"That's different. I understand about generating electricity; it's a

relatively

simple spell. But I don't understand the first thing about computers."

"What's to understand? You get a modem that functions on the same principle as

a

radiophone. I can take care of the rest. I don't know why you get so

intimidated

by technology. It's not as if I'm asking you to write me a new program, for

God's sake. This is simple stuff. A child could do it."

"Archimedes, you are becoming very tiresome," Merlin said wearily. "I'll work

on

it, all right?"

"What's to work on? You—"

"Archimedes..."

"All right, all right, just don't blame me if I can't get anything done,

that's

all."

Merlin sighed. "Whoever came up with the idea for computers, anyway? And I

thought crystal balls were temperamental—"

"You 'ad me bring all this stuff up 'ere while I was sleep-in'?" Billy said,

interrupting him. "No wonder I was so bloody tired when I woke up!"

"You did not actually bring all these things up here physically," Merlin

explained. "I teleported them here magically. Some of these things were

salvaged

from the fire when my house burned down, others came from storage, and some

were

in my office at the college in Cambridge, Massachusetts. However, the

exhaustion

that you felt was a direct result of energy expended thaumaturgically."

'"What the 'ell does that mean?"

"It means that magic use exacts a price in energy," said Merlin. "In other

words, the more magic you use, the more it takes out of you, and the more

time

you need to recuperate. Ordinarily, teleporting these things here would have

been effortless for me, but I hadn't counted on the fact that, you're not

physically mature yet. Your body simply won't take the same amount of stress

that an adult body would be capable of handling, especially an adult body

accustomed to the strains placed upon it by magic use."

"So what you're sayin' is you worked me 'alf to death an' then sat back an'

left

me to feel it all. Well, thanks ever so bleedin' much!"

"You're quite right," admitted Merlin. "That wasn't very fair to you. However,

didn't have much choice. We're pressed for time and I had to hurry things

along."

"Why? What's the rush?"