Robert awoke in the guest room that Galt had provided once more. Everything screamed rich and eccentric. The bed was at least king size but it wouldn’t surprise Robert at all if the bed was a custom size that Galt had specially ordered, so that his friends can sleep with his guests. There were trees in two of the corners with large cat sized holes that branches lead into, Robert had blocked the door to keep the animals out, at least the large ones can’t squeeze in through those branch holes. He hasn’t seen anything crawl through them yet, but that doesn’t mean nothing has. There is a television on the wall that is constantly on, currently playing a wildlife YouTube video with birds and squirrels running around in a natural setting, he’s turned it off several times, just to have it pop back on a few minutes later.

There are privacy curtains that could be released to cover the interior of the four post bed. The first two nights, they were pulled, but each day when his bed was made or even remade after he made it, there was someone who would pull them back again, all for him to drop them that night again. It was a game he only played for a short time. He didn’t need to make whoever it is work any harder.

All of the walls in the place were painted with some theme. Each one had something that was unique to it. He was in the rainforest room. The walls were textured like tree bark and had similar coloring that you would find in the region. The light would turn on automatically at the sunrise time to match that region's actual sunrise. A guest can change this sunrise timer, there was an override, he found that out the second day when the sunrise in the room came two hours earlier than it did here on the east coast of America.

The lights above are all specially created to mimic the sky in the rainforest. This included the hue of blue, the position of the sun, clouds, everything.

Robert turned his head to the movement he caught out of the corner of his eye and watched as a sloth slowly descended the tree to the ground, the ground being a large pot that is housed on the floor below. This was his first time ever seeing a sloth in person. He had moved to the edge of the hole to watch the animal slowly descend. The creature looked up at him, with one of the most kind, smiling faces he had ever seen, then it closed its eyes and began taking a dump, all while grinning at Robert.

“Damn dude, when you gotta go you gotta go huh?” Robert said, returning the smile to the critter while it slowly relieved itself onto the earth around the tree.

The sloth let out a grunt, something like a laugh.

Robert sent out a telepathic bridge between their minds. “Good one guy. I’ve been holding this all week, I’m about to wreck this root, son!” The sloth thought and Robert nearly fell through the hole laughing.

“Buddy, calm down, you might hurt yourself,” The sloth thought.

Robert was aware that nearly every animal in this condo was a piece of one traveler or another. They have an understanding of the world that was beyond a normal animal of the species, how could it not be, there was an alien intelligence living somewhere in there. He didn’t think a Sloth would be one of those animals, but he is now witness to otherwise.

He went back to the Sloth’s mind and it was rerunning the Porno for Pyros song Pets. Robert thought this sloth has a serious level five humor. He decided to introduce himself.

“Hey bud, my name is Robert, what’s your’s?” He asked out loud while keeping the connection with the creature’s mind to get a reply. The creature would be powerless to communicate well without that bridge being maintained..

“Dude. Kinda busy…” The Sloth let out an audible grunt. “...with something,”

Robert rolled over laughing and walked into the bathroom attached to his bedroom. He heard a few noises from the sloth and reached back out to the creature’s mind.

“What are you closing the door for buddy, I thought we were gonna have a contest. I bet mine’s bigger!” The Sloth thought. “I doubt yours could even weigh more, this is a thing of beauty right here. Man, don’t flush, I wanna at least see if I’m right,”

Robert hopped on the toilet and started to force something out, this sloth was on.

***

Keung was on the balcony and watching the sunrise over Central Park. He longed to take a board out and just check out the waves here on the Atlantic. But, he had never been out surfing. Not a single time in his life that he could remember, but the yearning was there. Like a food craving that wouldn’t quit until you find that food and eat a piece.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

He listened to the traffic below and missed being in New York decades ago, as Anastasia. Sure, being out with Ricardo was nice, he had shown her where he grew up, which schools he had attended, and his favorite places to eat while getting her to try all of his favorite foods.

Keung took in a deep breath and just savored the memories that came back with those connections to that scent, that mixture of everything throughout the massive city that blended into that perfect perfume that brought those memories to life in his mind.

***

Ricardo smelled of sandalwood and his own natural musk. Anastasia found the smell made her feel safe. He had been walking her down the street of his old stomping grounds when he grabbed her tightly and held her close as she was nearly hit by a car she didn’t notice while crossing. His arms were solid, firm, the cords of his muscle had snapped her from her step.

“Oh yeah, you keep going pal!” Ricardo shouted and the car’s back window shattered, a central point the size of a man’s fist. It was careless of him, but she didn’t think the man in the car was ready to talk to anyone about the back window blowing into his backseat. The car peeled out and turned the first corner.

Her heart was racing when Ricardo finally released her with a warm smile, obviously happy she was okay, but that he had a hint of shame letting himself react before thinking.

He dusted her off, as if anything had actually touched her and then they began down the street once more. This was a happy time in their history, she could remember the nights of arguments, the days of complaining while she helped him gain mastery of his gift. When she started with him, he could use his thoughts like hands, each motion was like it was attached to a limb, limited to only what he could imagine himself doing with a member of his body. This meant he could do a great number of things to be true.

Thoughts were not like hands though. A tunnel can dig into the earth and remove pieces of the soil in clumps, but thoughts could dig into what is in the earth, the creatures in the tunnels, the tunnels themselves move throughout the area and a thought could follow those tunnels, no matter how small. A thought can pierce through glass and never leave a mark. A thought could change matter itself is her theory.

A thought is eternal and it is fleeting. If a thought could make itself manifest physically, it could have limitless potential. Richardo has such an ability and he has been using these gifts in such a minimal way. The analyst in her made her want to know everything such a power could accomplish. This had pushed him away, she knew. He talks about it in his sleep. She has chosen not to tell him that yet. There was a distinct advantage to her research if she kept some of this to herself.

There were nights that she would hear him talk about the most brutal and disgusting things she could have ever imagined. Those nights she tries to get into his dreams without him knowing. She wants to get a peek at what he was experiencing, and if it was joy or regret in his mind when he thought of them. She took those thoughts and locked them away. She needed clear boundaries between Ricardo and herself, even if they were only in her mind.

***

Keung snapped out of the trance of the proustian moment. These were not memories he was ready to deal with at all. He looked around to see if anyone had noticed him, but he only saw that octopus Horatio staring at him from his tank. The octopus was resting in his tank but his eyes were locked on him, no doubt.

Keung has grown fond of the creature. He had reached out to the AI on Horatio’s behalf to get him a body that he could use for better mobility. The creatures on Woatuu, the Ellithani, had been given such suites by his species, the G’lomin-sitiri. The suits have life support, enhanced tentacles that were cybernetic and had various tools throughout the tips. Some even had arms to do work that the tentacles couldn’t manage. They were impressive machines.

“I remember those. I had one when I was born among their people. You seem to have a fresh understanding of them, am I to assume your new understanding as you have found the schematics?” Horatio asked within Keung’s mind.

Keung smiled and gave a nod towards the tank. The octopus hopped up and jetted itself around the tank in circles. The boy imagined it as a happy dance and gave a little laugh.

“You don’t seem all that happy about this message,” Horatio said.

“Just lost in thought,” The boy replied.

“We all have a past kid. Those here especially so. We have all been so much more, and so much less. Who was that man in your memory?”

“Ricardo,” Keung replied, tapping into a memory that was pleasant to send over with the name, trying to mask his regret.

“The man that Morgaine was?”

“Yes,” Keung answered, tucking away his memory for privacy’s sake.

“I am sorry. Was that too personal?”

“It’s not one of my high points,”

“Well, here. Allow me to share a good memory and a low point with you, at the same time.” The octopus said, then a packet of memories washed over Keung’s mind.

The boy took a sharp deep breath of surprise as it all hit him at once.