Chapter Two: Synchronicity 1
If we share this nightmare
Then we can dream
Spiritus mundi
If you act, as you think
The missing link
Synchronicity
A connecting principle
Linked to the invisible
Almost imperceptible
Something inexpressible
Science insusceptible
Logic so inflexible
Causally connectable
Yet nothing is invincible
In the reactor enclosure, things were quiet. No alarms sounded, as one of the first things Dive had done was shut them off, right after he'd put the password on the controls. Those evenings fooling around on Drake One had paid off.
Nosedive sat in a chair, feet on the control console. His eyes were closed and a pair of earphones on his head, hooked up to his portable CD player. Synchronicity I played loudly from them. He kept it a secret, but he was a fan of The Police. He usually listened to the alternative, but in his rare introspective moments, he preferred something a bit lighter.
As he sat there, he waited for his death. When the reactor melted down, there would be a massive explosion that would kill him instantly. Nosedive didn't want to die, but the fact that the same explosion would also kill the others as well was a consolation.
Over the music, he heard the doors open. He didn't move and heard the cry as one of them walked right into the forcefield he'd set up across the doorway. He'd picked a forcefield generator on his way here. It wouldn't kill you, but it hurt like hell and you couldn't get through.
"Nosedive!" a voice called out. Dive opened his eyes and turned his head so he could see the doorway. They were all there. The entire group, plus that thing that looked like Wildwing that they all now worked for.
"Nosedive, let us in! The reactor is about to blow!" The Wildwing thing had a pleading note in his voice. Nosedive smiled. He had them just where he wanted them. He got up and walked toward the doorway.
****
Wildwing stared at his brother as he came closer. His worries about Dive seemed much great than any about the impending disaster. The worries only got greater as Dive approached. Wildwing could hear him chuckling softly and the look in his eyes frightened him more than anything before in his life. It was the look of insanity.
Dive halted, his beak inches from the forcefield.
"Bit worried are we? Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go." He giggled. "You are good, whoever you are. I don't know how you managed to turn all my friends against me and replace Wildwing in a single night, but you did it." Dive's voice grew harsh. "But you didn't count on me doing anything, did you? He's just a kid, he can't do anything. Well, I've just made your plans go *boom*!" Nosedive doubled over, laughing as if were the funniest thing he'd ever heard.
Wildwing was nearly dumbfounded. Nosedive thought he was an imposter! Suddenly, an idea popped in his head.
"Of course I counted you on doing something." Wildwing was making his voice as sinister and harsh as he possibly could. "I counted you on walking right into my trap, which you obligingly did."
Nosedive looked up, a slightly fearful look on his face.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that your friends aren't working for me. I'm controlling them. They're mindless slaves!"
Everyone else looked at Wildwing in surprise, then, realizing what he was trying to do, quickly looked away and tried to look as blank as possible. Wildwing continued.
"You're about to kill all of them, you fool!" He laughed as evilly as he could.
Nosedive's eyes widened and he rushed over to the reactor control panel. After a tense few seconds, an all-clear signal sounded. Everyone outside the room quietly let out a relieved sigh.
Nosedive spun around and began to quickly move toward the doorway. He drew his puck launcher and aimed it squarely at Wildwing.
"Forcefield off!"
There was a slight crackling sound as the forcefield generator shut down. Nosedive was only a few feet away when he fired. Wildwing only just managed to duck the puck, which harmlessly hit the wall. It was less than a second before the entire group was on Nosedive. He screamed and struggled with a strength fueled by a mixture of fear and madness. Mallory received a kick to the side of the face; Duke's hand got bitten. Tanya just was able to stick the hypodermic needle in his arm. Almost instantly, Dive fell unconscious.
****
Mallory, Duke, and Wildwing sat silently around the kitchen table. Mallory was holding an icebag against her developing black eye. Duke slowly sipped a cup of coffee with his good left hand, his bandaged right on resting on the table. Wildwing, his arms folded, stared blankly into space. All were waiting for some word from Tanya, who had been working alone in her lab for the past two hours, searching for a cure. Nosedive was back in the infirmary, hooked to an IV that gave him drugs to keep him knocked out. But, just to be safe, he was restrained and Grin was watching him.
All three turned as the door opened and Tanya's head poked in.
"Uh, Wildwing, could I please speak to you for moment please?" Wildwing slowly rose to his feet and followed Tanya out.
In her lab, Tanya held up a test tube with a small amount of blackish-blue liquid in it.
"I managed to filter this out of Nosedive's blood. It must have been injected into him during that firefight yesterday. It's thousands of microscopic nanites. Incredibly sophisticated. They managed to link the neurons in his brain that deal with his visual perception of you with some unconscious fears, most likely dealing with some person that left some deep psychological scar." Tanya's voice lowered. "In most people it would cause only great unease, but judging from Nosedive's reactions it must have someone…"
Tanya trailed off, not knowing how to phrase it. She left it to Wildwing to decide whether or not to elaborate on who it could be. Wildwing stared into the test tube. He knew who it was. McBill. The man who had been hired by their second set of foster parents, the Featheringstons, to watch them when they weren't around, which was pretty much every day. The man who had nearly beat Nosedive to death. Nosedive had always said he couldn't remember him, but apparently part of him did.
Wildwing sighed and rubbed his tried eyes. It was only about noon, but he felt like sleeping for a week.
"It's a long story." He told her the whole thing, leaving nothing out. When he finished, Tanya had a stricken look on her face, as if she had never imagined that anything like what she'd just heard could possibly happen. She was quiet for several moments. When she finally spoke, it was very softly.
"Most likely Nosedive suppressed those memories. The nanites found them and used them." She sighed. "But unfortunately, that was not the real reason I called you."
Wildwing mentally braced himself for what he knew was going to be very bad news.
"I can filter the nanites out of him right away. They were also stimulating some animal instincts in him which caused the paranoia, and that should go away, but…" She paused. "The damage has already been done. I cannot do anything about it. It's about fifty-fifty his mind will recover and he'll see things as they are or that…" She paused again, longer. "Or that he'll go completely insane at the sight of you."
Wildwing stood there silently for so long that Tanya began to wonder if he'd heard her. He slowly walked out the door without a word.
****
He was falling, falling, through the darkness. As he tumbled end over end, part of him knew he would fall forever. Images flashed before his eyes, seemly randomly. There was Canard, the skating ring on Puckword he'd always used, Captain Comics, Mallory, it went on endlessly. And he kept falling.
****
There were voices that he couldn't make out. Some fuzzy shapes moving in front of his vision. Then blackness claimed him again.
****
He was in a white walled room. Lying on a bed, he wondered hazily, 'Is this the infirmary?' No, it couldn't be. It was some sort of hospital. He could hear the beep, beep, beep of the heart monitor. And he could feel the pain. Intense, stabbing pain.
****
The voices again. Clearer, but he still couldn't make out what they were saying. His vision was a bit better, too. Was the Mallory?
****
The room was dark. He was lying on floor. He couldn't move. A dark figure towered over him. He felt the blow, but didn't seem to feel the pain. His mouth tasted coppery. Blood. As the darkness started to spread from the corners of eyes, he caught a glimpse of Wildwing kicking the figure over him. Wildwing. His brother. Protecting him.
****
Nosedive eyes slowly opened. He was surrounded. Mallory, Tanya, Duke, and Grin were in a circle around his bed. He groaned slightly as he tried to move. He had a moment of surprise as he realized he was restrained, but was too weak to really care. His month tasted like sandpaper. Dive's eyes moved slowly person to person there. They all seemed to be waiting for him to say something.
"I am dead? Cause you guys look like you're at a funeral." He finally said weakly. Duke smiled, the others looked relieved.
"Thought we going to lose you, buddy boy." said Duke softy.
Dive started to mentally take stock of himself. All major limbs seemed to be still attached. No broken bones he could feel. His hand went to the back of his head. The bruise was still there, but much smaller.
"Gee, Dragaunus' goons much have knocked me harder than I thought. I been out long?"
His four friends all looked at each other. After a pause, Tanya spoke.
"About three days. It's Friday." She stopped for moment, searching for right words. "Do you, uh, remember Tuesday at all?"
Dive looked puzzled.
"Wasn't I out of it?"
"Only that afternoon. Do you remember the morning at all?"
Nosedive thought about it for a silent couple of minutes. He had some vague idea that something had happened, but nothing very clear. He had a picture of the reactor, but what that had to do with anything he didn't…suddenly like a rubber band snapping, the memories flooded back to him.
Dive gasped. These people around him they were his enemies, and he must…wait a minute. These were his friends. Why would he ever be afraid of them? As he began to recall what had happened, a growing sense of horror filled him.
"Oh my god." He whispered. "What the hell was I doing?"
"It wasn't your fault, kid." Duke had been the closest to Dive and was probably the only one who heard him. "Dragaunus injected you with some stuff that played with mind."
"Where's Wildwing?" Dive said quickly.
The others looked distinctly uncomfortable.
"Uh, kid, he thought it would best if he stayed away."
"Why on Puckworld would he think that?"
"Well, uh, it's like this…" Tanya seemed to struggling for words. "The problem was caused by linking your worst fears to Wildwing. For you to, uh, see him again might be…bad."
"How bad?"
Tanya had an extremely pained look on her face as she replied. "The, uh, behavior you exhibited might, well, become permanent."
Nosedive was silent for nearly a minute. No one spoke for they could all see he was trying hard to cope with the news.
"Bring him here." He finally said, very quietly.
"Nosedive…" Mallory was going to try to talk him out of it but was stopped by a withering glance from him. She shut up.
"Send for him." Nosedive said with much more force. He turned to Tanya. "Have a hypodermic ready. And don't fill it with sedative." Tanya blanched as she realized what Dive was saying. If he was to permanently lose his senses, he didn't want to live. She slowly moved to follow his request.
"I'll be right back." Said Duke so quiet that they could barely hear him. He went out the doors to get Wildwing.
****
Wildwing was in ready room, staring at the picture on the giant screen of Drake One. He'd been watching everything that had happened through the infirmary surveillance camera. Tears ran down his checks. Nosedive has been the first to say out loud what Wildwing had been thinking all week. Life without the other seemed to not be worth the effort. He cursed himself for not having the courage to do what Nosedive was planning to do himself.
He heard the psss of the doors opening. Wildwing didn't bother to turn his head. He knew it was Duke.
"Go back and tell the others to leave." Wildwing said tonelessly. "Have Tanya leave the syringe on that table by the doorway. If someone has to do it, it will be me."
Duke left to do his job without a word. There was nothing to say.
****
The lights in the infirmary were low. Nosedive was lying back, eyes closed. He was doing his best to enjoy what might be his last moments of sanity and life. It didn't seem to work. All he could think of was the fact that Wildwing intended to take the responsibility for his death. That had become crystal clear when the others had left, muttering rather hollow sounding words of goodbye.
****
Wildwing watched on the monitor his friends leaving. He got up and walked out of the ready room. Walking through the corridors, he coldly thought about strategy for next week's game against the Detroit Crankshafts. Right now he didn't care if he ever won another hockey game in his life, but he had to keep his mind occupied. He couldn't let his emotions take over just yet. He would need his wits if he had to do the worst.
Wildwing stood in front of the doors to the infirmary. He took a deep breath and opened them.
Nosedive was there, on the closest bed. His eyes were closed, but from his breathing it was obvious he was awake and alert. Wildwing's eyes drifted to the syringe. The liquid in side was colorless and there wasn't much of it. Whatever Tanya had put in it must be powerful. Painless, too, for she wouldn't have chosen anything that wasn't. He was musing over this when Dive began to speak.
"I remember now. Must have been blocking the whole thing out all these years. I remember McBill and how he made our lives miserable. I remember that night he nearly killed me." Nosedive paused, fighting back the tears. "And how you saved me. The recovery in the hospital, everything." He paused again and his voice dropped an octive. "I just want to thank you for that and for being my brother. Now pick up the needle, because I'm about to open my eyes."
Nosedive waited till he heard the sounds of his brother picking up the deadly syringe. He opened his eyes and turned his head so he was looking directly into Wildwing's eyes.
Sudden pain hit him like a wave. It felt like a knife stuck directly into his temple, but he forced himself to keep his eyes open and on Wildwing. He could feel himself start to shake. His vision seemed waver, first he saw Wildwing, then McBill, then back again, again and again. His mind felt on fire. He felt, rather than heard, his cries of pain.
****
Wildwing desperately wanted to go over to his brother, but the eyes stopped him. Locked, staring stright into his own like daggers. He couldn't move, the eyes might lose him. And part of him believed it was the only Dive had to hold on to.
****
Dive was certain he couldn't hold on much longer. The pain was more than he could bear. Every second was pure torture. Yet, he kept his eyes locked on Wildwing.
A sudden bright flash blinded him and his head fell back. It was a full two minutes before his eyes slowly opened. He found himself staring straight up into the eyes of Wildwing, whose face was less than foot away from his.
"You really ought to keep the mask on. It covers up that ugly mug of yours." Dive weakly croaked out.
He heard the clatter of the syringe as it hit the floor and then Wildwing's arms closed around him, hugging him so tight he could hardly breathe.
"I thought I'd lost you." He choked through the tears.
"I thought I'd already lost you." Nosedive quietly replied through tears of his own.
It was nearly a week before Nosedive felt completely normal. For awhile he jumped at every single little noise. Mallory coming up behind him one day nearly scared him out of his skin. He had a few lapses in time he couldn't quite account for. The evening after him awaking up, the whole group gathered in the darkened rec room to watch a movie. He remembered the first few minutes of the film, then suddenly the lights were on and Wildwing was shaking him.
"Hey, Dive! Are you alright?" he was asking worriedly.
"I'm fine. Why'd you stop the flick, man?"
Wildwing's look became even more worried.
"The film ended five minutes ago. You've just been sitting there, staring into space."
"Oh." Pause. "Was it a happy ending?"
Wildwing smiled slightly.
"Yeah. The hero got the girl and the villain got blown up."
"A bit predictable."
"You're right. Very predictable."
Happily, these lapses only happened a couple of times and then disappeared. The entire time he recovered, Wildwing didn't leave his side for a moment. At points, Dive felt like he had a Siamese twin. But he didn't mind a bit.
****
Three weeks after the whole incident, Wildwing went into his quarters for a moment to pick up a book he'd been reading. There was some sort of official-looking document laying on his table. He picked it up and began to read.
The Last Will And Testament Of Nosedive McDrake
I, NOSEDIVE MCDRAKE, being of sound mind and memory, do make, publish and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament.
FIRST: (a) I give and bequeath to GRIN BLITHE, should he survive me, nothing, as he asked me not to give him anything.
(b) I give and bequeath to TANYA DRAKEMAN, should she survive me, all my computer games and my stereo system.
(c) I give and bequeath to DUKE L'ORANGE, should he survive me, my hockey equipment and my comic collection.
(d) I give and bequeath to MALLORY MCMALLARD, should she survive me, my compact disc collection and my VCR tapes.
SECOND: I give, devise and bequeath all remaining property of which I die possessed, both real and personal, wheresoever it may be, unto my brother, WILDWING MCDRAKE, for him to have and to use as he may see fit for his best interest.
THIRD: I hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my brother WILDWING MCDRAKE as Executor of this, my last will and testament,
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 23rd day of March 1997 A.D.
/s/ Nosedive McDrake
Signed, sealed, published and declared as and for his last will and testament, by Nosedive McDrake in the presence of us, present at the same time, who, at his request, in his presence and in the presence and in the presence of each other, have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses the day and year last above set forth.
/s/ Duke l'Orange ADDRESS 2695 East Katella Ave., Anaheim, CA 92806
/s/ Grin Blithe ADDRESS 2695 East Katella Ave., Anaheim, CA 92806
Wildwing put down the paper, speechless. The fact that the teenager had come so close to death that thought he needed a will disturbed him slightly, but he couldn't help but be touched by the gesture. He noticed that he'd gotten Duke and Grin to witness the thing; the two must likely to keep a secret. Still, he figured he and Dive ought to have a talk.
He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Drake One's alarm. He jogged off toward to ready room, off to fight Dragaunus again. All of them, together.
The End