There were too many odors in the workroom. Reginald took a rag and wiped down several of the machines and countertops. It didn't help, so he shut down his sense of smell entirely.

There was too much electricity in the workroom. Reginald shut down every machine that had been left on, unplugged the plotter, and turned off two more lights.

Okay, better. Now he could think.

He was supposed to be thinking about his projects, but before he did that, he had a problem to solve. It was a rather daunting problem, and he wanted to ask Zephyr for help. Zephyr was good at solving problems of this sort. It was an environmental problem, he thought, and Zephyr was the one who made the environment better. If he could explain the problem to Zephyr, then Zephyr would know what to do to help him. But first he needed to find the words. So he asked the Other Voice.

I'm busy, the Other Voice informed him.

Busy? Busy doing what?

Busy doing something with all these new vocabulary connections. Do you know what you do while you're looking at that speech program? You create a mess in here! And I have to fix it.

The Other Voice manifested itself in its favorite visual form, a small, skinny boy with red sneakers and unruly hair and thick glasses.

Sit down and close the external visuals, the little boy instructed him. Reginald sat in the chair at the network terminal and closed his eyes. The Other Voice immediately became more visible. It said, I'm doing okay, but you have to keep energy levels very low. I might have to shut down more things back there.

Reginald shared his intention to enlist Zephyr's help.

The Other Voice thought that was a good idea. But I can't give you more words right now. In fact, I think I need to take more words away.

Reginald thought he could do it soon. After that, he could lose as many words as he needed to. He couldn't afford to lose his building skills or measuring skills, but the Other Voice knew that. He didn't mind losing his memory or his senses of taste or smell or arrhythmic hearing - in fact it might be better if he lost those.

Oh - but he wanted to keep his sense of touch. And touch communication.

The Other Voice agreed. We don't have to shut down everything... just enough so that I'm not too busy to complete this task. And you need to limit external stimuli.

Reginald agreed to that. Zephyr could help him with that. He should find the words he'd need to explain it to Zephyr, and then Zephyr would help him and he wouldn't have to worry about words for a while. He opened his eyes and brought up the speech synthesis program on the computer in front of him. The word lists were better organized... he had separated every word unfamiliar to him and put them all in a separate folder, and arranged the rest of the words in accordance with function and frequency of use. Now he skimmed the adjectives, hoping to find a relevant hook to focus on.

He was aware of someone coming up behind him. Should he block them out or ask them to help? He couldn't decide, and before he came to any sort of conclusion, the person had gone to the other side of the workroom. The person turned on a light and two of the machines, which was just enough to make Reg feel overwhelmed.

Go shut them off again, the Other Voice suggested.

So he did. He stood up and walked over and turned them off again, and the person became upset. His heart rate increased and he spoke to Reg and wouldn't stop, which was just as bad. It was... Reg focused on the person. It was Marsh. Marsh could help him. He wanted to ask Marsh to help him, and the word 'help' came to mind. So he spoke it. Marsh spoke to him again.

"Help," Reg sid. Then he said it a few more times for good measure. Marsh calmed down a little bit and stood by his side. He returned to the computer and Marsh followed him. His attempt had been successful. Reg was pleased.

Marsh pulled up a chair so he could see the computer too. Then Marsh spoke some more. Marsh put his hand on Reg's arm, but that was too much input, so Reg shook it off. Touch was okay, but right now his attention needed to be diverted to his task. He wanted to let Marsh help from up close, but Marsh was going to have to find a way to help from afar.

Reg needed a word to describe limiting input. He did his best to convey this to Marsh by covering his ears with his hands. Then he listened.

Marsh said, "What? Too loud? Do you have a headache? I don't..."

Too loud. Reg considered those words. They seemed to fit the situation. He located the words on the speech program, linked them, and sent them to the speech tool. "Too loud," the tinny computer voice said.

"...be quiet? It... quiet..." said Marsh.

Quiet. Too loud. Reg repeated those words to the Other Voice. The Other Voice suggested speaking them to Zephyr. If Zephyr understood them, then they were the correct words.

Reginald stood up and went upstairs. He saw a few people but none of them were Zephyr. He went to the office that he and Zephyr shared. Zephyr was there, and other people were there, too, and Zephyr was speaking to them. Before Reg could remember the words he intended to say, Zephyr grabbed him by the arm and led him to the breakroom. When they were there, Zephyr looked at him and spoke to him.

"Quiet," Reg said. "Too loud."

Zephyr spoke again, but in a voice that was nearly a whisper.

Reg tried again. "Quiet. Too loud."

Zephyr moved away from him and shut off one of the electrical appliances in the room. Reg was pleased. Zephyr understood. The light bothered him, so he turned it off.

"Quiet," he said. Things were improving. Reg was pleased.

Another person entered the room and spoke. Zephyr spoke to that person, and the person stopped speaking and began to move more calmly. Reg was pleased. Zephyr understood. Just in time, too... Reg sudddenly realized that his vocabulary had gone down to four words. He wondered when he'd get the rest of it back.

As soon as I'm done, the Other Voice informed him.