Perennial

Chapter 8 -- Perennial

I find it interesting that Icarus has an entire class period dedicated to looking into criminal psychology, of all things. This is a little confusing because only about 40% of super-humans trained by DSHA actually work in the cities around us as a kind of law enforcement. The other 60-ish% are supposed to be other things. Dr. Science would fall into this category, but so would all the spies and soldiers who are supposed to be fighting against super-human terrorism. Now, I don't mean like the Overlords. I mean like that group of extremist super-human supremacists who work for an organization called "Phobos".

It makes sense, to me, at least on a logical level, to fight super-humans threats with other super-humans, if only for the easy match in power. So I guess I can understand that.

What I don't understand is that 40%. I don't see why the government thinks they need to train super-humans to save normal people. Why can't they train normal people to take care of themselves and solve their own problems? In the long run, they'd learn not to rely on some stupid super-human 'hero' to save them and just save themselves. It'd be better for everybody. (Except the super-humans, I guess, because then DSHA could send 100% of us out to fight their battles, because oh, did I mention? Super-humans don't get to pick their own career paths. If you don't want to fight? Guess what! You don't have a say in that!)

Consequently, it is beyond me why they think I need to know criminal psychology. Especially since, given my past, it's extremely unlikely that I will end up working in a city. (Besides, why would I need to understand criminal psychology when I'm already a criminal?)

Here's another fun fact about the curriculum here: in the ethics class they make us all attend, they're trying to teach us that mercilessly crushing your enemies' ribcage (via telekinesis or any other power) is a bad thing.

That's rich, coming from an organization that's cruelly sent men and women who never asked to be born with powers into a war they may not want to fight.

Not that I'm condoning extreme violence (or terrorism). I've never done anything like that before, nor do I ever intend to. It is concerning, however, that the school feels the need to discuss this on the first day. That kind of speaks volumes about what the government thinks of us, don't you think?

It's these thoughts that are on my mind when Aether escorts me to my last class of the day. It's a class exclusively for telepaths, meaning we don't share this one, so he's only dropping me off.

Telepathy is a delicate power. With it, you could kill yourself and/or the people around you if you're not careful. (Not only that, but it's also important to teach young telepaths about privacy rights and such before setting them loose on the world.)

Telepathy runs in my family, at least on my father's side. I mean, my father is the Overlord, and the Overlord's specialty is telepathic mind control. Jason's telepathic, too, but he's mostly good at kinds of psionic blasts. Then there's me. Sometimes I hear voices that aren't mine in my head. The only practical ability I'm good at is detecting lies, which places me closer to empathy than to telepathy on the Philips' Scale.

The classroom for Telepathy is on the other side of the school from Ethics, which was the class immediately before it, and so it takes us a full five minutes to reach the correct classroom.

While on our way, he asks if I think I'll be able to remember the way here after today. In truth, I don't know. Sometimes I have a hard time navigating Paradis, even though I've lived there my whole life. What more is there to say? I have a terrible sense of direction.

I shrug.

He doesn't seem to like this answer. His face pinches up into a frown. So I try to explain it.

My mom likes to say that neither of her children inherited her sense of direction, and I believe it. One time, Jason and I went out looking for a really good crêperie we used to visit with our parents, only to end up wandering until we got lost. It took us forever to get home. (The moral of the story is that I don't think I'll be able to find my way around Icarus all by myself for a long time.)

His features relax into understanding and he tells me that he'll be willing to help as long as I need it.

I thank him.

When we finally make it to the classroom, Aether leaves me outside the doorway, promising to be back after the next period is over.

This is my first official Telepathy course here. In that room, I'm going to spend the next period surrounded by telepaths. That's not an easy place to keep all your secrets under wraps. Am I nervous? A little.

I walk into the room, expecting it to be like the other classes I've had today, but I pause when I immediately see that there's only two student desks in here, and the only other person here is my roommate, Psaqua, looking like how I last saw her this morning, with uniform on and perception filter firmly in place. (She has red hair and darker skin now. It's weird, seeing the change.) She quickly looks at me, and then looks away.

I take a seat next to her. There isn't even a teacher here yet. Did... Did we come to the correct classroom? Maybe Aether got it wrong.

"Where is everyone else?" I whisper. (I don't know why I'm whispering. Maybe the atmosphere of this classroom calls for it, since it's near empty.)

"We are everyone else," Psaqua explains. "We're the only telepathic students here."

Oh. That explains why DSHA was so willing to invite me here.

"Then where is the teacher?" I ask.

Psaqua shrugs.

Wow. That gives me so much confidence in this school's capacity to teach its students in a timely and orderly fashion.

"So... does that mean I can get an extra free period?" I ask, excitedly, raising my voice to a normal volume.

"No, it does not."

I freeze and so does Psaqua. We both turn around.

The woman behind us is in a purple blouse and black pencil skirt. She has a perception filter/nametag pinned to her chest and arms folded in front of her. She's leaning against the door frame, scrutinizing us.

She greets us. "Hello. I'm Phix. I'll be your teacher in Telepathy this year."

I raise my eyebrows.

"Oh?" The word escapes my mouth in a flippant tone before I can stop myself.

Phix seems to focus on me. Her answer is simple and direct. "Do you have a problem?"

"Yes," I respond, and then mutter (mostly to myself), "I have more problems than I can count."

"I think I can tell."

My eyes snap back up to the teacher. I'm surprised she heard me.

Phix strolls to the front of the room, passing between the desks of her only two students on the way. "I apologize for being late, but it couldn't be helped. I see no reason to stall any further, so let's get started. Perennial, was it?" Our teacher nods to me. "Why don't you go first? Try to hack me. I'm going to gauge your ability."

I can already feel how embarrassing this is going to be. Still, I close my eyes and take a deep breath, preparing to reach out with my mind and stave off the headache that goes with it. I really don't want to do this.

I do it anyway.

Some telepaths say that reaching out with their minds feels like a release of tension, that it's peaceful, like taking a deep breath or waking up from a refreshing nap. Some even say it's like that kind of release a pyromaniac feels whenever he lights a flame or a kleptomaniac feels whenever he steals something. For me, however, it's like groping around in a pit of darkness as someone tries to drive nails into my head.

I go slowly, not wanting to overload my brain, increasing awareness of my surroundings bit by bit, trying to ignore the throbbing in my head. Then, I can feel the presence of two minds outside my own. The closest thing I can describe it to is like seeing blips on radar. I "zoom" in on the one that feels farther away from me, knowing that it must be Phix.

As expected, her mind is as hard as a rock. At my current level of skill, I would have to push my mind to the brink of insanity trying to break into hers.

People have to work for years trying to develop the kinds of barriers that Phix has around her mind. I remember the guard that Dr. Science let me try to hack into once had a mind like that. Apparently, most telepaths have a degree of natural mental barriers protecting their minds. That's how Dr. Science discovered me. However, these natural barriers can be overcome easily by an experienced telepath.

It's pretty safe to say that I am nowhere near that point.

As I close in on Phix' mind, something changes. On my mental radar, I can feel my teacher's mind blip reaching out for me. It's like observing an octopus slide out from under a crevice in a reef. As her mind closes in on mine, I panic, completely losing my concentration in the process. I hate it whenever someone tries to hack me as I try to hack them. It makes my insides squirm.

I jerk back in my seat, tilting my chair (with me in it) over. I topple to the floor with a loud crash. My eyes snap open and artificial light floods my vision, momentarily blinding me. I blink, trying to readjust to the brightness. Groaning, I roll off my chair, slowly bring myself to my feet, stand my chair upright, and sit back down, rubbing my temples.

Psaqua looks at me sympathetically.

"Well," Phix begins something akin to intrigue in her voice. "That was... odd."

I nod. The only thing that comes out of my mouth is, "Well, you did hear me when I said I have problems."

"Yes," she admits, though not unkindly. "You have potential, but you lack control. I take it telepathy isn't your strongest ability? That would explain why they didn't name you something to do with the mind."

"No," I admit.

"I think I might know why that is, and why your telepathy is a little hard to sense without looking for it. It may be because you've somehow managed to inverse your telepathy. We'll have to work on that if you want to progress."

The unfamiliar term grabs my attention.

"Inverse?" I ask. "I don't understand."

"Your telepathy is turned in on itself. You have managed, somehow, to use your telepathy to 'hack' yourself, as it were. No wonder your file says you exhibit an extraordinary amount of self-discipline in both thought and action. You've been using a form of mind control on yourself. This is what has greatly reduced your ability to reach out with your mind. You need to be careful when hacking other people's minds. You might overextend yourself." Phix takes a breath. "Tell me, how long have you trained your mind to do that?"

"Oh. Um... I didn't." I cough out. This is the first time I've even heard of inverse telepathy. If what Phix is saying is true, it would certainly explain a lot. (I wonder if the Overlord knows about it.)

Phix gives a quick nod. She smiles. "Glad I could help. Now, Psaqua, why don't you try?"

To my surprise, my roommate hesitates. "Are you sure?"

"Dear, how else do you expect to learn?"

"But last year -"

"I know. I read the incident file when I took this job." Phix says.

"I - okay." Psaqua takes a breath and closes her eyes. The room falls silent for a few seconds, and I take the opportunity to try to recuperate from my own exercise, as well as absorb the implications of inverse telepathy.

It just figures. Leave it to me to mess up my own mind. No wonder I get migraines.

A few minutes later, the other two women come back to reality. "Very good. Don't be afraid of what you can do. Using telepathy is like building a fire; it's going to be dangerous if you're scared of it."

Psaqua nods.

Addressing us both, Phix says, "I'm glad to see that you two have a basic grasp on how to control your telepathy. I'm especially impressed with you, Perennial."

I frown. Why? Didn't she basically say my mind is wired wrong?

"I'm impressed because you've managed to cope despite what might be termed as a handicap." Phix explains.

Yeah, well, that's what happens when you're stubborn enough. I begin to get a sneaking suspicion that Phix has been reading my thoughts, but I have no definitive proof (yet). I wouldn't be surprised if she was. Jason used to read my thoughts without permission back home, usually just to be annoying.

Psaqua raises a hand. "What exactly are we going to learn this year?"

Phix smiles. "I was hoping we'd work on a basic refresher before getting into in depth things like mind-scapes and thought control."

The rest of the class passes quickly, without a hitch. I try paying attention, I honestly do, but my attention keeps wandering. Most of what Phix says next goes right over my head anyway. (And that was not a pun based on my short height.)

Afterwards, Aether escorts me to dinner. All in all, I'd say this day was pretty boring. There was no physical education of any sort, but Aether tells me as we're eating that it will probably be my most challenging class. My first day is tomorrow.

Apparently, they have different physical education classes for different sets of powers. For instance, an elemental would go to one of the elemental classes, while a kid with enhanced strength might go to a session for kids with more physical abilities. The more widespread your abilities are, the more classes you have to attend. On top of that, there are sometimes sessions that combine several classes to get students used to combating a wide variety of powers.

Mental abilities are given their own special classes, like the one I went to with Psaqua and Phix.

(I wonder if and how I can reverse my inverse telepathy. Is Telepathy class equipped for teaching that? Because if I'm going to be trapped here, I may as well make the most of it and acquire any useful skills I may need later.)

Maybe this isn't that bad.

I go to bed cautiously optimistic about the days to come.