Free The Hollow (Rose of the Dawn Series Book 2) by Ily Maguire Page B

continues.
    “He’s in pain.
Can’t someone help him?”
    Christophe
shakes his head. “We’ll just wait until it stops.”

12
    “How can you see
with those sunglasses? It’s so dark in here.” My muscles twitch from the
exertion. Christophe and I wait. The moaning is less intense than moments ago,
but it hasn’t stopped. It’s more like crying.
    “The sunglasses
don’t stop me from seeing light, if that’s what you think.”
    “Isn’t that the
purpose of sunglasses?”
    “It is, but
these are actually for seeing, not blocking light. I just like them dark.”
    I try to
understand, but I don’t know what to say.
    “These eyes
don’t see,” He taps the glasses. “I’m blind.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “You don’t
believe me.” His grin is sincere. I haven’t seen him smile yet. His teeth are
perfectly straight and all the same size. They are white. A contrast to his
light brown skin. I’m forgetting my initial purpose for being down here. We
need to get to Leland.
    “I didn’t say I
didn’t believe you.”
    “Without these,
I can’t see anything at all.”
    “But I don’t
understand. How do you get around so well?”
    Christophe takes
off his glasses and his eyes are closed. He opens them. It takes a minute. At
first I don’t notice anything until he moves in closer to my face. Even in this
low light, his eyes are a color blue so light, they are almost white. And they
are almost fixed, like there’s no depth to them. As he gets even closer, I can
see a flash of something deep within. A memory or spark of something knowing.
There is something so familiar about Christophe’s eyes.
    “I can’t see
without the glasses. These eyes are just for show. It’s the glasses that let me
see the world around me, allowing me to interpret things.” He takes my
artificial hand and places the glasses in it. I am able to feel that they are
ultralight. I move it closer to my face. There is a small, flat camera on the
inside center of each lens. I can see everything in front of me.
    “But how does
this help you see if your eyes don’t work,” I ask.
    He turns his
head to the side and points behind his ear. It’s dark where we stand and I
almost can’t see anything. He shines his palm light on a small, circular socket.
    “And the other,”
he says, turning the other way. He picks up my fake hand and moves it up to his
head. My fingers touch the socket and I get a little jolt of electricity. I
pull my hand away.
    “The sunglasses
transmit a signal to these ports and they connect to an implant in my brain.”
    Like my arm.
    “We should go.
You have to get to Leland.”
    “Have you been
chipped?” I ask. We move out of the shadows.
    He shakes his
head. “Triangular plates holding millions of electrodes attach to my visual
cortex. They are connected to the terminals sticking out of my skull.”
    “How did they
get into your skull?” I already know the answer.
    “They drilled
holes of course, and then implanted the plates and ports.”
    “So if your
brain hasn’t been chipped, how does it work to help you see?”
    “Actually, I
need my brain in order for it to work properly. Each electrode touches
different parts of my brain and it triggers my visual field with flashes. Since
my brain has no trouble transforming the flashes into images, I haven’t had a
problem figuring out what I’m looking at.”
    I instinctively
cover my chest with my arms.
    “X-ray
capabilities is one of my future tests. I don’t have it now, though.”
    I let my arms
fall back down to my sides. He’s cute.
    “So as long as
you have on the glasses, you get images transmitted to your brain through those
spots behind your ears.”
    “Yes, but I need
the camera on the glasses to do that.”
    “So right now
you can’t see a thing.” I stare at the back of his head.
    “Correct.”
    “Then how do you
know where we’re going?” I follow him. He’s quickened his pace and my legs feel
strong enough for me to be able to keep