Part XI

Branwen walked along the edge of the shoreline with a pack on her back and a spear in her hand. The spear was doing more work as a walking stick than a weapon. Spooky scampered around her as she walked along. He frequently made forays into the bushes to explore, but came bounding back to make sure "mommy" was still there. Lumpy had opted to stay with the other sheep in the village. Branwen was hoping to meet up with more of the humans brought to this world by the Cube.

It seemed like the woman was alone while she walked, but actually, she was having an interesting discussion with the Cube, and occassionally Adol. It seemed that their telepathy worked just fine, no matter how far apart they were.

"Isn't there a faster way to travel?" Branwen was complaining, jokingly. "How about a bicycle, or a horse?"

"What's a 'bicycle'?" asked the Cube. "And a 'horse?'"

"Well, you obviously haven't got any here on Topia," Branwen replied. "Or I'd be riding one." The Cube had explained earlier that the world they were on was called Topia, and the inhabitants were known as Topians, just like she was an Earthling from Earth.

"Picture me a 'horse,'" the Cube demanded.

Branwen stopped and concentrated. She was having difficulty deciding between a Clydesdale and an Arabian.

"Which one is a horse?" the Cube asked, confused. It was clear that the Cube could "see" the pictures forming in Branwen's mind.

"Both are," Branwen explained. "Just different breeds."

"Well," the Cube responded huffily. "I can't do anything with that. You're not being clear enough."

"What do you mean by that, Cube?" Branwen asked.

"I can't make a horse if you can't be more precise," the Cube told her.

"... pardon?" Branwen asked, amazed.

"You heard me," the Cube said sulkily. It was definitely having an off day.

"You could just make a horse?" Branwen asked. "Out of nothing?"

"Not out of nothing," the Cube replied, patiently. "There are tons of atoms floating around. I'd just reassemble them. You do understand basic particle theory, don't you?"

"HOLD on," Branwen said. "You're saying if I think of something... anything... even something alive, like an animal, you could MAKE one?"

"Of course," the Cube said. "Where do you think cows and chickens and sheep came from? The first Topians thought those ones up, and I made them."

"But... cows, chickens and sheep are Earth animals..." Branwen said haltingly.

"The first Topians were from Earth too," the Cube responded. "Just from a very, VERY long time ago. Most of them came from a place called Atlantis."

"Ok, now THAT is just too weird to believe," Branwen replied.

"Why would you say that?" the Cube replied. "How did you think that I got here?"