by LEMPEREUR
… Jacques? It’s me. Answer me!
“Is everything okay, Charlie? I’ve been trying to talk to you for days but I got no answer. What happened to you? In the last few hours your heart started racing. Your pulse went out of control; then everything stopped without any explanation. Your heart stopped beating. Then your heartbeats started up again at a slow, regular rhythm.”
… I don’t know either. I think I had a turn. At first I thought it was another anxiety attack, but the dizziness was much worse than usual. In the end I fainted and I don’t remember anything after that.
“It’s time for you to come back now. The experiment is getting too dangerous.”
… No! Not now. I’ve met Victor, you know. Maybe he’s not so different from us after all. If I come back now, I’ll never know what it was he was trying to tell me.
“He’s delirious,” said Francisco authoritatively. “The connection does allow for the two subjects involved to consciously make contact with one another; especially as Victor has been in hibernation for ages. Their languages must be very different, and their perception and thought mechanisms too. Charlie cannot have met and clearly communicated with Victor’s psyche. It’s simply impossible. He has been connected for too long; his thinking must be confused. We have to get him back here to question him about what happened. We can reconnect him again if we need to. Tell him, Jacques.”
Jacques did not answer immediately.
... Are you still there, Jacques? asked Charlie.
“Yes, don’t worry, I can read everything you’re saying.”
… So you understand? They mustn’t disconnect me yet. I’m on the verge of an extraordinary discovery!
“Come on, Jacques! What are you waiting for?” asked Francisco.
Mario put his hand on Francisco’s shoulder and said in a low voice, “Calm down, Francisco. Have faith in him. They have been joined together since birth. Let’s trust their intuition. Jacques will know what he has to do when the time comes. Trust me.”
Francisco kept quiet, but showed obvious signs of anxiety. Jacques was not paying any more attention to those around him. He was trying instead to focus his attention on his feelings, trusting himself alone to make the right decision.
“Are you sure you’re completely with it, Charlie? You know, you’ve been immersed in Victor’s mind for quite a while now. It’s possible that your judgment may be slightly affected by your loss of sensorial, spatial and even temporal bearings. Think about what happened to the previous candidates. It would be a shame for you to wait until you’re in such a bad state that you can’t tell us about what you experienced once you get back. Don’t you think?”
… No, I’m okay. I’m sure of it. Trust me. I know I’m still completely lucid, even though I had a bit of a turn a little while ago.
“It’s not exactly what you’d call ‘a bit of a turn’, Charlie! Your heart stopped beating for over twenty seconds, remember! Anyway, you need to know that if it was up to me, I would unplug you straight away. I definitely don’t want anything to happen to you just because I didn’t make the right decision at the right time. The problem is that we can’t disconnect you against your will. If you don’t want to come back by being disconnected, we risk causing you serious brain damage which could reduce you to the state of a vegetable.”
Charlie did not respond immediately. He really wanted to stay, despite the danger, in order to find out more about Victor and the extraordinary secret he held; but he did not want to put his brother’s life in danger. He knew very well that that was what this was about, even though Jacques had not specifically said so.
“Are you still there?”
… You’re right, he said, contrary to all expectation. .Do the necessary to –
But the communication was suddenly cut off before Charlie could finish his sentence.
“What’s going on?” asked Mario. “Did you lose contact? Try to get it back, damn it! We can’t disconnect him unless we’re sure he’s ready and fully consenting.”
“I know, but it’s too late. He’s not answering. There’s nothing we can do for now.”
Charlie did not understand what had just happened. He was still lying with his head resting on the kitchen floor and he could hear the sound of steps echoing on the tiles, followed by the scraping of a chair.
“Ah, you’re back again, my dear friend!”
Charlie struggled to his feet. He did not need to think long before realizing that it was Victor who had just entered the kitchen. Even before he saw him, he was sure of it. The old man was sitting in the same place as at their last meeting. This time, there was nothing to eat, neither biscuits nor a cup of tea. Victor’s face was more mournful and disturbing than ever.
“You were going to abandon me, weren’t you? And yet, I had trusted you. You knew that I needed you!”
“Well, things are more complicated than you think,” replied Charlie feebly.
“What do you know of what I think? You are still like a newborn babe to me, Charlie. I know exactly what is going on. Just don’t ever forget that you are on my turf here,” he said in an authoritative tone.
“Was it you who interrupted the transmission?”
“Yes, I did. I let you talk with your brother for a while first. I believe you needed that. Going into that first memory seems to have sorely tried you. I am beginning to wonder if I’ve misjudged you.”
Charlie was paralyzed with fear. He was utterly at Victor’s mercy now and he could do with him whatever he pleased.
“Why did you interrupt the communication, Victor? I didn’t want to abandon you. I would have come back. It was just to give me time to get my strength back before connecting again. You know, if it were only up to me, I would have stayed here with you but my brother’s health is intrinsically linked to mine. You understand that, Vikern. You have a brother, too. In the past you have had difficult choices to make, haven’t you? You didn’t want to be separated from him. And yet, you also had a choice.”
In calling him by his real name, Charlie hoped to show Victor that he had not misjudged him. Despite his weakness, he understood quite clearly the message that Victor wanted to communicate in sharing that memory with him.
“You are right, Charlie. I understand you perfectly. In your place, I would no doubt have made the same decision. But what led you to believe that I am Vikern? I was not the only person in that memory.”
“It was probably your personality. And also, something strange happened. Vikern seemed to notice my presence, whereas his friend didn’t notice anything. I can’t be sure from my perspective, but I thought that you were the only one capable of perceiving things. The other person was merely an outside element included in your memory. How could he feel anything whatsoever?”
“And yet, Jiec reacted to Vikern’s suspicious behavior. He even linked that behavior to the fact that they ‘were all a little uptight’, to use his exact words. Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”
Charlie hesitated for a moment, although he was sure of what he had said. Why would Victor want him to think otherwise? For what purpose? Unless he was simply trying to test him. Maybe Victor was trying to make sure Charlie was sufficiently capable of analysis and discernment to warrant continuing the process with him. At that precise moment he was keenly aware of the fact that his next words would be of crucial importance. He absolutely must win Victor’s trust if he did not want to go back as a vegetable or worse still. He therefore weighed his words carefully and delivered them with as much assurance as possible.
“I’m certain. That distortion was obviously due to the fact that you and I are dreaming, or rather thinking, together. You knew that I was visiting your memory. A part of yourself must have followed me there and partially modified the unfolding of events. Memories are not fixed phenomena – at least, not for human beings – I suppose it is the same for you. Every version of a memory is necessarily slightly different from the previous one. That’s why our childhood memories are often very di
fferent to the actual events that occurred.”
“Well! I see that you have pulled yourself together and are capable of exercising discernment. As you have guessed, my name is Vikern. At least, that is its closest equivalent. I suppose you also understand that I communicate with you using your language, because ours is beyond your reach. Indeed, I had to translate the contents of the tablets so you would understand them. You are right: that memory was a joint construction, but I was careful to modify its structure and the objective information I wanted to communicate to you as little as possible. I could have simply spoken to you directly without imposing this difficult journey on you, but I needed you to experience these events. Certain elements of my memories may have stood out to you, whereas to me, they slip by unnoticed. Do you understand?”
“Is that why you need me?”
“Precisely. Some things still escape me and yet I have had plenty of time to examine my memories in the minutest detail.”
“So you need an objective point of view to examine these details? What are you looking for, Vikern?”
“It is too soon to tell you. It might affect your judgment. They say that one tends to find just what one is looking for. In other words, our judgment is affected by the very goal we set ourselves. We therefore miss details that would have opened up new perspectives to us. Perhaps you will have more success flying blind. Trust your intuition. Carefully observe and analyze the different situations you come across over the next few days. Otherwise, I will guide you. Lastly, don’t forget Charlie; you are working in a fragile and unstable world which is constantly being rewritten, as you explained so well, earlier. Consequently, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for you to remain as discreet as possible. Or else I will be forced to intervene in a very unpleasant way, you can be sure. I do not want you to disrupt entire episodes of my memory.”
“Am I to understand that I must go through another door?”
“On the landing you’ll find a second door which is partially open. You know the way now. Try to keep your head this time!”
“Before I go, if you’ll allow me, I would like to discuss some things with you that troubled me during the last journey.”
“Not now! We’ll talk about them when the time is right. All you need to know, you know already. Now, go!”
Charlie, looking slightly offended, complied, but this time he did not look back.
20 THE PASSENGER
The sound of slow, regular footsteps with a metallic ring to them resonated on the floor. Charlie was in a very small room, entirely made of metal. The atmosphere was familiar to him, but he was incapable of explaining why. He was sitting on the floor; his eyes scanned the room, taking in every detail. There was nothing to break the monotony in what he saw; not a window, nor any furniture nor even an object that Charlie recognized. Only the large, gray, slightly arched door contrasted with the angular, austere architecture of the place.
The sound of the steps settled into a regular coming and going, repeated many times over. Time seemed to stand still and Charlie’s thoughts began to wander. He was thinking about Clementine now, trying to visualize her face without altering the slightest detail, but it was no easy exercise. At first, he could see her clearly, but as time went by, the image became blurred. The daydream only afforded him short-lived comfort, and he became increasingly bored and lethargic. Just as he was beginning to nod off, he noticed a change, something out of place, in the sound of the steps that had been rhythmically marking the course of time for hours, like a metronome or the pendulum of a grandfather clock. The noise they made now revealed the presence of a second person. They both stopped behind the door and after a brief silence the heavy metal handle moved downwards without the slightest sound.
Charlie, once again the creature with gray skin and a completely naked body, looked around frantically for somewhere to hide, but the search was in vain. There was no furniture or dark corner to offer him any shelter. It was only once he understood that the two individuals were not paying the slightest attention to him that he found a semblance of relief. They were talking together, totally ignoring his presence.
“Senec will be here soon. He’s not a prisoner like the others. Try to make this cell a little more comfortable for him. He has been authorized to keep his graphic tablet with him. In light of the current turn of events, we cannot do without his skills. Even while in isolation, he must continue working on the Exodus project. Please see that he lacks nothing. I’m counting on you. Oh, I almost forgot! Don’t let yourself be taken in. Whatever he tells you, never deviate from your orders.”
“Yes, sir. You can count on me.”
They both left as they had come, leaving the door slightly open.
Charlie now knew that the situation was the same as in the last memory. They obviously could not see him, but he remembered that he had to remain as discreet as possible, all the same, if he did not want to experience Victor’s wrath and risk compromising the mission he had just accepted. So he decided to wait a few minutes, until the sound of their footsteps had faded sufficiently before leaving the room. As the door was ajar, he did his best not to open it any further. He slipped between the frame and the edge of the door as quietly as possible and found himself in a long, harshly-lit corridor.
The light was so intense that Charlie had trouble keeping his eyes open. Despite his efforts to distinguish its edges, the corridor seemed unreal, almost immaterial. The experience was extremely unnerving. It reminded him of the dark tunnel where he had spent hours wondering if he would ever find a way out; except that had happened while he was trapped in his own dreams. At the time, Victor had not yet allowed him to enter his mind. Now, everything was different. He was supposed to be exploring one of Victor’s memories, and yet he had been alone for several hours, now. There was no sign of Vikern. How could he be the guest in one of Victor’s memories, without Victor being present in some form or other? He must have participated in the event in order to remember it. Could Charlie be stuck in his own dreams again? Something was not right, but his questions remained unanswerable for the time being. He chose to move onward anyway, tiptoeing along in the blinding light. His right arm out stretched, he slid his hand along the unseen wall, which he used as a guide rope for his slow progress through this place where his eyes were of no use to him whatsoever.
After walking for several minutes, he noticed a black smudge in the distance, which was probably a way out of the corridor. It appeared to be very far off, but as soon as he had noticed it, it seemed to approach at a dizzying speed. Every stride propelled him toward that point, as if he were flying a few centimeters above the ground again. He felt as though he were being sucked into the opening. Very soon the speed was such that he closed his eyes and guarded his face with his hands, afraid of colliding with something without having time to change course. When he opened his eyes again, he was in a huge room. In front of him, a gigantic vessel occupied all the space. Charlie could not believe his eyes. At first glance, the craft had to be over 800 meters long and around 100 meters high, maybe more.
A crowd of people were working on it, in apparent calm. One of them was driving a small vehicle, towing thick glass cages. Inside one was a strange animal that looked like a monkey with no fur to speak of. Hunched over, it looked at Charlie with large, tear-filled eyes. Although the others seemed to ignore his presence, this animal, on the other hand, showed a marked interest in Charlie and did not take its eyes off him until the cage was placed on one of the gangways that led to the interior of the vessel.
The sight of the captive animal gave Charlie an acute sense of unease. For a split second, he thought he recognized himself in the sad eyes of this creature with its vaguely human appearance. He had been able to sense all the emotion contained in that one look; tinged with despair and helplessness. Much more than a look, it was actually a cry for help that had been addressed to him; a cry which Charlie had heard, but which he would probably never be able to answer. He had just realized the ful
l extent of the tragedy that had unfolded here, tens or even hundreds of millennia ago. How many? He didn’t even know. The scale of time was much too great for him to have a precise idea. Vikern had simply spoken of a catastrophe that would transform the Earth into a gigantic furnace, destroying all hope of survival apart from the hibernation bases or the outer space colonization project.
Of course, Charlie had been taught, like everyone else, that the dinosaurs had been extinct for millions of years. Over the course of its history, the Earth had known numerous periods of widespread extinction but never, to his knowledge, did any book mention the existence of a society like this before the appearance of Man. Could it be possible that such a highly evolved society could have disappeared one day, without leaving the slightest trace of its existence on Earth? How could he believe such a thing without losing control? He had to, though. I don’t have any choice, he thought. In the end, maybe that’s what makes him like me, that little naked monkey. He doesn’t have any choice, either. His cry for help is doomed to failure. We have to accept what happens to us and do all we can to stay alive.
Charlie could feel a sense of rebellion and strength rising up within him. I can do this, he thought. Victor needs me. I will not let him take over my will and my free choice. As long as I’m alive, he will have to reckon with me. I will find a way of negotiating my exit with him in the end.
Lost in thought, as if this strange meeting had suspended time, Charlie had not noticed that a small group was heading straight for him. It was already too late for him to avoid a collision, but yet again, no physical contact took place. The three giants went straight through his body, or almost. One of them seemed a little ruffled, and quickly brushed down his clothes as if he were trying to straighten them out. This immediately reminded Charlie that his primary goal was to find clues for Victor’s sake. N.H.I.’s were already imposing enough because of their size and muscle structure, but these ones were even more impressive. Two of them were obviously guards, as could be seen by their build and their attitude. They both wore very shiny black, metallic uniforms. The third individual was of much more ordinary size. He was wearing civilian clothes and was walking under the close surveillance of the two hulks accompanying him. He was the one who seemed to have felt something during the collision. Charlie supposed it was probably Senec, and decided to follow him.
