The Upper Worlds (The Soul Survivor Series Book 1)

by Van Forson

  “It's ok.” Jet tried to calm Max. “Wain knows what he’s doing.” He said, protectively pulling Skye closer.

  The smoke became thicker and thicker, swirled faster and faster filling the entire room and then,

  BANG!

  “Aaaa!” Mindy and Cindy threw their arms over one another.

  “Jeez!” Brad jumped out of his skin.

  “Is everyone ok?” Philippe jumped, his muscles rippling underneath his face.

  “Oh man,” Sal cracked her knuckles, “what’s happened to Kid?"

  ***

  Wain and I had been transported to a hazy space, like the attic room of an ancient house like you see in the history books. It was filled with old style paper boxes with documents strewn everywhere.

  “We're in,” Wain said gently. “This is your mind, Kid.”

  “Wow.” I spun around to take it all in, “It's beautiful.”

  The mind space led off in so many different directions and to so many other places. In the distance, I saw a rushing river, a mountain range and a constellation of stars.

  “There’s a lot going on here. Sorry.” I said.

  “Don’t worry about that. Let's just find the mixing desk digits and be on our way. Try not to tamper with anything though yo, we don’t want to put anything out of place and mess you up.” Wain said carefully treading over loose thoughts scattered all over the floor and ducking words suspended in the air.

  Toot Toot!

  A miniature old-fashioned steam train carrying a cargo of thoughts chugged through Wain’s legs. It smoke signalled the message,

  ‘What must Wain be thinking of me?’ before speeding off into the distance.

  Wain glanced over at me.

  “I know you’re worried about me reading everything in your mind, but I promise I won’t. Let’s just look and find the digits quickly.”

  “Ok.” I agreed relieved, and a warm yellow glow of relief flooded the space.

  I strolled towards the back of my mind and picked up an orange memory. The scene was of Jet and me as small children playing ball together. We were laughing and joking and looked so happy. Our dad was with us, monitoring our behaviour. He always used to write reports about whatever we did when we were little. Back then he was so interested in us. He never made time for us now.

  Jet threw a ball, and it bounced on the table and hit Dad on the head. Dad made a silly face and pretended to be knocked out. We all fell about laughing until our sides ached.

  “I forgot Jet and I used to have fun together.” I smiled reminiscing.

  Under a pile of happy images of friends, Wain picked up a pink thought about Max. It had tiny hearts dotted all over it. He quickly put it back under the rubble. He didn’t want to pry into subconscious thoughts that Kid didn’t even realise she had.

  I continued down memory lane and picked up an old blue image from when I was ten. I was with dad, Jet and Max camping at a spot near Ethereal Bridge. We would go every summer for fact-finding missions. It all stopped when I started at FB, and my dad got promoted in his job.

  Wain was at the front of my mind, and a green thought caught his eye. He picked it up, and it displayed an image of Kid being jealous when Mindy was given special treatment by Ivan.

  “I was a little upset about that,” I marched up to Wain. I felt I needed to explain. “I'm not often jealous of my friends, but I just couldn’t help it."

  “Don’t worry. These are your first day at TEN thoughts. The digits must be somewhere around here.”

  Wain and I looked around at the scattered thoughts; Ivan and the glass tower, the long corridor, Sector Seven and Techy James. The earplug patches, hundreds of TV screens, the mixing desk and then, the digits.

  “Here it is!” I yelled.

  “Ha! I knew it would work.”

  I read out the mainframe number, “5791236875.”

  “Right, you remember the first five digits, and I’ll remember the last five,” Wain said. “Now let's get out of here.”

  SNAP!

  Wain opened his eyes. He was back in Kid’s smoke filled bedroom looking down on her from his levitated position above. He clicked his fingers, but Kid didn’t stir. She was still in her mind. Wain clicked his fingers again. Kid didn’t move a muscle. Panic gripped him.

  “Keziah Monrova, I command you to leave your mind.” Wain’s voice was shaky and fearful.

  He had only ever tried this on other Tachions before. He hadn’t thought about how the process might affect a non-Tachion. Kid continued to lay asleep.

  “Like, why isn’t she responding?” The Twins howled.

  “This is why the First Truth exists. Tachions should never use their powers on Code Types.” Max reprimanded Wain.

  “Yeah. You really shouldn’t have done that.” Brad agreed.

  “Well, what was he supposed to do? Kid wanted the digits, and Wain was the only one who knew how to get it.” Sal defended Wain.

  “Yeah.” Wain agreed, “I only used my abilities because Kid agreed to it.”

  “But she didn’t know what she was letting herself in for. She’s a Code Type. She has no understanding of how your Tachion abilities work.” Max argued.

  “Look, this is not a Code Type versus Tachion debate. We’re all here for Kid. She’s the important one, not our personal views.” Philippe tried to squash the rising tension.

  “It’s just not right.” Brad shook his head.

  “Please Kid, please come back to us NOW!” Wain clapped loudly.

  Kid did not stir.

  Jet turned to Skye. “Do you think you can do that thing we practised?”

  “I’ll try my best,” she rasped.

  Skye sprung to her feet and crouched beside Kid.

  “What are you doing?” Max asked nervously.

  “Trust me.” Skye took charge. “You must all remain completely still. I need your energies, no matter how far away you are. You must give me your full attention. I'm charging from your life force.”

  Gone was her shy demeanour. Skye acted with a maturity well beyond her thirteen years.

  “Be cool Skye. Just like we’ve practised a million times,” Jet said reassuringly. “Only this time it's with a real person.”

  “Man! You’ve never done this on actual people?” Brad threw his arms up in defeat.

  “Only to knock them out, not to bring them back.” Jet said with attitude, agitated that they were questioning Skye’s abilities.

  Skye, eyes a blue blaze, turned her back on the crew.

  “Cover your ears.” She commanded.

  “How will she revive Kid if she's not even looking?” Brad moaned.

  “Cover your ears!” Skye roared so loudly everyone did exactly as they were told.

  “Ready,” Jet said softly, guiding Skye. “Steady. Now!”

  Skye reached out her palm in the crew's direction, and an ionised silver force field engulfed them. The waves of light travelled all the way across town and into each one of their bedrooms.

  Skye clenched her fists, took a deep breath and sang an almighty one-note melody.

  “Zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

  The sound was barely audible to the human ear, but its sharpness affected the brainwaves.

  SMASH.

  The glass on all of the screens in Kid’s room shattered. Max’s spectacles cracked. He, Wain and Jet fell to the ground shielding their ears in agony.

  Sal, Philippe, Brad and The Twins holograms fuzzed in and out as the high-pitched frequency from Skye’s wail interrupted the signal.

  Kid juddered. The mind-altering sound pulled her back to this dimension. The room full of smoke turned into a small whirlwind and dissipated back into Kid’s forehead.

  SNAP!

  I awoke coughing and spluttering.

  “Are you okay Sis?” Jet ran to my side.

  I touched my head. “Absolutely fine, I had the best time getting lost in my mind.”

  “Way to go Skye!” Jet hugged her.

  S
kye hid by his side, her shy demeanour returning.

  “Phew.” Wain wiped his brow with the back of his hands.

  “That was frightening.” Max wailed. “Don’t ever do anything like that again!”

  “Impressive force field Skye. I felt it all the way out here.” Philippe said.

  Skye was a little Tachion. Her tremendous ability made him wonder for the first time what he, a hulking Tachion, could do.

  “Yo! You’re a Tachion sensation. You have proper skills!” Wain high-fived Skye with his three palms. “No one I know can do what you just did. How’d you learn to do that?”

  Skye stepped behind Jet and let him speak for her.

  “It’s taken practice. We’ve been working on it for a while now.”

  “Fascinating.” Max said, moving away from Wain and towards Skye.

  Wain was no longer his muse. He now had a more extraordinary Tachion to study.

  “I thought I would have to wait until advanced biology before I started to explore Tachion genetics. And here you’ve been, all the time, right next door.”

  Skye backed further behind Jet for safety.

  “Skye would be fuzzed if the Authorities knew she uses her Tachion abilities,” Brad said. “Even being a witness to what just happened put’s us all in trouble.”

  “But no one's going to tell anyone Brad.” The Twins said.

  “This is crew business; we'll keep it just between us,” Sal added.

  “Thank you.” Jet said glaring at Brad.

  “Did you find what you were looking for?” Philippe asked feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation. Most Code Types had an innate fear of Tachions, and he didn’t want to give his friends a reason to be frightened of him.

  “We found it alright, 57912,” I said my bit.

  “36875,” Wain said his.

  Max typed it into his aero pad. He wasn’t happy with Wain’s methodology, but they had retrieved the data he needed. He pushed his now broken specs up his nose.

  “Give me some time. I’ll see what I can do.”

  ***

  “Where’s Sal?” I asked.

  It was an hour later, and we were once again virtually gathered in my room.

  “Preparing more put downs for Madeleine Stone at the music emporium tomorrow.” Philippe laughed, trying to keep everyone’s spirits light, “She wished you good luck though.”

  “And Brad?”

  “He said he would prefer to sit this one out - ” Mindy began,

  “- I think he’s got training anyways.” Cindy interrupted.

  Mindy looked over at her Twin with her nose scrunched up, which was her confused face.

  “No, he said - ” Mindy started.

  “- That he is busy.” Cindy interrupted again returning her sisters stare.

  They blinked at each other a few times before Mindy backed down from the standoff.

  “Okay,” Mindy said.

  The Twins were acting weird, and Brad didn’t usually train this late, but I didn’t dwell on it.

  “So what have you got for us, Max?” I asked eagerly.

  “TEN has special encrypted security on the sequence you gave me. There is no way to hack into the system externally, and I tried several different ways.”

  “Why don’t we just go to TEN and blast our way in?” Jet said.

  “Yeah.” Skye agreed.

  “Because you would get annihilated on the spot,” Max said dismissing their childish comments.

  “And the whole point of the exercise is that we want to disable the messages without them noticing,” I said agreeing with Max.

  “There must be another way to change the signal yo,” Wain said.

  “There is. I’ve formulated a plan using these microsensors.” Max said holding up microchips on his fingertips. “If you can get back into Sector Seven with these on your person, these bugs will temporarily disable any system, and I can guide you on how to hack the mainframe from my lab.

  “It sounds great, but there is absolutely no way back in. I tried, but it’s a restricted zone.” I said.

  “But Ivan has an access all areas pass.” Mindy piped in.

  “Do you think you can get it?” I asked.

  “We can try.” The Twins said together.

  “Good. Mindy and Cindy, your role will be to get Kid into Sector Seven without anyone noticing.”

  Max liked taking charge and giving orders. He was beginning to get into the swing of it.

  The Twins nodded in unison without question. I had no idea AEs could be so brave.

  “Kid, if what you say is true and there are subliminal messages in the TEN broadcasts, then you can delete them and there will be no more mind control. And if there aren’t any hidden messages, there will be nothing to erase, and nothing will change. Either way, we won’t be harming anyone, so I’m ethically able to assist you.

  “However I do insist that you talk to your parents, because if this is a delusional spin off from you-know-where they need to know so they can help you.”

  “You get me into the mainframe to erase the hidden messages Max, and I will tell my folks everything,” I said.

  “Then, pal of mine, you have a deal.” We shook on it.

  ***

  Mindy and I shifted nervously on the chic floating chairs in the canteen.

  “This is like so-oo exciting,” Mindy yelped, “I feel like a spy on a secret mission.”

  I was so glad to have her with me. Some would say that she was too airheaded to recognise real danger, but her confidence was contagious and made me feel braver.

  I checked the digital display.

  “It's noon. We better get this show on the road.” I whispered conspiratorially.

  “Yes. Cinds is already over there with Ivan,” Mindy motioned, “He thinks she’s me,” she giggled.

  “How did you get in?” I asked.

  “You know I'm friendly with Bert on security. I just chatted with him and finessed him for a while before I waltzed in with no worries. He didn’t even scan me.”

  “Ok great. So are you cool with what you have to do?”

  “Sure.” Mindy chirped revelling in the secret mission. She wasn’t afraid at all.

  “I was made for this, don’t sweat it.” Mindy sashayed off towards James who was eating his lunch with a bunch of other Techies.

  I looked anxiously from one corner of the busy lunch zone to the other. Cindy was at one end chatting to Ivan, Mindy was charming James at the other. Both were trying to get the pass card to Sector Seven. If anyone spotted that there were two people with the exact same face, in the exact same place, then it would be curtains. Luckily the lunchroom was bustling with people, too obsessed with themselves to notice three teenagers.

  My ear buzzed. It was Max on the line.

  “I've hacked into the central security hub and disabled all recording devices. What’s going on your end?

  “Cindy is giggling with Ivan and Mindy has cornered James. All parties are talking, but that’s about it,” I said looking around.

  “Ok, keep me posted. Over and out,” Max said like a military sergeant.

  I suspected his involvement with my latest scheme was not just because I had asked him to, it was also a great opportunity for Max to test out all of his homemade gadgets.

  Mindy tottered back over to our table.

  “Well?” I asked, expectantly.

  “Oh my like gosh!” Mindy was miffed. “That Techy guy is like so much hard work, he was having none of it. He point blank refused me entry to Sector Seven. What a dork!” Mindy folded her arms and sulked.

  She had never experienced this kind of rejection before. Guys always did what she asked of them.

  “Okay, don’t sweat it,” I said downheartedly.

  I knew it couldn’t be that easy. There was no way a regened jobsworth like James would give up his pass, no matter how charming Mindy was.

  “Oh my. Cinds is coming over. I’ll make myself scarce.” Mindy mingled into the lunc
htime canteen rush.

  Cindy hot-stepped it to my table.

  “So how’d it go?” I asked despondently. If Mindy couldn’t get the pass, then the plan was probably futile.

  Cindy smiled, wider than usual and dangled the access all areas pass triumphantly.

  “Cinds!” I gasped in disbelief.

  For once Cindy had outdone her sister.

  “Ivan’s gone to top up his lippy, he doesn’t know I took his pass, so let’s be quick.”

  “You pick-pocketed his ID key?”

  “Yes, why? Did you think I couldn’t do it?” Cindy asked.

  “No, it’s not that. I just didn’t think being a master of deception was your Type.”

  “You don’t get to be the current holder of twenty-seven Miss Teen beauty queen titles and not be able to out smart your opposition,” Cindy said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Now let’s go.”

  I jumped off the chair, placing a quick call to Mindy and Max.

  “Cindy got the ID pass, and we’re going in. Minds, you lay low.”

  “Yay, go Twinny!” Mindy cheered.

  “Affirmative,” Max said.

  “Over and out.” I signed off.

  ***

  “It was like so-oo sick.” Cindy chattered. “Ivan was like twittering on, and I was nodding and pretending to listen, and when I took the pass, he didn’t even notice.”

  “You did great, now swipe the system,” I said looking around nervously by the TX door.

  Cindy swiped it. Nothing happened. I was so on edge I could feel my heart thundering in my ears,

  “It’s not -”

  “Access Granted.” The security system announced as the TX door flew open.

  “Yes!” I said as my racing heart sunk back into my chest. “Just one more door.”

  Cindy and I bolted down the darkened corridor. I looked frantically left and right trying to identify the right room.

  “How can you tell where to go? It all looks the same.” Cindy said.

  “It’s this one,” I said speaking into the audio receiver, “Max we’re here.”

  Cindy swiped the door to Sector Seven, and it flew open.

  “You did it! You’re a star!” I hugged her.

  “Are you like going to be okay?” Cindy asked. “I can stay with you if you like.”

  This mission had released the risk taker in her.