Part 20 (2/2)

”How are you feeling?” Samuel came in and leaned against the counter.

”Better than I ever could have hoped.” I scanned the room. ”This is a nice place.”

”Mom has great taste.” He smiled, but this smile was more pensive than his earlier ones. ”Under better circ.u.mstances, I would bring you down and show you the lake. In the evening, it's beautiful when the moon s.h.i.+nes on it. And you can catch fish as big as your arm.”

I nodded. ”Under better circ.u.mstances, I would enjoy that.”

”Here you go.” Annie placed a steaming cup in front of me.

I looked up at her. ”That was fast.”

”I used the TLD, it only takes a few seconds.”

”Oh.” I looked around. There were several devices on the counter I didn't recognize.

Annie took a hesitant step back. ”Do you-- want to talk about it?” Her eyes studied me intently.

”What? the lab?”

”Everything. I mean... You've been practically dead for twenty-one years, and now out of the blue you wake up. And we're getting mysterious calls early in the morning.” Her face tightened. ”What's going on? Becky said your life life was in danger?” was in danger?”

”I don't know. Dr. Solomon couldn't tell me much. He said the government had stepped in, something about them wanting to undermine the project-? I asked him why but he said he didn't know.” I paused and thought a moment. ”He said they were afraid afraid of what they might discover inside the minds of the patients.” I glanced up at Annie. She looked baffled. of what they might discover inside the minds of the patients.” I glanced up at Annie. She looked baffled.

Samuel spoke up. ”Why? What's inside the minds of the patients?”

”I don't know. know. I don't remember.” I don't remember.”

”You don't remember anything?”

”No. There are feelings, but they're faint. I don't remember being in the coma. I remember New York, and then waking up in the lab.” I looked from Samuel to Annie. ”What happened? How did I end up in a lab?”

Annie pulled out a kitchen chair, sat down, and looked thoughtful. After a moment, she spoke. ”Do you remember the accident?”

”Vaguely.”

”Well, you suffered severe damage to your head and was diagnosed with terminal brain failure. So I started looking for a specialist, and I found one in Fresno. He couldn't do much for you, but he was the one who told us about the center, and about how they were developing a way to communicate with patients like you. So I called and talked to Dr. Solomon. He didn't promise anything, but it was the best option available.”

”Tell him about the forms,” said Sam.

”Yes. There were a lot lot of forms, stacks of them. They wanted to know of forms, stacks of them. They wanted to know every every last detail of your life, right down to your childhood memories. It took weeks to get them all filled out last detail of your life, right down to your childhood memories. It took weeks to get them all filled out.”

”Tell him about the programmer thing.”

Annie gave Sam a look that said, I can handle handle this. He put his hands up in surrender. She looked back at me. ”A friend of mine told me about a man she knew who was rejected because he was a programmer. And since I didn't want there to be any chance of you being rejected too, especially after filling out all of those papers...” She gave a sheepish look. ”I lied on the forms. I told them you were a fireman who had inherited a hefty trust fund.” She gave a wan smile. this. He put his hands up in surrender. She looked back at me. ”A friend of mine told me about a man she knew who was rejected because he was a programmer. And since I didn't want there to be any chance of you being rejected too, especially after filling out all of those papers...” She gave a sheepish look. ”I lied on the forms. I told them you were a fireman who had inherited a hefty trust fund.” She gave a wan smile.

”So that's what Solomon meant,” I said under my breath.

”What's that?”

”Solomon made some comment about me climbing ladders. Now I know why.”

”Oh.” She chuckled. ”Well, I wanted to make sure you got in. And you did.” She smiled. ”So apparently they didn't have a problem with firefighters. --Anyway, I couldn't be there when you were admitted because I was in labor with Sam...”

There were no emotions in the subtle lines of her face, only reflection. Apparently she had long since come to terms with the trauma.

”But when he was three weeks old I went to see you. That's when I learned they were going to try a new technique to see if they could talk directly directly to your brain.” to your brain.”

”Yes. Solomon spoke of that. Sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.”

”I know. Exactly. But they were serious, and they seemed confident that it could be done. So, every month for the last twenty-one years, I've received a report from the center, detailed reports with graphs and statistics.” She shrugged. ”Most of it I don't understand. But there was never anything to make me suspicious about what was going on.”

”Not even when the government took over?”

Her eyebrows lifted. ”No. They had always provided the best care possible, and I saw no reason to worry. Solomon told me of the government's interest in the project, and that they were offering to reduce our cost. That was fine with me.

”So you never saw anything out of the ordinary?”

”Tell him about the priest, Mom,” said Rebecca. She had come down and was sitting on the stairs.

”Yeah, that was strange,” said Samuel.

I looked at Annie. ”A priest?”

She rubbed her palms across the table. ”On one of my visits, I overheard two men talking about Father Wentworth, one of the other patients. Solomon always referred to him fondly as, 'the religious component.' He said all the patients added something to the world you were creating together, and that his contribution was religion. Anyway, Father Wentworth...”

”W- wait a minute, sorry to interrupt, but, did you say, 'the world we we were creating'?” were creating'?”

She shrugged. ”I still don't really understand it. But Solomon said the virtual world he had created was changing on its own. The data indicated that you and the other patients were adding to it and changing it, and that it was hardly the same thing anymore.” She shrugged again. ”That's what they told me.”

I squinted at her, then shook my head. ”O-kay. --So, what about the priest?” --So, what about the priest?”

”Well I guess he didn't take to the computer very well, and these two men were discussing whether or not he was even in in the system. See, each of you had an activity monitor above your bed, and every time your mind told the computer to do something, it would appear on the monitor as a blip. --I used to stare at yours for hours.” Her eyes became distant. ”I can't begin to describe the feeling I would get when it would jump. It was like-- like you were whispering to me from the door of death, telling me you were still there, telling me everything was going to be okay.” Her voice trailed off and she stared at the table. ”Anyway.” She shook her head. ”Back to the priest. Father Wentworth's monitor had a single spike, and that was all.” the system. See, each of you had an activity monitor above your bed, and every time your mind told the computer to do something, it would appear on the monitor as a blip. --I used to stare at yours for hours.” Her eyes became distant. ”I can't begin to describe the feeling I would get when it would jump. It was like-- like you were whispering to me from the door of death, telling me you were still there, telling me everything was going to be okay.” Her voice trailed off and she stared at the table. ”Anyway.” She shook her head. ”Back to the priest. Father Wentworth's monitor had a single spike, and that was all.”

”So, he wasn't responding to the treatment,” I said. ”What's so strange about that?”

”That's not the weird part, Thomas. The two men were talking about extracting extracting him from Vrin. And the way they said it, it was like they were going to do it, from the him from Vrin. And the way they said it, it was like they were going to do it, from the inside. inside. Like they could just go Like they could just go in in and get him.” and get him.”

Sam interjected. ”The voice, Mom, tell him about the voice.”

”I'm getting to that, Sam.” Annie stood up and walked to the window. ”It wasn't just what what they said, Thomas. It was how one of the men talked.” She pulled the curtain aside and looked out. ”It was... I know this sounds crazy, but it was like he spoke in another language, but I understood it.” She turned back toward me. ”And his they said, Thomas. It was how one of the men talked.” She pulled the curtain aside and looked out. ”It was... I know this sounds crazy, but it was like he spoke in another language, but I understood it.” She turned back toward me. ”And his face, face, his face was his face was perfect perfect, not handsome perfect, but, flawless flawless perfect. --And the look he gave me... I'm telling you, Thomas, it made my knees weak. I almost dropped the coffee I was holding. I, I can't explain it, but-- I don't think he was of this world.” perfect. --And the look he gave me... I'm telling you, Thomas, it made my knees weak. I almost dropped the coffee I was holding. I, I can't explain it, but-- I don't think he was of this world.”

I studied Annie's face. She was still shaken by the encounter. ”When was this?” I asked.

”A few months ago.”

<script>