Chapter 14

For the entire drive back to the lab, Cameron tried to think of a way to make this happen without killing Isabelle. In his head he kept running into walls with his plans and often said to them that it wouldn't be possible. Kirsten kept saying that it was possible.

By the time they reached the lab, Linus and Camile was already waiting with the team. Kirsten had called Camile and told her about the idea. She then told Linus and Maggie, and they thought it was worth a shot; they even had a long discussion about how to make it possible.

When the three of them walked in, there were two "fish tanks" next to each other.

"Considering we're not going to sever her conscious from this, we need to monitor her like we do Kirsten." Linus said as he was running around the place, trying to mix equipment and program code to make it work. "She will need to wear a suit like Kirsten too."

"Follow me." Kirsten led the way to her change room and pulled out an extra cat suit for Isabelle. "It's to help read your vitals and monitor you."

Isabelle nodded and started stripping in front of Kirsten. Out of shock, Kirsten quickly turned her back on Isabelle but eventually shook her head and changed too. By the time she was done, Isabelle was staring down at herself, pulling at the material and flexing under its grip.

"Yeah it feels weird the first time." Kirsten said simply, knowing it to be true.

By the time they walked into the lab, it looked like Cameron, Linus and Maggie had figured out a logical way to do this without anyone getting dead or hurt. It was definitely worth a shot.

Kirsten stared down at the commotion as she and Isabelle walked out of the changing room. Cameron and Linus were discussing the code to change the program so that both of the ladies could actually move around in the mental space. It sounded ridiculous, even to them.

Isabelle walked up to the railing, placed her hands on it and pushed forward, lifted her feet off the ground and did a handstand on the railing. She was shaking as she lifted one hand and turned around, grabbed the rail again. She started slipping and dropped her legs and fell to the lab floor.

Everyone rushed to her side but she got up quickly with only a bit of a pained moan as she stretched.

"I guess I can do that." She said as she brushed herself off.

"You were always a good gymnast, before you went missing." Cameron said as he helped her stand. "I guess you kept it up."

"This thing, " she pulled at the suit, "made me think of doing that."

"Another memory. That's good." Cameron touched her face and regretted it instantly and pulled his hand away, turned around and headed to his station.

"This way." Kirsten led the way to the "fish tank" and helped Isabelle in. On of the techs helped hook Isabelle up as Kirsten walked over to her own tank and sunk into the water.

"Isabelle, we're going to start with you this way, fully conscious. If that doesn't work, we might just put you to sleep. But after that, it becomes messy and that's where I draw the line." Cameron said as he got himself ready for this experiment.

"Okay." Isabelle said simply.

"Linus, what is her exit pin code?" Cameron asked.

"First type Isabelle Starland, and then essiestar no caps or spaces." Linus said.

"What?" Isabelle sat up.

They explained to her about the keyboard and password to get out of a stich. They weren't sure how it was going to work, but they hoped that Isabelle will be experiencing the memories just like Kirsten.

"Now, close your eyes and relax." Cameron said after the brief explanation. Isabelle lifted her head once to stare at him confused but then relaxed and let it all happen.

She closed her eyes and the last image of the lab flashed and lingered as she drifted into darkness.

"So I've taken memory markers from the previous stitches and I'm going to search for them in Isabelle's brain before we send you in there." Linus said as if he was making sense.

"Do you know what that means?" Isabelle asked without opening her eyes.

"No idea." Kirsten said in the same relaxed state.

"It's a map and we…" Linus tried to explain.

"Whatever." Kirsten said as she settled in.

There were a few minutes of silence while Linus typed at an alarming speed.

"Got it." Linus turned his monitor and showed it to Cameron who nodded and went to his station.

"Okay. I want a go, no-go…" he started his whole ritual. This time it was mostly to give himself time to calm down. This was the scariest thing they have ever done.

Kirsten opened her eyes and blinked a few times. "This is weird." She stated.

"What's up?" Cameron asked.

"I don't know… I'm not sure." Kirsten cleared her head. "I'm not in anyone's memory. I'm in the middle of them all." Kirsten sat in the middle of the car. Isabelle was in the front seat.

"Isabelle, talk to me." Cameron said.

"I feel really uncomfortable." Isabelle said.

"I'm going to get you out." Cameron jumped at his first chance.

"No." Kirsten said quickly. "I would be uncomfortable too if my hands were tied behind a car seat." She looked down and saw that Isabelle's arms were wrapped behind her around the seat and tied together with ropes. "Just try to remember this, Isabelle."

"Zatk`nis!" Hathor said. Kirsten repeated it. "I think it means shut up."

"Eto piz`dets" Isabelle said out loud in the memory and in the lab. Gypsy scolded Isabelle for her language but before Kirsten could explain any of it, Isabelle started yelling things in fluent Russian.

Kirsten and Isabelle argued in Russian, reflecting the memory. The team stood in the lab, staring at the two, not understanding a word or knowing what was going on.

"Guys, talk to me." Cameron became anxious.

The memory took them to the road near the accident. They argued until Isabelle slipped her hands free of the ropes, unclipped Hathor's seatbelt and punched him hard. The car swiveled and someone screamed.