The World Game Read Free Page B

flow back off his body into the storage unit as he turned around so only his bare butt would be totally and embarrassingly exposed. The muffled explosions of mirth from the cadets were met by an icy look from Fuller as the last vestiges of the boy’s modesty were dragged back into the cabinet. This was one cadet who always read instructions from now on.
    Suddenly the girl standing next to the hapless cadet pirouetted on her toes and slammed her hand onto the green screen button of his cabinet. With a grateful look the cadet pulled the screen around until he could reacquire his youniform correctly. Moments later the screen retracted and a fully clad cadet stood there with a straight face and at attention.
    Fuller almost let his stern expression slip into the smile of amusement that was trying to surface. He looked at the girl cadet. “You, cadet,” he beckoned with a thrust of the chin, “step forward.”
    The girl confidently took a step forward, a look of defiance on her face.
    “What is your name cadet?”
    “Felicity Hannaford, sir!”
    “Cadet Hannaford, who gave you instructions to interfere with the cadet’s situation?”
    “No one sir.”
    “You will report to my office after we dismiss, cadet.”
    She took in a deep breath. “Yes sir!”
    Fuller walked the length of the locker room, inspecting each cadet and allowing time for the tension to dissipate.
    “I now draw your attention to your buddies. Does anyone know what a buddy is?” He stopped pacing and looked up and down the ranks. He was surprised when the cadet of backwards uniform fame stepped forward. He walked up to the cadet and got right into his face, nose to nose. “Your name cadet?”
    “Gerald Shaw, sir.”
    “Cadet Shaw, for all present to hear, explain what a buddy is.”
    Shaw looked straight ahead and spoke up. “Sir, a buddy in any context is a personal, close friend, someone you can rely upon under any circumstances. The NASA personal buddy is a biobot derivation of semi-organic hybrid protoplasm that has been enhanced with human stem cells  for intelligence, earthworm DNA for structure and organic armor growth from deep water sulphur based life forms found around volcanic activity in the Mariana Trench and the Red Sea. The organic strains have been refined and defined to be self-replicating and repairing. A buddy can pair with one human being by thought induction over a cerebral cortex link. The buddy is essentially impervious to heat, cold, vacuum, corrosive substances, radiation, biological hazards, projectiles and virtually anything outside of an immediate nuclear blast.”
    Fuller pursed his lips and shook his head . “Impressive cadet Shaw. Very impressive.” Fuller looked up and down the line. “Can anyone add to cadet Shaw’s description. Someone tell us how the buddy actually functions and interfaces?”
    Felicity Hannaford stepped forward. No one else moved a muscle.
    “Hmm,” Fuller mused. “we seem to have a vaudeville duo with these two. OK cadet Hannaford, let’s hear what you have to add.”
    “Sir. The buddy coexists with its host as a beneficial symbiont. It takes intellectual nourishment from the host thought processes and grows with and into the host. The buddy physically attaches itself to the host forming a helmet like covering over the whole head, but able to leave facial areas clear. The rest of the buddy forms a molecular mono layer over the whole host, creating total coverage and integrating with the youniform.
    The buddy is able to anticipate the needs of the host by knowing the thoughts and emotions of the host through the cerebral cortex induction link. The buddy will form a total cover of the host, including face, eyes, ears and nose, and will provide oxygen, water and nourishment to the host as long as raw materials are available to the buddy on the outer surface. The buddy will work with the youniform and create clear panes for sight, with polarization to control light intensity.
    The buddy