Dynamis | Chapter 30 - Doubt (Patreon)

Decompartmentalizing what had happened was proving to be difficult. Karl had heard hundreds of stories, detailing exactly what happened to a man and a woman the first time they neurolinked. Tingling nerves, shared sensations, dizziness, and sexual tension were some of the more common effects, but not a single one had ever mentioned shared visions.

To make matters worse, his manhood had throbbed during the entire session. Now, in his boxers and an oversized T-shirt, at least that part of him had calmed down. He wanted to blame the suit for this discomfort during the test, but he knew better. Merging their senses had transformed light brushes into sensual massages. Lilibelle’s fingertips, Daidari’s palm; both of them lingered on his skin despite never having physically touched him.

“Now what?” he said with a sigh.

With the suit returned and the test at an end, all there was to do now was await the results. From what Instructor Boldwin had told them, they’d be receiving their tests by the end of the evening. No one had expressed that correspondence would be necessary. In fact, they encouraged everyone to rest up for the next day.

But sleep was impossible. How was one supposed to sleep without hearing the results?

Karl sat up in his bed and searched the room for something to do. It’d been a few hours since the test had concluded, so right now Jark and all the other mechanics were probably going over the results with Almezer and his team. Hanging out with them was a no-go. He ran a hand over the back of his head, threading his hair through his fingers. He thought of taking a shower but feared that washing himself would invite him to perform certain deviant actions.

Resting his palms over his face, his thoughts continued to wander. He couldn’t sleep, Jark and the others were busy, and he was afraid of running into Lilibelle or Daidari. What did that leave him left to do but to wait?

He peered through the gaps of his fingers. The room was bathed in blue light from the lamp he kept beside his bed. It was low and gentle, simulating the ocean blue of shifting tides. The light rippled across his desk, his walls, the dresser across from his bed. He tried to imagine what it would be like to swim in the ocean. To see the fish beneath you and depths so deep you could hardly see the bottom.

For a while, the thought brought him peace. Enough that he could think beyond himself. He could almost feel the water sweeping over his skin and the birds overhead. But the reverie was rudely interrupted by images of the Sovereigns marching out of the water. Until those creatures were dead, swimming in the ocean would never be safe.

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, Karl got up and started to pace his room. It was usually a good way to clear his head, but all it did was amplify his concerns.

“This is never going to work,” Karl groaned under his breath. “It can’t. This is too much. How am I supposed to focus with sensations like these?”

He needed to speak to someone, anyone who knew about conducting these Frames. At first, he thought he might bother Sean with a few questions, just to alleviate his anxiety. But Sean had already been through enough as it was. Burdening him with questions that might remind him of his lost love would be cruel.

So, after pacing the room for what felt like an hour, he returned to his bed and pulled the covers up to his neck. If he couldn’t sleep, then he could at least rest his eyes.

That’s when he got a message.

—

Karl wasn’t sure how much sleep he’d gotten, but it wasn’t much. A couple of hours at best. Somehow the message he’d received had only posed new questions instead of answering the ones he already had. Now, he tentatively waited in Almezer’s lab for his analysis.

More concerning, Daidari and Lilibelle were seated at his sides in the hallway, both of them having not uttered a word since they met in the hallway. The silence was so thick, the awkward air between them so palpable, he was certain he was going to suffocate. They had to have felt the same way.

Relief washed over him when Almezer’s door clicked open. The weathered man stood in the doorway and gestured to them. “All three of you can come in.”

Well, there went any notion of getting his results privately. Karl got up from his seat and strode past Almezer into the office, Lilibelle and Daidari right behind him. Almezer shut the door as soon as they were inside, then gestured to the chairs in front of his desk before sitting down.

Karl took the middle seat, while Lilibelle took the seat to his left, Daidari to his right. Clasping his hands, Karl leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and awaited Almezer’s report.

Almezer cleared his throat. “I’m sure that after the message you received last night, you must be climbing the walls.” They nodded, and Almezer breathed a sigh. “Then I won’t leave you in the dark.” He pulled open a drawer and withdrew three clipboards, separating them and pushing them forward. “These are yours to keep.”

They each took their appropriate clipboards and began to read. At first, the results looked similar to how they had during the neurolink exams and the simulations. All parameters were within expected ranges. That was, until he made it to the second page, where brainwave activity was measured between the conductors. For a moment he thought there was an error on the page. There were usually two lines—one for each conductor—but there was only a singular line.

Karl opened his mouth to contest the result, when he suddenly noticed something peculiar about the line.

“Do you see anything wrong?” Almezer asked as he leaned back in his chair with his arms folded.

The line which represented his brainwave signal was thicker than usual. He squinted his eyes and drew the page closer to his face. The second brainwave wasn’t missing. It had merged with the first. His synchronization was perfect with both Lilibelle and Daidari. At no point did the neurolink suffer any lapses or disruptions. The synchronization was a one-for-one match.

Every metric was measured to be Harmonic[P], a score Karl had never seen before. All five senses reported harmonic resonance, the DF moving as if it were the conductor’s own body. Even among Harmonic conductors, there was a minimum of one percent sync failure. What Karl was looking at was not only unheard of, but should have been impossible.

“There must be a mistake,” Karl said, unsure whether this was good or bad. “How could—”

Almezer shook his head. “We had the results cross-examined by our very best. Jark Strobar, Roxy Averaut, and Clarence Worne assure us that the Dynamic Frame is in perfect working order. All other conductors tested as expected.” He leaned forward and tapped the metal clip of Karl’s board. “There is no mistake.”

“The hell does this mean?” Lilibelle asked as she tossed the clipboard onto the desk.

Almezer sighed. “It means that unlike standard Harmonic conductors, you three are inextricably linked from this day forward. You have a 100% sync rate.” He shrugged. “I have never seen this in all my years working here. It’s unlikely Admiral Chovek will allow any of you to pair up with the others.”

Karl frowned. “And the other students are fine?”

Almezer nodded. “That’s right. They all fell within expected parameters. They’ll make fine conductors, of that I have no doubt. But as for you three,” he said, pointing at each of them in turn, “you best get used to being Deadeye’s golden children.”

“With all due respect,” Daidari said after a pause, “you still have not told us what will be expected of us.”

Almezer stared at her for a moment before bowing at the neck. The clock ticked on his wall, and the chair squeaked with his shifting weight. “That will be up to the higher-ups. Only thing I can say is that they will expect great things from you.” He looked up. “A perfect match like this is theoretically impossible.” He chuckled. “Seems we still don’t know everything there is to know regarding the Frames.”

“Then the images I saw,” Karl started.

“Karl, no,” Lilibelle hissed, shaking her head. Her cheeks were bright red.

“Images?” Almezer said, his tone tinged with curiosity. “What images?”

“He needs to know,” Karl said with a shrug. Who else were they going to tell, if not him? He was the lead researcher in DF technologies. Never had he heard of such a thing occurring, and they needed answers.

“During the test, I saw visions,” Karl continued. “At first, it confused me. I didn’t know what I was looking at.” He paused to lick his lips. “After the first test, before Lilibelle got in, I spent some time thinking about what I’d seen.” He clenched his jaw as the image of Daidari being struck by her sister’s hand burned in his memory. “What I saw had to have been a memory from Daidari’s past. I couldn’t say for sure, though” A picture of a girl with long blonde hair tied into pigtails wandering a blood-riddled estate resurfaced. “Not until Lilibelle stepped in. Is it possible that this is a side effect of perfect synchronization?”

“You believe you peered into their memories?” Almezer said after a pause.

“I’m certain of it.” He glanced at his partners. “You saw something too, didn’t you?”

Daidari nodded solemnly. “Yes.”

“Yeah,” Lilibelle mumbled, crossing one leg over the other.

“This is… something,” Almezer said just loud enough for Karl to hear. He ran his hand over his face, massaging the beard at his chin. Karl had hoped he’d be excited. Instead, he looked nervous. “You’re not lying to me, are you?”

“No, of course not,” Karl said, shaking his head. “I have nothing to gain from lying.”

Almezer nodded as if he had affirmed something. “Have you spoken to anyone else about this?”

They all voiced various negatory responses.

He brushed his hands together, his gaze glued to something else. “Keep it that way. For now. If word ever got out about this, then…”

“Then… what?” Lilibelle asked.

“I can’t be sure what Deadeye would do,” he said, raising his hands. “So, until I say otherwise, keep that information to yourselves. In the meantime, I’m going to look into this matter. I may call upon you again to see if we can replicate the experience.”

Karl began to wonder if he had made a mistake confiding in the doctor. “Thank you, sir.”

“Thank you,” Daidari said, bowing her head.

Lilibelle grunted.

“For now, you should go back to your rooms.” He rose from his seat and extended his hand. One by one, Karl and the others shook his hand. He sat back down and began typing on his computer. “Dismissed.”

After taking their reports and handing back the clipboards, they gave the instructor a crisp salute, then filed out of the office. Once the door shut, Karl breathed a sigh of relief and rolled up his papers, tucking them into the inside pocket of his jacket.

“Well, that could’ve gone a lot worse,” he said.

“Indeed,” Daidari said. “Though the nature of our test comes as a surprise.”

“That was stupidly heavy-handed for what was basically a promotion,” Lilibelle said with a roll of her eyes. “Why not just send it to us in a message? Why the whole standing on ceremony shit?”

Karl frowned. “What’s got under your skin?”

“I stayed up. All. Night waiting for this.” She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I am so tired, I just wanna sleep for a week.”

Karl chuckled. “I feel the same way.”

“Is it true, though, Donovan?” Daidari asked.

“Which part?”

“That we’re seeing into each other’s memories?”

Her question robbed some of the air from his lungs. “I-I think so, yes.”

The gentlest hue of pink dabbed Daidari’s cheeks. She averted her stare and nodded to herself.

“I saw an old woman and a tall man,” Lilibelle said. “Who were those people?”

“We should not pry into his memories, Miss Katsun,” Daidari said.

“He doesn’t have to answer if he doesn’t want to.” Her eyes dug into him like a pair of knives. “So? Who were they?”

Karl swallowed hard. Considering there was a chance they’d show up again, he saw no reason to hide their identities. “If it’s what I think it is, then probably my mother and brother.” He rubbed the small earring that dangled from his left ear. “Was she wearing a pair of earrings like this?”

Lilibelle nodded.

“Thought so.”

“I should go now,” Daidari said. “I need some time alone.” Before anyone could stop her, she spun on her heel and started down the hall for the stairs.

Karl rubbed the back of his neck. Now that he was alone with Lilibelle, things were so much more awkward. He’d never admit it, but no small number of images of Lilibelle’s nude shape had danced around in his vision during the exam as well—with Daidari being no exception—and it was proving to take far more effort than he’d imagined not to undress her in his mind’s eye.

“Do you, um, want to know what I saw?” Karl averted his gaze, hoping to keep his hormones distracted.

Lilibelle shook her head. “No.”

“All right. Um, then I guess—”

“I have to go,” she said quickly. “See you around, Karl.”

Lilibelle turned around and headed down the same hall Daidari had. Unlike Daidari, however, she made for the elevator, and Karl took that as a hint that she didn’t want to be around anyone; especially him.

For a few seconds he just stood there, wondering how this situation would change their lives and their connection with the Dynamic Frames. Lilibelle had made it a point that they, being Harmonic, were far too important for Deadeye to lose.

And now, he was worried that she was right.