《The Fragile World》V1 Chapter 8- Fate, Link, and Soul
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Stepping out of my car. I walk into the Cafe. Upon my arrival I am immediately greeted by Kim. Who drags me to Karen's table.
"I didn't know you were dating. You should just get married already." -Kim
"I just choose not to get married. I just have no interest in having a family. Well I am more or less just not the fatherly type."-Me
"Why, having children is supposed to be a rewarding experience?"-Kim
"Ha! Tell that to every parent who's son was in my care. Quite a few of them regret the decision to have kids. Besides there is nothing wrong with having a meaningful relationship without children or marriage." -Me
Karen who was watching silently moments ago finally decides to speak up.
"Anyways this is not a date. Besides why does this concern you?" -Karen
"I am just trying to look out for David. Sorry for prying on the juicy secrets." Kim says winking at me.
"Anyways what did you want for today?" Kim asks me
"Just a coffee." -Me
She leaves us and then I finally turn to Karen.
"I am not really sure were to start with this chaotic mess so I'll just ask. What do you want to know first?"-Me
"Let's start with what happened to my brother." -Karen
I lean back into my seat and take a breath trying to find the right words.
"Your brother... Most likely no longer exists in this world if at all. If lucky he may have fell into a parallel world. Worst case... He ceased to exist." -Me
Looking at me a few moments, she sighs in resignation and says.
"You better not be making any of this up. You know I will kill you if you are?" -Karen
"I have no reason to lie to you. Besides you saw it for yourself." -Me
"Yes I know. That's the only reason I haven't yet... What is the chance that he is still alive in a parallel world?"
....
"Next to nothing... Even if he got dropped in the other world he would still have to survive the paradox. But sadly out of everyone that has disappeared so far because of the paradoxes only three have survived." -Me
"So there are three people that survived this situation? Do you have names?" -Karen
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"Well from what I know. Besides myself there is another version of me out there doing god knows what. The third person is a woman who calls herself Nona. I know very little about her except that she possesses the same power I have but overwhelmingly superior." -Me
"What is this ability that both you and her posses?" -Karen
Looking at her again I weigh the odds in telling her. I decide that I can't hide it from everybody.
"So far I have the ability to search through memories and control minds. It does require physical contact and I can only do one person at a time. Nona has demonstrated the ability to control multiple people without physical contact, teleportation and probably pyrokinesis." -Me
"Can you demonstrate? Pull up some memories of my past and tell me about it." She says holding out her shaking hand warily.
Looking at her a moment I grab her hand making the mental connection. I can see memories of her brother Johann. I can feel the emotions surrounding him. I felt everything she felt during her mothers death. I place a construct in her mind that filters out the overwhelming emotion a bit to help lighten the burden.
When I attempted to withdraw out of her mind I felt something odd. As if something was trying to keep me from pulling out of her mind. Every time I pulled back something gripped me and forced me forward. While fighting against that force I felt a part of myself tear off and replaced with a part of it.
Just as I felt that piece of it fuse with me. I also felt that piece of me fuse with it. Finally as soon as that happened I could withdraw. Probing the connection I came to the realization that it felt off. I tried to snap it but no matter how hard I tried nothing happened.
Finally opening my eyes I turn to Karen who was silently watching me. Kim startling us both decides it's time to make her entrance.
"I thought you two said it wasn't a date?" -Kim
"We did" -Me
"Then why were you holding her hand and crying?" Kim asks me
Rubbing my eyes I just realized I really was crying. Damn Karen's memories really took a lot out of me. Grabbing my coffee from her I subtly make contact making a connection.
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"Please let it be..." I say mentally and out loud.
She freezes up a moment before finally backing off.
"Fine but this isn't the end of it." Kim says before she turns and walks off.
"What exactly happened there?" Karen asks brows raised.
"I did subtlety suggest mentally to let it be. Nothing that will harm her." -Me
"No I mean with me. As soon as you made contact with me you just started tearing up. Then I could feel something happening between us in our mind. Just before that feeling let off I felt a sharp pain in my head but it was gone as soon as it came." -Karen
"I am not exactly sure what happened. When I tried to withdraw something pulled me back. That something managed to exchange a piece of myself for a piece of it. Probably the cause of the headache. The only real effect is I can't break my connection with you." -Me
"I will ask you not to mind control me. Also please do not look through my memories without my permission. Although I can't really enforce it." Karen says blandly.
"To be honest I don't think I would need to go through your memories again. I pretty much experienced your entire life in an instant. Which is why I am like this. I would normally experience it in pieces. It was actually quite painful and unexpected to live your entire life as if it was my own." -Me
"I am guessing that not everybody was a willing experiment?" Karen says sighing.
"No, but with people like Nona out there I would rather be prepared... I won't justify invading someones personal life. At the same time I avoid over using it. I am not a saint. I am just an individual that happened to get lucky. I will take advantage of it." -Me
"I can't exactly take you in. Not like anybody will believe half of this anyways. I want to make you a suggestion though so I can at least keep an eye on you. It would also allow you to put your abilities into practice. So hear me out." -Karan
"Well my original plan was to use my ability in my practice but sense Nona decided to go arsonist I may as well." -Me
"I should be able to get you a position doing psyche evauls for the department. I can even pull some strings and have you do interrogations. With me or Andi present of course. While your mental abilities may not serve in court I am sure we can utilize it. If you decide to take it I only have two conditions." -Karen
"What would these conditions be?" I ask
"My first condition is that we will set aside some time to meet every day and work on developing your abilities. That link between us could have some uses. I am hoping we can communicate through it. I also would like you to assist me in meeting Nona." -Karen
"That woman is too dangerous. We have no idea what she is fully capable of and she is perfectly willing to kill for her goal. I myself want to know what goal warranted Sarah's death. " I say not without a hint of grief in my voice.
"That is exactly why. She is too dangerous to be left alone. She also seems to be quite confident in herself. Taking the name of a roman goddess of fate suggests that she either knows a lot more then we do or she is a bit to crazy to leave alone." -Karen
"Goddess of fate huh? Adds more mystery to that girl then I would like. I guess in a way as long as she doesn't turn hostile it would benefit us. Well Nona is the type to only show herself when she feels like it meets her goal. It also seems to involve me. Alright I'll take you up on this."
"Good tomorrow I will come by your house and we can work on these abilities of yours. Give me some time to deal with the formalities with getting your position. A few days at most." -Karen
Looking at her a moment holding out my hand. She gives it a light squeeze before we get up. At the register when Karen offers to pay for my coffee. To which Kim informs her that it was free. She gives me a knowing smirk at that. Even though I don't have my practice anymore that doesn't mean I am poor. I saved up quite a bit. Then there is the money Nona gave me. I could live a relatively comfortable life for a couple years. So I pay for Karen's meal with the card that Nona gave me before we leave.
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