Connexion : The Atlantis Project, Book.1 (11 page)

Suddenly, one of the red window shutters blew
open with a gust of wind. The sky was a deep shade of blue and
sunshine flooded the room. It was time Charlie got up and got
moving, despite the strangeness of the situation. He got up in one
easy movement and noticed that he was already dressed in a
perfectly ironed, brown suit. He even looked quite elegant and
moved with confident, easy strides. He went to the window and flung
it open to breathe in the morning air, which he expected to be cool
and invigorating. Instead, hot, suffocating air rushed into the
room. The impression was as unexpected as it was unpleasant. The
sky was blue, but empty. Not a single cloud, building, or tree
broke the monotony, as if his bedroom were perched in the sky, far
above the ground. He quickly closed the window, filled with panic
again. He looked at the maroon door that ordinarily opened onto the
bathroom. It was identical to the one in his apartment, except for
one detail: this one looked new. It seemed to be made of a
rust-proof metal that had been colored through anodizing. He walked
hesitantly toward it and grasped the door handle. The door opened
slowly with a creak, which he immediately recognized as the sound
it had always made.

Before him was a steep staircase leading to a
small corridor, the end of which was hidden from view. He took his
keys, which were sitting as usual on top of the little shoe
cupboard, and left the apartment, carefully locking the door behind
him. At the end of the corridor he found himself in front of a
glass door, through which he could see in the distance an enormous
steel dome that seemed to be ablaze in the sun. It sat in the
middle of a perfectly maintained lawn, like a grassy sea; a sea
which he would have to cross if he wanted to reach the dome.

As he walked, the suffocating heat slowed his
movements, so much so that the dome never seemed any closer,
despite the miles he had already covered. The way seemed endless,
but he continued making slow, tedious progress as best he could.
There were only a few meters left between him and the enormous,
steel door when he noticed a small gold plaque, with ‘Hubble 37’
written on it. On second inspection, he saw another, much smaller
door, adjoining the first. This one was all rusty, and in the
middle was a keypad, so old that it was difficult to make out the
numbers and letters on it.

Curiously, Charlie did not hesitate for a
moment. He reached out and automatically typed the following code:
‘V.I.C.T.O.R.’, followed by the number: ‘3728’. Suddenly a female
voice said, “Welcome, my dear Charlie! I’ve been expecting you for
a long time.” Charlie recognized Clementine’s voice immediately and
a radiant smile instantly lit up his face. His excitement was
tangible. This was it! This time she was here, waiting for him
alone, behind this door. He took a small mirror from his pocket,
which he used to make sure he looked his best on this special day.
He was more handsome than he had ever been and this time, there was
no one around to make comments about his behavior, or steal his
confidence. He cautiously took hold of the door handle and with
great apprehension, slowly pushed open the old door. It made a
grating noise like a freight train braking at full speed on its
heavy steel tracks. The strident sound was so intense that Charlie
grimaced and cringed slightly.

Behind the door was a small, red bed,
surrounded by crimson curtains. Clementine was lying there,
completely naked, smiling at him. This sight, although extremely
pleasant, bothered Charlie so much that he began to blush. A strong
feeling of guilt came over him. I can’t take advantage of this
situation, he thought. But Clementine kept looking steadily at him,
motioning him to join her. Large drops of sweat ran down his
forehead as he stood, unable to move, incapable of taking even one
step toward her. The young woman’s face slowly fell, giving way to
an increasingly quizzical expression.

“What are you doing, Charlie? Do you think
I’m going to wait forever?”

Paralyzed, rooted to the spot, he did not
know how to answer.

Then Clementine got really cross. She got up
brusquely and slipped on some white faux leather pants which showed
off her beautiful curves. Her chest still bare, she came toward him
and kissed him on the cheek before disappearing through a small,
wooden door, which remained open behind her. Through it he could
see what looked like the kitchen of a prize-winning chef. He walked
to the door and opening it wide, was strangely relieved to see that
the room was empty. A lone copper sauce pan was simmering on one of
the gas stove’s six hobs. The aroma of soup coming from it
tantalized Charlie’s nostrils and he suddenly felt unbearably
hungry. He grabbed the pan and poured its entire contents into a
large, white china bowl. The familiar smell of leek soup reminded
him of wonderful times spent as a child, at his grandparents’ house
in the country. He drank down the whole bowlful with delight. A
feeling of intense pleasure came over him. He closed his eyes,
fully concentrating on the flavor and aroma of the soup, which
filled him with contentment.

15 DEAD END

The bowlful of soup that Charlie had just
devoured on his own was beginning to weigh strangely on his
stomach. He suddenly felt a lot heavier, so much so that he soon
began to drowse on his chair. He was not really asleep, but his
eyeballs started to roll upwards and his eyelids kept closing,
despite his efforts to keep them open. In a moment of weakness, as
his head was starting to slip repeatedly from the support of his
hand, he heard a familiar voice. It seemed to be coming from
himself.

“
Charlie! Can you hear me? It’s me,
Jacques.”

Charlie jumped and began looking all around
him, searching everywhere in the room for his brother, to no avail.
He decided he must be going crazy, and yet he had a feeling of
déjà-vu. He was convinced he had already lived through this scene,
although he was not sure it had happened in this place.

The voice spoke again,
“Charlie! You can’t
see me, but if you can hear me, you can answer using the neural
probe that Francisco implanted before the connection. I’ve already
tried to make contact with you four times, without
success.”

At these words, a flood of memories came
rushing back into Charlie’s mind. He remembered that he was
immersed in Victor’s mind and that his brother really was at his
side throughout the whole journey, even though he could not see or
feel him. He concentrated on trying to answer him, using the neural
probe.

…
I
hear you, Jacques. For a while I thought I had passed away. I was
afraid I had gone completely mad - things seem so implausible in
this virtual world.

“
I’m so glad to read you, Charlie. We were
getting worried here. It’s been six hours since we lost all contact
with you.”

…
Don’t worry. Everything’s fine. At least, I think
so.

“
Can you tell me if anything in particular
happened that could explain how you finally noticed my
voice?”

…
Not
really. Wait, yes! Maybe I just fell asleep. At least, that’s what
it felt like. Oh, and then I also ate some delicious soup, but that
can’t have anything to do with it.

“
Was it leek soup?”

…
How
did you know?

“
Maybe because I have just eaten whole
bowlful, made by Mario and Clementine.”

Charlie was about to answer when something
caught his eye. A little mouse was scuttling across the kitchen, in
fright. It ran toward a little hole in the bottom of the wall,
disappeared inside then came out again a few seconds later. As it
was watching him quite calmly, he tried to approach it, with soft,
slow steps. It kept still right up until he reached out to stroke
it. Then it went back into its hole and Charlie, who was now lying
on the cold tiled floor, could only see two little bright blue eyes
in the darkness. Those two little blue beads lost in the dark had a
hypnotic effect on Charlie, so that soon he could no longer see the
back of the hole, which had turned into a long tunnel, where he
could stand without difficulty. Surprised, he straightened up and
stretched out his right hand, searching for the wall. Even though
he could not see it, he could feel something like damp rock under
his fingertips. Droplets of lukewarm water trickled slowly up his
arm. The atmosphere was now a lot cooler, despite the heavy
humidity which made the air difficult to breathe.

Charlie kept going, walking slowly toward the
two blue beads, which had become distant and minuscule. As he went
on, his eyes adjusted to the dimness. Now he could make out the
rocky ground, which seemed to be covered in red lichen. Looking up,
he noticed that the little eyes had practically disappeared. He
could only make out a barely visible, pale glow. He thought for a
moment that he saw the shape of an arrow carved in the rocky floor,
but the thin layer of lichen prevented him from seeing it clearly.
He knelt down and began to scratch at the edges with his
fingernail. Strange symbols, whose meaning was not immediately
obvious, slowly began to appear. In the end, as he could not
understand them, he stood up. Looking at the group of symbols one
last time, he set off on his way again. But then he noticed more
symbols right next to the first, which he had not yet uncovered. He
quickly cleared away the lichen, and stood up again. Now, viewing
all the symbols as parts of a whole, he realized it was actually
some sort of map. It seemed to show the different areas of the
base, but a lot of things were missing. Only the huge metallic
structures, such as the domes, were visible.

However, something intrigued him. There was a
whole area of the base, shown on the map, which did not resemble
any place he knew of. Perhaps he had not seen all of it yet after
all. This last thought intrigued him all the more. Could Giuseppe
have deliberately hidden something from them? He tried to put away
that thought, telling himself that it was all mere supposition, of
no real value. But the idea had taken root and it continued to work
away at the back of his mind. Throwing a last glance at the strange
engravings, he continued quietly on his way.

The conversation with Jacques had brought him
back to Earth, or rather, to the dream. He was now perfectly
conscious that the events and impressions he had just experienced,
and would continue to experience in the near future, were not real.
They were only mental constructs coming from the connection between
his mind and Victor’s. This had the effect of making him feel a lot
calmer and less impulsive in his reactions to the images and
situations he met. Ordinarily, he would almost certainly have
panicked at the idea of being lost in some dark, damp, rocky
tunnel, where he could see neither the entrance nor the exit.
Instead, he was curious, and set about exploring in a calm and
methodical manner.

Charlie had lost count of the innumerable
steps he had taken since entering the tunnel. After the episode
with the symbols, nothing had broken the monotony of the seemingly
endless path. The silence was such that the noise of his footsteps
echoed more and more loudly and he could now hear the noise of the
water trickling down the walls quite clearly. Although he remained
confident, doubt was starting to niggle at him. He seemed to have
been walking for hours in this dark tunnel, and still could not see
the end of it. Fatigue began to overwhelm him, so that he tripped
and ended up flat on his face on the sodden floor. Slightly
stunned, he tried to get up, but lacked the strength. He laid his
head down gently on the carpet of damp lichen and began to think,
with his eyes closed. He told himself that maybe this way he could
make contact with Jacques again, since the first time it had
happened while he slept. But nothing came. He tried using the
neural probe to call him. He thought he had succeeded, but had no
way of knowing if he really had, as no one responded.

Charlie was now lost in thought. Neither the
sound of the water, nor the noise of his footsteps came to break
the leaden silence which reigned. However, he did not really sleep,
despite his intense feeling of weariness and fatigue. Time passed
by but there was no way of measuring it. In the distance, the two
little phosphorescent blue beads reappeared and quickly drew nearer
to Charlie, who had just opened his eyes again. The little animal
sat down on its haunches next to him and stared at him.

“Who are you?” Charlie asked, without
moving.

“Never mind who I am! Can’t you see you’re
going around in circles?”

Charlie, surprised, did not know what to say.
What the little creature said was true, nonetheless. It had been a
long while that nothing was happening anymore. Come to think of it,
had anything at all happened since the beginning?

“Where is Victor in all this?”

It was right. Where was Victor in this
never-ending dream? After all, most of the elements making up the
adventures he had just been through stemmed from his own existence,
his own little world. Nothing seemed to have come from Victor’s
mind, although that was what he was meant to be exploring. Or maybe
there was something. One detail could have come from Victor’s mind;
it was what he thought he had identified as a map of the base. But
he could not be sure if even that was not merely a figment of his
own imagination.

Just as Charlie opened his mouth to reply,
the mouse ran away, in the opposite direction, as if it wanted him
to know he needed to go back the way he had come. He got up quickly
and started to run as fast as he could to catch it up. His feet
were hardly touching the ground, as if he were flying several
centimeters above the lichen-covered rocks.