36: Imperfect Recall, part I
“The storm’s knocked some antenna loose,” he explained, “My old man’s up there trying to fix it now.”
The solitary figure of Mr Smith was hovering near the top of the mast with all manner of gadgets strapped to his body as he worked on the various poles and dishes pointing out towards the sky.
“Upgrading it too while he’s at it,” said John, “Godhand was never very keen on this tower being here and all upgrades had to go through the town council – and Bishop Wotan was keen on keeping things decidedly low-tech. Godhand hated technology,” He paused for a moment, adjusted his glasses. “Then again I could have sworn I remember something about that being a lie. Must’ve been a news report…”
Phantasia wondered what this said about the magic. John didn’t remember anything, but Dante and Shelley did? Was it because of his inherent cynicism? Maybe he was more likely to believe the lies over the truth because they conformed to his own beliefs?
“I wanted to ask you about Dante,” she said, hoping the change of subject would clear the air. “I’ve been trying to get him to open up but every time I get close he just shuts himself away even more!”
“Sounds like Dante all right,” said John with a chuckle. He filtered through some more results on his computer and mumbled instructions to his dad through his cell.
“Do you know why he’s like that?” she asked, “I know you’re a pretty observant guy and all,”
“I have a few things,” said John. He wiped raindrops from the computer screen and opened up new files. Phantasia noticed the folder contained the names of all their fellow students. “I keep tabs on everyone,” he explained, “In case something comes up and we need the info. They’re similar to the Academy files, which the old man won’t give me access to. Not everyone likes me keeping detailed profiles though, so some are a little empty. Dante’s is a good example of that…”
Images of Dante popped up on the screen, including several where his hair was longer and he showed faint hints of a smile.
“It’s thanks to Kat that I’ve got these,” he explained, “She coerced Dante into letting me use some photos she’d taken of him over the years. I like looking at how people change as they age…” John blushed an opened up some more files. “Well, eh, I’ve got the bare details like date-of-birth, a height chart, a rough guide to friendship links that Andromeda keeps up to date…”
Phantasia noticed herself on the web of relationships. It looked like a human attempt to visualise the bonds between them that Phantasia could see naturally, only here the lines were uniform and colour-coded rather than abstract, ever-changing waves.
“Got his grades from last year and this summer,” continued John, “An empty list here because he doesn’t do any extra-curricular activities, and a blank space for his parents because Kat has told us it’s a sensitive issue.” He sighed. “Most I can help you with is the personality analysis. Phoenie got everyone to do one earlier in the year. He’s a INTP, which…well it basically means he’s an introverted artist who strives for perfection.” He paused for a moment to reflect upon his ‘revelation’, “Guess that’s not much help after all…”
His cell chirped to life and he played around with more diagnostics for a few moments, while Phantasia watched Mr Smith float around the tower as the storm clouds cleared behind him.
