"A bit?"
She looked at me, still smiling, but there was genuine concern behind her smile ... and that really meant a lot to me. In fact, it meant everything.
"I'm sorry, Luce," I said quietly, looking back at her.
"It's all right, I'm always getting my words mixed up —"
"No ... I mean about everything." There were tears in my eyes again now. "I'm just so, so sorry ..."
"Shhh ..." she said gently, putting a fingertip to my lips. "You don't have to be sorry ... you don't have to be anything. Just be with me, OK?" She took her finger away, leaned in close, and kissed me. "All right?" she whispered. "Just be with me."
I nodded, still crying.
Lucy smiled. "Let's get comfortable."
As she slowly leaned back and lay down on the roof, looking straight up at the sky, I didn't move for a moment. I just sat there, staring out at the dying horizon, wondering if perhaps there was something out there for me after all, a future beyond the horizon ...
And then Lucy tapped my backside with her foot and said, "Hey, Super Brain, it's getting lonely down here."
And I leaned back and lay down beside her, and she took my hand in hers, and we just lay there together in a dream of silence, gazing up at the stars.
For their invaluable help and technical advice,
I'd like to acknowledge Dave Brooks, Helen Fernandes, Nitin Patel, and Sanj Bassi. iThank you.
Acknowledgements
The editor and publishers gratefully acknowledge permission to reproduce copyright material in this book. Every effort has been made to trace and contact copyright holders, but in a few cases this has proved impossible. The editor and publishers apologize for these unwilling cases of copyright transgression and would like to hear from any copyright holders not acknowledged.
Guardian online article by Rose George, copyright © Rose George, 2004, reprinted by permission of the author; excerpt by Arthur Koestley from The Ghost in the Machine (copyright © Arthur Koestler, 1975) is reproduced by permission of PFD (www.pfd.co.ukwww.pfd.co.uk ) on behalf of The Estate of Arthur Koestler; "Broken" Words & Music by Randy James Bradbury, Fletcher Dragge, Jim Lindberg & Byron McMackin, copyright © Songs Of Universal, Inc. on behalf of Westbeach Music (75%). All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission of Music Sales Limited; Supersizing the Mind, copyright © Andy Clark, reprinted by permission of OUP; "Electricity is Human Thinking", copyright © H. Bernard Wechsler, reprinted by permission of the author; One Blood by John Heale, copyright © John Heale, reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster; algorithm definition quoted from article entitled ALGORITHM, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm , made available for use under the terms of http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/; Taser definition quoted from article entitled TASER, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taser , made available for use under the terms of http://creative- commons.0rg/licenses/by-sa/3.o/; the extract from "since feeling is first" is reprinted from COMPLETE POEMS 1904-1962, by E. E. Cummings, edited by George J. Firmage, by permission of W. W. Norton & Company. Copyright © 1991 by the trustees for the E. E. Cummings Trust and George James Firmage; The Gang by Frederic Thrasher, copyright © Frederic Thrasher 1927, reprinted by permission of Chicago University Press; The River of Eden copyright © 1996 Richard Dawkins. Reprinted by permission of Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group; Terre des Hommes by Antoine de Saint- Exupery, copyright © Antoine de Saint-Exupery 1939, reprinted by permission of Penguin Books.