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Olimpia didn’t go straight to Sri Lanka after she came back to Earth. She
spent one night in a guest unit in an Egyptian arcology so she could start
fresh in the morning. In the room, she laid out all her supplies because she
didn’t like the way she had it organized. That was when she discovered
Mateo’s rendezvous card for the Snake Island medical facility. He must have
slipped it in when she wasn’t looking. It was good for her to have a special
place to go if she needed it, but she didn’t think that she actually would.
She and her brother, Delfinus, spent all day in the waiting area. She would
think the magical card would have spirited them there during an open slot,
and her guess was that it wasn’t that smart, but it turned out, it was just
because it wasn’t truly her card. It was a waste of time anyway, because Dr.
Hammer specialized in temporal issues. Apparently, Delfinus’ problem was on
the psychic level.
That made sense, that it wasn’t really a time power. Olimpia never
understood why this world had both time travel and psychic powers,
but not any other things, like vampires or talking animals. Why only these
two seemingly completely unrelated things? She never got the chance to ask
Dr. Hammer about it because she was too busy to see them. Instead, they
spoke with her associate, Siria Webb.
Siria took it upon herself to reprogram the rendezvous card to do more than
just take them back to where they were before. When they reactivated it,
they ended up making a big loop to 2575, but now at an unknown location,
seemingly underground. Before them was a door, so Delfinus knocked, because
what else would they do?
A twentysomething woman opened the door. “Oh,” she said, gently placing her
three middle fingers against her forehead. “Your thoughts are bouncing
around his head, and flooding into mine.” She looked at Delfinus. “It must
be so much worse for you. Come in, come on in.” She stepped to the side and
stood there to close the door herself.
“Delfinus was nervous as he looked around the room. His sister was more used
to finding herself in new places, but this was only the second time he had
traveled, and so far, he wasn’t a fan. Plus, the bunker was just scary and
dark, like this woman wanted people to feel uncomfortable when they
came here. He didn’t know, though. He could convert anyone’s thoughts into
narration...but not hers. She could block him somehow.”
Olimpia looked over at the psychic. “You see what we’re dealing with, and
I’m assuming you know why we’re here, so you already know if you can help us
or not.”
“I do, and I will try to help him,” the psychic said, “but it may take some
time. He doesn’t have mental wards, but don’t think that means I can easily
diagnose him. Imagine a hose. You can’t see inside of it without a light,
but even if you have a light, the hose has to be turned off first. His hose
is on full blast. All I’m getting is the...the contaminated water, to
maintain the analogy. I need to shut it off before I can determine what is
contaminating it. I don’t need to ask you if that makes sense, because I
already know it does. First step is giving you, Mrs. Matic, your own mental
wards.”
“That will stop him from narrating my thoughts,” Olimpia pressed the
stranger, “but will it stop you from reading them too, or are you immune to
your own powers?”
The psychic smiled. “I’m Leida, and I have no interest in your thoughts.”
She gestured around the room. “That’s why I live under a battlefield. I hate
my powers because I can’t turn them off. Believe me, giving you wards is
more for me than for you.”
“All right, then.” Olimpia stepped towards the stranger. “I’m trusting you.”
“I appreciate this.” Leida pinched her index and thumb together before
placing them against Olimpia’s forehead. She increased pressure until
Olimpia passed out.
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