Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Sorry," Shiro apologized, reaching over and putting the tablet to sleep with a touch. "I shouldn't have it out at meals. I apologize."

"Don't worry about it," Haradhel assured him. "We're just curious, that's all."

Shiro pursed his lips thoughtfully. Was there a way he could explain it that would make sense to the elves? Technology this advanced was completely foreign to them - even something as advanced as a shower was!

"It's just difficult to explain," he said finally. "Perhaps if we have time, I can show you a bit how it works, that would be the best way to explain."

Shiro chuckled. "And in this case, I'm trying to get ahead of it," he told Lin as he started eating. "What I want to do is see if I can figure out some way to make it bridge the worlds. Connect to Ura on my computer when I'm here. I'd never have to leave here again, but I'd still be able to do everything I used to - but much faster!"

His tone grew enthusiastic as he talked about his idea.

"Even without radio signals, I believe that magic, as a common element between our worlds, could be used to transmit messages and information," he went on. "It's clear that Gaian magic works here, and Kaa-san's magic works in Gaia, so they're compatible. In theory, it should work!"

"Does your body spend days in limbo waiting for the remainder of your arm to pass through the portal?" Shiro asked in reply, challenging her. "Or does the time between the two worlds temporarily equalize? Would the information arrive in spurts? Or would it be instantaneous?"

He looked at her intently. "You remember how part of the reason Ura stayed home was so that he and I could experiment and see if we could still send messages to each other across the worlds? Read each others' minds, as it were?"

"It works," Shiro said simply. "And strangely, I don't have to wait for replies. When I talk to him, his answer is right there, as if we were standing right beside each other and having a conversation. As if somehow we're bringing the two worlds together, slowing down the time rift between them."

It didn't make sense to him, but he had never studied magic. All he could do was observe.

Shiro clucked his tongue thoughtfully. "Maybe," he admitted, "though they do work differently. Still, I can see what I can do. I have to warn you though, if I did that for you, it would be the only one of its kind - I wouldn't do it for anyone else, so I'd have to trust you to keep it to yourself, not tell people outside of the family."

Earendil frowned slightly at his cousin. "Why is that?"

Shiro grimaced. "I'm a programmer and engineer," he said flatly. "I have no intentions of expanding my horizons, and to be honest I don't see the need. I'd do it for Lin because she's my aunt, and for myself for my work, but beyond that ..."

He shook his head.

"That's one of the reasons I want to be able to contact Gaia from here," Shiro admitted reluctantly to Lin. "To get away from some of it. I mean ... as fast as I work, I don't get a moment's rest at home. At least if I'm here, I can take my time and have time between projects. It's nice to get away from the rat race."

"Rat race?" Earendil looked confused again.

Shiro shrugged one shoulder. "Now that we've got the solar panel roofing, I'm not worried about that anymore," he replied. "Whatever I get now is profit. I just don't want to be constantly working, but on the other hand I don't want to have to turn people down, I feel bad when I do that."

Leave it to Shiro to have a guilty conscience where he didn't need to.