Chapter Forty-Four: Just a Walk in the Park

"Why are we here, anyway?" asked Krystal. The Drone studied her for a moment, then responded, "We are waiting for the others." She and Tedford both looked at him quizzicly for a moment, then T-Bone asked the obvious followup question, "What others?"

The Drone, a little confused by the complete disappearence of their fear of him, nonetheless explained that this place is one of several nexuses for the Hive. A gathering place, a center of focus for the energies that sustain the Queen and the collective Mind. "You can therefore see that it was rather ironic that you would try to flee here, where our power is the strongest and our senses are the most attuned."

*****
Tony parked the car in a parking lot off of Cowan Drive, right in front of a wall with many bronze plaques. It looked like a tribute monument or something, but Tony couldn't read the writing on the wall from the car. "This is the first leg of the multicache," said the guy, hopping out of the car. Tony stayed in the car and turned on the radio, but Will got out and strolled over to where the guy was writing something down on his sheets of paper. "You see, it wants us to plug in the last word of the engraved phrase from the wall into these blanks, here..." explained the guy, his words reduced in Will's mind to a mumble unworthy of focus as Will cast his glance around and beyond the wall and caught sight of something. The guy was now muttering something about deciphering coordinates or whatever, when Will abruptly left him and ran over to the car. Tony rolled down his window, and Will stuck his head in and said, "Found 'em."

*****
David walked along the north bank of the river, down Riverside Drive, as he moved steadily westward, heading for something called "Idlewild". He passed a large strange tree that had been carved into fish heads, but he didn't stop to ponder upon it. He hung a left on Booth Street, then an immediate right on Idlewild Drive. His step quickened and his pulse raced as he correctly surmised that he was close - very close. He noticed that he was entering a large municipal park. There were people all around walking dogs, throwing bread to the ducks, jogging with headphones on. He paused for a second, surveying the scene. Cowan Drive turned off onto Mastroianni Drive, and then Latimore Drive. It was as good a place as any to start looking. For what? David didn't quite know - but he'd know it, he told himself, once he saw it.

He didn't see it at first, however - he heard it. He wasn't quite sure if he heard it with his ears, or just in his mind, but he heard it nonetheless. He could hear voices (or were they thoughts?) - other people's conversations, even though he was too far away from anyone in particular to make out distinct words. The din of the park's activity was noticable, but didn't account for his ability to clearly hear separate threads of dialog. He wondered for a moment if he wasn't going mad, and he paused for a few moments to consider the possibility. He didn't feel crazy, but what would that feel like, exactly? Would an insane person know that they were insane? He didn't think so, so he dismissed the idea. He told himself that as long as he still felt normal, acted normal, and was able to self-reflect that he was still in control of his mental faculties.

He listened for awhile to the various ideas and concepts being portrayed in his mind. Someone was talking to their friend about getting her cat neutered before things got out of hand, another was arguing with his spouse about finances and her stupid Botox. Someone was working with letters and numbers, trying to figure out some sort of code, and someone else afar off was pondering the mysteries of time and of the galaxy. This stuck a chord in David's mind, triggering memories of a dream or a vision of sorts. Doorways, battlefields... a man in a suit.