The other side of the island - Part 5 (story)
‘At first, the mutation was seen as a curiosity, nothing more. Many even said the flawed ones were sort of inspirational and entertaining. In a society that had little use for entertainment, a frivolous pursuit that did not add any value, the mutants suddenly became a sought after distraction. Conference rooms were hastily revamped to accommodate large crowds eager to witness a demonstration of the gift, because theirs was a polite society where no one would even dream of mocking someone defective in any way.
As far as I understand, it was something like the old shows with magicians performing mind reading acts. Only there were no tricks. The mutants were all for real. They’d place a hand on a volunteer and they could immediately sense their innermost feelings, so well hidden the subjects were sometimes unaware they were harboring them. A secret crush, jealousy, anger or that budding feeling you hate your husband, nothing was secret to the empaths’.
‘I don’t hate my husband’, Helen intervened, but Jonathan went on with the story of Frieda.
‘They were left alone as the novelty wore off and many learned to disguise their abilities so they could pass off as normal. Other chose to move into their own colonies and devoted most of their time to study ways to increase their powers. Later generations were indeed able to remotely read and manipulate feelings. They had no more use for language and soon lost the ability to speak. As their numbers grew, authorities there started to take notice of these strange beings and quickly decided they posed a threat to a society that prided itself in its scientific developments and its efficiency. The planet was just starting to explore the galaxy when along came the weirdos claiming empathy was the key to happiness. Those who opposed the idea of colonizing other planets argued the whole space venture was unnecessary since they could be perfectly happy on their home planet. That’s when the campaign to silence the empaths started. Dozens of empaths were captured every day and referred for surgery, which, as far as I could tell, would be the equivalent of removing the amygdala in our brains. Minimally invasive, from what I understand. Leaving the empaths incapable of feeling any sort of emotions, theirs or others. But apt for work though. Very high on work ethics those creatures.’
‘Reminds me of someone’, Helen couldn’t resist the urge to jab him. Jonathan nodded slightly, eyes locked onto hers. There was so much pain in his eyes, real and raw. The pain of having made the wrong choice, the pain of never having the guts to admit it, the pain of being who he was. The startling cry of a bird outside broke the spell and he went on with the story.
‘Frieda went into hiding together with her partner, but it was only a matter of time until they would have caught them so they stole a ship, a small reconnaissance craft that was easier to get to, and fled. According to her, they wanted to reach a place rumored to harbor many fugitives like them, but they didn’t make it. You know the rest.’
‘How on earth did you manage to get such a long story from a creature that doesn’t speak?’
Jonathan gulped and Helen realized how stupid her question was and how obvious the answer.
'It was mostly Mary. She was a natural, she knew how to tune into Frieda’s system and read her feelings. Most of the story was stored in her system as a string of feelings the facts evoked. The sense of wonder when the emptahs first appeared, the confidence and determination of their work to better themselves, the fear. All our memories work this way - you cannot only remember the fact of walking on a beach. You don’t remember the mechanics of it, your legs taking step after step. You remember the way the sun felt on your skin, you remember the waves lapping at your feet, you remember the feeling of freedom, the joy of being with someone you love on that walk. Our brains aren’t that sophisticated as to tell apart every little sensation that moment, that walk, was made of, but an empath can sense every single one and see how they connect. It wasn’t easy to get the whole picture, it took Mary many months and hundred of walks down the beach to put it all together.’
‘And you never told anyone all that you’ve learned about Frieda?’
‘I couldn’t. It wasn’t just the empathy business, although that alone would have been tempting enough for them to study. Just think of the implications, being able to read and manipulate somebody’s feelings - that’s huge! All it would take to win a war would be to tinker a bit with the enemy’s feelings - make their leader surrender, have the soldiers drop their weapons. Or mess around with the populations’ feelings for that matter.
But there was much more at risk - she could have bee tortured for information about her home planet. I know where she came from. She has no understanding of pictures, but she’s very good with 3D projection. Mary noticed how much she uses her hands when trying to communicate other than in feelings and she came up with using 3D imagery. We even had the people in Washington send us over some pretty expensive equipment to test the alien and it was wonderful. Her face was beaming as she played with the controls and she located the part of the galaxy where she’s from. I’ve never seen her happier than she was that moment she put her finger on the projection of her planet. Don’t you think that would be enough to send the big shots drooling?’
‘I can’t believe they never asked for proof, they didn’t check on anything you did here?’
‘Of course they checked, but once we’ve established a connection to Frieda it was easy to fool them. We made dozens of videos with the dumb alien staring unresponsive and sent them to Washington. It was my expert opinion she must have suffered a concussion during the crash or maybe PTSD. As far as I know, the technology on the ship gave them plenty of headaches, still does.’
Breakfast over, it was time for Helen to meet Frieda.
(To be continued)
Thanks for reading!
