Misplaced - Chapter 4
So, the human may have miscalculated when it thought there wouldn’t be much trouble, out in the city. It mostly avoids looking directly at others, and nobody has accused it of standing out. And yet, its paranoia increases, its steps gain speed, its heartbeat stutters. T’aka is close to dismissing this behavior as irrational, but then they spot someone staring as the human hurries past. Someone who is glowing, too.
T’aka wants to make the human stop, but it just speeds up, instead. No! This is their chance to find out what is going on. Shouldn’t that be their very first priority? Apparently not, because the human keeps going. It’s doing the polar opposite of what T’aka wants. Again.
“Hello, friend.”
The human flinches. In its haste to get away, it had failed to notice that someone had followed. And it realizes too late that it had moved away from the crowded streets - away from potential help and away from any escape routes. Not that they’ll need those, T’aka is sure, since the speaker turns out to be the same person that they caught staring.
Its aura pulses, now, in a pattern that they recognize, and their response to the greeting is automatic - if a little excited. It takes more energy than expected, though.
“My name is T’epai,” the other says, through their human’s mouth. “What is yours?”
T’aka’s human stays silent. That’s frustrating because it means they’ll have to reply through their aura, and just getting their name out is tiring.
The other human nods. “May I speak to your guest? I imagine it would be less exhausting for both of you if they can use your vocal chords for a while.”
“You’re crazy! I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The outburst is met with only a raised eyebrow. “I see. Would you be more comfortable talking to my host?” Their voice changes almost imperceptibly and the human starts smiling. “Hi, I’m Jordan. No need to be so wary. T’epai just wants to talk to you and… T’aka, they say. They have valuable information on your current situation. And I’m sure you both would like to know more.”
T’aka is impressed and kind of envious. Apparently, here is one of their kind who has managed to connect with the human they got trapped in, without taking it over. T’aka had suspected that was possible. They would have tried harder if they had known that others have already done it. But right now, T’aka is at a disadvantage because their human still stubbornly refuses to interact. What is it so afraid of?
T’epai seems to figure out what the problem is and speaks up again. “Does your host not engage with you?” T’aka pulses weakly in reply. “That’s unfortunate. If it did, it wouldn’t put such a strain on both of you.”
“At least, that’s what everybody else we met has said,” Jordan continues. “It takes some effort to get there, but it’s worth it. Also, T’epai doesn’t want me to share this, but it’s possible to speak through your host anyway, even if they refuse to cooperate.”
It is? That’s great news! T’aka would prefer the consensual method, but since that obviously isn’t an option… T’epai must sense their eagerness to try because they relent and send an “image” with the instructions.
T’aka needs more than one attempt to connect to the correct area in the brain, but then something shifts.
“Did it work?” Judging by the way the human jumps and tries to shrink away, it must have. T’aka feels sorry for it, but what choice did they have? They have so many questions that need answers…
“It did,” T’epai confirms. “It is strange that you had to, however. Any other human hosting one of ours has volunteered.”
“Well, this human is determined to ignore me. I’m beginning to suspect that it is some form of self-defense.”
“Then you both will probably be happy to know that all this is only temporary.”
666 words
AN: This is for LuxKen27's 2017 Summer Mini Challenge ( table 2, prompt 4: strange)
First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter