The Elders (Mind Dimensions #4)(16)
The world around me stops. As though they have a mind of their own, my legs bring me to Kiki instead of Eugene. Despite the important task ahead, I can’t resist this temptation.
I want to Read the chimp.
I walk up to her and put my hand on her face (or is it a snout?). Her fur (or is it hair?) feels softer than it looks. I concentrate, wondering whether this will work at all, and then I’m in.
*
We warm. We happy. We not bored. We full.
I, Darren, disassociate from Kiki’s thoughts. It’s incredible. She actually has thoughts in the same sense as people do. But there’s more to it than that. The way she perceives the world is eerily human, and yet different. There’s a childlike wonder about her surroundings. A strange contentment seems to be suppressing a number of her basic urges, and it takes me a second to figure out that Kiki is being Guided. It must be Hillary’s work, and it explains the chimp’s good behavior.
Disappointed that I’m not getting a true experience of an ape being her animal self, I exit Kiki’s head while mentally adding ‘Read a regular ape’ to my to-do list. It goes somewhere between ‘Read a dolphin’ and ‘Read the Pope.’
*
Done with Kiki, I walk up to Eugene and pull him in.
“Darren,” my friend says. “I was about to pull you in myself.”
I pause, searching for the best words, then blurt out, “I wanted to say that if it comes to it, I’ll do whatever’s necessary to get Mira out. I won’t let Hillary’s pacifism get in the way.”
“Thank you.” Eugene’s eyes gleam. “I mean it. Thanks.”
“Don’t even mention it. What did you want to tell me?”
“You read my mind.” He chuckles. “I wanted to see if I could count on you should—”
“You can.”
“Good. There’s something else I wanted to tell you. You’ve been very good for Mira.”
“I’ve been good for her?” He took me completely by surprise.
“You’ve been a positive influence in her life,” Eugene explains. “Transformative, even.”
“Me?” I stare at him. “All right, if you say so.”
“I mean it,” Eugene says seriously. “Did she tell you she’s been studying for her GED?”
“No.” I blink, taken aback. “She didn’t mention it.”
“Well, she is, and that’s just one thing. She’s been happier lately. Warmer. She’s more and more like she was before—” He swallows, clearly thinking about their parents’ deaths.
“Oh, okay,” I say uncomfortably.
If by ‘warmer’ he means less homicidal, then yes, I’ve noticed that. If by ‘happier’ he means she doesn’t deliver those treatises about the pointlessness of life, then yeah, that’s improved too. I thought these things were due to Mira finally getting her revenge and had little to do with me. Well, my shooting Jacob helped her get her revenge, and killing Kyle—again my doing—completely closed that revenge chapter of her life. But I’m sure that’s not what Eugene means when he credits me with Mira’s improvements.
I don’t voice my doubts, though, and with as much bravado as I can muster, I say, “Let’s do this.”
“Yeah,” he says and shakes my hand.
I phase out of the Quiet, and as soon as Bert and Hillary become animated, I say, “So you’re controlling the monkey.”
“Just until she gets to the reserve,” Hillary says.
“Uh-huh.” I know it’s not appropriate, but I can’t resist. “And if you hadn’t Guided it, and it was being bad, do you think Bert would spank it?”
Chapter 6
The ride to the airport, the flight, and the trip from Jacksonville pass uneventfully. My injuries aren’t bothering me too much, likely due to the painkillers, but I’m not very talkative and thus get an earful of Hillary’s unfiltered propaganda. I now know how Bert became a pescatarian, or ovo-lacto vegetarian, or whatever my former meat-and-potatoes friend is nowadays. Hillary gives me a laundry list of problems that allegedly stem from eating meat, things that range from heart disease to cancer. If I give up red meat anytime soon, I’ll know whom to blame.
She also uses the opportunity to tell me about exotic pets—a topic she was about to launch into at the lab when Eugene interrupted her.
Apparently, there are people who are uneducated enough about wildlife and lack self-preservation to the point where they’re willing to take on a chimpanzee as a pet. Worse, some try to keep lions, or other creatures that actually want to eat them, as pets. Half the time these people end up really messing up these animals. For instance, some people declaw their lions, which is a polite way of saying that the tips of the lions’ fingers are amputated. When that’s done to a cat, according to Hillary, they develop all sorts of walking problems. All that maiming doesn’t even cover the psychological harm of living in unnaturally cramped conditions. My aunt has apparently been working on putting an end to this practice and owns a rescue in upstate New York.
I have to give her credit for style. The whole rescue runs on large monetary donations contributed by the pets’ former owners (Guided by Hillary), who also comprise the workforce. I appreciate the irony of these people cleaning up the dung of the very animals they abused. Even if I don’t feel as strongly about it as my aunt does, the idea that these abused creatures finally get to roam in spacious habitats is comforting. Also, not that I was ever going to get a cat, but if I did, I wouldn’t declaw it, not if it’s the equivalent of cutting a human finger at the knuckle.