HELIX (a technothriller)

13 - Neopsyche

Olesya looked through the glass at Ark, sleeping in a hospital bed.

'Is he in pain?' Olesya asked, speaking in Russian.

'He sleeps for now,' Illarion said. 'He needs time to recover, time to process. To understand that everything he's been taught about the world is a lie.'

Illarion didn't wait for her. He was already moving across the white tiles in the corridor. She had to hurry to catch up. He paused to scratch dark whiskers, then looked through the glass to the next room. Inside she could see Ark's sister, Val. She was sleeping peacefully.

'So we're all you've got,' Olesya said. 'Everyone in that one van?'

'There was more than one van, but it would be unwise to have you all in one place,' he said. 'There are many places like here.'

She wanted to ask about Xiu, but she already knew the answer. She wasn't coming. She didn't belong here, or in China.

'How long have I been here?' Olesya asked.

'A little over a month,' he said. 'You were the quickest for us to deprogram. Congratulations.'

She stared at him. 'What do you mean, deprogram?'

He clasped his hands behind his back. 'The Fifth Column programmed your mind. Fortunately, the programming at your stage was preliminary,' he said. 'Think of it as a framework. All the wooden beams put in place so at a later stage in your training they can build on it.'

She frowned. 'I'm a ... house?'

'The land on which your house is built, that's the real you. It's called the archeopsyche,' Illarion said. 'Your house has no rooms yet, it's big and it's empty. This new, empty house is called the neopsyche.'

Olesya crossed her arms. 'What's the point of an empty house?'

'The Fifth Column's plan is to build rooms,' he said. 'Each one has a specific purpose. The living room is for assassination and combat. The cloakroom is for adopting undercover personas. The bedroom is for developing them. The study is for surveillance and gathering of intelligence. And the attic, that's for self-destruction.'

'To kill yourself,' Olesya whispered.

Illarion nodded. 'The Fifth Column use a simpler framework for their suicide bombers,' he said.

'They ... turn people into bombs?'

Illarion ran one hand through his hair. 'Do you know how hard it is to find a real suicide bomber?' he said. 'The Fifth Column's demand is larger than the supply.'

'So they make their own?' Olesya asked.

'Two rooms. The living room and the attic. It's all they need.'

'So we're just like them? We're ticking time bombs?' she said.

'No. Your programming was intended to be more complex. And you were trained to do more. You can move from one room to another as the situation requires,' Illarion said. 'Each room feels different. Each window has a different tint, a different color. Things outside appear ... altered.'

'How?'

'The man on the street walking his dog; through your window, he looks like the world's most dangerous terrorist, because that's what the window reveals to you. That's what the Fifth Column reveals to you for your operation. Does that make sense?'

'So I don't know if he's a terrorist or just a man?' she asked.

'To know for sure, you need to leave the house,' Illarion said. 'Right now, Val is trapped inside her own house. We need to dismantle it piece by piece until all she has left is her mind.'