The Advent Of Smouse - Chapter 10 - An Evening Visit

Here we are again,

Ready for Chapter 10 of the Advent of Smouse,

An Evening Visit.

The Shiro children return home,

Promising to say nothing.

Peri can't believe how easily she has allowed these two strange creatures to not only enter her house,

But to organise her activities and influence her decisions.

She is used to being in charge.

X is bemused by the whole thing.

Smouse and Mentor,

His sister and the computers.

The thought of his father's business being shattered is alarming,

So he's more than happy to go along with whatever is planned.

Smenter and Mouse are pleased with their progress.

It's vital that they visit the Black Enterprises Corporate Centre and study the situation there.

They are depending on Peri to convince her father that she should go to the office with him that evening.

Smouse explains to Peri and X how to contact him and Mentor using thoughts.

They practice.

X is far more receptive than Peri.

She is frustrated that she can't do it as well as he can.

They decide it'll be easier if Smouse and Mentor move into the Black household.

X is surprised to discover that his mother is already well acquainted with Smouse and Mentor.

They all agree that a pet Smouse might be too much for their father to cope with.

X isn't even sure that his father will be able to handle the appearance of a new family pet,

A pink dog with black spots.

He thinks he'll leave that up to his mother.

It's going to be difficult enough convincing his father that he needs to remove all his new Diablo logos.

It's essential that Smouse and Mentor return to the Space Orb to communicate with Ag.

When they return,

They'll bring some of the communication equipment with them.

Smouse asks Peri to advise him as soon as her father and mother,

Who are out,

Return home.

She and X have to prepare the way for the arrival of the new dog.

Back in the Space Orb,

Smouse and Mentor finish their report to Ag and Angelica.

They gather up the belongings and equipment they'll need and sit back to wait for Peri's call.

It is one of those perfectly still balmy evenings.

A few wispy clouds in the sky catching the colours of the setting sun.

Smouse carefully raises the ocular probe.

He and Mentor watch the activities of the locals on the beach.

There are families and their dogs on the sand.

Cyclists,

Walkers and joggers share the bike path.

The sound of traffic drifts down from the road.

From its safe resting place at the bottom of the deep pool,

The Space Orb hums gently and emits a faint golden glow.

Smouse and Mentor watch the sound and colour waves rise up from the water,

Across the rocks and onto the waters of the bay.

Smouse's fine tuning picks up a melodic vibration from the depths.

He plays it for Mentor who recognises it instantly.

Dolphins.

The Space Orb sound and colour waves have attracted a pod of dolphins.

Smouse is excited by their appearance and asks Mentor if it's possible to join them in their evening swim.

They have a lot to share.

Mentor too is excited by the thought.

She insists Smouse tune in to their wavelength and ask permission.

It takes several tries but finally Smouse is able to communicate with the dolphins.

The reply comes in the affirmative.

Within a trice,

Smouse and Mentor have transported themselves into the centre of the pod.

Time stands still as they swim and dive and play.

The spectacle of the dolphins in their aerial leaps catches the attention of the people and their dogs on the beach.

Amazed by their sudden appearance,

They start to gather on the rocks to watch.

Mentor notices their attention and is concerned for the safety of the Space Orb.

She and Smouse regretfully bid the dolphin farewell.

They swiftly transport themselves back to the Space Orb.

The dolphins disappear instantly.

Their sudden departure mystifies the beach audience.

Back in the Space Orb,

Smouse and Mentor quickly shut everything down until the crowd disperses.

After all the exercise,

Smouse is just nodding off when optic fibres in his scarf suddenly start to vibrate.

He signals to Mentor that a message is coming through.

It is X.

He urges them to come quickly.

Smouse and Mentor immediately transport themselves back to the Black House.

They discover X in a state.

Their father came home in a particularly foul mood.

All of his computers have gone down,

Both here and in his overseas offices.

Peri tried to convince him that he should take her back with him to the office,

But as soon as they had finished dinner,

He stormed off in a rage.

Their mother is still out,

Having dinner with her mother.

Peri has decided to go on her own and has taken his spare work keys.

Smouse and Mentor consult briefly.

They decide to follow Peri,

But before they can leave,

Vera Black arrives home.

Her entrance is like a whirlwind.

She embraces X and plants a large kiss on his cheek.

He squirms in embarrassment.

She starts to ask where Peri and her husband are when she spots Mentor and Smouse,

Who have maintained their appearances.

She forgets about a previous question.

Instead she bends down and hugs Mentor and bombards her with questions.

Where have you been,

My magic pink dog and that exquisite Smouse?

I thought you'd gone.

She turns to her son,

Her face lit up with delight.

Where did you find them?

Did Peri let you in on our secret?

Giving X no time to answer,

She continues.

Wait until you see my new paintings.

She stops,

Stands and studies Mentor from all sides.

I'll just have to paint this darling dog too.

Before X can say anything,

She takes off with a flourish to her studio to capture the moment.

X gives a sheepish grin.

Mum,

He explains,

Is always like that when she's on a roll.

She'll be in her studio for the rest of the night.

Smouse and Mentor assure him that they understand.

They refocus on the current problem.

X wants to go with them,

But they tell him no as they can travel much more quickly by themselves.

Before he can protest,

They disappear.

He curses angrily at being left behind.

He's also worried about Peri.

He's not sure if his dad has gone to the office,

But if he catches her there,

All hell will break loose.

Leaving a hasty note for their mum,

He grabs his bike and heads for the city.

Meanwhile,

Peri has caught the bus and trained to Melbourne.

The black corporation is centred in a large modern building close to the Yarra River.

She struggles against the flowing home crowd and finally reaches her father's offices.

Because of its overseas connections,

The office operates 24 hours with a skeleton staff in the evening.

The receptionist desk is vacant,

But she is surprised by the number of people still around.

Things must be serious.

She quickly takes a lift to the upper floors where most of the computers operate.

She is staggered by the sight that greets her.

The vast room that covers a whole floor is as busy as in the day.

All operators are on duty.

She spots her father's assistant,

Daniel,

Anxiously moving from computer to computer.

No one takes any notice of Peri as she casually moves into the room.

The first three computers look okay.

They're operating properly.

The next two are down.

With a jolt,

Peri recognises a familiar scene on the machines.

The light source is being sucked into a red-rimmed black hole.

A red zigzag line streaks across the screen.

The power starts to fade.

The operator zooms into the black hole closer and closer.

Peri watches spellbound.

The system crashes.

The computer operator smashes his fist on the desk and swears furiously.

He shouts out to Daniel that another computer has gone.

Daniel rushes over in despair.

He sees Peri but is too distraught to register who she is.

He is more concerned about her father's return to find another ten systems crashed and continuous phone calls from their international offices with the same news.

Peri feels her father before she sees him.

The whole floor stops,

Suspended in fear.

Martin Black is white with rage.

He demands to know who is doing this to him.

No one answers.

No one knows.

He suddenly spots Peri.

His anger renders him speechless.

There is a sharp,

Loud explosion as a computer screen disintegrates.

Everyone turns towards it.

The lights in the building slowly fade.

The tension is electric.

A sudden silver and pink flash illuminates the office.

Peri catches a momentary glimpse of Smouse and Manta.

She feels warmth start to flow around her as the lights gradually gather strength and the tension diffuses.

Peri experiences a strange electrical prickling in her head.

It seems to be telling her something but it's like an unformed jigsaw.

The office suddenly mobilizes and her father moves towards her but he is interrupted by a new arrival,

X.

The appearance of both of his children in his office,

A rare occurrence,

Is enough to check his intense anger.

He returns his attention to the computers.

The ideas in Peri's head crystallize.

She checks the computers around her to see which ones are working.

She suggests to her father that perhaps the operators of the working computers should have a go at restoring the faulty ones.

Martin Black starts to shrug her off but at this stage he realizes he must try anything.

He calls the office to attention and makes a quick assessment of those functioning well.

Their operators are transferred to the malfunctioning ones.

Cynically the displaced staff gathers around as their replacements take over.

They watch in bewilderment as the machines gradually regain their power and faded icons appear on the screen.

They flicker on and off,

Stronger,

Weaker and then stronger before stabilizing.

Peri suddenly looks up as a thought sparks in her head.

Dad,

She hesitates but leaps in,

Can you take the Diablo badges off too?

Martin Black is about to verbally rip into her for suggesting such nonsense but something stops him.

He thoughtfully studies his children.

A flash of pink and silver in front of the nearest computer catches his eye.

He turns sharply as X moves towards the computer.

The computer operator suddenly gives a sudden whoop of glee as the computer surges into full operation.

Peri is the first to notice that the badge is gone.

She looks around for X but he is moving quickly between all the semi-operating machines.

As before there is a brief flash of pink and silver and then the miraculous recovery of the machines,

Each one now minus its Diablo badge.

Peri joins X as he moves from machine to machine checking.

One by one the disabled machines are restored,

Creating a feeling of excitement from the performing operators.

Martin Black stands mesmerized in the middle of the room.

All of the computers appear to be working.

His assistant Daniel breathes a sigh of relief.

As they approach the final computer,

Peri observes one of the displaced operators moving towards a vacant operating machine.

She moves to stop him but X restrains her.

We have to watch,

He tells her.

Their father spots them as they ease themselves towards the machine to watch.

He follows them.

The computer operator keys in his operating codes.

Several pages of information scroll down satisfactorily.

He aggressively types in further data.

A thin red zigzag line and a black hole appear on the screen.

As before the light seems to be drawn into the black hole.

The operator angrily zooms in.

The machine crashes,

Crushing his ego.

Martin Black indicates to the operator to leave.

Mortified he stumbles out of the chair drawing the attention of his co-workers.

They wait expectantly to see what happens next.

Martin Black turns to Peri and X.

He studies them intently.

His staff's eyes on him.

You two seem to know something about this.

So what's the problem?

His eyes narrow.

Have you done something?

They both furiously shake their heads and shrug their shoulders.

In the ensuing silence,

Peri studies the computer.

It still displays the Diablo logo.

She looks back up at her father and back to the computer.

She turns and lets her attention rest on the nearest operating computer.

Her father follows her gaze.

Its badge is missing.

He shakes his head in disbelief.

You're not seriously trying to tell me the logo has something to do with this.

That's absolutely ridiculous.

He strides off to make sure his staff get back to work.

The displaced operators are unsure as to whether or not they should return to their computers.

Their colleagues' experience has made them apprehensive.

They wait nervously while their boss and his assistant confer.

Out of the corner of his eye,

X catches a pink glow.

He remembers Smouse's thought instructions.

He concentrates.

Smouse tells him to advise his father to leave only those successful operators on duty and to replace the next shift only with those who have had no trouble.

This will at least keep things happening while they analyze the problem.

X is very doubtful that his father will listen to him.

He explains Smouse's proposal to Perry.

They join their father who,

Now with Daniel,

Is checking on the progress of each computer.

Perry puts forward their suggestion.

Daniel is surprised by his boss's immediate acceptance of their proposal.

It's not in character.

His promise when they get home to have a few harsh words with them about disobeying his directives is more in keeping with the Martin Black he knows.

Perry and X wait in their father's company car while he puts into operation the new arrangements.

They watch and listen as the disgruntled,

Displaced operators leave early for the night.

A warm hum and glow fills the car as Smouse and Mentor appear.

Perry and X demand an explanation,

But before they can say anything,

Martin Black appears.

He scowls at X's bike strapped to his roof rack and focuses suspiciously on the glow in his car.

Smouse disappears.

As he opens his driver's side door,

He is about to berate his children for coming to the office contrary to his orders when the sudden appearance of a strange pink dog in his car switches his attention from his children.

Mentor smiles gently at the torrent of words.

X explains that their mother knows and already loves the new dog.

His father slumps into feet into his seat and drives them home.

And here we are at the end of Chapter 10.

See you next time for Chapter 11.