Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
It wasn’t until he was some distance away, the wind rushing past his body in a familiar cascade of rich earth, and the intoxicating “green” that was the forest no matter what the season that he realized what had been bothering him—her scent. It wasn’t a muddy funhouse mirror anymore, was instead a lush complexity as enticing as a delicate caress across his bare skin.
Whatever had happened to Auden Scott, she was now out on the other side.
Chapter 10
A9: I’ve experienced increased sensitivity the deeper I get into my pregnancy. I can still sleep in my bed, but I think that’s only because I’ve had it for three years. I tried to use a new piece of mass-produced furniture yesterday and nearly had an aneurysm from the scream of voices inside my head. Am I going insane?
—Post on Psycho & Metrics: A forum for Ps-Psy (26 September 2083)
HER INTERACTION WITH Remington Denier—Remi—was at the forefront of Auden’s mind when she finally walked back inside the cabin. The tip of her nose felt like ice, but her skin was invigorated and her mind alive with fascination.
She knew that Remi likely wasn’t worried about her at all, that the entire conversation had been a clever game of chess to gain more information from her, but regardless…it had been odd, how he’d looked at her.
As if he wanted to strangle her for being out here on her own.
Frowning, Auden shook off the thought. Remington Denier had given no indication of any urge to take such violent action. That was just her making things up to fill the gaps in her knowledge of how normal people were meant to behave.
Because if there was one thing Auden knew, it was that she wasn’t normal.
She ran her hand over the small chair she’d made herself using materials she’d fabricated with her own three-dimensional printer. It was badly done. Crooked joins, scratches where she’d slipped with a tool, and no real aesthetic to its chunky frame, but to her, it was as precious as gold because when she touched it, she tasted no one else’s memories, no one else’s leftover emotions.
It was hers to use, with no ghost hanging off it.
The same with the seat cushion she’d sewn herself. Of course others had handled the fabric, the stuffing, but no one tended to get particularly emotional about a bolt of fabric, or a packet of needles, or a bag of stuffing. In general, the material needed to create an item received less handling than the completed object—and the imprint usually faded if she set the materials aside for a month or so.
Imprints on completed objects tended to be “stickier.” Whether because the object was an emotive thing in itself—an example might be a cradle handcrafted for a beloved child—or because of the person who’d utilized it.
One of the Ps-Psy in the small but active online group of which Auden was a member under a pseudonym had once gone to a relative’s home and sat in a chair…only to be jolted with images of blood dripping off a blade. His relative had found the chair at a secondhand shop, and it had no provenance.
Now that psychometric couldn’t sit on any chair without suffering a panic attack.
Auden had previously relied on mass-produced items, which usually only held a background murmur that faded within a matter of days or weeks, but her pregnancy had pushed her ability into hyperdrive. She’d asked about it in the group, received commiserations from several other members. It turned out that pregnancy-related sensitivity was a known side effect for a minority of the group.
Kellie99 (Admin): I almost ended up locked in a psych ward—gee, that sure would’ve helped!
Sl8q: What helped me was sourcing goods made by empaths. They’re rare because Es are needed in other capacities, but so worth the peace they bring. (p.s. Kellie99, is that the reason behind the name of this forum?)
Kellie99 (Admin): Ding ding! I set up the forum the day after I escaped incarceration by PsyMed. Rest of our own damn race can’t be bothered to know anything about us or how our brains function. Sorry you’re having to deal with this A9. You’d think they’d have figured out a solution by now.
Hive2907: I found it helpful to use natural materials that I—or my mother—gathered. My mother is a calm individual who tends not to leave “busy” imprints, and while neither one of us is very handy, we managed to put together a few rough bits of furniture between us.
B2cc: I suggest an investment in a 3D printer. (p.s. Kellie99, I thought the forum name was funny even when I was pretending to be Silent. Heh!)
Auden had tried for the E-sourced items at first, but they were snapped up at the speed of light by other Ps-Psy in the same position—and financially speaking, she had far more resources than many of her fellow psychometrics. She hadn’t attempted to outbid them.