“Deal!” said Derek, knowing a good deal when he hears one.
They lined up at the starting line. “Watch this, Sis,” he whispered to Olivia. “We’ll go first,” Duncan declared.
“No way!” Aaron said. “Us first, then you follow. Best time to the end wins. Here Derek, put on the course tracker.” Aaron handed each of them a blue circular chip, which they attached to their foreheads. The chip tracked their progress through the course, so that no one could cheat by skipping a hurdle.
Ready, set, go!” Aaron and Derek shot through the course, swinging like unearthly monkeys in a jet-age jungle. They literally flew through the course as only those born in space could do.
“Why did you let them go first? You know they know the course better than us.” Olivia frowned.
“I know, and that’s the point,” Duncan replied. “Watch their moves - maybe we can pick up a few of their tricks.”
Olivia and Duncan watched closely. They did manage to see a few places where Aaron and Derek showed ingenuity in getting around the course. The Aaron did somersaults to get over obstacles quickly, deftly landing on the other side like a chimpanzee. And Derek used a diving move to slip through a set of vertical barriers, slithering through like a python.
When Derek and Stront finished, it was the twins’ turn to start the course. “Go,” Olivia shouted. “You know the course better than me. I’ll just cheer for you and hope you win.”
Duncan grinned. He turned off the sticky nanites on his boots and launched himself into the course. He started somewhat slowly compared to Aaron and Derek. When Duncan was halfway through, Olivia noticed that he was matching Aaron’s time, and just a bit slower than Derek. As they neared the end of the course, both boys had slowed considerably, obviously tired from their lightning start. By the time they finished, Duncan was more than halfway through himself, and still very close to Derek’s run time. Duncan was using his superior jump strength to clear high hurdles in one bound, while Derek had to jump three times to reach the top of a pyramid shaped hurdle. Duncan stumbled near the end, though. His feet got a bit tangled when they went through the upside down tire obstacle. But he made up the lost time with several perfect leaps along a fifty foot long balance beam.
“He can’t do that!” Derek shouted. “He’s supposed to walk the beam, not jump over it.”
Duncan landed lightly next to them. “Look’s like my time was the best,” he said, glancing at the time board. Duncan had beaten Derek’s run by just two tenths of a second. “I guess we win.”
Both Aaron and Derek looked angry. Derek said in a mean voice, “No fair! You didn’t run the course the right way. You used your Earther jumps to cheat! And Olivia didn’t even start her run.” Aaron nodded in agreement.
Duncan sighed and said, “Yeah, I guess we weren’t playing fair. You’re right – we forfeited the match. You win.”
At first, Aaron and Derek didn’t understand. Then their faces brightened. Derek said hopefully, “You mean, your sister will help us study for the test?”
Olivia spoke up. “His sister will. And I can teach you a couple of tricks to help you remember those elements from the periodic table that you both struggle with in class.” Olivia smiled. “Does that sound fair?”
“It does to me,” Derek said. He actually smiled. “Thanks, Olivia. Sorry we gave you a hard time about the Earther thing.”
“No big deal,” Olivia said. “Let’s meet up tomorrow to get that studying session done.”
They walked out of the gym together, laughing and talking about how Dr. Garrity wasn’t the worst teacher they ever had.
Chapter 4: nano-bots for everyone
CHAPTER 4: NANO-BOTS FOR EVERYONE
Later that night at the Grey’s apartment, Dr. Gregory Grey, Ph.D. and the HUB’s most respected expert in Astro-Geology and Planetary Terra-Forming, smiled broadly at his family. “Happy birthday, Olivia and Duncan! How are my favorite children enjoying their special day?”
That was Dr. Grey’s idea of a family joke, since he had no other children, and probably never will. Miranda was fond of saying that having twins was enough parenting for any Mother. Greg Grey agreed.
“Not bad,” replied Olivia with a condescending tone, “considering we had to go school on our birthday.”
“Of course,” nodded Greg wisely. “There should be a law against going to school on your birthday. But let’s try to make up for it with a wonderful dinner and a birthday cake.”
“And don’t forget your birthday presents,” Miranda said, as she entered the living room with two small boxes. They were wrapped in festive paper and bows, one blue and one pink.
The kids practically squealed at the sight of the presents. They ran to their mother, holding out their hands to receive their gifts. Miranda handed the taller, thinner pink box to Olivia, and passed the shorter, fatter blue box to Duncan.
“Your mother made these gifts in her lab,” said Greg, as he beamed proudly at his wife.
Miranda blushed and waved away the compliment and said, “Kids, these are very special gifts - but they are a bit tricky to open.”
Duncan tried to tear off the wrapping on his present, but when he touched the paper his hand went right through it. His fingers appeared on the other side of the box, and the box literally flowed up his arm like an armored gauntlet. Olivia had the same experience - it looked as if her present was a pretty pink glove that magically appeared on her right arm.
“What are these things?” Olivia said wonderingly at the shimmering glove coating her forearm.
“They feel like exo-suits, Mom,” Duncan observed.
“That’s right Duncan,” said Miranda approvingly. “They are very much like exo-suits. But they are the next generation, and a quantum leap forward in N-technology, if I may be so immodest as to say so. These are called Nano-Bots, or N-Bots, and they are much more complex and useful than a standard exo-suit. In addition to being a safety suit that will completely protect you from the conditions of deep space, the N-Bots can provide access to communication links, internet data, and instant control over all the usual environmental systems that you currently access by voice.”
Miranda then walked them through the basic options of the N-Bots. “Your N-Bots are voice-activated, and will only obey your unique voice patterns. I have given each of your N-Bots a name, although you may change them if you wish. Olivia, yours is named MIM, and Duncan’s is named PIP. Go on, say hello to them.”
Olivia looked at her wrist, cleared her throat and whispered, “Hello MIM.”
“Hello, Olivia. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said a lovely young girl’s alto voice, distinctly different but sounding very much like Olivia’s voice. “How may I be of service?”
“Nothing at the moment, MIM,” said Olivia. “Just testing your voice response. Oh, could you please change to another color? Pink isn’t my favorite anymore.”
“I understand, Olivia,” said MIM, who instantly muted the hot pink to a light lavender. “Pink is for little girls, and you’re practically all grown up,” MIM said. Olivia blushed, knowing that she and MIM would be great friends.
With a big grin on his face, Duncan yelled loudly “HELLO PIP!”
“Greetings,