2. The day of immersion and meeting Jessi
So we had shown up after the appropriate fasting plus cleansing of our digestive tract. It took a week drinking a special liquid diet with intermittent shots of intravenous medications. After examinations by both our live human and AI medics including blood urine and salivary testing, we were ushered into special comfortable tubs with inflating leggings, armbands, head-wraps full of tiny needle electrodes, hooked up to heart and whole body monitors, external pacemakers of all kinds, probes in every orifice and intravenous devices that thankfully was painlessly placed. We could feel our bed surface was warm, gently massaging, and very comfortable. Slowly it seems, we drifted off into a zone where we were somewhat conscious of our surroundings but were dissociated from our bodies as if floating, looking up into the faces of our technicians who brooded over us with intense concentration and care.
Finally the lids of our individual enclosures were closed over us and a humming sound along with flashing lights enveloped us, seeming to vibrate even the crystals of our bones and teeth. Next we were floating like in a fog, all white around us, then multicolored images and lights, with varied sounds, constantly changing. This went on for an eternity it seemed; later on we learned that we were in that state for 2 days nonstop. Finally we were floating in whitish fog again, calm, serene and now we felt each others essence, like our thoughts were like one and we all could simultaneously be ourselves and yet be each other, intertwined as in one brain, one mind. It was a breathtaking time, completely unlike anything we each had felt before.
We felt like we were floating as if in a mist, a fog, but comfortable. We could feel our bodies, our limbs but had no desire to move them, no hunger nor discomfort. We were aware that we were going through the Transformation, we even knew the stage. It was the stage just before the testing, the long quest. I knew all of that in myself but at the same time, I was also feeling what the others felt too. It was an uncanny yet wondrous feeling. Surrounded by hundreds likely thousands of other candidates, all of us going through this process, it was as if we all could feel each other’s minds, reinforcing and comforting each other.
We had already gone through multiple layers of screening and testing to evaluate our physical and mental aptitudes to become full adults with responsibilities in our world. In my particular case, this process started at age 12. I was an ordinary human, unehanced until then. I was the exception here, just somehow born with peculiar powers though. We also had been through multiple layers of physical and mental training so that we were in optimum condition. The other folks, all ‘moderns’, had all had genetic screening in utero and similar modifications as they grew up. Their genes were constantly monitored for aberrance and inappropriate expression as well as for unique valuable changes.
The last conditioning involved intense brain programming called IMMERSION that all ‘modern’ youngsters who turn adolescent somewhere between 14 and 18 based on their readiness will undergo, if they desire to, and if they seemed capable enough. We are plugged into the pure frequencies of the Higher Storage and imbued with a transfusion of sorts directly into our brains and higher centers with progressively more complex layers of pure knowledge, tiers of analytics known colloquially as wisdom 1, decision making programs known as wisdom 2, and uncommon sensing abilities known as diplomatic second sensing. The feelings and sensations, though intense, were in many ways exhilarating. Some of us who would serve in diplomatic, military and exploratory fields abroad were to get additional psychic and physical enhancements. These programs were done using sophisticated electrical, and magnetic techniques aided by chemical, auditory and photonic stimuli.
Intriguingly, I could also clearly feel the thoughts of one other person Jessi, a super friendly young lady who I’d met 2-3 times for a just a few minutes on each occasion but with whom I had formed a tacit bond, I hoped. She was exciting and inviting in a demure sort of way, with big eyes, girl next door friendliness that came across as being totally genuine. She was on the top of my list to meet and possibly get to know. Somehow it must have been mutual and we had an affinity allowing us to reach out to each other through the ether of the transformation. The thought sort of bubbled up, “we must find a way to work together as partners in the long quest” and it seemed that it emanated from both our minds simultaneously. We could feel a sense of relief that we both felt that way at the same time. We were both seventeen now and looking to get through the quest and be successful thereafter. She was one of the ‘moderns’, while I was a ‘noncom’ and I worried that that could make things a bit complicated.
3. The discovery
It wasn’t long after I had reflexively operated the drone which Amalae was piloting in our fields at the age of 5 without using her remote directly, that Charlie my friend, Moog and I, with him holding my hand as we were walking into the school building at the corner of Chauncey and Merolat Roads in Vinceland, that we saw a strange man dressed in a formal suit coming to meet us. I remember him saying hi to Moog and myself and I do remember myself greeting him by name , Mr. Morgan. He looked shocked and stammered back, “Son, where did you meet me before, and how do you know my name?” To which I reportedly replied, “You work with Amalae don’t you? To which he answered, “That is true, but she would not have told you that! “I remember later when she popped by our home after one of her days working for some farmers who lived in the neighborhood village of Monrepo, that she asked me about that. I innocently replied that I did not know him before, but his name just seemed to jump into my mind. I remember her not saying anything, just looking at me strangely directly in my eyes long and hard. Then she gave me a hug and left.
Thereafter, strange men and ladies in formal suits seemed to make a regular trek to our home and I often found them engaged in deep conversations with our parents. Of course I knew their names and their organizations, mostly from the State and occasionally the Federal Boards of Science, Informatics, AI (artificial intelligence) and applied Physics. I somehow would realize that they were speaking to my parents about me. From then on, I never let on that I knew who they were nor why they were here. Even Moog asked me back then, “You know these men visiting us, don’t you Jordan?”
I said to him, “Yes, I do.” He said, “They think that you have incredible powers for a noncom; they don’t understand how that could happen!”
I said to him, “I don’t know how either.”
Then Moog said, “Maybe they may take you away from us to study you! “
I said to him, “Can they do that?”
And he said, “Maybe you shouldn’t let them know all of what you can do!”Moog was my brother and he had my best interest at heart and I have been coy about my powers ever since.
However, unlike Moog who was content to stay with Mom and Dad and work the farm, which he was really good at, I harkened to the day that I could get to travel to other planets and do unique things. When he got to his late teen years, he began to take on responsibility for his birth parents old farming spread in Bahoe at least 4 villages away, all 220 acres of it with help from our parents who had adopted him. Previously it had been sublet to neighboring farmers after the tragic accident that killed his parents when he was only one year old. Of course I pitched in too, gladly.
I was never afraid of hard work and my folks realized that and had even came to rely on me, particularly when dealing with technological issues. Fixing electrical motors, wiring issues, diagnosing problems with our tractors was as easy as looking at the equipment and seeing what needed to be done. All the neighboring farmers and even the mechanics came to get me if their diagnostics weren’t being helpful. I couldn’t fix it myself mostly, but I’d tell them precisely where the problem was and even, increasingly, how to go about fixing it. Often I would hang out, if not too busy to see and help with the fixing, so I became increasingly competent at that too.
So it was, that I mentioned to Mom and Dad at age 8, my hope to one day travel and explore the Universe. They definitely did not seem
surprised and both gave me a big hug and told me that when I turned 11, we could maybe then talk about it. So It transpired, that Mr. Morgan sent his assistant Mr. Waple to visit us at age eleven. He spoke to me in the presence of Mom and Dad with Mum hugging me close as if she was about to lose me forever and Dad showing a mixture of sadness and excitement. Mr. Waple said that I had shown unusual promise, having skills not usually present in humans who were not enhanced from before birth.
He explained that ‘noncoms’ like my Mom and Dad would expect to live maybe 70 to 100 years, especially since they were not extreme in their views and outlook; they took vaccines and other treatments. However ‘moderns’ would live 250 years easily and all had chromosomal telomeric and other genetic interventions to weed out bad things from their bodies and allow full expressions of latent attributes. I did get the gist of all that, because I read prolifically; however some of the other technical jargon was still a bit above my full comprehension.
I realized sitting there, that I knew his whole family by name, dates of birth - all their details without making any actual effort! I could go back 15 generations on both his parents side. I could have written a full tome on his family! He must have, I felt sure been curious about the deep staring look on my face. Later he confided, that I looked as though I was absorbing him. That literally was what I was doing. It actually left me a bit shaken inwardly. It was as if I became him, down to picturing what he had seen on the trip to our home in his robocopter.
Anyway, he thought that although I might be at a disadvantage compared to young ‘normals’ in terms of longevity and such, that the abilities demonstrated so far would make a great contribution to the planet Toigan, and particularly to ‘noncoms’ as a group, who in lots of ways have been somewhat marginalized playing more basic, though essential roles in society’s functioning. I would become a role model to ‘noncoms’! He ventured that there might be a lot more naturally talented humans who were un-enhanced out there and that was extremely good for the genetic richness and health of Toigan. He was very encouraging, but as he said, if I were to be interested in being examined thoroughly, then being trained along with possible enhancements, he would intervene with the relevant authorities to make it happen. He promised that he would be back at age 12 to see what myself and the family decided. In the meantime, he wanted me to call him and honestly discuss my abilities with him.
I never did tell him about my power to draw out details about an individual into myself. Somehow it became my secret until at the Transformation, Jessi and I hit it out pschyically. We realized that we shared that trait and that we could see each other’s inner self, and others too, without them being able to see inside of us! That was so cool!
4. Growing up
It was afternoon and Jonah was walking back from the barn, to his house hoping for a fantastic dinner. He was ravenous and ‘his tapeworms were coiling and uncoiling’ figuratively in his stomach as the farmers around here would say.
He felt his wrist vibrate, and he looked down and realized that it was FETCH calling. Now Fetch is Charlie’s Super capable AI robot, who can do just about anything around his house or farm. He was a superb robot, created by Charlie from borrowed plans to serve their household and farm. The only time that Fetch had a problem, was if he had to go to the farm and it was soggy and wet. Jonah has had to go over to Charlie’s house many times over the years, to help solve software and hardware problems. So he mused to himself, as he returned the call, there must be one more problem to solve.
“ Hello Fetch, how can I help you?” Fetch answered, “Charlie asked me to call you because I was having some understanding issues“. Fetch was programmed to speak with a French type accent that Charlie and I dug up from old archives. ”OK tell your boss that I’ll be over after dinner.” Fetch said, “He is not my boss, just my programmer sometimes, when I can’t do it myself. See you later.”
I opened the back door which was unlocked and stepped into the mudroom, MOOG’s boots were already there. So I ran upstairs for a quick shower, changed into some clean clothes and joined the family downstairs in the dining room. My Dad Jonah Sr and Mom Elma and my brother Moog were already seated and my food was out too. As always, any food my Mom made was bound to be delicious. It seems that we were all hungry and plowed in, after we gave thanks to Lord Meneer.
I announced that I was going to help Charlie who lived about 15 mins away if I walked and 2 mins by sled bike in the next door village of Vinceland. When I got there by sled bike airborne 3 feet off the ground all the way, and made the usual greetings to his family who were strewn about the house, all engaged in various pursuits; it was obvious that he had all of Fetch’s six motherboards out in their trays and hooked up to his most powerful computer. He was totally absorbed and I sat by him, just watching. When he was ready for me to do my bit of trouble shooting, I closed my eyes momentarily, focused with my inner eye as I liked to think of it, feeling the play of energy. I certainly had had an awakening of my abilities, with that last IMMERSION! It was obvious that there was some electrical leaking in his number 2 motherboard when the temperature climbed and I could find no other cause of his glitch. To verify, I had Charlie bring a hair dryer to put the heat on it, and ran some software commands and darn if it didn’t work as predicted. It took 20 mins and I left his house to go back home, leaving him to put Fetch back together and get that motherboard repaired.
It was amazing to me how I could become one with electrical and electronic circuits so effortlessly. I praised the Lord Meneer for my gifts and the knowhow of the Moderns who had helped to enhance me.
I guess that thinking about the IMMERSION, inevitably led to Jessi and I found myself smiling at the moments we had stolen together in each other’s minds! We had not yet taken the time to meet as we had promised ourselves to. Suddenly her face materialized clearly and startled, I said, “What ..”
She answered, “What’s up Jordan, I’ve been hoping to speak with you too.”
She continued, “Since we met, my powers have grown and it is still shocking to me Jonah, that I can reach out and have a full vid conversation without any device. It seems though, that it works best when the other person is receptive and maybe thinking about me too. I am trying to learn how to control it and not intrude rudely into others thoughts.”
I was flummoxed and could barely sputter, “Oh my gosh Jessi! That’s fantastic!”
I added, “I’ve been hoping to meet up with you too.”
I continued, feeling hot around the collar, not sure why I was so flustered; was it because of the immense power that I was learning she possessed and how she could oh Lordy, read my thoughts and feelings. I was feeling rather guilty I must say, having been visualizing being alone with her, holding her hands, gosh! I quickly squashed those thoughts and I could feel myself thoroughly blushing now, despite my very swarthy coloring.
She said, “When can we meet up?” There was a little breathiness in her voice, I thought hopefully.
I breathed in deeply with relief, as deep within me, I knew now that there was really mutual interest in getting acquainted.
5. The Six
She lived about 10 villages away in the suburbs of the city of Pommerose and that was about 45 mins away by sled bike but 1 1/2 by Dad’s smoker. Maybe I can borrow Dad’s classic smoker- what millennia ago people called a ‘car’, run on vegetable or mineral derived oils with that antique device called the internal combustion engine. It was a classic for sure, a definite head turner. My Dad really was good at those cars and belonged to an Antique Car Association devoted to using plans to build and preserve such relics. He even had his own 3D printer to keep ‘in parts’ and he also had a press to process vegetable material for oil. In Toigan now we use electrical/ magnetic/ levitation/ vacuum tube/ plasma based transportation technology.
It is fun though to ‘drive’, Dad’s automotive as the historic literature called it. Some of those cars even had super old selector gear poles linked to transmission shift devices cal
led ‘clutches’. Of course, Dad and a few old farmer types even built some old farm tractors which ran on the same old technology, a good way he said to decrease expenses and recycle farm waste too.
Jessi said, ”It will be nice to have you come over and meet some of my friends this weekend, maybe do some light hiking and have a ice cream afterward.”
“I sure would like that.” he thought and she said,” Ok, deal, see you Saturday tomorrow at 0900am before it gets too hot.”
He realized that they were seamlessly thinking out their thoughts directly into each other’s minds and it was amazing and yet shocking all at the same time, just like during the IMMERSION.
He couldn’t help but think, “Gosh, this is surreal.”
She replied, “Surreal yes, but beautiful. Jonah, I am truly looking forward to going on the Quest with you.”
He said, “Will your parents ( their names came suddenly into his mind as Jace and Susan ) be ok with me coming over, a farmer’s son?
She said, “They both love to plant on our 1 acre lot, even though not to make a living Jonah. They are not snobs like some people! I have told them how much I enjoyed getting to know you and told them that I would try to get you over sometime.”
Outlaw Badjans (Six of Toigan) Page 2