NO ORDINARY ROOM (34 page)

Jamie smiled, ‘So you mean that all those phrases and words like, mudder and brill that I taught you would have been lost.’

‘Exactly, but you were the one that was almost ‘killed’ for real.’

‘I still can’t believe most of what happened and what you told me, but then again I always had trouble believing that the physical brain that looks just like a piece of meat, could be responsible for memory, intelligence and so many other things.’

‘Some earthlings who have a detailed knowledge of computers could probably accept some of the things that you probably still have trouble believing.’

Jamie was enjoying the discussion with Soupinpota and countered with, ‘Even I know that a brain is just made up of a processor and memory.’

‘You are forgetting Jamie that a processor needs to be fed instructions in one form or other.  I have noted that some earthlings now talk about artificial intelligence which I find quite amusing and progress has been very slow.  You humans are programmed, just like me, with one notable difference.  Do you know what this might be?’

Jamie pondered the question for a moment and was thinking that it might just answer one of his own which he was intending to raise with Soupinpota.

‘I suppose it must have something to do with control or personality.  I mean Geoff and me might react the same in some situations, but differently to other boys, for instance, posh kids.’

‘You are on the right track, Jamie, but my question was really asking why you and I are different and yet we are both programmed.  The main difference is that the way I have been programmed prevents me from doing certain things and I am not capable of behaving or doing anything out of character.  I have been programmed to be a good guy.  You earthlings are programmed in a different way which means that you can change.  You can be capable of all shades of behaviour which can be good or bad.’

Jamie could follow what Soupinpota was suggesting, but now he needed an answer to his question.

 ‘So why did Devilmortex become a baddie if he was carefully controlled?’

‘You know enough about computers to know that no software is perfect, Jamie.  My superiors are confident that they destroyed Devilmortex completely, but we will have to wait and see before we know that the war is truly over. Now it is almost time to say farewell, Jamie, but perhaps we will chat again one day.  Is there anything that you wish to know before I wake Geoff out of standby mode?’      

 ‘I still don’t understand how some of the things that happened could be possible.’

‘Jamie you must remember that what I have told you is only a very small part of what we are capable of. Devilmortex could have caused real havoc had he continued with his evil ways and your Uncle Stanley’s bravery helped prevent it.  I think Koolebron might have explained that on the day you ‘died’ on the pedestrian crossing, but I’ll go through it again quickly.   You already know that it was Uncle Stanley who left your house on the day he was killed.  Your parent’s and sister’s image processing was modified so that they saw an image of you and not Uncle Stanley and Uncle Stanley voice was substituted by yours.  Devilmortex ‘arranged’ that Uncle Stanley’s physical body could not be seen by anyone for just a few seconds and that is why the lady driver ploughed into him.  I am not authorised to tell you how this was achieved, but that was the secret of what happened that day. Koolebron changed everybody’d recollection of events and when your parents arrived back at the house they remembered taking Uncle Stanley and dropping him near your school and seeing him hit by the car.  Your Uncle agreed to put himself in danger and it enabled us to finally destroy Devilmortex who had developed obsessive behaviour.  In the beginning he was just playing with you, but in the end his mission was to destroy you and your Uncle.

Jamie was saddened by the mention of Uncle Stanley and asked again about how it was possible to change an object into something else.  He was thinking about sparrows into giant Trioptica and not trees into furniture. 

‘I’m afraid you would have to understand the complexities of atomic structure to have any chance of understanding that, Jamie, but I have already mentioned the ATAC system to you.  Perhaps you might ask your friend Geoff.  There are still some things I haven’t told you, but hopefully what you now know might help you in future when you try to get your head around things.  I could have changed your dad’s image processing, but got Koolebron to use ATACS to produce those animals your dad saw in the garden, because it had a more dramatic effect.’

Jamie told Soupinpota that it had been  really scary watching his Dad be brushed aside by the tiger on the lawn.

‘Jamie, I do have a confession to make about the coconut shells and cabbage leaves experiment.  I simply turned off your remote brain for the first part of the experiment.

‘That was a real gotcha.’ Jamie laughed.

‘Sorry, about.  I nearly forgot to mention that Koolebron has made sure that the rest of your family will have no memory of the various incidents that happened to them, including the bats or the animals that your dad saw on your lawn.  So, it’s farewell, my friend, or should I say, Tarra, Jamie.’

     Jamie didn’t have a chance to deliver his own parting message or ask a serious question about something that had been bothering him.  He had wanted to ask Soupinpota that if he really was a computer then who made him and did he look like a robot.   Jamie felt a wave of sadness come over him when he realised that he would probably never hear from his faraway friend ever again.  He knew that he would probably think of Soupinpota every time he switched on a computer.  Soupinpota had been more than a friend, he had been his guardian and he would miss him.

The voice of Auntie Sue who was standing just behind him might have been the reason for Soupinpota’s haste in ending their communication.

‘Come on you two, before the light fades.  Just the one photograph and then you can carry on with your boy’s talk.’

‘Just give us a sec, Auntie Sue,’ replied Jamie as he watched Geoff yawn and then rub his eyes.

As soon as Auntie Sue had headed back towards the house Jamie asked Geoff a question.

‘What sort of a question is that? Geoff replied. ‘I know as much about what you just asked me as I do about….’ Geoff struggled to find a topic and finally settled on brain surgery.

‘So you don’t know anything about advanced atomic structure?’

‘Is this some kind of joke?’ Geoff asked.

‘No I was just wondering if the old school covered the same subjects as the one in Devon.’ Jamie lied and then suggested that they had better go join the others for the photo taking.

Jamie had to endure another round of female rellie pestering at the end of the photo session and he was sorry when Geoff had to go home.

When the relatives started leaving, Jamie joined his mum and dad who were sat with Uncle Steve and Auntie Sue on the patio.  Uncle Steve was starting to get sentimental and when he came back with some more drinks he put his arm around Kevin’s shoulder.

‘Anyway, I’m glad you’ve come back home, our Kev. You can stay here for as long as you like, but I expect you will be moving into some posh area thanks to Uncle Stanley’s house sale.’

Kevin told his brother that he had discussed things with Debbie and they planned to give Steve what was left over from the sale of Uncle Stanley’s house after they had bought somewhere to live.  They were hoping to buy an ex council house in the next street to Marie Curie Avenue which would be much cheaper that what they got from Cyril Judd for Uncle Stanley’s old house.  The money held in trust for Jamie and Leanne’s education would also be shared with their cousins when the time came.  Steven tried to refuse his brother’s offer, but Kevin and Debbie ignored all the objections and so there was some more celebrating to do.

* * *

 Granddad Len had dozed off after he’d stopped ranting about the current state of politics and the many issues that he called his ‘hobby horses’.  Grandma Dawn had left earlier because it was Bingo Night and Debbie had persuaded her to go and it was Debbie who was the next to flag when she said that it had been a long day and Leanne was looking tired.

Auntie Sue who had been watching Leanne playing with her cousins earlier and remarked how Leanne seemed happy to be back and  didn’t think she would miss Devon

‘She’ll miss Mr Rosser’s horse, Falcon,’ Jamie said, ’Did Mum tell you that our Leanne won a big horse jumping contest at the Steaderton Show.’

Debbie smiled at the happy memory, ‘Yes, we were really proud of her that day.’

Jamie was just about to escape from the patio to avoid hearing some of the family stories yet again when Uncle Steve pointed to him.  ‘See, our Jamie.  He’s a little genius with computers.’

‘He is that,’ Jamie’s dad agreed, not that he would know.

 Uncle Steve’s voice had been getting louder, ‘Heh, Jamie.’

What’s coming now, Jamie wondered, sensing that his favourite uncle was just a little bit merry as a result of the drink he had probably started consuming, even before the party had started.

‘Heh Jamie, I forgot to tell you.  You had a telephone call, just before you got here.  It was from somebody called erm, erm.  Now what was his name!  Let me think, er, it was Cyril somebody.  Cyril Mudd was his name.  I should have remembered because I thought what a funny name.  He sounded old and said to tell you that you know who from Scarborough has been rebuilt and is as good as new.  I asked him to repeat it and that’s what he said.’

‘Thanks, Uncle Steve,’ Jamie replied and didn’t bother to tell him that the name was Judd and not Mudd.

 ‘Does it mean anything to you and who the heck is you know who?’

‘I’d tell you Uncle Steve, but it wouldn’t make much sense, but it’s really good news, even better than Liverpool beating Everton.’

‘Blimey!’

‘Don’t ask him to explain, Steve.  He’s got some funny friends and he’s got too much imagination by far that lad. Ever since he was a baby, too much imagination, but we love him.’         

 ‘Uncle Steve, could I use your computer please, so I can check my email?’

‘Of course you can my genius of a nephew.  You know where it is.’

‘Will I need a password?’

‘Oh yeah, you’ll need that won’t you? Come over here while I whisper it to you.’ Uncle Steve replied and pretended that it was a well kept secret.

‘Uncle Steve, that’s not very secure,’ Jamie groaned after his uncle had whispered the word, Everton.  Jamie would have betted a month’s pocket money that Uncle Steve would have chosen the name of his beloved football team.  It was almost as bad as choosing ‘password’ as a password.

Uncle Steve’s computer looked fairly new, but it seemed to take ages to start up and Jamie reminded himself that any computer was going to seem slow compared to Uncle Stanley’s special.  When it did eventually come to life Jamie gasped when he saw the desktop picture.  It was exactly the same as Uncle Stanley’s, but he didn’t have to wait long for an explanation when a familiar voice came out of the twin speakers standing either side of the computer monitor.

‘Hello, Jamie, please don’t be alarmed.  This is Cyril Judd?’’

‘Hi, Mister Judd.  Are you using Uncle Stanley’s machine?’

‘Yes, and I have had a few rather surprising communications since you left and I don’t understand some of the things I have been told.  I was asked to pass a message on to you which I gave to your Uncle Steven.  The other thing is that your Uncle Stanley asked me to play you a message he recorded shortly before he was killed in the accident, but asked that you made sure that no one was present while you listened to it.  Are you alone at the moment?

Jamie confirmed that he was and told him that his Uncle Steve had passed on his message.  Cyril explained that there would be a short delay to allow Uncle Stanley’s old friend to leave the room and then he would hear the message.  

Jamie was wondering if Mr Judd would return later when he heard the familiar voice of Uncle Stanley.

‘Jamie, I hope you get to hear my message because there are some important things you would want to know. First of all, I want to say how proud I was with the way you handled everything.  You had a tremendous responsibility placed on your young shoulders and you coped with it all. Some of the things you have been told by your friend, Soupinpota, were not true, but that was done for your benefit in order not to frighten you more than necessary
. 
He told you that some terrifying incidents were merely the result of your image processing being changed, but only the descending door was the result of modifying your image processing.  Devilmortex changed harmless fish into sharks that day and he ‘programmed’ some youths on the cliff top to break into your dad’s car and push it over the cliff.  By the way, Jamie, the next time you are thinking of teasing your young sister you might want to remember that she might have saved your life and your dad sort of spared mine.  The day before you and your family were due to arrive, I secretly visited my old house to do some emergency work on the computer that I remembered needed doing.  I was actually in touch with Koolebron when Rufus came into the house and was looking for Ohmslaw.  In order to avoid me being seen by Rufus, Koolebron used ATACS, which I believe you are familiar with, to change me into a small creature.  Once the transformation was complete, I, or should I say, the rat, hid in the wardrobe in the bedroom you occupied on your first night in the house.  The choice of being turned into a rat would have been a poor one if Ohmslaw had tried to attack me, but perhaps Koolebron thought I would be quite safe. Anyway, Rufus came into the room calling out for Ohmslaw and he closed the wardrobe door, trapping the rat inside it.  Your soft hearted dad tried to kill the rat the next morning, but finally took pity on it and released the rat into the garden.  I woke up as me in a garden three doors away and managed to walk away from the area without being seen.  I found out later that a glitch in the system had prevented Koolebron from ‘bringing me back’ earlier.  I am sorry that I didn’t throw out Ohmslaw’s collection of trophies as I intended and you had to bury the collection of mostly mice in the garden the day after you arrived.’