by Lovy Books
The funeral took place in the cemetery chapel, a cozy stained glass building adjacent to the cemetery where Chip was to be buried. His parents and other family members occupied the first two rows during the service. Immediately behind them were Mr. Stephens, Mr. Kalma and Ms. Battle, all looking straight ahead with straight lines around their mouths from pressing their lips together the whole time. Fay, Emma, Madeline and Ben all sat together to the left center of the service, and although none of them could hear what was happening, Michael had been courteous enough to provide occasional sign language translation during the more moving speeches from Chip’s loved ones.
As the four remaining telepathic members of the group sat together, Fay could feel her brain coming to life with the telepathic power they all felt, and she squeezed Emma’s hand in silent confirmation that she was feeling better. Now that they were around each other again, they all could feel a bubbling warmth from the power rising within them again.
Have you guys been okay? Fay asked, looking straight ahead at the open casket. The others all murmured a soft yes in their heads as a reply. At least they were together now and they could still hear each other. They caught up with each other quickly and expressed their shock and surprise at Chip’s sudden death. The rumor said it was a brain aneurysm, which they could only guess was from pushing himself too hard to get into Mr. Delaney’s head. The official cause of death was unknown at this point, but the telepathic group knew something wasn’t right — especially for this to happen after Chip had at least some practice with his skills. Still, perhaps inappropriately, Fay couldn’t help but laugh. He always was the arrogant one, so sure of his skills. She was just glad everyone else was safe and doing okay; she was glad to hear everyone else’s thoughts in her head again.
But what was unexpected here, at the funeral, was the familiar static and interference Fay could hear inside her head from other funeral goers. It must be when we’re all together, she thought. That’s when I can hear other people the best. Ben confirmed this, too, asking the others, Are you guys hearing other people now, too? Fay nodded. Yes. This is good. It means we’ve practiced enough that we can hear non-telepathic people as well. Plus we’re all together again, which probably strengthens our powers.
Fay realized it was Mr. Stephens’s mental voice that she was hearing, familiar as it was to her after listening to it all the time at work. Despite being at a funeral, his thoughts were laden with anger and expletives. He should have known better than to bring that up right before implementation. Did he think we were going to change anything? We’ll never get the plan up and running if we have to juggle everyone’s moral dilemmas! He shifted in the church pew momentarily. What does it matter now, anyway? His family doesn’t matter and he’s a vegetable himself now.
Emma, for her part, was also listening intently to everyone around her, although it got confusing when everyone’s thoughts were echoing around inside her head. She could hear Ms. Battle’s sharp thoughts as easily as if she was sitting right next to her, although occasionally Mr. Kalma’s thoughts also butted in.
Look at all these people, crying over some brat. And a nosy brat as well — what was he doing in Delaney’s room, anyway? This had better not fuck up the whole plan. Ms. Battle stole a glance at Mr. Stephens, but it was not reciprocated. Nick, you’d better not be a pussy about all this.
Then Mr. Kalma’s voice took over. Delaney’s ‘moral dilemma.’ What does that even mean? Is it true he had a connection to one of the test subjects? Even if he did, he’s as good as dead now. He was the weak link in the chain.
Fay stopped listening for a moment and shot her thoughts out to the others. Did you hear that?
They all quickly looked back at her. Yeah. What do we do?
Fay’s heart was beating out of her chest, and she suddenly felt a rush of nerves leap into her throat. There was nothing any of them could do now, at the funeral, anyway. They could only sit and wait and listen as best they could. Fay gripped Emma’s hand tighter in fear.
The minister closed the service — and the casket — and ushered everyone outside, indicating that the burial service would be held immediately. Fay stood up and started to shuffle outside with everyone else, when all of a sudden she felt a hand grab her sleeve and pull her into an adjoining room of the church. It was Emma. Fay hadn’t even seen her get up, but now the two of them stood in the shadows of a small alcove to the left of the chapel, where a set of stairs led to a balcony above the main area. Emma pulled Fay along, practically pulling her arm out of her socket.
Emma, what—
I just needed to see you, Emma thought to Fay, and pulled her up the last few steps into the balcony, where she wrapped her hands around the back of Fay’s head and pulled her into a kiss. I just— I’m scared. And I missed you— All of Emma’s thoughts were interrupted by short kisses on Fay’s lips, which the latter returned eagerly.
What if someone sees us? What then?
I don’t care. I just needed you. One of us is dead, it’s really weird, I’m freaking out and I just— I needed you. Emma’s hands were all over Fay, who struggled to break free. Her own hands were full of electricity, both the physical and mental connection between them surging with energy.
She couldn’t resist anymore; soon her hands were just as eager to explore Emma’s body and they tugged at her clothing. The risk that was so evident when the girls climbed the stairs had died out when the last of the churchgoers left the chapel and the doors slammed shut, leaving the girls in darkness. Fay breathed into Emma’s ears and her thoughts swelled with passion toward her, which exploded into her fingers as skin touched skin and their warmth enveloped each other.
Emma pulled up Fay’s dress and pulled down her tights, exposing her lower half, and she began to kiss Fay’s stomach softly. Fay moaned lightly in response. She had had partners in the past, but none of them shared the same kind of connection that Fay and Emma did. Every touch of Emma’s fingers and every motion of her tongue sent tingles through Fay’s whole body; the sensation in her brain was already orgasmic even as Emma was just starting out. Fay rested her hand on Emma’s head, petting her hair and running fingers down her neck and shoulders.
Both laying down, Emma kissed Fay’s navel, working her way down her body until she spread her legs open and slowly tongued the wetness below her waist. Fay’s pleasure increased tenfold and she felt Emma’s lips and fingers with glee. She writhed backward on the floor, bucking her hips up as Emma fingered her most sensitive spots; Emma looked up at Fay with bright blue eyes that glinted in the dark. Seeing Fay move with the pleasure of the motion down below made her smile and she only increased the frequency of her kissing and tonguing.
She reached down for Emma’s chin and pulled it up to her lips, and the girls shared a wet, messy kiss, with the tangy juices from below lingering around their mouths. The two women were sitting opposite each other, their legs intertwined as two bodies became one, bonded by their warm skin and intense emotional connection. Fay’s fingers walked down Emma’s waist, fully undoing the button of her pants now and touching her clitoris gently, slowly, in circles. Her other hand reached up and squeezed Emma’s breasts firmly in her hand. Each hand massaged Emma’s bare skin with a similar motion: first in circles, then up and down, slower and then faster as Emma’s breaths told her what to do.
After a short time, Emma pulled her body away from Fay and returned her fingers to the place between Fay’s legs; Fay sat up and clutched Emma tightly around the shoulders to brace herself against the pleasure. The two touched lips again, lightly at first and then with more force and passion and then, as Emma’s strokes became stronger and faster, together their brains exploded into a supernova of sensation: it was ten times stronger than any orgasm Fay had had in the past and it paralyzed her body for several minutes. She let out an involuntary gasp and let her mind go. A fireworks show went off in her brain at the moment of the highest pleasure from Emma’s fingers and tongue below; she felt the physical release combined wi
th the mental pressure from connecting with her best friend and partner.
The room was dark, but Fay closed her eyes in an attempt to shut out the bursts of light she was seeing in her own mind; like lightning strikes right next to her, from the force of an orgasm and telepathic connection all at once. Together, the girls crested over the orgasmic threshold, clutching their fingers around each other even tighter. The lights in their heads burst into immense flames, flickering out into embers and then the darkness came back. Fay’s breathing slowed down, and she felt Emma come up to give her one more deep, slow kiss on the lips. She opened her eyes and, once they adjusted, she saw Emma lying down right beside her. She reached for her hand.
What was that? Fay asked. Emma didn’t answer. Only the women’s breathing betrayed their presence; the church was silent and empty otherwise.
After a moment, Emma opened her thoughts to Fay. This whole thing with Chip. I feel like there’s something really weird going on.
Fay nodded in the dark. Did you hear what they were thinking about today, just now in the funeral?
Yes. I don’t understand. But it makes me nervous. Chip is already dead, and who knows what that means for us? Emma leaned over and rested her head on Fay’s chest; Fay wrapped one arm around Emma’s shoulder.
Do you think it’s a conspiracy?
Emma didn’t answer again. Fay wasn’t sure she even wanted the answer to that question. Either way, everything she’d heard that day couldn’t be a good thing.
Chapter Six
The following Monday, after Chip was dead and buried and the office was mostly back to normal, the four remaining telepaths sat at each of their desks, talking to each other through their minds and silently observing the atmosphere around them. Everyone else in the office seemed to share their mood, a combination of shock, confusion and anxiety.
The only people who carried on business as usual were Mr. Stephens, Ms. Battle and Mr. Kalma, who converged in the boardroom in the middle of the office for a meeting just after lunch. Fay peered up at them, curious, but trying to appear unobtrusive. You want to…? she asked the other telepaths. They all agreed; it was time to unite their powers and listen in.
“We need to start the ultimatum immediately. We can’t wait any longer. With Delaney’s … issue … and now with the intern, it’s all a mess.” Mr. Stephens’s voice sounded tired and impatient.
“What about Delaney’s family? Is it true? Is he related to them?” Ms. Battle’s voice was full of equal venom.
“To hell with them. Are you suffering a ‘moral dilemma’ now, too, Angelina? We can’t afford to lose you, too. You’re just as much the brains of this as the rest of us.”
“No, sir.”
“Well, if there are no more problems, we’ll start the trial run tomorrow. All we need is everyone’s signatures on the documents and it’ll begin. Are we all clear?”
There was a murmur of agreement from Ms. Battle and Mr. Kalma; the latter then voiced a concern. “Excuse me, sir,” he cleared his voice, “I’m fully on board with the program, but I’m curious how a trial run will result in anything. Isn’t that too short a time for any effects to become evident?”
Mr. Stephens sighed. “Alexander, we’ve been through this. The program we’ve had for decades isn’t working fast enough. See, when we implemented what is now the ultimatum in 1965, it was in conjunction with the genesis of the fast food industry, so we knew it would target the right people — the poor and disenfranchised. But it’s been 50 years and the population is growing, if anything.”
Fay couldn’t believe what she was hearing. But she didn’t have time to think about it further, as the meeting was still going on. She only listened more closely as Ms. Battle spoke up. “Yes, this phase involves a more concentrated base and we’re using pure mercury instead of the usual—“
“—monosodium glutamate, sodium nitrates, hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, the things fast-food companies have been putting in their products for years,” Mr. Stephens finished. “The best part is that because we are the Health and Safety Agency, all these ingredients have to be approved by us in the first place, so they’ll listen to a unanimous recommendation by us to include small amounts of mercury.
“Of course, the mercury will be disguised under a different name, perhaps hydrargyrum, what it used to be called. But it will be included in the cheapest menu items of the fast-foods, since we all know—“ he coughed “—that’s all these people can afford.” He chuckled, and Ms. Battle and Mr. Kalma joined in, their laughter echoing through the telepaths heads.
But laughter was the farthest thing from the telepaths’ own minds. As the four listened to the conversation taking place in the boardroom, their mouths gaped open in shock and horror at what they heard. Fay felt something rising in her stomach and had to clench her hand over her mouth to prevent from retching.
Holy shit. This is worse than I thought. Fay was consumed by fear and anger. Emma, you’ve been here for a few years — did you know about this?
Not at all. Oh my god. She grew silent.
It became clearer to the telepaths as they listened longer to the conversation that the conspiracy was way deeper than they could have ever imagined. Under the direction of HSA administrators for the past five decades, the government had targeted low-income people of racial minorities, hoping to eradicate them entirely from the population. Mr. Stephens continued to speak in graphic details about the “hated inferior races” and the “master plan” to save the country from anyone other than the elite. This new phase of the plan — the “ultimatum,” the final solution — served to speed up the process and eliminate poor minorities from the picture through cheaper foods that only they could afford.
Emma told everyone that Mr. Delaney, who was now brain-dead under the care of his wife at home, had often spoke of his mixed-race family: after his parents separated, his father remarried an African-American woman, and Mr. Delaney had several half-siblings of mixed descent. That must be the moral dilemma they keep talking about. She paused. Fay, go in.
What? Fay was terrified. Why?
Go knock and sign something, anything, to get in there. Just for a second. Don’t you have something for Mr. Stephens to sign?
Well, there is something that has to go out into the mail today. I could try that.
Yes, quick, take it to him.
Fay scrambled with the papers to the boardroom door, where she took several deep breaths and knocked. Then she opened the door slowly, waving the paper in her hand, with the red stamp that read “URGENT” on it. She signed her intentions to Mr. Stephens, knowing he couldn’t understand her anyway. Mr. Battle and Mr. Kalma pursed their lips, waiting for her to leave again. Seeing their discomfort, Mr. Stephens laughed, scrawling his name across the paper. “Don’t worry about her,” he said, gesturing to Fay. “She’s useless. She can’t speak or hear, so she’s no threat to us. Hell, I wouldn’t have hired her if she wasn’t a deaf-mute.”
While Fay retreated from the room, Emma cursed. I fucking knew it. It all makes sense now. They only hired us because they knew we couldn’t eavesdrop on their conversation.
But we can, Fay said. We can eavesdrop now. They just don’t know it.
Right, Emma said, a thought clearly churning in her head. And that’s what we’re going to use to our advantage.
The next day, Emma made sure the three executives stayed late after work, scheduling an after-hours meeting for only them. When five o’clock struck, all of the regular hour employees slowly packed up and left, and the lights flicked off one by one as the minutes ticked by. Each of the telepaths made like they were heading home as well, but instead they all congregated in the lobby downstairs to wait until the coast was clear. Only Emma remained upstairs, addressing last-minute bureaucracy of the day. Once that was finished, she signaled to the other telepaths to return upstairs. They took the stairs farthest away from the boardroom and snuck quietly into the room, where Emma was waiting.
What are we d
oing? Ben’s eyes were wider than Fay had ever seen them, his face displaying the apprehension they all felt. None had ever been in a graver situation.
We’ll do this together. We can corner them, and talk to them, Fay said.
That’s right, Emma added. I think that’s what Chip tried to do, but he did it alone and without enough power. But the four of us, together— she gestured to the group —can do it. Come on. She led the way, and the group tiptoed over to the only light in the room, the sliver of brightness coming from around the door to the boardroom. Ready? Emma knocked and pushed open the door. Now!
The second that the executives, sitting at the table with their chins and their hands, saw their unexpected visitors, Fay, Emma, Ben and Madeline locked their minds and sent out a powerful force of energy through to the three executives, who felt an invisible wind blow through their heads and stun them. Mr. Stephens rubbed his head in pain, while Ms. Battle and Ms. Kalma stared, stupefied by the intruders.
Can you hear me? Can you hear us? Emma screamed with all her might at them, but the executives only continued to stare.
Fay shook her head glumly. I don’t think so. I can hear them, though. And she could — Mr. Stephens had a string of panicked expletives running through his mind already. Fay pushed her mind farther into his and tried to connect with him the way she had with Emma and the other telepaths, but it was to no avail. It’s useless, she confirmed to everyone. We’ll never learn anything if they can’t talk to us.
Right on cue, as soon as Fay finished her thought, the door burst open again and Michael Greyfell rushed in, stumbling, out of breath. “I saw the light— I tried to hurry— what’s going on—“
Fay wasted no time. “Sit down,” she signed to him. “We have to talk. You—“ pointing to the three executives “—don’t move.”
Michael lowered himself into a chair and looked up at the looming telepaths standing over him. The dim lighting made them appear taller in the darkened room. “What’s going on, Fay?” he signed.
