— Thank you for the update. Now sit somewhere. Your brother said he would be back for lunch and it is 11h30. We do not have much time.
I left Ergis in the sofa pulling and pushing the stroller, and went to find my earphones in my bag before sitting in the office chair.
— Ok. I’m sitting. I said, putting my earphones in.
— Right. Close your eyes. Have you ever tried hypnosis ?
— I have, but mostly as the practician, I lied. It’s part of what we do for our patients at the hospital.
Damn and there I was lying again. Aldan was helping me learn telepathy, and somehow figure out who I was, and I was lying to him.
— Good. Then it might be easier than I thought.
What was I really afraid of ? That he or Ergis would just randomly turn into rapists as soon as I would tell them about the abortion ?
I shuddered.
That was nonsense, even to conscious me. No one could ever believe that that was a solution to save their species. But I couldn’t yet convince subconscious me.
— Victoire ?
— Sorry. I got side-tracked. I have my eyes closed.
— Right. Keep listening to me, I will talk you through it. Pay attention to what your brain and mind do. It is not the body that you are interested in. Oh. And do not try to communicate back yet. You do not know how to target. You will communicate with any telepath kilometers around.
I quickly got carried away by the familiar low speech rhythm, expecting to reach my beach and hear my chirping birds anytime soon.
Now stay there. Do not go any further. That is how you listen.
I wasn’t at the beach. I could almost hear the birds calling me. I focused as hard as I could on Aldan’s non-voice in my head.
Do you hear me ? Remember, speak normally.
— Yes. I said slowly.
Great ! Ergis ? Say hi.
To whom ? Said another identical non-voice.
Victoire, obviously. You heard him ?
— Yes.
Good good. Now let us get you back. Do the same as what you would do with hypnosis.
I had a moment of confusion about being lost here because I couldn’t figure out how to de-hypnose myself, but I eventually found my way back.
— Do not stand up too quickly. You are not used to it, it is more tiring that it looks. Ergis and I have been doing this since before we can remember. Ergis says your brother is back, so let us try again later. I have nothing planned until diner.
— Ok. Thanks.
I yawned as if I was rehearsing the role for Sleeping Beauty, and slowly realized my heart was rushing blood into my veins with excitation.
— Er… said Aldan, who I thought had already hung up. See you later. I thought you would hung up.
Then the call ended.
— Vic said you’re a police officer too? Asked Laetizia while serving lunch.
I almost felt bad for Ergis now. My soon-to-be sister in law was obviously very much convinced by the story I had told Steve. To be fair, I was rather impressed by his performance at keeping his grumpy and scratchy side in check.
— Yes, my department mostly deals with organized crime.
— Well, that’s good. You’ve had a psychological assessment before you got in, right ?
I felt compelled to help him out.
— She is referring to the ex I told you about. Thanks Lizia for bringing that up.
She laughed and winced at me as if to say « if you want a second opinion, you need to let me work ».
— Don’t worry, said Ergis with a smile. It’s nice of her to worry about you.
I chocked on my coke. I already had perfecto-Ergis, and now I was in front of weirdly-nice-Ergis. Was he a really good liar or schizophrenic ? So much for psychological assessment.
— What’s the plan for the afternoon ? I asked to switch subjects as Steve walked back in with Amelia who had just woken up.
— If you can survive with Amelia alone, we’d like to go check on the reception rooms at the hotel on the way back from the wine shop. It might take a while, we have to review everything they have received for us.
— Sure.
We finished lunch with some chocolate cake, then I dressed Amelia for a stroll and got my jacket on.
— Tu peux rester ici, I said as Ergis was reaching for his own jacket. Je ne vais pas me perdre, et j’ai mon téléphone.
— Non. Je pensais sortir la petite pour que tu aies du temps pour t’entraîner.
Je lui fis répéter de peur d’avoir mal compris, mais ce n’était pas le cas.
— Tu vas t’en sortir avec un bébé humain ?
— De ce que j’en ai vu la seule vraie différence c’est la télépathie. Ah si, il y a le fromage.
Il sortit ses oreillettes et les glissa derrière ses oreilles.
— Appelle-moi si il y a un problème.
Une question saugrenue me passa par la tête.
— Tu as des enfants ? Des petits je veux dire ?
— Pas comme tu l’entends. Il y a des petits de ma lignée oui. Je n’ai pas regardé combien depuis longtemps, je m’en fiche un peu. Mais je suis l’aîné de ma mère. J’ai trois soeurs, et deux ont des enfants déjà. Je sais changer des couches.
Je le laissai sortir avec Amélia en refoulant une foule d’autres questions générées par la première et claquai la porte derrière lui, avant de m’affaler sur le sofa avec mon téléphone et mes propres écouteurs et envoyai un message à Aldan.
I have time for my lecture
Bénédicte m’avait écrit, et je passai un peu de temps à échanger avec elle jusqu’à ce que mon téléphone sonne et affiche « Aldan ».
— Ok. So this time, you try to reach the hearing threshold on your own, and tell me if you hear me.
Je posai ma tête sur l’accoudoir et fermai les yeux. J’étais une habituée de la plage aux odeurs de soleil et de la sensation des pieds sur le sable, mais je me rendis vite compte que le plus difficile, c’était de ne pas y aller.
— Still nothing ?
— Shh I’m trying.
… know what to do to …
— Ah! Ah crap, lost you again.
I looked for the right consciousness level again.
… demandé à la luuuuuneeeuh…
I hold on to the place like a baby chimp on branches.
— You know Indochine ?
Not really, I just looked it up on Google because it was written everywhere on your tshirts. This song is the first that comes up on Youtube. Listen.
And just like that the song was playing in my head. Not like Aldan’s non-voice, but as if it was playing on a radio next to me.
— Wow. How does that work ?
I am letting you hear what I hear.
— Is there a chance that I learn to do that too ?
I am sorry but it is unlikely. So let us do the whole thing again. Get back, stand up, walk a bit, and then try to listen again.
— I’m running out of battery, I said as my phone biped to warn me. In the figurative sense as well.
Makes sense. You are doing your best, but it is tiring.
— Might we try again later ?
I- I have a conference soon. I text you after, but I do not know how well I will handle the new medicine my doc gave me so I might not feel good enough. But tomorrow if you have time I can teach you to target.
— Alright, I said cheerfully, hoping he wouldn’t feel bad about not being able to teach me again. I hear from you after diner then.
I carefully hung up and went to look for my battery cable on slightly shaky feet.
Then I boiled some water and tidied the kitchen a bit to help my brother while I waited for both my tea and Ergis’ return.
I was taking off the teabag from my cup when I heard the bell ring. I silently went to the window and took a peak outside, and then went to the door to open to Ergis.
— Tu en mets du temps à ouvrir une porte, he said, lifting Amelia from the stroller to put her in my arms.
— Je n’ai pas attendu de me faire agresser chez moi pour vérifier qui c’est avant d’ouvrir.
— Oui, ben ça m’a pas empêché d’entrer, dit Ergis avec un demi-sourire.
C’était son idée d’une blague, ça ? Je luttai contre l’envie de lui refermer la porte au nez.
— J’ai une bonne et une mauvaise nouvelle, annonça-t-il en entrant sans attendre que je me pousse hors du chemin.
Je serrai les poings. Ce type était incompréhensible. Il était amusé ou pas ?
— Commence par la mauvaise.
— Je te laisse l’honneur de changer la couche. Tu es sa tante après tout.
— Awesome… Et la bonne ?
Ergis ôta son perfecto et le posa sur le dos d’une chaise près de ma tasse de thé.
— Je te montre quand tu reviens. Et je veux bien du thé aussi.
Je le regardai disparaître dans le salon estomaquée. Les bras m’en tombaient. Figurativement.
— Ga ?
— Ou- Oui Amélia, on y va. Ergis ! Je suis pas ta bonne, ton thé tu te le sers tout seul !
Je montai à l’étage et gérai la caca-pocalypse avant de redescendre à la cuisine. Je pris un gros morceau de concombre dans le frigo, le donnai à Amélia pour ses dents et inspirai un grand coup à l’entrée du salon pour me donner la patience de supporter Ergis.
— C’est quoi la bonne nouvelle ?
Ergis posa précipitamment sa tasse de thé et me tendit les bras.
— Donne-la moi. Un instant.
— Tu veux pas d’abord me dire si, par hasard, tu ne serais pas défoncé ?
Ergis me regarda sans ciller un instant.
— Je ne suis pas sous l’emprise de stupéfiants. Je sais ce que je fais.
Je le laissai prendre Amélia et l’allonger sur le tapis sensoriel.
— Assis-toi, me lança-t-il en tapotant le sol à côté de lui. Et écoute.
Je me posais sur mes genoux devant Amélia et cherchai l’état d’esprit dans lequel j’entendais Aldan.
Je communique avec toi. Regarde ses yeux.
— Je suis censée voir quoi…
Quand je communique avec toi ses yeux bougent.
Je réprimai un soupir passablement agacé.
— Ecoute je veux bien croire que tu ne sois pas allumé, mais il va falloir être plus explicite.
Elle est réceptive.