Explaining the unexplained
Author : TJMoore
“But what is it?” asked Brian. He was examining the softly humming sphere on the table with skepticism.
“I told you, it’s an explanitarium. I invented it!” I said again with more than a little pride and just a little impatience.
“And what, exactly, does it do again?” he asked, yet again.
I held up my hands in exasperation. “I already told you, it explains itself. Aren’t you paying attention? “
“I don’t get it. Explain how it explains itself.”
Brian squatted down and gazed at the small shiny sphere from eye level and tried to see anything that would explain what it did.
“It just does; Aren’t you listening?”
By now I was waving my arms in the air and drawing diagrams in the air with my hands, as if he could glean my meaning from the after image left behind.
“It synchronizes its aura with your persistent coronal thought pattern and presents a detailed explanation of its inner workings. How many times do I have to say it?”
“But how does it work?” He asked again without taking his eyes off the object of our discussion, as though fearful it would grow legs and run over and bite him.
“Listen! You pick it up and it explains itself to you. That’s it! That’s all! It’s simple! Oy!”
I rolled my eyeballs at him, crossed my arms in front of me and started tapping my foot.
“But…”
“Just pick it up!” I shouted at him, totally losing my cool at this point.
“OK! OK! Don’t blow a gasket! I’ll pick it up!” he said reaching tentatively for the little sphere.
“Oh wow… I understand. That’s really cool.” said Brian.
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