He closed the door behind them as she moved to the other side of the room, leaning slightly on the edge of a mostly-bare large wooden desk. Unblinking, she took measure of all three as they made a semi-circle around her.

She stood there, eyes glinting. "What's this about?" she inquired, curious more than anything about this encounter. Usually if things were going down, he'd speak to her in private. But today, Amber and Marshall were with him. Something was up.

She could see him shift in his stance slightly, a tell she noted instantly when they first met, but that no one else seemed to catch. "Humor me, Shay," he said, his tone hinting in amusement.

Her curiosity was piqued. Both Amber and Marshall were notably uneasy, though their postures non-threatening - nervous more than anything. And it was him asking; she could rarely decline him as things usually turned interesting. "Any hidden cameras about to record us in compromising positions? Otherwise, I'm out." She grinned.

"Later, if you'd like. 'Humor' was a poor word choice - more 'indulge' than anything. May I?" He closed the distance between them in a few smooth strides, his loose clothing responding to his movements. She felt his fingertips press against the middle of her back, slightly to the left of her spine, though she did not see his hand move. As she felt three fingers dig deep, in between the muscles and bones but without the normal displacement discomfort, an electric shock raced through her. Her back arched and a gasp escaped her lips.

She fell forward slightly as a wave of dizziness-euphoria-ohholyhellswhatisthis rippled through her body, her left hand instinctively moving to break her fall by trying to cling onto the side of the desk. He, however, anticipated, and caught her soon as she wobbled.

"Breathe. You're not breathing," he stated simply, her need for oxygen apparent as she forcefully exhaled before gulping another breath.

While she let him take responsibility of her balance, Shay attempted a mental survey of her present situation - her body was still feeling residual waves of what she could only define to herself as "energy," so an accurate assessment was impossible. She did note she could feel him holding her upright, could sense the pressure of skin against skin, of the gravitational acceleration pulling her down. She began to convince her muscles to fight against the pull and learn to move again. This process was almost instantaneous to her observers, but in her current view of the passage of time it was of an eternity. She felt each cell working in unison with others, sensed the impulses her brain sent to them and how they responded, and eventually started simulating those impulses to force cells into action. In milliseconds counted in the four-dimensional plane, Shay become more than her previous self, though exactly what changed was still not accessible to this four-dimensional version of her.

It was akin to opening her eyes to a new world - she reached up and quickly discarded her contacts as she had earlier (moments? years? eons? ago) willed her body into complete repair without a pure conscious thought involved, thus such aids were unnecessary. As her vision came into focus, she struggled to filter the barrage of electromagnetic frequencies surrounding her. Instinctively shielding her eyes, she heard Brand again. "Did your range of visible light increase, too? Try squinting, or there's an extra pair of specially-polarized sunglasses in the desk you can use until you get used to the extra input."

Still covering her eyes with her hands, her head pounding, she slowly, slowly opened her eyes to the smallest of slivers.

The sight was beyond any beauty Shay had even dreamed of. What once was her limited visual input now encompassed the entire spectrum of light - to her delight, she quickly became aware of her ability to focus out different ranges of frequencies by imposing a filter to her visual input, which quite helped the nasty headache forming. Without a word, she strode past the trio, out of the room, and through the back door. The garden. I want to see the stars.

Amber was scowling as Shay walked past them, though Shay gave no notice of her or the two men - intent upon her destination. The French doors to the backyard flung opened wide well before she reached them; she gave the occurrence no real attention, though knew the act was hers and registered in the recesses of her consciousness. Her bare feet felt every fibre of the plush carpet that brushed against her skin, her mind registering the air molecules as she eased them from her path, picking up each fragrance the cool, fresh air the outside breeze swept in and around her.

She had no time for amazement, her senses overwhelmed and her concentration focused on the vast amount of input.

08/03/2012

Author's Note: excerpt...

Posted on 08/04/2012
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