Brian Saves the World, Maybe

Chapter 11 - Voices

Brian frowned, pursing his lips. She must have heard about the voice from Jessica, but how much had she told her? He wasn't sure why, but something told him he shouldn't tell his aunt about TV. Not yet, anyway. He needed some time to try to make sense of things. He also wanted to talk to TV, but he had gone silent since the barn.

"Voice? You mean, the messages?"

"Jessica said you were hearing some kind of voice?" Carol said, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, it has been confusing, hearing these messages in my mind. It seemed like a voice at first, I guess."

Aunt Carol's eyes looked distant for a moment. "I began hearing the messages as a child. I can't remember what it was like the first time. I suppose it could be interpreted as a voice." Her eyes focused on Brian again. "You asked how you are special, Brian. You are the first person we know of with a fully-functioning, yet un-registered, bio-chip. The Borae will be unable to track you. Beyond that, we don't really know what that means. You may be able to receive communications that other Observers cannot."

Brian wasn't sure what to think about that.

Carol continued, looking intently at Brian. "What have these messages been saying?"

He chewed on his lip. He had actually only just begun receiving the messages, so there wasn't much to work with, but he didn't want to make things up, just to make his story seem more plausible. "Um, there have been a lot of repeating messages about a startup sequence, and reporting somewhere for maintenance." TV had said that the messages had been repeating, so that had to be accurate.

"I see. And, is that all?" Carol said, frowning.

"I think so. It's kind of hard to tell. I have been trying to ignore them. I thought I was going crazy," he said, looking down.

Aunt Carol stepped closer to Brian and put her hand on his shoulder. "You're not crazy."

It was an ironic moment for Brian. For years he had thought his aunt was insane, and now she was standing here, telling him he wasn't crazy.

Aunt Carol began pacing again. "Jim Watkins said you mentioned something interesting. What was it?" She looked up at the ceiling as if trying to remember.

Brian tried to think of what she could be talking about. "Oh, the Cafeteria?" Now he was nervous. He began racking his brain trying to figure out how he could explain that, without mentioning TV.

"Ah, yes, that's it," Carol said, shifting her gaze back to Brian. "What have you heard about the Cafeteria?" She seemed to be probing his face with her eyes.

Brian sighed. "I really haven't heard anything about it except the name. Does it mean something?"

Carol seemed to ignore the question. "Where did you hear it? In one of the messages?"

"Maybe. I guess so. I've been having a lot of headaches recently, and it's been difficult to make sense of things."

Carol looked at him thoughtfully, slowly nodding. "It's all right. Maybe it will come to you later. And when it does, let me know, okay?"

Brian nodded.

Carol smiled weakly. "The headaches should subside soon. They are a side effect of the bio-chip waking up. Also, we are 250 feet below ground, so no Borae messages can reach you, here. Maybe that will hold off the headaches."

"That would be nice," Brian said. That must also be why TV went silent, Brian thought. Then he remembered something. "Hey, is that what the aluminum foil hat was for?

"The electromagnetic shield cap, yes," Carol said. "That was simply a precaution. And, they aren't made of aluminum foil you know. They are actually quite expensive to produce. You turned it in when you got here, right?"