by LEMPEREUR
“Yes, of course. Don’t worry about that. There are specially designated areas for smoking. However, only electronic cigarettes are permitted here. You can pick one up from the pavilion’s concierge.”
Charlie wore a sardonic smile, pleased to have found some revenge for the way his brother had just thumbed his nose at him. Jacques was clearly unhappy with the idea of having to forgo real tobacco. Clementine, who was used to their pranks, smiled broadly for the first time in a long while, to the great pleasure of the twins, who had been starting to miss their usual audience.
Inside, the canteen was quite pleasant. A dozen men were eating in a rather noisy atmosphere. Through the hubbub of conversation it was possible to distinguish several languages. The loudest group were the Italians, who had put several tables together in the middle of the room. A little off to the side, a small group of Asians were eating at one table, while a Hispanic-looking man, sitting alone, seemed to be engrossed in reading his book.
5 FRANCISCO
Little by little, the noise subsided and all eyes turned toward the twins. Giuseppe, who preceded them, headed for the table of Italians.
“Follow me, I will introduce you. Gentlemen, may I introduce to you Jacques and Charlie. They are new to the base and will be staying in your pavilion. Their help will be of great value to us. I’m relying on you to give them a warm welcome, along with their friend, Clementine, who is accompanying them.”
One of the men stood to his feet and spoke to Clementine, “Please have a seat. Come and join us, along with your friends.” Two others quickly followed suit, giving up their seats to welcome the new arrivals.
“Please be seated. Mario will make the introductions. I must leave you for a moment,” said Giuseppe. He moved away immediately in the direction of the man with the book. The four Asians came over to join in the introductions. During all this time, the lone man had not looked up from his book. Giuseppe took a chair and sat down on his left. The two men did not look at each other. Giuseppe seemed to be speaking to him, but their eyes never met.
“Francisco, I have come with the Siamese twins. They are accompanied by their friend, a young woman who cares for them. She seems very discreet.”
Francisco, still looking at his book, answered, “There are three of them?”
“You could say that, yes.”
“That’s inconvenient,” replied Francisco. “I need to know whether I should consider that there are three of them, or whether I should act as if they were only two. I need to know, you understand? It’s important to me. You know what I’m like, don’t you? You’ve known me for a while now. You must realize that I need you to be precise.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to them. Besides, they both seem like very kind people.”
“Okay then. You can count on me. I was expecting two brothers, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll think of them as three people. I’ll get used to it.”
“Are you ready to meet them?”
“Yes. Bring them over. I’ll welcome them.” Francisco finally looked over toward the twins. Giuseppe stood up again to rejoin the group, by now very lively.
“Well, I think we’ll continue the introductions later. Our guests must be exhausted after their long trip. Please come with me; I must introduce you to Francisco. Then I will show you to your rooms.”
Before joining Francisco, Giuseppe took Clementine and the twins aside, to prepare them for the meeting.
“Before I introduce you, there are one or two little things you should know about Francisco. He is autistic. In fact, to be precise, he has an unusual form of autism which affords him some special abilities. In certain areas he is an extraordinarily intelligent man. Without him, our cybernetic research program could not continue. Unfortunately, his condition makes communication a little difficult. He probably will not look at you, or perhaps only fleetingly. Your coming is a source of anxiety for him – as is any new encounter – but if you do not startle him, he will quickly get used to you.”
“Yes, I understand,” answered Charlie. “Don’t worry; we’ll do our best not to startle him. Jacques and I have spent quite some time wandering the corridors of insanity.”
Giuseppe, very concerned by what he had just heard, asked a little sharply, “Just what exactly do you mean?”
Jacques replied quickly, “My brother simply means that, in light of our very unusual condition, we have had to spend many years in hospital, where we have been in the company, enjoyable or otherwise, of other patients in the neurosurgical department. Other than that, there’s nothing to worry about, even though I must admit that it’s not always easy to be in harmony with oneself when there are two us making decisions.”
Then he addressed Charlie internally to reprove him, “You know I don’t like you talking about that!”
“I see. Come along,” replied Giuseppe, still rather taken aback by what he had just heard.
Francisco stood waiting at his table. He smiled and extended his hand, all the while his eyes looking into space. His book lay on the table. Its cover read: “The Chess-player”.
“That’s an excellent book you have there,” said Charlie. “I’ve read it and re-read it for years. It is Stefan Zweig’s novel, isn’t it?”
Francisco, flustered, took the book and slipped it into the pocket of his jacket. “Yes, it is. Welcome. My name is Francisco. I turned thirty-six years old, twenty-three days and seven hours ago. I earned a PhD in Physics twelve years ago from Paris-Diderot University and a PhD in the History of Ancient Civilizations from Paris-Vincennes University five years ago. Since then, I have been doing research work with Giuseppe. He has told me a lot about you.”
Jacques spoke internally to Charlie, in a sarcastic tone, “Well! I think you two are going to get on marvelously well together! This is all very interesting, but I don’t understand why we still don’t know what we’re doing here; or how they can have heard of a pair of poor old handicapped guys like you and me.”
“We are flattered that scientists such as yourselves are showing such interest in us, but now my brother and I would like to know the reason for our presence here,” said Charlie, looking back and forth from Giuseppe to Francisco. “How can we possibly be of service to you?”
“I understand your impatience,” answered Giuseppe. “Tomorrow I will come and pick you up at 6:30 am. We will go with Francisco to the research center. But for now, let me show you to your rooms. Ah! I almost forgot; I still need to introduce you to Émile, the concierge. He will give you your electronic cigarette and your identity codes.”
6 VICTOR
The next day, in a small room in the research center, Giuseppe was seated opposite the twins and Clementine. Slightly off to the side, Francisco was franticly tapping away on a tablet which he held in his lap. The room was fairly austere. In fact, there was nothing more than a table and chairs surrounded by four, pale gray walls. The only light came from the hundreds of little diodes set in the suspended ceiling.
“Well! The time has come for me to provide you with some more specific information”, announced Giuseppe. “First of all, you must realize that very few people know of the existence of this subterranean base. Bringing you here was absolutely intentional. Following the explosion you were hospitalized in the neurosurgical department of Professor Sam-Yong.” He turned to Jacques, “During the examinations carried out on you, neuroimaging showed the activation of the cerebral areas used for language, although at that time your head remained inert. The blood flow and electrical activity of your neural pathways correlated to similar activity in your brother’s brain.”
After a brief pause, he spoke again, “You are telepathic, aren’t you? Has this always been so?”
Eventually, Charlie spoke up, getting in before Jacques. “Yes, I think you could put it like that. This phenomenon occurred after the explosion, just when I thought I’d lost Jacques forever. To be honest, I was very surprised when I heard his voice speaking to me internally. At first I thought I was hallucinating,
but it wasn’t the case. This sort of gift, that you call telepathy, has remained despite my brother’s recovery. To be precise, Jacques alone has the gift. I can only hear him but I can’t answer, apart from in the usual way. This had never happened to us before.”
Jacques spoke internally to Charlie, in an accusing tone, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Charlie? The idea of being considered as guinea-pigs by a cybernetic research team does not thrill me at all!”
Giuseppe turned to Francisco. “Francisco, now that we have confirmation, I think you can introduce them to Victor.”
Francisco finally looked up from his tablet and took them over to a door which opened onto another, entirely glassed-in room. The tall windows sloped inwards at the bottom, and being opaque, it was impossible to see through them. The whole room was filled with an intense blue light.
Francisco stood facing the central window. Again, he tapped on his tablet then looked up. The opacity of the windows gradually cleared, revealing below them the naked body of a giant, whose anatomy resembled that of a man. His thick, gray skin covered an enormous body, with an impressive muscle structure. The dimensions of this being were truly gigantic; more than ten times that of a human, at least. His massive, heavy body lay on a metallic platform similar to the one on the raised circle in the center of Pavilion 28. His head was completely covered by a white helmet, with a multitude of tubes and cables leading to a small console nearby. The room where the giant lay was similar in every way to the steel domes in which the pavilions had been built, but this one seemed to have been emptied of its contents. All that remained was the huge metal platform in its center. Everything was bathed in a violet-blue atmosphere generated by the LED lights covering the whole surface of the dome.
“This is Victor!”
7 REVELATIONS
Back in the smaller adjoining room, Giuseppe, Francisco, Clementine and the twins had returned to their seats. Francisco was typing away again, his eyes riveted to the tablet, while Giuseppe launched into a long monologue.
“Victor is in hibernation. He was discovered nearly 20 years ago at the same time as the subterranean cave where this base has been set up. In the beginning, the High Command’s intention was to build a huge military complex capable of housing the nation’s lifeblood in the event of a cataclysm of nuclear or natural origin. This decision was made following an increase in the threats to human existence. Today, the threat of nuclear war is not the only significant risk we face. The extremely rapid spread of emerging viruses and pathogens on a global scale is now the primary cause for concern. Rather than terrorism, which the media have been milking for years, our worst enemies are increased population density and the ability of individuals to travel very quickly from one part of the world to another. It is not a question of whether a global pandemic will one day threaten the existence of humanity, but simply when it will happen. So, this base is first and foremost a place for experimentation and isolation. It is a sort of quarantine center, designed to help us overcome a hypothetical crisis. One of our missions is also to fine-tune new medical technology.
“The cave was discovered during oil exploration works. Probes revealed the existence of a vast air pocket in the rock of the ocean floor. Usually this type of cavity is at least partially flooded, but strangely, that was not the case here. Initial analysis even showed that the gas composition of this air pocket was identical to that of the air we breathe above ground. To penetrate here, we had to drill a tunnel, taking care not to cause leaks which would have let seawater inside the cave. In the very first days of exploration we discovered these domes; made of an alloy unknown on Earth. In the one where we are now seated, we found Victor. This giant is nearly eighteen meters tall and weighs several tons. Given his anatomy and muscle structure, he must possess Herculean strength. Since that day, our scientists have used the most advanced technology to try and uncover the mystery of his presence here. Unfortunately, Victor has never been able to come out of the profound sleep he is engulfed in. To be honest, we do not even know how long he has been here, and even less where he came from. However, today’s technology has significantly advanced, particularly in the area of neuroscience and cybernetics. Recent research has allowed us to ascertain that Victor’s brain activity is not completely inexistent. The explosion you were victims of, the origin of which is still unknown, greatly increased the amplitude of this residual electrical activity.”
Francisco was still clutching his tablet, but had ceased typing for several minutes. He began to speak, staring into space, “Yes, it has greatly increased. One day he’s going to wake up, that’s for sure. I will be here to see it, and you too, I hope. You are going to help me, aren’t you?”
“Francisco is sure that Victor is going to come out of his vegetative state. I always pay careful attention to his intuition. He is rarely mistaken and some might say that it’s actually because of him that you are here. It is nothing magical, however. Francisco reasons in a way that escapes me, but his intuition can nearly always be verified. It is usually based on the correlation of quite concrete factors. He is convinced that you are the only ones able to make contact with Victor.”
“Just what exactly are you expecting of us?” asked Jacques. “Unless I’m mistaken, you think that I, Jacques Guillon, am going to change the face of the world by communicating telepathically with this being from somewhere else. Well, I’d rather be quite frank with you; clearly I am not capable of that and although it’s been a pleasure coming here and talking with you, I’m waiting for just one thing: to go home and get back to my old life.”
Breaking with habit, Francisco looked directly at him for a split second, before speaking again. His face was blank, expressing no emotion whatsoever. “According to the information I have received, your apartment building was destroyed in the explosion and most of its residents had to be evacuated. I think I can confirm that you are now alone, just like Victor.”
“Francisco is right”, continued Giuseppe. “Life out there could be very difficult for you. We are offering you an extraordinary opportunity to collaborate on an exciting research project. After all, there is no risk in trying. Once the experiment is over, the army will take care of your return to civilian life. If, as you say, communication is truly impossible with Victor, we will know very soon and you will be able to go back home.”
Charlie and Clementine still had not spoken. Jacques turned to Clementine. “Clementine, don’t you agree with me?”
Clementine, in a surprisingly calm and collected manner, gave him an answer which he was not in the least expecting. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s your turn to do something for others now. If I had your abilities, Jacques, I think I would like to get to know Victor and help him to wake up.”
“But what about you? What are you going to do? There are people up there waiting for you!”
“We’re not talking about me. They need you and Charlie. And I’m staying with you whatever happens.”
Charlie, stimulated by what Clementine had just said, spoke up, “You can count on us, Francisco. We’ll do all we can to help you in your mission. When do we start?”
Jacques felt a little embarrassed and offended at being belittled by Clementine, and by Charlie’s reaction to this unsettling turn of events being so different to his own. He kept quiet until the end of the conversation.
“Very good,” said Giuseppe. “It’s nearly midday. Let’s join the rest of the team in Pavilion 28. Today is Mario’s birthday. He has been in the kitchen all morning preparing Italian specialties. His father is a famous chef in Naples. Every year, when he comes back from leave, he brings local delicacies and new recipes that he is eager to prepare, to the great delight of us all. Most of the food that we eat is produced here, so you see there isn’t a lot of variety in our meals.”
8 THE FEAST
It was half past twelve in Pavilion 28. For the occasion, one large table had been laid in the center of the canteen. The whole team was gathered together. Even Francisco, in
his own way, had joined the group. He had placed himself at the end of the table, where he was typing, a white headset over his ears, his eyes riveted to his tablet. On their arrival, the twins took a seat at the end of the table, near Giuseppe and Francisco. Before Clementine even had the chance to sit down, Mario suggested that she sit opposite him, next to Caterina, the only woman on the team.
“Clementine, come over here,” said Mario, “You must feel lonely among all these men. Caterina will make room for you next to her.”
Clementine moved toward him hesitantly, after a brief glance in the twins’ direction. Caterina was a very attractive, tall, slim woman. For the occasion she wore a red dress with a plunging neckline, over which her long black hair tumbled. Despite the long months she had spent confined to the base, her skin still bore the olive tone typical of Mediterranean women. Her immaculate make-up emphasized her brown eyes and full lips. The fine, slightly angular lines of her face evoked an intelligent woman of strong character. She welcomed Clementine with a wide smile, moving over slightly so she could take her place beside her.
Only Mario remained standing, a glass in his hand. “Well now! Dear friends and colleagues, I propose we drink to the health of our guests, in the hope that they will survive my culinary experiments, just as you have done all these years! This year once again, I hope we may enjoy a little rest and recreation together, over these special Italian dishes I have prepared for you. I know that for some of you it is a reminder of home; let’s not give in to homesickness however, but make the most of the present. So, let’s raise our glasses to the team and our guests!”
Next, Giuseppe stood to his feet, glass in hand. “Thank you, Mario. No doubt we will survive your cooking once again. After all, until now we have managed to survive the canteen meals.”