《Romance - plus Judgemental Powers? Completed》 Chapter 1: Introducing Pink and Blue Prologue: "We beseech you, to allow us to act. Many lives will be wasted; many souls will be lost, all for the want of a small amount of intervention." After due deliberation. "Very well. It shall be so." "Our surveys indicate, with a probability of 90% or more, that a period of instability will soon be entered. There is a probability of over 50% that this will escalate and spread to other regions. Many lives will be lost, and they could be set back by decades, if not centuries." "We calculate, with a 75% probability, that we have the ability to change this outcome for the better." After due deliberation. "Very well. Let''s do it." Blue: Finally manages to find a girl who wants to talk with him. Now she will probably talk about it with all her friends and I''ll be the laughing stock of the class.. Damn, now that''s two girls I will forever be too embarrassed to even say hello to. Not that I have ever spoken to either of them in the past, mind you. Of course, maybe that''s why they have no interest in me in the first place? A sort of Ok but plain figure. Although somewhat skinny, especially in the parts that matter to boys. She''s intelligent and gets good marks. She seems to want to have a friend also. Hopeless at anything to do with communicating or socialising with others. But, but, well, honestly, I''m not all that crash hot, either. Ok, I suppose I can only try... necessarily the best thing to do. What do I say now? Ask about the weather, nyah, too clich¨¦. And anyway, it is fine, anyone can see that. Maybe I will, after all, ask her again for lunch? This is rather nice. She is desperate for some contact? Was he sure of that? He did not know. How useless. Apply the equation, and we know exactly what is going to happen. So why bother with the experiment? Wait, this time I can ask Pink. At least I know she is just as good at this stuff as I am. At least this is something I can do without any problems. A nice relaxing break. Blue: A demonstration of acceleration due to gravity Let''s see, I''ll be eating lunch with Pink again. So she has every opportunity of judging him, again. Perhaps she might be covertly examining my lunch as well? Better cut the bread slices nice and evenly. Kind of nerve racking, I must say. Although I''m observing her in the same way. Let''s hope all of this judging stuff doesn''t get out of hand. On the one hand, she is the only girl who has ever shown any willingness to get to know me. But, on the other hand, just because I eat lunch with her, doesn''t mean she has to be my girlfriend. Or, maybe, she doesn''t want a boyfriend. Or perhaps she desperately wants one just like I want a girlfriend, and she judges me to be the one, and I get trapped into marrying her even though we aren''t incompatible... Get a grip of yourself. It''s only sharing lunch! It takes more than that before people marry. I think. In fact, what does it take before a couple finally make that walk up the aisle to be married by some judge or whoever? This is nice. This is also scary. That''s now the second time she has ever spoken to me by her own choice! Not that it does me much good. Oh well, we will just have to take turns. That''s right. He remembered the announcements. They''re making repairs to the air conditioners on the roof. Hmm, let''s see, they must be attempting to get access to the underside of the big water cooling towers, and, ah, what''s that? Did one of the little kids lose their balloon? But there is security grill covering lining the full width of the corridors below. So does that mean a kid must have come up here...? Hop over the railing, up the staircase, it''s only three metres, reach over and grab the kid, haul her back. Pretty safe, no problems. Ignore the view. Get moving! That''s strange, why are the students moving up? What? The top of the staircase must have come loose! The top might be free, but the bottom is still firmly attached, not only with scaffolding clamps but also chains. So it will probably hold. All I have to do is to either hold on, or jump to the balustrading on the corridor as it passes... Wait, I''m holding Renee... The floor I''m standing on is rotating down, I will slide off, but even though what used to be the top end is open, there''s a rope across it. No problem, just grab the rope and hang on. Hopefully the stairs will remain supported at the other end. Shouldn''t be any problems. Damn, I never did get to have a girlfriend. Not even a second lunch date with Pink. I just hope she isn''t traumatised by my body splattering all over the gym floor. Chapter 2: Unexpected Intervention Blue: Gets a part time job Wait! How am I going to survive this? Pink: Moves fast Blue: All this fuss over me? hard. The air whooshed out of his lungs, his arms and legs slammed down and buried themselves in the mat, his torso followed and tried to flatten itself. Then the recoil, he bounced up and around, and hit the mat again, much more gently this time. He ended up on his side. She''s stronger than she looks. definitely not holding hands, they made their way to their classroom. Honestly, isn''t all of this a bit much? After all, if I had, today, transferred out to another school and never seen them again, in a week''s time most of them would barely remember who I was. Chapter 3: Pink and Blue help Molly Blue: Another lunch date with Pink I saved her life. And then she saved my life. And Esmeralda had given him a hint the size of a Jumbo Jet that Pink could be his true love. And half the school saw us holding hands. But I still don''t know what to say to her right now. Why not just say that? Err, how did that happen? Well, didn''t you tell me to hold her hand? Ah, no? went Blue. His subconscious did not bother replying. His face went slightly red. So did Pink''s. Esmeralda said I was free to experiment with her loaned powers. And that I could use them to read a person''s soul. And allow the other to read my soul. Hmm. Err, what? Huh? Err, at least this means something. But even an orphan will have held hands with someone. That''s nice Now that I can relate to! Pink: What is this!? she screamed to herself. Blue: His first task from Esmeralda Am I nervous? After all, this doesn''t involve judgement. Just a normal harassment case. Normal? Normal by what standards? What if the man turns violent? Ah, right, she never said this was going to be easy. Huh? She''s hallucinating, delusional. Off with the fairies. Completely out of it. Bloody hell, she is heavy. How the hell does she know this? Where are we going? How the hell does she know this? How was he going to get help? Not even two days from our first lunch and she has died! Esmeralda! This is wrong! Chapter 4: Another Intervention Blue: But, because she is a robot, does that mean she doesn''t have a soul? But, but, Esmeralda explicitly told him that Pink was worthy of his love. And Esmeralda is an Angel of Death; her job is basically to judge souls. So she should know. If she implies that Pink has a soul, then she has. And what''s more, he had already read Pink''s soul, way back at lunch time. And had let her read his. So that''s why her expressions are often out of whack, they didn''t quite get that part of her design correct. But, wait, can''t I read her emotions directly? Will Esmeralda allow that? Pink: Gets to hug Blue !] is the space ship. Umm, wait, he''s working out how to describe himself. Right. In essence, he is a member of what could be called an Alien Data Species. He, and others like him, exist as pure data, running on computers that are considerably more advanced than the puny ones that humanity currently has. He sits above us in a forced low earth orbit, while the others like him are out in the Oort cloud, the circle of trillions of comets and asteroids that circle the sun way out beyond the orbit of Pluto. They have just arrived at this solar system, and are currently building their own civilisation, completely independent of humanity''s." said Pink. Blue: Pity, I don''t have a sex drive, but I still feel embarrassed about talking about it... is fully human as far as such things go. Except that, curiously, I placed the same restrictions on her sexuality as Esmeralda has placed on yours. Only after she develops a true and lasting relationship will it be switched on. I did it that way because I felt it would be unethical for Pink to form romantic bonds with any man, before that man had a chance to learn about her true nature and make sure he was able to live with it." Pink: Welcome to my house very busy day. Chapter 5: Pink also gets a scary super power Blue: Blue: Invokes his super power yet again Blue: Becomes a full member of the club With all of these massive changes in my life, I really need some time to adjust and get used to it. And so, probably, does Pink. Pink: Getting a makeover with each other. If you fail, then tough, you can''t find someone else. Or you can, but it will be strictly platonic. Oh, and Pink, not even Earth Watch Prime will be able to turn your sexuality on. My powers exceed his, you know! Do you, both of you, accept this on your own free will?" said Esmeralda. Chapter 6: Martha and Molly do not yet know each other Martha: Bakes a cake Molly: Some work assignments My, my, I am certainly moving in high circles. One of our illustrious premiers, indeed. Oh, wow, now I have the full set! Chapter 7: Their first Judgemental case Blue: Working out the extents of his new found powers Various Students: Blue: something for your bravery.] Teresa: Makes an observation Actually, I want a girlfriend. But I''m not saying so. Yet.
Pink and Blue: Earth Watch Prime: Pink and Blue: that. "You are coming with us." said a voice like the sound of razor blades cutting glass. The man, having no choice, went with them. And just before they all faded out, the - something - said, in a now very polite, cultured voice, like a radio announcer taken to extreme Rebecca: Have those two suddenly become scary? And, also, they must already know each other incredibly well; they are practically filling out each other''s sentences. But what about that dead body? And they are on first name terms with the police! What the hell is going on? Charlie: Doing his police duties What was going on? They somehow had managed to find that bloke that skipped bail in the next city. But was he dead when they found him? If not, then, err, what? Blue: Chapter 8: Pink and Blue keep on becoming well known Janet and Charlie: Blue: Various students at the school: Blue: all the time?" too much, it will hold." Teresa: Jeffrey: Pink and Blue: Teresa: Chapter 9: Pink adopts a mother Lex: Right, she is beginning to take in what I have said. Now to repeat it and really drive it home. Yep, now was the time to deliver the final parting line. Martha: Unable to handle it Was she going to die right here from heart attack? Probably not Blue: Pink: Has an assignment Martha: Nobody would ever want her again. She was worthless. Sixteen year old girls... He''s going to use my money to lure another teenage girl. Teenage girls... Pink: Blue: Martha: Adjusting to her new life some interest in makeup!" said Martha. Pink: Lex: That''s strange, I''m sure I got everything correct. She should have gone over the deep end pretty much straight away. Hmm, she must have gotten help. Although how that is possible with such short notice, I can''t think. What a disappointment! Just like what''s-her-name, that sixteen year old girl. Although, in her case, it was probably her parents that managed to help her. Now that was a nuisance! Well, two failures out of all of my successes isn''t too bad. Now that I''m flush with funds, should I go after another sixteen year old girl... Or should I concentrate on my latest project? Hmm, with my latest, things will proceed anyway to a satisfactory conclusion. Since the players are already in motion and doing it all by themselves. But, I could help things alone, in fact, I can probably speed things up considerably, maybe make them even worse. Yeah, let''s do it! It''ll be a new experience. Chapter 10: Rebecca and James Pink and Blue: James and Rebecca: Romance is in the air It wasn''t like that! I got so hurt I ended up being sick for a month!" It''s hopeless. I''m damaged goods. No one will ever want me again. Tears. Although, he does appear to have extreme issues with trusting others... Maybe he''s not perfect either? Still, he does appear to be a nice person. At least some of the time. It''s hopeless. I just can''t find anyone I feel I can trust. Which isn''t surprising I suppose... Although she does appear to have had some bad experiences herself. Still, she is very pretty. And obviously loves her little sister. Maybe in different circumstances...? Rebecca''s Parents: Pink and Blue: Host a dinner party me!" said Rebecca. Martha: Recalls some bad memories Chapter 11: Rebeccas and Jamess dark pasts Blue: Has a talk with James Pink: Has a talk with Rebecca Oh, bloody hell. Esmeralda certainly did an excellent job of presenting all of that me. Of course, I now hate Lex. Even more than before. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Martha: Wonders if Earth Watch Prime has a super powered laser cannon Rebecca''s Parents: And James'' Father: James and Rebecca: Earth Watch Prime: James and Rebecca: Pink and Blue: Gaining two more friends Chapter 12: Pink becomes class rep Teresa: Stays away from school for a while She must be ill, or something. I''ll walk over to her house after I get home. Jeffery: Jeffery, we have to be brave about this. Mum won''t be coming home any more. There was a car accident... Pink: Jeffery: Does some soul searching love it when someone does some soul searching, and as a result of it resolve to become a better person. It definitely gets you extra points at your final judgment. All four teenagers: not interested in their gender!" Pink and Blue: At their first student council meeting yet." Chapter 13: The recruitment of Molly Pink and Blue: Molly: the now ex-prostitute Pink and Blue: Janet: Molly: Charlie and Janet: I still don''t quite believe this Molly: Starting her new life Pink and Blue: Molly: Reflecting on her new life Lex: The Two Premiers: Pink and Blue: real notoriety was. Chapter 14: A highly explosive situation Pink and Blue: Earth Watch Prime: Looks at the universe and discovers something that is much closer Pink: It''s locked. But that''s not much deterrent to me, is it? Earth Watch Prime: Blue: Janet and Charlie: General Paterson: General McIver: Back to the other side: Martha: Lieutenant Harrison: Blue: Janet and Charlie: Chapter 15: Defusing the situation Danny the bus driver: Earning some points River Island Police Operations Centre: Molly: Playing her part Jeffery: Don''t worry, no one will ever know, anyway. Lex: Four Teenagers: Danny the bus driver: Earning some more points Molly: Police Operations Room: Earth Watch Prime: Four Teenagers: Jeffery: How are they going to get to safety? Police Operations Room: Four Teenagers: Janet and Charlie: Four Teenagers: Janet and Charlie: both of the military¡¯s systems, with apparent ease. Not to mention, what is this containment foam business, anyway?" said Janet. Blue wasn''t using a mobile, so how did he know what Horatio wanted? was her thought. The Two Generals: Did not see anything Janet and Charlie: Really powerful." lot of discussion on the social medium on the web. I shall be doing my best to suppress or divert any topics that lead to sensitive subjects. I''m also in the police and military computer systems, hopefully you don''t mind too much, and I will be acting there also. However I will need to have frequent contact with you two, also." Chapter 16: Cleaning up the loose ends Rebecca''s Parents: Martha: Lex: The attempted act of nuclear terrorism could only be a result of his little talks with the premiers. Which was all to the good and all, but. But putting the bomb within a kilometre of where he lived. That must have been deliberate. I should have stuck to little old ladies and naive teenagers. What to do? The Aftermath: Pink: Addressing the entire school More Aftermath: Pink and Blue: Judge again evil." said Pink. All those on the radio link: Pink: The Premiers: The Generals: The Aftermath: Chapter 17: Esmeralda runs out of quota James¡¯s father: James and Rebecca: Pink and Blue: Rejoining the normal human condition to the normal human condition." The premiers: Pink and the others: Soon to be homeless two check points on this crossing. One either side. What a waste of effort." said Blue. Pink and Friends: Earth Watch Prime: Damn said Earth Watch Prime to himself. Or whatever the equivalent mental gesture was for a member of an alien data species. This might be getting complicated. Blue and James: Jeffery: How are they aware of all of that? And there goes another of those strange gaps in conversation. The news gets out: immediately! Martha was as one with Rebecca''s parents; her anger was white hot and could have melted rock into lava all by itself. Sadly, she didn''t have any contacts to work. Molly, however, did have contacts. Lots of them. She began to carefully consider who might be the most useful. All of this was only fifteen minutes after the kidnapping itself. Jeffery: So Pink, Rebecca, and Teresa have been kidnapped, probably by some semi official but secret authority. Now what''s Blue doing going out tonight - say didn''t James say he was getting ready for something? Blue and James, being driven somewhere in a police car. Must be something to do with the kidnapping, but what?" Earth Watch Prime: James: I''m doing all of this, and I haven''t even kissed Rebecca yet! Oh well, Horatio, can you calm me down? Janet and Charlie: Having a little philosophical discussion Chapter 18: Three very unhappy girls Pink: Teresa is shell shocked and barely coping. Rebecca is hanging in there, mainly because she can communicate privately with me. I''m OK, for the time being, but... Well, if we get out soon then it''s no problem. And we have no radio link to Prime or the others. never in her existence been without Prime''s voice, always ready in the background to lend support or to give information. And now she was almost alone. She was so thankful for the presence of Rebecca over the radio link. Rebecca: not have authority to be in the female block!" Pink: Chapter 19: Things get desperate The Outside World: The three girls: The Prison Supervisor: But what can I do? General McIver: But what, if anything, did the premier have to do with this? Something similar had been going through the Pink''s general''s mind. Molly: And what can I do about this? The premiers: Jeffery: And what, exactly, are Blue and James doing in all of this? Surely, it''s no longer a matter of embarrassment at walking home with me. Even if I do invite myself along a bit more than they would like. Nothing there but a pram, plus some mothers further back having a chat... Oh. Truck coming, plenty of room. Look under truck, yep, there''s a car coming. Run across the second lane, slow down, let the car pass, assume the next car''s driver is paying attention and starts braking, whew, made it. Not bad, that''s three toots. And, judging by the pink hair ribbon, there''s a cute little baby girl sleeping soundly under the sheet. Earth Watch Prime: Pink: The Prison Supervisor: Damn. It always comes down to a clash of duties and obligations. I have to make a moral choice. Again. What irony. As soon as I left, they slowly started to improve. At least somewhat. And as soon as I get here, the situation here slowly started to degrade. And amazing, while in the old country at least they had the excuse of two slightly different skin colours and two slightly different religions, in this country both sides are absolutely indistinguishable. Pink really is getting sick. She looks weird, and is starting to walk with a strange gait; I can''t see how anyone could fake that. So, maybe, she really does need highly specialised medical care. So, maybe, I lose my job and my family have to scrounge for a living. So, is that all that bad? We have done worse. But we don''t want to go back to that. Damn. Earth Watch Prime: Chapter 20: The escape, with a little help Jeffery: Earth Watch Prime: The Three Girls: Teresa: That Jeffery?" said Teresa. That Jeffery. He''s been slowly changing his way of thinking, one thing led to another, and he is now waiting outside. Say hi to him." A Prison Guard: Teresa: The Guard: Oh hell, I''m in trouble,. was his reaction. Oh hell again, it''s a police car. Teresa: Teresa: He was holding my head to his chest, so if he hadn''t been there, I would have gotten that directly in my face... Well, I suppose it all cancels out... thought Teresa. [But, but, I''m still don''t really like you...] What a relief. they both thought. Privately to themselves. Rebecca: Charlie: Pink: The Goon: He really should have stayed inside and finished that cake specimen - was beginning to annoy me." said Pink, doing her best to sound relaxed and confident. The Medics: Pink and Blue: Together again The Goon: The Girls make their escape: Earth Watch Prime: Oh, right. And what program generated that message? No signs of the message anywhere. Well, that''s something to be thankful for. Wait a moment, I didn''t know Pink had a father around. And how was he able to access my machine like that? Not to mention delete all traces of the email on any other system. Hmm, I wonder if Pink got her pink coloured hair from her father? Chapter 21: The premiers get serious Premier Johnston: Premier Watson: Molly: Janet and Charlie: Rebecca''s Father: Six Teenagers: Premier Watson: Premier Johnson: prostitute criticising me! And she wasn''t even a very good prostitute!" he said to general McIver. Premier Watson: Premier Johnson: Watson: Johnson: Molly: All the guardians of the teenagers: Pink: Gives another talk: The Two Premiers: Premier Watson''s meeting: then they will realise how serious this all is. They will devote their attention to the important topics, that is topics which we consider important. They will forget all of this lovey dovey stuff that those insignificant teenagers are going on about. We at last we will be the ones guiding the public discourse, we will set the agenda." Premier Johnson: Horatio: Molly: What is with all of this macho bullshit? extremely interested. We set out to investigate you, as soon as we had sufficient resources to do so. And what we found was cause for optimism and hope, but also cause for some concern. So we have decided to give some assistance. Cautiously and carefully, and hopefully anonymously." Moving back Jeffery and Teresa: Having a little discussion Jeffery father and Teresa''s parents: Earth Watch Prime: Chapter 22: The Hippy Love Boat Incident On the Hippy Love boat: Blue: Armed Soldiers: The Boats have an Incident: Rebecca: Molly: The Two Premiers: too much." said Johnson. Chapter 23: The premiers try again... and fail Paterson as a youngster: How did it end up like this? What happened to my initial high ideals, I wonder? Pink and Blue: Earth Watch Prime: Molly: Starts to really irritate the Premiers Pink: Helping Molly in this endeavour lot of people, from both sides, at the protest rally. The crowds could not actually get into the school grounds as they were locked, but they filled the road and the public areas, and people were packed along the road on both sides, all the way out past the river shores. The Premiers and their generals: suspect that there might be somebody else. In that case we really would have given up merely because of those five staying put." Pink and co: The Premiers: The Public: at the River School!" The Premiers: Chapter 24: Pink and Blue lay down the law Pink and Blue: Damned if I let those kids see me suffer! too bad. After all, look at all of these memories, where they manage to rein in the worse of the premiers ideas. And the suitcase bomb affair. They didn''t know about its planning, and they placed themselves in harm¡¯s way to help the evacuation." said Pink. ex-prostitute." said Blue. too much about all of that. Remember we have the backing of Esmeralda. Who obviously planned for all of this. So, I guess, there will be a series of minor miracles, unnoticed by the public at large, and things will just happen in just the right way, and it shall be so." "General Patterson and General McIver" said Horatio, in words like tombstones, thudding into the ground one at a time. The generals jerked in shock and shuddered with each word, their stomaches churned, their bodies trembled, their sense of balance was causing them to stagger. In other words, they were terrified. I am Horatio. Pink''s guardian. You, and the premiers you were obeying, have caused me a great deal of trouble, and would have caused a great deal more. Here I am, a member of an alien data species, trying to help you humans, while you, actual humans, were doing your best to destroy yourselves and all those around you. We calculate that the resulting strife might have killed many many millions of people, and set your civilisation back decades or more." "And, of course, you would have ended up killing Pink, plus all those she loves." "You know, you are really very lucky that Pink was so kind as to let you live. Aren''t you?" I certainly wouldn''t have been so kind!" "You will be hearing a great deal more from me in the future..." There was a distinct hiss to Horatio''s voice, like a snake threatening a defenceless little animal. "But now, I will turn you over to Esmeralda and let her have her turn." "McIver. Patterson." "I am an Angle of Death. I would have been very happy to judge you and send you to the same place as the premiers." "But, you are indeed very lucky. As Horatio said, Pink and Blue must be feeling very kindly today." "Nevertheless, you almost did cause immense destruction. All due respects to Horatio, but he only is only a mortal. His ability to estimate what might have happened is deficient." "In actual fact, in the resulting warfare, one of you would have rapidly killed the other. And then the surrounding countries would have become involved. And like a row of dominos falling, like metastatic cancer that spreads, the strife would have spread out to this entire continent. Then overwhelmed and engulfed the word. Several billions of people would have ended up dead. It would have taken two or three centuries for civilisation to recover and to start painfully regaining lost ground." "However, you have been allowed to live. You will answer to Horatio, and whomever he directs you to obey. You will work to undo the mess you helped to create, and then you will devote your lives to saving people. Remember, you will be meeting me again. For real. No one will save you the next time. Except yourselves. Atone for your sins and I may, just may, decide to let you pass." "Is that all right?" In a deceptively gentle voice, with more than just a hint of power behind it. She increased the power of her glare, just a little. They felt it. "Good. Then I shall be seeing you!" "Oh, and if at your final judgement you are able to bring some committed, enduring love to the table, then that will also be of help in your judgements." This was said in a much lighter, calmer voice. too much?" Pink and Blue: Odd jobs The Generals: Teresa: Not going to be left all alone Pink and Blue: Rebecca and James: Chapter 25: Epilogue Earth Watch Prime: Has his own private discussion with Esmeralda Announcement: another New Fiction Available I have added yet another fiction, you can check it out at: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/25260/sarsaparillas-scary-super-power It is also set in the Esmeralda the Angel of Death Universe, but the story itself is not dependent on the other two stories.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Also, you might like to check the first story in this sequence: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/23396/maybe-it-would-have-been-a-good-idea-not-to-wish ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------