The Thought Pushers (Mind Dimensions #2)(4)

In the midst of all this, the knowledge dawns on me: I’m not alone. I’m part of something more elemental than myself. And then, I understand.

I’m not simply Darren, not anymore. I’m Caleb. And I’m Darren. Both at once. But not in the way Reading allowed me to be other people. This is a much deeper connection. During Reading, I merely see the world through someone else’s eyes. This Joint Reading experience is much more than that. I see the world through Caleb’s eyes, but he also sees the world though my eyes. It almost blows my mind when I realize I can even see through his eyes how the world looks through mine, when filtered by his perception and biases.

I can tell he’s trying not to get deep into my mind, and I try to reciprocate by focusing on not getting into his. As this is happening, the positive feelings I was experiencing thus far begin to turn dark. I sense something frightening in Caleb’s mind. And the whole universe seems to be shouting one idea in our joint mind: “We are staying out of each other’s heads. We are staying out of each other’s heads . . .”

But before either one of us can actually follow this reasonable mantra, a barrage of memories is triggered, all at once.

On some level, I’m not sure how, I know that Caleb is seeing my most embarrassing and vivid memories. I don’t know why it’s happening; it could be because they shine so brightly in my mind, or it could be because he’s curious about some of this stuff. Whatever the answer, he’s reliving the time my moms talked to me about masturbating. If it were possible to turn red right now, I’d look like a tomato at the thought of sharing that particular memory. He’s also reliving other things, like the time I first phased into the Quiet after my bike accident. The first time I had sex. The day I saw Mira in the Quiet and realized I wasn’t alone.

On some level, I’m reliving all these memories at the same time. All at once, as though in a dream.

And then I realize something else is happening. With dread, I see a mental tsunami coming at me.

It’s Caleb’s memories.





Chapter 3


Caleb, the device was found.

We read the text and are overwhelmed with relief.

“We?” a sarcastic voice in my head says. “It’s me, kid, Caleb. This is my memory.”

“‘We’ is how I experience it, Caleb,” I snap back, hoping he can hear me. “You think I want to be here?”

“So get the f*ck out.”

“I would if I could.”

“Try,” Caleb thinks at me, but it’s too late. I’m immersed back in Caleb’s memory, which continues to unfold like a Reading session.

The text doesn’t change our mission, we realize.

We’re approaching the car, trying to get as close to it as possible before Splitting. It’s a fine balance, this business of attacking someone who can also enter the Mind Dimension. It’s a difficult art that we’re still developing.

Typically, it’s hard to catch someone unawares if he or she can Split. From childhood, those of us with the ability to enter the Mind Dimension learn to immediately scan the environment around us when we Split. Or at least the paranoid among us do.

The solution is very bold; few would have the balls to try it. The answer is to attack someone inside the Mind Dimension itself.

I, Darren, disassociate for a moment and think at Caleb, “Why attack someone in the Quiet? Nothing you do there has any effect in the real world.”

“What did I tell you about getting out of my head?” He sounds angry, if it’s possible to sound angry while thinking. “At the very least, stop the f*cking commentary. For your information, when one of us dies in the Mind Dimension, it has an effect—a lasting effect. Trust me.”

“But still, why not do your attack in the real world?” I ask.

“Look, kid, I’m not here to teach you anything. We’re here for me, remember? But if it shuts you up, let me explain. One benefit of attacking someone in the Mind Dimension is that there’s no possibility the person will see me until I pull him or her in. It’s the ultimate stealth, and the reason for the development of this technique. Another huge advantage is that, in the Mind Dimension, a Pusher can’t use random bystanders to aid himself—something that f*cker would definitely try. But before going in and attacking people in the Mind Dimension, keep in mind that this technique has drawbacks. In a regular fight, I can leverage the Mind Dimension. It’s a huge edge. I can Split and see where my frozen opponent is about to strike me. If the opponent isn’t a Reader or a Pusher, I can Read him too, which gives me valuable information about my opponent’s actions in the immediate future. Unfortunately, in this case, the opponent is a Pusher. All I can rely on is fighting prowess. This suits me just fine, since I’m confident in my abilities in that department. Still, I always strategize based on the assumption that my opponent is as good as, or better than, me—as unlikely as that is in practice.”

“Wow, dude, that’s way more than I ever wanted to know about the subject—and extremely arrogant, to boot,” I think at him.

“You asked, *.”

With no more commentary coming from Caleb, I get sucked back into his memory.

A car alarm blares in the distance. We decide that the location we’re in now should work for our purposes: far enough that the Pusher couldn’t have seen us coming, but not so far away that we can’t fight when the moment arrives.