the voice.
“I’m trying to!” Jamie urged. “Come on!”
“Why are you back, Kevin?” Sam pleaded. “I thought I lost you in the transpatheter!”
Jamie looked at him, horrified. “Sam, who are you talking to?”
She loosened her grip. Sam fell back.
His head hit the floor.
“Let me go,” the voice spoke through Sam, softer now. Reassuring. “You’ll be all right.”
Jamie was still pulling at him. “I can’t let you go, Sam.”
“Let me go.”
Yes.
Do it, Sam.
Have some peace.
Finally.
But how?
What was Kevin asking? Was he asking to die?
How do I do it?
How does one person die inside another?
As Sam’s eyes closed, he realized.
He knew.
He had taken Kevin’s life.
Now Kevin was getting revenge.
Absorbing him back.
A life for a life.
Jamie yelled.
The wall swung open.
But Sam didn’t hear either sound.
CHANGE OF WATCHER STATUS
Completion: Unknown
16
W HEN THE EXPLOSION HAPPENED , Sam was rising.
The light above him was pure, cold, and white.
Into the light.
Death. The way people describe it.
A scream resounded in the room, blotting out all sound. It was his own voice — but he was outside it somehow, listening. Floating in the light. Hovering. Bodiless. Sightless.
He was pure energy now.
And he knew what had happened, even though he couldn’t see it.
His brain had split.
But there were no pieces. No grisly aftermath.
It had divided like a cell.
Two minds. Equal, whole, and separate.
Kevin’s voice was fading away. But it no longer pleaded. Instead, it babbled on about nonsense — superstrings and parallel this-and-that, the same words over and over, like a chant.
Sam was aware of time passing — a great deal of time. But the length was meaningless. An hour in a nanosecond. He heard other voices around him, too, not just Kevin’s. Frantic and familiar. Mom. Dad. Jamie.
Where are they?
He wanted to see them. More than anything else.
He struggled to see.
Eyes — I must have eyes.
And the pain surged back in.
Unspeakable pain that went beyond screaming, that exhausted more than hurt.
He realized he was no longer floating.
He was lying on his back, and he could feel again.
His head was covered. It prickled, warm and uncomfortable. His joints were stiff, as if he’d been asleep for days. And his cheek hurt.
As he opened his eyes, the images around him seemed blotchy and pixilated, the colors too bright and harsh.
His mom and dad drew closer around him.
“Mm … daaaa.” His tongue felt thick, his jaw stiff.
Now Jamie came into sight. Her eyes were wide as softballs, her mouth open in shock.
What? What’s happened to me?
He tried to sit but his arms and legs were tied down. He realized he was wearing the transpatheter helmet.
All he could move was his head.
Craning his neck, he saw the body lying on the table next to him. It, too, was wearing a transpatheter helmet.
Kevin.
I was right. They must have “activated” the body. Transferred Kevin out of me and into it.
“Ihwwooo.”
Mom’s face was streaked with tears. “What’s he saying?”
Sam struggled to repeat himself, moving his mouth slowly like an infant learning to speak for the first time. “It … wworrrked. The brrrraaain … innn Laab Six — ”
“Yes, Sam, it worked,” Mr. Hughes said.
“Yyyou put it… innnto the bo-o-ody,” Sam said. “Ssssu-u-urgicalllly. While I wa-a-as ssssleeping.”
“Yes,” Mrs. Hughes replied.
“Bu-u-ut it isn’t a brrrain, is it?”
Mrs. Hughes shook her head. “Not without the transpatheter.”
“The three had to work together—the body, the brain, the transpatheter. We weren’t expecting to have to do it so soon. We thought, maybe another month …”
It was all becoming clear now.
I absorbed him, all right. And he stayed with me.
His essence.
He grew as I grew — hidden away in some corner of my brain, some part of the unused eighty-five percent.
But he awakened whenever I was near Turing-Douglas.
Whenever I was near
“I’m trying to!” Jamie urged. “Come on!”
“Why are you back, Kevin?” Sam pleaded. “I thought I lost you in the transpatheter!”
Jamie looked at him, horrified. “Sam, who are you talking to?”
She loosened her grip. Sam fell back.
His head hit the floor.
“Let me go,” the voice spoke through Sam, softer now. Reassuring. “You’ll be all right.”
Jamie was still pulling at him. “I can’t let you go, Sam.”
“Let me go.”
Yes.
Do it, Sam.
Have some peace.
Finally.
But how?
What was Kevin asking? Was he asking to die?
How do I do it?
How does one person die inside another?
As Sam’s eyes closed, he realized.
He knew.
He had taken Kevin’s life.
Now Kevin was getting revenge.
Absorbing him back.
A life for a life.
Jamie yelled.
The wall swung open.
But Sam didn’t hear either sound.
CHANGE OF WATCHER STATUS
Completion: Unknown
16
W HEN THE EXPLOSION HAPPENED , Sam was rising.
The light above him was pure, cold, and white.
Into the light.
Death. The way people describe it.
A scream resounded in the room, blotting out all sound. It was his own voice — but he was outside it somehow, listening. Floating in the light. Hovering. Bodiless. Sightless.
He was pure energy now.
And he knew what had happened, even though he couldn’t see it.
His brain had split.
But there were no pieces. No grisly aftermath.
It had divided like a cell.
Two minds. Equal, whole, and separate.
Kevin’s voice was fading away. But it no longer pleaded. Instead, it babbled on about nonsense — superstrings and parallel this-and-that, the same words over and over, like a chant.
Sam was aware of time passing — a great deal of time. But the length was meaningless. An hour in a nanosecond. He heard other voices around him, too, not just Kevin’s. Frantic and familiar. Mom. Dad. Jamie.
Where are they?
He wanted to see them. More than anything else.
He struggled to see.
Eyes — I must have eyes.
And the pain surged back in.
Unspeakable pain that went beyond screaming, that exhausted more than hurt.
He realized he was no longer floating.
He was lying on his back, and he could feel again.
His head was covered. It prickled, warm and uncomfortable. His joints were stiff, as if he’d been asleep for days. And his cheek hurt.
As he opened his eyes, the images around him seemed blotchy and pixilated, the colors too bright and harsh.
His mom and dad drew closer around him.
“Mm … daaaa.” His tongue felt thick, his jaw stiff.
Now Jamie came into sight. Her eyes were wide as softballs, her mouth open in shock.
What? What’s happened to me?
He tried to sit but his arms and legs were tied down. He realized he was wearing the transpatheter helmet.
All he could move was his head.
Craning his neck, he saw the body lying on the table next to him. It, too, was wearing a transpatheter helmet.
Kevin.
I was right. They must have “activated” the body. Transferred Kevin out of me and into it.
“Ihwwooo.”
Mom’s face was streaked with tears. “What’s he saying?”
Sam struggled to repeat himself, moving his mouth slowly like an infant learning to speak for the first time. “It … wworrrked. The brrrraaain … innn Laab Six — ”
“Yes, Sam, it worked,” Mr. Hughes said.
“Yyyou put it… innnto the bo-o-ody,” Sam said. “Ssssu-u-urgicalllly. While I wa-a-as ssssleeping.”
“Yes,” Mrs. Hughes replied.
“Bu-u-ut it isn’t a brrrain, is it?”
Mrs. Hughes shook her head. “Not without the transpatheter.”
“The three had to work together—the body, the brain, the transpatheter. We weren’t expecting to have to do it so soon. We thought, maybe another month …”
It was all becoming clear now.
I absorbed him, all right. And he stayed with me.
His essence.
He grew as I grew — hidden away in some corner of my brain, some part of the unused eighty-five percent.
But he awakened whenever I was near Turing-Douglas.
Whenever I was near
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