[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's what I mean, he's been repositioned rather than, so it's a good question, it's definitely something I'm on the lookout, because I am conscious that even though we have a lot of these overlapping storylines, does that then, even with a 5 hours of television, create less space for other people? At the moment, I don't feel like that's happened yet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think anyone has remembered that Daniel Brooke is still 24-7 champ, and that's why she's 24-7 champ. Maybe she's the one who's been hurt the most by the Triple H reign. Yeah, she's just gone sort of nowhere. I mean, she was in the tag title, you know... And lost twice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My big thing with a resume in 40 is that if they go back to Numa- because, uh, Vince didn't want a resume to sound old, but now we can have nice things again. So, uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If they go back to not only numbering them, but they go back to Roman numerals, it will be WrestleMania XL.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's nice. Yeah. So they do it in a massive stadium to try and pack it out over two nights. Biggest WrestleMania ever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'd be, I'd be all about it. It'll also be the year I1040.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He is, as my new thing, he's the male Natalia. Look, you are wrong and I'm preparing you a PowerPoint presentation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm sorry, you're wrong. No, Natalia is not someone you can, because Natalia doesn't have that same, she's not as skilled character-wise as The Miz. She's an incredible technical wrestler, has banger after banger, but she's not-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ah, fine, whatever, you just, you wouldn't know good wrestling if it slaps you with the... What's his move called?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, they did! Ed and Ed and, oh sorry, um, AJ and Finn and Liv Morgan, which, again, in the nightmare commentary we're having on this particular show, at one point, I think Jimmy Smith was like, he went on for ages and Corey was like, you haven't once.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can, I mean, how do you split the titles, unless they're going with one champion? I mean, I, and I believe the, um, the networks want separate champions. So how do you- Me too! Well, me, yeah, me too. How do you split the titles?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The idea of some form of free bird rule and that's a really interesting way of causing the bloodline to break from within rather than it being.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, I'm curious. That's got me thinking. I'm gonna be thinking about that for a little while. I like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What did you say? What did he say? Could you collaborate in the future?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You are texting now with Ariana, right? Could you guys collaborate in the future?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess we're back to normal now, huh? No good luck, no bad luck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay then gang, so we have our modal right here, but we now need a way to toggle it's showing or not showing. Now remember that is controlled with this boolean right here called show modal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now the first thing I'm gonna do is actually extract this value right here and put it into the app.js because I want to be able to control whether this modal should show from outside of the component.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So again, we're going to use a prop to do this, export, let show modal, and we're going to set it equal to false to begin with, because by default, when you go to a website, you shouldn't be given a modal straight away. It should maybe wait 20 seconds before showing you an annoying advertisement, or maybe you should click a button to see that modal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, I'm gonna save that there, and we shouldn't see it by default.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now I want to pass this in as a prop. So what I'm going to do first of all is come down here where we have the modal and I'm going to pass in show modal and that's going to be a boolean either true or false. Now I want this to be stored in a variable up here. So I'm going to say let show modal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Equal to false to begin with, and then I'll pass this variable into here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we save it, then it should show the model, which it does. If it's false now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then it won't show the modal, which it does in awesome. So that's all working. Now, just one thing. When the prop name and the value or rather the value.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Variable name that we're using here is the same, show modal, show modal. There is a shorthand for this and that's just to take away the prop name and the equal sign like that and then it implies that the prop name is going to be the same as the thing that you're passing through, show modal. Okay, so that's just a shorthand and you'll see me using that as we go forward.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay. So just to demonstrate that this still works, let me change this to true and save it. And we can see this still works. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All right, so now we have this, we need a way to toggle this from false to true to begin with. And then when the model is open from true to false against closing. So let's start by toggling it from false to true.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So what I'd like to do is create a button inside this main tag right here. And when you click on that button, it's going to toggle that value. So let me say button and we'll say open modal and we need a click event.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On this button. And we'll set it equal to some kind of function. That function is going to be called ToggleModel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So we need to declare that function up here, so let me say const.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Toggle modal is equal to a function.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then inside this function all we want to do is take the value of showModel and reverse it. So we'll say showModel is now equal to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The reverse of show modal. That exclamation mark takes the current value and flips it on its head. So if it was false, it becomes true. If it was true, it becomes false. So every time we call this toggle modal function, it's going to flip it from false to true or true to false, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So to begin with, it's false and if we click on the button, it's going to change it to true and then it should show the modal because then this becomes true, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if we save it and click open modal, this works. Right? But now we can't close it. So we need a way now to close this. So we're gonna do that from inside the modal component because now that's taken up the entire screen with this backdrop.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So what I'd like to do is make it so that when we click on the backdrop itself, that triggers the modal to close. So we need to add an onClick handler right here. And normally what we do is pass this some kind of handler function, right? And define that up here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the thing that we want to call is actually inside the app component right here. We want to call this function. Now we can't just say toggle modal right here because that function is not defined inside this component so that is not going to work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Instead, what we need to do is use something called event forwarding. And that means we basically forward this click event onto the parent element. So when a user clicks on this, it's going to forward it to this component and this modal is going to emit a click event.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So the way we use event forwarding is to register the event right here by saying on click, but then don't set it equal to anything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And when we don't set it equal to anything, it's going to forward this to where we define this component right here. And now we can listen to that on click event right here. Okay. And now we can invoke the handle or rather not handle toggle modal function. Does that make sense? So once again.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're attaching a click event to this backdrop right here. When we click on that, we're not defining any kind of handler in this component. So it looks at it and says, okay, I'm going to events forward it to where this component is used and defined in the parent component.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which is right here. And I'm going to forward that click event to this. So this modal now emits that click event and when that happens we can reference the function that we want to run inside this component. So that's how we get around the problem of invoking a function from the parent component


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now I don't want to do that. I want to attach it to the backdrop. So let me save that now. And now when we click on the backdrop, hopefully it should fire this function and it should toggle the model again. It's currently showing, so it should change it back to false from true. So let's test this open modal and click over here and it closes it. Awesome.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now there is one problem with this and that is it closes even when I click on the white bit over here because that is still inside the


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Backdrop right here. I'm still clicking on this overall element when I click on something inside of it. So we're going to tackle that problem in the next video using an event modifier.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really the most amazing thing about his childhood is his escape from South Africa.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The world changing stuff was not happening at Stanford.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I'm sure it felt, you know, wonderful to have all this money and, and to have people recognizing success. I think he was also frustrated that this company hadn't become as great as he wanted it to be. It hadn't, it hadn't changed the world. It had just slightly altered the course of newspaper history, which I think from his point of view is, you know, kind of a piddling accomplishment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He was very rich. I mean, just more money than most people could dream. And he took almost no time in between


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So the trick isn't figuring out how to get to orbit, it's figuring out how to get to orbit cheaply.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What SpaceX has been very successful at is taking basically off the shelf technology, stuff that was developed by NASA 50 years ago, and streamlining it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's basically hands this idea to his cousins and says, if you want to start this, I will


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I will fund you and it'll be your company, but I'll be the chairman. And they say, okay. And it works.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Make electric cars, help humanity get off, uh, fossil fuels.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Basically, Tesla got to this point where they only had enough money in the bank for a couple of months and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Tesla sued him, he sued Tesla, and there was all kinds of, uh, you know, infighting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the fourth launch was going to happen in a matter of months, which in the rocket industry was a crazy announcement.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The company is really teetering on the brink of failure. And there's this board meeting, uh, late in 2008.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where they're discussing what's going to happen, and Elon just says, well, I'm going to raise a 40 million dollar round to keep the company going.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the board members are kind of wondering, well, how's he gonna do that? And he says, I'm gonna put it all in myself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are most certainly people who want to see Tesla fail because it is an attack on the mainstream car industry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You just saw on his face this sort of...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just elation and this feeling like all of this suffering is worth it and it's real now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Solar City has been very, very impressive. I mean, there are, you know, thousands of people with panels on their roofs and lots of big offices. I believe eBay has Solar City panels. So it's having a very big, very visible impact on the world.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Elon has a self-confidence that is just, it's breathtaking. Uhm, and it's especially breathtaking when you think about the things he's confident about. The idea that humanity is gonna get to Mars. That not just humanity is gonna get to Mars, but that he, in his lifetime, Elon Musk, will get to Mars.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wherever we were going, it was some distance from the village.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We made a rather morose wedding party, the bridal pair encircled by the others like convicts being escorted towards some distant prison.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The only conversation was a muted apology from Jamie for being late.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Explaining that there had been some difficulty in finding a clean shirt and coat large enough to fit him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think this one belongs to the local squire's son, he said, flipping the lacy jabo. Bit of a dandy, it looks like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We dismounted and left the horses at the foot of a small hill, a footpath led upward through the heather. You've made the arrangements.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I heard Dougal say, in an undertone to Rupert, as they tethered the beasts, oh, aye. There was a flash of teeth in the black beard.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was a bit of trouble to persuade the Padre, but we showed him the special license.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He patted his spolon, which clinked musically, giving me some idea of the nature of the special licence.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Through the drizzle and mist, I saw the chapel jutting out of the heather with a sense of complete disbelief.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I saw the round-shouldered roof and the odd little many-paned windows.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Dougal put a large paw on my shoulder, making soothing Scottish noises, as if I were a skittish horse. Just natural to be a bit nervous, he said, to all of us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A firm hand in the small of my back urged me on up the path.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My shoes sank moistly in the damp layer of fallen leaves.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jamie and Dougal walked close on either side of me, preventing escape. Their looming played presences were unnerving, and I felt a mounting sense of hysteria. Two hundred years ahead, more or less,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I had been married in this chapel, charmed then by its ancient picturesqueness.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The chapel now was creaking with newness, its boards not yet settled into charm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Freezer He pronounced it formally, each name slow and distinct. Completely flustered, I said, Claire Elizabeth Beecham, and stuck out my hand idiotically. Apparently taking this as a plea for support, he took the hand and tucked it firmly into the crook of his elbow. Thus, inescapably pinioned,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As a civil servant, I spoke out, but it's difficult to do so because you feel


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Constantly that you're risking your job and your family's future.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The former chairman, uh, CEO of Halliburton, Dick Cheney, within a few months of coming into office. And as vice president, he was pressuring the administrator of EPA, Christie Todd Whitman.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To exempt hydraulic fracking from the Safe Drinking Water Act regulation. From my own point of view as a technician, I just thought it very alarming that EPA technically had described how toxic these materials are. Toxic at the point of injection.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And still come out with a summary that says they don't need to be reported or regulated.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that led me in the fall of 04 to object on technical grounds. Then the inspector general of EPA began an investigation of my complaints. Um, and several months into that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Congress took the report from EPA saying that fracking did not present a risk.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Along with other information and exempted hydraulic fracking from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. That leaves you and I, as the American public, in this position. We cannot know what the industry injects in our land. It is exempt from being reported.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Last year, EPA got several citizens' requests from Garfield County, and the citizens were saying,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Gosh, my drinking water might be contaminated by this practice, or the air we breathe might be affected. EPA, can you look into it? EPA should have.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, myself and another staff person, we had prepared the letters and we were, we were ready to write to the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Supervisors, they cancelled that investigation. So EPA did not investigate the legitimate complaints from citizens in Garfield County.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One of the concerns of the agency with respect to the oil and gas industry is how much volatile organic, uh, carbon, how much volatile gases come from the industry, especially from storage of oil or storage of gas.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In an effort to track down how much volatile organic carbon was coming from the oil and gas industry. A unique study was undertaken by EPA. And EPA brought in some infrared cameras.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And turned them towards these oil and gas facilities and under infrared light, the volatile organic commissions were visible. They looked like a, a mirage.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so one could see in this intricate red camera the amount of volatile organic carbon coming off these storage tanks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've examined that gun of Mr. Lawrence's. The left trigger hammer is defective. It should be repaired. Very well, Tom.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But Mr. Zone, we have yet to prove that it should be your estate. That's exactly what I'm waiting for you to do, Mr. Calamy. Are you handing this case around to you? Mr. Zone.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You may not always be a governess. I'm sure that possibility has occurred to you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I come of an Adam's family. And since you've taken that family's name, you should perhaps know its legend. Why, 700 years ago, Alaric Fury adopted a Barbary ape as his crest. He captured it on his way to the First Crusade.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Shortly afterwards he was killed in battle, but the ape loved his master so much that he would allow no one to come near his body when they wanted to bury him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A legend has it that the ape still watches over the rights of the Furies. Hence the motto, Beware, Furies Ape.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's funny, I was asking the police about you, they said you'd been here three or four days.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, there's not time. They're breaking camp, look. In an hour or two they'll be gone. Will you help me?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Approach the camp in the other direction, we'll pass the way back to Stafford. That'll attract their attention and give me time. Now look, they're a rough crowd. Keep a safe distance, and if any sign of trouble, get out fast.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I broke her and schooled her myself. She was your wife's, I mean your first wife's favorite hunter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This mare's dam and sire were bred by Adam Fury himself. She's given us five of the best horses on the estate. Now because she's no use anymore, you say shoot her. I tell you, you can't have her destroyed. Can't?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mr. Callamy, you didn't ask me here to tell me that, did you? No. Have you any news?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why do you stand there, my love? Come in, come in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My dear Blanche, you aren't losing confidence in me now, are you?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I merely wish to point out, my lord, that I also had to throw on a few clothes since when the crime occurred, I was in bed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mrs. Fury, your evidence is so pitifully weak, I suggest the truth is simply this. You brought this accusation for some personal motive.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Come live any other, this is your last chance. If you disobey me this time, I'll have you sent to bed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But we've become very fond of you, Blanche. We think of you as one of us. I hope you'll be there more and more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fraser and Weatherby are here, and Jenkins. I promised them you'd come down and chow on them for a few minutes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I will discuss the matter again with you when you're in a more lady-like frame of mind. Of mind.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are those the two yearlings from Mr. Weatherby? They were. Well you wasted your time. Why didn't you wait until I arrived before choosing them?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I find this interest in the estate unexpected. In the past, you and your father have left these matters to me. From now on, everything is going to be different. In future, you will take your orders from me. I am going to manage the estate. You think you know enough to do that? I know enough to dispense with you. I'll see that you're dismissed. You can clear out. You don't belong here anymore.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] ...were found dead on the 25th day of May in this present year in the Italian garden of Clare Hall. And that the cause of death was in each case a gunshot wound.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, because that show, I mean, I remember, of course, the big thing was when you cut your hair. That was, I'm sure, part of the script that the haircut would happen, but did you know that it would be so short and such a big deal?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not much has changed, yeaah, yeaah. Things, but things are going very well. You're both on separate shows and you've not, as far as I know, photographed yourself naked and posted it on it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, it seems like, I have to say, I too am happy that you guys are getting along. And it seems like you are. And it seems like, I don't know, I mean, it does seem like you're like, almost like brother and sister. I don't want to be weird, but it-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The climax will be an open ended strike across Egypt on the 30th of June.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can't do it, I can't use you. Get out. He can ruffle some feathers. There's certain things coaches don't say to kids.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was 99.9% sure I was dreaming. The reasons I was so certain were that, first, I was standing in a bright shaft of sunlight, the kind of blinding clear sun that never shone on my drizzly new hometown in Forks, Washington.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And second, I was looking at my grandma Marie. Grand had been dead for six years now, so that was solid evidence toward the dream theory.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Gran hadn't changed much. Her face looked just the same as I remembered it. The skin was soft and withered, bent into a thousand tiny creases that clung gently to the bone underneath. Like a dried apricot, but with a puff of thick white hair standing out in a cloud around it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was about to ask her a question. I had so many. What was she doing here in my dream? What had she been up to the past six years? Was Pop okay? And had they found each other wherever they were?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Bella! It wasn't Gran who called my name, and we both turned to see the addition to our small reunion. I didn't have to look to see who it was. This was a voice I would know anywhere. Know and respond to, whether I was awake or asleep, or even dead I bet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The voice I'd walked through fire for, or less dramatically, slosh every day through the cold and endless rain for Edward.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Even though I was always thrilled to see him, conscious or otherwise, and even though I was almost positive that I was dreaming, I panicked as Edward walked through us, toward us through the glaring sunlight.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You might have noticed that my boyfriend glitters. It's just something he does in the sun. Don't worry about it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In that second, I wished that I was not the one exception to his mysterious talent. I usually felt grateful that I was the only person whose thoughts he couldn't hear, just as clearly as if they were spoken aloud. But now I wished he could hear me, too, so that he could hear the warning I was screaming in my head.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I shot a panic glance back at Gran, and I saw that it was too late. She was just turning to stare back at me, her eyes as alarmed as mine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Edward, still smiling so beautifully that my heart felt like it was going to swell up and burst through my chest, put his arm around my shoulder and turned to face my grandmother.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Grant's expression surprised me. Instead of looking horrified, she was staring at me sheepishly as if waiting for a scolding.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And she was standing in such a strange position, one arm held awkwardly away from her body, stretched out and then curled around the air, like she had her arm around someone I couldn't see, someone invisible.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Only then, as I looked at the bigger picture, did I notice the huge glit frame that enclosed my grandmother's form.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uncomprehending, I raised the hand that wasn't wrapped around Edward's waist and reached out to touch her.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With a dizzying jolt, my dream abruptly became a nightmare. There was no gran. That was me. Me in a mirror. Me, ancient, creased, and withered.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Edward stood beside me, casting no reflection, excruciatingly lovely, and forever seventeen. He pressed his icy perfect lips against my wasted cheek. Happy birthday, he whispered.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I woke with a start, my eyelids popping open wide and gasped.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Dull great light, the familiar light of an overcast morning, took the place of my blinding sun in my dream.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just a dream, I told myself. It was only a dream. I took a deep breath and then jumped again when my alarm went off. The little calendar in the corner of the clock's display informed me that today was September 13th.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Only a dream, but prophetic enough in one way at least. Today was my birthday. I was officially 18 years old. I've been dreading this day for months.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All through the perfect summer, the happiest summer I had ever had, the happiest summer anyone, anywhere had ever had, and the rainiest summer in the history of the Olympic Peninsula, this bleak date had lurked in ambush, waiting to spring. And now that it had hit, it was even worse than I'd feared it would be. I could feel it. I was older.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Every day I got older, but this was different, worse, quantifiable. I was 18 and Edward never would be. When I went to brush my teeth, I was almost surprised that the face in my, in the mirror hadn't changed. I stared at myself looking for some sign of impending wrinkles in my ivory skin.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The only creases were the ones on my forehead though, and I knew that if I could manage to relax, they would disappear. I couldn't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My eyebrows stayed lodged in a worried line over my anxious brown eyes. It was just a dream. I reminded myself again. Just a dream. But also my worst nightmare.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I skipped breakfast in a hurry to get out of the house as quickly as possible. I wasn't entirely able to avoid my dad, and so I had to spend a few minutes acting cheerful.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I honestly tried to be excited about the gifts I'd asked him not to get me, but every time I had to smile, I felt like I might start crying.


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[Assistant] The vision of Graham. I would not think of it as me. It was hard to get out of my head. I couldn't feel anything but despair until I pulled into the familiar parking lot behind Forks High School and spotted Edward leaning motionlessly against his polished silver Volvo, like a marble tribute to some forgotten pagan god of beauty. The dream had not done him justice.


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[Assistant] And he was waiting there for me, just the same as every other day. Despair momentarily vanished. Wonder took its place. Even after half a year with him, I still couldn't believe that I deserved this degree of good fortune.


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[Assistant] His sister Alice was standing beside his- by his side, waiting for me too.


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[Assistant] Of course, Edward and Alice weren't really related. In Forks, the story was that all the Cullen siblings were adopted by Dr. Carlisle Kohler and his wife Esme, both plainly too young to have teenage children. But their skin was precisely the same pale shade. Their eyes had the same strained golden tint, with the same deep, bruised-like shadows beneath them.


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[Assistant] Her face, like his, was also startlingly beautiful. To someone in the know, someone like me, these similarities marked them for what they were.


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[Assistant] The sight of Alice waiting there, her tawny eyes brilliant with excitement, and a small silver wrapped square in her hands made me frown.


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[Assistant] I told Alice I didn't want anything. Anything. Not gifts or even attention on my birthday. Obviously my wishes were being ignored. I slammed the door of my 53 Chevy truck. A shower of rust specks fluttered down to the wet blacktop.


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[Assistant] Do you want to open your present now or later? She asked eagerly, as we made our way to where Edward still waited.


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[Assistant] I sighed. Of course she would know what my birthday presents were. Edward wasn't the only member of his family with unusual skills. Alice would have seen what my parents were planning as soon as they decided that themselves. Yeah, they're great.


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[Assistant] I think it's a nice idea. You're only a senior once. Might as well document the experience. How many times have you been a senior? That's different.


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[Assistant] We reached Edward then, and he held out his hand for mine. I took it eagerly, forgetting for a moment my glum mood. His skin was, as always, smooth, hard, and very cold.


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[Assistant] He gave my fingers a gentle squeeze. I looked into his liquid topaz eyes and my heart gave a not quite so gentle squeeze of its own.


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[Assistant] Hearing the stutter in my heartbeats, he smiled again. He lifted his free hand and traced one cool fingertip around the outside of my lips as he spoke. So as discussed, I am not allowed to wish you happy birthday. Is that correct?


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[Assistant] Yes, that is correct. I could never quite mimic the flow of his perfect formal articulation. It was something that could be only picked up in an earlier century.


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[Assistant] Of course you'll enjoy it. Everyone is supposed to be nice to you today and give you your way, Bella. What's the worst that could happen?


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[Assistant] She meant it as a rhetorical question. Getting older, I answered anyway and my voice was not as steady as I wanted it to be.


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[Assistant] Beside me, Edward's smile tightened into a hard line.


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[Assistant] 18 isn't very old, Alice said. Don't women usually wait till they are 29 to get upset over birthdays?


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[Assistant] It's older than Edward, I mumbled. He sighed. Technically, she said, keeping her tone light, just by one little year, though.


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[Assistant] And I supposed, if I could be sure of the future I wanted, sure that I would get to spend forever with Edward and Alice and the rest of the Colons, preferably not as a wrinkled little old lady, then a year or two, one direction or the other wouldn't matter to me so much.


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[Assistant] But Edward was dead set against my future that changed me.


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[Assistant] Any future that made me like him, that made me immortal too. An impasse, he called it. I couldn't really see Edward's point, to be honest.


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[Assistant] What was so great about mortality? Being a vampire didn't look like such a terrible thing. Not the way the colons did it anyway.


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[Assistant] What time will you be at the house? Alice continued changing the subject. From her expression, she was told was up to exactly the kind of thing I'd been hoping to avoid. I didn't know I had plans to be there.


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[Assistant] Oh, be fair, Bella, she complained. You aren't going to ruin all of our fun like that, are you? I thought my birthday was about what I want.


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[Assistant] I'll get her from Charlie's right after school. Edward told her, ignoring me altogether. I have to work, I protested. You don't actually, Alice told me smugly. I already spoke to Miss Newton about it. She's trading your shifts. She said to tell you happy birthday.


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[Assistant] I, I still can't come over. I stammered, scrambling for an excuse. I will. I haven't watched Romeo and Juliet yet for English. Alice snorted. You have Romeo and Juliet memorized.


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[Assistant] Edward rolled his eyes. You've already seen the movie, Alice accused. But not the 1960s version. Mr. Birdie said it was the best.


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[Assistant] I'll bring her over around seven, he continued. That will give you more time to set up. Alice's laughter chimed again. Sounds good. See you tonight, Bella. It'll be fun, you'll see.


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[Assistant] She grinned. The wide smile exposed all her perfect glistening teeth, then pecked me on the cheek and danced off toward her first class before I could respond. Edward, please, I started to beg, but he pressed one cool finger to my lips. Let's discuss it later. We're going to be late for class.


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[Assistant] No one bothered to stare at us as we took our usual seats in the back of the classroom. We had almost every class together now.


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[Assistant] It was amazing the favors Edward could get the female administrators to do for him. Edward and I had been together too long now to be an object of gossip anymore. Even Mike Newton


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[Assistant] Didn't bother to give me the glum stare that used to make me feel a little guilty.


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[Assistant] He smiled now instead, and I was glad he seemed to have accepted that we could only be friends. Mike had changed over the summer. His face had lost some of the roundness, making his cheekbones more prominent.


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[Assistant] And he was wearing his pale blonde hair a new way instead of bristly. It was longer and gelled into a carefully, a usual disarray.


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[Assistant] It was easy to see where his inspiration came from, but Edward's look wasn't something that could be achieved through imitation.


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[Assistant] As the day progressed, I considered ways to get out of whatever was going down at the Colon's house tonight. It could be bad enough.


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[Assistant] It would be bad enough to have to celebrate when I was in the mood to mourn, but worse than that, this was sure to involve attention and gifts.


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[Assistant] No one wants a spotlight when they're likely to fall on their face.


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[Assistant] And I'd very pointedly asked, well, ordered really, that no one give me any presents this year.


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[Assistant] It looked like Charlie and Renee weren't the only ones who had decided to overlook that. I'd never had much money.


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[Assistant] And that had never bothered me. Rene had raised me on a kindergarten teacher's salary. Charlie wasn't getting rich at his job either. He was the police chief here in the tiny town of Forks. My only personal income came from the three days a week I worked at the local sporting goods store. In a town this small, I was lucky to have a job.


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[Assistant] Every penny I made went into my microscopic college fund. College was plan B, I was still hoping for plan A, but Edward was just so stubborn about leaving the human. Edward had a lot of money. I didn't even want to think about how much.


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[Assistant] Money meant next to nothing to Edward and the rest of the colons.


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[Assistant] It was just something that accumulated when you had unlimited time on your hands and a sister who had an uncanny ability to predict trends in the stock market.


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[Assistant] He, for some untamable reason, wanted to be with me.


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[Assistant] Anything he gave me on top of that just threw us more out of balance.


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[Assistant] As the day went on, neither Edward nor Alice brought my birthday up again, and I began to relax a little. We sat at our usual table for lunch. A strange kind of truce existed at that table. The three of us, Edward, Alice, and I, sat on the extreme southern end of the table.


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[Assistant] Now that the older and somewhat scarier in Emmett's case, certainly, Cohen siblings had graduated, Alice and Edward did not seem quite so intimidating, and we did not sit here alone.


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[Assistant] My other friends, Mike and Jessica, who were in the awkward post-breakup friendship phase, Angela and Ben, whose relationship had survived the summer,


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[Assistant] Eric, Connor, Tyler, and Lauren, though the last one didn't really count in the friend category, all sat at the same table on the other side of an invisible line.


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[Assistant] That line dissolved on sunny days when Edward and Alice always skipped school, and then the conversation would swell out effortlessly to include me.


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[Assistant] Edward and Alice didn't find this minor ostracism odd or hurtful the way I would have. They barely noticed it. People always felt strangely at ease with the colons.


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[Assistant] School ended, and Edward walked me to my truck as he usually did.


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[Assistant] But this time, he held the passenger door open for me. Alice must have been taking his car home so that he could keep me from making a run for it.


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[Assistant] I folded my arms and made no move to get out of the rain. It's my birthday. Don't I get to drive?


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[Assistant] If it's not my birthday then, I don't have to go to your house tonight.


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[Assistant] Alright. He shut the passenger door and walked past me to open the driver's side. Happy birthday. Shh. I shushed him half-heartedly. I climbed in the open door, wishing he'd taken the other offer.


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[Assistant] Edward played with the radio while I drove, shaking his head in disapproval. Your radio has horrible reception.


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[Assistant] I frowned. I didn't like it when he picked on my truck. The truck was great. It had personality.


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[Assistant] When I parked in front of Charlie's house, he reached over to take my face in his hands. He handled me very carefully, pressing just the tips of his fingers softly against my tuples, my cheekbones, my jawline. Like I was especially breakable, which was exactly the case, compared with him at least. You should be in a good mood today.


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[Assistant] Of all days, he whispered, his sweet breath fanned across my face.


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[Assistant] And if I don't want to be in a good mood, I asked, my breathing uneven. His golden eyes smoldered. Too bad.


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[Assistant] My head was already spinning by the time he leaned closer and pressed his icy lips against mine. As he intended, no doubt, I forgot about all my worries.


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[Assistant] His mouth lingered on mine, cold and smooth and gentle, until I wrapped my arms around his neck and threw myself into the kiss with a little too much enthusiasm. I could feel his lips curb upward as he let go of my face and reached back to unlock my grip on him.


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[Assistant] Edward had drawn many careful lines of our physical relationship, with the intent being to keep me alive.


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[Assistant] Though I respected the need for maintaining a safe distance between my skin and his razor sharp, venom-coated teeth.


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[Assistant] I intended to forget about trivial things like that when he was kissing me.


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[Assistant] Be good, please. He breathed against my cheek. He pressed his lips gently to mine one more time and then pulled away, folding my arms across my stomach.


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[Assistant] My pulse was thudding in my ears. I put one hand over my heart. It drummed hyperactively under my


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[Assistant] Do you think I'll ever get better at this? I wondered, mostly to myself. That my heart might someday stop trying to jump out of my chest whenever you touch me. I really hope not, he said, a bit smug.


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[Assistant] I rolled my eyes. Let's go watch the Capulets and Montagues hack each other up, alright?


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[Assistant] Edward sprawled across the couch while I started the movie, fast-forwarding through the opening credits.


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[Assistant] When I perched on the edge of the sofa in front of him, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against his chest. It wasn't exactly as comfortable as a sofa cushion would be.


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[Assistant] What with his chest being hard and cold and perfect as an ice sculpture, but it was definitely preferable. He pulled the old afghan off the back of the couch and draped it over me so I wouldn't freeze beside his body.


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[Assistant] You know, I've never had much patience with Romeo, he commented as the movie started.


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[Assistant] What's wrong with Romeo? I asked, a little offended. Romeo was one of my favorite fictional characters. Until I'd met Edward, I'd sort of had a thing for him. Well, first of all, he's in love with his Rosaline. Don't you think it makes him seem a little fickle?


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[Assistant] And then a few minutes after their wedding he kills Juliet's cousin. That's not very brilliant. Mistake after mistake. Could he have destroyed his own happiness any more thoroughly? I sighed. Do you want me to watch this alone?


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[Assistant] No, I'll mostly be watching you anyway. His fingers trace patterns across the skin of my arm, raising goosebumps. Will you cry? Probably, I admitted, if I'm paying attention. I won't distract you then. But I felt his lips on my hair, and it was very distracting.


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[Assistant] The movie eventually captured my interest, thanks in part to Edward, whispering Romeo's lines in my ear. His irresistible velvet voice made the actor's voice sound weak and coarse by comparison.


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[Assistant] And I did cry to his amusement when Juliet woke and found her new husband dead.


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[Assistant] It's something I had to think about once, and I knew from Carlyle's experience that it wouldn't be simple.


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[Assistant] I'm not even sure how many ways Carlisle tried to kill himself in the beginning, after he realized what he'd become. His voice, which had grown serious, turned light again. And he's clearly still in excellent health. I twisted around so I could read his face.


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[Assistant] What are you talking about? I demanded. What do you mean? This... something you had to think about once?


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[Assistant] Last spring when you were nearly killed, he paused to take a deep breath, struggling to return to his teasing tone. Of course, I was trying to focus on finding you alive, but part of my mind was making contingency plans. Like I said, it's not as easy for me as it is for a human.


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[Assistant] For one second, the memory of my last trip to Phoenix washed through my head and made me feel dizzy.


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[Assistant] I could see it all so clearly, the blinding sun, the heat waves coming off the concrete as I ran with desperate haste to find the sadistic vampire who wanted to torture me to death.


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[Assistant] James, waiting in the mirrored room with my mother as his hostage. Or so I thought. I hadn't known it was all a ruse. Just as James hadn't known that Edward was racing to save me. Edward made it in time, but it had been a close one.


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[Assistant] Unthinkingly, my fingers traced the crescent-shaped scar on my hand that was always just a few degrees cooler than the rest of my skin.


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[Assistant] But I wasn't sure how to do it. I knew Emmett and Jasper would never help. So I was thinking maybe I would go to Italy and do something to provoke the Vlturi.


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[Assistant] The Volturiara family, he explained, his eyes still remote. A very old, very powerful family of our kind.


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[Assistant] They are the closest thing our world has to a royal family, I suppose. Carlisle lived with them briefly in his early years in Italy before he settled in America. Do you remember the story? Of course I remember.


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[Assistant] The wildly colorful canvas there, the largest, was from Carlyle's time in Italy. Of course I remembered the calm quartet of men, each with the exquisite face of a sephiroth.


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[Assistant] Painted into the highest balcony overlooking the swirling mayhem of color.


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[Assistant] Though the painting was centuries old, Carlyle, the blonde angel, remained unchanged, and now remembered the three others, Carlyle's early acquaintances. Edward had never used the name Vultury for the beautiful trio, two black-haired, one snow-white,


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[Assistant] He'd called them Aro, Caius, and Marcus. Nighttime patrons of the arts.


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[Assistant] Anyway, you don't irritate the Volturi. Edward went on, interrupting Ray Rivieri.


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[Assistant] Not unless you want to die, or whatever it is we do. His voice was so calm, it made him sound almost bored by the prospect.


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[Assistant] My anger turned to horror. I took his marble face between my hands and held it very tightly. You must never, never, never think of anything like that again. I said, no matter what might ever happen to me, you were not allowed to hurt yourself.


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[Assistant] I'll never put you in danger again, so it's a moot point. Put me in danger? I thought we'd established that all the bad luck is my fault. I was getting angrier.


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[Assistant] How dare you even think like that. The idea of Edward ceasing to exist, even if I were dead, was impossibly painful.


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[Assistant] What would you do if the situation were reversed? He asked. That's not the same thing. He didn't seem to understand the difference. He chuckled.


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[Assistant] What if something did happen to you? I blanched at the thought. Would you want me to go off myself? A trace of pain touched his perfect features.


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[Assistant] I guess I see your point a little, he admitted.


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[Assistant] Moot point, he reminded me. Abruptly, he pulled himself up into a more formal posture, shifting me to the side so that we were no longer touching. Charlie, I guessed?


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[Assistant] Edward smiled. After a moment I heard the sound of the police cruiser pulling into the driveway. I reached out and took his hand firmly. My dad could deal with that much.


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[Assistant] Charlie came in with a pizza box in his hands. Hey kids, he grinned at me. I thought you'd like a break from cooking and washing dishes for your birthday. Hungry? Sure, thanks dad. Charlie didn't comment on Edward's apparent lack of appetite. He was used to Edward passing on dinner.


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[Assistant] Do you mind if I borrow Bella for the evening? Edward asked when Charlie and I were done.


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[Assistant] I looked at Charlie hopefully. Maybe he had some kind, some concept of birthdays as stay at home, family affairs. This was my first birthday with him.


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[Assistant] The first birthday since my mom, Renee, had remarried and gone to live in Florida, so I didn't know what he would expect.


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[Assistant] That's fine. The mariners are playing the socks tonight, Charlie explained, and my hope disappeared.


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[Assistant] So I won't be any kind of company here. He scooped up the camera he'd gotten me on Renee's suggestion because I would need pictures to fill up my scrapbook and threw it to me.


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[Assistant] He ought to know better than that. I'd always been cord- coordinationally challenged. The camera glanced off the tip of my finger and tumbled toward the floor. Edward snagged it before it could crash into the linoleum.


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[Assistant] Good idea, Charlie. Edward said, handing me the camera. I turned the camera on Edward and snapped the first picture. It works. That's good. Hey, say hi to Alice for me. She hasn't been over in a while. Charlie's mouth pulled down at the corner.


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[Assistant] It's been three days, Dad, I reminded him. Charlie was crazy about Alice. He'd become attached last spring when she'd helped me through my awkward convalescence. Charlie would be further grateful to her for saving him from the horror of an almost adult daughter who needed help showering.


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[Assistant] Edward drove north, north through forks, visibly chafing at the speed limit enforced by my prehistoric Chevy. Chevy.


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[Assistant] The engine groaned even louder than usual as he pushed it over 50. Take it easy, I warned him.


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[Assistant] You know what you could love? A nice little Audi coupe. Very quiet, lots of power. There's nothing wrong with my truck. And speaking of expensive, non-essentials, if you know what's good for you, you didn't spend any money on birthday presents. Not a dime, he said virtuously.


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[Assistant] It always startled me a little when he brought up things like that. Fine, I'll behave. I probably should warn you. Please do.


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[Assistant] When I say they are all excited, I do mean all of them. Everyone?


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[Assistant] I choked. I thought Emmett and Rosalie were in Africa. The rest of Forks was under the impression that the older colons had gone off to college this year, to Dartmouth. But I knew better. Emmett wanted to be here.


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[Assistant] Rosalie? I know Bella. Don't worry, she'll be on her best behavior. I didn't answer.


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[Assistant] Like I could just not worry that easy. Unlike Alice, Edward's other adopted sister, the golden blonde and exquisite Rosalie, didn't like me much. Actually, the feeling was a little bit stronger than just dislike. As far as Rosalie was concerned, I was an unwelcome intruder into her family's secret life.


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[Assistant] I felt horribly guilty about the present situation. Guessing that Rosalie and Emmett's prolonged absence was my fault.


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[Assistant] Even as I furtively enjoyed not having to see her, Emmett, Edward's playful bear of a brother, I did miss. He was in many ways just like the big brother I'd always wanted, only much, much more terrifying.


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[Assistant] Edward decided to change the subject. So, if you wouldn't let me get you the Audi, isn't there anything that you'd like for your birthday? The words came out in a whisper.


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[Assistant] Maybe Alice will give me what I want. Edward growled a deep, menacing sound. This isn't going to be your last birthday, Bella, he vowed. That's not fair.


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[Assistant] A long line of glowing Japanese lanterns hung from the porch eaves, reflecting a soft radiance on the huge cedars that surrounded the house. Big bowls of flowers, pink roses, lined the wide stairs to the front doors. I moaned. Edward took a deep breath to calm himself.


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[Assistant] This is a party, he reminded me. Try to be a good sport. Sure, I muttered. He came around to my door and offered me his hand.


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[Assistant] I have a question. He waited warily. If I develop this film, I said, toying with the camera in my hands, will you show up in the picture? Edward started laughing. He helped me out of the car, pulled me up the stairs and was still laughing as he opened the door for me.


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[Assistant] They were all waiting in the huge white living room when I walked through the door. They greeted me.


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[Assistant] With a loud chorus of Happy Birthday Bella, while I blushed and looked down. Alice, I assumed, had covered every flat surface with pink candles and dozens of crystal bowls filled with hundreds of roses.


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[Assistant] There was a table with a white cloth draped over it next to Edward's grand piano, holding a pink birthday cake, more roses, a stack of glass plates, and a small pile of silver-wrapped presents. It was a hundred times worse than I'd imagined.


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[Assistant] Edward, sensing my distress, wrapped an encouraging arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head.


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[Assistant] Edward's parents, Carlisle and Esme, impossibly youthful and lovely as ever, were the closest to the door. Esme hugged me carefully, her soft, caramel-colored hair brushing against my cheek as she kissed my forehead, and then Carlisle put his arm around my shoulders.


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[Assistant] Sorry about this, Bella." He stage whispered. We couldn't rein Alison. Rosalie and Emmett stood behind them.


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[Assistant] Rosalie didn't smile, but at least she didn't glare. Emmett's face was stretched into a huge grin. It had been months since I'd seen them. I'd forgotten how gloriously beautiful Rosalie was. It almost hurt to look at her.


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[Assistant] And had Emmett always been so big? You haven't changed at all, Emmett said with a mock disappointment. I expected a perceptible difference, but here you are, red face, just like always.


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[Assistant] Thanks a lot, Emmett," I said, flushing deeper. He laughed. I have to step out for a second. He paused to wink conspicuously at Alice. Don't do anything funny while I'm gone. I'll try.


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[Assistant] Alice let go of Jasper's hand and skipped forward, all her teeth sparkling in the bright light.


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[Assistant] Jasper smiled, too, but kept his distance. He leaned, long and blonde, against the post at the foot of the stairs. During the days we'd had to spend cooped up together in Phoenix, I thought he'd gotten over his aversion to me, but he'd gone back to exactly how he'd acted before, avoiding me as much as possible.


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[Assistant] The moment he was free from that temporary obligation to protect me.


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[Assistant] I knew it wasn't personal, just a precaution, and I tried not to be overly sensitive about it.


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[Assistant] Jasper had more trouble sticking to the colon's diet than the rest of them. The scent of human blood was much harder for him to resist than the others. He hadn't been trying as long.


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[Assistant] But I didn't listen. She interrupted Smug. Open it. She took the camera from my hands and replaced it with a big square silver box. The box was so light that it felt empty. The tag on top said it was from Emmett Rosley and Jasper. Self-consciously, I tore the paper off and then stared at the box it concealed.


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[Assistant] Alice was always one step ahead of me. Thanks, Jasper. Rosalie. I told them, grinning as I remembered. Edward's complaints about my radio this afternoon. All a setup, apparently. Thanks, Emmett. I called more loudly. I heard his booming laugh from my truck, and I couldn't help laughing too.


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[Assistant] Open mind and Edwards next, Alice said, so excited her voice was a high-pitched trill. She held the small, flat square in her hand.


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[Assistant] I turned to give Edward a basilisk glare. You promised. Before he could answer, Emmett bounded through the door. Just in time, he crowed.


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[Assistant] He pushed in behind Jasper, who had also drifted closer than usual to get a good look.


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[Assistant] I took the little package, rolling my eyes at Edward, while I stuck my finger under the edge of the paper and jerked it under the tape.


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[Assistant] I muttered when the paper sliced my finger. I pulled it out to examine the damage. A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut cuts. It all happened very quickly then. No! Edward roared.


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[Assistant] He threw himself at me, flinging me back across the table.


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[Assistant] It fell as I did, scattering the cake and the presents, the flowers and the plates. I landed in the mess of shattered crystal.


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[Assistant] Jasper slammed into Edward, and the sound was like the crash of boulders in a rockslide.


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[Assistant] There was another noise, a grisly snarling that seemed to be coming from deep in Jasper's chest.


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[Assistant] Jasper tried to shove past Edward, snapping his teeth just inches from Edward's face. Emmett grabbed Jasper from behind in the next second, locking him into his massive steel grip, but Jasper struggled on, his wild empty eyes focused only on me.


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[Assistant] Beyond the shock, there was also pain. I tumbled down to the floor by the piano, with my arms thrown out instinctively to catch my fall, into the jagged shards of the glass. Only now did I feel the searing, stinging pain that ran from my wrist to the seat crease inside my elbow.


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[Assistant] Dazed and disoriented, I looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of my arm into the fevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires.


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[Assistant] I've had several patients who have been


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[Assistant] Having symptoms since the time that they were exposed to oil and gas exploration near their homes. These are all people in a small cluster around Ripple.


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[Assistant] Uh, a much larger fraction of the time, he would go off to work, but she had a much higher use of the well water that was a further exposure for her.


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[Assistant] And she reported that she was somewhat better. By no means good.


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[Assistant] But, uh, oh, perhaps 30 or 40% improved being away from that home. And if she would go back to retrieve some belongings or go, uh, to visit neighbors that they had had in that, uh, previous home, she would feel sick and fairly quickly.


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[Assistant] It was a group of some twenty or thirty men, mostly wearing leather trues and tartan clad, but in a variety of colours and patterns. All, without exception, were well armed.


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[Assistant] Each horse bore at least one musket strapped to the saddle, and there was an abundance of pistols, dirks, and swords on view, plus whatever further armament might be concealed in the capacious saddle-bags of the four pack-horses.


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[Assistant] Six of the men also led extra mounts, unburdened and subtlest.


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[Assistant] Despite their warlike accoutrements, the men seemed relaxed.


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[Assistant] They were chatting and laughing in small groups as they rode, though here and there a head raised, watchful of the surroundings.


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[Assistant] I fought back the urge to duck as one man's gaze passed over the spot where we lay hidden.


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[Assistant] It seems as though that searching look must surely discover some random movement, or the gleam of the sun off Jamie's hair.


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[Assistant] Glancing up at this thought, I discovered that it had occurred to him as well.


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[Assistant] Jamie dropped the plane and motioned back toward the path up the hill. Do you know who they are? I panted as I followed him up into the heather. Why?


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[Assistant] Jamie took the steep path like a mountain goat with no loss of breath or composure.


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[Assistant] Glancing back, he noticed my labored progress and stopped, reaching down a hand to help me.


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[Assistant] It's the watch, he said, nodding back in the direction of the inn.


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[Assistant] We're safe enough, but I thought we'd soon be a bit further away.


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[Assistant] And heard also that there were other watches each patrolling its own area.


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[Assistant] Collecting subscriptions from clients for the safeguarding of cattle and property.


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[Assistant] Clients in arrears might well wake one morning to find their livestock vanished in the night, and none to tell where they had gone. Certainly not the men of the watch. I was seized by a sudden irrational terror. They're not looking for you, are they?


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[Assistant] Starfield? He looked back, as though expecting to see men scrambling up the hill in pursuit. But there was no one.


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[Assistant] And he looked back at me with a relieved smile and put an arm about my waist to help me along. Nay, I doubt it.


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[Assistant] Ten pound sterling is not enough to make me worth the hunting by a pack like that. And if they can't, I was at the inn.


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[Assistant] They would not have come as they did, traipsing up to the door all of a piece. He shook his head decisively. No.


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[Assistant] Were they hunting anyone? They'd send men to guard the back and the windows before coming in the front door. They've but stopped there for refreshment, likely.


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[Assistant] We continued to climb past the spot where the rude path petered out in clumps of gorse and heather.


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[Assistant] We were among foothills here, and the granite rocks rose higher than Jamie's head, reminding me uncomfortably of the standing stones of Craigner Dunn. We emerged, then, onto the top of a small dun.


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[Assistant] And the hills sloped away in a breathtaking fall of rocks and green on all sides.


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[Assistant] Most places in the Highlands gave me a feeling of being surrounded by trees or rocks or mountains.


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[Assistant] But here we were exposed to the fresh draughts of the wind and the rays of the sun.


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[Assistant] Which had come out, as though in celebration of our unorthodox marriage.


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[Assistant] Tokyo, Shinjuku Station, the world's busiest, with over 3 million passengers flocking to the tracks here on a daily basis. This calls for maximum precision from the entire staff.


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[Assistant] This is a station that never sleeps. Be it day or night. Every hour is rush hour here.


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[Assistant] The logistics behind this vast station require minute by minute precision and constant control in absolutely every situation.


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[Assistant] Five separate train lines. Almost 3,000 passengers per minute. Trains arriving every second. We'll find out just how the teams at the world's busiest station overcome these challenges. Now on Giant Hubs.


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[Assistant] Around 25% of them live right in the heart of the city.


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[Assistant] On top of that, there are 11 million commuters, visitors and tourists.


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[Assistant] Coordinating this mass of people is a daily challenge.


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[Assistant] Japan is home to 24,000 kilometers of railway tracks. A third of these are located in Tokyo alone.


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[Assistant] Most of the tracks lead to one specific place, Shinjuku Station. It gets its name from the district where it is located.


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[Assistant] The station stretches through the neighborhood and is one kilometer long. Right in the heart of Tokyo.


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[Assistant] The Giant Hub is a complex network of various train, subway, and bus lines.


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[Assistant] Shinjuku Station is built over 5 main levels and has 20 platforms in total.


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[Assistant] These platforms welcome trains from five different railway companies all at the same time. On top of that, three subway lines link Shinjuku Station to Tokyo's public transport system.


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[Assistant] Its bus terminal handles 1,600 nationwide long distant lines. Shinjuku Station is a city within the city.


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[Assistant] Including stores, offices, and places to eat.


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[Assistant] The giant hub's 200 doors gradually open between the hours of 4.15 and 7 a.m.


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[Assistant] Commuters, passengers to the airport and revelers heading home for the night are already waiting for the first train at 4 30 in the morning.


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[Assistant] This signals the start of the morning rush hour, and it won't stop until much later tonight.


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[Assistant] More and more passengers stream into Shinjuku.


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[Assistant] As the doors start to open, so too do the stores inside the station's entrance.


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[Assistant] Cafes, kiosks, small breakfast bars. They're all preparing for the oncoming rush.


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[Assistant] Just like every other day. Today, they're expecting 3.6 million train travelers.


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[Assistant] Now, an average of over 200,000 people an hour will make their way through the kilometers of walkways between the bus station, subway lines, and train platforms.


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[Assistant] The halls and walkways of the world's busiest train station remain packed from now until nightfall.


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[Assistant] The morning rush requires a logistics process that is perfectly in sync and practically invisible to the passengers.


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[Assistant] He heads to the giant hub of Shinjuku Station at this time almost every day.


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[Assistant] Satoshi Kuwana has come to appreciate all the amenities that Shinjuku Station has to offer.


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[Assistant] And that's despite the fact that the station is in the midst of full chaos at the moment.


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[Assistant] His first destination is the locker area, which is freely accessible to all passengers.


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[Assistant] Satoshi Kawana tucks his backpack away into one of the many lockers.


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[Assistant] These lockers aren't just a saving grace for tourists, laid with luggage. They're crucial for locals, too.


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[Assistant] On average, Japanese employees work almost four hours of overtime a day.


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[Assistant] And then they have to go to after work team building events known as Nomikai.


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[Assistant] The lines between work and free time are blurred. So, many Japanese people use the giant hub's centrally located lockers to store their non-work clothes.


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[Assistant] As it is traditional in Japan, service is given top priority. Also, at Shinjuku Station. Even in the ticketing system.


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[Assistant] Satoshi Kawana holds a ticket that can be topped up at any time.


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[Assistant] And there is no shortage of options. The Giant Hub is used by no less than five different railway companies.


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[Assistant] The largest of them is JR East. Then there are Odakyu, Keio, Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway.


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[Assistant] With 16 lines, JR East alone transports 1.5 million passengers a day.


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[Assistant] That is the equivalent of 80% of all railway traffic in the city.


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[Assistant] Passengers only have to replace their electronic tickets every ten years. This is an essential factor when it comes to tackling the huge number of visitors who flock to the world's busiest train station every day.


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[Assistant] Another key factor is learning from past mistakes. For a long time, never-ending hues at ticket stands and permanently stressed out staff resulted in a whole lot of chaos. Until a major update in 2012 introduced standardized chip cards for Tokyo's entire public transport network.


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[Assistant] Although the ticketing system has remained hassle-free since then, passengers at Shinjuku Station still have to conquer one major challenge, finding their way around.


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[Assistant] That's why the signs follow a sophisticated yet complex system. To start with, the main train lines are color-coded.


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[Assistant] For instance, green stands for the Yamanote line and leads to platforms 14 and 15.


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[Assistant] In addition to the main southern, eastern and western entrances, there are dozens of other ways in. It's all pretty confusing to begin with.


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[Assistant] Getting to the right place in Shinjuku Station is a particularly big problem for tourists and unexperienced visitors.


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[Assistant] Every day, the station's Twitter account is inundated with complaints from passengers simply because they were unable to find their platform.


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[Assistant] A total of 200 different entrances and exits stretch across a distance of around 1 kilometer.


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[Assistant] And Shinjuku Station is growing all the time.


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[Assistant] Architect Kesuke Tamura has been analyzing Shinjuku Station for years.


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[Assistant] He and his university students are monitoring the station's ongoing growth.


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[Assistant] There is always construction work going on, and it never stops. That's typical for the busiest station in the world, particularly during the period known as the Golden 60s. During this era, the Japanese economy grew at rocket speed, as did its logistical hubs and junctions.


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[Assistant] When the station opened in 1885, the area was still a quiet residential neighborhood. Expansion took place in stages.


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[Assistant] The most amazing thing? Its facade is almost invisible, despite the station's vast proportions. Completely the opposite of the magnificent stations you find elsewhere.


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[Assistant] The station practically disappears amongst the surrounding shopping centers. And this is yet another traditional feature of Japanese culture.


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[Assistant] Functionality and efficiency always come first.


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[Assistant] Another obstacle to finding your way around. Despite all the modernity, many of the signs are only in Japanese.


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[Assistant] English isn't particularly widespread in Japan, even now.


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[Assistant] However, the Mega Station is working hard to resolve this problem.


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[Assistant] Information desks may be a common feature at lots of major train stations, but they are crucial in Shinjuku.


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[Assistant] One of the employees providing assistance minute after minute is Yoshi Kawasawa.


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[Assistant] He helps people to get to their destinations while also breaking up crowds and congestion throughout the station's never-ending rush hour.


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[Assistant] On some days, Yoshi Karasawa deals with up to 20 different nationalities. His goal is to provide them all with information in their native language.


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[Assistant] Despite his best efforts however, he sometimes needs a helping hand.


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[Assistant] When it comes to finding his own way around, Yoshi Karasawa has to know the station's routes like the back of his own hand.


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[Assistant] Service staff and advisors in the world's busiest station. This is a calling that takes a lot of passion.


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[Assistant] Even experienced locals often place more faith in Yoshi Karasawa's specialist knowledge than their own sense of direction.


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[Assistant] Most people are familiar with these Japanese cliches. In Shinjuku Station, they are a reality.


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[Assistant] And yet, be it with or without assistance, when passengers arrive on the platform, they expect to experience one thing above all else, punctuality. Just like at every other station in the world.


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[Assistant] The average delay for the station's largest train line, JR, is an incredible 0.4 minutes.


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[Assistant] If a train is delayed by five minutes or more, the conductor apologizes over the loudspeaker. Maximum courtesy, guaranteed.


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[Assistant] Prompt and precise. A reputation that railway staff aren't willing to jeopardize any time in the future, either. Discipline means pride and honor.


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[Assistant] Even for the newest employees. That's why they carefully repeat the most important rules of their job every single morning.


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[Assistant] Newcomer Kota Ino's dream is to become a train driver one day.


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[Assistant] To get promoted to the cab, trainees have to graduate from a strict school. And also learn what matters most. Happy customers.


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[Assistant] Kota Ino's job today is to supervise the platform. It's a job with a great deal of responsibility.


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[Assistant] The number one rule here is, keep the tracks clear and the platform under control.


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[Assistant] And to do this, Kota Ino follows strict Japanese rules at all times. Back of the train, okay.


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[Assistant] Even Tokyo's largest railway company gets away with fewer than 200 accidents a year.


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[Assistant] The goal? To reduce the number of accidents involving passengers to zero in the future.


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[Assistant] It's an ambitious plan, and Cota Eno is proud to be a part of it.


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[Assistant] Kota Ino performs his duties to the fullest, regardless of whether there are two or 200 passengers on the platform.


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[Assistant] Accidents that don't involve passengers. Trains that don't run late. Absolute perfection.


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[Assistant] However, Kotaino is not the only one fighting this battle.


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[Assistant] When it comes to safety, the world's busiest station also relies on an above average number of surveillance cameras.


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[Assistant] And all their images are compiled here in the station manager's control room.


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[Assistant] The area surrounding Shinjuku is also home to other stations like Yoyogi Station, located a mere 800 meters away.


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[Assistant] Balancing out delays between there and here as an impossible feat. That's why the stations liaise closely to keep their schedules in sync.


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[Assistant] This allows them to keep both delays and accidents to a minimum, no matter what the circumstances.


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[Assistant] Hidehiko Moriyama and his team are the eyes and ears of the entire station.


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[Assistant] Despite the giant hub's vast size, cutting edge technology allows them to keep an eye on everything from behind the scenes.


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[Assistant] Meanwhile, there's a lot going on inside the station itself. The shops are now especially busy. Sales are already in full swing.


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[Assistant] At peak times, around 200 customers visit every store.


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[Assistant] Japan's private railway companies use their property for a range of purposes. Above their stations, they build things like shopping centers, office blocks, travel agencies, and supermarkets.


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[Assistant] The whole area in and around Shinjuku Station is a money-making machine.


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[Assistant] To make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible, everything in the Giant Hub is tailored towards maximum customer friendliness.


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[Assistant] Passengers like Satoshi Kuwana can even pay using their train tickets. After all, this giant hub is a lot more than just a station.


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[Assistant] There is one name that most locals couldn't imagine Shinjuku without. Lunchbox Place, located directly on route to the platforms. Many travelers make a pit stop here before continuing their journeys.


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[Assistant] Things seem to be pretty peaceful for now. However, longtime employee Hazuki Yamadera is well aware that this is just the calm before the storm.


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[Assistant] Every day, the kitchen worker prepares fish and vegetables just before the first throng of visitors is due to arrive.


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[Assistant] On a good day, 2,500 boxes pass over the counter here.


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[Assistant] The intrinsic taste is what matters to customers.


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[Assistant] Passenger Satoshi Kuwana regularly picks up a lunchbox.


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[Assistant] This traditional Japanese bento box contains rice as the basic ingredient, plus various vegetable, meat or fish toppings.


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[Assistant] Depending on what option you go for, each portion costs between 4 and 8 euros.


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[Assistant] Before Satoshi Kuwana reaches the platform area, he has to pass through one of the 104 fully automated control gates, which 3.6 million other travelers also pass through every day.


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[Assistant] The most important tool for getting your bearings? Floor markings. Every train stops at a precise point.


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[Assistant] Passengers even get on and off the train at the same time.


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[Assistant] The doors open and close automatically within a set time window.


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[Assistant] With this system, it takes less than a minute for passengers to get in and out.


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[Assistant] And this is what allows the train to depart exactly on time, right down to the last second.


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[Assistant] This wasn't always the case. For a long time, Shinjuku Station was famous for their pushers, people who helped to preserve the schedule.


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[Assistant] Their job was to squash the last few passengers into the train carriage. There was no sign of the civilized boarding process in place today.


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[Assistant] Tokyo is vast and has almost no parking spaces. Its complex and heavily overloaded public transport network, therefore, has to work seamlessly at all times, no matter what the circumstances.


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[Assistant] And it has to do all this in a country where earthquakes are a common occurrence.


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[Assistant] The memories of tragedies like the Kobe earthquake in January 1995 are never likely to fade.


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[Assistant] The earthquake, which registered seven on the Richter scale, paralyzed the entire infrastructure. Over 6,000 people lost their lives.


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[Assistant] In Tokyo, people live in constant fear of another major earthquake.


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[Assistant] According to the experts, there is a 70% chance of a quake of this magnitude occurring in the next 30 years.


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[Assistant] Were it to happen during rush hour, an incident like this that claimed tens of thousands of lives.


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[Assistant] At the Railway Technical Research Institute, Yoshitaka Morono and his team conduct research for giant hubs like Shinjuku Station.


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[Assistant] Their mission is to find the most effective ways for the infrastructure to withstand another earthquake.


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[Assistant] Employees at the Research Institute have been working hard for years to keep the effects of a disaster as small as possible.


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[Assistant] Using large-scale experiments, they find out how the track constructions will respond to quakes of varying severity.


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[Assistant] Their knowledge helps the railway companies to equip themselves for specific scenarios and increase the load capacity of their constructions.


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[Assistant] Sturdy columns and the best materials possible are designed to stop the country from collapsing, should worse come to worst.


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[Assistant] The station suspend operations as soon as there is a threat of a dangerous earthquake.


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[Assistant] Shinjuku Station has also adjusted the mountings on its tracks to make sure it is equipped for any eventuality.


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[Assistant] Behind the scenes in the world's busiest station, employees put their all into making sure that traffic keeps flowing.


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[Assistant] Passengers like Satoshi Kuwana have come to rely on this. Anything that can be planned should run like clockwork, thanks to traditional Japanese discipline.


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[Assistant] One thing that cannot be planned. Something referred to as passenger accidents.


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[Assistant] Japan has the highest suicide rate in the world. An average of 24,000 a year.


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[Assistant] According to the latest figures, 700 of these deaths occur in train stations alone.


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[Assistant] That means that, on average, there are almost two suicide attempts a day.


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[Assistant] From the perspective of a giant hub like Shinjuku Station, incidents like this don't just result in tragedy.


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[Assistant] They also mean delays, cancellations, chaos, and image problems.


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[Assistant] The only way to prevent something like this is to stay alert. As well as surveillance cameras, the station is also equipped with countless emergency call buttons.


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[Assistant] As a result, passengers and employees often spot people acting conspicuously in time, preventing the worst before it can happen.


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[Assistant] Another effective tool, placing barriers in front of the tracks.


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[Assistant] Be it intentionally or accidentally, no passenger will ever fall onto the rails with these in the way.


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[Assistant] And yet, despite all of these technical precautions, staff vigilance is always the most important weapon.


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[Assistant] To make sure all workers do their bit, longtime employees like Fumio Taguchi review newcomers on a regular basis.


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[Assistant] Rail staff at the Giant Hub are subject to strict checks around the clock.


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[Assistant] Komiyo Taguchi is happy with Kotaino's work. His checks help to ensure that no employee deviates from the standardized procedures. Another typical feature of Japanese working culture. Rules are the most valuable asset.


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[Assistant] At this station, meticulous adherence to certain protocols is just one of the factors that guarantees that public transport remains on time and functional.


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[Assistant] Anyone working for Japan's most famous station cannot afford to make any mistakes.


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[Assistant] Especially when they deal with over one billion passengers a year.


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[Assistant] The station's minute by minute train schedule will only work if each cog is working perfectly.


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[Assistant] Passenger Satoshi Kawana's train is also 100% on time.


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[Assistant] Travelers like him have no idea how much effort is put in behind the scenes. And that's exactly the way it should be.


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[Assistant] Trains and other transport services arrive at and depart from Shinjuku Station 21 hours a day.


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[Assistant] Twenty past seven is the day's last big rush.


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[Assistant] Trains are now spitting out up to 500 passengers every second.


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[Assistant] To tackle this volume, station staff work round the clock in three separate shifts.


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[Assistant] Directions. Small-scale construction work. Safety precautions.


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[Assistant] The machinery of Shinjuku Station will not work properly unless each individual department gives it their all at all times.


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[Assistant] Just before eight, the day slowly draws to an end.


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[Assistant] The bright lights of the countless bars, clubs and restaurants draw in tourists and visitors looking for a good night out. At almost any time of day or night, up to one million people are on the move in this neighborhood, which covers just 18 square kilometers.


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[Assistant] As a result, things are still bustling in the station too.


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[Assistant] Lunchbox employee, Hazuki Yamadera, has just about survived the evening rush hour.


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[Assistant] Today, she sold 1,300 bento boxes. That's 7,000 euros of revenue in a single day.


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[Assistant] While the day is almost over for some, another team is just about to start its shift.


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[Assistant] The cleaning squad works in small teams of up to 10 people. 31-year-old Yoshimune Kobayashi has been doing the job for seven years and is now a team leader.


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[Assistant] The team leaders split up the work between themselves and distribute jobs within their teams.


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[Assistant] The team is preparing for the moment when the final guest leaves the station.


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[Assistant] Then it's time to clean the windows and platforms.


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[Assistant] The Giant Hub gets a thorough cleaning every single day.


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[Assistant] 123 in the morning. The doors to the world's busiest station are closing. It's time to go.


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[Assistant] When the trains have stopped rolling into the station, the platforms look a bit like ghost towns.


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[Assistant] The surveillance cameras stop recording the crowds of passengers. It's time to start work.


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[Assistant] For Yoshimune Kobayashi, the night begins with one of his favorite jobs.


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[Assistant] Recently, the cleaning squad gained a new member to help them clean the huge station area. A brand new robotic cleaner.


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[Assistant] The robot has saved the station's entire floor plan and works autonomously.


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[Assistant] Who wouldn't want a robotic cleaner as their best friend?


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[Assistant] At night, everything happens at the same time.


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[Assistant] The teams work against the clock. After all, the window in which there are no passengers or trains on the tracks is a mere three hours long.


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[Assistant] Repairs and work on the tracks must not disrupt train, subway, or bus operations under any circumstances. This would cause too much chaos. So before the first guest arrives back at the giant hub in the morning, any sign of construction work disappears completely. It's as if nothing had happened.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At the same time, Yoshimune Kobayashi and his team are adding the finishing touches.


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[Assistant] Their job today was to clean 10 platforms, several kilometers of corridor, and masses of windows.


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[Assistant] By the time he and his team head home, every last speck of dirt must be gone.


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[Assistant] Yoshimune Kobayashi is proud to have done his part to ensure yet another successful day at the world's busiest station.


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[Assistant] The day has come to an end and the rail staff are already waiting for the next few minutes to roll by before the doors go up and everything starts all over again.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The world's busiest station handles 3.6 million passengers a day. The only thing keeping it running is a perfectly coordinated logistics strategy. A complex system of directions. Hundreds of service staff.