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In Chapter 3, the soul named Wanderer begins to adapt to her new human senses. She speaks for the first time, asking the Seeker if she’s been placed in a damaged host to retrieve information. The Seeker is appalled, while the Healer reassures her that isn’t so. Wanderer asks, why then, does her host not seem to be functioning properly. She cannot properly access her host’s memories. There is no immediate response from the Seeker or the Healer, but then the Seeker states that this host was part of the human resistance.
As Wanderer decides to open her eyes, she adapts to the bright lights. She recognizes the room she is in as a medical facility. She observes the physical appearances of the Healer and the Seeker, then asks how often souls are met with resistant humans. The Healer replies that it doesn’t happen often, then on Wanderer’s request, he details an encounter he had with a resistant host: This occured four years ago. The Soul invovled had requested an adult male host. The first one to be available was a human who had been living in a pocket of resistance since the early years of the occupation. The human…knew what would happen when he was caught… We called this soul Racing Song at first – it was a loose translation of his name on…The Singing World. But he soon opted to take the name of his host, Kevin. Though he was slated for a Calling in Musical Performance, given his background, he said he felt more comfortable continuing in the host’s previous line of work, which was mechanical…
Then Kevin started to complain that he was blacking out for periods of time. They brought him back to me, and we ran extensive test to make sure there was no hidden flaw in the host’s brain. During the testing, several Healers noted marked differences in his behavior and personality. When we questioned him about this, he claimed to have no memory of certain statements and actions. We continued to observe him, along with his Comforter, and eventually discovered that the host was periodically taking control of Kevin’s body.
The Healer then tells Wanderer that after Kevin attacked a Healer and tried to cut the soul out of his body, it was decided that the soul Kevin would have to be extracted. The soul Kevin has since then been put into a child host and is living life perfectly normal.
After the Healer’s story, Wanderer is able to give some information to the Seeker. Her host’s name was Melanie Stryder and for several years after the soul’s occupation became known to her, she stayed hidden in the wilderness. She was not alone and somewhere, someone is waiting for her. Wanderer is able to recall the memory of Melanie hiding a piece of paper with a note. As she muses out loud about the building Melanie hid the note in, she finds herself asking a question that is not hers, but Melanie’s. Wanderer is able to play it cool, not letting the Healer or Seeker know. She continues to search through the memories, but she can’t find anything of substance. All the while, she can feel her host feeling almost smug. Wanderer speaks out loud the thoughts that Melanie is thinking that “He won’t be there. It is then Wanderer is met with the memory of a face that Melanie is too late in blocking out. Jared is safe.
