LeeSki_SkiMore's SciFi Site: Future.Novel: Lev.UP, page 18

The storm must have loved him because it let him go.
The board had shot through the funnel, intact, almost weightless, near the top of a
three-mile high arc. Eller spread his arms and legs wide. Hard muscles strained against
the smartgel interface of the board that was a form-fitting mold all around him. The
shaper-comp translated his movements, then it stretched and twisted the board into a
tiny stubby-winged fighter plane shape by changing the electronic charge levels in the
board's servo-structural airgel molecules.
Even with maximum airfoil surface the air flow was too slow to provide any lift. As the
board's slight upward momentum ended, gravity took over and Eller took a dive. The
board screamed toward the ground, while Eller fought a hard fight against the smartgel's
feedback pressures. Agile muscles and lightening reflexes were just barely able to turn
the spinning dive into a steep glide.

The comp rose into view, stretched and bent in the silvery-surfaced depths of the drain.
It pulled Eller back to reality.
Powerful enough to replace both of the boards' old comps, as well as extending the
look-ahead of the prophetware, all at the same time, the little black box would more than
fix the board, it would give him the edge he needed against the top.lev comps in the
top.lev boards that the Richies rode. His drive and talent for the board barely able to
keep him on the sportsnet.
Even with all the teachies, psychos, and meddies in the net's med files, people still
had head hurts. Eller's mother had been a deep-dreamer, in a too dream compatible
world. His mother had lived permanently high on Quint, a value-added, mildly illegal,
form of the legal drug THC. She had spent her life sucking adulterated safesmokes--the
disposable, electrically activated, vapor inhaler tubes, that left the users lungs insurable.
Trading away the personal allowance portion of her divi.dole, plus that of her kids,
for the VR-enhancing hallucinogen, Eller's mom had VR'd a life away re-running
memories. Netfile memories of her life before the weather had changed so suddenly,
storm after storm blasting down the smooth, wide path of heat soaked concrete and
asphalt between the coast and the mountains. Before all the tall trees were gone, blown
away, leaving a pick-up-stick landscape behind. Memories from before the forced
relocation from what had been the gentle green slopes of her "Sweet Carolina" home.

A hard squeeze popped open the zippy. Eller removed the comp, stuck it in his pocket.
He pulled the barbed end of the monomolecular line from the fuzz around the pipe,
letting the valuable line slither away to the molecular recyclers. With the drain cover
back on, he exited the meadow. Eller found Phara still nested in the fed.real ghosted
leaves that littered the ground edging the giant log. Relieved, but a little scared to find
her still totally out, looking so dead, Eller subbed to the govware, and said, "Hey you
told me she was going to be okay. Why is she still so out of it?"
"After consulting with her fibersuit's medware, it was decided a sleep period to be of
strategic value that would aid in her recovery."
"Next time you could update me on these decisions," said Eller in spite of his obvious
relief that she would be asleep for a while. "Without me you'd just be a bunch of lost
bits. Get me a ramp car so I can take her home or did you also plan to leave her lying
there until she woke up?"
Spyware dropped a map into view. A tiny animated icon was visible moving along the
streetnet towards Phara's bar. The govware subbed to Eller, and said, "Car on route.
Arrival in forty-seven seconds. Will maintain the Phara persona simulation while you
change locations."