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The takeoff went without a hitch and once the fasten seatbelt signs blinked off, a lot of tension left the passengers’ cabin.
The PA speakers chirped again, and the captain spoke. “Weather is nice and clear, straight-all-the-way to Nevada. Estimated arrival time is 12:54 Pacific. So, please kick back and enjoy the ride.”
I watched the clouds slowly trail past our plane, then I turned to Silana and Conrad.
The man with the mustache spoke first. “How about you fill us in on exactly how you found that tracking gadget?”
I nodded. “I checked out the parking garage where Vicki was last seen. The security cameras were positioned all wrong—so wrong it had to be intentional. I followed up with some interviews in the nearest shops. And that’s how I ended up with a trail to a UT cop. Constance Winter.”
“Quick work,” Conrad said. Silana nodded, a thin smile on her face. She was watching me more intently than ever.
“I guess. Didn’t think about it much. Just a dog with a bone. So, I followed my hunch to Connie’s house and got her to give up the goods.”
“Got her to talk? How did you do that...exactly?” Conrad asked.
I paused and smirked at Silana. “I delivered a pizza.”
She laughed merrily. Silana has a beautiful and contagious laugh, mind you, so I couldn’t help but join right along with her. The whole scenario had been absurd.
And yet it worked.
Conrad had a skeptical look, so I continued quickly: “She was drunk, so that helped. I worked my way into her house, with the pizza...and...let’s just say, she was interested in more than just the pie.” I flexed my left hand as I recalled that night’s events. “And so, I questioned her.” I paused and rolled my eyes toward the ceiling. “After I restrained her.”
Conrad and Silana stared at me sharply but didn’t interrupt.
I told them the rest of the story, then recalled the elevators. “She’d also tampered with the surveillance cameras.”
“And traded Vicki off to this big Chinese fellow,” Conrad concluded.
“Yeah. I sent an anonymous tip to Austin PD before I split. The cops picked Connie up after, and I don’t know anymore about it than that.”
A now familiar voice manifested out of the air—actually the plane’s PA speakers. “I have been monitoring police scanners and news channels. Constance Winter is still in custody and has been criminally charged. I’ll alert you when I know more.”
“Thank you, Sophie,” Conrad replied.
“You are welcome.”
Conrad noticed the questioning eyebrow I raised. “Sophie’s in the Cloud,” he said simply.
“Cool.” I leaned back on my couch and continued with my storytelling. “So, Connie, her bosses—she doesn’t know who—pay her well, but obviously they’ve got her on a short leash. Must have some dirt on her. There’s no love lost there, that’s for Goddamn sure. I doubt she’ll give me up, unless something else changes, but she’s still convinced she won’t live long. I’m not sure what to make of that, but we’re dealing with some shitty-bad people, so she’s probably right.”
The rest of it they already knew.
“People who send pros to clean up after them. Which reminds me...” Conrad’s voice trailed off.
Sophie responded. “Still no sign of the assassins. Our team in the field will give the search another hour, but it’s not looking likely that the outcome will change for the positive.” Quite the multi-tasker, that Sophie.
Conrad frowned. “That could come back to haunt us. Those items you left in the street. Are your fingerprints on record?”
I grimaced. “Fuck.” I put a hand to the bridge of my nose and squeezed. “I had to give up fingerprints when I got my concealed carry.”
Conrad nodded. “I figured. I’d half-hoped you were carrying illegally, but it’s better that you aren’t.”
“They’ll figure out it was me. Assuming the Fugsley Twins grabbed my harmonica....”
Conrad aimed his voice with a lift of his square jaw. “We can take care of that. Sophie, alter Lochlan’s Texas CHL records please. Replace his fingerprints with some suitable variation.”
“One minute,” Sophie droned, for once sounding more automaton than human.
I didn’t believe she’d be able to do something like that.
“Alteration complete.”
Much to my relief for once, I was flat wrong.
“Good work, Sophie.” Conrad smiled. “There’s always a tiny risk when she hacks into a computer system, so we like to avoid it.”
“Thanks.” I corrected myself and awkwardly talked at the ceiling of the plane. “Thanks, Sophie.”
“My pleasure, Lochlan.”
I remembered something else. “There’s one more thing. I figured out that Connie had to’ve had somebody else on campus. Picking her targets and delivering orders. That’s what the thumb drives were for. So, we’ve got at least one more bad guy running around UT.”
“That’s definitely worth checking into. Pass that info along to Gloria’s team, Sophie,” Conrad ordered.
“Right away.”
Conrad nodded at Silana, and they both reached into separate carry-on bags they’d stashed next to them, then removed tablets, powered them on and finger-swiped the screens a few times before looking up at me again.
“Now, I don’t want you to consider this an interrogation, Loch, because it isn’t. But it is necessary we ask you some questions...about you...and your parents.” He paused. “But first, let me ask you this. Are you really prepared to deal in secrets? Big secrets? You’ve gotten an eyeful, that much is obvious.” He shifted in his seat. “We need to trust one another, or this won’t work. In exchange for your commitment, Silana and I are prepared to lead you down the path and make you an integral part of our team. But only if that’s something you really want.”
I shifted my eyes nervously, something I wasn’t used to doing. Then I remembered the contract tucked inside my new jacket. “Well, I’ve already committed to this much,” I said, pulling the heavy contract out and offering it to Silana.
She took the contract from me then held it up for Conrad to view. My signature was impossible to miss. He nodded and smiled.
“I’m glad that legality is out of the way,” he said.
“As am I,” Silana agreed. “Your music is so important. We know how loyal you are to your band. So this was necessary, more for them, than for the three of us.”
I leaned back. “Was it?” I sighed. “I’m not really sure what it is, but I trust you two.” I took a deep breath. “I’m in. Go ahead and give me your nightmares.”
Silana and Conrad glanced at each other and then Silana smiled so warmly at me I thought my heart would stop. “In a way, we are family, Lochlan. You can sense more than most. Do you not feel it, too?” she asked.
I recalled my recent empathetic flashes with Connie and the Derby Girls. “Yeah, about that...”
“Oui?” Silana’s smile faded a notch, and I could think clearly again.
“I know I’m the sensitive artist and all that, but...the past night and day... I’ve had several odd sensations. And another one of my dreams.”
“You can sometimes read the emotions of others. Explicitly,” Silana said. “And you have premonitions while asleep?”
“Yeah. Exactly. Like...so extreme, I’m inside their heads. And I’ve had my weird dreams forever, but it’s usually just mundane shit that I see.” I tossed my hands in the air. “I’m just goin’ crazy.”
“No, I do not believe so.” Silana was still smiling, but something else now tempered it. “When you felt these sensations, was there something different going on? What were you doing?”
“What was going on in your environment?” Conrad asked.
“Ever the scientist.” Silana pursed her lips, to which Conrad only shrugged.
I hadn’t taken a breath to consider any of that before. I stroked my hair back and went through the scenes burned into my brain. Connie’s apartment and the church alleyway. I’d been pumped full of adrenaline. Dangerously aggressive. But, when I’d sensed an emotional connection in that alley, it had happened—after I played my harmonica?
And when I was in Connie’s apartment, I’d noticed the songs in her playlist. It’s just second nature.
I had a holy shit moment because it all suddenly came together.
“Music,” I blurted.
Silana settled back in her seat with a contented smile I didn’t need to be an empath to read. “Music,” she echoed. “Mais bien sûr.”
“There was music playing?” Conrad asked.
“Yeah. Either playing...or me playing it.” I huffed. “Wow. I’ve always felt the exchange with a crowd. The vibe. But I’ve never really thought of it as anything more than energy. You know—just a feeling. Not—the feelings.”
Silana giggled. “This is wonderful.”
I wasn’t so sure.
“Fascinating,” Conrad breathed.
“It is exceedingly rare...this gift. And we shall help you harness it,” Silana said. Her eyes were wet and might have changed colors. I was sure I was just seeing things though.
“But what the hell is it? Am I psychic?” I fidgeted on my couch like I was eight years old again and being convinced by Mom that not everyone could memorize songs after only one listen.
“Yes, you’re a true empath. And evidently exposure to music heightens your power. But I’m sure there is more to it. I believe you are like one of the great, ancient poets. You know. A bard. Like the Bard.” Silana was talking fast, excitedly now. “But much, much more. Much more.”
Conrad sat forward in his seat with his fingers intertwined. “Think of it almost like...a recessive gene that’s been awakened, after many generations. Somehow, you’ve been unlocked.”
“Exactement!” Silana peered at me as if for the first time again. She smiled very wide and steepled her perfect hands before clapping them together. “Let us put your powers to a test.”
That request raised my eyebrows, but I figured what the hell. “All right.”
Silana peered down the length of the jet toward Fan and Dante. Courtney was nowhere in sight. “Fan, Dante, please get Courtney. Lunch can wait a few minutes. And bring me a cloth napkin, s'il vous plaît.” Dante nodded and walked to the back of the plane, through curtains and into the galley. Silana then turned to gaze at me again. “This will be fun!”
I chuckled. “Uh-huh. I’m on pins and needles. Can’t you tell?”
“I’m afraid you’re her new pet project, my boy. Better get used to it,” Conrad said.
“Oh, taire! He needs to learn—and we need to see what else lies beneath.”
The other trio approached us. The naked curiosity on their faces was obvious, no empathy required. Fan held a beige cloth napkin out to Silana. Courtney was wiping her hands on an apron she’d put on during the flight.
“Merci.” Silana took the napkin and folded it over once, then stood and walked over to where I still sat. “This will help you concentrate. And then we will see...pardonnez.”
She blindfolded me.
Silana tugged at my arm with both of her hands. “Stand up, s'il vous plaît. The rest of you. Please change places—and no talking!”
I stood. Silana, I assumed, squeezed my hand once and then moved away from me. I kept my eyes closed to be sure I was blind for all intents and purposes. I wanted to learn more about my new superpowers, too—perhaps just as badly as Silana did.
“Conrad and I will not take part in this test,” Silana said. “Lochlan, I want you to try to sense the emotions of all persons near you. Then point at Dante, Fan, and Courtney, if you can.”
The interior of the plane grew quiet until all that was left was the low growl of the jet’s engines. But my nose itched, and I could smell faint hints of perfume. “I can smell the girls. Their perfume, or whatever,” I said.
“Ah! Attendez un momento!” There was a rustling of what sounded like fabric. “Je suis désolé, Dante.” Something made a spritzing noise and the cabin blossomed with the fruity sent of fresh, even more pungent perfume.
I laughed. “Okay. Woof. That’s enough.”
“Please concentrate. Tell us if you sense anyone.” Silana’s voice was farther away than before.
I concentrated. I wasn’t sure if I was sensing anything other than my own doubt though. My old fear of failure. That went on for a good minute or more before I got exasperated.
“It’s not working. I’m not feeling anything,” I said angrily.
“You’re inside your own thoughts too much,” Silana said. “Let’s try with some music. Sophie, give us some music please.”
Sophie didn’t respond, but classical music played throughout the cabin. I recognized it right off. Mahler’s Eighth Symphony: “Symphony of a Thousand.” I scrunched my brow at the perfect selection. I found it hard to believe it was just random.
Mahler’s Eighth is full of huge choral flourishes and power. Beautiful and dynamic, with intense vocals and emotion. Lots of it. It requires a large array of talented instrumentalists and a choir to achieve the composer’s desired effect.
The symphony washed through the cabin, and over me, and then I felt things. Not just the presence of Mahler’s genius, but again, I was reading other people’s emotions. And this time I was doing it blind.
It was an odd, intense epiphany, to fully own that I possessed such a gift. Up till then I’d thought I was going a little crazy, that I’d only been rationalizing through my own delusions. But I noticed individuals, not just a range of emotions. I could pick out points in the dark space around me. Curiosity, amusement, admiration—and even a hint of desire.
Fan. That was Fan. I was sure.
I pointed at her, or where I believed Fan was standing, anyway. “Fan,” I said.
“Quiet, quiet,” Silana warned. “Say nothing until he is done!”
Of course, I’d a good idea where Silana and Conrad were. I believed I could sense them too—the concern and anticipation—but I brushed those sensations aside as I searched for Dante and Courtney in the opposite direction.
Unexpectedly, I picked up on some boredom and good humor emanating from my right side, in the direction of the plane’s cockpit. The pilots. I’d forgotten about them. The only faces on the plane I hadn’t seen yet. But there they were. Their emotional auras anyway.
It was fucking crazy.
I reached out with my mind again and sensed a tinge of fear, but mostly intense curiosity, waxing to a sense of—awe? But the emotions were all laced together by a masculine assertiveness and hyper-attentiveness, as if this person were on guard. There was no doubt who that was.
“Dante,” I said, and pointed.
That left only Courtney, but I wasn’t sure where she was standing yet. I turned back and forth in place until I was positive. There was a strong sense of amusement, curiosity and—approval.
I knew. I pointed again. “Courtney. That’s Courtney right there.”
There was a breath of silence, and then Silana’s beautiful laugh mixed with the “Symphony of a Thousand.” “Stop the music!”
Mahler’s music ceased, and again someone’s hand clenched my right. “You may take off your blindfold now, Lochlan,” Silana told me in a gentle tone.
There was a titter from nearby as I removed my blindfold.
In front of me stood Dante and Courtney—exactly where I remembered pointing. But Fan was nowhere in sight. That made me blink.
“Bien! You did it!” Silana could hardly contain herself, smiled brightly, and bounced up and down on her toes.
“Huh. I guess I did,” I replied. There really was no denying it.
“Yeah, that was really something,” Dante agreed. “How’d he pull that off?”
“He’s an empath, silly,” poked Courtney, and she gave me a smile as if she’d already heard the punchline to some joke that was on me.
“Huh,” Dante grunted.
“Fan, you can come out now,” Conrad called, and, much to my surprise, Fan emerged through the galley curtains and walked up the cabin aisle.
“Wait a minute. She was out here when I put on the blindfold—”
“Yes, I waved her away. I needed to test your strength,” said Silana.
And I thought I was a ninja? Fan clearly had me beat in that department.
“And? Did I point at her?”
“You did,” said Conrad, grinning.
“Whoa.” I never even imagined that I could sense emotions yards away, let alone through walls. Hell, a few days before I wouldn’t have believed any of it!
“Neat trick, Boy Scout,” Fan said, and she winked.
I gave her a smirk—and some simmer. Fan’s fair skin couldn’t hide the blush rising to her cheeks.
“Much more than a trick,” Courtney said.
“Yeah, a little more maybe,” I agreed. It wasn’t fair of me to tease perhaps, but I couldn’t pretend I didn’t know either. That would have been uncool to Fan.
Luckily, the feeling was mutual. I always appreciate exotic, beautiful things. Who doesn’t? And they trained Fan to attract. Conrad had said so himself. Well, it worked.
But it wasn’t the time or the place.
“Knocked it out of the park, boy,” Conrad said. “You really are full of surprises.”
“Yes, you are,” Silana agreed. “But there was never any doubt, really. Not for me.”
“So, my tel—tel-empathy. Empathy. Whatever we’re gonna call this shit. Do you think it relies solely on music?” I was already figuring out ways to work around that.
“I don’t, actually. I think music enhances your empathic power, as it is now. That much is clear. But like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it will become. We will have to wait and see. And practice, of course,” Silana said.
Practice I could do. I’m a musician.
Conrad scanned the group and said, “Okay. Thank you, folks, but we need to chat with Loch privately again.”
“Aw,” Fan whined and gave me a little frown.
“Okay,” Dante agreed.
“I’ll have burgers ready for lunch in a few minutes.” Courtney caught my eye. “You’re sure you’re not a vegan?”
I scoffed and smiled at her wolfishly.
Courtney giggled. “No. Definitely not. Cheeseburger then? I have provolone and American.”
“Provolone sounds great.”
“Show me a grizzly bear that’s a vegan,” Dante said over his shoulder as he walked away. Courtney laughed and playfully smacked him once across the back as she followed. I winked reassuringly at Fan, which got me a grin in return, and she walked after the others.
Silana lightly jabbed a hand into Conrad’s ribcage. “So. Tell him the rest.”
A lump formed in my gut. “The rest?”
“Let’s sit and relax. We have a lot to discuss,” Conrad advised.
I flopped heavily on my couch and glanced out at the slow-moving clouds and blue sky beyond the nearest window. Silana and Conrad got situated then used their handheld tablets for reference again.
“Your mother Tressa. You probably know she attended the University of Texas,” Conrad said.
“Yep.”
“Did you know Victoria Lott’s mother did too?”
That set me back. “No, I don’t think Vicki ever mentioned it.”
“Well, it turns out they attended UT at the same time, though they didn’t appear to know one another.”
“Huh.” Vicki and I were the same age, so... “UT’s a huge college. We’re both twenty-six. Not really a shocker.”
“I agree. That fact by itself, not much of a coincidence. But we did more digging and found that your mother and Reagan Shiels—Vicki’s mom—both took part in the same two-week study...supposedly on sleep deprivation. It paid very well, offsetting most of their student loans. Marketed on UT campus by a private company. However, we’ve reason to believe that this ‘study’ was actually a front for a CIA Monarch operation.”
“The CIA?” My brow furrowed. “Monarch? I’m not following you. What the hell is that?”
Conrad leaned in his seat. “Monarch is another code name for a long series of illegal CIA tests that originated way back in the Fifties, under another, more widely known code name: MKULTRA.”
That name rang a bell. “Okay, wait a minute... That I’ve heard of.”
“Probably. The CIA was prosecuted for its MKULTRA operations when it was proven many of the victims died. No such tests were ever again supposed to be carried out. But of course, they have been. Conspiracy pages all over the Net discuss MKULTRA, Monarch and the long series of rumored testing and torture involved. Conveniently, the CIA destroyed all their associated records before Congress could get their hands on them. More than a few members of Congress knew the real details, I’m sure, but corruption in that house is nothing new.”
My mother was sitting in a mental health institution as we were debating. The ramifications of that weren’t lost on me.
“So, hold the fuck on. Are you telling me that the government of the United States of America did something to my mother? The PTSD she’s been diagnosed with—This shit is related?” My breathing got heavier as my heartbeat thumped in my ears.
“Unfortunately—and I’m very sorry—yes, that’s what we’re telling you,” Conrad replied. “Though to be fair, the Federal Government rarely knows what one hand is doing while it's using the other.”
“We’ve seen this before,” Silana added.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and held it for a few seconds. My skin was on fire, but I pushed my rage back down. Barely.
Conrad went on. “We don’t know the full details. Yet. These operations are well guarded. The people running them do so beyond the scope and knowledge of their own organizations. And beyond that, the CIA is just another front for more nefarious groups that usually push these vile agendas. And that’s when things get interesting.” Conrad paused. “I know this is a lot to absorb. You’ve already been through so much in the past twenty-four hours. But we promised you the truth...and there it is.”
I opened my eyes and met Conrad’s concerned gaze. I clenched my lips together but nodded. “No, it’s good. I mean, it’s good that you’re telling me all this. My family’s been stressed out for years worrying about Mom. This explains a lot. But why didn’t she say something...?”
“There’s more,” Silana whispered, and her uncharacteristic foreboding made me uneasy.
“It’s most likely your mother just doesn’t remember,” Conrad said. “If she was part of Monarch testing, her memory was manipulated. Wiped—or at least repressed.”
My mouth dropped open. “They can actually do that? Like in the movies? Men in Black?”
“Yes. They can. Well, not like the movies but, yes,” Conrad answered. “In fact, it’s possible to go much deeper. People can be controlled. Set up as sleeper agents. Assassins. Even slaves.”
I rubbed my face and eyes with both hands. It was like something out of James Bond, but I’d read the war stories and some related science before. Stockholm Syndrome—that was definitely real. Manipulating the human mind was possible under the right conditions. Hell, just about everyone has witnessed a hypnotist do his thing with a room—and probably wondered who was faking it and who wasn’t.
But this—what Conrad and Silana told me—this was terrifying. We were talking about my mom, for Christ’s sake! Under other circumstances, I’d have been outraged by such an invasion of my own and my family’s private medical history—but I’m not an idiot. This went along with the territory when you find yourself down the proverbial Rabbit Hole, as Conrad had warned.
Truth be told, I was damn impressed by Conrad’s deductive reasoning and attention to detail. “You’ve put a lot together in a short time, Conrad,” I said.
“Oh, it’s not just me. Silana and Sophie are just as guilty,” he replied.
Sophie spoke up from an overhead speaker. “I’m actively searching for records. The lack of any clear trail is proof in-and-of itself that something important is being guarded. It’s also possible that the study results are being held in only physical form. But it’s just as likely that they have destroyed all records.”
“I would like to visit your mother. With your permission, of course,” Silana said gently. “We must be delicate though. If she has had her memories tampered with, we don’t want to recover them without taking proper precautions first.”
Tinkering around with my mother’s brain was something her doctors had been doing for years. For all the good it had done. She hadn’t had night terrors in a long time, so that was a success. But if Conrad and Silana had methods that could find the root of Mom’s supposed insanity, I wanted their help.
“If you think you can help her...”
“I believe we can. We’ll tread carefully. Don’t worry,” Conrad said.
Silana consulted her tablet. “May seventh.”
My worried mind snapped back to focus. “My birthday,” I said.
“March twentieth,” she said next.
I wasn’t sure what that date meant, but if I were following a pattern... “Someone else’s birthday,” I said smugly.
“Victoria Lott’s,” Silana replied.
“Huh. We weren’t dating you know.”
Silana laughed. “This isn’t a test.”
“Your mothers both got pregnant just a little over a month apart, according to records. Both in their early twenties. Both while finishing up their degrees at UT,” Conrad said.
A vein in my left temple twitched. “Where’re you going with this?”
“When you met Vicki for the first time...how did it feel?” Silana asked.
I winced. “Honestly?”
“Please,” Silana implored.
I sighed. “It was like...a lightning bolt hit me.” I grinned weakly. “I know how that sounds....”
“Considering what we have learned, it sounds right,” she replied.
Conrad turned his tablet off then put it down on his lap. “Love at first sight. Like you’d known her your entire life,” he said. “Does that about sum it up?”
“Yeah. Cliché—but yeah it does,” I admitted.
“June ninth,” Silana said.
My brow wrinkled. “I have no idea.” I’d tired of the guessing games.
“That was the starting date of the sleep deprivation study. Just over nine months before the birth of Victoria Lott.”
“What. What?” The implication hit me like a battering ram. “Vicki’s mom. She got—pregnant during the test?”
“Not just her,” Conrad said. “I think your father covered up the actual date of your mother’s pregnancy. You were conceived close to the same hour as Victoria.”
Was that crazy? My father wasn’t just an officer in the Air Force. He was an M.D. That’s how my parents met, during Mom’s nursing studies. What Conrad said was plausible.
It dumbfounded me until my adrenaline kicked in.
“What? Get the fuck out” —I stood. I couldn’t help it— “There’s no fucking way!” I did the math. “This is nuts! Even if that happened to Vicki’s mom, I was born more than a month after Vicki! There’s no damn way you can say—”
Silana caught my eyes with her dark blue gaze. “Lochlan. Please...please sit back down. You need to stay calm.”
To Hell with that! I wanted to pick up furniture and hurl shit around the air-locked cabin. I wanted to find doctors and scientists I imagined in their bleach-white coats, poking needles into Mom—into Vicki’s mother—I wanted to find these people and break them into tiny little pieces.
“Lochlan,” Silana pleaded.
The rage flew out from me, almost like a living creature. I shook my head and sat down again on the couch. “Goddammit!”
“Give him a minute,” Silana said to Conrad, I assumed, but by that point my eyes were watering, and I couldn’t see clearly.
After what seemed like an hour of silence, I spoke up again. Slowly. “You think I’m...connected with Vicki...from that Monarch test. That’s what you’re getting at.”
“Yes.” Conrad’s voice was as serious as I’d ever heard it. “Think about it. Your empathic ability. It has remained dormant, just out of reach of your conscious understanding. But it’s always been there. So, what if you somehow, were aware at conception? And if that were the case—you might have bonded with your mother, and quite probably Vicki’s mother, too. Even with Vicki herself.”
“That’s insane,” I breathed. “What you’re saying...isn’t possible.”
Silana whispered at me. “Just as impossible as you. Just as impossible as your powers. Powers that are proven—that we have witnessed here for ourselves, just a few minutes ago—are very, very real.”
My vision cleared enough for me to make out the worried faces of the couple across the aisle. “But how do you explain a ten-plus-month gestation period? That blows gaping holes in your theory.”
“No, Lochlan. It only makes me believe even more,” Silana said.
Conrad lowered his brow and locked my gaze. “Lochlan.” He hesitated but didn’t blink. “We believe you are only half human.”
Okay. Up to that point I’d swallowed a lot. Secret agent men running around? Sure. I could roll with that. NSA is up our asses. Artificial Intelligence? I’d seen the Terminator movies. Musical-psychic powers? Been there, done that. Mom part of some super-secret test, then having her brains scrambled in the process? Would help explain my scrambled brains.
But me—being only half-human? I couldn’t help myself.
I laughed hysterically.