Mute (Muted Trilogy Book 1) (14 page)

“I didn’t mean to shut you out. I just… I was pretty focused on what I was doing, what I was trying to send, and then I got interrupted. I was a shaky mess, and I don’t usually scare all that easily.”

“Do you think trying to send the picture affected you?”

“I did consider that, yes,” she sent. “I’m thinking that’s not something I’ll try again for a while.”

“Fair enough. Don’t know that I’d try again right away, either.”

“Yeah.”

There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes. She could almost hear him, a quiet presence on the other end of a telepathic phone line.

“Are you still afraid of me?” He sounded unsure.

“I’m not sure I was ever afraid of you. Afraid of what it could mean that I was hearing you, yes. But you?” She thought. “It feels like I’ve known you forever, even though I know almost nothing about you.”

There was a nearly tangible hesitation before he sent his response. “Want to change that?”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

Only Me

Jemma blinked. “Do you think we’re ready for that?”

“We’ve established we aren’t scared of each other, at least. That’s got to mean something, right?”

“Yeah,” sent Jemma, “but I mean, I’m not scared of the people my mom tried to get me to talk to on that online dating site, but I didn’t really want to share personal information, either.”

“Valid. I guess we know even less about each other. And no, I’m not going to ask what you look like. That’d probably be a little creepy, especially if we’re both in bed again. Right?”

“Right. Looks aren’t really something I consider personal, though,” she sent.

“Well, they’re how you look, right? You personally?” His tone held more than a hint of mischief.

“Sure. But my hair color tells you nothing about who I am,” she said, frowning as she tried to decide whether she wanted a physical image to go with her stranger’s voice.

“You don’t sound happy with me,” he sent. “Am I being creepy? I don’t mean to be creepy. Please tell me if I’m creepy.”

She laughed, distracted from her thoughts. “No, you’re not being creepy.”

“You’ll tell me, right? Before I’m creepy would be even better. Upsetting the person who lives in my head might be traumatizing.”

Her brow furrowed as she fought a sense of déjà vu. “Yeah,” she agreed absently.

“Anyway,” he sent, “I was thinking that maybe we could at least exchange names so I have something to think of you as.”

“Do you talk to many strange voices in your head? That could be a little unnerving.”

“No, not typically.” A sigh echoed through her mind. “Okay, I’m not going to push. What do you want to talk about, then?”

Jemma thought rather than responding immediately. It wasn’t as if she didn’t already feel like she knew him, so there didn’t seem much potential for harm in exchanging names. However, it felt as if it would change everything. Her mind went back to the moment of déjà vu. Had he been quoting something? Or did she actually already know him?

“Hey,” he sent. “You okay?”

“I am. I’m thinking. I don’t remember whether I’ve said so, but I feel like we know each other.”

“I feel the same.”

“Right, but I’m nearly certain I’ve never heard your voice before. I think… For now, I’d rather stay anonymous, okay? Just be us, with no chance of breaking the spell?”

He didn’t speak for a minute, but she was fairly certain they were still connected.

“We don’t have to break the spell,” he sent finally. “So, tell me about some of your favorite books?”

***

Two Weeks Later

Jemma and the stranger got into the habit of speaking nightly, and occasionally during the day, too. They learned likes and dislikes, and she thought she might know him better than she’d ever known anyone outside of her family.

Except for the minor detail of not knowing him at all.

He hadn’t mentioned exchanging any identifying details again. After two weeks of regular chats, speaking sometimes for hours, Jemma finally began to wonder whether she was ready for them to get more personal. She didn’t even know what town he lived in, though she expected it was nearby from some off-handed references that seemed to fit. She thought if they exchanged names, a meeting wouldn’t be far behind, not once that shield of anonymity had been removed.

It was mid-afternoon, the library quietly busy, and Jemma had just finished checking one patron out when another approached her. She found herself staring at the man, who had some sort of contraption attached to his head.

There were what looked like suction cups against his forehead, and wires attached those to a metal rod welded to a thin, metal hat. Another wire trailed down behind his ear and to a small speaker attached to his wrist. He set down his books, then stared intently at Jemma. She jumped when the speaker started emitting audio.

“I. Would like it. To checkmate out. These books.”

The voice was filled with static, halting, robotic as some of the early text-to-speech programs she’d heard, but she didn’t see him doing anything to type.

“You want to check these out?” she confirmed with her tablet, and his brow furrowed.

“That. Is. What. I said.”

She nodded, continuing the checkout process as if nothing were unusual about him. When he left without trying to speak further, she glanced around to make sure nobody needed her help, then opened up a search engine on the computer. “Talking hat” returned no relevant results, and neither did “wire head wrist.” Before she could try another search term, she got a message from Jack.

CapJack284: What the heck was he wearing?

LibraryOneWest: I was trying to figure that out, myself
.

CapJack284: Google race? First person to find the answer wins king of the library?

Jemma smiled.

LibraryOneWest: Or queen. I’m an excellent Googler.

CapJack284: Prove it ;) Time starts in 3…

Wait
, she typed before he could continue his countdown.

CapJack284: ?

Glad he couldn’t see how wide her grin was, she continued typing.

LibraryOneWest: What if it was some top secret advanced military experiment and searching for it will get us on a list of potential terrorists?

CapJack284: Eh. I’m probably on it already if they really waste time monitoring every search. You ready for this?

LibraryOneWest: You’re on.

CapJack284: Then… Go!

Laughing silently at the missing countdown this time, Jemma switched back to the web browser and tried a few more searches. Finally, with a triumphant press of the return key, she sent him a promising link before she could finish reading through its content. While waiting for his response, she read the rest of the article.

Naturally Speaking

A small tech company based in Florida has managed to create a device that can translate thought into spoken word.

Sound too good to be true? It might be.

While the device seems functional, it has its drawbacks. The processing power required to harness brain waves - based on technology used in mind control experiments, because that’s comforting - doesn’t leave enough room for advanced voice synthesis, so the audible result is mangled at best. Additionally, sending the thought seems to take intense concentration, and words don’t always translate correctly, with an end result similar to speech-to-text programs from the ‘90s.

As if this weren’t enough, the FDA warns potential users that the machine’s effects have not been thoroughly studied, but they believe it could increase risk of certain cancers in the user.

If you still find yourself interested, you can’t purchase a unit yet. In its testing phase, the machine, called WalknTalk, is only issued to those who pass what seem to be rigorous exams. Trial users are required to report to the company daily, so I’m sorry, fellow Texans, but we probably can’t make the commute.

CapJack284: I bow down to my queen.

CapJack284: Also? People are crazy.

Jemma shrugged to herself.

LibraryOneWest: They want things to go back to normal. That’s not so weird. I think I’m rather in the minority, liking things this way.

She felt her face heat. She’d not actually admitted that fact to anybody other than her telepathic stranger. She knew her family suspected it, but she hadn’t come out and told them.

CapJack284: Nothing wrong with being in a minority. I can see both sides. If you could hear me, you’d know my voice is just dripping with charm ;)

LibraryOneWest: Ha! Dripping with something.

CapJack284: You wound me.

CapJack284: Anyway, my point is, I wouldn’t want to wear cancerous head gear just so that I could sound like a confused robot.

Jemma covered her mouth, trying her best not to laugh; even soundlessly, if she were to start shaking, people might wonder what was so funny about the library computer.

LibraryOneWest: You’re being so mean to my patrons.

CapJack284: So if I were to look over the balcony right now, I wouldn’t catch one of your smiles?

LibraryOneWest: I said nothing of the sort.

CapJack284: :-p

Another patron approached, and Jemma smiled, collecting herself as she saw it was Mariah.

“I haven’t seen you in a couple of weeks,” Jemma typed for her tablet to vocalize. “How have you been?”

Mariah smiled and typed back.

“My boyfriend and I can Talk now. It doesn’t fix everything, but it’s a start. At least now we’ve got a shot at working through things. It might be good that my new apartment fell through and I had to stay at his place.”

Jemma nodded. “Well, good for you! I hope it goes well.” She checked Mariah’s book out to her account.

“Thanks,” wrote Mariah before accepting the book and leaving, bounce in her step.

Jemma tapped her finger lightly on the desk, then sent a mental message.

“Would you ever take back someone who had cheated on you?” echoed in her mind.

There were only a few seconds of silence before he responded. “I think it depends on the circumstances.”

“If the person slept with your best friend and you only found out when the two of them were able to Talk to each other but not you?”

“Ouch,” he sent, sounding serious rather than amused as he so often did. “I’m not so sure about that one.”

“Me neither.”

“Is that…” he started. “That’s not why you can only Talk to family, is it?”

“Oh!” Jemma blinked. “No, it wasn’t me. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a relationship serious enough to be able to Talk.”

“Really? Never?”

“You don’t need to sound so surprised. I enjoy my alone time. I don’t seek others out often.”

“You talk to me plenty.”

Jemma’s mouth lifted at one corner. “Yeah, well, you’re different.”

The connection between them had gotten easier to sense with practice, so when a patron approached her and she withdrew from their conversation, she knew he was unlikely to try Talking more until either some time had passed or she’d indicated she was no longer busy.

The rest of the day went quickly, the library clearing out, as usual, shortly after 4 o’clock, leaving just Jemma and Jack while Jemma got things wrapped up for the evening. Jack had just come down the stairs and was walking her way when there was a loud bang behind her.

She spun around, but she didn’t see anything out of place. It seemed as if it might have come from the staff room. Had Cecily forgotten something? Jemma started walking toward the staff room, pausing when Jack tapped on the counter. He set down his laptop bag and grabbed the nearest large book. It was probably Cecily, maybe Susan, so though she didn’t gesture for Jack to stay back, she did indicate that he should stand just behind her. He complied with a nod, holding the book like a weapon.

As she peered in through the doorway, the inner door open as usual when there wasn’t a staff meeting, her face was struck by a breeze, and she frowned at the open employee entrance. The room was empty and seemed otherwise undisturbed. The air moved again, more strongly this time, and the outward-opening door was slammed against the brick wall, recreating the bang they’d heard. A small stack of papers went flying, landing haphazardly on the floor when the wind subsided. She glanced back at Jack, then under the desks in case somebody was hiding. She bent to pick up the papers, and Jack moved past her, looking out the door and turning his head each way before coming back inside, shutting the door firmly behind him.

She placed the papers on the desk and pulled out her phone.

That door couldn’t have been open for more than a few minutes. Nothing was out of place until the papers blew off. That would’ve happened earlier if it had been open. And it locks automatically, so nobody opened it from the outside.

He nodded and then jerked his head toward the main part of the library. She followed him, and he stopped at the tablet.