Crossed Off: Feelings (Part V)

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Hugs all around when Starla and the gang finally arrived in Kansas City. Tristan had taken a personal day off of work to provide them with a proper greeting. He treated them to the best barbecue in the world, a tour of downtown, and a game to see who could find the highest number of cow statues along the roads. Afterwards, Alec and Kathleen went off to the swimming pool to give Starla and Tristan some time alone.

“It’s a bit awkward not occupying the same body, isn’t it?” he asked.

“More for me than for you. Most of the people you meet are in three dimensions. This is a new experience.”

“I bet.” His was a very calming and therapeutic voice; one that could never be quite understood during one of their mind melds.

“So, go ahead. Give me the lecture. I assume you prepared some talking points. I don’t mind if you use flashcards.”

“This isn’t an intervention, Starla. True, we are incredibly worried about you. But we’re not here to show you what you have to live for, or what it’s like to be a normal person. You’re here because I love you and I wanted to see you in real life.”

“I’m not going to kill myself.”

“That’s awesome news. I’ll alert the media.”

“I’m serious.”

“Me too.” He leaned forward and lowered his eyebrows. “It’s important that you admit that, not to me, but to yourself. No one wants you to leave us, but none of that matters if you don’t feel the same way. We can literally stop you from doing anything. Every single one of us is physically stronger than you. But you would be miserable. We have to be able to leave you alone, or life is meaningless.”

“I get it.” And she did. She was never going to be free from her feelings of hopelessness, but she could learn to control them. She could learn to live with them, and to find little moments of happiness. Whether they had intended this or not, the fact that everyone was coming together to help her through her problems was enough for her to want to prove them right.

“Good.” He started rubbing his mouth and chin, like he was struggling with a decision. “I do have an ulterior motive.”

“Oh, here we go.”

“It’s not bad.” He questioned himself a bit. “At least, I wouldn’t call it that.”

“What is it, Tristan?”

“I’ve been looking into something, inspired by your situation. I assure you that I told no one about you, but I found something.” He thought some more. “Something you might be interested in.”

“Spit it out.”

He squinted his eyes and pinched his fingers together. “There’s a tiny...really tiny; teeny tiny group of people forming ‘round these parts.”

She pushed off of the back of her chair and sat up as straight as she could, almost threateningly. “And who are these people?”

He shrugged his shoulders slightly. “People like you, but different. Your ability has a lot to do with the mind. Theirs? Not all of them. From what I can tell, they can put on quite a show.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know the specifics. I know only that they’re looking for others. There’s a sort of...what might you call him? A vanguard. He claims to be looking out for the best interests of each individual, and he won’t send you to them if you don’t want to go. I don’t know if he has an ability of his own, and he doesn’t know about you, but—”

“Then how do you know anything about him? You’re contradicting yourself.”

“He knows that I know someone.”

“Tristan!”

“What? I didn’t give him your name.”

“Someone with enough motivation could connect the dots. Did you tell him what I could do?”

“No, of course not.” He shook his head, but it was more like a fish, wandering back and forth in the water until it transformed into a nod. “I mean, yes.”

She closed her eyes in disappointment and exhaled. “Dammit.”

“I think we can trust him.”

“Why is my life suddenly filled with people learning my secret?”

He leaned back and held his hands up in defense. “Hey, I only told that one guy. Kathleen introduced you to Denton, and you went to that Magnus on your own.”

He was right. She and Denton had approached Magnus Shapiro of their own free will. She had spent years under the protection of Alec, using her ability a lot, and making sure that she did so wisely, but never really learning anything. Maybe it was time to take a leap of faith. If her friends were okay with this, what else did she have to lose? She fell back into her chair. “I presume you’ve set up a meeting with him?”

There was a knock at the door.

“Tristan?” she asked like a mother, trying to get her child to confess to a crime.

“Yes, I did.”

She interlocked her fingers and rested her hands on her belly. “Well, it’s not my door he’s knocking on.”

“Are you sure? I can send him away.” Tristan would honestly agree to her wishes, but obviously hoped that she would say no.

He knocked again.

“Answer the freaking door and we’ll discuss this later!” But she didn’t say freaking.

He left and greeted their guest. She couldn’t hear Tristan address him, but the stranger insisted that he just call him René. They walked into the living room and sat down. She and Tristan explained to him what she could do; her range and limits. He listened carefully and respectfully, speaking only once they were finished. He nodded his head in understanding. “Yes, you were on the first of two drafts of our list.”

“Pardon?”

“We were, at one point, capable of finding and tracking all people with abilities.”

“But you can’t do that anymore?” Starla asked.

“What allowed us to do this was stolen from us, but don’t worry. The person who stole it is not capable of using it himself. So you’re safe; from him, and from us.”

Tristan was offended by this. “Why would she need to be safe from you?”

René adjusted himself and prepared to explain. “There is an ancient parable about a man who could read minds. He lived in a world where special abilities were common, but his ability was rare. It was coveted by many, but feared by most. It was for this reason that he kept his power to himself. But one time he accidentally let slip what he could do at an interview for a job. Without hesitation, the interviewer removed a letter opener from his desk and stabbed the telepath in the neck in an attempt to kill him. He just barely failed to reach his goal, and the telepath lived, but others like him were not so fortunate. The key to killing someone who knows your actions as you think of them is to wait as little as possible to act on your thoughts.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Tristan was even more discouraged than before the little story.

“I am telling you this,” René said, “because I do not wish for your lovely friend to end up like the man in the story. And neither does my partner. However, there is an associate of ours that I fear does not feel the same way. I believe that he covets abilities because he does not have one of his own. He may not even yet know this about himself.”

“Yet he’s still part of your group?”

“He is our founder. It would not be so easy to rid ourselves of him. And he is in a relationship with the only member of our group who actually matters.” He spoke further with finality. “Besides, he is not the only one we would have to fear. We created the second draft of our list for the singular reason of removing you from it. This is my way of protecting you, Starla. I have a responsibility to keep you from the people I know. Unfortunately, you will have to be responsible for protecting yourself from everyone else.” He stood up and took a deep breath. “I urge you, Miss Wakefield, if you are ever approached by anyone you do not already know...” he paused for effect before continuing, “lie. Or run.”

After René left, she received a call on Tristan’s phone from Magnus Shapiro, telling her that he would be flying down to Kansas City with Denton and newcomer, Ling in tow. He claimed that they had felt a pull towards her that was stronger than ever, and that it had begun not five minutes earlier. Even though she had only known the stranger for a few minutes, his words seemed phenomenally more valid than anything she had heard in her entire life. It was like he knew exactly what to say to her to get her to believe him. But the three coming from Hudson already knew about her. It was too late to lie, so she would have to run. “Tristan. I have to get out of the city. Find the number for the pool. I need Alec back here now.”

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Microstory 120: Ellen Snider

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When Ellen Snider was a child, she was a brilliant musician. She wasn’t said to be at prodigy level, but she was particularly excellent at reapplying the skills she had learned from one instrument to another. Her single mother built her a soundproof room in their house so that she could practice whenever she wanted without disturbing others, or being disturbed. She was incredibly intelligent, but she suffered in school because she refused to complete the work. Her mother spent countless hours arguing with her about it, stressing the importance of being a well-rounded individual. After years of poor grades, Ellen finally began to work harder in tertiary school and found herself gravitating towards the sciences. She went on to study marine biology in college and ultimately found a job performing experiments in the field. Though her love of music never went away, she never regained the amount of interest she had in it when she was younger, and she was glad that her mother forced her to study other things. As an anomaly, Ellen started out being able to levitate over the ground. She could propel herself upwards at a 90 degree angle, give or take only a few degrees, which meant that she wasn’t able to fly forwards. She never thought this to be a very useful ability, and all but forgot about it as she grew up. But everything changed when she met the love of her life. Levi was able to fly as well, but had his own set of limits. Theirs was the first case wherein an unbreakable connection of soul mates altered the nature of abilities. After years of being together, they both started losing their restrictions. An encounter with them came just before a chain reaction in Bellevue that caused the same thing to happen to many others already within the organization, proving that there was something all anomalies had in common, even though they were the results of different genetic engineering.

Microstory 119: Hugh Normanson

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As obscure and strange as some anomaly abilities were, there was a level logic that could be followed, even if it was misguided or unethical. Hugh Normanson did not make any sense. He presented a similar ability to his distant cousin. But Arthur’s ability to generate detailed artistic paintings was secondary to his photographic memory, and he contributed to society in a myriad of ways. Hugh, on the other hand, could only manipulate paint. Though the Triplets were considered to be the weakest anomalies in terms of fortitude, if amplified, their abilities could be extremely powerful. This was proven when someone who could absorb other people’s abilities used one of their abilities to put out a building fire. Hugh had full control over his power, but it was all but useless. He could channel paint from anywhere in the world, bring it forth instantaneously using the indigo simplex dimension, and then apply it to a surface. Basically, he could paint the room at a fraction of the time, and without the need for brushes or rollers. The question that arose from this is why? Why would the ancient rogue scientists want someone to be able to do this? Though certain dyes and other chemicals existed naturally, commercially manufactured paint did not exist until the modern day. Everyone else’s ability could have hypothetically been used in prehistory, which is why no one had the ability to manipulate electronics, for example. The answer to this question was never paired with an answer, but Hugh didn’t seem to mind. He experienced an unexceptional early life, and didn’t bother telling anyone what he could do. His father, Norman, passed when he was in high school, prompting him to change his last name, even though that was traditionally not done after childhood. He was one of the last anomalies to join Bellevue, and seemed to do so mostly out of boredom. They assigned him to the construction department where he did his thing whenever it was needed. He spent the rest of his time watching television and playing video games. He died never having accomplished much. It happens.

Microstory 118: Patience Cooney

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A great deal of people were aware of Patience Cooney’s special ability, though they were all sworn to secrecy. Like Upton, she never learned what she could do; it was just something she grew up understanding about herself. A theory floated around the science department of Bellevue that anomaly abilities always presented themselves in the best way possible, and that everyone who could potentially present an ability would. This meant that no one died never having discovered what they could do. Neither Upton nor Patience would have discovered their abilities organically since they were so specific and obscure, so nature gave them the answer ahead of time. Also like Upton, Patience could create special stones. But unlike him, a cooney stone did not contain her life; it was capable of sustaining anyone she put inside of it. Guests, as they were called, would not age while inside, they were fully aware of the passage of time, and if they shared the space with others, they could communicate with them telepathically. With further study, Bellevue discovered that her guests were not in the stone itself, but that the stone acted as a focal point—a key, of sorts—that provided access to an artificial simplex dimension. Guests can break themselves out of the stone as long as they are not hindered by some kind of barrier (e.g. inside of a box made of the earlier mentioned bellmei). Patience can pull guests out of her stones naturally, but due to her dangerous line of work, she also attaches a secret code that can be uttered by anyone who knows it. Patience was an extremely important member of the same organization that saved the life of Wilma Vann’s twin sister from Amadesis cult that wanted to kill her. Patience acted as a mobile underground railroad, ferrying rescues from their old life of death and wickedness to their new life on the other side of the world. She could place the rescues in one of her stones and transport them anywhere she wanted without anyone knowing they were there. When all is said and done, Patience Cooney was largely responsible for the continued lives of thousands of Amadesis defectors.

Microstory 117: Milo Chombers

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Despite the fact that his real given name was Midas, Milo Chombers could not perform elemental transmutation, since that would break a number of physical laws. He could instead manipulate metals in a variety of other ways. He was said to have the greatest range of abilities than anyone. At first, Milo could only sense the vibrations of metallic objects. This allowed him to, for instance, find gold on the beach with no tools. Using time and patience, however, Milo accumulated a number of related but still different abilities. He later discovered that he could survive electrical surges, and was able to dissipate a charge safely with only a thought. After that, he learned to manipulate the shape and density of metal to suit his needs. He could roll up a sheet of aluminum foil and then increase its hardness so that it was as strong as steel. He could also disintegrate metallic objects. After unwillingly receiving a treatment designed to enhance anomaly abilities in general, he started being able to control magnetism, and could telekinetically move objects with enough magnetic attraction. Using all of his abilities, he invented a lightweight, and rather form-fitting, but sturdy suit of armor that would protect him from the rare nonmetallic weapons enemies may try to use against him, and also gave him the ability to fly. He was not a superhero, and did not go out on field operations. Seeing the need for it, he became the founder and leader of Bellevue’s security department, eventually protecting all of the inhabitants of the entire city that grew around headquarters.

Microstory 116: Upton Starr

Click here for the list of every Bellevue Profile.

Upton Starr was one of the few anomalies who grew up with an inherent understanding of their ability without ever having used it accidentally. He always knew that he could easily be immortal, and how he could achieve this. All he needs to do is take an object and bond with it so that his lifeforce is connected to it. If he dies, his consciousness uploads itself to the nearest of his objects, and he will be resurrected in a brand new body. Without ever having attempted this, he knew that the body attached to each of what would later be referred to as starr stones would appear at the same point of development as he was when he created it. He started making starr stones every week since he was a child, and later learned to control which stone he ended up coming out of following any given death. There is no telling how many stones are hidden around the globe, but he uses them more often than is probably psychologically healthy. He purposely puts himself in physical danger so that he can quickly learn skills that would otherwise take a lot of caution and patience. It’s also unclear how old Upton is. He has admitted to having pushed his life into a stone that was made when he was very young, so he has grown up at least twice. No records from his life before Bellevue remain today, so no one is even certain whether Upton Starr is his real name. It took some convincing, but Upton eventually agreed to join Bellevue, but with some conditions. He works with a small team at an offsite location within a department ominously referred to as Special Projects. Throughout the decades, the team members refused to divulge their inventions until they were perfected. However, once these inventions were ready, they proved to be extremely useful to society. One particular invention took centuries to develop, and was instrumental in the salvation of the entire planet, though Upton was not around to see it come to fruition.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: April 10, 2034

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When Mateo awoke, he found himself being carried by The Doctor and his father, Mario. They were whispering to each other, but he was too weak to speak up. “We have to hurry,” Mario said. “It’s almost midnight. We’re about to lose him.”

“I shouldn’t be doing this. I’m the doctor. I’m not supposed to be on any other kind of missions.”

“The powers that be are obviously all right with it,” Mario snapped. “Otherwise, they would have already snatched you up. Besides, it’s your job to get your patients out of danger. If we leave him in this basement, Reaver will know exactly where he is again and be able to exploit that. He’ll have an entire year to prepare for his arrival.”

“What happened?” Mateo managed to eke out.

“You blew up a house, son. I’m impressed. We’re trying to get you as far from it as possible.”

“Where is my family?”

“They’re probably not allowed past the barrier. Reaver Enterprises stepped in and took control of the situation. The two of us timeslipped in at the same time to get you out.” His watch began to beep urgently. “Damn it!”

“It’s too late. We have to break proximity,” the doctor said, gently laying Mateo’s shoulders on the ground. Mario was forced to do the same with his legs.

“Where am I going to end up next year?” He struggled to his feet. It still hurt a little, but he could also feel his wounds healing due to the doctor’s works.

“We have no idea,” Mario shook his head. “But it can’t be good. We didn’t get you far enough away.”

Mateo left them behind and made the jump to 2034. The scene changed dramatically, reminding him of the time he wound up centuries in the future. He was standing in a brightly lit hallway. He could see several doors down the hall, each a dull shade of green. He cautiously began to walk in one direction but quickly slipped through one of the doors after spotting a guard. He turned on the light to find that he was lucky enough to have stumbled upon a storage room. There were plenty of extra guard uniforms from which to choose. While he was changing out of his torn and wet clothes, he could hear footsteps from the hall. It was a ruckus. They must have detected his arrival. The uniform indicated that it belonged to Reaver Enterprise’s security division, which meant that the electronic security measures were likely sensitive to time travelers.

He heard some of the footsteps stop cold, and then a voice. “There’s a light on in here. What is this?”

“It’s just a storage room. No reason for anyone to be in there right now,” another voice replied. They sounded familiar.

Mateo closed his eyes from fatigue and pulled his hat on. When the door opened, he did his best to play a part. “I was just checking this room. Everything appears to be fine, though. We can go now.”

“It’s you,” one of the men said. Mateo reluctantly looked up. It was the two guards who had sent him to the police station after he jumped into the Reaver warehouse. That was six years ago, yet they still recognized him.

“My God, it is.” The other guard came in the room and closed the door. “You must be the one we’re all running around looking for.”

Mateo looked around at the shelves for anything that he could use as a weapon, or better yet, a distraction.

Guard Number One turned to his partner. “This kid is what he wants. This is personal. He’s obsessed, and obviously unwell.”

“Well, what do we do?” Guard Number Two asked of him.

“I think it’s time we finally quit; like we’ve been saying.”

“We’ll have to change our names.”

“Everyone knows that Reaver is one sick puppy. If he wants to capture a guy like this, we have no choice but to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

A voice boomed from the ceiling. “Mateo?” He began to stretch out his words for effect. “Mateeeeeeeeo. I know you’re iiiiin heeere. You were supposed to wake up in the basement. The entire bottom floor of this facility is a jail cell. What are you doing out of your cage, MONKEY!”

“See what I mean?” Guard Number One asked rhetorically.

His partner nodded his head overdramatically. “Yeah. We gotta get the hell out of here. The man’s nuts.”

Mateo thought it was best to keep his head down and mouth shut. He had no idea what other security equipment Reaver would have, so blending was the word of the day. They walked down the halls together, careful to look like they were doing exactly what they were supposed to. The lower floors had too many people, so they could only head towards the roof, even without a plan. They encountered another team on the stairwell, and Mateo was paranoid that they were suspicious of him, but they soon moved on to their own assignments.

Reaver’s voice returned. “That’s it! I’m calling in the cavalry. Boys, this is who we’re looking for!” Mateo’s face appeared on the wall. The three of them looked around. His face could be seen over and over again on the screens along the entire wall, a continuous pattern that was putting him in danger. “Bring him to me and I will literally write you a blank check!”

Mateo turned to his two new friends. “We’re not turning you in,” Number Two insisted.

“But now we run,” his partner said.

They ran through the maze of hallways, as far from the sounds of the team they had just passed as they could get. One of them tried to go one way, but the other pulled them in the opposite direction. “This way.”

Mateo pulled out his magic cell phone and called Leona with it. “Leona, are you safe? Did he get to you?”

I’m all right, she answered. They thought you were dead, but I knew you would survive. Where are you?

“I never made it out of the mansion.”

Mateo! That’s a Reaver building now.

“You’ll notice I’m out of breath from running!”

We were getting ready to do a bird’s eye survey of the surrounding area to find you, so we’re not too terribly far.

“South side of the southwest corner!” Number Two exclaimed.

“What!” Mateo yelled back.

“That’s where we’ll be.” He directed them into a room that turned out to be an armory.

“We’re not going to hurt anyone,” Number One argued.

“No, we’re not,” Number Two agreed. He went straight for a large weapon that looked like a cannon. “We’re breaking out. He grabbed the cannon and ran out. They followed him as Mateo relayed the rendezvous point to Leona.

A security team came out of nowhere and blocked their path. Number Two held the cannon up threateningly. “I don’t wanna hurt you.”

“What are you doing?” the team leader asked. “Why is Reaver so interested in him?”

“Stop us and you’ll never find out,” Number One answered.

The team leader crooked his head. “That sounds like the opposite of the truth.”

Before the argument could continue, Vearden appeared from one door while Saga came out of the door on the other side. They each pushed one of the enemy security guards forward and ushered them through the opposite door, like they had rehearsed it. The doors closed and no one tried to get back out of them.

“What the hell was that?” The leader opened the doors angrily and looked around for them, proving that Saga and Vearden had taken his team somewhere through time. He raised his weapon again and pointed it at Mateo’s leg.

“Excuse me?” came the voice of a man who only the leader could see. “Have you ever been to Stonehenge?”

The leader instinctively rerouted his attention towards the new threat. He disappeared around down the hallway. By the time Mateo looked around the corner, the portal was fading. He could see The Delegator resting his hand on the leader’s shoulder and smiling comfortingly.

“I don’t know what’s happening here,” Number One said, “but we have to go.”

“This way,” Number Two urged them.

They continued to follow him. Once he reached his destination, he lifted the cannon and blew a hole in the surprisingly thick wall. They could hear footsteps headed for them once more. A flying vehicle of some kind was heading for them.

“We have to jump!” Number Two yelled.

“They’re not here yet!”

Number Two looked back towards the sound of the oncoming horde of enemies. “I know. It’ll be tight, but I can estimate the timing.”

“Did you hear that?” Mateo called into the phone.

The horde was upon them, guns pointed to their backs. Reaver’s voice came on, “it’s over. Mateo. I have you. I finally found my loophole.”

“Would you shut up already!” Mateo yelled to the ceiling.

“Now!” Number Two yelled. They complied without hesitation. Mateo and Number One jumped out of the hole at the same time, but Number Two wasn’t so lucky. One of the enemies had gotten off one shot that hit him in the leg, causing him to lose his balance and miss his timing. After Mateo landed on the hood of the aircraft, he looked back up to see Number Two clinging to the edge. Leona flipped around quickly and began flying back to the hole, but Number Two lost his grip and started falling towards the ground.

“No!” Mateo cried.

While they were still too far away, the figure of Daria appeared long enough to grab him before he hit the ground and jump him away.

“Hold on!” he could hear Leona yell from inside what he could only describe as a flying car. He exchanged a look of both fear and relief with Number One as they rose up into the air and increased speed.

They stopped briefly on the ground a few miles from the building. Leona and Aura were using the front row, so the two stowaways scrunched in next to Samsonite. They took off after a moment and made the short trip back to Lebanon. Danica, Theo, and a young woman he did not bother to introduce himself to greeted them at the bottom of the elevator. They spent the rest of Mateo and Leona’s year in the safety of The Constant, doing as little as possible.

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Crossed Off: Gateway (Part IV)

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Denton followed professor Shapiro back to Hudson during the break while Starla and Alec started their trip towards Kansas City with Kathleen. Alec was supposed to give up the reigns to Kathleen halfway through so that he could rest, but she ended up falling asleep, and didn’t wake up until he had gone over twelve hours straight. She immediately forced him to pull over. They hadn’t left as early as they wanted so they decided to stay the night in St. Louis instead of trying to make it all the way.
Right out of college, Tristan found a high-paying executive position at a medical technology company. He liked to give his sister, Kathleen money, and he considered it an insult to not take it. Eventually, she got used to this, and stopped the modest refusals. He hooked them up with a pretty fancy hotel suite. Each of their rooms had its own television set, and the larger television in the communal area had a video tape recorder. They wouldn’t have time to use it, but it was nice to have around.

One side effect from Starla’s ability was that her dreams were entirely lucid, and she could remember every detail about it upon waking. This allowed her to tell the difference between a dream of her own and a body jump. She had developed laser focus and never jumped when she didn’t want to, except, of course, with Alec. This time was different. She had no choice but to jump over to Denton’s body. It was like he was summoning her to him. Did you somehow bring me here? she asked him with her thoughts.

Not on a conscious level, he replied. I think we’re connected. I think the more of us that come together, the easier it is to find even more.

Why do you say that? Starla asked.

Do you know where we are?

He was in an elevator, so she had no way of knowing exactly where. You have to think it to me. I can read your mind without you knowing it when we’re in proximity, but I only have surface access remotely.

This is the Confederacy Building. I came here as a tourist, but now I have the urge to go up to the twenty-fourth floor. The closer I get, the stronger the feeling of familiarity. It’s the same thing I felt when I first met you. Initially, I thought it was just because I was sexually attracted to you, but I felt the same thing around Magnus Shapiro, and I’m not that attracted to him. There’s some sort of scientific phenomenon we do not understand that binds us together. We’re all different, but there must be some kind of trait that we all share, that others do not possess.

So you think there’s another one of us in this building?

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Denton cautiously stepped out. Yes, I do. A part of me can’t imagine there not being someone else. Denton walked down the halls like one would a labyrinth. He would step in one direction, only to realize that it was the wrong way, so he’d step back and go another way. He ended up in the middle of a large collection of cubicles. It was so late that only a few people were still there. He scanned the room, looking for some sign, but saw nothing obvious. He took one more step forward.

A woman in the middle of the room stood up and curiously turned around to lock eyes with him. She quickly maneuvered around the cubicles and approached him. “What language do you speak?”

“Standard C,” he answered.

“What’s happening here?”

“You brought me here. Rather, something brought us together.” Denton stopped and tilted his head. “What department is this?”

“Interpretation and Translation,” the woman replied.

“Language. Why didn’t I think to immerse myself in that before.” He swayed back and forth, reveling in the flood of data being sent to his brain. “I’m getting so many different languages from you. Dozens. Ones I couldn’t even name. How do you know so many? And how am I absorbing it so quickly?”

The woman was shocked, but excited. “I don’t know how you’re doing it at all. I can’t absorb a language unless someone is speaking it.”

“But it’s just language with you. You don’t gain any other information?”

“No, of course not. But you do. Why are we how we are?”

“I have someone I think you should meet. He and I are trying to figure that out. There are others. We all do something different.”

“I thought I was just...” she tried to find her words, “just different. Smarter, maybe. Some form of hyperthymesia.”

Denton laughed. “That’s pretty much what Magnus Shapiro thought.” He turned his attention inward. You’re awfully quiet, Starla. I know you’re still there, though.

I was letting you do whatever it is you wanted to do. But you should probably ask her name, at the very least.

Good point. He extended his arm. “I’m Denton Wescott.”

She shook his hand. “Ling Guo.”

“Are you done with work?” He put his head down like a child with his first crush. He definitely didn’t act like that around Starla, and he was still with Kathleen, as far as she knew. “Do you wanna go grab some coffee and talk? Ya know, for research purposes.”

“Research, of course. Yes.”

I’m leaving. Best of luck to you with whatever the hell this is.

‘Kay byee, Denton thought back to her. “Wait,” he accidentally said out loud.

“What?” Ling asked.

“Oh, sorry, not you.”

“Do what now?”

Starla, can you understand the thoughts of any language?

Thoughts are thoughts, Starla explained. People think in abstracts, not sentences. It doesn’t matter what language they speak; they think the same way. That’s how I communicate with people all over the world.

“Are you doing something?” Ling pressed. “Blink twice if something is wrong.”

Denton closed his eyes once and held them down deliberately before opening again. Now that there are four of us, we need to get together and gather more data. You should come here to Hudson.

Alec and Kathleen are never going to agree to that, and I can’t exactly leave on my own.

We’ll figure something out. Maybe we’ll come down to Kansas City instead.

Goodnight, Denton. Be careful.

He ignored her final remark. “Night, Starla.” This time he knew full well that he was saying it aloud.

“Are you talking to someone else?”

Denton smiled. “Let’s go. I’ll tell you all about it.” He let slip a few stray thoughts about his sudden feelings for Ling. It was clear that being around someone who could alone provide him with so much knowledge was intoxicating to him.

Should Starla tell Kathleen, or no? She was his gracie, after all. Did she not have the right to know? She went back to her own private dreams and decided to sleep on it.

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