In this episode of "The Scroll," Gray gets his first look at computers and the internet. Plus, Gray and Leslie realize just how hard finding someone is.
Once Mr. Matheson had left, Leslie quickly dressed and crept to Gray’s door. She knocked softly on the door
“Come in,” Gray’s voice was muffled through the door.
Leslie entered Gray’s room. He was sitting in bed with the covers crumpled around his legs. He looked miserable. He shifted his weight and winced, placing a hand on his side.
Timidly, Leslie sat on the edge of Gray’s bed. Looking at her hands, she asked, “How are you feeling?”
Gray didn’t answer for a long time. Finally, Leslie looked up. Gray was staring out the window. He said, “Aside from my injuries, I feel fine. Yet I know that’s going to change. I know what’s going to happen to me. I’ve seen dozens of people from my village fall to this sickness, and—it scares me.
“I was chosen for this mission because I was healthy and strong. I’m fast, and I can fight if I need to. But now—how can I possibly hope to find Professor Brown and get a cure back to my people in such a crowded world, when my own body is turning against me?”
“So, you’re giving up?” asked Leslie haltingly.
Gray turned to Leslie, and a fire kindled in his eyes. “No, of course not!” He sighed, and the fire dimmed. “But I don’t know where to start.”
Leslie smiled. “Something my dad says is, ‘When in doubt, go first to the internet—don’t end with the internet, but start with the internet.’ Of course, he also says the internet can’t solve all our problems, but it’s a great place to start looking for information.”
Gray looked at her blankly. “Go where?”
“The internet. It’s, um…” Leslie blushed. How could she possibly explain the internet to someone who hadn’t ever seen electric lights a couple of days ago? “It’s this massive database filled with information. You can find almost anything there. But anybody can add to the internet, so not everything is true.”
Gray leaned forward stiffly. “Where is the internet?”
Leslie searched for the right words. “It’s…on the computer, kind of. We can access it here at home. It’s like—like having billions of books at your fingertips without filling up rooms. And they’re not books. They’re files…or…or electric commands…or something.”
Gray’s eyes glazed over. He clearly had no idea what Leslie was talking about.
“Here.” Leslie stood, offering her hand to Gray. “It’ll be easier to show you.”
Gray took Leslie’s hand, and she helped him to his feet. She led him to the computer room, which was a small bedroom downstairs that was converted into a den She pushed the power button, and the computer started to hum and beep. At the first beep, Gray scrambled backwards. He stared at the monitor as it slowly lit up. Leslie laughed softly.
Leslie pulled out the keyboard tray. “This is a keyboard. This is how I give information to the computer. Then the computer gives information back based on what I type.”
Leslie typed in the password and pressed Enter. The startup screen vanished, replaced by the desktop as the computer booted up.
Gray crept forward, staring open-mouthed at the computer screen. As the icons flickered and different information boxes opened and closed, Gray turned to Leslie. “Is it alive?”
Leslie couldn’t help but laugh. Gray’s question was so preposterous. Finally, she calmed down. Wiping tears out of the corners of her eyes, she said, “No, it’s not alive. It’s just a machine. It does what it’s programmed to do. It can’t eat, sleep, or think—at least not in the way you and I think.”
Leslie brought up the internet browser and sat down. Bringing up her favorite search engine, she turned to Gray and asked, “What do you know about Professor Brown?”
With an obvious effort, Gray tore his eyes away from the computer screen. “Not much. He’s a professor—I’m not sure of what, his name’s Brown, and he lives somewhere around here.”
“Okay.” Leslie thought, then typed in, Half Moon Bay California colleges.
There were thousands of hits. Near the top of the page was a small map with a couple of pushpin locations of colleges. Leslie clicked on the map.
“What are you doing?” asked Gray. His eyes darted across the computer screen.
“I’m searching for colleges near Half Moon Bay. Then we can find out which colleges have Professor Browns working at them. Are you sure Professor Brown is a man, not a woman?”
Gray nodded. “Yes. My father kept talking about him. Find him. He’s our only hope.”
Leslie turned back to the computer screen. “Good. That will help narrow things down.” She looked at the map. There were no colleges in Half Moon Bay, except for a small extension of the University of California. She zoomed out. Hundreds of pushpins covered the San Francisco Bay area alone, from major universities to small technical colleges. Leslie clenched at her hair. “Great. He commutes. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.”
“What’s wrong?” Gray leaned closer to the monitor.
“See all those little pink dots? Those are all colleges where Professor Brown might teach. And Brown is a common name. There could be thousands of Browns in the Bay area.”
Gray sat down in the chair next to Leslie. He whistled softly. “I guess we start at the top.”
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