Adolf Adler's apartment was exceptionally clean, but not in an enjoyable manner. It was located in Mid-Levels, a safe area, and everything looked as if it was brand new and polished. Instead of paper books, he had data-slates on shelves, all ordered by number. The smell of the air was somewhat mechanical with a hint of Ambrosia – not that he was consuming it, but because he kept a vial of it in a showcase as if it were a holy artifact.
Benny Rhodes was on a very uncomfortable chair, and he was trying not to spread his body too much. The loud noises in his mind were not that intense because of the building's structure and Adler's special noise-canceling system, which was producing a strange sound. The system didn't stop the Echo but it was arguing with it, which almost made it better.
Adler was returning from his office with a slate in his hand. Your statistics are bad. Your electroencephalograms are indicating very high brain activity. You're not taking your medicine. He spoke as if he was accusing Benny of something.
Benny looked at the floor and said, "It makes me feel out of it."
Feeling out of it is still better than being unstable,
Adler said, sitting opposite to him. "Your mom is caring, but she gets too emotional. Your problem is not a spiritual one; it is a physical one. You are overly sensitive to the Aethelrex's energy field. The medicine is the one that neutralizes that."
But I feel like someone is talking and I'm just listening, Benny whispered.
Adler's face changed a bit and he disagreed, "That's insane. You're just getting noise - very few random signals from a living being. The only reason why you think it's a person is quite simply because you are being stupid." He pulled himself up, his eyes shining behind the glasses. "But your sensitivity does allow us to perform some tests while you are here. Nothing that will hurt you. We may be able to change the noise-canceling device to see how your brain reacts to the Echo. It would be a great help to the inventory project."
Benny was feeling bad. To Adler, he was just another experiment, another data point. "My mom said that you were the one who had to keep me safe."
And we keep you safe by learning,
Adler said, walking around and standing up. "At the time of the Final Digestion, a huge amount of energy is going to be released. If we know how you react to smaller doses, we will be able to make a very good guess what will happen to everybody else. I dare say you could be the one to really help us get through the change."
That stuff really hit Benny hard. Final Digestion. They set off the Echo. The louder the screaming in his head got, the more terrified he was – he saw all the threads that linked everything being drawn tight and then snapping, changing into a light that devoured everything.
He whimpered, curling up.
Adler was making notes on his slate while he was watching. Very nice. Just the thought of it makes him react. Note the connection between those words and the brainwave spike...
Benny couldn't get any air. The hallucination was too real. He saw the Still Voice – the one quiet thing he'd found– being consumed by that light.
He had to get out.
He stood up fast. I need air. The balcony.
Adler looked confused. The balcony is not that good of a noise blocker. You will be exposed...
Please.
Adler thought for a moment, then sighed. Five minutes only. I'll be the one to adjust the dampeners from here. See what happens. He was already treating it like a test.
Benny went into the balcony. He had a view of the city with its bright pipes and power lines that were making a humming sound. The Echo was louder here, the screams of the person in his head mixing with the noise of the Heartforge.
Out of his boot, he took some bone-marble and charcoal, which he had hidden somewhere. He leaned on the balcony and started drawing the new vision, not the map of pain. The breaking threads, the hungry light, and the Heartforge eating everything.
While he was drawing and concentrating on the drawing, the screaming didn't stop but the Still Voice seemed to react to the drawing. It got a little brighter, reaching out… not to him, but to the drawing.
The charcoal lines that he used started to smudge a little, as if a person was blowing on them. The light formed around the Heartforge, and a word appeared:
SOON.
Benny was staring, feeling scared. It was not his writing. It was old and rough.
His head, especially the Carver's Quarter area, was shot through with a sharp pain. Someone...
Inside, Adler was calling out,
Time's up! Come inside! I'm seeing a spike!
Benny quickly removed the word and put the bone-marble back in his pocket. It wasn't only that the person in his head was screaming anymore – it was a warning.
And he was the only one who could hear it.