Absolute (Discipline Book 1)

by P. S. Power

  Glenda also wanted to know if he was going to lose it in the next day or two.

  That got him to stick out his tongue, to show displeasure, and realize that he'd dropped the gamma state stuff. She wasn't blocking him out very well either, concern about Kent distracting her.

  "I keep reliving memories. Not like, oh, yeah that happened, but like I'm actually there. I'm me though. Now me, not back then me? I get everything however. Not emotions though, I don't think... Anyway, some other things too. Lines that tell me about how far things are away from me? Like..." He looked down the tunnel, to where a sheet of flimsy composite was set up, the face and middle of the human pictured already blown out. "That target, is..." The line came up when he thought about how far the thing might be from him, and the glowing blue numbers hung right next to it. This time it was in the air, not along the floor. "Fifty-two feet, and three inches away from me right now?"

  Glenda didn't speak, just moving to her work bench and grabbing a small box that shone a dim laser on the target, then moved near him.

  "Fifty-three from here. Let me see..." Moving it right next to his eyes got the numbers closer. "Okay, this says fifty-two five, not three."

  The number next to the line changed then, getting him to smile.

  "It changed. What I'm seeing? To reflect that."

  She nodded then and rolled her eyes up and to the left.

  "Oh, wait, it says... Fifty-three, four now." Then she looked at him, like she'd been being clever.

  "Nothing. But I can tell that you're lying. Even without reading your mind. Anyway, if you can get away, come find me at dinner? Or after. I'll probably be in my cabin, or maybe the recreation center? Micha mentioned that we had one here. Did you know that? Or... Am I not allowed to use it? I can see that. We can do training stuff instead, but seriously, running is out today."

  "You can use it, but stay out of VR for a while. I want you to break any dependence on that kind of thing. You also have other stuff going on, so it might be best not to add even more to the mix for now. I'll get with you after you all eat. We might have work for some of you, since that's a possibility now. It isn't the training you should be doing, but even if all you do is let the others stay sane, you were worth the investment. Thanks. Next time... Try calling first?"

  They looked at each other, and finally he nodded. After all, if he could find a secret underground lair, a phone unit shouldn't be impossible. That or telepathy. He hadn't even tried to send something to anyone on purpose yet. It made sense that it would work however. Also that none of the psychics did it. They all avoided each other, unless he was there with them.

  That got him to blink a few times, given what Clark had mentioned earlier. Telekinesis worked, but at a distance, because if you were close to something, you could just walk over and move it the way you wanted. That kind of made sense. So it was possible that telepathy, at least at a high level was similar. Close up, they set up backlash or feedback. Farther away, it might work pretty well.

  He waved and let himself out of the room, feeling Glenda doing something to get in touch with other people. Dropping into the gamma state, Ben let the world light up, but ignored what he was seeing for the most part. That let him focus, even if he was suddenly breathing a bit harder.

  Getting out was simpler than getting in, and no one saw him in the bushes as he came out. That was good, given he hadn't been paying any attention to who might be around. That was lazy of him however. Yes, not getting trapped into reading everything coming from Glenda was neat, but not knowing didn't help him all that much. Neither did knowing, of course. If he were ever caught, not being privy to every secret could really work out for him.

  The government had mind reading machines after all. They had for nearly fifty years. Even there they had them. Glenda had told him that when he was in the deprivation room at the start his mind had been read the whole time. It was how they found out who the planted agents were. Also that he, personally, wasn't one of them.

  Stopping about a hundred feet away from the secret door to explosion land, Ben decided to try and mentally contact Micha. She was one of the strongest as far as sanity went, among the psychic gang of five. Plus, if he hurt her head trying, he wasn't going to be losing that much. She might not blow him again, which would be a loss, but she was never going to be more than his friend, and probably wouldn't hate him for making a simple mistake.

  As he focused on her, his mind going otherwise still, a blue line popped up in front of him. She was to the east, about four hundred feet away. He didn't know which building, but a plan flashed over his vision, in outline. A map really, of the whole complex. It wasn't complete, but it was pretty well done where it was. That probably had to do with it only showing the places that he'd been before.

  Due to the fact that it wasn't real, in particular, just his mind drawing pictures for him. Not even a power. Kind of how he'd had that blue glow to show him the inside of the dark room. Which had happened before any genetic changes. That meant it was a natural ability, or so he figured.

  Shaking that off, not needing to know at the moment, he found the sense of her in his head, and focused, trying to cast his thoughts at her.

  'Micha? Can you hear this?' There was no reply for a while, so he tried again. 'Micha? Is anyone home?'

  A blast of shock came back toward him after that one.

  'Who is this?'

  'Ben. Sorry, I just wondered if this would work, at a distance like this. I should try Glenda, but she's pretty busy at the moment.'

  There was a pause, and then a slow, drawn out thought came back.

  'I'm... With Carlos right now. I just got out of a training session. Why not try him? He's psychically dead between the ears more or less. An extreme low responder, personally. None of the others have ever actually contacted me like this. It feels... Weird. Clear, compared to what most people give off all the time. Anyway, I'll watch Carlos. Try to say hello?' She seemed to be moving as she thought, and bits of that bled into her words. Taking off gear, and using a towel to wipe the sweat away. Her body ached a bit as well, from the exertion.

  So did his, but that was due to him being a wimp.

  It took a bit of focus, and going over seeing the map of the place again, in order to find Carlos, who was a room away from Micha. It didn't seem as easy as just moving in real space, but it did work once he got the idea.

  Then, focusing hard, he tried to reach the man's mind.

  'Hello. Carlos. How are you doing today?'

  There was no reply, but he could feel that man start with surprise and say something out loud. After a bit Ben felt Micha enter the same room and got that she was speaking as well. Asking the man what was happening.

  Then, she sent a message back.

  'He got it! Try again?'

  It took a few seconds to work out what to say. That was actually the hard part. Ben focused on that for about fifteen seconds before finally just jumping in, figuring that he'd sound like a dork regardless of what he came up with.

  'Hi Carlos. This is Ben. Try responding this time, if that's all right?'

  There was nothing for a bit, but the mind of the fighter shifted and sunk into a meditative state.

  'Ben, is this doing anything?'

  It really was. He explained to the fellow that he had to go and sit with Lissa for a while, since he'd promised, and didn't want to face a minor meltdown over the whole thing. After all, Lissa was a bit needy. He didn't really want to sound mean about it, but it came across in his head anyway. That part got covered with a weak mental chuckle. Ben was nearly certain the man laughed back at him.

  Possibly with him.

  Chapter sixteen

  Things actually went fairly smoothly after that, until after the evening meal. Glenda hadn't been there for it, but came just about as they were ending, and waved to them all from the door of the place, near the front. Her face was in a fixed smile, which was so fake that pretty much anyone should have been able to see it without straining.
There was also a large lump under her tunic top. It was hard to tell, but Ben was going to guess that it was a gun of some kind. A much smaller one than the giant thing she'd been working with earlier in the day.

  How Kent couldn't feel her eyes scraping the back of his head as she covertly glanced over Ben didn't understand. To be more exact, he did get it, as soon as he thought about it all for a second. To him Glenda was standing there practically brandishing a weapon and looking like she expected a gun battle to break out, over dessert. To almost everyone else, who hadn't had all of the same empathy enhancing brain chemicals dropped on them, the woman probably seemed fairly happy.

  It wasn't that she was a horrible actress, just that he was suddenly so much better at seeing things like that. It was because of the oxytocin that was constantly flooding his brain now. Ben knew that, but didn't really understand how he did, until he dropped into an earlier part of his life. Reliving it.

  This time it was just a virt, one of the rare educational things that he'd bothered with. The announcer explained that oxytocin was the chemical that made people feel and behave in a loving and trusting way with others, as well as improving facial reading skills. The room was his old bedroom, he thought. It had kind of smelled, since it was always in need of a better cleaning. His behind was in his old chair, which had been comfortable enough, but worn and about on its last legs at that point.

  When he came up, back into the real world, he nodded a little.

  That his thoughts and activities had been a lot different than they would have been before suddenly made sense. Like caring about Lissa not being left alone too long. For her sake. That probably meant that the woman was really being bad that way, and he was seeing everything through rose colored glasses. Giving the entire world the benefit of the doubt, and all that.

  One sign that it might be happening was that he only wanted to kick Kent in the nuts for what he'd done. It had been truly horrible, and here he was acting like it was a prank. Maybe a bad decision. Honestly he'd figured it was more about fear of being hurt or arrested if he did anything to the guy, which certainly played a role as well. A minor one however. It was strange, because he certainly felt anger, annoyance and all that, but it really was being buffered and toned down a lot.

  Raising his hand, so that Glenda could see that he was there, he smiled at her.

  "Glenda's here. I need to go and set up my training schedule. Finally. Anyone want to come with me?" It was a lie, but he could still do that smoothly enough.

  Apparently being a loving and trusting goon wasn't enough to prevent him from using his head, when that was called for. Not yet. For all he knew that particular effect was going to become ten times stronger over the next weeks or months. Ben wasn't certain he loved the idea.

  He'd come there to fight. To help destroy the corrupt powers that ran the world, or at least help lay the groundwork for their downfall. Now he felt sorry for them on some level. Understanding how hard their jobs must be. Even Kent had it rough.

  Five years spent there, looking for signs of wrong doing, and not being able to find even one real thing... That had to drive a person to do stupid things.

  Ben looked down and tried not to seem like an idiot in front of the rest of the world. Reading faces was useful, and so were his other abilities, if he learned to use them correctly. Feeling a never ending sense of trust and empathy might just get in his way. That meant, if he couldn't fight it directly, at least finding ways around it all.

  His legs felt heavy and sore still, as he started to move. He didn't look back, as if he didn't care if anyone else was coming with him. They'd all eaten already. Ben had done so, if lightly, but most of the others had done better than that. Even Lissa, this time.

  Before he got his tray tucked into the back, through the little window where such things went, the entire crew had gotten up to follow along. They were staggered for once, instead of in a tight little clump around him. This time, instead of Lissa hanging on his side like they were epoxied together, Micha was the first one there. She did touch him on the back as she passed her tray through, turning without comment.

  In fact, no one said much until they were walking away, Glenda waving for them to follow her. The woman didn't mince around, nearly jogging, as if trying to move them all away from danger without saying that was the point. A green path formed behind her as she moved. One that only existed in his head, Ben was willing to bet. It was bright enough to see clearly, even as the lady kept to the shadows, and took strange turns. For a moment he kind of wondered if she were trying to lose them. That wouldn't work with him, and Micha was right there, nearly touching him as he limped quickly, trying not to make too much noise.

  Lissa and Clark were in the back, with Mags pulling at them occasionally, so they wouldn't end up getting lost. That one simply made sense to him. Whatever the thin, formerly insane, woman had going on with her eyes, it didn't stop at them being all black. Her night vision seemed to be very good, at least. That was a guess of course, since he didn't pick up anything from her about it directly. However she was doing it, the woman wasn't getting lost, or letting the others do that.

  It was nearly like they were a team or something.

  They ended up going down a staircase that was well hidden. It was a different one than before, though from the map that flashed up in his head, it was clearly connected to the first underground place that Ben had been to there. On the night of his arrest. That entrance was in a different location, but given the size of that structure, this had to be the same thing, just on the other side. Unless it went deeper. Then this could be under that, by a good bit. Chances are that wasn't the case however, and if they had that kind of complex there, the way to get into it would be inside the thing.

  That didn't show on his mental map however. There was a thumb reader on this part of things, but the door was just as heavy, and made of very solid sounding metal. It glowed a bit, so that he could see what was there. It wasn't perfect, since it didn't show any details for him, but it did let him know where it was. Enhancing his own sense of things, so that he could navigate in the near dark.

  They all clustered, with a hand touching his back as they moved in. For once it seemed like someone just making sure they knew where the person in front of them was, rather than needy clinging. Probably because it was Clark. Ben got that part when they got inside. There was a second door, which wouldn't open until the first was closed. It was heavy and metal as well, but this time it opened up as soon as the lights came on. That coincided with the door clicking behind them perfectly.

  Mags gasped at it, seeming stung by the pain of it all, but Ben was fine still. His real night vision hadn't even kicked in all the way yet. There hadn't been enough time. They were moving on, and it was clear, at least to him, that one of them couldn't see now. Reaching out, he took her hand, as she covered her eyes with the other one.

  "Thanks. That smarts. Like a mother fucker." She grinned however and shook her head, trying to get clear of whatever she had going on.

  Glenda turned a bit, and nodded, seeing they were all there and following closely.

  "We need to get to the briefing room. Things have come up." She walked down the hallway, stepping lightly on the wooden floor. The walls were made of the same corrugated metal tubing as before, making the whole thing seem very old, and kind of cold. It wasn't however. The temperature was fine.

  It was just his perception of things that caused him to feel that way.

  When they finally stopped, after winding through a small maze, they ended in a rather nice room. It had a large table, with chairs all around it, and clean gold colored carpeting on the floor. There were three people at the head of the thing. Kyle, the man that he'd seen before, and two others. A man and a woman. None of them were in gray.

  The lady, who had very dark skin, smiled at them.

  "Come in. We have a few more coming. These are the..." She looked down at her Datamate, which seemed to be showing small writing on the screen. It
was too hard to make out at five meters however, as well as upside down. "The people we need for the special team?"

  That last bit was spoken directly to Glenda, who nodded, but didn't explain. On the good side this didn't just seem new to him, but to almost everyone. Except Clark, who looked like the place was familiar to him, and Micha. She just pushed at him a bit, from the back.

  "Grab a seat."

  Then they waited. Sitting there for about half an hour while the people in regular clothing murmured at each other's, and spoke softly on various devices. They were clearly getting in touch with people that weren't in the room with them. The only thing that Ben made out was the name Kent. Several times.

  Finally, as if it would be anyone else, Carlos and Ali came in, looking a lot less baffled than most of the others.

  The giant fighter smiled at them, and nodded toward the front, then moved to the other side of the table and sat nearly across from Ben.

  "It took some work, but Kent finally approached us, just after dinner. He and Mitchell, as well as some others, seem to be planning an attack on the central data hub, in Utah. I have a list of names for the others." That got him to pull a tiny pad, and tap on it several times, until the others at the head of the table looked at their own, larger units, and nodded.

  Kyle stared at him, his eyes more intense than Ben had seen them before.

  "From our understanding of things, Kent is actually correct. We don't know how he found out, but one of our people in the field is about to be exposed. There seems to be a two-day window here, but our operative is being so closely watched that they cannot be removed at this time. The operation that he's proposing would be a good distraction, while we remove them from their current position. Almost perfectly so. Taking out a major hub would cut all non-local surveillance for nearly twenty minutes. Which means that this is a trap, of course." The man seemed a bit miserable about it all, underneath his steely exterior. His face was being schooled to look harsh, and uncaring.