint: using logic to pick one's partners is not necessarily the best thing to do. But it was the only thing that Blue had available at this point in time, so... He waited until no one else was around, took a deep breath and "Ah, Pink, would you, perhaps, like to eat lunch with me, ah, at one of the benches in the school park...?" Her face went blank, then lit up in a big smile, then blank again, then another smile "I'll be delighted! When do you want to meet?" she said, before lapsing into blankness again. "Ah, about 12:05..." he said. He also described which park bench. It was one that was furthest away from any likely gathering of other students from his class. He was not sure he wanted to advertise this arrangement to all and sundry quite yet. So at about 12:00 he was at the park bench, nervously waiting, already beginning to regret it. He sat at one end of the bench. At precisely 12:05 she appeared, carrying her own lunch, and sat at the other end of the bench. So there they were, sitting on the bench seat, watching the tidal surge travel up river. In retrospect, they would both describe this first meeting as being like pulling out teeth. Slow and painful. They both had sandwiches. "Ah, do you always make sandwiches for lunch?" said Pink. "Hmm, yes, ah, yes." said Blue. A minute's silence as they both studied their own sandwiches. "Do you live far from here?" said Blue. "Only about 20 minutes walk, out over the causeway." said Pink. The school they were in was situated on a small island; the river flowed by on both sides. Pink lived to the north. More silence. "And you?" said Pink. "Actually, only 20 minutes walk out over the bridge." said Blue. So Blue lived to the south of the river. More sandwich studying. If the school was to start giving out certificates in sandwiches, they would have already earned enough points to pass with distinction. "Ah, do you live with your parents." said Blue. "No, by myself. And you?" said Pink. "Ah, my parents died a few years ago." said Blue. Another silence. Pink eventually thought of another topic of conversation. "So, ah, I see that the political situation has finally settled down?" said Pink. "Hmm, yes, everybody agreed to split into two parties, one premier per party." said Blue. "Yes, do you realise that their nicknames are the Blues and the Pinks..." said Pink. "Hey!, just like our names. Pink and Blue!" said Blue. He laughed. PInk giggled. Then they both became silent. Unfortunately, this was the highlight of their conversation. After that, everything was down hill. Not that they had climbed very far up the hill, mind you. More silence. Blue was totally stuck. What do I say now? Ask about the weather, nyah, too cliché. And anyway, it is fine, anyone can see that. Pink obviously couldn't think of anything to hold the conversation, either. They stayed silent, frozen into inactivity. The reason why nobody from their class would likely be seen in this area was that the primary school children normally congregated here. To one side of the bench was a playground for these kids, currently occupied by a dozen or so. At this point in the exciting conversational exchange, a little girl broke away from her companions and ran full tilt pass Pink and Blue's bench. Or tried to, since she tripped and fell flat on her face right in front of them. It was quite the production. Wails and tears. Seeing this, Blue had jumped up from his seat and knelt beside the girl, putting a big grin on his face and started to lift her up. Only to realise that Pink had done exactly the same thing, and was on the other side of the girl, also starting to lift her up with a big grin. The little girl, seeing two big grins and helping hands, stopped crying and allowed herself to be propped up to standing position. There were scratches and drops of blood on both of her knees. "There, there" said Blue. "I'll put a bandage on to make it better." He reached into his pocket to withdraw his wallet, in which he always kept a few bandaids. And Pink was doing the same. "Oh, you hurt yourself!" she said. "Never mind, I got some bandaids in my purse." Blue and Pink looked each other in mild surprise. By unspoken consensus, Pink put a bandaid onto the girl's left knee while Blue did her right knee. The girl, receiving so much attention, had by now completely forgotten about crying. At this point, the two older students came to a halt. What did they do now? Fortunately, the decision was taken out of their hands. "Renee! You've been running and fallen over again!" This was the voice of an older female student who was running up to the scene. She reached them and looked at Pink and Blue in some bemusement. "Oh, it's Pink and Blue from my class." she said. It was the first time anyone else had said their names in combination like that. The student was Rebecca, the girl whom Blue had first asked. "Well, hmm, thank you both for looking after my little sister. She is always getting into scrapes, she's far too adventurous for her own good, aren't you my dear." this last bit was spoken directly to the child. Pink and Blue watched as Rebecca led Renee away. Then they turned to each other. "Well, it's almost time to go to our next classes." said Blue. He held out his hand towards her, waving it around slightly. Maybe I will, after all, ask her again for lunch? Pink reached out with both of her hands and held his. Blue watched their three joined hands. This is rather nice. He looked at her face and made an attempt to read her expression. She is desperate for some contact? Was he sure of that? He did not know. "Ah, how about he have lunch here tomorrow, as well?" he said. Pink produced a big thank you smile. For once, it was unmistakable. "Certainly! I shall be delighted." Back in the classroom, in their last lesson of the day. It was physics, and the physics teacher told them that tomorrow morning they were going to be splitting into pairs and performing experiments to demonstrate Newton's law of gravitation. "So please make up your pairs now, and I will give out the experimental sheets." Sigh, went Blue. How useless. Apply the equation, and we know exactly what is going to happen. So why bother with the experiment? Blue, being a top student, did not need the experiments to be able to understand the physics. He also did not need the embarrassment of trying to pick a partner. It was like trying to ask a girl for a date, all over again. Normally he would hang back until everyone else had sorted themselves out, then allow himself to be paired with whoever was left over. And it was really annoying to be paired with someone who did not understand what they were supposed to be demonstrating. Wait, this time I can ask Pink. At least I know she is just as good at this stuff as I am. Pink was three desks away. By chance, she looked in his direction. He waved, walked over to her and they made their arrangements. Tomorrow morning, using the central void of the building, they would be showing that a falling object accelerates at just under ten metres per second per second. At least this is something I can do without any problems. A nice relaxing break. Blue: A demonstration of acceleration due to gravity The next morning Blue got ready for school. He prepared his lunch. Let's see, I'll be eating lunch with Pink again. So she has every opportunity of judging him, again. Perhaps she might be covertly examining my lunch as well? Better cut the bread slices nice and evenly. Kind of nerve racking, I must say. Although I'm observing her in the same way. Let's hope all of this judging stuff doesn't get out of hand. He packed his lunch into his school backpack, along with his textbooks and notes and some bills he had to pay. As he walked to school, Blue was beginning to have his regrets, again. On the one hand, she is the only girl who has ever shown any willingness to get to know me. But, on the other hand, just because I eat lunch with her, doesn't mean she has to be my girlfriend. Or, maybe, she doesn't want a boyfriend. Or perhaps she desperately wants one just like I want a girlfriend, and she judges me to be the one, and I get trapped into marrying her even though we aren't incompatible... After ten minutes of going around and round in circles he eventually concluded: Get a grip of yourself. It's only sharing lunch! It takes more than that before people marry. I think. In fact, what does it take before a couple finally make that walk up the aisle to be married by some judge or whoever? He spent the rest of the walk wondering about that. He arrived at school. Since the island on which the school was built was small, the school was in a single building that went upwards. The only other property on the island was a police station. Blue's normal classroom was on the second story, so he had to climb two stories before getting to his class room. He found Pink already waiting, holding the experimental kit in her hands. "Right" said Blue. "How about I go to the top of the stairwell and drop the ball, and you go to the basement floor and do the timing?" "Sure. And, ah, thanks for picking me as your partner. I was hoping you would." said Pink. As she said so, she reached out and momentarily held his arm in her hands. This is nice. This is also scary. "Ah, Ok. If we start now, we can beat the rush before everyone else tries to do the same thing." said Blue out aloud. The school building was eight stories high, and one basement deep. A central void ran the full height, nine stories in all. It was four metres wide and the stretched almost the full length of the building. On either side of the void, for each story, was a balcony corridor, with doors to the classrooms. And at either end was a staircase. So by going to the top floor, and poking his head over the railing, Blue could look down nine stories to the basement floor. Except this was a school. Full of children and teenagers, not exactly known for their sensible, rational behaviour. For example, it would not be totally unexpected for kids to throw stuff over the railing, regardless of what might be below. So there was security grill covering the entire open side of the void. No chance of teenagers on either side playing Frisbee with each other. Or worse. The physics teachers, recognising the potential for educational experiments, had petitioned the school board, and consequently there was a small hatch in the grill on the top floor. As part of the experiment, Blue had the key, plus a small rubber ball, and he was aiming get to the hatch before everyone else did. Blue trudged up a few stories. The school board was of the firm opinion that children should get plenty of exercise. Accordingly, there were no elevators. If your classroom was on the top floor, then tough. The exercise was good for you. For some reason, all of the non-teaching offices were on the ground floor. The senior students, and the teachers, would sometimes point this out to various school officials, but it never made any difference. Blue passed a whole crowd of little primary students, each holding a helium-filled balloon. He smiled; they were so cute, excitedly chasing after their colourful balloons. "Hello, it's Blue. Have you seen Renee just now, by any chance?" It was Rebecca, looking a little flustered as she looked through the crowd of little kids. "Ah, no, sorry." said Blue. That's now the second time she has ever spoken to me by her own choice! Not that it does me much good. He sighed and kept on going up. On arrival at the top floor, he found he wasn't the first after all. James, plus some of his Frisbee playing friends were already there, getting ready to run their own experiments. Oh well, we will just have to take turns. He walked down the length of the corridor, and was surprised to come to a cordoned off area. That's right. He remembered the announcements. They're making repairs to the air conditioners on the roof. Big signs proclaimed "No Students Beyond This Point!" "Right, right, I won't trespass. But I can walk up to the signs and take a look up, can't I?" said Blue. So he ambled over. A whole section of security grill had been removed, so he took the opportunity of poking his head over and looking down. Nine stories down the floor of the basement area, which was used for gym, was visible. To one side of it he could see various sports like paraphernalia scattered around. He looked up, and saw that there was temporary scaffolding going out over the void, then a scaffolding stair going up into the ceiling, towards the air conditioning machinery. Hmm, let's see, they must be attempting to get access to the underside of the big water cooling towers, and, ah, what's that? A bright pink balloon, bobbing just under the ceiling. Did one of the little kids lose their balloon? But there is security grill covering lining the full width of the corridors below. So does that mean a kid must have come up here...? "Oh shit." He had just seen a small girl, whom he recognised as Renee, up on the scaffolding staircase, trying to retrieve her balloon. "No, wait, she is outside the stair rail! She really is far too adventurous for her own good!" In fact, to his rising horror, he realised she was hanging on with grim determination to the rail with both hands, one foot dangling free over the nine story drop, the other leg at an acute angle, foot pressing onto the side of a scaffolding pipe. Blue dropped the stuff in his hands and started calculating the odds. Hop over the railing, up the staircase, it's only three metres, reach over and grab the kid, haul her back. Pretty safe, no problems. He scrambled over the railing and jumped onto the temporary staircase. It rattled and shook. He could see the basement through the open grid of the stairs. Ignore the view. Get moving! By now, James and his friends had noticed that Blue was climbing the scaffolding, and were gathering along the rails, wondering just what the hell he thought he was doing. He raced up the stairs. They vibrated and made twanging sounds with each footfall. He got to the top, reached over and grabbed the child by her arms just as her foot slipped. He almost over balanced but he managed to drop his body on the inside of the railing, arms hanging over and holding the girl. Gulp. He could see a whole lot of thin air beneath the girl's feet. And her face, looking up at his. The look on her face was something that he would always remember. Especially at three o'clock in the morning when suffering from a bout of insomnia after eating too much food. He carefully hoisted her up and over and into his arms. "Phew." he said, as he felt his heart hammering. "Emergency over." He held her tightly. She was trembling, clutching his shirtfront and still looking at his face. He cuddled her. "It's all right. It's all right. Now all we need to do is get down the stairs again." He looked down and towards the corridor and saw James and his friends looking up, with a very interesting range of expressions on their faces. Blue wished he had a camera to take a photo of them all. And further back, running towards him, were several other students, including Rebecca. They must have just arrived on the scene. Blue freed one hand from holding Renee, and waved at the crowd, then started to descend the staircase. That's strange, why are the students moving up? No, he realised, the part of the staircase he was on was moving down. It appeared to be hinging on the lower part, with the upper part smoothly arcing downwards. What? The top of the staircase must have come loose! Blue started calculating again. This time with more urgency. The top might be free, but the bottom is still firmly attached, not only with scaffolding clamps but also chains. So it will probably hold. All I have to do is to either hold on, or jump to the balustrading on the corridor as it passes... Wait, I'm holding Renee... By this point James, having realised something was still very wrong, had moved along the corridor until he was directly opposite the place that Blue would end up being, if the stair case kept rotating and falling. The staircase did keep on rotating and falling. "James! Catch Renee as I pass!" Blue pressed against the railing around his staircase that was closest to James, and has they passed he half handed, half-tossed Renee into James' hands. James took her weight with an audible 'oof' and staggered backwards and fell and ended up sitting on the ground, still holding Renee, and watching as Blue disappeared below the floor level. Blue was now calculating with utmost urgency. The floor I'm standing on is rotating down, I will slide off, but even though what used to be the top end is open, there's a rope across it. No problem, just grab the rope and hang on. Hopefully the stairs will remain supported at the other end. Shouldn't be any problems. As predicted, he slid down as the steps he was standing on kept tilting. No problems, plenty of time to grab the rope to stop the sliding, then grab the last rung of the stair case, and clamber up it. No problems. He grabbed the rope. The rope promptly snapped off and Blue was falling. It's a shame nobody was timing him. It would have made one hell of a physics class assignment to hand in. Blue watched as the stair case kept on rotating on its accidental hinge, rotated out of his reach. He turned his head and looked down, at the concrete floor of the basement, all of nine stories away but getting closer. A blank floor, except - he could see Pink standing in the middle, right under him. In sudden horror, he screamed out "Pink! Move out!" She looked up, was still for a moment, then there was a blur and she was no longer visible. So now, there was Blue, in free fall. He was at the end of his line. Right out of options. No more responsibilities left. No course of action he could take. Except travel those nine stories, straight down. The floors moved past him, slowly at first, then speeding up. A classic example of acceleration due to gravity. He turned his head again, and could see the faces of students lining up along the balustrading. Receding out of reach above him, vanishing out of sight. Damn, I never did get to have a girlfriend. Not even a second lunch date with Pink. I just hope she isn't traumatised by my body splattering all over the gym floor.