“That said…” Doc trailed off.
“What?” Maggie jumped in. She couldn’t stand the suspense. “Do you have some insight, Doc?”
He hesitated. She could see his eyes, searching the air as he worked it out in his own head. “Perhaps. It’s something I’ve been thinking about since our last conversation, Maggie. You say Bart tried to Dig into your head. To find the location of Interchron. And you fought back?”
Maggie nodded. She hadn’t had this memory an hour ago. Now it squatted in her head, as though it always had been there. Like it happened yesterday. “I remember being terrified. I was sure he’d be able to find the information he wanted. He had me completely under his power.” She felt Marcus’s grim gaze on her. “I knew I needed to try. Do anything to fight back, even if it didn’t work.”
All eyes turned to Doc again. Something between worry and terror played across his features. A heavy stone settled in Maggie’s stomach. Doc rarely looked like that about anything.
He blinked, realizing they were all staring at him. Clearing his throat, his face became more stoic. “It sounds to me, Maggie, like when you lashed out, you actually Dug into his mind. You did to him—easily and quickly—what he intended to do to you. The only difference is, he would have been actively searching for information. You ended up in some of his random memories.”
“It wasn’t random, Doc,” Nat said quietly from the corner.
Doc frowned at his brother, but didn’t make any move to answer, so Maggie asked a question of her own. “How is that possible, Doc? I don’t know how to Dig into someone’s mind. How could I do it by accident?”
Doc sighed, looking around behind him. An uncomfortable-looking metal chair squatted in the corner behind him. He fell into it. “Maggie and I discussed this earlier today. When the other Maggie came from the future, no one else came with you,” he glanced at Maggie. “Karl saw energy signatures from Traveling around her.”
“And you,” Karl addressed Maggie, “reported seeing them—blue and white ribbons of energy—around Kristee when she Traveled.”
“Maggie is a Traveler,” Doc said quietly.
Maggie felt a vibe of surprise from the group, but no one showed it. She supposed they’d had enough surprises the past few days to no longer be shocked by much.
“I thought neurochemical abilities couldn’t be acquired,” Jonah said beside Maggie, sitting up.
“Jonah!” Maggie swung her legs over the side of the bed and crossed to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Hugging him from the side felt mildly awkward, but he didn’t pull away. “Are you okay?”
“How do you feel, Jonah?” Doc asked, moving to the foot of Jonah’s bed.
“Like someone hit me between the eyes with a battering ram. Otherwise, awesome.” He gave Doc an uneasy smile and patted Maggie’s arm awkwardly.
Maggie released him, keeping an arm around his shoulders. If his sense of humor remained intact, it couldn’t be that bad. Still, she noticed Jonah’s other hand—the one furthest away from Maggie—clutching his blanket in a fist.
“What do you remember?” Doc asked.
Jonah sighed. “I remember doing the test with Lila. Then a lot of pain. I heard voices around me, but not much else. Like hearing voices in your sleep.”
Doc nodded. “To answer your question, neurochemical abilities can’t be acquired. That we know of. Each person is born with their own unique abilities, which can be honed. I’ve never heard of a person suddenly acquiring abilities they were not born with.”
“Yet Maggie did,” Karl asked quietly.
“Yes,” Doc said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It seems she can. Somehow. In the memory with B, I think you did it again, Maggie.”
Alarm flared in Maggie’s chest. “What do you mean?” Maggie asked.
“Remember what I told you earlier about seeing memories? It’s a neurochemical ability. Karl’s mother possessed some talent with it, but no one in Interchron has since she passed. You shouldn’t have been able to Dig into Bartholomew’s memories. When you lashed out at him, it shouldn’t have worked, yet it did. You have the ability to Dig.”
Silence blanketed the room as that sunk in. Maggie’s heart rate sky-rocketed.
“Doc,” Joan said softly. “Is it possible Maggie has a specific ability we’ve never seen before? The ability to absorb the neurochemical abilities of others?”
Doc raised an eyebrow, frowning as he thought. “Perhaps,” he said slowly. “That would make sense.” He turned to Maggie. “We know B can Dig, because he planned to do it to you in the round room. Perhaps in desperation, you absorbed the ability and used it against him. You might have absorbed Traveling from Karl.”
Karl grunted from the other side of the room. “Suddenly I think you and Marcus ought to go head to head in a marathon Healing contest.”
Marcus snorted. “You volunteering to be the victim?”
“It’s not funny,” Maggie snapped, glaring between the two men.
“Maggie,” Doc said gently. “Try not to let this stress you out.”
“What do you mean, try…” She trailed off, trying to control her breathing. “At this rate, I’ll end up with all the abilities named in the prophecy!”
“I doubt—” Doc frowned. “Although…”
“What?” Maggie snapped when he trailed off.
Doc sighed. “This is pure conjecture, but you’re the key to the prophecy.” He frowned in thought again, studying the ground.
Maggie couldn’t stand the suspense. “Doc!”
Marcus stepped up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Breathe, Maggie.” Even Jonah looked at her with concern from twelve inches away. Maggie knew she sounded hysterical, so she took a deep breath. It shuddered more than she would have liked.
“Maybe it makes a…strange kind of sense,” David said from the corner. All eyes turned to him.
“What sense?” Joan asked.
David moved his shoulders around, looking uncomfortable. “I recently finished translating the prophecy for Maggie. It’s fresh in my mind. She’s the keystone to it. We need her to make everything in the prophecy come together. So maybe…it has to be this way…” David frowned, and Maggie thought perhaps he was having trouble with his words again. The actual words came fairly easily to him now. Explanations were harder.
“What way?” Marcus asked sharply.
“I think I see what he’s saying,” Nat said. He stood beside David. “Maybe Maggie needs all of the abilities to function as the keystone. Maybe all the team members’ abilities will need to manifest in her for the prophecy to come to pass. Perhaps you’ll need to harness each ability yourself, Maggie.”
“You think?” Maggie asked. The idea worried her, simply because—big surprise—she had no idea how to do such a thing. Yet, it made as much sense as any explanation she could think of.
“An interesting idea, David,” Doc said after a moment. He sounded genuinely impressed. And curious. He shook himself. “I’ll search the archives. Look through some of the early records of the BCO and see if there’s any record of such a thing as this happening before. Anything that might help us glean some insight into this.” Doc directed looks at Jonah, then Maggie, then Lila, who’d pulled herself into a sitting position some time during the conversation. “Are the three of you okay?”
Maggie understood he meant emotionally. He’d already cleared them medically.
“Fine,” Jonah said. “Even the headache is fading.”
“Yes,” Maggie sighed. “Confused, but fine.”
All eyes turned to Lila, who still looked shaken. Her face hardened into resolve. “I’m fine too.”
Jonah gazed around Maggie at Lila with concern.
“Good,” Doc said, sounding weary. “We need to figure this out. With each passing second, I feel there is something terribly dark at work. The eclipse happens in three days. We must try to decipher what is happening around us.”
Chapter 16: Prurients and Abviscerates
Karl burst into Tenessa's rooms and slammed the door. She sat at the table, reading a book of all things, and looked up in surprise when he burst in.
He watched her take in his expression, his stance. "The Separatist is angry,” she said.
“Great detective work,” he muttered. He crossed the room and stood on the other side of the table. Her eyes followed him, head turning slightly as he moved. Otherwise, her stance remained unchanged and utterly still, fingers poised to turn the page of her book. "I need to know about the Council of Six," he said firmly.
"We've told the Separatist we won't tell him such things."
"Enough of this, Tenessa. No more time for games. Or talk. Three of our people were injured because B invaded their minds."
Tenessa calmly closed her book. "This surprises the Separatist? We understood the Mastermind had done this before, to the Protector's daughter."
Karl stared at her. "That doesn't mean it's okay for it to happen again. People are being hurt. The sky is changing. The eclipse is three days away. I need to know what you know."
She turned her face away.
Karl slapped the table with his open palm, hard enough to make her flinch. If anything, her face looked more stubborn than before.
Karl stepped back and took a deep breath. Force wouldn't work on her. It never had, it never would.
"What is it you want, Tenessa? What will convince you to tell us what you know? What can I give you?"
Tenessa shrugged. "Allow me to kill the Executioner."
"You know that's not going to happen," Karl said sharply. "What else?"
She stared at the table in front of her a moment, gathering her thoughts before raising her head. Her eyes met his again with that direct stare. "Return me to the Union."
Karl let the breath out of his lungs slowly. All of it. He grasped the stool he usually sat on and pulled it up to the table, sitting directly across from Tenessa.
"We've talked about this, Tenessa. If we allow you to return, they'll kill you."
"That is our business. This is our choice. We believe we can convince the Union to allow us to re-join the hive."
Karl opened his mouth to object, but she raised a hand.
"The Separatist talks endlessly of freedom, agency, and the power of choice. Even if he disagrees with our assessment, if he truly believes what he preaches, he must let us go. Must let us live or die by our own decisions."
Karl studied Tenessa. Her stare, her entire presence, was direct. She'd come so far, even if she didn't want to admit it. The idea of losing her back into the collective ether felt disheartening, to say the least.
Yet, she had him, and they both knew it. Until now, he'd had the luxury of biding his time with her. Humoring her; waiting for her to come around. The time had now passed for waiting. Something big would happen with the eclipse, and they needed to know what. Time was forcing his hand, and Karl already got the feeling they simply didn't have enough of it.
He took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. "And if we agree to allow you to return to the Union, to take you back, what will you give us?”
She blinked warily at him.
“All the information we ask for," Karl said firmly. "Everything Tenessa. No lies, no half-truths. No manipulations or evasions. Everything you know about the eclipse, what the Union is planning, and the Council of Six. Anything that might be helpful where the team is concerned. Whatever you know or can surmise about a Cimerian who's working for B—the Mastermind."
Tenessa raised an eyebrow, still not retreating from Karl's stare. "Yes."
Karl back pedaled mentally. He needed to play the devil’s advocate for a moment, if only to test her. "And why would you do that? Giving us such information could help us and damage the collectives."
"Doubtful," she shook her head haughtily. "We will give you the information because there is nothing the Separatists can do to stop the Union’s plans now. They are in motion and will come to fruition."
"Then why not tell me before?"
"Because the Separatist wanted me to."
Karl straightened his spine, feeling vague surprise. She gave as good as she got. He took another deep breath. It took all his strength to nod. "I don't know exactly how we'll pull it off. Returning you, I mean. It will have to wait until after the eclipse. But if you help us now, I'll help you return as soon as everything here is well in hand."
She eyed him mistrustfully. "No more waiting. Or stalling?"
"No more waiting," he agreed. "No more stalling."
"The Separatist will take us when we ask? No excuses."
He nodded. "I will."
"And why should we believe the Separatist's word?" her eyes asked the question more fiercely than her voice did.
Karl leaned forward, resting his forearms on the edge of the table. "I guess you'll have to embrace your inner optimist, and trust me."
The fierceness melted from her eyes as she considered. "Very well. What do you want to know?"
Relief flooded into Karl's chest, but he had to be vigilant. After days with her, he thought he'd be able to tell if she became deceptive. Still, he needed to stay on his toes.
Karl began with the thing he was most curious about after hearing Benny's story. "Who or what is this Cimerian?"
Tenessa hesitated. Only a moment, yet Karl saw it. Yet, when she spoke, he sensed no deception in her countenance. "He's the Executioner's neurochemical match. The Union needs his abilities."
"For what, specifically?"
"Once the Unions have merged into one, he will fuse the minds of the drones, so they cannot become untangled."
Karl nodded. "We figured, but why do they need this Cimerian?"
Again, the hesitation. "He can manipulate dark matter."
Karl went stone-still. She'd said the Cimerian's abilities matched Maggie's. If true, David was right: Maggie could manipulate dark matter as well.
"And…what part does his ability with dark matter play in the joining of the Unions?"
"Using dark matter as well as light to fuse the collective mind into one will ensure no one can escape it."
"Why haven't they used dark matter before?"
"The Unions couldn’t find anyone with the ability until recently. This will ensure…certain occurrences never happen again."
"By ‘certain occurrences,’ you mean David. He freed himself from the Union."
She gave him the direct gaze again. "There have been others. Not many, but some."
His surprise must have shown on his face, because she shrugged, looking mildly uncomfortable. "The Union hides its defections expertly."
Karl nodded, absorbing the information.
"Incidentally," Tenessa said quietly. "The Defector has much in common with the Abviscerate."
"Whoa," Karl held up his hands. "You said a bunch of stuff there I don't understand. What is the Defector?"
"The Healer's brother."
"Ah. David. What is the Ab-abvis…?"
"Abviserate. The Separatist referred to him as the Cimerian."
Karl considered. "Abviscerate is synonymous with Cimerian?"
"No. A Cimerian is one who hails from the Dark Lands. Abviscerate means he feels no emotions. The Union has turned them off for him."
Karl shifted on his stool, which had become hard and uncomfortable. "That's true of all collectivists."
"No. The members of the Union feel emotions, they are simply mediated. Felt on the periphery and easily controlled. The Abviscerate feels nothing at all. By choice."
"And…how does this make him like David—uh, the Defector?"
"Not all people can become Abviscerates. It's what Separatists might call a…personality type. The kind of individual who feels emotion deeply, or an overabundance of it. The Union refers to them as Prurients. The opposite, one who feels nothing, is an Abviscerate."
"Oh…kay," Karl shook himself. "Why are you explaining this? What is its relevance?"
Tenessa shrugged. "We agreed not
to hold anything back. The Union wishes to Abviscerate the Defector. They will, if they can manage it."
Karl frowned. "Not just David, though, right? They want to cut all of us off from our passion."
"Yes, but the Defector especially."
"Why? Because he broke away?"
Tenessa hesitated, studying the table to gather her thoughts before looking up at him again. "It takes a great deal of emotion, a Prurient, to break away."
Understanding struck. "So only someone like David could have broken away. You said there were others. Other Prurients, then?"
Tenessa nodded. "The others happened years ago. The Union thought they'd weeded out any others who might…" she trailed off.
"Be a threat to them," Karl finished.
"The Defector hid his emotion somehow," Tenessa said. "Shredded his bonds before the Union could cut off his passion. Now they'll abviscerate him if they can get close enough."
“What does that mean exactly? What would happen to David?”
“The Union will take control of his mind. Cut him off from his emotions. Render him…useful.”
"Mind control,” Karl murmured grimly. The idea made him sick to his stomach. He wasn’t particularly fond of David, but he wouldn’t wish that on anyone. “How will they do this? Under what circumstances?"
"The Abviscerate, the one you call Cimerian, could do it."
"He can assimilate with thought, can't he?" Karl asked, thinking of the story Benny had told.
Tenessa inclined her head.
"Is it the same with…abvisceration? Will it only take a thought to take David's emotions away?"
Tenessa shook her head. "Abvisceration is different than brining minds into the fold. It will take physical contact, and abilities I don't fully understand, and so cannot explain."
Karl nodded. He needed to talk to the group about this.
"Let me tell you a story, Tenessa," he said. For the next five minutes, he related Benny's story about his sister, Téa, and how she 'became the darkness.'
"What can you tell me about what this girl did?"
Tenessa studied the carpet, obviously deep in thought. Karl didn't interrupt her thinking. Finally, she raised her eyes again.
"It sounds to us like an Opaque Vortex."
Dark Matter (Interchron Book 3) Page 22
