Sam finishes and falls silent again, her throat aching. Did she remember it correctly? She trusts in her abilities because they have never yet failed her, but here, her faith in herself wavers. Sam waits, wondering if the cold barrel of a gun will press against her head now.
Diamond touches her shoulder. Sam stiffens at the gentle weight of her hand. The woman watches her with a thoughtful expression, then withdraws her hand and stands up. Sam gets the curious feeling that she has just been tested, although for what, she doesn’t know.
“She’s too old,” Will says to his mother. “It’ll take too long to train her.”
“Constantine’s right,” says the man Diamond had addressed.
The name pings in Sam’s perfect memory.Constantine.She had heard it mentioned by the men in the restaurant, all those years ago.
Diamond lifts a casual hand without looking at her associate, and he quiets immediately. Beside her, Will’s lips tighten with dislike. Some unspoken conversation has passed between them. Sam can feel her fate shifting, changing like a weather forecast. Will tucks the gun away at his belt, and his gesture makes light glint off the gold winged lion pinned at his collar.
At last, Diamond says to Sam, “Can you come see us tomorrow?”
It is less a question than a command, and Sam knows that she can only give one answer. “Yes,” she replies.
Diamond nods. Sam has passed the test.
“Then let’s see what you can do for us, little bird.”
Abstract:In this paper, we show how thoroughly sand has changed the world in the decades since its creation by analyzing a sample of 24,281 people around the world who take sand regularly, defined as weekly or more. […] We concluded that sand has had an impact akin to the invention of electricity, where the enhancement of large populations via sand has fundamentally changed the quality of healthcare, infrastructure, education, art, and culture in profound ways.
“Evaluating the Impact of Sand Using Global Alchemy Survey Data from 1986–2013,” Presentation at Oxford seminars, 2013
