Invisible Touch Page 3

  In addition to reducing my virtual assistance clients, I also had to curtail my consultative work for me to expand my role in the Psycept community. For the past year, I’ve handled five cases per week. Now I am back down to the three consultations my residency agreement calls for. I felt relief upon hearing that most Psycepts only worked one or two cases a week as I felt guilty decreasing down to three cases. So, my workweek is thus, Mondays through Wednesdays I work as an assistant in the morning and handle my Psycept consultations in the afternoon. Thursdays and Fridays are for owner-manager tasks of my agency, plus Psycept community projects in addition to any remaining assistant tasks. Meetings are an all-day Saturday event. Speaking of which.

  “Echo, almost time to go. Do your business and then we’ll head inside.”

  Inside, I shut down my computers after checking for new messages, then lock my shotgun and RAMI back in the gun safe, gather our things, and out the front we go. Echo looks so cute in the pet trailer, I have to take a picture. Which reminds me, selfie of my sloppy bun hair in the cute beanie posted to Instagram and cross-linked to Twitter, with the appropriate hashtag and link to Wendy’s witchy.com site. The agency has less than two hundred followers, but anything to help Wendy’s business is good with me. Dani has a plan to grow our social media presence, so I’ll leave worrying about our follower counts to her.

  The PsyTown branch of the Albuquerque library is a ten-minute bike ride away. I lock up the bike and trailer when we arrive at the library, then grab our stuff, including a portable dog mat, water bowl, and chew toys, then we head inside. Most SWACon public buildings have a cool policy on animals. No animals too big to fit through the door and no hooves. There are hitching posts scattered throughout the larger towns I’ve seen in the GT, plus small corrals on the fringes. You can believe I gaped like a newbie when I first arrived. The policies also stipulated dogs and cats are to be leashed; insects, spiders, rodents, amphibians, reptiles, and fish are to be in an appropriately sized, clean aquarium that can be transported; birds must be in jesses or cages; and all owners are responsible for cleaning up their pets’ messes. Then there are the additional rules from certain buildings. It always amuses me to read super specific policies, because you know it was revised based on prior incidents. I can picture a journalist interviewing employees about particular exceptions, and an employee replying, “Oh yeah, that’s a good one. We had to add that because one time…”

  The library is only a decade old, as PsyTown is a newly developed section of Albuquerque, or PsyTown-ABQ as we locals call it. The library foyer houses a small arts and crafts gallery and a few meeting rooms that can be reserved for use outside of the library’s hours of operation. As we’re here during regular hours, the doors separating the foyer from the library are wide open. Stepping across the threshold, I swipe my SWACon badge as I enter the lobby which holds a circulation desk on the right and a split staircase on the left, both stairs going downwards. The left split led to the children’s section and the right was to the young adult area of the open basement. Both sections had small group rooms alongside the walls. The basement was divided in the middle by circular reception desk and a row of computers to either side, the children’s side had computers on shorter desks for ease of access.

  Echo and I bypassed the downstairs area staircase and continue across the library’s main floor, which houses the adult books, reference section, and all the media. Small group rooms are on either side of the main floor along with a computer area that holds twenty individual computer stations, of which three-quarters are currently occupied. In the right corner, Echo and I climb up a single wide staircase. A large reception room with the capacity for five hundred people occupies most of the upstairs. The first week that we held the police Psycepts meeting, only fifty people showed up. The second week we had a better turnout, closer to a hundred. Last week’s meeting had about two hundred attendees. I wonder how many people will arrive today, our fourth meeting? Probably even more than last week as the twice-monthly Psycept Council meeting is later this afternoon at the PsyTown Civic Center assembly room just down the street. Our numbers should increase as we’re riding on the coattails of the more populous meeting. People may consider attending both meetings as killing two birds with one trip, to mix phrases.

  I walk into the room and log my SWACon badge into the meeting attendance screen. Our SWACon badges are cool. They hold our stipend amounts, badge access, library account, electric charge station registers, and other records. The stipend acts like a reloadable card, you arrange for a certain amount to be deposited into the SWACon money chip embedded in the badge. The chip can be used at restaurants, movie theaters, etc. The badge access is for public buildings, works, and spaces. We all have access to free food from the community gardens and free healthcare, though both are allotted amounts. Each person living on conservatorships contributes to the community and a monthly allotment is granted to them and loaded on their badge. So, you can pick some vegetables and fruits from the community garden, swipe your badge to link the household account to deduct the food allotment from, then you’re good to go. If a person exceeds the allotment, then they can choose to forgo the goods or service, or they can switch to paying for the extras from their stipend. Stipends come from the wages you earn from working, or providing consultations as is the case with Psycept residents, or from the compulsory two-year military service all conservatorship citizens must complete.

  As an employer, I chose to contribute the community fee on behalf of my employees which amounts to fifty dollars per pay period for each employee, including myself. That equates to five hundred dollars a month, soon to be six hundred dollars. Bosque pools all the money from its contributing inhabitants, roughly three quarters of a million of us, then equally divides the pool into five categories, health, food, housing, safety, and governance. American-born, I was wary of the system when I first arrived, but it works out well. Elders help by taking care of the young, which frees up working age people to be contributors. For extreme elderly, the older aged children help to take care of them, which is remarkable. As with any system, there are problems, but overall, I enjoy the easy access. Especially free healthcare, which includes spiritual and mental health in addition to the traditional definition of medical care I was used to.

  Echo and I make our way towards an empty chair on the left side of the room. The room was set up with three rows of semi-concentric rings which held a total of 200 seats on each side with additional chairs stacked against the walls in case we need to expand. Across the back wall, large buffet tables are being set with small garden snacks and water, tea, and coffee to drink. The first few meetings, we, the founders of the group, chipped in and purchased some basic refreshments and snacks. This week, we have a Young Farmers group providing salads, fruit, and vegetable trays as community service credit. I leave Echo laying on his mat happily chewing on a toy while I help set up.

  It takes us only fifteen minutes to get the buffet arranged. Our attendees, now over 150 people, queue up on both sides of the tables. I take Echo outside for a few minutes, then we return to the upstairs room for the meeting.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The Sisters Wyrd and Brother Bone sit to my left beside me, the same seats they’ve occupied for the past three meetings. Tiko and I bookend the group, with his sisters, Libby, Vic, and Jay arranged between us. There is a significant four-seat space past Tiko, the Brother Bone. Either I make them the least uncomfortable of anyone in the room, or they plan to lob me at any threats thus need me close for easy throwing. Echo’s tiny tail whacked my jean-clad leg as he gnaws on his teething ring. Or they expect the cuteness of Echo to protect us all. Puppy power, indeed.

  I did not expect them to attend the first meeting of the PsyTown-ABQ Police Psycepts Association, let alone return each week. They keep to themselves even more than I do, and I’ve known them since we were together in the first group that moved to SWACon fifteen years ago. Most people that moved to the GT, especially in the early wa
ves, relocated as a family group. I felt my aloneness, eighteen years-old with only my dog, Poe, to accompany me. They were even younger, Tiko the oldest at fifteen, surrounded by his sisters aged eight to eleven. No parent or older family member traveled with them.

  I am the eldest of three children, six years older than my brother, Kai, and eight years older than my sister, Tommie. I know the responsibility that falls on the eldest child, even with both parents around. Tiko was alone, he was responsible for everything and I felt compassion for them. I wouldn’t say I took them under my wing, Tiko and I being only a few years apart, but I did try to help them from the time we arrived in El Paso until we settled in our PsyTown-ABQ apartments two months later.

  El Paso, Cochise Conservatorship, goodness, that was a chaotic time. The new resident group of five hundred Psycepts that I was assigned to was originally destined to go to Auraria in the Great Basin Conservatorship, the first Psycept-approved town in the GT. However, Auraria filled up with Psycept residents and their families faster than anticipated and the next town, Albuquerque, was called upon to accept Psycepts months earlier than planned. About seventy percent of our group was the last to be accepted in Auraria, leaving twelve dozen of us stranded in El Paso, waiting until Albuquerque could accommodate us. We spent six weeks in El Paso at a military barracks. Tiko and his sisters shared a room and Poe and I were in the room next door. Our rooms were the same size but theirs had two bunkbeds while mine had only one. Bathrooms and showers were shared facilities, separated by sex. I would watch out for the girls, taking them to the showers with me and I would rotate one sister to stay in my room every few days, giving them a break from such close quarters. Of course, with so many visitors in my space, I practically lived and slept in long-sleeved shirts, full-length pants, and gloves. In the Chihuahuan Desert. In July. At least Poe enjoyed the company.

  Tiko and I also split picking up food from the military community garden, doing laundry, and other shared chores. Every couple of days, one of use would go the temporary Psycept services room to check on the status of our relocation. At least the time was not completely squandered. Bosque sent down several administrators to process our residency forms for housing, setting up our public access, and other administrative tasks. We also attended advanced courses like the etiquette of living on SWACon, navigating the geography, governance, utilities, education, you name it. Part of applying to the GT as a resident refugee was taking basic courses in history and culture of the GT, so we had some idea of our new country. The advanced courses provided a much more in-depth primer, so we took the lessons to heart, though Tiko stuck me with attending the classes and then coming back to teach him and the girls. I secretly enjoyed the classes, as hastily thrown together as they were.

  Once we finally arrived in Albuquerque, we were placed in the same Psycept apartment community. The PsyTown community garden had only recently been cultivated and was not built up enough to feed us, so we had to travel to nearby gardens by bus. Problem, the public transportation was not reworked for periodic runs in PsyTown and the once-a-day roundtrip shuttle was overwhelmed with riders. Tiko and I continued to team up until most of the growing pains were worked out the first month we lived there. We forged a bond not of friendship but of mutual assistance.

  So, the Sisters Wyrd and Brother Bone. Granny Luna Mae began to call them this shortly after we arrived in Albuquerque. When we were in El Paso, none of us spoke about our Psycept abilities, we were focused on many other things. I’m sure people quickly figured out my deal, walking around covered from head to toe as I was. No one else stood out. It wasn’t until we moved to Albuquerque that the community found out what Tiko, Libby, Vic, and Jay could do.

  I never heard of sages when growing up, at least not as a psychic category. Many great and terrible things were attributed to Psycepts during the years of legal battles and none of us were sure what was true. It isn’t as if we took a class on different Psycept categories, so rumors continued to abound about the different Psycepts and their abilities. When whispers spread in our small resident refugee community about the dreaded Bone and Blood Sages among us, I was not sure exactly what that meant. Two weeks into our new life, they were outed as sages, Tiko a Bone Sage and the girls as Blood Sages. I did not think anything of it until the next day when Libby, Vic, and I were at the covered bus stop waiting for the shuttle bus to arrive.

  “You girls should be ashamed of yourselves. No one wants blood drinkers around, it’s disgusting. You’re probably diseased. Did they check you out, shouldn’t you be quarantined?” Matthias Fischer spewed viciously. Matthias was a PsyPorter and fancied himself the leader of the PsyMovers, which at over seventy people, was the largest contingent of our Psycept group.

  “I don’t know why you’re called sages. Drinking blood makes you a vampire. I wouldn’t recommend coming to church when it’s built. You’ll probably burst into flames. And don’t think about using animal blood to see into your future. I can tell you that you and your freak siblings will be thrown out of SWACon. Maybe the next town will take you, but I doubt it.” A crowd was gathering around to watch the spectacle. I looked around, hoping for an adult ally, but none of the faces appeared friendly. The front and right sides of the bus stop were open, only the back and left sides were walled. I slowly herded the girls into the corner, so they could be partially protected while I confronted the self-appointed leader. Before I could speak, someone from the crowd chimed in.

  “Oh, Matthias, they use animal blood? Girls, I don’t want anything to happen to my cats. If something does, I know who to go to.” Mrs. Pearson fluttered. Before Psycepts were exposed, she would have been considered a crazy cat lady. Now, she was a fauna PsySapient.

  “Mr. Fischer, hush. They’re young girls and you’re a grown man spreading hate and ignorance. Libby, Vic, and Jay are smart, funny, and kind. They’ve been with me for a couple of months and I’ve never feared them ‘drinking my blood’ as you say. They help me and their brother out all the time, they’re pure sunshine. How about you sit your ass down and mind your own business. And Mrs. Pearson, no one is after your cats. My dog, Poe, loves the girls and has come to no harm.” I moved myself between him and the girls during his rant and used the time of my response to unobtrusively remove my wrist-length gloves.

  “Young lady, that is not how you speak to your elders. They are not welcome here and you all need to leave. Here, I’ll help you with that.” He stepped towards us threateningly. I normally wouldn’t speak to anyone like that, but he was frightening the girls and riling up the crowd and I needed to direct his attention to me.

  “Back up. Are y’all just going to stand there and do nothing? Cowards,” I call out to the spectators.

  “Now, we won’t let him hurt them, but he’s right, they need to go. We’re all new here and we can’t afford to be tainted by association. We have to police ourselves until we get established.” I couldn’t tell who spoke, my attention was on Fischer.

  Bolstered by the crowd that seemed on his side, he darted forward. I blocked his path. He tried to shove me aside and I grabbed his wrist. My mind clamped onto his and I quickly riffled through for a memory he tried to hide from others. I didn’t have time to be gentle, and frankly, did not have the inclination to.

  “I thought it would be cool to move my gerbil. My sister always complains that his cage stinks, and I want to frighten her, so she’ll shut up. I wait until she’s in the bathroom and the shower turns off. Now. I hear a loud scream, serves her right. But the scream keeps going. Another scream. I hear my dad running into the bathroom.

  “My god. Matty, what did you do? There’s blood everywhere, something exploded in the bathtub. Is that Pete? Did you try to transport your gerbil? You can’t do that. Living things can’t survive transport. I’ve told you this.

  “I’m in the bathroom now and Dad was right. Blood, fur, bones, tiny little teeth. Everywhere. This’ll show her what stink truly means. Hah. My sister won’t mess with me again. I didn’t mean to kil
l him, but Pete just stayed in the cage all the time, so it isn’t a big loss. Maybe if I practice more? Does warm-blooded vs. cold-blooded make a difference? Should I try a fish? Maybe a lizard? I’ll stop by the pet store tomorrow.” I finish speaking the memory as the vision of Fischer’s memories faded, returning my eyesight to me. Everyone was looking at me and Matthias with horror. Fischer was slumped down, eyes glazed and barely conscious. I released his wrist and put my gloves back on.

  “Y’all look at me and see this fragile thing. ‘Oh dear, the world’s too harsh. She has to cover up to survive. Poor thing.’ Me wearing all this isn’t my armor. I’m protecting you, dumb shits. Next one that comes after these girls or their brother, I won’t be so nice. And before you get any ideas, look behind you. Big brother’s here and it looks like he’s about break everyone’s bones.”

  Tiko wasn’t alone. Behind him, Granny Luna Mae walked toward us, her wooden cane clomping alongside her and Jay was keeping pace with her. Coming up beside Tiko were a few tribal police officers. And the sheriff. Oh, man, how much trouble was I in?

  “Alright, enough excitement. Danielson and Sepulveda, start collecting names, then disperse the crowd. We can get statements in a bit. Setimika, call for medical assistance and wait beside this gentleman. Catori, stay with the firecracker. We’ll talk to her next. Officer Helki, with me. Why don’t we bring these young ladies to their brother and see what they have to say?”

  “How about you stay there and let Tiko and Jay come to us, Sheriff?” I objected. “We’ve already had one person try to force them to leave. You can see how well that worked out.”

  “Are you trying to tell me how to run an investigation? You look a little young.”