Gnotret (The Accidental Heroes Chronicles Book 1)

by S. E. Cyborski

  doing to us?”

  “I can give you some answers,” Jane hedged, looking around at each of us. “There are,

  of course, some things I don’t know and some I can’t tell you.”

  “That’s fair,” Billy mused, speaking for the first time. His voice was more resonant here in

  the dream and much more certain. “Can you tell us what the drug is for?”

  “That is one of the things I can’t,” Jane replied, a hint of regret in her voice. “The trial is

  very delicate and we don’t want you to manufacture things because you think that’s what’s

  supposed to happen.”

  “So can you explain why we’re, what’d you call it, dreamwalking?” Sandra asked, her

  eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

  “I may be able to. I believe that the drug created a connection among all of you,” Jane

  explained. “It’s giving you a shared consciousness as it adapts to your bodies so that you have a frame of reference. If, for example, you merely dreamed of falling down a hole or constantly

  running from something, you would fight what was happening to you.”

  “And what is happening to us?” Billy asked sharply, his voice rising slightly in anger. “I

  didn’t sign up for some drug to change who I am.”

  “It’s not changing who you are,” Jane admonished, shaking her head. “If it’s doing what

  Adam and I hope for, it’s adding to each of you.”

  “Adding what?” I blurted, worry crossing my face. This sounded far too ominous and

  dangerous. What were they trying to accomplish with this drug?

  “That is something I cannot tell you,” Jane replied. “Not because I am keeping

  information from you but merely because I have no idea. Human beings are complicated. It

  could be adding anything to you, based on your own bodies.”

  “And when are we going to know?” Michael asked, sitting forward eagerly. “I mean, is it

  going to make us really strong or something like that?”

  “I don’t know and I don’t know,” Jane replied, a wry smile on her face. “Though, I would

  assume since you areall dreamwalking, it could be at any time. You’ve only had one dose.”

  “Is it going to hurt us?” I asked bluntly, staring intently at Jane. “Is there a chance it’s

  going to kill us?”

  I could tell she didn’t want to answer by the way she looked down and grimaced faintly.

  There was something that she was holding back and it definitely had to do with us. I wracked

  my brain quickly, trying to think if there had been any stories of deaths on campus but nothing

  came to mind. Then again, I didn’t really follow the school newspaper and, if there had been, the

  administration might have kept it quiet. Or the student’s family, if something had happened.

  “There is always a chance for harm or death in a trial,” Jane finally admitted, her mouth

  twisting as she spoke. “But I have calculated that the odds are low. Almost insignificantly low.

  The only thing you need to worry about now is getting through this sickness and figuring out how the drug is affecting each of you. However, don’t push or stress about it. It may be as much

  as a few weeks before anything happens.”

  “That’s not very reassuring,” I muttered and I saw Billy nodding out of the corner of my

  eye. Sandra looked thoughtful while Michael and Amy just looked eager. That figured, really. A

  mystery like this was rightup Amy’s alley. And the fact that her own body was basically the petri

  dish she was studying? That would be a bonus for her.

  As we talked, I slowly noticed a blue light permeating the room. It had lightened so

  slowly as to be imperceptible until I could see as clearly as if bright lights were turned on. The

  light gave an eerie cast to the others in the room, creating shadows in their faces that made

  them look ominous. Jane remained unchanged by the light, perhaps because she didn’t have a

  physical body, just the one we’d apparently created for her.

  “What’s with the light?” Michael finally asked, pointing to the ceiling. “It looks like the

  serum Dr. Carnesby injected into us.”

  “That is the drug,” Jane explained. “It is permeating your bodies and interacting with your

  minds. I believe this is the signal that this meeting is over. Sleep well and heal quickly. Good

  night.”

  Jane disappeared from her chair without another word, the blue light getting brighter and

  brighter. Finally, it was so bright that I couldn’t see anything but blue. I closed my eyes, covering

  them with my hands. The next thing I knew, Dr. Carnesby was shaking me awake.

  “George it’s time for the next injection,” Dr. Carnesby told me softly. I struggled to sit up,

  pushing at the blankets wrapped around me. I finally freed an arm and held it out. He injected

  me and then I dropped back down on the bed, all my strength gone. I fell asleep quickly, barely

  noting that I had not eaten since this morning.

  This pattern continued for the next four days, for me and for all the others according to

  Dr. Carnesby when I asked him later. I continued to dream really weird things but no more

  dreamwalking occurrences. My dreams tended to revolve around something watching me from the shadows and feeling as if my insides were rearranging themselves. The latter was far more

  uncomfortable than the former: I’d gotten used to myself as I was and I was worried about what

  was going on in my own mind. What if I woke up and I was no longer myself? What if I was

  myself but my personality was different?

  Dr. Carnesby was stuck playing nursemaid for all of us. We couldn’t get up the strength

  to leave our rooms to eat. Three times a day, he brought in a cup of broth so that none of us

  starved or got dehydrated. When he woke me up, I managed to get myself into the bathroom

  but was never up for a shower. The best I could do was wipe myself down with a wash cloth. I

  could only assume he was making sure the others were fed as well, since he never shared

  more than the barest bits of news. I knew the others were alive but still sick and that was about

  it.

  Finally, on the first day of week two, I woke and felt completely refreshed. I felt my old

  strength in my limbs and was ravenous. First things first, though: I needed a shower. I got up

  and stretched, not bothering to look at the time. It could be three in the morning for all I cared.

  All I knew was that I felt so much better, so much stronger than I had before.

  I walked into the bathroom and turned the water on, waiting for it to heat. While waiting, I

  studied myself in the mirror. I had the beginnings of a beard since I hadn’t shaved for almost a

  week but I wasn’t pale anymore. My eyes actually seemed a little clearer than before and I

  thought I could see better. Shrugging, I got into the shower and cleaned quickly, whistling softly.

  The water really did feel wonderful.

  Drying off and getting dressed, I realized that I had lost a couple pounds but nothing

  really noticeable. My jeans were just a little loose. My stomach growled and I headed to the

  kitchen, hoping to make a big breakfast to calm the grumbling. When I got there, I saw that I

  was actually the last one to wake up.

  “Hey, how are you?” Amy asked me, giving me a tight hug. I smiled at her and pressed a

  kiss to her forehead. “Much better,” I said, looking around the kitchen. “The flu, or whatever it was, is gone.

  How are you guys?”

&nb
sp; “A lot better,” Michael said emphatically while Billy and Sandra nodded. Amy squeezed

  my hand and then bounced over to the stove where a huge pan of scrambled eggs was

  cooking. I could see bacon on another burner and my mouth started watering.

  “Breakfast is almost done,” Amy sang, grinning at me over her shoulder. She seemed

  bouncier and happier, full of so much more energy than she’d ever been. “I’ve been waiting for

  you to get up, lazybones.”

  “Well, you know I’m not a morning person, Tink,” I replied, a snicker coming out.

  “Besides, I needed a shower.”

  “Sit down, I’ll bring the pans over,” Amy said. I snagged a chair at the table, grinning at

  the others. I felt really good today and they all looked as if they felt the same. There was excited

  chatter around the table as we caught up with each other.

  “Here you go; breakfast,” Amy announced, dropping the pans on the table. She also put

  a huge stack of pancakesin the middle of the table to go with the eggs and bacon. “Dig in.”

  I sent Amy a thankful grin; these were all my favorite breakfast foods. We piled our

  plates high, fighting amicably over some of the less-dark pancakes. Dr. Carnesby joined us for

  breakfast, his face a mixture of surprise, relief, and satisfaction. I could only guess that he was

  happy we were all finally better and he didn’t have to take care of us anymore.

  “Oh, the word you’re looking for is catharsis, Michael,” Billy said suddenly through a

  mouthful of eggs. “It means the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions.”

  “What?” Michael asked, looking at Billy with shock written across his face. “I was thinking

  about that. How did you know what I was thinking?”

  “I heard you,” Billy argued, looking confused. “You asked out loud what the word was for

  using art or something to deal with emotions. Didn’t you? Anyone else hear him?” “I didn’t,” I said, looking up from my pancakes. I had a large stack on my plate, drowned

  in butter and syrup. It was actually far more than I normally ate but I had taken it without a

  second thought. “Though I’m a bit confused over why I took so many pancakes.”

  “I could have sworn you spoke, Michael. I heard you, clear as day,” Billy muttered,

  glaring down at his eggs. “You sure you didn’t mumble or something?”

  “I’m sure,” Michael confirmed. “I was thinking about it and driving myself crazy because I

  couldn’t think of the word. But I know I didn’t say anything.”

  “George, you aren’t even eating those,” Amy said, pointing at the drowned pancakes on

  my plate. “You finished your bacon and eggs and now you’re just sitting there. When did you

  turn into such a glutton?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted slowly. “I just felt that I had to take this many pancakes. And

  put so much syrup on them.”

  “This is very odd,” Dr. Carnesby said, looking at each of us in turn. “I know you just woke

  up not too long ago, but is there anything else strange going on?”

  “I feel weird, kind of like I can see emotions,” Sandra said softly, a thread of fear in her

  voice. “I know everyone is happy to be feeling better. It’s like feeling sunshine on my face. But

  there’s an undercurrent of fear now and it feels like freezing cold water.”

  “You know, something odd did happen to me while I was cooking,” Amy mused. She

  looked at her hands, turning her fingers this way and that as she continued, “I accidentally

  dropped a piece of egg on the stove. When I went to reach for it, my fingers brushed against the

  flames from the burner. But instead of burning me, the flames bent away from me.”

  “I’m feeling really light,” Michael whispered. “Not as in light-headed but physically light. I

  feel like if I didn’t concentrate on staying on the ground, I might float away. And this morning

  when I woke up, I felt soheavy it was really difficult to get out of bed.” Dr. Carnesby nodded as the others spoke, his face a study in concentration. He also had

  a sense of contained excitement about him, as if everything that was happening was beyond his

  wildest dreams but he didn’t want to get his hopes up just yet.

  “And you, George?” he asked me. “Have you been experiencing anything strange or out

  of the ordinary?”

  “Other than my huge amount of pancakes, no,” I replied, smiling wryly. “But I’ve only

  been up for about forty-five minutes, so I may just not have noticed it.”

  “Well, I’d like to have you all submit to the physicals again and a few more tests,” Dr.

  Carnesby said meditatively. “Jane, I’d like you to monitor everyone very closely and tell me if

  anything changes in their vitals.”

  “Of course, Dr. Carnesby,” Jane replied. “They are all back within a normal range, similar

  to when they first got here.”

  “Jane, you were watching when I had my issue getting out of bed this morning, right?”

  Michael asked, his head tilting up to the ceiling. “Was there anything different then?”

  “There was a slight difference in the gravity in your location,” Jane replied after a few

  seconds’ thought. “It was higher around you, though, once you noticed it, it reverted back to

  normal. However, rightnow, I see a decrease in the gravity around you.”

  “That would explain why I feel like I’m going to float away,” Michael said sarcastically.

  Then his eyes narrowed and a thoughtful look came over his face. “Jane, is there anything you

  can think of that would affect gravity around one person but not over the rest of the planet?”

  “There is no technology created yet that can alter gravity,” she replied quickly. “Gravity is

  one of the constants on the planet. So nothing should have been able to alter it aroundyou.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Michael said, triumph and confusion mingling in his voice. “I

  mean, I study astrophysics and gravity is one of the things that we don’t even write out anymore

  because it is always constant. So the only thing that could be changing the gravity around me

  is.... me.” “How would you do that?” Amy asked, a touch of scorn in her voice. “You’re human, just

  like the rest of us.”

  “I don’t know,” Michael replied, shrugging. “Maybe a side effect of the drug?”

  We all looked at Dr. Carnesby, a sudden fear shooting through me. Had the drug

  changed us all somehow? Changed who we were, what we were, so that we were no longer

  human? I placed my fork down carefully, fighting the urge to yell or throw it or storm away in

  anger. I was tired of being in the dark, still not knowing exactly what this drug was supposed to

  do.

  “It’s... possible,” Dr. Carnesby hedged. “It’s still early but that may be what’s going on.”

  “And they’re all having a different thing happen?” I asked incredulously, a thread of

  anger forcing its way through my voice. “That doesn’t sound like any normal drug. I would think

  there’d be an overlap. I think it’s time you told us what’s going on here. What is Gnotret

  supposed to be doing to us?”

  “George, calm down,” Amy said softly, her eyes wide with surprise at my outburst. “You

  know why we’re not supposed to know what it does.”

  “Maybe, but that still doesn’t stop me from wondering,” I argued, my voice rising. “And

  this sounds dangerous. This drug isn’t a normal
one, is it doctor? It’s not your typical cure-for

  the-commoncold, new vaccine, or new health drug is it?”

  “No, it’s not,” Dr. Carnesby sighed. He scrubbed a hand over his face and shrugged his

  shoulders. “I suppose you can know now. You haven’t made up these effects now, have you?

  Jane, will you please play the recording of Gnotret’s uses?”

  “Certainly,” Jane replied. There was a pause and then a new voice started speaking. It

  was female and rather highpitched. She also spoke with an accent that I couldn’t quite place.

  “Gnotret is a new creation that will, in time, create a new breed of human. The human

  brain is still mostly unmapped and there are sections that we do not completely understand.

  One section of study believes that there are certain abilities that are locked within the human mind that we are not able to access yet. Abilities such as telepathy, teleportation, empathy,

  telekinesis and many other things. The goal of Gnotret is to unlock these abilities in humans to

  allow our brains to reach closer to their full potential.”

  There was absolute silence when the recording finished. I was completely stunned and

  speechless. These people wanted to make psychics? They actually believed in that and thought

  that everyone could become one? I shook my head, a hysterical laugh bubbling in my chest. I

  fought to hold it back but failed. I laughed myself breathless, unable to stop even when the

  others looked at me with concern in their eyes.

  “You.... You want to make us psychics?” I wheezed out, pointing at Dr. Carnesby.

  “You’re mucking about in our brains and trying to make us no longer human?”

  “No, the goal was to make you more than human,” Dr. Carnesby demurred, looking

  down at the table. “And it seems to have succeeded. At least with the others. They have powers

  that normal humans do not have and, as time progresses, may grow in their abilities or unlock

  more.”

  “You’ve turned us into freaks,” Sandra spat, glaring at Dr. Carnesby. “We signed up to

  help you with the drug. Not to change us and turn us into something else.”

  “You signed the waiver and you’re going to be paid at the end,” Dr. Carnesby said,

  shrugging again. “Just because it wasn’t what you expected doesn’t mean that I hurt you in any