Coeus?

“And the newest development in regards to the market! StarDrive has announced a completely new generation of fusion-reactors. Not only will they be significantly more efficient, but also safer and easier to control. If the company is able to hold their promise, then we can predict that the competition will be in serious trouble.”

-News-Channel: Aether I

***Aether, The Floating City, above the Atlantic Ocean***

***Melan***

“Gideon, what do you have there?” I look at the sheet of paper in my grandson's hands. I am currently making a cake in our kitchen and he is helping me by eating all the sweet leftovers. It has been almost a month since the incident with the school's thug. Luckily it turned out that Gideon was completely fine and he even somehow got employed by one of the biggest companies we have in our society.

And all he has to do is use his programming talent. At first I didn't want to believe it, because he hadn't even learned our programming languages yet. But according to him it's enough to learn two or three computer languages and you can learn the third and fourth in no time.

His reasoning is that programming languages are logical and have a clear syntax. Once you have looked up the vocabulary and grammar for the new one, you can easily adapt your previously learned knowledge to it.

The similarities between humanity's computers and ours aren't just accidental. It's leaked technology after all. Despite all our achievements there are still some dark elements in our society. They are selling everything they can get away with to the black market. Especially our electronics are often leaked through secondary channels.

Though I am not exactly sure that our government isn't doing this intentionally. It's much easier to manipulate the normal humans since they are using a downgraded version of our technology.

By manipulating their internet, we have access to almost everything they know. Only the facilities with the highest security are a little harder to get into and that's mostly because their computers aren't connected to the internet.

I admit that in a shrewd way Gideon is right, but it doesn't mean that anyone could do the thing he did. After I took a look at the programs he wrote I had to admit that he has skill. I am so proud of him. “If I remember right Saden said that she has arranged for you to get half of the profit you generate with those optimized programs?”

Gideon's expression turns sour, which looks kind of funny. He is trying to adapt a set of different expressions, but he fails horribly when he is displaying them deliberately. “Yes, but I don't get it. This stupid sheet of paper says that I got the agreed upon sum of money, but there are those other numbers, which I suppose are taxes? So which amount of that money do I really get?”

“Let me see.” I reach for the paper and take a look at it. Isn't there a zero too many on this?

“Is it much?” Gideon asks. “Actually I am not too sure of this society's money. My original plan involved to trade by barter. Can I buy a spaceship when I leave school?”

“You still want to fly around the solar system in your own ship?” I ask, making a few calculations in my head.

Gideon is probably earning two times as much as me! It's comparable to what my husband earned until he sold his freighter to settle down with me! I want to cry!

“Grandma, you look sick, please sit down. Am I that underpaid? I have to talk to Paul and ask for a raise! I knew that I am being bamboozled.” He folds his hands in front of his chest. “That guy just doesn't look trustworthy. Who would wear a suit at his age?”

I shake my head. “No, don't do that. You are earning a lot of money. I was just baffled. If you continue this, you can buy one of the best ships once you finish your education at twenty.” Or ten cheap ones I suppose.

“Not many techno-mages achieve that at this age.” I myself piloted a ship for a few years, but I quickly found out that it isn't my thing, so I ended my contract once I had enough money. Then I started my own little business, which was dealing with data analysis.

After a few years my husband was offered the opportunity to run for a public office and since then our family is stuck as one of Aether's seven officials.

It's hard enough to be the representative of a colony like Aether. That one of my own daughters went rogue didn't help at all.

Gideon tilts his head and a flashing light appears in my vision. It's alerting me that he is using his ability to access the net.

He nods slowly. “I guess that might work out. Maybe Saden's insistence on this job wasn't so bad after all. I can even pay my part to the mansion. If I work a little more I should be able to afford one of those space liners. I wish they would put price tags on those ships.”

I feel my left eye twitching. “Gideon, you don't have to pay us anything. We have enough money. You have to take into account that I already had two hundred years to hoard money. If you really want your own ship to take a tour around the system, I would have bought you one.” And taking money from a child at his age feels just wrong.

“But I want to do this with my own power. Let me at least repay you for the kitchen.” He takes my hand. “I blew it up after all.”

“Gideon, adults have something that's called pride.” I stop for a moment to formulate my thoughts. “And taking money from the children who are under their protection feels... wrong.”

Gideon looks genuinely confused now. “So that means no?”

I nod. “Why don't you put a part of that sum into a separate bank account and treat it as emergency reserve?”

“Emergency?” he asks.

“That's right, you know, for example if something unforeseen happens. Like illness or accidents,” I offer.

Gideon scratches his chest in deep thought. “You are right. I haven't thought about that at all. I suppose in real life you can't control all the possibilities. It's only smart to provide for all contingencies. I'll ask Saden to do that.”

Once again I feel my eyes twitching. “Saden? What does Saden have to do with that?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “Oh, since I have no idea of how to handle money properly, I decided to make her my manager. I've to admit that her negotiation with Paul impressed me. Apparently she is going to become a lawyer, at least she is taking the necessary tests. And she seems to be a hard party to deal with. I don't know who would be better to look after the cash.”

I know that my granddaughter is a greedy old man on the inside. Gideon will be lucky if he gets his money back from her.

I try to smile, but I feel my composure slipping. “So you kids are having fun together?”

“Hell, yes!" Gideon nods vehemently. "Even the brute seems to be a nice person if you overlook her lack of intellect.”

“Gideon? Don't call your elder cousin a brute. It's discriminating,” I reprimand him.

Gideon's expression drops. “Sorry, it's becoming a habit with Saden around. It's rare for her to call her sister by name.”

I pat Gideon's head. “Don't worry.” The next time I see Saden I'll scrub out her mouth with steel wool. She is having a bad influence on him. “That reminds me! How are your magical studies going? Do you want us to have another lesson?”

That gets me a genuine smile out of Gideon. “Oh, yes! Actually I wanted to learn more about teleportation!”

“Then you are lucky. It's one of my best fields.” I smile. “But first you have to learn the theory behind teleportation. That's including books and tons of maths. Do you know the theory behind wormholes?”

Gideon nods. “Isn't that the famous example with a sheet of paper representing the universe? Then you fold it together and stab a pen through it?”

I roll with my eyes. “Yes, just that the stabbing through it with a pencil is an idiotic idea from the normals. You can't punch a hole through spacetime.

“Just imagine what would happen if you remove an object from one position and let it appear somewhere else. At the point of departure you would have empty spacetime. At the point of arrival you would have to replace the already existing spacetime with the one you just transported, resulting in a very unhappy ending for everyone involved in the experiment.”

“So how do you do it?” Gideon asks with a troubled expression.

I grin, happy that he isn't a genius on all levels. It's so satisfying to teach those younger than yourself. “You switch them! You create two equal spacetime-bubbles and exchange them with each other at the same time. Hence you don't violate the laws of physics.” I raise one hand and point at the cake which we just made. Then I snap my fingers and a marble-sized piece of cake appears between them. “There, I exchanged the air filled space between my fingers with a part of the cake.”

Gideon's eyes widen. “That's awesome! I want to do that too! Teach me the runes and the mathematics!”

I eat the piece of cake. “Don't freak out. You won't be able to do that overnight. It took me a hundred years before I had that level of control over teleportation.”

But Gideon doesn't listen, being completely absorbed in his own world. “Just think about the offensive and defensive capabilities! If you teleport your opponent's heart... no, his brain out of his head, it's akin to an instant kill!”

I stop chewing, appalled by the idea. It might be better to take care of his social skills first. Teaching him such a spell too early could end... ugly.

.