by Amy DuBoff
Luke nodded. “True. We already know there are multiple strains of nanocytes, and everything on Coraxa and in NTech’s research deviates from what we’ve seen elsewhere. Whatever aliens were working with Andrea must have figured out how to modify the original Kurtherian technology.” He looked at his team. “What if the Coraxan telepaths were made?”
Tess placed her hand on her chin in an exaggerated thinking pose. “How could we have missed nanocytes in the Coraxan population?”
“Yeah, that would come up in medical exams, right?” Jack added.
“Not if there’s a type our computer systems don’t recognize, or if they’re inactive in some way.” Luke shifted in his chair. “I mean, it’s too big of a coincidence that Ava would have something identical to Kurtz. All of this tech originated in the same system.
“Holy shit,” Tess whispered.
Jack’s eyes bugged out. “Is that possible? That the telepaths on Coraxa are all controlled by the same aliens?”
Luke groaned. “No! That’s not what I’m suggesting at all. I’m wondering if maybe the aliens are from Coraxa, or inhabited it at some point. Maybe they left something behind on the planet that affects certain people.”
“Right, yeah.” Tess flushed slightly. “We’d have to compare the colonel’s neural scan to Ava’s to be sure.”
Luke nodded. “And we should get on that.”
“Agreed. But let’s not forget, Kurtz isn’t Coraxan,” Jack interjected. “How would he have been exposed?”
“I don’t know,” Luke told him. “But if we’re right about this neural structure being nanocytes, we can develop a test to see who might be under telepathic influence.”
Tess stared at him solemnly. “But if that structure is some kind of receiver, doesn’t that mean Ava is susceptible to control herself?”
Luke hadn’t wanted to consider that possibility, but he couldn’t ignore the potential. “We can’t rule anything out. But we do know that she’s faced off against the alien presence and won. Maybe being a telepath herself changes the dynamic.”
Jack nodded. “Okay, so we’re looking for evidence of telepathic ability in people with no history of it. Should be easy to cross-reference with old medical exams.”
A message popped up on Luke’s workstation. It was from Ava: >>Widmore agrees we should talk to Jared and see what he knows. We could use your expertise to ask the right questions about the neuroscience.<<
>>I’m in,>> Luke wrote back. >>Where should I meet you?<<
Ava sent a map to him, detailing the destination and an optimized route.
Luke smiled. >>Thanks. You remembered I still don’t know my way around here.<<
>>No sense getting lost. See you soon.<<
Luke looked up at his team. “We got the go ahead to talk with Jared. Can you two try to work out an automated way to check for that telepathic structure?”
“Sure,” Tess agreed, “but we really need to give it a name.”
Jack nodded. “We do. I already can’t stand ‘the structure’ as a nickname, and I’ve only been using it for five minutes.”
“What about ‘telepathic receptor’, or TR for short?” Luke suggested.
Tess and Jack looked at each other and shrugged.
“Works for me,” Tess said.
Luke smiled. “It’s got a name, so now you can solve it.”
* * *
Ava glared across the interview table at Jared. He was being entirely too calm for the situation. He should be afraid right now. What happened to the twitchy man from Coraxa?
Behind her, Widmore shifted as he leaned against the wall. “You may as well talk, Jared. You know what Ava can do to you.”
“Do your worst,” the scientist replied.
Ava could sense Luke’s concern from his place next to Widmore. Even though they’d grown up together, he had never witnessed the darker side of her abilities up close. Part of her didn’t want him to see that side of her, but if they had any chance at a future together, she needed to bare her full self—whatever that self was now.
Ignoring those around her, Ava spread her hands on the tabletop and stared into Jared’s eyes. “Tell me what you know about Coraxans’ telepathic abilities.”
“There’s not much to tell,” he replied.
“We saw an artificial neural bridge between the left inferior frontal gyrus and the supramarginal gyrus,” Luke interjected. “What do you know about the expression of telepathic abilities in that region?”
“We saw it in a number of Coraxan creatures, but never anywhere else,” Jared explained.
Ava glared at him. “Is that how the aliens were controlling Andrea?”
The scientist laughed. “Andrea? She was never under telepathic control.”
“So, she was a willing participant?” Ava prompted.
“Most of us were. It was important work. We were the ones willing to do what no one else would.”
Ava shook her head. “That kind of thinking has always led humans down a dark path.”
Widmore stepped forward. “Some collaborators were willing participants, but these aliens have taken over others against their will. Who are they? What are they after?”
Jared stiffened in his chair. “I only know about our work.”
“You’re not telling us everything.” Ava stared into his eyes.
“I’ve said all I care to share.”
“You know I don’t need your permission,” she cautioned.
He glared back at her. “I’ve said all I’m going to say.”
“Suit yourself.” Ava bored into his mind, peeling back the layers of his consciousness that so thinly veiled his inner mind.
The information she sought was there for the taking, if she could locate it. A lifetime of memories and knowledge spread out before her. Random connections led to tangents of the mind, with the timeline of experience having no bearing on how the history was organized. She would have to dig, and the more Jared resisted, the more it would hurt.
He cried out in pain as she began the process. She was vaguely aware of Widmore’s and Luke’s discomfort in the distance, but that was their issue to overcome. This was her job, and she was good at it.
Minutes passed as Ava dug through the disjointed archive of Jared’s experience, seeking the time when he was at NTech’s lab on Coraxa. He had to have seen something, talking about something with Andrea, which would offer insight into their present predicament.
In time, she found an impression of Coraxa and traced the thread back to a bundle of memories. Flashes of Andrea came to the surface, of working with her in the NTech lab and committing their atrocious experiments on the innocent Weres and Coraxan citizens. Jared had been a willing participant in it all.
But he wasn’t there from the beginning.
“Damn it,” Ava said aloud to the observers. “Jared didn’t come to Coraxa until later. I don’t think he arrived much before me.”
“He seemed to know an awful lot for being a latecomer,” Luke said.
“Yes, he was definitely involved in some way before,” Ava agreed. “I’ll have to do some more digging to find out where.”
She returned to her prodding, searching for another thread that would lead her to earlier in Jared’s career, when he had first been corrupted. He had been a willing participant with the aliens, she could feel it. When she’d probed Kurtz’s mind earlier, she felt the strife of his situation. Here, though, Jared was all-in.
He had handed himself over to control years ago, even if he wasn’t an active host. She should have sensed that when she controlled him briefly while back on Coraxa, but it wasn’t something she had been looking for. Now, though, understanding the context, she was struck with a pang of pity for how misguided he’d been.
Ava tugged on the various threads leading from Jared’s time on Coraxa, searching for the one that would yield the answers she sought. Eventually, one caught her attention: a connection straight to NTech’s headquarters on Nezar.
She
separated her mind from his just enough to relay the information to the observers. “He worked for NTech at their headquarters. Someone in the senior leadership brought him in—a man. They told Jared he had a special part to play.”
Ava watched the memories play in her mind’s eye as she lived through Jared’s eyes. His recollection was hazy, and she struggled to make sense of the images and feelings passing through her.
“They gave him something,” she continued. “The man gave him an injection. He couldn’t see it, but he felt it. That must be how they transfer the nanocytes.”
“So, like when Andrea stuck you with that syringe?” Luke asked from behind.
Ava relived the memory again. “I think so. The strange man handled it like a precious commodity. I don’t get the impression it’s something they give to just anyone.”
“That limits the number of potential hosts,” Widmore assessed. “Good for us.”
“Yes,” Ava concurred, “but this also means we have a bigger issue on our hands. This wasn’t just the actions of Andrea going rogue on Coraxa, NTech’s leadership is involved.”
“I wonder…” Luke mused. “I saw a man with the Nezaran chancellor on Coraxa. What are the chances it’s the same man you just saw in this memory?”
Ava shook her head without breaking eye contact with Jared. “Pretty high, and I bet you he’s an NTech exec.”
Widmore groaned. “So, NTech and the Nezaran government are both compromised. What a mess.”
“Fortunately, the FDG just happens to specialize in fixing that sort of situation,” Ava said with a slight smile.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” the major cautioned. “We know how they get the nanocytes in, but how do we get them out?”
Ava combed through more memories, seeking any indication of a weakness. “Tell me,” she demanded of Jared, echoing the thought throughout his mind.
“They’re always so hungry,” he replied at last. “They feed on the darkness within us.”
She almost dismissed the thought at first, thinking it too ridiculous, but she sensed truth in his statement. They thrive on suffering, she realized. No wonder Andrea, one of the Forsaken, made such a perfect ally.
“Then how do you drive them out?” Ava pressed.
“You must starve them,” he replied. “Change the neural chemistry. So long as there is stress and loneliness, they can survive. In a serene mind, they can be driven out.”
Something stirred underneath Jared’s consciousness, just out of reach. It snarled at Jared as he revealed the secrets that were never supposed to be shared.
Ava’s heart jumped into her throat as she felt Nox’s presence stir. “Shit, it’s here!”
“What?” Widmore demanded.
“Nox,” Ava explained. “I can feel it.”
“How did it get out of Kurtz?” Widmore questioned.
Ava began to connect the pieces in her head. “If it never was physically in Kurtz, it can jump bodies… but maybe only to an extent.”
“My team is developing a test for the neural markers that indicate the telepathic receptor—or TR, as we’ve dubbed it for now,” Luke cut in. “Jared will make the perfect test case.”
Widmore took a step toward the door. “Then there’s no time to waste. Let’s get him to your lab.”
“I suggest we bring Kurtz, too, sir,” Ava said. “If we started to drive Nox out, it may start jumping between potential hosts.”
“What if there are others beyond those two?” Widmore asked.
“It’s possible, but I’d say unlikely,” Ava countered. “If I were an alien looking to gain leverage, Jared is the last person I’d jump into. He’s a captive completely at our mercy. If he jumped from Kurtz into him, I’d wager it’s because he had no better option. His ability to take control has to have something to do with that TR Luke’s team identified.”
The major nodded. “I’ll agree with that logic. That means this base is probably free of other potential hosts.”
“And this is going to sound weird, but the key to beating these guys is to be… happy,” Ava said tentatively.
Widmore eyed her. “Please explain, Lieutenant.”
“The nanocyte structure that they build requires a certain neural chemistry to remain intact. It’s the kind of chemical cocktail that comes from emotions on the negative side of the spectrum. If you’re happy, the chemistry shifts.” She glanced at Luke. “This would explain why they could never get ahold of me. Despite all the craziness going on, I have the new—or, renewed—relationship bliss thing going on.”
“Then why do you still have telepathic abilities?” Widmore asked.
“Well, just because this TR appears in the same place, that doesn’t mean the mode of creation is the same,” Luke replied. “There’s still some mysterious ‘X factor’ with Coraxa. Whatever alien tech is in Kurtz and Jared right now likely isn’t the same tech as what enables abilities in Coraxa’s Readers—or at least not the same brand of it.”
“Yeah, no one is going around sticking mopey Coraxan kids with syringes full of nanocytes, I’m sure of that,” Ava added. “Whatever causes those abilities is a more natural means.” She looked over at Jared. “He doesn’t know, but Nox does.”
“I don’t think our alien friend is in a sharing mood,” Widmore said.
Ava stared into Jared’s eyes. “What do your people want with me, Nox? What makes Coraxans so special?”
The alien didn’t reply.
“Tell me, Nox!” Ava demanded. “Are you from Coraxa?”
The alien resisted, but she lashed at the entity’s mind until she found the answer she sought. There were more of the beings, but not in a sense of life Ava understood.
She felt the alien’s memories—shared across the consciousness of many. They had been one with the network of life on Coraxa long ago. It had allowed them to expand their consciousness in a way they’d never dreamed. But the process left something behind. Even after they left Coraxa, their remnants remained, and those had changed the people on Coraxa. Those remnants were the source of Ava’s telepathic gifts.
Her heart caught in her throat. “Where did you go? Back home?” She was desperate to know more, to understand how she came to be.
Nox ignored her pleas, but her determination drove her deeper into its mind. Eventually, she saw an image of a vast, empty space.
“Coraxa was not the first, and it was never meant to be the last,” Nox finally admitted. “When the humans and the Torcellans came along, we saw a new opportunity to venture as autonomous beings. They were our chance to once again be among the stars. They took us to a new system where we could grow.”
Ava shook her head. “Gidyon. And you told your hosts to spread the word for no one to ever go there, so you could grow undisturbed.”
Nox tried to hide its thoughts from her, but Ava could sense the affirmation.
“Why?” she pressed. “What did you need from Nezar and Coraxa?”
The alien’s resolve buckled, and it submitted it. “We sought a new vessel to carry us—one joined with the Etheric so that we may exist beyond this physical plane, even as we move through it in an isolated body. And soon, we will have the template for that new vessel.”
That’s what they want me for, Ava realized. She broke the telepathic link. “Nox just confirmed that its kind was on Coraxa, and ‘remnants’ are what caused our telepathic abilities.”
Luke scowled. “That’s going to require a hell of a lot more investigation.”
“Tell me about it.” Ava sighed. “Short version is, whatever makes someone actively controllable is different than those of us born with telepathic potential.”
“So, you are immune?” Widmore questioned.
“Maybe not completely, but enough.” Ava’s shoulders rounded. “I still don’t know if I trust myself.”
“No, that explains it!” Luke exclaimed. “Ava, I think you’re just fine when it comes to this.”
“Why?”
He s
troked his chin. “Think about it, the aliens can exert control over great distances, but you require eye contact do to a reading. The TR connects the right neural pathways to enable telepathy, but it’s like an offline version of it.”
“What about Kurtz’s influence over others here?” Widmore asked.
“My guess is that the alien could exert close-range telepathic control through direct eye contact, like Ava. But beyond that, it’s limited to a host with a suitable TR,” Luke replied.
Ava nodded. “That seems to be the case.”
“Got it,” Widmore said. “And how does that impact Ava’s susceptibility for control?” He eyed her warily.
“To extend the analogy,” Luke replied, “she has the offline version. Her receiver isn’t compatible.”
Widmore nodded. “I’ll have to trust the science.”
“It backs up my observations,” Ava told him. “My abilities don’t have the same volatility in neural chemistry. We need to get everyone in a good mood until we confirm that no one else has a TR.”
Widmore chuckled. “Great, so the solution to all our problems is to play love ballads over the loudspeakers throughout FDG headquarters.”
“Yeah, pretty sure that would horribly backfire.”
“But in all seriousness,” Luke interjected “if this is a matter of neurochemistry, that’s an easy fix. We can try a few neural cocktails and see if the TR in Kurtz dissolves.”
“That sounds like a genuine plan.” Ava cracked a smile.
“That it does,” Widmore agreed. “Let’s save the colonel.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Kurtz’s sense of self was just out of his grasp. Before, when Nox had taken control, Kurtz had remained aware of his surroundings, his body, his individual thoughts. But now, he was adrift.
He had no idea how much time had passed in his bizarre state of nothingness, or if he was within himself or outside. As much as he searched for a sense of direction, there was nothing to see.
And so he waited, as patiently as he could, for a sign.
I’m still me, he tried to reassure himself. I wouldn’t be thinking these thoughts if I weren’t. But where am I?