by Kal Spriggs
It took a great deal of effort to throttle his sudden surge of paranoia. He fought the urge to break into a run and instead picked up his pace to a quick limp. A helpful sign ahead of him pointed to an exit. Shaden flowed with the crowd as it shoved and jostled towards the escalators leading upwards. With the warm food in his stomach, he was able to stay upright despite the elbows that jabbed him in his ribs and the agony they brought.
As he drew near, a cold billow of air coursed down over him. He pulled the trench coat tight and tugged his still-damp cap down over his head again. He gave a backward glance at the colors and light of the train station before he let the crowd carry him out into the cold darkness of the city streets.
***
Chapter 10
Evil is not something that one embraces. There is no sudden switch. Rather, it is the gradual leaching of your soul, one small choice after the other. Like water, evil works its way deeper, seeking the path of least resistance until it finds its way downward into the core of who you are. That is how those with power have become so monstrous, they have been eaten away until nothing but the darkness remains.
--Memoirs of Shaden Mira
Almost invariably the subjects of these experiments beg for mercy or release. They have an inability to look beyond their own suffering to the bigger picture. They think that I lack empathy when they couldn’t be further from the truth. I want humanity to reach their ultimate potential and the lives of a handful in that process is nothing compared to the final result.
--Dr. Jonathan Halving, Project Archon Notes.
“Well that certainly didn’t go as expected,” Colonel Givens said, her voice dry.
“No, no it didn’t,” Doctor Jonathan Halving replied. He didn’t miss the lack of empathy in her voice. He had expected that. What he hadn’t expected was her faint tone of amusement, as if the loss of one of his assets was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
The two stood beside the frozen pond, while two of Jonathan’s men handled the grisly task of cleaning up. The blizzard had finally cleared out, and the golden sun glared off the brilliant white snow. It seemed far too beautiful a day for such an unpleasant task. Janecek’s body had yet to be recovered, frozen in the ice, but the two men worked at it with a hammer and chisel.
Colonel Givens had said her people would look at getting a laser cutter or something similar, but Halving figured his people would have the task done by the time that help arrived.
“Any idea what happened?” The ESPSec Colonel asked.
Halving stomped on the solid ice, “I’m guessing some form of micro psychokinesis, probably similar to pyrokinesis.”
“That’s impossible.” Colonel Givens snorted. “No one’s ever manifested actual pyrokinesis. ESPSec has extensive files, with no confirmed 'firestarters' as the rumors make them out to be.”
Halving grimaced, “Something melted the surface of the water to make Mark fall through. Something else then froze it while he was trying to swim out.” He shrugged, “At least, I doubt he possessed the patience to pose like that long enough for it to freeze around him naturally.”
Colonel Givens’ eyes narrowed dangerously at his sarcasm. She opened her mouth to retort, when one of Halving’s men shouted. “Sir, you should see this.”
Halving jogged over in the direction of the inlet that joined the frozen basin with the Manhattan Sound beyond. A wooden footbridge crossed the gap, and one of his men pointed at a blade buried in one of the wooden beams.
Jonathan moved over to the sword, plunged into the board nearly to its hilt. With no sign of effort he pulled it out. The bridge shuddered and the beam cracked through as he did so, but he paid that no mind.
“That’s interesting,” Jonathan murmured as he looked down at the blade.
“What?” Colonel Givens asked. “Is that your man’s weapon?”
Halving held the blade up. It looked like some great force had bent the front of the sword over at a forty-five degree angle. “That’s not from the impact with the bridge,” he said. “This is from extreme force.”
Colonel Givens snorted, “It hit a bridge hard enough to go in over a foot. I think that qualifies as extreme force.”
Jonathan Halving shook his head, “No, Janecek threw the blade. It’s one of his favorite tricks; he backs it with psychokinetic force. He nearly cut a man in half, once. He rarely misses. Something deflected the blow, I’m guessing our male subject made a conscious effort to push the blade aside, or more likely created a barrier or something.”
“So you’re saying he’s not only developed an as yet unseen psychic ability, but he’s also broken his mental barrier and he’s fully functional now?” Colonel Givens sounded doubtful.
“Possibly,” Halving waved a hand. He casually threw the damaged blade across the ice to land next to where Janecek’s body lay entombed. The cleanup team would dispose of both. “I’m beginning to think we kept the wrong subject.” He didn’t need to remind her who had made that decision. From the expression on her face, she didn’t like his tone.
“Regardless, the choice was made,” Colonel Givens turned away. “Clean this up and then bring the rogue in.” Her voice held the same chill as the cold air.
“Alive or dead?” Jonathan called after the woman.
“Whatever is easier,” Colonel Givens answered without slowing her pace.
***
“Kandergain, how are you feeling today?” Halving asked.
The blonde girl looked over at him from her position near the window. “I am good. How are you?” Her voice sounded mechanical and Halving bit back a grimace. He suspected the tampering they’d done to her mind had probably damaged her personality severely. While a robot-like weapon wouldn’t particularly displease ESPSec, it cramped his sense of artistry. “I’ve got some unfortunate news for you, Kandergain. There was an accident in the storm last night. Mark Janecek is dead.”
“Oh,” the young woman said. She cocked her head slightly. “I didn’t really like him very much anyway.”
Halving controlled his expression, though he did feel amusement at her reaction. That response, though obviously socially impolite, was much similar to the responses from his staff. Some, like Angel, had simply expressed relief, while others, like Cyrus, had dared to smile at the news. Even I can admit that he was a psychopath, Halving thought absently, though I bear some responsibility in that regard.
Then again, he hadn’t kept Janecek around for his charming personality.
“I’ll conduct your psychokinesis training for today, and possibly until I select an alternate trainer for you,” Halving said.
“Will you be training your other student as well?” Kandergain asked.
Halving frowned slightly, “No. He was killed in the same accident.” He hadn’t ever heard this subject express interest in the other.
“That’s unfortunate,” Kandergain said. “His mind was interesting.”
“Excuse me?” Halving immediately raised his mental defenses. He also gathered his strength, ready to beat back an attack by his pupil. If she had broken his mental conditioning, then she would know what he had done to her.
The woman just shrugged, “Entering the minds of other people without permission is wrong. He was like me though, not really a person, so it was okay. It was interesting, what I found there.”
Slowly, Halving relaxed. Apparently the latest mental conditioning had held, though with a remarkable, albeit dangerous, gap. “And what did you find?”
She stared at him in puzzlement for a moment, “Didn’t you see it?”
“See what?” Halving smiled slightly, amused. He’d gone over every memory and thought in Shaden’s mind, multiple times. The only thing he’d found interesting was the ability for a human brain to be rewritten.
Kandergain’s next words sent an icy chill through his veins, “He has memories of things that haven’t happened yet.”
***
“Listen up,” Captain Schultz looked around the briefing room.
“As of zero six hundred hours, a male prisoner here escaped from the grounds.” He looked around at them and Tommy couldn’t help but think he looked constipated. “Now, we’re not here to place blame, but there will be an official investigation.”
Tommy raised a hand, “Sir, as I understand it, the subject left in the company of one of the contractors, will he be a part of this investigation?”
Captain Schultz went red, “No… he will not. Colonel Givens told me that his body was located in the park only a block away.”
“That’s a shame,” Tommy said, “I’m sure he’ll be missed.”
He heard snickers from his squad, but he treasured the look of rage from Captain Schultz far more. “In any case,” Captain Schultz said, “ESPSec has put high priority on locating and eliminating this threat. The male subject has manifested unknown levels of psychokinetic abilities as well as possible pyrokinesis.”
“Pyro what?” Sergeant Bailey asked.
“Firestarting,” Staff Sergeant Shade said helpfully. “I thought that was just stuff from movies?”
Captain Schultz flushed, “I don’t have the details, but it is believed that he melted and then froze the holding pond in the park. So, it’s not a big issue, understood?”
“Uh,” Specialist Carter said, “Sir, excuse me, but if he could freeze water, couldn’t he freeze a person? I mean, the human body is seventy percent water after all.”
Captain Schultz stared at the Specialist for a long, silent moment. He then turned to look at his ESPSec platoon, most of whom also stared at Specialist Carter. “Any other questions?”
Tommy fought down a smirk. “Sir,” Tommy raised a hand politely, “if we’re supposed to confront this kid, what kind of resources do we have? I mean, none of us can mess with minds or anything like that.”
“ESPSec has several vetted psychics, two of whom will be temporarily assigned to your squads. They’ll screen your people from mental interference. There’s nothing I can do about any psychokinetic effects,” Captain Schultz said. He looked over at his platoon of ESPSec agents, “We’ll have the support of Doctor Halving’s Lieutenants, who should be able to blunt the direct attacks.”
Great, Tommy thought, so we’re expendable, got it.
“Any further questions?” Schultz asked. When no one responded, he stepped back, “As soon as we get information on his location, we’ll move out. Now, regional resources are tied up as far as air support, so for now, we’ll have to rely on ground transportation…”
Tommy sat back and listened to the officer drone on. With any luck, the boy would be clear of the city and someone else’s problem soon enough. Please, he thought, let this be someone else’s problem.
***
Colonel Alicia Givens looked up as Jonathan Halving stormed into her office and slammed a heavy folder down on the center of her desk. “He was a bloody precog!”
“Excuse me?” Colonel Givens asked. His statement, and the obvious anger behind it, confused her more than anything else. She had come to respect his knowledge and expertise, but his assumptions that she would care about the minutiae of his work never failed to baffle her. She ensured he had the resources to succeed, anything beyond that was not her concern.
“The male subject, before he was assigned to the project,” Halving said. “He manifested precognition of unknown extent. He could see the future. He knew what was coming before it happened!” Halving shook his head, “You didn’t think it necessary to tell me that?” Considering his abilities, she didn’t like how he had clearly allowed anger to overcome his normal self-control.
Colonel Givens maintained a calm expression even as her right hand slipped into her desk drawer and found her pistol by instinct and training. Her training allowed her to speak without the need to split her focus, “I was assured that any prior abilities would be burned out in the same procedure that overwrote their memories—“
“And when the female manifested telepathy, you didn’t think to bring this up?” Halving snapped. The psychic slammed his hand down on her desk, his face flushed, “Don’t you see how this changes everything?!”
“No.” Colonel Givens said. “And before you go on, perhaps you need a reminder of whom reports to whom.” She brought her pistol above the desk and her dark eyes met those of Halving. “Now calm down and explain the problem.”
Halving turned away and took a deep breath. Colonel Givens watched him tremble slightly as he forced back his anger. She could see the muscles on his jaw clench. A large vein stood out on his temple as he sought to restrain his temper. One day she supposed she’d push him too far.
It would be an interesting day.
“From what I can tell, and it’s a wild guess going off of my memory, because I didn’t even have the information to know I needed to check… access to his precognitive abilities would have been removed. Basically when we rewrote his synapses it would have undone his mental wiring and meant his abilities shouldn’t have worked anymore. Removal of access wouldn’t affect his subconscious mind or his knowledge and decisions before we wiped his brain, though” Halving said.
“So you’re saying he may have planned to have his personality erased?” Colonel Givens asked. She rolled her eyes, “You know how ridiculous that sounds, right?” More like he’s trying to find excuses for his man’s failure and the escape of the subject, she thought.
“How about this? He knew he would be transformed into a psychic of unprecedented abilities, and wanted that power no matter the cost. Does that sound a little more palatable?” Halving said, his voice dry.
Colonel Givens opened and closed her mouth a few times. That idea terrified her, for more reasons than she could readily admit to Doctor Halving. If that is the case, then Operation Trojan has been compromised, she thought and she felt acid roil in her stomach. Failure of that operation would have serious implications, the least of which would probably include her execution for failure. Finally, she spoke, “That doesn’t sound good at all.” Her words felt painfully inadequate.
Halving nodded slightly, “Which is why I wonder if anyone had any rational thoughts in their heads when they selected him as a candidate.” He shrugged, “Luckily, I very much doubt he had a clue what he got himself into. From reading his record band especially the notes on how he was caught by ESPSec, I doubt he was much more than a level four at best.”
Colonel Givens frowned, “I can’t say that I’ve had much experience with precognitives. What’s the range?”
“Level five is little more than some intuition, good guesses, professional gamblers, that kind of thing,” Halving said. “Level fours are able to catch momentary glimpses of possible outcomes, enough that they can try to affect the future to an extent. They’re relatively rare.”
Colonel Givens tapped one handed at her desktop, unwilling to set down her pistol once she’d drawn it on Halving. It took her a moment to bring up her database and read what she could on the subject, splitting her attention between the psychic she didn’t trust and the file on precognitives. She frowned, “Apparently the highest level ESPSec ever caught was a level three. She was half insane and gibbering, but she could see hours into the future within a three to four mile radius.”
Halving nodded, “Most precogs go more than a little crazy. Most human’s minds cannot handle the information flow because they can’t distinguish between what’s happened, what will happen, and what didn’t happen.” He shrugged, “There have been rumors of a couple level two precogs. They acted like seers and prophets, both of them driven insane by the possibilities.” Colonel Givens noticed he did not mention the rumors of level one precogs. A level one would, in theory, know everything and be able to see every event long before it occurred. By their very nature nature, level one precogs would be impossible to find or catch by any means. Unless, she amended, he wanted to be caught for some reason.
“So… if he wasn’t some uber-precog, then what exactly does this change?”
Halving grimaced and his left eye twitched sl
ightly. Colonel Givens recognized his tells for when he planned to conceal some of the truth. “I think his subconscious still retains some of his ability to sense the future. He can’t sense what’s going to happen, but his subconscious is going to act like a radar when he’s in actual danger.”
“Which means… what?” Givens asked, her eyes narrowed in thought.
“When we go after him, his mind will go into overdrive as things get serious. That might very well be what triggered his abilities when he fought Janecek. It means that when one of my people gets him in his crosshairs, he’ll have some kind of warning.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Colonel Givens said. She thought of the professional snipers who served as ESPSec's main means of dangerous psychic elimination. If this one had some kind of warning, even subconsciously, would they find it possible to take him down?
Her own pet psychic gave her a nod, “No, neither do I.”
***
Chapter 11
There is no place better to hide than a city. Most of the cities of Earth are a strange mix of people. Those that could manage to flee have left the cities to become enclaves of the desperate and those hiding among them. No one wants to know your story in a city. Within the faceless masses, anyone can hide. Yet with those same numbers come a host of threats, from common criminals to the psychotic killers who prey upon the weak.
--Memoirs of Shaden Mira
A more intriguing area to me is what ESPSec labels Psi Beta. The ability to control biological processes. Purely kinetic abilities do not reflect the ability for rapid healing or genetic modification and repair. This is in many ways a combination of the two abilities and it seems most likely to me that it requires both an understanding of the human body and the mental finesse to affect it.