Winters Family Psi Chronicles 2: Project Onyx

by John O'Riley

  “I didn’t talk out loud like I usually do?” Brian asked.

  “No, you were just lying there,” Freeland said.

  The psychologist directed calming energy at him and at first Brian resisted it as was his initial reaction to any outside influence. He forced himself to calm down and open his mind to the healing empathic energy.

  “I saw Samantha in a house. She was practicing her PSA psi. I only saw her for like a minute when she turned and looked directly at me. But I’m not really there so that shouldn’t be possible. Somehow, she pushed me out of the vision,” Brian said shakily.

  “It’s all right,” Freeland said soothingly. “You’re safe. You were never in any danger. What she seems to be capable of doing is blocking out most of your subconscious connection. At some point during the day, you began to pick up on her and collect data in spite of her block but she sensed it and stopped it before you could see very much. Remember, whenever you have a vision, it’s always something that your subconscious picked up from the past. So if she ever looks at you, just know that she can’t hurt you because you’re looking at something that’s already happened. She’s not going to follow you into the waking world.”

  “How did you know I felt that way?” Brian asked.

  “I’m an empath, remember?” Freeland said wryly.

  “Of course,” Brian murmured and his face flushed with embarrassment.

  He wondered if he’d ever regain any privacy or if every waking moment would be monitored for the rest of his life.

  “I need a break to reinforce my psionic shielding,” Brian said.

  “We need to do another hypnosis session first. This is the first vision you’ve had in several days and we need to take advantage of it,” Driscol said.

  “His subconscious needs time to heal. We shouldn’t push him,” Freeland said gently.

  “Another session won’t strain him,” Driscol said forcefully.

  “You are required to give all your field agents no less than three twenty minute breaks in an eight hour work day when they request it,” Teresa said mildly.

  Her blue gaze locked with Driscol’s and they regarded each other in stony silence for an awkward moment. Brian shifted uncomfortably as he waited for someone to say something.

  “Brian, you may take your break. We’ll resume in half an hour,” Driscol said with forced calm but her eyes flashed with ire.

  Brian immediately departed from the room. He reached out to his mother with his mind as he headed toward the break room.

  “I’m surprised Driscol let you be assigned to our team for protection,” Brian said telepathically.

  “It wasn’t her choice. Everyone has a boss,” Teresa said with a faint undertone of amusement. “I have some news to share with you but it will have to wait for the end of the day. It’s important that you spend all your time strengthening your psionic shielding. It’s very fragile at the moment because of the stress you’re under.”

  Brian felt marginally better after his break but he had no further success with any visions that day. After his work detail was over, he and his mother walked to his apartment where Paul was waiting. There was a separate guard for both Freeland and Driscol in case Samantha decided to attack them at their homes. Teresa, Paul, and Brian gathered in the living room to discuss the news.

  “I couldn’t believe it when Jason said you were assigned to act as guard detail,” Paul said.

  “I do have some influence and I have a good reputation,” Teresa said. “I didn’t get your messages that you left for me. My commanding officer didn’t want to pull me off my assignment. However, Jason contacted me telepathically and informed me of what was going on.” She turned to regard her son sympathetically. “I know it’s been a very rough week for you. I don’t want to get your hopes up but Jason has requested Phoenix Enterprises to try and help you. I don’t think there’s much of a chance of them succeeding but they agreed to try and reverse the declaration of you as a possession of the government. The only catch is that you would have to sign a work contract with them effective immediately. Is that something you’re comfortable with? I don’t want you to go from one bad situation to another.”

  “I would much rather work for Phoenix Enterprises,” Brian said fervently.

  “I figured as much. You would regain your personal freedoms but it is still a restrictive life style as they have quite a few rules. One is that you are only connected to their Zen Network,” Teresa said.

  “That’s more a benefit than a disadvantage,” Brian said.

  “It would seem so but when you’re in a smaller network, you can feel the individual minds more distinctly. You’re used to the Global Net where the minds are just a static background that you barely register,” Teresa said.

  “That’s okay.”

  “You will need to work for them while going to school but they will either give you assignments in the Lynnwood area or weekend assignments so you can still live with us,” Teresa said.

  “That would be perfect!” Brian exclaimed.

  “Don’t get your hopes up. I don’t see how they can possibly reverse the declaration the state has on you but I wanted you to know that Jason is trying to help,” Teresa said.

  “It really disturbs me that someone has been brainwashing me,” Brian said.

  “I’ve been thinking about that. There really isn’t anyone that we’ve been seeing on a continual basis,” Paul said.

  “All of us have the subconscious programming so none of us are thinking clearly about who might be responsible. It’s unlikely that we’ll be able to figure it out as long as the program is in our minds,” Teresa said.

  “You spend a lot of time on assignments and away from objects that have been programmed,” Brian said.

  “That’s true but I usually return home for awhile after six weeks on duty,” Teresa pointed out. “That’s more than enough opportunity to completely reinforce the programming. Especially if it’s been in use for years.”

  “Agent Hurst told me that our house was purged of the programming so we’ll shake loose of it sooner or later,” Paul said.

  “We’ll have to be patient. It will probably take several months or even longer before we’re free of the psychometric influence,” Teresa said.

  “Assuming the programming isn’t put back into place,” Brian said grimly.

  “That’s true,” Paul said. “We’ll have to have Agent Hurst check out the house every week or so to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  They went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant with great food. Brian felt better with his mother assigned to work here. He’d never have imagined that he would be part of her assignment. He definitely felt safer with her in close proximity. At the end of the day, Brian made a special effort on his psionic shielding before he went to bed. He didn’t switch on the subliminal music on his DPU until he finished. He suffered disturbing dreams with only brief flashes of Samantha as her block prevented him from seeing anything that made sense. He merely caught glimpses of fast movement or partial scenes. Finally, the vision crystallized into sharp clarity as Samantha sat behind her desk in her living room. Brian saw through her eyes and not as an outsider this time as Samantha’s fingers danced over the holographic keys. The blue display hovered in front of her as she continued to study the retrovirus that had been used on Russell and Brian.

  “It’s been four days since the test subjects were injected with the new retrovirus and there is no sign of new psychic abilities,” Samantha said.

  Her words appeared on a second holographic display off to the side as she was evaluating and analyzing the new retrovirus while recording a personal note.

  “I do have some ideas on a new formula that should prove more effective than this one,” Samantha said.

  She sighed and stared off into space for a moment. She had been so sure she’d discovered a breakthrough with this formula but it turned out that the problem of awakening new talents with genetics was more complex than she had ev
er imagined. She’d known from the start it wouldn’t be a simple process but had fully expected to achieve success within a year and a half. After all, she’d made other important genetic discoveries regarding the enhancement of psychic abilities on previous research projects. This particular formula she’d used on Russell and Brian combined some of her already proven discoveries. She’d been ordered not to use any of her previous research but she was tired of the same lack of results.

  The scene rippled and a man stalked into the room. He was dressed in black and his face was somehow hidden completely in shadows in spite of the bright illumination.

  “I can’t let you continue with this,” the killer said.

  “Who are you? What are you doing here?” Samantha sputtered in outrage.

  “I’m here to end this,” the killer said in a distorted voice.

  Samantha’s form blurred then went back into focus as Brian. The killer continued to walk slowly and purposefully toward him with his jagged knife clutched in his right hand and pointed at Brian.

  “Leave me alone,” Brian said as he stepped out from behind the desk and shuffled backwards away from the man.

  “I’m a part of you. If you want to live, you’ll stop using your connectivity psi,” the killer said in a threatening tone.

  “I can’t stop! I need to find Samantha! She’s trying to kill me!” Brian said in a mixture of panic and anger.

  “Would you rather I killed you myself?” the killer taunted.

  He was almost within arm’s reach now and Brian’s body churned with panic. The killer abruptly thrust the knife toward him. The dream abruptly ended and Brian awakened in his dark bedroom. His DPU was turned on and he was surprisingly sitting up in bed. There were two holographic screens floating in front of him exactly how Samantha’s screens had appeared in the vision and with the same information. Brian immediately saved the data just in case something happened. He took several deep breaths and then scrolled through the medical research. There was quite a bit of information and he suspected that it contained detailed notes on how to reconstruct the retrovirus that had been given to him and Russell.

  Chapter 24

  Dick followed his new target, a middle-aged woman in her late forties, to her small brown house. He’d never had any problems with the empaths noticing him tailing them now that he waited until they were home before forming a link with them. It amazed him how clueless people were to their surroundings. Maybe others would term him paranoid but he always took stock of anyone nearby when he was out - even while driving. He frowned as he glanced in his rearview mirror and noticed the same male teenager who he’d glimpsed behind him driving a black sports car was now parked about a block away. Dick had thought it might be a coincidence until seeing him now.

  Dick’s jaw clenched and he opened his awareness to see if he could detect anything without reaching for the stranger’s mind. He detected a strong presence that was even more powerful than Jason and Brian. Dick decided he’d better not risk establishing a connection to his target right now which would make him vulnerable to unexpected attacks. Instead, he jotted down the address and slipped the paper inside his jeans pocket. Next, he pulled the stun gun from his glove compartment. He held his right hand behind his back to prevent the stranger from seeing the weapon as he slipped out of his car and walked casually toward the sports car. The teenager seemed not to notice until he was within forty feet of him. Abruptly, the teenager got out of the car and locked gazes with him. He was pale and skinny with lifeless blue eyes and close-cropped black hair.

  “Why are you following me?” Dick asked.

  The kid didn’t speak aloud but suddenly a heavy pressure slammed against Dick’s psionic shielding. Dick flinched and sensed a fat tendril of energy and came to the conclusion this was an energy transference psi like himself. The attack was so forceful and brutal that he’d overwhelm him in less than a moment. Dick pointed his stun gun but before he could pull the trigger, it was torn out of his hand by an unseen force. Terror seized him as he realized that not only was this kid a powerful energy transference psi but also a multipath with telekinetic ability. Dick shoved the kid with his mind, tossing him backward about ten feet. The teenager’s back and head slammed against the sidewalk and his eyes glazed over.

  Dick immediately rushed over to his stun gun lying in the grass and picked it up. Before he could turn, he was struck again by a brutal telekinetic strike and thrown off his feet. Dick tightened his grip on the gun a split second before it jerked wildly in his hands as the teenager tried to tear it away again. He rolled in the grass and ran to the side to make it more difficult to become a target. He felt more telekinetic energy burst in the air around him but his plan worked and the attacks missed him. Dick raised the gun and fired at the kid whose body spasmed for several seconds before dropping to the ground. Suddenly, his cell phone rang and he glanced at it to see Agent Hurst was calling him. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching before hastily picking up the kid and shoving him into the back seat of his own car. Dick stabbed the green button on his cell and brought the phone up to his ear.

  “Yes?” he bit out.

  “This is Agent Hurst. I’m at your house. I need to check it out and purge any psychometric brainwashing energy,” the agent said.

  “I’m kind of busy right now,” Dick said tersely.

  “You’re not at work though. I already called them. Come home now,” Hurst said and disconnected.

  “What an ass,” Dick said savagely.

  He shoved the cell in his jeans pocket and shot the kid with his stun gun again. Hopefully, this guy didn’t know who he was or where he lived. Dick felt the kid’s pockets and found a wallet. He rifled through it until he found the driver’s license. Dick would have to handle this kid later. He went back to his car, shoved the wallet with the driver’s license in his glove compartment along with the stun gun and drove home to find Hurst waiting for him.

  “I’m sorry to show up unexpected like this but I have a lot of ground to cover,” Hurst said in a tone that implied he wasn’t apologetic in the least.

  “That’s all right. I realize you’re here to help,” Dick said. “It’s very disturbing to realize someone’s been invading my privacy for years and hounding my entire family.”

  “We believe it’s an energy transference psi. A large number of them choose to remain illegally unregistered and become dependent on other people’s supplemental energy. It’s like an addiction,” Hurst said.

  “I see,” Dick said.

  He unlocked his front door and motioned for the agent to enter. Hurst crossed the threshold as if he owned the place. He immediately went to the bedroom and began laying his hands on various objects.

  “You’ve definitely been brainwashed as well. It’s just as we suspected,” Hurst said.

  He continued to search the house and found the other items Dick had programmed. He forced himself to remain calm and didn’t allow any nervousness or anxiety to creep into his body or mind. He had learned to master the Quiet at a young age in order to avoid discovery of his unpopular ability. Energy transference psi were seldom welcomed or viewed with compassion by the general public.

  “It’s going to take me some time to purge the psychometric energy in here,” Hurst said.

  Dick had painstakingly purged the house of any incriminating thoughts. It had taken hours to selectively eliminate only the unwanted imprints rather than everything but it had been necessary to avoid suspicion. If Dick had wiped all of the psychic residue completely then it would have looked like he was hiding something. It didn’t take Hurst more than about fifteen minutes to finish his work as he just eliminated everything.

  “Thank you so much for your help, Agent Hurst,” Dick said gratefully.

  “You’re welcome,” Hurst said. “I may be back in another couple weeks or so if we don’t catch this guy to make sure the intruder doesn’t reprogram this house.”

  “Good thinking. Thanks,” Dick said.

 
Hurst left and Dick watched him through a crack in the curtains in his living room window. Hurst’s body language indicated he wasn’t suspicious and he walked briskly which indicated he really was busy with other work. Dick smiled as the agent drove away. That had been very easy which was what he had expected. Luckily, Hurst was a weak telepath or he may have realized Dick was entrenched in Quiet and become suspicious. As long as a high level telepath wasn’t suspicious of him, he should be fine. His smile dropped away when he remembered the mysterious teenager. He wondered how the kid had discovered him. Now that Dick’s energy was so strong, was he metaphorically lit up like a beacon? The kid certainly was. Maybe there was a downside to possessing so much raw power.

  Dick went back to his car and retrieved the wallet from the teenager. He brought it back into the house and sat down on the living room. He opened his senses to the psychometric energy in the wallet and sifted through the memories contained in it. The kid’s name was Rob and he had found Dick purely by chance due to his power which had served as a beacon. Rob had stopped aging shortly after he graduated from high school. He’d discovered his energy transference psi at a young age and hadn’t restrained himself at all in creating a large network. He had quickly discovered empaths offered the largest amount of energy to steal but didn’t confine himself to those.

  He’d established a large collection of linked individuals during his teen years. By the time he’d graduated, he’d lost count of how many people he drew from continually. Excitement pulsed in Dick’s veins as he realized this confirmed his own theory that if he established a large enough network, his aging process would halt. Self-regeneration psi were somewhat rare and he wondered if most of them were really energy transference psi like himself. Maybe the term ‘psychic vampire’ wasn’t far off the mark. Rob also discovered he could form connections with other energy transference psi. He would fight them, knock them unconscious, and then form a link in which he could pull just as much power as empaths. Rob possessed energy transference psi, telekinesis, remote-viewing, and a variant ability that allowed him to enter people’s dreams. Dick swallowed nervously as he wondered if he’d had enough contact with Rob to allow him to invade his own dreams or lock onto him with remote-viewing. This could be a big problem. Dick carefully reviewed their encounter in his mind to make sure he hadn’t unintentionally left any of his own possessions that Rob could use as a focus.