Like Mind (13 page)

“The first one is false.”

“Nope, I can do that. I’ve never been to the happiest place on earth.”

“Crap.”

“So, what made you think it was the first one?”

“I don’t know, I just guessed. I can’t notice all that stuff all at once. I just get overwhelmed.”

Anka narrowed her eyes and looked at me for a moment.

“I have an idea. I don’t know if it will work, but it might be our best chance.”

“What is it?”

“Okay, this time don’t try to observe me, do your mimicking thing. Just try to learn what I’m saying the same way you learned the guards’ names.”

“Okay…”

“First, I love liver and onions. Second, my first dog was named Indiana. Third, I’m afraid of clowns.”

“I don’t know…”

“Now, in your head, replay what I said.”

“Okay.” I closed my eyes for a second and ran through the statements, “Still nothing.”

“Wait, don’t replay them, repeat them. You say them.”

“Alright,” I was skeptical, “First, I love liver and onions. Second, my first dog was named Indiana. Third, I’m afraid of clowns.”

“Which one felt like a lie to you?”

“Liver and onions.”

“You’re right, I hate liver and onions. I pretty much hate any form of liver.”

“Wow, so I just have to repeat what people say to see if it feels like a lie?”

“It seems like it, but it’ll be awkward if you just go around repeating what people say. Let’s see if you can do it silently. This time I’ll give you two lies and one truth, just to see how good you are. Pick the one that’s true. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“First, I’m part Inuit. Second, I know how to kill with my pinkie-toe. Third, I’ve studied juggling from a French mime.”

I closed my eyes and silently repeated each statement as if I was mimicking it. It didn’t feel as visceral or positive, but I was still pretty sure of the differences between the truth and the lies.

“Was the mime in France or did your boss bring him over to train you?”

The dimples attacked with devastating force.

“Good. Try again. See if you can do it without closing your eyes. First, I can field-strip an M-4 in thirty seconds. Second, I think
Citizen Kane
is a terrible movie. Third, I’ve got a tattoo of a butterfly.”

I stared straight ahead, but stopped seeing while I ran through the statements. I found that it was getting easier.

“You’re right, even if it’s at the top of every film major’s list, it’s not a good movie. It’s basically an inside joke designed to make other people feel stupid for being left out. It may have been important at one point, but that doesn’t mean it’s still a good movie.”

“I’m so glad you agree,” she grinned at me. “You’re getting better, but your awkward stare is still a little off-putting. Try this out, let’s see if you can do it without me noticing.”

“What’ll you give me if I can?”

“First, I’ll give you a back rub. Second, I’ll give you a big, sloppy, wet kiss. Third, I’ll give you a pass to the aquarium.”

“It’s a good thing I don’t like the aquarium.”

“Almost, I still saw you zone out a bit. But now you know what you’re playing for.”

“Hey,” the person at the counter called over to us, “Is that your Prius out there?”

“Um…why?” Anka asked.

“It looks like someone is breaking into it. Do you want me to call the cops?”

“Yes please,” I said.

Anka looked at me for a moment and then called over to the employee.

“Do you have a back way out? Those people have been threatening us. We have a restraining order against them, but I’m afraid they’ll hurt us.”

“Yeah, absolutely. Come with me.”

The girl took us through the kitchen and out to the back door.

“Thank you. It’s my ex-husband and his brother. He’s been trying to find me for months now. I don’t know how he tracked us down. Will you tell the police?”

“You’ve got it. Hurry up, the door just chimed, someone just came in.”

We hurried out the back door and eased around the back of the Burgerville. As we came in sight of the windows we saw the “FBI” agents talking to the Burgerville employee as the police cars pulled up into the parking lot. That should keep them off of us for a few minutes.

“Too bad we couldn’t get any money for the Prius.”

Anka laughed and then pulled me down the street out of sight of the restaurant.

“What’s the best way to get to Lloyd Center from here?”

“We can walk, it’s just a few blocks away. Maybe a mile.”

“Let’s get on it then. We’ll be there early, but we don’t want to be around when Jones and Smith convince the cops of their story.”

“Good point.”

We headed east toward the mall.

Fat Head

Anka took my arm again and walked close to me as we headed away from the Burgerville. Even though we were fleeing fake FBI agents who wanted to kill us and looking for a mad scientist who had answers about the experiments that gave me special powers, this still felt like the most normal relationship moment of my life. Always before I messed something up. I tried too hard or I found something wrong with her or I found better things to do. But this moment felt beautiful and perfect. It was balanced between effort and ease, imperfection and wholeness, engagement and freedom. I smiled at the thought of what the future might hold, but I also smiled in enjoyment of this one moment.

“What are you thinking?” Anka asked.

How could I sum up all of that? How could I explain the depth of my feelings juxtaposed against my past experience? How could I tell her how much she made me grow and how happy that made me?

“I’m thinking that I really like you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s nice. I’m thinking that I really like you too.”

“That is nice.”

She squeezed my arm tighter and leaned her head against my shoulder as we walked.

“You know, I’m not supposed to do any of this.”

“What?”

“Well, disobeying my boss, helping a target and getting romantically involved with an asset.”

“I guess they probably frown on all that.”

We both laughed.

“So, what are you going to say to Grosskopf to get him to talk? You’re doing well at spotting lies, but you need to figure out what to say to trigger his statements.”

“And we’re back to business already.”

“I wish we didn’t have to, but the meeting is coming up and you need to be ready.”

“You’re right. I just wish we could keep walking down the street together instead of doing super-secret spy work.”

“Well, if Grosskopf is right, you’ll die if we don’t do this. So, I’d rather have more time to walk down the street with you later, if that’s okay with you.”

“I suppose so,” I smiled at her. “So I obviously need to ask him why I’m going to die and what I can do about it.”

“Obviously. You should probably find out if there’s another lab somewhere. I don’t think he’s done all his work at the OHSU facility.”

“Also, how did he get out of prison?”

“Good point. And who is he working for?”

“Speaking of which, who are you working for?”

“You heard a little bit in the car. I work for Dale Stephenson of the NSA. He’s the director over West Coast operations.”

“You’re going to have to help me out a bit, I don’t really know what that means.”

“Fair enough. The NSA is, ostensibly, in charge of monitoring foreign communication. We’re supposed to be in charge of decrypting information that is vital to national security. We got in trouble a while back for surveilling US citizens too.”

“So what put you in a doctor’s office?”

“Well, we also take a hand in development and research, so we’ll fund computer programmers who are working on new algorithms to decrypt code, for example. The Grosskopf mission was supposed to be two-fold: first I was to determine if his methods could be adapted to the gathering of information, and second I was to observe him for contact with any known terrorist organizations.”

“Well, that sounds perfectly legitimate for an NSA agent, I guess.”

“That’s what I thought too, but now that Director Stephenson is trying to kill me, I’m pretty sure that my mission was a sham.”

“Do you think he wanted Grosskopf to fail?”

“No, actually, I think he wanted Grosskopf to be successful but to
look
like a failure. With him getting arrested and then your death, it would appear that all his research was fruitless and no one would pursue it. Then Grosskopf could continue to work for the NSA in secret and no one else would know their agents had the mimicking ability.”

“Wow, that sounds just like the plot to a bad spy movie. Am I going to be the basis for the next
Bourne Identity
?”

Anka laughed and poked me in the ribs.

“Is that the mall up ahead?”

“Yeah, the Ice Chalet is right in the middle.”

“Hmmm, we should probably split up before we get to the mall in case people are watching. I don’t know if Grosskopf escaped from Stephenson or if he’s working for him now. Either way, we should be ready.”

“Um, yeah, we should. How can we be ready for that?”

“Well, if he’s escaped, he’ll probably need protection and a place to hide, just like we do. We’ll see if we can team up to stay safe from the NSA.”

“And if he’s working for your boss?”

“We run. As soon as you figure out which it is, you signal me.”

“Okay, how?”

“If he’s working for the NSA scratch the top of your head with your left hand. If he’s escaped, scratch your chin with your right hand. Got it?”

“Um, yeah.”

“So, what do you do if he’s escaped?”

“I scratch my chin.”

“With what hand?”

“Um…my…uh…”

“Right hand. So, we think he’s escaped. Correct, C—chin, O, R—right, R, E, C, T. If we’re wrong and he’s working for the NSA what do you do?”

“Left hand on my head…”

“Right, um, correct. It would be a laugh if he’s working for the NSA. Laugh, L—left, A, U, G, H—head.”

“Okay, so correct equals chin-right and laugh equals left-head. I think I can remember that.”

“Good. Now, if he’s working for the NSA, you’ll need to get out of there quickly. Just walk away as soon as you give me the signal and I’ll come find you. Go to the closest store, walk directly into the back room and out the back door. You’ll be in the mall’s service hallway that connects all the stores. Run straight down the hall. If you get to a turn, always make a right. When you find an exit door, take it. Keep going straight out from the exit door at a natural walk. If you run into anything, like a street or building, make a right again. I’ll come find you.”

“I think I can remember that.”

“Good. You’ll do great.”

She pulled me down into a kiss that I thought was going to be a brief, encouragement-peck. I started to pull back, but her strong arms gripped my head and neck and held me close. Her lips parted mine and our tongues started fighting for space. My mind went blank. Sometime later, she pulled away, slightly breathless.

“Correct equals?”

“Uh,” I had to concentrate to remember, “chin-right.”

“And laugh?”

“Um,” my head still wouldn’t quite cooperate, “left-head.”

“Very good. Stay safe.”

She pushed me away and I started walking toward the mall. I wondered when the two of us could find a quiet place to continue our tongue-duel. That proposition was far more interesting to me than any meeting with a doctor at the mall, but the whole imminent death thing demanded attention.

My survival might depend on Doctor Manatee mouth-breathing his way to a cure for whatever he did to my brain. That did not engender much hope in my soul. But I still had to see this through. All things considered, this was probably the hardest I’d ever worked for fifty bucks.

The fluorescent stench of the mall accosted me as I walked in. There was a reason I hadn’t been here in years. I walked past the cheap shoes (made by children) and the cheap clothes (made by different children) and the cheap electronics (made by the parents of those children) and the cheap food (made by robots in factories and warmed up by local children). Overall it wasn’t a pleasant experience. The miasmic cloud of perfume samples wafting from the entrance to Macy’s mixed with the intoxicating scent of Cinnabon to create, what I’m sure, is a chemical weapon of unparalleled destructive power.

A short ride down the escalator and I arrived at the Ice Chalet. I didn’t immediately see Grosskopf. I checked my phone and found that I still had about twenty minutes until our scheduled time. I stood there watching the skating. Some people obviously didn’t know which end of the skate to stand on, but I eventually found one girl who looked like she knew what was going on.