The Mullinix Book 1: Ascension

by Rodney Mountain

  Chapter 36 - The Headaches That Result

  Medoferro and Simon woke up after a long bout of unconsciousness and then went right back to sleep, finally waking up fully just about the time of dawn. The old man was awake by then, and was not surprised at all to see that Medoferro was waking up first, considering how hard the process had been on Simon.

  "Just what the hell did you do to me old man?" Medo exclaimed as he sat up and rubbed his head, "I haven’t had a headache this bad since the first time I got into my parents liquor cabinet."

  "I used the power to teach your mind how to recognize it properly," the old man informed him, "You had the talent, but not the knowledge. To gain the knowledge on your own would take more time than I had to teach you or that you had to spare."

  "So you pretty well shoveled it in," Medo said, "Is that why we had to be so tired?"

  "Yes," the old man nodded, actually smiling, "I’ve seen it tried on someone who was completely rested. It wasn’t pretty. The poor boy had reaction sickness for a week and it never did work right. It even managed to knock the ancient one on his rear, something that I’d never seen."

  "The ancient one?" Medo wondered.

  "A man older than this world itself," the old man said, "He is a good man though, has developed many of these techniques and has always used them for good."

  "Will I ever meet him?" Medo asked the old man.

  "I sincerely hope not," the old man told him, "For if you do, it means that something bad is coming down the line for you. When trouble comes, he usually is there."

  "I guess I’ll pray we never meet," Medo nodded, "How much longer is Simon going to sleep do you think?"

  "A while," the old man said, "He doesn’t have the talent as smoothly as you do. He took the training, but it will never be as useful for him. Sort of like the difference between a machete and a carving knife."

  "A machete can be useful in the right hands," Medo shrugged, "So I’ll be able to throw power balls and things like that, eh?"

  "I wouldn’t recommend doing that in polite company," the old man told him, "But I remember seeing Taliaferro do it a few times when he was young to get the attention of the people making a mess of his session chamber."

  "So what do we do now?" Medo wondered.

  "Let’s try some of this knowledge," the old man said, "In the stone room, so you won’t damage anything."

  They walked into a bare room in the back of the old stone building that the old man owned. There wasn’t a scrap of wood in the room and Medo detected a faint glow around it that he now was able to recognize as a shield created by warping the buildings natural magnetic fields.

  "Examine the shields closely," the old man said, "You will never see anything of this type again. The ancient one created them for me to teach in when I was younger. I’ve yet to be able to duplicate them myself, probably won’t live long enough to try."

  "So this room is shielded for practice," Medo said, "The forces can’t travel past the shield?"

  "Throw a power ball at the target on the wall and let your mind see the results," the old man suggested, "This is the safest place you’ll ever use a power ball."

  Medo looked into his mind and found the odd knowledge that told him how to do this. The information had been practically spoon fed into his mind, giving him the basics of using the power and how to do basic operations like forming it into a ball and throwing it. He massed the power in his hands, drawing it from his surroundings, and threw it at the target on the wall, getting a perfect bull’s-eye with it, scorching the target and dissipating into the shields.

  "Whoa," Medo said, "If only I’d had this at the lake!"

  "Another thing you should be able to do is form a personal shield," the old man said, "Think fast!"

  Before Medo really saw what he was doing the old man had a power ball in his hand and it was flying at his head. He instinctively reached into his mind and created a shield that was about twenty times too powerful for what was needed. The power ball fizzled out, but took a lot of Medo’s energy with it. That was the one problem with learning the way Medo did. You could force the mechanics, but control had to be learned.

  "What was that?" Medo exclaimed.

  "Reflex test," the old man said, "I wanted to see if you’d be able to make the shield."

  "You could have killed me!" Medo yelled, and then threw a similar ball back at him, "How do you like it?"

  The old man caught the ball and kept it glowing. He grinned at Medo and tossed it up in the air, letting it settle a little before he released the power into the shields. Medo shook his head and watched.

  "I knew your shields would come up," the old man told Medo, "And the ball I sent was all flash, no bang. Here," the old man made one and tossed it lightly to Medoferro, "It’s warm but no real problem. Had you failed you would have gotten a slight flash burn to the chest, nothing more."

  "This is scary," Medo said, "I can see the point for defense though. With this I will never be defenseless."

  "Exactly," the old man nodded, "If you keep practicing you will do well with it. There are limitations on it, however. Power is not unlimited and if you exert it too much you will give yourself a nasty headache."

  "I am starting the edge of one already," Medo said, "Probably from the powerful one I threw at you and the wall."

  "Relax a little," the old man suggested, "Let the power refill you a bit."

  Medoferro did what he was told and felt a lot better, though it was no complete cure. He let the power charge him a little and felt his body relax as it accustomed itself to the forces.

  "Excellent," the old man said, "When you need an extra boost in an emergency, you can use this to keep you going. Taliaferro did it when he was younger quite often, especially during the great floods during the first year of his rule. Just be sure to get a lot of sleep when it is done."

  "You said that you could use this to detect if someone is lying?" Medo asked him, "In this job, that’s the one thing I want the most."

  "You can get a heightened indication," the old man agreed, "If Massimaferro is awake we can try it on him."

  Massimaferro was definitely awake and came to the shielded room when asked. He enjoyed being able to sleep for a while without the responsibilities of rule upon him. The old man seated Massimaferro in a chair about ten feet away from Medoferro and had them face each other.

  "So what no good are you up to?" Massy asked them, "How is your head, Medo?"

  "Still sore," Medo shrugged, "Getting better though."

  "I’m trying to teach him truth detection," the old man explained, "Mind being a guinea pig for it?"

  "Sure," Massy said, "I’m game."

  "Medo," the old man said, "I want you to look at Massy, but use your mind to pull in the waves around him. See how the waves interact with him and swirl around his head?"

  Massimaferro was beginning to feel self-conscious, but realized there was little he could do. This was a power that he couldn’t begin to understand, which is why he had never been taught it. Medo saw it, but didn’t quite get the meanings of it yet.

  "I see," Medo said, "But it doesn’t make any sense."

  "That’s because he’s letting his mind wander," the old man said, "When he starts talking or thinking the waves will become a bit more coherent."

  "Ok," Massimaferro chuckled, "How about I start by saying I think you two are nuttier than fruitcakes?"

  Medoferro saw the waves go around his head in a different pattern then. The old man stayed quiet as he let Medo get used to what he was seeing. Medo quickly was able to tell which waves were random and which ones weren’t.

  "Getting the hang of his mind?" the old man asked Medo.

  "I doubt it," Massy quipped.

  "A bit," Medo agreed, "So how do I use this to detect truth?"

  "Massy," the old man said, "I want you to say three true facts and then make up an outrageous lie about yourself."

  "Ok," Massimaferro sai
d, shaking his head, "I am 48 years of age. I am the Mullinix. I think this is silly. Medoferro has sex with goats."

  Medo chuckled, but noticed the way that the magnetic waves changed during the last statement. He was surprised it was that obvious, but then this was an obvious lie. He figured that it would be more difficult to judge smaller lies. The old man smiled and guessed that Medo was wondering about it.

  "It isn’t a cure all in that department," the old man told him, "But it is an indicator that you wouldn’t have had otherwise. Sometimes it will give you readings."

  "I know it isn’t a good idea," Medo said, "But is it possible for the power to manipulate minds?"

  "Not really," the old man said, "The human brain is a complex organism. The only reason I was able to do that to you and Simon was because you both have the talent for it. It took a concerted effort and knowledge of what I was doing. For all the use and power it brings, it can do little directly to a mind other than scorch it."

  "I’m sure there are people it won’t work on," Massimaferro said, "Psychopaths for one."

  "That is true," the old man nodded, "If they truly believe it is the truth, yet it isn’t, you won’t be able to tell. This is a guide, nothing more."

  "I just wish I could practice it before I have to use it," Medo said wistfully.

  "You’ll have plenty of opportunities," Massy grinned, "You start taking sessions with me this week. If you get good at it, I may use your abilities."

  "It will be a good way to learn at any rate," the old man nodded, "We still need to work on your control a little though. I want you to be able to create a shield for yourself without it being a conscious effort and without draining yourself to do it."

  Simon walked into the room, still looking a bit dazed from what had happened to him the night before. He was glowing a little, a sure sign that he hadn’t quite taken the lessons on power as well as Medoferro did. Medo looked at the power radiating from him and looked worried at the old man.

  "Wooo," Medo said as he looked at his friend, "You’re glowing like nobody’s business, Simon."

  "I can even see it," Massimaferro said, "Is this normal?"

  "What are you talking about?" Simon asked them, "I just woke up…"

  "There were a few more problems with you," the old man said, "We’re going to have to spend some time teaching you dispersal and control."

  "Just so long as I stop glowing before we go home," Simon said amicably, "I don’t think I’ll be much good as an agent if I glow all the time."

  "I think we can do something about that," The old man said, "I want you to visualize the power going into a ball and throw it at Medo…"