Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!
And I had my first scolding today.
That’s not really fun.
You know how Beth has a scientific mind? She got it into her mind that she wanted to test what I could do with my newfound ability. I didn’t see anything particularly wrong with that, so we went to a quiet place, and she had a list of things she wanted to test. Like, she wanted to test whether I could change elevation, or fly, or whatever.
So the first test was to just pop one foot off the ground, in the same location I was. We even set up some pillows, and gave it a try.
Well, nothing happened. At least, I didn’t pop. Instead a voice came out of the air, a quiet voice.
“Don’t push it, Lily. There’s a lot that goes into the calculations to make this happen. Gravitational distribution anomalies, differences in the relative speed of the earth in different latitudes, elevation differences, weather… it may be a very quick form of transport, but it’s not instantaneous, and if any one of those calculations go south you’ll be a splat on the side of Mount Everest. It’s a safe form of transport if you use it properly. Don’t be trying to push the limits.”
I nodded… I felt really abashed. I didn’t think of what went into that kind of thing. I just thought that I thought about something and went there. I didn’t think about the fact that it still had to follow the laws of physics, even if it used laws no one knew about.
And then the voice talked to Beth.
“Beth, I know about you. You are a very logical and scientific minded young woman. There’s nothing wrong with that. But don’t forget that just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Remember how Lily got this ability in the first place – her parents were playing with things they didn’t understand and endangered themselves and her. They’re dead now. Maybe Lily would be very different now if they’d actually followed scientific protocols and didn’t have a fourteen year old girl in the room with them while they were trying things that they should never have tried. Remember this, Beth.”
And then the voice addressed me again.
“Don’t be afraid of it, Lily. I would never give you an ability that could hurt you if you use it properly. Just use it to go from one place to another. You can use it to go any place in the world that you’re allowed to by treaty or my dispensation at any time. Don’t try to skydive, or go to space, or go underground, or do anything stupid like that. It probably won’t work… but it’s not guaranteed not to, and you could hurt yourself very easily. Trust me. Don’t try to do things I never asked you do to.”
And the voice was quiet.
I looked at Beth. She looked embarrassed. We were quiet for a bit.
“I’ve… never been scolded by God before,” she said, shaking a little.
“I have,” I said. “it’s not fun. But… he’s right. Even if he wasn’t God, he’d be right. Neither of us understand how this works. He does. Maybe we could understand more if we experimented, but that might kill one or both of us”. I sighed. “Just leave it be.”
She just looked at me with a calculating look. “You know, the experiment was a success, right?”
“Huh?”, I said, eruditely. I imagine I sounded like Kumiko.
“Well, we know more than we did, right? We know that it follows the laws of physics, we know there’s a lot of calculations involved, we know there are failsafes, and he told me some things about how it works. Maybe I shouldn’t experiment with people… but maybe I can experiment with a potato or something, someday.”
“You have a issue with that?”, I said to the air. Nothing. But inside my head, I heard “No, but at least she’ll be careful now. I wasn’t kidding. What she was trying to do was dangerous. If she tries something like that again, smack her upside the head and tell her it’s from God. And your totem is OFF LIMITS.” There was a pause. “And tell her I didn’t tell her anything I didn’t want her to know.”
I giggled.
“What?”, she said.
“You might find out,” I said, giggling some more. “He doesn’t have an issue if you don’t experiment on people, including yourself, and stay in your lane. And he says he didn’t tell you anything he didn’t want you to know. So it sounds like he’s alright with you trying to learn how it works as long as you’re not an idiot about it. Stay here for a couple of minutes.” And I popped out to get some shaved ice.
Beth really likes shaved ice Especially coconut flavored. You know how in an anime where they eat something delicious and squeak? She does that.
Anyway… I think she just found her life’s work. I’m okay with that. Learning how teleportation works would be good. But I suspect she’s going to have to do it on her own.
Love you all!!! 
English
Japanese