"Because there's all this technology out there, and so many ideas, and it should all be compatible, if the laws of the scientific world are universal, they way I've been taught they are and the way they should be," Sam said, beginning to pace as she tried to explain. It had been so long since she'd played with science and machinery just because she could, and not because her life and the lives of those she loved were on the line.

"There's power in each new discovery, and being able to combine them into something no one's ever seen before, well, there's another kind of power in that."