“What is it? Are you alright?”
“It feels like a video game, although I don’t play many.”
“What feels like that?”
“Right now, the people, the crowd. It feels like I am collecting points, assimilating them, one by one.”
“But you are fine.”
“What did they say to you? I mean, about me.”
“Not much. That you have a condition and something bad may happen when you go outside. They said they would feel better if I was with you at all times during this outing.”
“Did you ask them about my condition?”
“No, I was kind of hoping you will tell me.”
“I guess I have not said it out loud yet. I haven’t spoken about this with anyone except for Dr Alkan.”
“You don’t have to tell me anything.”
“But I want to. I really do. I basically can feel people, the ones I know, the ones I’ve met, I can feel them around at all times like I am able to know where they are.”
“When they mentioned a condition, I thought you were allergic to light or you have like a phobia to people, something like that.”
They chuckled a bit and changed the subject as if it was slightly uncomfortable to be so exposed to one another. Ciana supposed he was not ready to tell her what his deal was but she could feel it was something less intense than hers, at least on an emotional level.
When she reported the experience to Dr Alkan, the idea was not to let him know how happy she was because of Taran, spending time with him and being intrigued about what he was, so his presence was barely acknowledged in her recollection. She was still able to feel them, populating her inner map which was now over hundreds, including the people she passed in the street and the personnel she crossed paths with at the building. Not all of them to be exact, some of them can leave a long-lasting impression and others have imprinted a faint signature. It all depends on the time they spend with her and whether that was enough for her brain to pick up that unique signature. The more time she spends with someone, the stronger the bond becomes, hence the tracking of the people at the building. She could even sense people that she did not know but interacted with every single day, like the receptionist who, at this moment, was leaving the building with Taran. The disappointment of her revelation practically forced Ciana to excuse herself to the bathroom. It was a shame that social skills were not part of her package of abilities enhanced, but anyhow, she was used to being left behind, so the feeling was familiar, at least. Her condition always made her prone to be distracted, absent and clumsy on a social level and that did not bode well when the time came for establishing a relationship. She never felt confident enough in the dating game and the only path that seemed viable were one-night stands, which she refused. Resignation was her only choice and just when she gave up, life gave her a second chance but it was foolish to fall for the first guy. Maybe it was easy to blame her condition for everything and not take into account the awkward way she walked or her particular sense of fashion, perhaps she was not designed for the art of seduction. Ciana tried to shake all those feelings away but they returned the morning after when she felt them coming back together. Taran and the receptionist arrived at the same time. She even saw them through her mental map from a few blocks away. Now she would have to face him, pretending she did not know because she wanted to avoid looking like a jealous freak. The cold shoulder and to focus on work was the best option. Since her improvements, she had four hours per day of ‘registering sessions’ where she basically got to know people worth tracking, although she ignored the reasons why. After that, there were two hours of tests, either at the lab or in a classroom and then one hour of exercise and one more of reading. Later on, she would have some time with Taran where they could go to the cinema. Some days, she preferred to stay alone watching TV or talking to her family. They visited only once a month and she felt a strange vibe coming from them, as if they knew something she didn’t. It was like they were uncomfortable with her being there. She tried to make them talk about it but they repeated continuously that everything was fine. Their signatures were different from the rest of the people she had met. Her assumption was that since she had known them all her life, they were imprinted strongly on her. Their movements went far beyond her mental map but when she was about to mention that to Dr Alkan, a part of her decided to hold back. At least that piece of information would be kept to herself. One day, she met a Senior Executive of the Security Committee at the institute. He kindly asked her to be part of a mission with risks involved, but she was reassured that a group of highly trained ex-military units will be in charge of her security only. Taran will be part of the mission as well but his involvement was going to be from another kind. Basically, they need to track and recover a subject from the institute. Someone who posed a danger to society and to himself. Fortunately for them, Ciana had met him before. In fact, it was one of the first ‘registering sessions’. His name was Braith and they needed to act as soon as possible on his trail. They will hover in three helicopters around the areas they think he could be and as soon as Ciana picks a signature, they will change to an armed motorcade. Ciana will be in a bulletproof unit, protected by five men and Taran. Once they have an exact location, the extraction team will chase him. In case they fail, Ciana will be able to tell them his new location, so she will be required to remain in the vicinity until they finally have him in custody. It is an operation that could go wrong in many ways and it could last for only a couple of hours or maybe even a few days. However, her security and well-being was the top priority in this operation, as much, if not more, as to catch the subject on the run. She accepted to be part of the operation and after a good night’s sleep, she was ready at 6 AM. Dr Alkan checked on her before they left and introduced her to the Team Leader and the group in charge of her security. Taran was waiting for her inside the chopper and once they took off, he asked her how she felt. Ciana could not help but wonder if it was all an act and whether he got paid just to make her feel better, to ease her nerves. I bet this is a test, she thought and while she was always on guard with him, she was actually curious about how she would perform. Her focus shifted to tracking Braith and, with her eyes closed, the mental map was more vivid in her mind. Human shapes of different colours and sizes came and went, populating a moving space. Some of them remained longer than others, a few of them were entirely recognisable from the previous days, while others were merely shapes passing by. The landscape was unclear and only the living humans gave shape to it, most of them unknown, but even so, they were blinking, waiting to be felt by her ever-expanding conscience. From time to time, Taran asked how she was doing, checking if she was asleep and holding her hand softly. Ciana was able to feel his presence in a way she had not before. It was a sensation she had not tried yet which was reading the signature of someone who was in front of her. Taran was glowing in the back of her eyes and even there, Ciana could recognise him, the signs of his clumsiness, the silly awkwardness that defined him was there for her to see, and just in that moment, when she was ready to ask him about the receptionist, she saw Braith on her map.
“Go back. He is down here.”
They marked the coordinates, continued their path and landed in an area nearby to arrange the logistics in the ground. Ciana could not help it, so she just said what was on her mind, but he denied he was in a relationship with someone. At some point, she just said it plain and simple; her abilities were not lying and she knew for a fact that he was with someone. They were interrupted by the arrival of several vans ready to continue. Taran was allocated in a different vehicle while Ciana was allowed to lay down in her seat. They entered a town close to the sea where she could see his signature in a small building located in a derelict neighbourhood. Braith was on the fourth floor and just seconds after saying it out loud, a team of five men were on the move towards the building. However, once they were by the door of Braith’s room, he somehow managed to leave from the window to the upper floor
. Ciana warned them about Braith’s new location. It seemed like he could track them as well. Maybe he was like her and she was just helping them to hunt down someone with her condition, a subject that, unlike her, was rebellious, untameable. In no time, Braith moved from the top of the building to the bottom. She was surprised to see the way he could slide himself through every axis in space, as if he was gliding with his energy which seemed to be more powerful than any living person she had registered so far. He ran to the forest nearby, not without being followed by the van that Taran was in. Inside the forest, it was more difficult to be specific due to the terrain as the trees emanated interfering waves, but even so, she could see that one by one, every member of the team stopped moving except Taran. Braith had neutralised each one of them except for Ciana’s friend. Taran and Braith chased each other until they both stopped, and after a few minutes, Taran moved closer to a still Braith. She ignored how he had managed to knock him down as the most important thing for her was Taran’s safety. The mission was a success after all and they celebrated with Dr Alkan and other members at the institute, but all she wanted to do was talk to Taran who seemed to be trying to avoid any real chat and wanting to leave the gathering. When he was trying to get out of the room, she went after him. Just as she was putting together a sentence that wasn’t so embarrassing, he asked if she knew who Mercy was or what she looked like. Perhaps that was the name of his girlfriend and he was embarrassed that Ciana was able to track her as well. She did not know anything about any Mercy, only that he was leaving and arriving with the same woman every day, probably living together – she could feel that. In that moment, his face changed. Confused and freaked out, he left without saying a word. During the following week, she could feel that Taran was avoiding her all the time and, suddenly, they stopped making things together. She started to participate in training missions where the objective was to track individuals she had met or even subjects she just followed for a short period, long enough to get a signature from them. Sadly, Taran was never part of the team. Often, she just concentrated hard on her mental map and was able to feel him, wherever he was until, one day, with all the courage in the world, Ciana decided to face her demons. That afternoon, after work, she left the institute and waited near to where both he and the receptionist could be intersected. The surprise on his face was visible and while looking around, she asked him if she was part of a mission, to be her friend, to entertain her and all that. Ciana apologised for her behaviour and it was obvious she was very nervous, so Taran hugged her while the receptionist decided to leave them alone. She had not been so close to anyone since the rising of her condition and while being in his arms, the mental map was all blurred by his signature, it was as if his energy was causing an interference and all she could feel was his warm embrace. When she opened her eyes and noticed that his girlfriend was gone, Ciana pulled herself together again.
“I am sorry, Mercy is gone.”
“What? No, she is not Mercy. I mean, I’ll explain later but this is actually Mercy.”
He handed her a photograph of a red-headed woman.
“Oh, she is beautiful, congratulations.”
“She is not my girlfriend either but I think she is in trouble.”
“How?”
“I think she is being held at the institute, held against her will.”
“How do you know that?”
“I don’t know if it’s safe to talk about, but now that you know, maybe you can see her in your mind. Maybe, if you manage to feel her, you can tell me where she is.”
“And then what?”
“I need to know if it is true what he said.”
“Who is he?”
“I just don’t want to put you in trouble either but now I am worried about you and me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Ciana, close your eyes and concentrate.”
He held her hands and she did as Taran said.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Can you see if we are being followed?”
Slowly, in her mental map, several people she knew from the institute were nearby, they were practically all around them. When she opened her eyes to tell him, he hugged her again.
“Don’t say a word, we’ll talk tomorrow.”
“What’s happening?”
“We’ll manage somehow, ok?”
She nodded and tried to give him the picture back.
“Keep it and try to find her. I need to know where she is.”
Then he left and she proceeded to walk back to the institute with her mind still processing the encounter. Of course, to be honest with herself, she was intrigued and concerned by the whole situation. However, she could not kid herself, as above all things, she was happy. Yes, happy that the receptionist was not his girlfriend. It was better not to get ahead of anything at the moment, but yes, she was over the moon. So, once she came back to her room, she focused her attention on the picture. It was not like when she remembered her family and tracked her signatures, this time, the task was different, more like scanning backwards to everyone she had crossed paths with at the institution, going faster and faster through her map and letting it flow. The stream of images was going really fast but the feeling was lighter than before. There she was, the red-headed woman, a bit crazy looking with her curls and freckles. They both crossed paths once when Ciana was running at the field, she was with a nurse by a wheelchair, surrounded by guards and a doctor. Ciana focused on Mercy, who was wearing blue pyjamas, like the ones given to patients at the hospitals. A nurse and a guard gently pushed her back into the wheelchair while she tried to keep eye contact with her. Mercy’s signature was considerably strong, more than any she had perceived since the beginning, but suddenly, she focused on Ciana and it changed, it lasted only a few moments. What a peculiar moment it was, but she ignored the meaning of it. An anomaly it could be said, but the fact she had not seen it before did not mean that it was not that common. The new signature’s image stayed on Ciana’s brain. Who would that be? Ciana laid down, closed her eyes after looking at Mercy’s photograph and went to her mental map, trying to locate Mercy until she finally appeared on the top floor of the building. Isolated in a room, she was heavily guarded but all the personnel remained outside. When a Nurse entered the room, they all pulled back a little as if afraid of what may happen inside. Once the door was shut, everyone went back to their normal positions. Ciana could feel Mercy’s signature growing, her colours, her rhythm, everything was growing, reaching out to the nurse, but slowly, once the nurse was next to her, it went back to normal. The nurse left the room and was taken by two security guards to be left inside another room. Everything was very weird but the most striking of all was how Mercy was creating that link with the nurse, as if she was able to connect with her, establishing an invisible bond. It was as if Mercy could… feel her. Well, that was familiar. Mercy was Ciana at a different stage, they were alike and there were bells ringing everywhere in her mind. Ciana perceive her own signature and that was actually the signature Mercy shifted into. Mercy was trying to connect with her back then by making herself the same, but how? This whole situation was definitely getting out of control. On one hand, she was scared about how the institute was treating Mercy because that could be her in the future. Locked up, surrounded by guards, feared, possibly sedated. On the other hand, Ciana was fearing herself because if the institute was taking all of those precautions, there must be a reason for that. What kind of monster will she be turned into? Maybe an overload of signatures will make her a psycho and she will project that on other people’s minds? Perhaps she will be a danger for herself and for others. It just does not look good for her future but how did Taran know about this? Even though he is aware of only a part of it. For a moment, she just wanted to run away with him but that was utterly naive. She might drive him crazy with her abilities and there is the little detail as she ignores what are his, which could be far more dangerous than hers. He was able to neutralise a st
rong man all by himself, she had learnt that on the last mission. It was a very difficult night to go through. Sometimes, she woke up and tried to see how Mercy was doing but her signature remained faint, sometimes with little spikes but calm overall. There was no point asking around or trying to make contact due to the security ring around Mercy, and at the end, she would have to tell them about Taran as her source. The new day arrived and she decided to cancel her tests and look for him. As soon as they met, he hugged her and whispered for information. It was difficult to concentrate when wrapped around him but she told him how scary everything was and that Mercy seemed to be like her and basically confided in him about all the troubling doubts. They kept moving around the building using her skills to avoid being detected so they had more time to talk about the situation. Ciana had questions too because it seemed he was aware of many developments in the building she ignored.
Hypersubjects Page 4