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didn’t come from your body but from the virtual-reality equipment, which was just like the extension of your body. You were clumsy at first, but quickly you got better until you now handle that virtual-reality robot just as if it were your own body. Learning those controls was like learning the controls of a complicated computer game.” He took a deep breath. “So you’re still with me after all that?”
    â€œYes.”
    Rawling took another deep breath. “Let me ask you this. If the information was delivered instantly, would it make a difference to your brain if the information reached it through eyes attached to your head, or eyes attached to a video lens a thousand miles or a million miles away?”
    â€œIt would,” I said, after thinking about it for a few seconds. “Because your hands have to be near your eyes to pick something up.”
    â€œWhat if your hands were also a thousand miles or a million miles away?”
    â€œHa-ha,” I said. “I know your secret. You’re crazy. Like anybody could have arms a million miles long.”
    â€œI’m serious,” he said. “It’s the brain that matters and how it deals with the information. If your eyes, ears, and hands are just extensions of your brain, it doesn’t matter how far away all those parts are, as long as two things are possible. First, these extensions instantly deliver information to the brain. And second, the brain is instantly able to direct the extensions. Will you agree with me?”
    I looked at Rawling strangely. He was waiting as if my answer was very important.
    â€œWell,” I said, “I guess you’re right. It wouldn’t matter.”
    â€œIf it doesn’t matter, you could explore Mars. You could go out to the asteroids. You could see a moon of Jupiter. Not by telescope but by actually being there through extensions of your eyes and ears and the rest of your senses in the body of a robot. Would you like that?”
    â€œYou know I hate this wheelchair,” I said. “But what you’re talking about, that can’t happen. It’s only theory.”
    Rawling looked up through the dome at the stars. Then back at me. “It’s no longer theory,” he said softly. “It’s you.”

CHAPTER 12
    â€œI promised your mother I wouldn’t say anything else until we got together with her,” Rawling said as he got out of his chair. “She’s waiting for us in your minidome.”
    â€œYou can’t leave me hanging like this.”
    â€œIt won’t be long,” he said. “Let me get you down there.”
    Normally, I didn’t let anyone push my wheelchair. I mean, did other people ask for help when they walked? This time, though, I was too distracted, wondering about what Rawling had just told me.
    Rawling wheeled me away from the telescope and took us down the catwalk to the second level. As he pushed me along the second level walkway, he grunted. “You must be getting heavier,” he said. “I don’t ever remember it being this difficult to move you around.”
    â€œLack of oxygen,” I said. “It’s been getting tougher and tougher for me to wheel around too.” But now I didn’t care about that. I wanted to know more about the virtual-reality program. “Will you at least give me a hint about this robot stuff?”
    â€œYou won’t have to wait long. Trust me, for as long as this secret has been inside you, another few minutes won’t matter.”
    â€œInside me?”
    â€œInside you. But I won’t say another word until we meet your mother.”
    He kept pushing. When we reached the ramp, he guided me down to the main level. In another couple of minutes, we met my mother in our minidome.
    â€œAn X-ray,” Rawling said as he handed me a big envelope. “An X-ray of your back and shoulders. From this afternoon’s checkup.”
    I glanced up