Connexion : The Atlantis Project, Book.1 (26 page)

“Ah, Mario! I was wondering where you had
been all this time. If Clementine hadn’t given me news of you, I
would have started to think you’d gone back to Naples,” Charlie
joked.

“No, Charlie, I wouldn’t have left without
saying good bye to you. You will upset me if you keep talking like
that!” Mario replied, deliberately exaggerating his accent. “But
never mind that. I am happy to see you looking so well, full of
energy again like you were when you volunteered for the
experiment,” he said in a more serious tone.

“Yes, I’m back again, as you can see. I
missed you all during my long journey but I have no regrets. The
experience has changed my life profoundly and it may change yours,
too.”

Mario would have liked to pick up on that
last remark, but he knew that everything he said was being
recorded, as was anything said by the twins or anyone else who
entered this room. So he pretended he had not heard and brought up
the purpose of his visit, instead.

“Actually, Charlie, I have been sent to take
you to Giuseppe’s office right away for an interview with the
research team. Now you’re better, they can’t wait for you to tell
them all the details of your extraordinary journey. They are
expecting you to provide them with a lot of information about
Victor.”

Charlie had known the day would come when he
would have to undergo this formal interview. He had been dreading
the moment, but he had begun preparing himself for it even before
leaving the connection. He could remember all his experiences quite
clearly, probably because of the intense level of emotion involved
in all he had done in that semi-virtual world. It was this aspect
that had affected Charlie most of all and that was also one of the
main reasons for the fundamental changes the unique experience had
worked in him. Lastly, all he had learned about Victor and the
existence of a humanoid species that had lived on Earth well before
the appearance of Man, was a major contributing factor, too.

But there were many other elements that were
likely to have contributed to the change in Charlie. To begin with,
throughout his time in the connection he had been left to himself,
in a hostile and unpredictable world – a rare experience which had
also taught him a lot. Nevertheless, he had never been completely
alone in his adventure. Indeed, apart from a few rare exceptions,
he had always been accompanied by Victor and sometimes by Jacques,
too, although in a very different way to any he had known before.
Without them, he would surely not have made it, at least, not
completely intact, as he was today. Others before him had paid a
heavy price for having to deal with an emotionally charged
experience that was too intense and unstructured for their minds to
cope with, utterly on their own. No, what he meant by “left to
himself” was that during adventure he had been physically separated
from his brother. For the first time in his life he had been free
use his body on his own – as virtual and foreign as that body may
have been. He had been able to express himself without having to
consider or tolerate Jacques’ whims and desires. He had felt that
Victor’s or Emma’s estimation of him was very different to that he
was used to encountering when he and Jacques turned out in force,
making social contact with all the grace of a bull in a china
shop.

Lastly, there were also the effects of
convergence to take into consideration. Charlie was very aware that
it had significantly influenced the changes to his personality. It
was convergence that had mysteriously and profoundly modified his
mind, even so far as increasing his psychological potential.
Convergence had also strongly interfered in his relationship with
Emma. That is, if one can have a relationship with a completely
fabricated, virtual personality, temporarily given life – a
fictitious life, since it had only ever been the product of a
clever blend of Victor’s memories, and both of their desires and
projections. All these things seemed to have worked together,
sometimes merging into an inseparable, interminable network with
pathways that extended deep into his brain.

Anyway, in a few moments he would be faced
with a barrage of questions he would be unable to avoid. He did not
know exactly how he was going to manage yet. He would have to make
sure he did say too much, to avoid betraying Victor and to complete
the mission he had entrusted to him. His current goal was to find
the hidden part of the base and its research program. He had to
find Victor’s wife, now, if she was still alive. If she was not, he
would have to do everything in his power to find out what had
happened to her before reporting to Victor. So Mario’s announcement
was rather significant and Charlie’s happy, carefree mood left. His
face suddenly fell and turning to his brother, he said quietly, “My
dear Jacques, I think the time has come for us to get out of this
room and back to real life. What awaits us will probably not be
much fun. I haven’t told you about any of the important things I
learned in the connection yet, and that’s deliberate. You will
understand the reason why in due time but for now, I just need you
to trust me. As far as possible let me do the talking.”

Jacques looked at him in surprise. He had
found it strange that Charlie had not been more forthcoming, but
had not wanted to rush him, preferring to simply enjoy his company
again. He had realized from the start that his brother was hiding
something from him but had not questioned him about it any further.
He knew that Charlie would tell him about it one day and had
decided to give him space, assuming correctly that he had been
through some difficult experiences during the connection.

A few moments later, they took their seats in
the little car that was waiting for them on the dome’s plant-lined
roadway. Charlie unconsciously expected to find one of the little
hover cars he had had the opportunity to ride in twice while in the
connection. He had quite pleasant memories of them and compared to
those futuristic vehicles, the ordinary car that was parked in
front of him now was poor competition. During the trip he watched,
bemused, as the scenery passed by, looking very similar to what he
had seen on the way to Emma’s pavilion. He smiled at the extremely
low speed at which the small car travelled down the long road
crossing the huge residential area. The engine growled like a live
animal as it lurched over the bumps in the road’s irregular
surface.

How different things were in the connection!
Everything was easier and more comfortable. The hover cars were
equipped with ultra-ergonomic white synthetic leather seats. They
travelled without the slightest sound or vibration, and at a
phenomenal speed, too. Even the very act of walking was more
difficult here. Of course he was again hindered by the weight of a
body which he partially shared with Jacques, but that was not the
only reason for his discomfort. In a way, in the connection he had
simply been able to imagine his movements. When necessary, he had
even been able to traverse another person’s body or have someone do
the same to him without anyone noticing. In short, everything was a
lot simpler and more convenient, at least physically. Now, his
rather rough, ill-fitting clothes were extremely tight in some
places while being too loose in others. He legs were heavy and
every step jarred him slightly, reverberating right through his
skull. He had to make a considerable effort just to walk a few
meters and was soon out of breath.

From that perspective he was beginning to
miss his time in the connection. He missed it both psychologically
and physically. He was glad to be back with Jacques, Clementine,
Mario and the others again, but part of him had been left behind
forever, just as part of Victor now lived in him. The virtual
stimulation of his senses in the connection had brought on a
massive rush of hormones and other chemical stimulants naturally
secreted by the brain. There were also all those that could have
passed through the neural probe from Victor’s brain to his, during
convergence. In other words, during the connection, Charlie had
been swimming in a sea of both pleasure-giving and
anxiety-producing hormones, generated by the sensorial signals he
received and the way he interpreted them. This had given him a
particular impression of the virtual reality he was in; a
completely different reality in which a whole part of his body –
asleep and free of pain – had been replaced by a second body, a
virtual one, which had given him at times an intense sensation of
weightlessness and freedom. That sensation no longer existed today,
and he sorely missed it.

After a few minutes, which seemed like hours
to him, the vehicle pulled up in front of the research station.
They had made the trip in silence, each aware that they were going
to an interview that would be anything but casual. They got out of
the car just as silently, then Mario, after identifying himself,
motioned to them to go ahead of him into the small room adjacent to
the large hall of the dome where Victor lay. They climbed the
stairs laboriously and when they entered the small, harshly lit
room at last, they found it empty. It was only a few minutes later
that Giuseppe appeared, opening the door at the end of the
room.

“Come with me,” he said.

He led them into the next room. The windows,
which sloped in at the bottom, were on their transparent setting,
showing Victor’s enormous body lying on its metal platform below
them. Faced with this sight, Charlie felt deep sadness and pain,
which he had trouble hiding, the emotion was so strong. A sort of
nostalgia, mixed with pity washed over him. He wanted to protect
Victor. He would even have taken him in his arms if he could but he
knew that he had to hide his feelings at all costs if he was to be
of any real help to him. He did not really understand where this
sudden urge came from but he could not control it. It was as if
they were united by some invisible, intangible bond. This being,
which seemed so fundamentally close to him and to humans in
general, symbolized solitude and powerlessness in the face of a
tragedy whose final outcome they had surely not seen yet.

He discreetly brushed away the tears
beginning to escape from his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to
get a grip on himself before Giuseppe noticed anything.
Fortunately, all eyes were on the giant’s body, but Jacques sent
him a telepathic thought that was like a friend’s hand on his
shoulder:
“You know him so well now, don’t you? You must miss
him.”

Charlie did not respond, but Jacques had just
renewed the bond with his brother that would be their best asset in
the future.

“It is truly a great mystery that we have
here!” Giuseppe said suddenly, before turning to face the
twins.

“It certainly is,” answered Charlie without
hesitating.

“Although it’s certainly less of a mystery
now, isn’t it Charlie?”

Giuseppe’s friendly tone seemed insincere. It
was obvious to Charlie that he was trying to communicate to him an
expectation of full/complete cooperation. Everything about his
attitude had changed, even his facial expression, which had become
even more closed. Jacques had warned him about this change he and
Clementine had noticed. Charlie did not intend however to let
excessive distrust color his judgment. Certainly, Giuseppe had not
told them everything, but after all, why would he? He was first and
foremost the head and coordinator of an ultra-confidential research
program, which involved a certain number of responsibilities which
he would have to be accountable for to his superiors.

Charlie knew he had to be cautious, while
doing his utmost to maintain a positive relationship with Giuseppe.
He did not think the ambient distrust that had crept in during his
absence would be conducive to the sincere, constructive cooperation
that he needed. In any case, one thing was sure; each of the two
main players needed the other in order to reach his goal. After a
moment’s hesitation, Charlie decided to answer him sincerely, all
the while hoping to make him understand that he did not see himself
as a mere pawn in the game of chess they had just begun.

“You can say that again! It has been a very
rich and extremely intense journey for me. Actually, I want to
thank you. If you hadn’t chosen me, there are things in this world
I would never have had the opportunity to experience.”

“Don’t thank me, Charlie. You should be
thanking Jacques and Francisco. They are the ones who trusted you
and accompanied you all through an extremely risky process. I only
followed Francisco’s advice which, incidentally, I have not
regretted – in any case, not thus far. If necessary, the future
will reveal whether this truly was the good and right choice.”

It seemed to Charlie that this false modesty
served the unique purpose of keeping an appropriate distance in
their relationship. Giuseppe was not one to succumb to flattery or
manipulation by anyone, which he had just demonstrated and Charlie
was going to have to take that into account during the rest of the
interview.

“Now that you mention it, I’m surprised
Francisco isn’t here. I haven’t seen him since I came out of the
connection.”

“Well, since you mention it, I must tell you
that he was particularly upset by the way in which you came out of
the connection. He was not expecting it at all. As you know, we
were expecting you to communicate via the neural probe that you
were ready to come back. The other candidates did not have that
possibility. We had to disconnect them without their consent, which
caused significant damage, profoundly upsetting their psychological
balance. Fortunately, today most of them have found a satisfactory
balance again but none of them has been able to give us the
slightest piece of useful information about Victor or the
experiences they had. Francisco is very afraid that it will be the
same for you, and for some unknown reason, that is particularly
important to him. He feels responsible for any possible failure,
and he told me this morning that he would prefer me to conduct this
first interview without him. You know, Francisco can seem cold and
unemotional, but when he becomes attached to someone he does not
take it lightly. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, but I have rarely
seen him so anxious.”