Connexion : The Atlantis Project, Book.1 (25 page)

For a second he thought he was going to have
to give up. Convergence was too strong. It would never let him
leave. But the butterfly suddenly turned and came back to land on
his shoulder. Charlie got up, closed his eyes again and
concentrated on the heavy, cramped feeling that engulfed his legs.
He imagined with all his might, hard, dry ground on which he would
be able to set his feet and run at last without any trouble at all.
When he opened them, he found that the butterfly had flown off
again, showing him the way to go. Now the soil was dry and dusty,
and he ran so fast that only a moment later he found himself in
front of a little house. It had red shutters, which reminded him of
his grandparents’ home. The door opened by itself, letting out a
delicious smell of fresh baking. He was sure it was an apple tart,
like the ones his grandmother would make each time he visited. The
smell was both comforting and intensely familiar, which told
Charlie he was out of danger.

Once inside the house he turned around for
the first time and closed the door firmly. It was over. He went
into the kitchen where a glass of orange juice and a slice of tart
awaited him. There it all was; the plastic table cloth with its
outdated motif, the copper pans, the matchboxes sitting next to the
gas stove, and of course the old radio that was practically
obsolete, playing old-time dance music with dreadful static.
Charlie felt comfortable at last. He finished his piece of tart and
laid his head on his arms before falling into a well deserved
sleep.

29 RESURRECTION

“Jacques, wake up!”

“Huh? What? What’s going on?”

“It’s me, Mario. I think Charlie just woke
up! It looks as if he came out of the connection by himself.”

“How is that possible? I thought he couldn’t
wake up until the neural probe had been taken out.”

“I thought so too, but his arm just moved and
his vital signs are normal again without us doing anything.”

Jacques propped himself up, still feeling
groggy. In front of him the console screen showed a signal that had
been blinking constantly for several minutes already.

“Are you alone, Mario? Where are the
others?”

“They’re asleep. I stayed with you tonight to
watch you both sleeping and then suddenly, at around two a. m. this
green light started flashing.”

“What time is it now?”

“2:15 am. I didn’t realize what it meant
right away but then your brother started twitching. I alerted the
medical team and they confirmed that Charlie’s brain activity was
abnormal or, should I say, much too normal, as if he wasn’t
connected to Victor’s brain anymore. They’re waiting for
instructions from Francisco and Giuseppe. They’ve been informed and
should be here any minute.”

Jacques was wide awake now. He could not take
his eyes off his brother’s body, watching for the slightest sign
that would show he was back among them again. He quickly noticed
that Charlie was breathing much faster and more regularly than he
had done for weeks. From time to time he seemed to twitch slightly
and his fingers moved but Jacques could not tell if the movements
were voluntary or not.

“You see? He seems to be moving.”

“Are you sure it’s not just another seizure?
Maybe he’s going to have another epileptic fit.”

“No, Jacques. It’s totally different this
time. He’s waking up. You should try and talk to him
telepathically. He might not be fully conscious of his own state
yet. It could help him to root himself more fully in reality before
Francisco gives the order to disconnect him physically.”

Jacques did not reply. He was already
concentrating on trying to make contact with his brother again for
the first time in over two weeks. It had been two long weeks out of
the total five since the beginning of the connection.

“Charlie, it’s me – Jacques! Are you
okay?”

He and Mario stared fixedly at the console
screen, hoping to see a line of words and sentences appear again as
it had when they had made contact before, but nothing came. Jacques
tried again several times, until he felt Charlie’s hand grab his
arm. Jumping in fright, at first Jacques recoiled, but then he
seized his brother’s hand and squeezed it with all his might. He
turned to him again, taking his eyes off the screen which, despite
its purpose, had symbolized their separation over the past five,
long weeks of waiting. Those weeks had seemed interminable; the
anxiety and fear of losing him had been so strong. Several times he
had thought he would never see his brother again. They had both
come close to dying here, deep in an undersea cave, surrounded by
people they hardly knew. Jacques had prepared himself for the worst
and had almost been ready to accept it in the end. After all, they
did not have much to lose, he would sometimes tell himself, but he
had never given up hope, all the same. He could not bring himself
to. He, too, was physically and emotionally run down. He had lost a
lot of weight and felt weaker every day, but he knew that Charlie,
for his part, had fought without ever giving up, despite the
repeated warning signs his exhausted body had sent him. Over these
five weeks he had been feeling his way; lost but never abandoned;
on the verge of madness in an elusive, immaterial world. Of course,
it was Charlie who had done the hardest part, but perhaps it was
not the most thankless task, after all. Five weeks of lying on a
hospital bed; five weeks of anxiety, boredom and doubt; that was
what Jacques had been through. He had promised to watch over
Charlie and be there for him as far as he could, and so he had
done.

And now Charlie was back. The white helmet
that housed the neural probe was all that still separated them,
until Francisco and his team could disconnect his brain from
Victor’s. Then, and only then, could Jacques hope to find him as he
had left him before this dark adventure began. Would he be the same
or would he be scarred by the experience? Jacques knew his brother
was psychologically fragile. He had been there for him in the past
when he had experienced the desert. He had supported him as best he
could and they had pulled through. All these thoughts jumbled
around in his mind as he held Charlie’s hand firmly in his own. He
tried to make contact with him again telepathically, hoping Charlie
would reply using the neural probe, but the response came through
slight pressure of his fingertips in the palm of Jacques’ hand.
Charlie obviously could not use the neural probe anymore. Maybe it
had been damaged or disconnected during the violent epileptic
seizure that had nearly killed him. The fact that he was trying to
answer his questions reassured Jacques, who quickly told Mario,
sitting nearby with a grave face.

“He can hear me! He probably can’t use the
neural probe anymore but he’s just signaled to me by moving his
hand slightly.”

“Are you sure, Jacques?”

“He’s my brother, Mario!”

The two men looked at each other and Mario’s
face finally relaxed in response to Jacques’ smile. He smiled back,
full of compassion and fondness at the sight of Jacques’ eyes
alight with happiness.

A few moments later, the door opened and
Francisco hurried in. He was followed closely by Giuseppe and a
crowd of technicians. Jacques and Mario watched as Francisco
approached them, his expression more closed than ever. He did not
meet their eyes, even briefly. He hurried to the console and began
tapping away on it frantically, trying to find a rational
explanation for what had just happened. It only took him a moment
and then he looked up at Mario just long enough to ask him a single
question: “Did you do anything?”

“No!” he replied. “He woke up on his
own.”

Francisco looked down again as he turned
towards Giuseppe, who had just joined them.

“Giuseppe, he’s woken up. It’s impossible but
I’ve checked everything and there’s no doubt. We must remove the
neural probe as quickly as possible. His brain will not be able to
cope with a foreign body much longer.”

“Okay, Francisco, do what you have to do.
Well, my friends, we have finally succeeded!” Giuseppe said
suddenly, in the warm, reassuring tone he so liked to use. “You
see, Jacques, everything worked out okay in the end. We had a few
big scares, I’ll give you that, but it was all worth the risk, I
can assure you. I’m sure he will be able to tell us a lot about
Victor. Nobody else but you two would have been capable of such an
achievement. You see, Mario! Once again, I was right to trust
Francisco. He’s never wrong. He has proved himself again. You knew
he would, didn’t you?”

But Mario did not answer, choosing instead to
let Giuseppe hear for himself just how inappropriate this sudden,
premature declaration of victory sounded. The elderly man’s smile
suddenly faded, and he spoke again in a much calmer tone, looking
at Jacques, who was still gripping Charlie’s hand tightly.

“Don’t worry, Jacques. He’s fine. Our
technicians have already minutely examined all the information
transmitted by the physiological and cerebral captors that we
implanted in him. They are categorical: his brain function is not
damaged. Your brother will pull through without serious harm. We
just need to disconnect the neural probe and take off the helmet.
Then you will be able to speak with him directly. Francisco and his
team are already working on it, but it will take several hours for
them to take out the neural bridge and reconnect the cranial
calotte. After that, we must not rush things. Charlie will need to
keep lying down for several more days while he recuperates. I know
it must seem long to you and you cannot wait to get out of this bed
that has held you down for over a month now, but we will make sure
you do not lack anything, won’t we, Mario?” he asked, with a
warning look that conveyed both suspicion and the assertiveness of
a man aware of his own authority.

“Yes, of course!” replied Mario, forcing a
smile to show his submission to the man who was his hierarchical
superior, after all. He was a superior who, although he could seem
jovial and close to his subordinates at times, was nevertheless one
of the top officials on this military base.

30 DISTRUST

Since Charlie’s return, almost a week
earlier, only Clementine had been allowed to visit the small
medially equipped room where the twins were convalescing. Giuseppe
came in once a day to make sure everything was okay but, curiously,
he did not ask Charlie about his experiences in the connection. He
settled for an update on his health, both physical and mental.
Several times a day technicians came to perform a whole raft of
examinations and various tests of on him, checking that his
sensorial and cognitive functions had not been majorly altered
during the connection. This mainly worried Jacques. He badgered
them with questions, trying to find out what the results of all
those tests really meant. Charlie, on the other hand, did not seem
concerned. He was just anxious to be done with his re-habilitation
exercises so he could finally escape the physical inactivity he had
endured for so long now.

Then, one morning Giuseppe did not show up at
the usual time. Instead, it was Mario who came, accompanied by
Clementine. Charlie was pleased to see him again and the two men
hugged each other warmly. He was not at all jealous of the
relationship Mario might have with Clementine anymore. Actually, he
did not really know anything about it. He had not even broached the
subject with Jacques over the past week, although they had done a
lot of talking together. For the time being, Emma seemed to have
partially eclipsed the almost obsessive fascination he had
previously held for Clementine. He certainly still looked forward
to her visits, but not with the same apprehension and ardor as
before. Of course this sort of change did not show up on any of the
tests he underwent daily, but Jacques noticed it. He had noticed
several changes in Charlie’s personality after the first few
hours.

For now, he was just observing him,
distancing himself a little from the one he had built thirty-five
years of his life with. He could not say why, but he felt
distrustful toward Charlie; the sort of distrust that partners or
childhood friends experience when they have been apart for too
long; the fear of not being able to able to share together the way
they always have, simply because one has lived a part of his life
without the other. There was another entirely different feeling
contributing to Jacques’ reserve: jealousy. In a way, Charlie had
been living life on his own recently. His unique experience had
thrust him into a privileged position. They were going to have to
learn how to manage his new-found importance together, and in that
respect, Jacques dreaded being reduced to playing second fiddle.
The fragile balance of their relationship, that it had taken them
so long to work out together, was being upset. They would now have
to find a new balance, in the light of recent events.

Although Mario had seemed uptight when he
entered the room, his facial expression had quickly relaxed. He
seemed truly happy to see Charlie apart from lying down with his
face covered by a helmet full of biotechnical and electronic
technology. He could talk to him at last, even if he had been asked
not to interfere with the official questioning. That was actually
why he was here. His visit had been authorized only because
Giuseppe thought he was the right person to take the twins to the
interview. Apart from Clementine, he was the one they trusted the
most. From the beginning they had established a rapport with him
which had not escaped Giuseppe’s notice. If Mario had not come
earlier, it was for precisely that reason. No one was allowed to
speak at length with Charlie before the interview and especially
not someone who knew nearly everything about the program developed
by the bio-cybernetic research team. Of course it was different for
Jacques, who could not be kept away anyway. Clementine, for her
part, was not very talkative and Giuseppe scarcely worried about
her. Perhaps he was blinded by too much self-assurance or male
chauvinism, but the elderly Italian gentleman could not see the
pretty young woman as a threat capable of limiting full cooperation
from Charlie and his brother. Anyway, Mario’s absence would have
immediately aroused the twins’ suspicion, which meant keeping him
away was not a viable option.