Lauren shrugged, and swiped Ginia’s ice cream. “Well, since you have to be hooked up to a computer to use it, it’s obviously not an internal source.”

He wasn’t trying to be disagreeable, but that didn’t make any sense. It behaves like an internal energy source, rather than an external one like earth or fire power.” It’s a bit similar to mind power, actually. “So,” said Ginia, picking up her ice cream, “did you figure out how I’m doing it?” They had Ginia loop through the spellcoding routine five or six more times before Lauren dropped them all out of mindlink.

There was no focus-it’s like it was all over her brain. Most power use comes from a single focal point, so I wasn’t expecting anything like this. That’s the first time I’ve seen it that clearly. I assume it’s Net power in action, sent Jamie dryly. Then she reached for her computer keyboard, and small fireworks of light exploded everywhere. He watched as Ginia pulled earth power to weave the initial spell. His view of Ginia’s brain via mindlink had been murky and distorted hers was crystal clear. The easy strength of her mind powers was obvious the instant she linked him in. Want to watch? I think I can pipe you a channel, too. I do now, said Lauren’s amused voice in his head. Jamie wondered if she had any idea how skilled a mind witch she was becoming. Lauren closed her eyes and dropped quickly into mindlink. Ginia picked up her laptop, which already had several simple spellcoding sequences set up. Show me what you can do, and I’ll try to watch.” “That’s probably because I’m not a supreme awesome coder like you, hot stuff. Uncle Jamie and I were dopes, and we didn’t think of it.” All I see is a burst of light, and that’s not very helpful. “I’ve been trying to link with Ginia and watch, but I’m not getting a good read. As the guy who’d been on the receiving end of their illusion spell, Jamie resisted the temptation to reach up and make sure he wasn’t wearing fuzzy ears again. That had been the first magic trick where they’d gotten some clue as to the strength of Lauren’s talent. “Jennie did something similar when she worked out how I powered Cat Woman with Aervyn.” First, we need to know how Ginia accesses Net power.” Spellcoding is one application, but there may be others. You need to access it, and then apply it. “In theory, Net power is just like any other power source. So, what is it I’m supposed to be looking for, exactly? And please tell me it doesn’t involve learning how to code.” Are we finally ready to begin actual work?” “So we’re outside, catching some sun, and we’ve fortified ourselves with chocolate ice cream. Feeling the warm sun and the light touch of a breeze on his face, he conceded that maybe she had a point. Lauren had vetoed working in the coding cave in the basement. Jamie lounged on the grass in his new back yard, a pint of ice cream in his hand.

A hidden witch debora geary