The Dark Edge Chronicles - Hardwire

Rough Encounter

But the man in black hadn't gone five meters before three heavy-set men stepped into the building from the outside.  Pausing just inside the door, they pulled dark sunglasses from their tanned faces to quickly scan the inside of the terminal with dangerous eyes.  As their eyes swept over him, the man in black slowed cautiously to a halt, his eyes narrowing behind his sunglasses.

That had been no ordinary glancing gaze that had swung over him; the tingling rush in his head told the big man otherwise.  It had been a telepathic scan meant to uncover individuals that had powers of the mind.  While the man in black indeed had such powers, he had no intention of being uncovered by such a scan.  As the tingling swept over him, he exerted his abilities and tightly shielded his mind in such a manner that only a very powerful, very deep scan would reveal that his brain possessed the abilities to warp matter to his will, among other talents.

Having protected himself thusly from any type of telepathic scan, the big man carefully, his head still partially down, looked over the tops of his sunglasses at the three men.  A slight satisfaction touched him when he saw they apparently hadn't noticed him, continuing their scan over the crowd from their vantage point near the door.  But, upon seeing the long black trench coats and black gloves they wore, his expression returned to thoughtful.

It didn't take much for his abilities, shielded and hidden as they were, to find the men's auras shining more brightly than those around them.  Confirmation of what they were, in addition to their ability to scan telepathically.  'More psionics,' he silently mused, labeling those with the brighter auras and powers of the mind.  And highly visible ones, at that; a scan of his own would reveal exactly how powerful they were, but he couldn't risk revealing himself prematurely.  Cautiously he stepped to the side and watched.

He was quickly rewarded when he saw the men's faces tighten as they caught sight of someone deeper into the terminal.  Instantly the telepathic sweep was gone and they were striding forward, replacing their sunglasses in smooth, economic motions.  The trench coats quickly cut through the crowds to approach a rather ordinary looking man in slacks and a polo shirt, sitting at one of the many small coffee shops that dotted the terminal's promenade.  He was drinking coffee from a battered looking mug, eyes unfocused as he stared off into space, looking tired and worn.  Several pieces of luggage were piled untidily around him, announcing his intentions.  And the aura around him made him a psionic as well.

The big stranger's eyes narrowed.  What was this?  His curiosity piqued, he watched as the trench coats bore down on the man drinking the coffee.  Hearing the heavy tread of three sets of approaching footsteps, the man looked over his shoulder, the mug frozen in place halfway to his mouth.  And instantly blanched with fear at the sight of the three men bearing down on him.  Released by suddenly nerveless fingers, the coffee mug crashed to the counter top where it roughly shattered, sending shards of ceramic and hot coffee spraying in every direction.  Several heads jerked around at the sound of the impact, eyes wide with wonder and curiosity.

Only to bear witness as some invisible force wrinkled the air around the man, pinning him hard against the counter.  Then the three trench coats were on him hard, grabbing the stunned man by the arms to hustle him towards a nearby maintenance corridor, its entrance warded by a heavy steel door.  As two of the men dragged the stunned man between them, the third turned to the shocked occupants of the tiny coffee shop.

"Forget what you just saw, Normals,"  he growled in a low, viperous voice.  And then he was turning to follow his two companions, who had managed to win past the door and into the concrete corridor beyond.

A frown replaced the watching stranger's thoughtful expression as he watched the door close behind the four men, leaving the occupants of the coffee shop muttering uneasily amongst themselves.  The wall of force that had pinned the man invisibly to the counter could only have been a shockwave, a weapon used by psionics gifted with the talent of telekinesis.  But such things were carefully hidden from the general populace, who would certainly panic if they learned that individuals existed with powers of the mind, since such abilities could potentially be dangerous to those not in their possession.