The knock at the fence gate came early—too early for a Sunday morning when all three of them were still in pajamas and the living room looked like a moving truck had exploded inside it. Boxes everywhere, clothes draped over furniture, Ji-woo's collection of vintage band posters rolled up in the corner, Priya's enormous stack of textbooks threatening to topple over on the coffee table.
None of them had felt him coming. That was the first shock.
They met him at the fence gate, three young women in mismatched pajamas, hair messy from sleep, immediately on guard. The man was probably in his early forties, fit and military in his bearing despite wearing civilian clothes. His eyes were kind but carried the weight of someone who'd seen too much.
I'm sorry to show up unannounced. My name is John Brennan. I'm a Navy officer and a remote viewer. I know who you are—Constellation's core team. I need your help with something personal.
(cautious) How are you blocking our abilities?
Remote viewing training includes psychic shielding. It's how we protect classified information from other viewers. I can drop it if that would make you more comfortable, but I'd prefer to keep it up. Old habits.
(nervous) What do you want?
Can I come in? It's a long story and I'd rather not explain it at your fence.
They exchanged glances. Priya was clearly uncomfortable—she relied on her telepathy for safety, for understanding people, and without it she felt blind. But something in John's demeanor, the genuine grief they could see even without psychic abilities, convinced them.
Okay. But excuse the mess. We're in the middle of moving in together.
They cleared space on the couch for John, pushing boxes aside. Ji-woo made coffee while Maeve and Priya sat across from him, waiting. The silence was heavy with anticipation.
I manage a mini submarine program for the Navy. Research vessel, deep water exploration, that kind of thing. Two weeks ago, we were contracted to inspect an underwater cavern off the coast of Mexico. The opening is only about sixty feet down—accessible to divers—but the cavern itself goes much deeper. About fifteen hundred feet.
He pulled out a tablet, showing them satellite imagery and depth charts.
The cavern used to be above sea level during the last ice age, before the oceans rose several hundred feet. Divers found evidence of what looks like a dam—artificially built, presumably by humans trying to protect the cavern as sea levels rose. They must have been building it as the water came up, trying to keep the cavern dry. But eventually the dam failed. Geological evidence suggests a catastrophic breach. The whole cavern would have flooded in less than an hour.
Anyone inside would have drowned before they could escape.
Exactly. And here's the interesting part—our remote viewers, including me, kept getting hits. Strong psychic impressions that there was something down there. Not just ruins, but something... significant. We were going to use an autonomous submersible, but the cavern structure is unstable. We needed human judgment.
His voice caught slightly. He paused, gathering himself.
One of my pilots, Janet Miller, insisted on taking the mini sub. It was risky—the cavern could collapse, communications would be spotty at that depth—but she was the best pilot we had. After a lot of discussion, I gave her permission. (pause) She went down. She never came back up.
I can see it in his face even without telepathy. He loved her. Not just as a colleague or a friend. He loved her. And now she's gone and he's drowning in guilt and grief and the desperate need to know what happened.
Every attempt at communicating with the submarine failed. The crew of remote viewers tried to see what happened, but we got nothing. It's like there's something down there blocking psychic abilities—like my shielding, but much stronger and much older. I believe there must have been a hull breach. She would have died instantly at that depth. We can't recover the submarine. Janet will be deemed buried at sea.
He looked at them directly, his grief naked and undeniable.
We were very close friends. I just... I need to know what happened. If that's even possible. I know it's not official business. I'll figure out a way to pay you. Please.
The three of them didn't need telepathy to communicate. They'd lived together for all of three days, but they already had their own silent language. A glance between Maeve and Ji-woo. Priya's slight nod.
We'll help. But Priya has an important test tomorrow morning. It would have to be after that.
(relief flooding his face) Thank you. Thank you so much. I have a plane ready whenever you are.
The chartered boat rocked gently in the azure water. The Mexican coastline was a green smudge in the distance, and the sky was that perfect cloudless blue that only exists in travel brochures. Maeve stood at the railing, breathing in the salt air.
It's nice here. We should have brought our swim suits.
Here? There are probably sharks in the water, and it's deep.
(laughing) No, back on the beach, silly. This is serious work. But after we're done... maybe we take a vacation day?
Ji-woo had already discovered that the boat's captain kept a cooler full of Mexican beer and tequila. She and Maeve were enjoying beverages they definitely weren't allowed to drink back in the States while Priya and John spread maps and depth charts across a small table near the stern.
Maeve watched them from across the deck, a knowing smile playing at her lips. She nudged Ji-woo.
(quietly) Hey Ji-woo. Check out Priya sitting all close to John, studying those maps. I think she's studying more than just maps.
(grinning) Yeah, I noticed that. Maybe since she can't hear his thoughts, she thinks she's got a chance with this guy. And he obviously likes her. I can almost smell the pheromones from here.
Check out that doe-eyed look when she stares at him. She giggles like a middle schooler when he says something funny. I wonder if our innocent little girl is going to come home a woman?
You wonder? I know you've already looked into the future and you know for sure, so share.
You know we all agreed not to use our powers on each other. Anyway, with all the visual evidence—they almost look like they want to cuddle right now—it's not hard to figure out.
Priya brought the map over to Maeve and Ji-woo, her cheeks flushed with excitement that had nothing to do with the mission.
This is the area around the cavern. The opening is here, about sixty feet down. The cavern extends down to approximately fifteen hundred feet, then opens into a larger chamber. That's where we lost contact with the submarine.
They joined hands, forming their triad connection. The psychic resonance built immediately—Maeve's precognition, Ji-woo's location sense, Priya's telepathy amplifying and interweaving. The water beneath them became transparent to their enhanced perception.
I see the cavern, but I can't make out a submarine. There's a ton of ruins down there. They must have built a whole city in there, but now it's all ruined. I can't tell what's submarine and what isn't.
Yeah, I sense the sub entering the cavern, and it was almost at the bottom, then there was something like a flash, and then nothing. I don't know if that was a hull breach, or if the Enterprise beamed them up.
Priya concentrated harder, pushing her telepathic sense deeper into the cavern. She could feel the psychic weight of the place, the accumulated emotional residue of thousands of years. Fear. Panic. The moment the dam broke and water poured in. Desperate attempts to escape. And then, more recently, a different kind of terror.
She pushed deeper, reaching for Janet Miller's final moments.
The scream hit her like a physical blow.
(screaming) No! No! Stop! I can't! I can't!
She broke the link violently, pulling away from her sisters and collapsing on the deck. Her hands flew to her ears, as if that could block telepathy, as if that could stop the echo of Janet's death scream reverberating through her mind.
Priya!? Are you okay? What happened?
John was there immediately, his arms around Priya, lifting her gently back into a chair. The gesture was protective, tender, and Priya clung to him, shaking.
Priya? Is Janet still alive? Did you talk to her ghost? What the hell scared you so bad?
Someone pressed a bottle of beer into Priya's hand. She drank it without tasting it, just needing something to ground her back in the physical world.
(voice shaky) No. Not Janet. Not her ghost. But it was intense. It was sort of like a residual energy, a primal scream as her life was suddenly snuffed out. She left a message. She said—(tears streaming)—"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I made a mistake and crashed into the wall of the cavern. I'm so, so sorry."
John's face crumpled. He tried to speak but couldn't. Tears filled his eyes and his throat worked around a lump too large to swallow. Priya saw his grief, raw and overwhelming, and pulled him into a hug.
I'm so sorry, John. I can tell you loved her. She must have been very special to you.
The restaurant was warm and vibrant, filled with the smell of fresh tortillas and grilled meat. They'd ordered far too much food and a few more forbidden beverages. The mission was complete, the closure John needed had been found, and now they were just waiting for their flight back to Pennsylvania.
Maeve and Ji-woo exchanged glances. Without words, they made an excuse about needing the restroom, leaving Priya alone with John at the table.
Priya sat across from John, her heart pounding. They'd been chatting about nothing—the food, the weather, travel stories—but now she felt the moment arriving. The moment to be brave. The moment to take a risk.
(voice suddenly serious) This might sound a little forward—we just met today—but I really like you. You're a good guy and that's rare these days. Can we stay in touch? You know, maybe having lunch or coffee from time to time. Or maybe... (taking a breath) maybe we could stay in Mexico for a few days and get to know each other better.
John didn't look surprised. He'd seen it coming, had felt the shift in her attention, the way she'd been looking at him all day. He looked at her for a few seconds that felt like hours to Priya, and in that silence she died a thousand deaths.
Oh, Priya. If only I was twenty years younger. You are such a sweet girl, beautiful and precious in so many ways, but it wouldn't work.
(tears already forming) Why?
The word came out hurried, pushed through before her throat got too tight to speak. John reached across the table and took her hands.
Sweetheart, you're barely twenty years old and I'm over forty. Your life is just beginning and you're still figuring out who you are. Your personality traits are still developing and your brain is still years away from full maturity. You're in the process of becoming. I've already become. So if we got together—like you want, and I can tell you want a lot more than just a dinner date—you would continue to become the incredible woman you were born to be, but after a while I wouldn't know who you are anymore. I would need you to stay the sweet girl I fell in love with. That usually doesn't end well, and I can't do that to you, because after just knowing you for a number of hours, I already love you too much to let that happen.
Priya couldn't speak. Her throat had closed completely. She stood up from the table, nearly knocking over her chair, and ran outside into the warm Mexican evening.
Maeve and Ji-woo found Priya sitting on a curb, just staring at the ground. She wasn't crying anymore—she'd moved past tears into that numb, hollow place where grief lives before you've processed it enough to feel it fully.
They didn't speak. They just knew, by looking at her slumped shoulders and empty expression, that she'd been rejected. They sat down on either side of her, close enough that their shoulders touched, and just existed there together in silence.
After a while, Maeve spoke quietly.
We told John to take the flight home alone. We changed our boarding passes to a later flight. There's a hotel near the airport. We'll stay tonight, fly back tomorrow.
(voice flat) You don't have to do that.
Yeah, we do. That's what sisters are for.
They sat there until the sun set, three young women on a curb in a foreign country, bound together by more than psychic abilities. Bound by the understanding that love—romantic, platonic, sisterly—was complicated and painful and necessary all at once.
The house was finally clean, all the boxes unpacked, all three bedrooms properly furnished. It looked like a home now, lived-in and warm. But the atmosphere was quiet, subdued.
Priya had spent the last two days going through the motions. School. Homework. Polite conversation at dinner. Pretending she was okay. But she wasn't okay, and they all knew it.
Grief takes time to work itself out. Maeve and Ji-woo gave her the space she needed, staying close enough to catch her if she fell but distant enough to let her process at her own pace.
Maeve knocked softly on Priya's bedroom door.
Can I come in?
Yeah.
Maeve sat on the edge of Priya's bed. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
You know what the worst part of being precognitive is? I can see futures, but I can't tell you which one we'll end up in. I saw timelines where you asked John to stay in Mexico. I saw timelines where he said yes and it ended badly. I saw timelines where he said no, like he did. And I couldn't warn you because you had to make your own choice.
Would you have? Warned me?
I don't know. Maybe. Probably. But it wouldn't have changed anything. You needed to take that risk. You needed to know what it feels like to put yourself out there.
It feels terrible.
(smiling sadly) Yeah. It really does. But it also means you're brave enough to try. And someday, maybe not soon, but someday, you'll find someone whose thoughts you can bear to hear. Or someone else who can shield like John. And you'll try again.
Did you see... did you see a future where it worked out? With John?
(honest) No. I saw futures where you stayed in Mexico and he said yes, but they all ended with one or both of you hurt. He was right, Priya. You're still becoming. And that's not a bad thing. That's beautiful. You get to discover who you'll be, and when you're done becoming, you'll find someone who's right for that person.
What if I become someone who's alone?
You won't be. You have us. Always. And that conversation we had the other night—about the triad coming first—I meant it. No matter what happens, no matter who any of us date or marry or sleep with, we're sisters. This is your home. We are your family.
Priya finally cried then, really cried, and Maeve held her. Ji-woo appeared in the doorway, drawn by the sound of tears, and joined them on the bed. The three of them sat there together, a tangle of pajamas and emotions and unbreakable bonds.
Outside, the Pennsylvania night settled over the mobile home park. Inside, three young women held each other and learned, once again, that the strongest bonds were forged not in moments of triumph, but in moments of shared pain.
The triad would survive this. They would survive anything, as long as they had each other.
![ALEXIS Kit Top - Crimson Bark - [M]](https://thedimensionofmind.com/images/alxis2095027b73_1768321186429_2-0._QL90_UX1128_.jpg)
![Petite Maison Kids Girls` Butterfly White Satin Ceremony Dress - White - [Big Kid]](https://thedimensionofmind.com/images/13723542_fpx.webp)
![MIKOH Kaloko Bikini Top - Ecru - [M]](https://thedimensionofmind.com/images/mikoh2082911947_1641231926729_2-0._QL90_UX846_.jpg)
![Cordless Split End Hair Trimmer - Black - [One Size]](https://thedimensionofmind.com/images/Cordless-Split-End-Hair-Trimmer-Black-One-51044.jpeg)
