The Purple Monkey (Book 2 in SRMTHFG series)

3

I'm going to go insane in here.

Sometimes I still remind myself who I am, sometimes I just sit there and scream. I'm alone, and Antauri hasn't even come back. Yeah, I know I didn't say 'yet'; why should I?

I get the visions over and over again, more often than not now. The vision's cleared, I'm able to hear, smell, feel, and see. I'm always in the same place, the common room.

But I can't talk or move.

Sometimes there's only a few members of the Hyper Force, sometimes it's all of them, sometimes it's just one. They look more and more tired and disheveled each time I see them.

The visions stay longer now, too.

Suddenly, I see the vision again. It's Gibson standing in front of me this time. I blink, and his eyes get wide.

"Everyone! Quickly!" He comes closer and looks at me.

"Chelsea? Chelsea, are you there? Can you here me, Chelsea? Chelsea, if you can hear me, blink twice."

I open and close my eyes twice. The Hyper Force gathers around and yells with laughter, relieved laughter.

"Stay with us, Chelsea, don't go!" Gibson says. "Do you feel stable? Do you feel as if you can stay? Blink twice for yes and three times for no."

I blink twice. He breaks into a grin.

"Chelsea, let me explain. We put a headband on you that has a neurotransmitter that can control the device it is programmed to control. We've been monitoring your thoughts and other statistics. In other words, what you are controlling right now is a- well, it's...erm..."

Nova holds up a mirror. What I see is me, inside of a huge cylinder with greenish liquid all around me, my dress fluttering at the hem. I'm asleep and have tubes all over my arms, head, and heart.

In front of that, staring back at me, is a purple robot monkey. I'm finally able to move and talk.

"What?!" I say. "I-I'm not- I can't be...no!"

"Chelsea, you're not actually in the monkey!" Jinmay says. "Look! The neurotransmitter has things over your eyes and your ears, and there are things on your skin connected to your nerves. You're just controlling the robot."

I- I mean, the monkey- stands up. I'm able to broadcast my voice over it.

"O-okay," I say. I gasp.

"What is it?" Nova asks.

"My voice! I-I'm a Mockingbird, remember? Will it still work?"

The Hyper Force look at each other. Gibson coughs.

"Erm... we don't know yet."