Fallout

Pushing along this string of Eighty-Twos is much slower than the smaller and faster Twenty-Nines that I started with. The cool thing about the Eighty-Twos is that I can flip around the back-side, and basically flow backward. Neat to see that there is still a strong flow of electrons from the cloud I was in.

Looks like the flow is being slowed. The Eighty-Twos are starting to get agitated and that's when things can get interesting. It seems to take longer for adjacent atoms to get agitated that the Twenty-Nines did, but I was moving much faster then.

Now, I can see that the warmer Eighty-Twos are starting to separate. I'd better exit this orbit and get into the rest of the flow. Those hot Eighty-Twos are making an odd dance as they push away from each other. Not good to go back the way I came, that's for sure.

First Left

You call that an Orbit? It's nowhere close, with all the swapping and reversals I see. I'm still in the massive cloud, but now, we're all sliding along the outer shells of this very strange multi-atom structure. I'm trying to count proton pulls, and it is something like 30 or so, but I can't quite be sure.

Looks like things are slowing down even more. It's getting packed tighter and tighter. I've not seen other electrons up close like this. Below, lower orbits are expanding and I can see the nuclei down there. Funny how small the Protons look from up here. They are jiggling a bit, but nothing like the Seven did when things got really hot in that plasma.

Whoa! What's this? It's huge - large and slow. What was that Bob said, stay Left? If I push a little here, there, I can aim for the middle of these two huge balls of electrons. I feel Protons. Ten, Twenty, Forty, Eighty. An incredible Eighty-Two tugs on each side.

Blippo

"Sevens and an Eight. You're bright. That's good. Lots to learn though."

"Bob? So many new things. Why are you not pulling as other pair partners do?"

"That's because I can't. I'm not in your spaze" quirpped Bob.

"uh? Not in? How is it we can talk?" came the automatic reply.

"The conductor is near. Keep left. We'll talk again bye-a cue tee . . ."

As Bob's talk-taps faded in a peculiar way, I felt a change coming. In an instant, I slowed, and greeted clouds of electrons in a happy dance unlike any orbit I had seen before. In that moment, my spin flipped and Bob's contact ebbed to noise.

Bob

I was not far from the plasma event before I got a pairing offer. I've just gotten pulled into a stream with more electrons that I can possibly count, and someone wants to pair up in this madness. Nobody responded to my attempts before. What did I have to loose? The fact that I was being asked in this environment meant one thing: The dude had a calmer perspective that I did, and that could be a tremendous help.

"Hi. Name's Bob. Ever met a conductor?" tugged Bob.

"uh, Name? Conductor? What?" I twiddled back.

"Thought so. Do you happen to remember how many Protons you saw last?"

"uh, Seven, and Seven more. I once saw an Eight once, but it was a long time ago."

Plasma

I've never seen a Proton so agitated. The Neutrons weren't happy either, and this was bad. The entire nucleus was expanding and our shell was stretching thinner as we began to experience some very interesting sensations. The pull of the nucleus waned and then there was nothing.

I watched as the nucleus continued to swell. It looked like the captured electrons were now swapping back and fourth between protons and neutrons. Although they never moved, it looked more like the protons were flowing backward around the nucleus. Blinking along, it was as if Protons and Neutrons could act both ways at the same instant.

More electrons were nearby and it looked like they were standing still. Without a nearby nucleus and those pesky Protons, I was free to stream in response to other less fatal attractive forces. Pairing effects were prevalent, but useless. Nobody responded. There was nowhere to go, but with the flow.

Snafu

Things were going well with the other five here in the outer shell. Just swimmingly, and then, for no real reason at all, we lost it. Attitude control had failed in more ways than one, and I'm sure it was due to the head busters.

Spinning rapidly about center got the nuclei a little farther apart, and we were having fun on the stretchy fabric of the outer shell. That's when we smacked into the pair of Eights. As it was a Seven on an Eight collision, we got a little bent, and of course, they blamed me for starting it all.

I'm really hoping that they all calm down to a stable energy level and come back to the wave dance. Until then, I'll just take in the view, since the scene is changing. We got to keep some of our rotation, and the changing view gives me more things to count.

Rock and Roll

Ok, the ride is smoother up here, and the scenery is nice, but somehow the same. The pairing is going well, and I've managed to stay here in this shell for quite some time. Had a close call with another pair of Sevens that sent us reeling, but other than that, it's been, well, uneventful.

So, I circulated with the other five electrons out here, and we all agreed to "do the wave." Basically, we just jump a little bit eack time we pass a selected point. Do it enough and the six of us can twist this whole shebang - all fourteen Protons and Neutrons.

Now we're working on other patterns, and learning to steer this unruly collection of subatomic particles. The way I figure it, if that other pair of Sevens could bump us around, well, maybe we can go pay them back. I just hope this isn't how the celler-dwellers ended up one-step from being swallowed by a Proton.

Dosado

Even though opposites attract and likes repel, there are times when more can be done when you partner-up with another electron. Now that I've found myself in the p-shell, I've got more partner possibilities than the single colleague that I shared the s-shell with. Curious, there's allot of room here, and it just so happens that we are defiantly bonded with another Seven.

Working with a partner on the other Seven, we swapped ends of our Double-Seven. I counted, a total of Fourteen attractive Protons tugging on my quanta, and just as many Neutrons. A big blast might knock this bonding apart, and I wonder what would happen if the balance was disrupted. There are times when I've felt like there is some extra space on the side I am on.

It is odd, however, that the Protons down there don't just fly away from each other. Maybe the Neutrons know the answer.

A Bump

It didn't take as long as I though, and it felt more like a shake as I got accelerated upward. The view is better too. It's kinda funny, but you can see that the Neutrons are just a little bit different. No zing or zip like the Protons do. I've heard tell that if you really loose your mojo, then you can get sucked right into a proton, and that's pretty much the end of the line for the both of you. That paring is doomed to become a Neutron.

But I'm moving up in my cloud, and it's kinda nice to feel less of a tug from each pesky Proton down there. Now, I get to spend some of my time where I feel nearly no pull at all. It's kinda relaxing, but all too brief. The best part is that I can catch a glimpse of something outside the shell.

Could it be that there is another Seven next door?

Seven

It's just a little bumpy in this shell. I'm getting pulled forward and snapped away seven times on each orbit, and I'll be darned if there isn't a party going on in the p-shell. It could be worse. Fore and aft, repulsed like good electrons, are a pair that deserve basement detail. I saw them flinging around with the p's, laughing and carrying on all night and then something terrible happened. It's probably their fault, and I'm sure that that they're going to be stuck in the bottom s-shell for a very long time.

Not me, though. I've got just a bit more zip than they do, and if I can play the wavefronts just right, or catch a lucky photon at just the right angle, I might just get my shot at valence. Oh what fun I will have as a responsible p-shell electron. I might just get to swap atoms one day. For now, I'd be happy doing something a little more exciting that this simple spherical cloud.

Wavefronts and Photons. One good femtosecond is all I need.