Chapter 4
“So you felt it? Is that like The Force or something? Are you my Obi-Wan?”
“That’s Star Wars, right?” Nicole responded. “I never saw those movies.” They were both on the couch, eating sandwiches. Jana was sitting sideways, resting her back on the arm rest and her feet on the cushion next to Nicole, who had her feet up on the coffee table. She continued, “It’s like… if you live somewhere long enough, you get used to all the little sounds that the house makes, that the neighborhood makes. Certain types of birds, cars driving past, the barking dog down the street. Once you’ve had the Sight for a while, once you’ve been looking at the connections for long enough, you start to get a feel for how things tend to go. How information flows, how the lines move and get stronger or weaker. I haven’t been living here for that long, only a few years, but it’s been long enough that I’ve noticed something strange happening in the last couple months. So I’ve been paying closer attention, watching out for naturals like you. And then this morning I got a sense that something was wrong. I had an… instinct, I guess, that you were involved. I strengthened what was left of the connection I had to you as much as I could, using it to draw you here. You showed up faster than I thought, and the second I saw you I knew why.”
“You could see that my lines had been cut.”
“Exactly. All the connections you had were unnaturally weak, and you didn’t have that many.”
“So… who did it? How can someone cut all my connections like that? Could you do that?”
“No.” Nicole frowned, “It shouldn’t be possible, not without a lot more time and your cooperation. Someone very powerful wanted you out of Gravewater.”
“They wanted me to leave the city? How do you know?”
“You had only one strong connection when you showed up here, besides the one between you and me, and it led far away, I couldn’t see where. Whoever cut all your other connections probably created that one at the same time so you’d feel compelled to leave. I reduced its power significantly before you got out of the car but… you should be careful, the normal limits don’t seem to apply here.”
Jana focused what she had been told was simply called the ‘Sight’ and looked around her. She saw Nicole, a shining nexus for connections, which extended off in all directions. Most were pointed in the general direction of downtown, towards the main part of Gravewater, though a few, and one very strong one, pointed in other directions, the brightest one extending from her back, through the wall and presumably out of town.
She looked at herself and noted her how few and weak her connections appeared, when compared to Nicole. She tried focusing on a group of faint lines that were all heading in the same direction. She guessed that they were her connections to her apartment, closer to the downtown area. She focused on the most substantial of the group, still upsettingly dim. She could tell, through the memories and sensations that worked their way to the front of her mind, that this was her connection to the apartment as a whole, to the place as opposed to any one item that she had there. Jana concentrated on that connection, calling up more memories, the feeling of simply being in that space, and pushed like she had to connect to the coffee mug. The line flared with light and color. Her memories suddenly became much stronger, the feeling of being in that space, the safety she felt there, flooded into her mind.
The line died down to a less blinding brightness and, as it faded, Jana felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. Her eyes fluttered and she had to work to swallow the chunk of sandwich she had been chewing on. Nicole noticed and got up from her seat, walking around the coffee table to come and squat on her heels next to Jana’s end of the couch.
“You need rest.” Nicole said, reaching out and briefly putting the back of her hand on Nicole’s forehead.
“I… I’m not sick. I don’t know what happened. I just suddenly felt so tired, like if I stood up too fast again or something.”
“Sorry, I should have warned you earlier. Manipulating connections is a lot of work. You get better at it pretty quickly, just like any other mental exercise, but you’re brand new. I should probably have had you rest right after the ceremony.”
“It’s not your fault. I was feeling it before, I just wanted to keep testing what I could do, repair some of my broken connections.”
“I know.” Nicole stood back up and walked to the window, drawing the thick curtains closed. “You can sleep here, on the couch. I’ll be in the kitchen, if you need anything.” She walked back towards the couch and pulled a folded blanket out from under the coffee table. She tossed it to Jana and smiled before turning around and walking out of the room. “And don’t worry too much about your connections, they should go back to normal over time, since they were altered artificially.”
“Okay.” Jana said, forcing her eyes to stay open, “Thank you, for everything.”
“Sleep tight.” Nicole said, and smiled at Jana as she flicked the switch next to the archway, leaving the room lit only by the light that seeped out from the kitchen.
Jana lay down and pulled the blanket, still folded, onto her chest. She put her head on the armrest and closed her eyes. She was asleep before Nicole could come back in and offer her a pillow.