Chapter 3

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

“Dinner was a little weird last night,” Jan said.

“Did you serve aardvark?” Jake asked as he drove west down the farm-to-market road. The sun had just risen directly behind him, throwing long shadows before the car.

“No, the menu was normal. It was a diner who was strange.”

“You served dinner to an aardvark?”

“No, smart ass. The strange diner was Christine.”

“Strange how?”

“She was distracted. Even Mark noticed something was off.”

“Did you ask her about it?”

“I did, after dinner. She said she couldn’t talk about it.”

“I’ll commend her on her discretion.”

“What was she being discreet about?”

“She, Shannon, and I got together to explore her submissiveness.”

“Huh.”

“Huh, what?”

“I don’t understand yet. If you were dominating Christine why was she mooning at Shannon during dinner?”

Jake smiled. “Life is full of surprises, my love. I didn’t dominate Christine. Shannon did.”

Jan looked at him with confusion on her face. “But Shannon is a submissive.”

“Actually, Shannon is a switch. I made her dominate Christine. She handled it like she was born to it.”

“Why did you do that?”

“First, because I don’t want another woman. I can’t take on every submissive that crosses my path. Not only don’t I have enough time to devote to my women as it is, but I’m also not dominant enough to be happy doing it. Second, I saw that Shannon has a dominant side that she hadn’t yet noticed. She loves the submission so much, she might never have learned that she can be a top, too, until someone rubbed her nose in it.”

Jake turned onto a dirt road and followed it a quarter of a mile until he came to the farmhouse. He turned off the car and faced Jan.

“Before we go in, let’s talk for a minute. He’s blind, deaf, and paralyzed. He can’t engage his vocal cords. He can’t hurt me or Ellen. He can’t use his power in any way. Any time he thinks about harming me or lying to me, he experiences severe pain. There are other precautions that I won’t tell you about so that he can’t read them from you. He has two dislocated fingers. He’s hungry, thirsty, and bored. He stinks like a homeless man. And despite all of that, he’s still very dangerous.”

“How can you worry about him after all that?”

“Because he has a lifetime of experience with his abilities. I won’t even pretend to be his match. I don’t know that I’ve missed anything, but I’m scared to death of what I don’t know.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t go in there.”

“Believe me that that would be the most prudent thing.” He took Jan’s hand. “But you know how I rely on you. If I’m going to undo the worst of the harm my father has done, I need your help. If you don’t know what he’s been doing to his victims then you won’t be able to advise me.

“If you go in there with me, it will increase the risk to you. I would go crazy if I screwed up, and you were harmed. But the potential to relieve the suffering of his victims is significant. I’m torn and I can’t choose. All I can do is let you do what you think is best. If you decide not to, I won’t think badly of you. In fact, I’ll be relieved.”

Jan kissed him on the cheek. “Of course I’m going in with you. You’re sweet to want to protect me, but it’s also paternalistic and insulting to take the decision of what risk I’m willing to face away from me. You’ve given me an honest assessment of the risks, and I absolve you in advance for any harm that might occur.”

“Yes, Jan. But your forgiveness won’t stop me from feeling guilty if something bad happens.”

“I know. Just be careful. We’ll do our best.”

“You’ll be safest if you stay twenty feet from him. I’ll relay to you everything I sense from him. He won’t be able to hear you talk, but he’ll know you are there from my thoughts. He’ll be able to read you directly if you get too close. If you do come in range, control your thoughts. The less he learns about you the better.”

She kissed his cheek again. “Let’s go, my love. We’re not doing any good sitting out here worrying.”

Jake unlocked the front door and led her to a back bedroom. He opened a channel so Jan would receive his father’s thoughts and emotions. There was an air mattress on the floor, Harris lying on top of it motionless.

Jake unparalyzed him.

Come on, Dad. The john is this way.

Jake helped him to his feet. Harris was barely able to stand for a few moments. Jake took his arm and led him to the bathroom.

Give me a minute. I’ve got to take a dump.

I’ll be waiting out here when you finish.

Jake stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door.

“You trust him in there by himself?” Jan asked.

“I suppose he could try to kill himself by sticking his head into the toilet but there is nothing else in the bathroom. He’s lucky I put toilet paper in there.”

They waited a couple of minutes. Then the toilet flushed. Jake was walking to the bathroom when he heard a tortured grunt from inside. Jake ran for the door. Another followed immediately. That one was followed by an agonized gurgle.

Jake threw open the door. Harris was standing there, trembling. His face was wet with sweat.

What happened? Jake sent.

It was nothing, Harris said.

There is nothing about you that I can afford to disregard. Tell me.

Then Jake noticed that his fingers were no longer sticking out at odd angles.

When she sees that she’s just going to dislocate them again, Jake said.

If I didn’t do something, they would never heal right. He cocked his head as though he were trying to hear a distant sound. You brought a visitor, someone you’re very fond of.

Yes, I did. But that’s the last we’re going to say about her. I’m here to talk to you.

Then let’s talk.

Jake led him back to the bedroom and had him sit on the air mattress. Jake threw him a bag with a sausage biscuit.

I thought you were going to make me go hungry again.

Jake sat in a straight-backed chair just inside the door. Jan sat in a similar chair out in the hall.

Harris finished his sandwich and Jake handed him the bottle of Gatorade.

Why should a predator feel guilty about what happens to prey?

I suppose I should thank you. If you had turned out to have any admirable qualities, I would have felt guilty about what I’m going to do to you.

Jake heard Jan moving in the hallway.

“Jake, you need to see this,” she said, looking into the bathroom.

Jake hurried down the hall, pushed past her, and looked into the bathroom, too.

“What do you see, Jan?” he asked, looking around.

Jan shoved him from behind. He fell to his knees. The bathroom door closed behind him. Jake jumped up and tried the door, but something was keeping it shut. He sensed Jan walking toward the front door of the farmhouse. He froze her.

Then Jake heard a cry of frustration from Harris from the direction of the front door. He laughed. Harris had just discovered that Jake had linked fear to leaving the house.

I think I have the picture now, he sent to Jan. Harris compelled you to lock me in here and then help him get away. But he’s just found out that he can’t make himself leave the farmhouse. Meanwhile, you are frozen and can’t come to his aid. I’d say that we are at an impasse here. Can you see him, Jan?

Jake was stuck in the bathroom, but he didn’t think that the chair would be strong enough to keep him from pushing open the door.

Jan had been compelled to help Harris escape, although he didn’t know how. Jake could prevent people from doing things, but compelling a specific action was a lot harder.

He had maybe ten minutes before Jan could move again. He needed to fix this before then. At least, Jan was close enough to him that Harris would have to come back into his range to do anything else to her.

How had Harris managed to compel Jan despite the conditioning that was supposed to prevent him from using his powers? If Jake couldn’t figure that out then Harris was too dangerous for Jake to let him live out the hour.

Jake started looking through Jan’s mind, searching for clues. Would he even be able to see what Harris had done? If Harris had inserted a ring into Jan’s mind, Jake would be able to see it, but Jake couldn’t see how a ring could have been used to do - do what? What had he done to her? She said that she had to help Harris get away. Had he somehow installed a goal in Jan? She was resourceful. If Harris had motivated her to do something, she would be able to come up with this scheme on her own.

Jan, what is the thing you want to do most of all?

An intention rose up in Jan’s consciousness. She wanted to help Harris escape. He felt the strength of it. It was stronger than her affection for Jake. It was even stronger than her desire to live. How had Harris installed this goal? Jake knew how to reprioritize goals, but he didn’t know how to install one.

At least he could make it less strong. He weakened the goal until he was pretty sure that her loyalty to Jake would take precedence. It was easy enough to test.

Owww, Jan sent.

Owww. Damn that smarts, Jan sent. Besides, he wouldn’t have had to hurt you to take control of you.

You’re right about that. Probably the only way I’ll find out is to make him tell me.

She cried out loud. Son of a bitch. I hope this is the last time you freeze me, Jake. I can shuffle around now.

Jake heard scuffling outside the door and then the chair fell to the floor. He pushed the door open. Harris was sitting by the front door well out of range. Jan was standing by the bathroom door, grimacing in pain.

“You look like you could use some endorphins.”

“God, yes.”

Jake stimulated Jan’s sexual arousal circuits and pushed her quickly to an orgasm. He held her up while she climaxed. He lightly energized her feedback circuit to keep the orgasm running. He let it go on for two minutes before he released her. She sagged against him bonelessly. He gently laid her on the floor.

“Endorphins work at the biochemical level. This is the only way I know to make the brain release them.”

“It seems like it works to me. But if you’re going to have sex with me, at least kiss me.”

He smiled at her and kissed her tenderly.

“Now that we have this unpleasantness behind us,” Jake said, “it’s time to get to work. Let’s keep our distance from him until we know what just happened.”

He broke the rings on Harris’s auditory nerves and the nerve that controlled the vocal cords.

“Talk to me, Dad. Would you like to explain what just happened?”

Harris cleared his throat and then made some random sounds. Finally he spoke.

“You sound like a boy. I can’t fucking believe that I’ve been bested by a kid. I don’t care what you do any more. Kill me now. Be done with it.”

“As tempting as that is, you aren’t going anywhere until I’ve bled you dry of information. Now suppose you tell me what you did with Jan and how you did it.”

“I made her want to help me, that’s all. Can’t you do that?”

“Indirectly, but not like you did.”

“You’ve done some interesting things directly to nerves. But I don’t know why you’re messing around with that stuff when you could be perfecting your skills on the conscious mind. You can do so much more that way, and it’s a lot easier.

“I don’t know how to do what you did.”

“Growing up with a mind-reading mother was mostly a pain, but there were some advantages. I was attentive enough that I eventually learned to do everything that she could.”

“So you made Jan want to help you escape.”

“Yep. I knew I would only be able to implant one command. The one I used had a lot of bang for the buck.”

“How did you install it?”

“How do you do anything at the level of the conscious mind? You think it and it happens.”

Jake delved into Jan’s mind. He located her intention to help Harris escape and pulled it gently out. He implanted a goal of talking Jake into shaving his scalp bald and made it her highest priority.

Jan slid up next to him. She rubbed one hand over his chest and ran the other through his hair.

“I know you’re busy right now, Jake,” she said in a low, intimate voice, “but I think it would be the sexiest thing if you went to the barbershop and had all your hair cut off.”

“But what about my dad? I can’t just leave him here like this.”

“Oh, come on, Jake. Harris can wait. This is really important.”

Jake removed the scalp-shaving goal.

“Jake, that wasn’t very nice.”

“I’m sorry, Jan. I just wanted to see if I could do what he said. Didn’t you connect what Harris said with the sudden appearance of your new desire?”

“Not until you took it away. All I could think about was seeing you bald.”

“I wonder what other blind spots I have.” Jake turned back to Harris. “How did you defeat my control to keep you from using your power?”

“Think about it. You should be able to figure it out. Using fear doesn’t stop anyone from doing anything. It just makes it extremely unpleasant. If you are strong enough you can still do it.”

“And you were strong enough to take control of Jan.”

“Barely, but the cost was pretty high.”

“Why didn’t you take control of me?”

“You have installed too many controls in me. I would have had to defeat the control against using my power and the one against hurting you, too.”

“Why? You don’t have to hurt me to take control of me.”

“I couldn’t really separate my desire to hurt you from the desire to control you. Every time I tried to think up a way to do it, my balls would hurt. I doubt you meant it to work that way, but it proved to be effective.”

“Why did you do what you did to Kate?”

“Why talk about it? It’s just going to make you mad. When you get mad, things get even suckier for me than they already are.”

“Dad, I promise you right now, if you don’t convince me that you are being completely honest and telling me everything about her, I’m going to hurt you bad. You may see her as prey, but I see a girl kidnapped by an evil man and tortured for years. If it’s possible to help her, I’m going to do it.”

“If you want to help her, put her down. She is so close to becoming uncontrollably homicidal that I would have done it myself by the end of the month.”

“What exactly did you do to her?”

“I made her too scared to stand up to me.”

“Why?”

“Do you really need me to explain?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“Don’t tell me that you are such a pussy that it does nothing for you to have a girl whimpering in fear? Begging you to take pity on her? Willing to do anything for you if you just won’t hurt her? Besides, it also made her easy to control. She was too afraid to escape.”

“So whenever she saw you, she would feel fear?”

“That and whenever she thought about me.”

“Why did you pick her?”

“She has the face of an angel. She was timid, young and malleable. I forget where I picked her up. Her predecessor was on her last legs, and when I saw that Kate fit my needs, I took her.”

“And what did you do with the other girl?”

“I killed her.”

“How?”

“Surely you know enough to see how easy it is to kill someone.”

“Tell me.”

“I used my usual technique. I put a suppression ring around the base of her brain stem. It stops the heart immediately, among other things. Unconsciousness occurs within 30 seconds. Death is very fast.”

Jake turned his back and whispered to Jan.

“I could ring his brainstem right now. He’d never hurt another person.”

“Whatever you do, Jake, don’t do it right now,” Jan said softly. “Don’t act on impulse. Calm down and get the information that we need from him.”

Jake took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

“How many girls did you kidnap and rape?”

“I didn’t keep count.”

“Give me an estimate.”

“It was something I did most weekends. Call it 40 times a year since I was 18.”

“How old are you now?”

“Forty-one.”

Jake did the math in his head. It was nearly a thousand girls.

“How did you select them?”

“Whoever struck my fancy that week.”

“You staked out my mother. Did you do that with the others?”

“No, she was a special case. I wanted to know more about you.”

“Why?”

“You know why. If you ever have another mind reader living near you, you’ll want to know about him, too.”

“I suppose I would, but you did the one thing that would ensure that I would take you on. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“You might think so now, but how long would it have been before you became hostile. Think about it, boy. You can only have one kind of relationship with another mind reader. You are my enemy. You are not just a rival. You are a usurper. You would be coming after me soon. If you hadn’t, I would have come after you.”

“But I had no plans to go up against you. I accepted that we would never meet. I was willing to let you go your own way. Your empire wasn’t so big that it would ever interfere with my life. The only thing I wanted was for you to leave my mother alone.”

“How could I know that? Even in the unlikely event that it is true, unless I read you, I wouldn’t know that. If I came close enough to read you, you could take control of me. That’s why the Council has the policy of forbidding mind readers from sharing the same territory.”

“I’m not sure this policy makes sense, but I’ll let it go. Another thing I don’t understand is why you forced me to come after you.”

“I didn’t expect you to find me. And even if I had allowed for it, I didn’t think you could best me. If I’d known then what I’ve learned since, I would have taken more precautions. But even then, we could never have peacefully shared the same territory.”

“What about the rule that one mind reader can’t take control of another?”

“That’s what stayed my hand. But it didn’t stop me from trying to run you out of town.”

“Is that what you wanted?”

“Why do you think I let you know that I was watching you? If you had any sense you would be living in New Mexico by now.”

“Of course it didn’t hurt that my mother is beautiful. It might even be true what you say, but I also think you couldn’t control yourself. You had to have her one more time.”

“And so what if I did? Do you think the other mind readers are any different than I am?”

“If they are all like you then there are going to be problems.”

“Do you think you can take them all on? They have power and wealth. They have numbers. All you’ve got is a little luck. How much longer do you think that’s going to last? They have experience dealing with renegades.”

“You may be right. On the other hand, if they are all as overconfident and arrogant as you are, they may be surprised how much harm I can do to them. After all, I’m just fourteen. Why would they be concerned about a 14 year-old? Why would they take precautions to protect themselves from me?”

“I think it’s just a matter of time before you are turned into a plaything for one of the members of the Council.”

“Enough of this. It’s time to get to business.”

“What is your business?”

“I want you to tell us how you selected your last victim - the one just before my mom - and what you did once you had her. I’m going to read you.”

“Why bother?”

“So that my friend and I can figure out how to undo the damage.”

“Why bother?”

“You don’t think it’s worthwhile to relieve suffering?”

“Not for prey.”

“I feel differently, especially when their suffering was caused by someone close to me. Let’s go back to your room.”

“I’m enjoying the feel of the breeze through the door.”

“I’ll open the window.”

Jan, would you slip into the kitchen? That will keep you out of his range.

Jake helped Harris to his feet and guided him back to the bedroom. He showed Harris to the bed and handed him the Gatorade. Jake again rendered him deaf and dumb. Jake went back to the chair and sat. Jan positioned her chair not far from the bedroom, about ten feet from Jake.

Jake watched Harris’s mind for a minute. It worked just like everyone else’s, but he wondered what he would find if he took a random trip through his memories. Jake shied away from that thought. He didn’t have the stomach for it.

Jake looked into Harris’s prefrontal cortex, at the seat of his consciousness. It was ablaze with activity. He compared it to Jan’s brain. To his surprise, the patterns of activation were different.

Dad, what are you doing?

I’m doing the same thing you are - reading you, trying to learn something of use.

Jake went back and forth between Harris and Jan’s brains. There were significant differences in one portion of the prefrontal cortex. Where Harris’s brain was very active Jan’s was completely inactive.

Lay back on the mattress.

I’m not done with my drink.

I’ll let you get back to it in a minute. There’s something I want to see.

Jake knelt next to Harris and put his hands on his head to maximize his resolution. The region he was looking at was highly structured and very dense with neurons. It was even more complex than the region of consciousness.

Read in my brain what I’m looking at in yours, Jake sent to Harris.

What about it?

What does that region look like in my brain?

A lot like it looks in mine, Harris said, except maybe it is a bit bigger and more active than what you’re seeing in me. I could be wrong. It’s hard to compare what I sense directly with what I’m only getting second hand from you.

That region is completely dark in my friend.

Son of a bitch.

Looks to me like there are some disadvantages in never coming within range of another mind reader.

We can discuss politics later, Harris sent. The implications of this are huge. I’m going to touch your head. I need to map out the structures. If I can follow the flows, I can get a sense of how it works.

And why it works in us and not in them. Jake unparalyzed him. Go ahead.

Don’t get ahead of yourself. First, we’ve got to see if it does what you’re thinking. Read me for five seconds and then blank out your mind for five seconds.

Jake did as he was asked.

Despite his father’s assurances, Jake linked the intention of controlling or influencing anyone to the testicle pain circuit.

“Jan, would you stick your pretty head in here?”

“Yes, Jake? I was wondering what was going on.”

My father and I have discovered something about his brain and mine that looks like it has to do with our powers. It would be helpful if we had a normal person’s brain within range to compare to ours. Would you be willing to sit over here and let us look at your mind?

I don’t see how that could hurt.

Before you agree, you need to know that there is risk. He’s not a nice man. I would feel better if he didn’t have a chance to learn anything about you. I wouldn’t put it past him to try to take control of you again either. If you do this, you’ll be relying even more on me to protect you from him.

Why don’t you just bring her over, Harris said. You know you’re planning on killing me eventually.