Chapter 24

Thelma and all of the girls piped up saying they thought that was a great idea. Cindi was especially enthusiastic about going to Sea World.

When we got back to the RV, I went ahead and hooked the Suburban up to the back of the RV. I went inside and found I was the only member of the family wearing clothes. I quickly rectified the situation and took a seat in the recliner. I held out my arms to Sharon, and she sat on my lap.

"Guys, there are some things we need to talk about and think about. We've been putting some of them off, but this woman tonight has me a little scared."

"I guess she scares me a little too," Bonnie admitted. "It could be we're mistaken about seeing her before, but not being able to read her is definitely scary. If she can read us and we can't read her, then we could be in trouble."

"I read in a science fiction book one time about a guy who managed to get his thoughts passed a mind reader by thinking of the lyrics of a song all the time. If we did that we wouldn't be able to think of anything else though."

"No, we need a shield like the woman has, if that's what it is," Bonnie agreed.

"Mike, see if you can read me right now," Cindi said.

I looked at her a little funny, then made the effort. Nothing. "Cindi, what did you do?"

Cindi giggled. "I just projected that there is nothing here," she told me.

"The rest of you see if you can read her," I said.

They all had the same luck I did. <Can you hear me this way Cindi?> I asked mentally.

<Yes, I can still hear you, Can you pick it up that I'm projecting directly to you?>

<Yes, Sweetheart. Can the others hear you?>

<I don't think so. I'll keep projecting things to you and you ask them if they hear me.>

"Ladies, Cindi is projecting thoughts to me. See if you can hear what she is projecting, or if you can read her while she does."

"Not a thing," Bonnie said and everyone else agreed.

"Can you show the rest of us how to do that?" I asked.

"Sure, it's easy. I'm just projecting I'm not here. You can do that by just telling your brain to do it. You don't even have to think about it after you start it. It should work even while you're sleeping."

We played around with it, and soon all of us had it working. "Cindi, you are amazing. How did you think of doing that?" I asked her.

"I don't know Mike. It just seemed like the way to do it."

"I am going to miss being able to look in on you guys though. I didn't do it often, but it was comforting knowing I could."

"We might be able to do something about that," Cindi said. "I'm going to see if I can shut off the projection to two of you. Tell me which ones can read me."

"I've got you," Sharon said.

"So have I," Beth agreed. The rest of us still couldn't tell she was even in the room.

Cindi showed us how she had accomplished the latest changes, and to all outward appearances we were just as we had been before.

"There are a few other things we need to talk about," I told them. "First off, we have always made it a policy to ask before mentally joining with each other. This let us feel a little more individuality, but I think it has also prevented us from becoming as close as I'd like for us to be. I'd like to do a little experiment. For one day, I'd like for us all to remain linked for the entire day. If it turns out we don't like it, or if it causes too many problems, like too much input for the driver of the RV, then we can end the experiment."

"I was hesitant the last time you proposed something like this Mike, but I see the advantages of it. If one of us were to get in trouble, the rest of us would know immediately. I'm for giving it a try," Bonnie said.

"I don't have anything to hide from any of you," Thelma said. "I think it may be a problem though. If I was driving the RV and Sharon was having an orgasm at the same time, I don't know if I'd be able to concentrate on my driving."

"I have an idea," Cindi broke in. "We should be able to limit the linked input. If one of you is driving or something that requires a lot of attention, limit the link to 25% of your input. We'd be using that much of our brain for other things if we were just carrying on a conversation. The rest of the family would still be getting 100% from the person who was driving."

"That makes sense," I said. "I think we could do that. We could even tune it out completely if all of our concentration was needed on what we were doing. What do the rest of you think?"

"I think it'd work," Thelma said. "I'm for giving it a try."

Sharon had been looking a little uncomfortable, but perked up as Cindi gave us her last idea. "I can go for it," she said. "This is a very intimate thing we're talking about. I mean, how many people are willing to let someone else know what they are thinking and feeling when they're taking a shit. I don't think I could do it with any other group of people, but we are all so close I don't think I'll even think about it."

"I never thought I'd be saying this, but I'm for it. I loved my parents dearly, but I wouldn't have been able to have shared this much with them. With you guys I can. I know you are all completely non-judgmental. If I think something I would have wanted to keep a secret before, I know you'll just accept it as a random thought," Missy told us.

"I have never been shy with Mom or Mike," Beth said. "The rest of you have become such a part of me I could never be shy with any of you either. I'm for it."

"Cindi, what do you think?" I asked.

"You mean I get to be a part of it?"

"Honey, if we tried to keep you out, you'd just find a way to sneak in around the edges. Of course you'll be part of it if you want. The only thing is, if we are doing something that isn't appropriate for you, we'll block you out."

Cindi pouted for a minute then said, "Oh I want. In some ways I feel like I'm one seventh of a whole person now, but I feel like that person is a thousand times as large and a thousand times as smart as any person has ever been before. I love you all!"

"Okay, then it's agreed. As each of us wakes up in the morning, we'll link with the others. If it gets to be too much for any of us, we'll let the others know, and maybe we can work something out," I said. "There are three or four other things we need to be thinking about. We don't necessarily need to talk about them tonight, because it is getting late, but here they are, so we can be thinking about them. First is the woman who may be following us. What do we do about her and how do we watch for her or others like her? Second is this Cunningham character who was trying to get information from Thelma. Third is the Daniels and Andrews situation. We can't let them get away with this kind of thing. What do we do about them? We also need to find out about Josh. Is he out of the way permanently? We also need to think about getting IQ tests for Sharon, Missy and Cindi. It probably wouldn't hurt for Bonnie and Thelma to take the tests as well. Can anyone think of anything else?"

"Do we need to do anything more about Butterman?" Missy asked.

"I don't think so. We pretty well cut him off from female companionship when we played the tape. From what I understand he hasn't had a date since."

We decided to call it quits for the night, so all of us headed off to bed. I snuggled in with Bonnie and Sharon. As I drifted off to sleep I was thinking of how I didn't think my life could get any better. It amazed me a little to think like this. I had never once had a thought like that in all my years as George, and I was pretty sure the original Mike had never had these thoughts either.

Thursday, November 4, 1976

Although it was after midnight when we went to bed, I was up before seven, fully rested and eager for the day to begin. I'll swear that coffee brewing awakens Missy. I was just setting my first cup on the table when she came in to the kitchen. I fixed her a cup and brought it over while she stood there hugging herself.

She moved onto my lap when I sat down. I held her and stroked her hair and back while I told her I loved her. After she had taken her second sip of coffee, she asked mentally, <Mike, why haven't you linked with me?>