At home, William Boone reviews security arrangements for the celebration when a voice recalls him to yesterday. "Hi, Willie." Younger sister, Sarah, holds a Scrabble board up to her monitor and issues a familiar challenge: "Let's see if that C.V.I. of yours has improved your spelling."

Boone relishes their weekly Scrabble game because it's the only set time he and Sarah see each other. He responds good-naturedly to Sarah's ritual opening remarks: "Don't call me Willie." Taking his Scrabble set from under his study desk, Boone prepares to match wits for triple word scores.

"Tray," said Sarah smugly, "and the 'Y' is on a triple letter."

Boone grins impishly at his baby sister, preparing to trounce her. First, though, he must match his board to hers. "T-R-A.... Damn!" Boone disappears from his sister's screen, as he rattles pieces of the alphabet with preoccupied shuffling.

"Tradamn isn't in the official dictionary," Sarah chuckles. "What's wrong?"

The implant's voice rises from the game box he is searching. "I'm missing my last 'Y'." Deflated, Boone mentally traces the letter, using his C.V.I. Last Thursday bursts into focus. While waiting for Lili to arrive that morning, Boone decides he has put off vacuuming for long enough. Within that high-pitched and dusty memory, Boone spies the "Y" on the carpet, an inch from his desk, and he hears the "Y" clatter in the vacuum cleaner. Fortunately, Boone hasn't cleaned out the bag, yet. "I know where it is," he announces, "but I don't have time to fish it out, right now."

"Fish it out of where?"

Boone gives his sister a sheepish look. "The vacuum bag."

"Oh," said Sarah, resisting the urge to comment. Just then, Boone hears the punch of Lili's shuttle entering normal space. Sensing that duty calls, Sarah signs off, "Say 'hello' to Lili for me. I hope you have a smooth anniversary."

On the anniversary of the Taelons' arrival, Boone finds Da'an and Sandoval in the midst of conversation, "....And you say this anniversary is unique in relation to those that are memories, Agent Sandoval, in what way?"

"This anniversary," said Sandoval reverently, "falls on a Wednesday, the same day you arrived."

Boone takes in Da'an's expression. The Taelon is a study in quiet eagerness, as he waits for the significance of this statement to manifest itself. After several seconds, however, Da'an resigns himself to misunderstanding. He queries, "If our arrival set Wednesday apart, should not all Wednesdays, then, be marked?"

"It isn't the day alone," explains Sandoval, "but that the date of your arrival coincides with the day."

Da'an meets Sandoval's answer with quizzical silence. Linking his global to his home terminal, Boone steps into that quiet space. The implant shows his global screen to Da'an and begins: "These colored squares make up the board for a word game called Scrabble. The players place one lettered tile in each square, building upon the words of their opponents, like so." At this point, Boone sets up a virtual rack of letters and begins a game against the program's Artificial Intelligence.

Boone continues: "Each letter has a certain point value. The object of the game is to form words with higher point values than your opponents have. A word on its own is worth the sum points of its letters. If a word is formed using one of these squares here or here, though, the total value of the letter or word is doubled or tripled. The double and triple squares are valuable because they don't occur often on the board, just as the date of your arrival doesn't often coincide with the exact day. As a result, this year's anniversary has a higher sentimental value for many people."

Da'an blushes a sigh. "Your concepts of time and language are sadly inorganic, Boone. For Taelons, our language is alive. It grows because we speak it. It grows as a single, sublime word, ever evolving, ever in the now. That word is the universe, and the universe is that word. We use parts of the word, as we need them, in order to express the whole of being. If we were to circumscribe any parts with arbitrary value, it would mean the isolation and diminishing of being, of the universe."

"To commemorate a particular day," Boone condenses, "is to ignore the potential of all days."

"Precisely, Boone." The implant does not hear the approval in his Companion's voice; he is drifting....

"What occupies you, Boone?"

Meeting Da'an's deep eyes, Boone answers, "I was just thinking of a 'Y' I mislaid."

The alien counters, "Simply invoke a question and rediscover it."
 

Disclaimer: Earth - Final Conflict and all characters therein are the property of the Tribune Entertainment Company.