Connexion : The Atlantis Project, Book.1 (23 page)

“Why not?” asked Charlie.

“I don’t know. I think I was afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“Afraid of everything; afraid of the Council,
especially afraid of dying. I didn’t have it in me. I was afraid
Emma would see that. I would have had to face up to her and my
brother. And then there was my wife. I didn’t want to take the
risk.”

“You didn’t believe in their project.”

“The Council had been conditioning us daily
for several years to believe that there was no viable alternative
to choosing one of the two solutions they offered. Senec and Emma’s
project was so complex it seemed almost utopian to me. What’s more,
there was a real risk that the Council would hinder its development
or even derail it and punish the culprits, of which I would have
been one.”

“And yet, in the first memory, you seemed to
say that you had complete confidence in Senec. You said he wanted
you to know about the failings of the Exodus project so you could
make the information public. At that point, you said that you had
decided to stay behind with him, too. Senec himself seemed to think
that the hibernation bases were a good alternative to the Exodus
project, and unless I’m mistaken, at the time he was already
working on the development of an independent waking system to
compensate for the risk of the Exodus mission’s failure. If he had
actually managed to get his programmed waking device to work, I
would have understood your decision to stay with him on one of the
hibernation bases; but apparently he set off on another track, so
why such an irrational choice?”

“The choice wasn’t totally irrational. Senec
actually did set up a waking device, using a computer program
implanted in the whole operating system for the hibernation bases.
If you are here talking with me today, Charlie, it’s because it has
functioned successfully.”

“Millions of years later! Why wait so
long?”

“That, I don’t know. Nor do I know what the
criteria are for its activation, or what its source is. But what I
do know, thanks to you Charlie, is that Senec and Emma probably
made it possible for a whole section of the population to continue
evolving, somewhere in a city called Australopolis. They must have
died a long time ago, but it is possible that a part of them lives
on in each one of you, unless they didn’t survive or they never
managed to escape their underground city.”

Listening to him, Charlie understood what he
meant when he mentioned the possibility of a part of his brother
living on in each of them. He could not help thinking back to the
day when he had come into contact with Victor for the first time,
or rather, with his body. He had felt uncomfortable faced with a
physical form at once so gigantic and yet so profoundly similar to
that of a human. Victor was alluding to the possibility that a
branch of his species had managed to survive on Earth and continue
evolving over millions of years until it finally became Man. That
called into question everything he had always been taught about the
origin of the human species, but the evidence was right there and
was not going to go away. Perhaps that evolution had been made
possible because of the XK207 project’s success and because of
Australopolis, even if there was no concrete evidence yet. Neither
he nor Victor could know for sure, but a common intuition was
leading them in that direction.

“Forgive me, Victor; I’m not sure if I should
tell you this. I sincerely hope it’s not news to you, but I think
you are alone here. According to what I’ve been told, you are the
only N.H.I. who’s been found on this base. What happened? Do you
know?”

“Are you sure?” he asked, without showing any
sign of surprise.

“Well, that’s what Giuseppe has led us to
believe, in any case. You know, my brother and I were brought here
just a few weeks ago and we only know what we’ve been told. You
don’t seem very surprised. Am I right?”

“Yes, you’re right, Charlie, and yet I know
that there were nearly 5,000 of us hibernating on this base.”

Charlie remained silent, not understanding
where this was leading. A moment ago he had been worried Victor
would break down, but his reaction was nothing of the sort,
although the idea of losing his wife and possibly being the sole
survivor of his kind should have overwhelmed him. After a brief
pause, Victor continued his explanation.

“Each dome is designed to keep one individual
in hibernation at a time. Before entering this one, I was
personally present while my wife was put to sleep in Sector 24. One
of the former connection candidates was a technician who had worked
on fitting out this base. His name is Elias Conti, if I remember
correctly. As I told you, no one but you has truly entered into
contact with me. However, I have been free to explore their minds
while they wandered, lost in their own dreams. That is how I
obtained the information about what really happened when this base
was colonized by humans. I think, my friend, that Giuseppe has not
told you the whole truth.”

“What do you mean?”

“I told you that prior our first
conversation; you had only been wandering in the corridors of your
own mind, without ever really entering into contact with me. If you
remember our conversation correctly, I added “apart from certain
details”. What I meant by that, was that certain details of your
dream did not come directly from your own memories or imagination.
I voluntarily allowed those details to filter through, as I had
done with each of the other humans who tried to infiltrate my mind
– except that none of the others before you was able to identify
them, but you did! You seemed very different. Your mind clearly
distinguished between what came from you and what didn’t. You
seemed accustomed to living in duality. You noticed those foreign
elements immediately and wanted to know more about them.”

“The map!” exclaimed Charlie. “You’re talking
about the symbols that I found in the endless tunnel, under a layer
of lichen.”

“Yes, Charlie,” he answered calmly.

“The map showed symbols that I didn’t
understand, but when I stepped back to look at them, I had the
feeling it was a map of the base. I also remember being intrigued
by the appearance of constructions that I didn’t recognize, as if
there had been wings which no longer exist today.”

“Which no longer exist, or which it was
deemed unnecessary to tell you about”, Victor pointed out.

“You think that Giuseppe may have
deliberately concealed the existence of a whole section of the
base? But why would he do that?”

Charlie was questioning Victor, but deep down
inside, he was not really surprised. He had already suspected as
much, when studying the map. And the last conversation with Jacques
had only served to reinforce the suspicions he had about Francisco
and Giuseppe especially. Of course, Francisco was incapable of
lying. At least, it seemed doubtful that his personality would be
capable of such a thing; but maybe he could omit certain details if
he was asked to.

“Those wings do still exist, but access to
them has been kept secret. Elias knew that. He had worked on
building the containment wall that divides this cavern into two
parts. Unfortunately, you may not be able to count on his help to
find the other zone – the “no-go zone”, as they call it. I have no
idea what has become of him since the connection. My source of
information is limited to what those of you who have visited me
know. Neither do I know what sort of mental state he is in today.
He seemed to be deeply affected by the experience and failed to
cope. His anxiety quickly got the better of him, filling the
virtual reality I left him in with a number of elements stemming
from his own fears. He was unable to leave the connection of his
own volition. The departure was too brutal for him not to bear
significant scars today – if he’s still alive.”

These words sent chills down Charlie’s spine.
What would happen when he was separated from Victor? They had only
been in the connection together for a few weeks and yet it seemed
to him that the experiences he had been through here made up a
large portion of his life. The passage of time – or at least his
perception of it – seemed completely distended. To begin with, it
was a while since he had been subjected to a cycle of alternating
periods of sleeping and waking. Even his internal clock seemed to
have been disconnected, so that only physical and emotional
exhaustion had sometimes allowed him to experience the impression
of sleep. Just as the sleeper does not know how long he has been
asleep, he had no idea how long he had been deprived of sleep.
Should he even think of things in those terms anyway? Francisco had
warned him that he would neither be asleep nor truly awake for the
duration of the connection.

“You’re worried about yourself, Charlie.
You’re thinking that you may have reason to fear the effects of our
separation. Our experiences together will certainly have rearranged
your mind. I must admit, several times I was afraid I’d lost you,
but you survived and now nothing will ever be the same again – for
you or for me. When you return to your reality, when your senses
fill your mind with a flood of familiar information and sensations,
you will know how to get things in perspective. I’m sure of it. You
were never alone, Charlie, and you never will be. A large part of
what I know, and my way of thinking about that knowledge, is
inscribed in you forever. In a way, I will continue to guide you on
your quest, even after we are separated.”

Charlie understood just what Victor meant. He
had always lived in symbiosis with his brother. He had never had
his own world all to himself – he could not even imagine what that
meant. In the end, this experience with Victor had not been so very
different to the way he had always lived. Of course, his communion
with Jacques was not of the same sort, but recently telepathy had
brought them even closer – if that were possible – a sort of
convergence of their minds and bodies, imposed on them by nature.
What is more, he and Jacques had always shared the same daily life;
the same experiences. They had been around the same people,
confronted by their attitudes, since infancy. The resulting
suffering did not need to be discussed specifically in order for
each of them to know what the other felt. In a way, they had always
been the ideal candidates for the connection and somehow Francisco
had seen that before anyone else.

“Am I to understand that the time has come
for us to part, Victor?”

“I’m afraid so, Charlie. It’s not that we
have nothing more to learn from each other. On the contrary; I’m
pleased to have met you and would have liked to take the experience
further, but I’m afraid your body may not stand the effects of
convergence or lack of sleep for much longer.”

“So that was the help you needed. You wanted
to know what had happened to your brother. It’s strange, but I feel
I haven’t contributed much at all. You could probably have found it
out for yourself. All the information was there, buried in your
memory. One day or other you would have become aware of it. You
didn’t really need me for that. I guess the fact that you have been
sleeping for an eternity could have prevented you from searching
your memory efficiently, but your gradual increase in wakefulness
would no doubt have allowed you to access them.”

“That’s possible, but it’s not the only thing
I wanted from you, Charlie.”

“You want me to find your wife, don’t
you?”

“Yes, Charlie. Right now that’s all I expect
of you, even though I’m not sure you have enough influence to
ensure that nothing will endanger her life. Despite the fact that
my size and mental abilities are far superior to yours, it’s
obvious that I am powerless to help her. I have no choice but to
leave her fate in your hands. I only hope I’m not mistaken and that
I can count on you?”

“You can, Victor. I’ll do everything in my
power to help you. However, as you have just said, my brother and I
are merely guests on this base – we are not decision-makers.”

“No, perhaps not, but you are the only one
who knows part of the truth about our people. When they question
you, don’t serve them everything on a platter. The influence you
have will be in direct proportion to the importance they place on
what you know, but refuse to tell them. Your ability to understand
the human psyche and analyze your environment will certainly have
increased due to the permanent effects of convergence. You are no
longer a man like the rest of them, Charlie, and it won’t take you
long to realize that.”

“What about you?”

“I’m condemned to stay here until the end of
the waking phase.”

“How long will that take?”

“According to my knowledge, the waking phase
is programmed to last for a period of at least thirty or forty
years. If I’m still alive then, you’ll practically be an old
man.”

“We’ll both be old men,” answered Charlie
with a smile. “Forty years is an eternity!”

“But I’m already an old man, Charlie, almost
a relic!” he replied, returning the smile.

With that touch of humor, Victor avoided
specifying that during the waking phase the cellular ageing process
would no longer be blocked, as it had been during deep hibernation.
It would nevertheless be greatly retarded, so that he would not age
more than a few years, although by then, Charlie would be nearing
the end of his life.

“And yet, it will not be too long,” he said
in a more serious tone. “Between now and then you might have
managed to locate Australopolis and you’ll be able to fill me in on
your findings.”

Charlie had not thought that far ahead, but
it was obvious: he could not live with such a secret forever,
without trying to solve the mystery. It was not only for Victor’s
sake that he would take on the quest. Perhaps Australopolis held
the keys to the origin of humanity, and he did not doubt the
interest that Giuseppe and his team would have in that.