Everwild (Skinjacker 2)

"Ah, but we can control the direction of their thoughts," Milos had told her, "without them ever knowing we are there." Then he told her to skinjack one of the milder looking prisoners, and at the same time, think of something that made her feel guilty. Her thoughts immediately went to Mikey, and how bad she felt that he was left alone while the rest of them were out skinjacking--and as those thoughts filled her, she suddenly got flashes from the prisoner. His own guilty conscience told her that, yes, he did steal all those social-security checks from helpless elderly men and women.

The moment the confession hit her, Allie peeled herself out, stunned. It took her a few minutes until she was willing to try it again. She tried four more times before it became too much for her. The last prisoner was either innocent, or too hard to read, she wasn't sure.

"Yes," Milos told her. "Guilt is easy, innocence is hard."

"But what's the point of it?" Allie asked. "They're already in prison--what's the point in us knowing they're guilty?"

Milos grinned. "What if the ones we justice are not in prison?"

Allie thought about it, and found the idea both compelling and disturbing. "Do you mean diving into random people, and searching their thoughts for crimes?"

"Not necessarily," said Milos. "We could search the minds of people awaiting trial, or perhaps people who are suspected of getting away with the perfect crime. We can find the truth within them, and then make them confess. Have you ever seen a criminal confess to something they might have otherwise gotten away with? Well, maybe they were justiced by a skinjacker."

"But isn't that ... invasion of privacy?"

Milos shrugged. "No more so than a search warrant, and that is perfectly legal. We just search a little deeper."

Although Allie felt conflicted, she had to admit that it could be ethical, if there were strict guidelines--such as only searching those who are already under official suspicion. But then, who would decide what the guidelines should be? Every skinjacker would make up their own rules, and not all of them would be as honorable as her.

"This is a good skill to know," Milos explained. "You see, there are those here in Everlost who will pay well to have their killers brought to justice." "I don't want to be paid."

"Fair enough," Milos said. "Sometimes a good deed is payment enough."

Which led them to the second lesson of the day. Terminizing. For this he took her to a hospital in the outskirts of Nashville. Once there, they found several terminally ill patients. Milos amazed Allie by skinjacking one of them-- not to take over the patient's body, but simply to make himself known. By the time Milos peeled away, the man had a look on his face like he had been visited by an angel.

"We tell them the truth," Milos explained. "We tell them that there is something more. That after their last heartbeat, the tunnel and the light will come."

"But we don't know what's in the light."

"It does not matter," said Milos. "Most people just want to know that there is something, whatever that something is."

As they went searching for another patient, Allie dared to ask, "So, what's in it for you?"

Milos looked down. "I see," he said sadly. "Everything Milos does must serve Milos."

Allie immediately felt bad she had said anything.

Milos held his pout for a moment more, then it became a mischievous grin. "I ask them to put in a good word for me when they reach the light."

Allie slapped his arm, and he laughed. "Shut up! You do not!" But she was never quite sure if he was joking or serious.

Following Milos's lead, Allie entered a patient, and revealed her presence slowly, so as not to frighten the woman. Then she spoke of the tunnel and the light. Milos was right-- that was all it took to give the woman an overwhelming feeling of peace and comfort. Thank you! the woman said in her thoughts. Oh, thank you! She didn't know who Allie was, but that didn't matter. It was the message that mattered, not the messenger, and once Allie had peeled away, the feeling of utter peace lingered with her. This was definitely more rewarding than justicing. It was the kind of bedside comfort the living simply could not give. Perhaps this is the reason we can skinjack, thought Allie. To do things like this.

Allie must have communed with a dozen patients before she felt so exhausted by it, and filled with their gratitude, that she had to stop.

It was getting dark as they left the hospital, and as her mind ran through the miraculous things they did today, she couldn't help but reel from the sheer awe of it. Since the first day she discovered she could skinjack, she had lived in fear of the idea--she had treated it like a nasty little secret, to be used only when absolutely necessary. It kept her from seeing the possibilities!

"Do you realize what we could do?" she told Milos. "Solve the world's greatest crimes, bring peace to the most troubled places on earth. Why, through skinjacking, we could actually change the world!"

Milos found this very amusing. "You wag a finger at me for playing with fleshies, and here you want to change the world!"

"I didn't say I wanted to, just that we could."

Then his gaze changed. He was no longer laughing. Now he looked a bit bemused, instead of amused--as if looking at Allie was like looking at a wonder. The gaze made her feel awkward and she had to look away.

"Perhaps I am too small-minded," Milos said. "This has always been my problem--but now, thanks to you, I will change. I will try to think more ... globally."

At the time Allie thought he was just humoring her.