Fractal Mode

Chapter 19

Nona reminded Colene of herself of a few weeks before. That was funny, because Colene was fourteen and Nona was evidently several years older. It was the naivete and hope and underlying desperation of her situation, all coming through as background emotion: Colene had been that way, and Nona was that way now. So it was as if the four of them were on a fantastic roller-coaster ride, without seat belts, hanging on as the ride became impossibly wild-and now suddenly a fifth passenger had dropped into the car.

Are you the Megaplayers? Nona asked.

The whats? What was this? Oh, Nona thought they were godlike figures, because of their sudden appearance from seemingly nowhere.

We are travelers. Colene clarified. Not gods. Just three people. A suicidal girl from a science world, a decent man from a magic world, and a woman who remembers the future and not the past. And a horse. He is Seqiro, and he is telepathic.

What?

He can read minds. That is how we"re talking. We"re bypassing language. That is, what I think is being translated into your language by your brain, and what you think is being rendered into my language. That"s how it works.

This is amazing magic!

"I can remember it better if you speak aloud when possible," Proves remarked.

"And this is Proves," Colene said immediately, projecting the thought to Nona. Seqiro cooperated so well that it was just as if she herself were telepathic. But without the horse, it would not have been possible.

Nona faced the older woman. "Provos," she agreed. "And Darius."

Nona faced the man. "Darius." She had no problem with speech; it was just that she spoke a different language.

Then Nona turned and gestured toward a man of about her own age who was approaching with a nondescript white dog with a yellow collar. His clothing was solid blue. "Stave," she said. She indicated the dog. "Cougar."

Then she faced the man and dog and spoke in her own language. Colene listened just enough to verify that it was completely alien, as she had expected, then tuned in on Nona"s mind again.

". . . and when I turned back, they appeared from nowhere," Colene translated. Seqiro could send to them all simultaneously, if Colene asked him to and focused on it, but this was easier now that the introductions had been made. "They say they are not the Megaplayers, and their size suggests that this is true. But they must have remarkable