fandomhigh | The Science of Psionics, Wednesday

They met in the Danger Shop that day, for a change.

Kerrigan had programmed in a mostly blank room that seemed to stretch out for miles; about fifty feet away from them stood a white structure, not too big, and mobile-looking. It carried within itself a strange, psionic hum.

"The Transplanar Psionic Waveform Emitter," she began, "was created by the Confederate government from my home dimension. They're gone, now, but their invaluable research remained. Psi-emitters, as we like to call them, were created by using the neural implant of a Ghost - a military psionic from my home dimension. Using technology, they increased its power a hundredfold. Why? Because some creatures are psionic by nature, and the particular brand of powers found in Ghosts make them a beacon to all animals like it."

"In other words, our powers, and that of most psionics, are not 'magic'. They don't hail from something undefinable that we can't touch. They are mapped out in our minds and our genetics. And that means that non-psionics, people who don't have our experience with the subject matter, are capable of using our own strengths against us."

She pointed at another structure, much further away in the distant. "That," she said, "is a military-grade psi disruptor. It was developed to make sure that we couldn't use our powers effectively. The psi disruptor uses Ghost neural patterns in a negative way: it depletes the strength of psionic links in the area. It can't fully surpress our powers, but it strongly weakens them."

"Now, I don't expect all of your home universes to have technology like this, but it's not inconceivable it will be developed within your lifetime. We have to know what people are capable of building so we can subvert it if need be, and keep our control firmly in our own hands." She clapped said hands together. "You're welcome to examine both simulations, if you want to test how it affects you," she said. "If you don't, stick around, and let's talk about the future of technology. Next week, we talk about how tech can help you."

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It puts out a low, almost commanding psionic hum that beckons you to give up a little of your control... and just a little more...

A strong psi can resist it easily, though, and Kerrigan has given it a very limited range of about 25 feet.

Raven wasn't getting anywhere near this, or the disruptor either. In fact, she made it a point to be on the other side of the room.

This was...distracting, but not hard to resist if Emma kept her focus. She tested moving in and out of its range at various points, to see where her awareness picked it up, and if practice helped or hindered the process.

Cally had more experience than she wanted with her powers being disrupted, thanks to the Goblin King. This, though, was calling her. Telling her she wasn't alone, that all she had to do was let it in.

Getting into its range was a mistake; getting out of it was... something she wasn't going to manage by herself, actually. Which was why you'd find her standing just beside it, looking distracted and confused, for most of the class.

Which was funny for a little while, honest, but...

Cally.

Kerrigan's mental voice was strong, and just about as compelling.

Perhaps more so in its way, because it was real. Still, it took Cally a moment to switch her focus, blinking hard and taking a step away from the machine. //What...//

Take another step back, Kerrigan ordered. She was no stranger to making psi-sensitives do her bidding; it was... interesting, that Cally was so susceptible.

Cally did, though the call of the artificial mindvoice was still strong. It weakened, though, with each move away from it, until she'd stepped far enough away to have control over her own thoughts.

"I..." She shook her head as if that could chase the echo of the psi emitter's call from it. "Thank you."

"Interesting," Kerrigan said, aloud, glancing from Cally back to the emitter. "You're quite vulnerable to input."

Cally blinked hard, disturbed by the feeling. "Most of the shielding I learned at home was of the polite sort, to keep one's thoughts and feelings from bothering others. We don't..." She flipped her hand shakily towards the machine. "We don't do that sort of thing, with our own minds, or with machines."

Not entirely true -- some people had, ages ago, and there was a reason those people were known as the Lost.

"Well, that's unfortunate. Very well," Kerrigan said, but her inflection was thoughtful. Return to your seat.

The suggestion was mild. She was... experimenting.

The experiment might have provided clearer results if Kerrigan had picked something Cally wasn't eager to do anyway, but she did nod and do so quickly, as if the very suggestion immediately cleared the rest of the machine-induced confusion from her mind.

Cally wasn't entirely happy with that -- for as little as she was even aware of it -- either, but it was a vague discomfort compared to the issue of how easily she'd answered the psi-emitter's call in the first place.

Edited 2011-02-03 16:24 (UTC)

Meanwhile, the closer you get to this decidedly more clunky and complicated building, the harder it will become for a psi to pick anything up. It doesn't so much strip one's power, as that it disrupts its ability to reach out and touch any psionic power that isn't bound to their own body. This makes it impossible for a psi to listen in or speak to anyone else or even sense them, if close enough.

"Some of the species in our galaxy have an immunity to being read or influenced by Force-users," Ben said, "and the ysalamiri form Force-repellent bubbles around themselves. If they join their bubbles together, the effect can extend for kilometers."

This? This Emma did not like the sensation of being half-a-step out of tune with everything around her. But she was still going to experiment with the range, and see if she could find ways around it.

"This itches," she complained. "This feels like I'm swathed in spider webs or cotton or something."

Jono contemplated the emitter for a moment, before shaking his head and actually sidling up near the disruptor. The last thing he wanted was to give up his control, especially considering the swath of destruction that his body could cut if he did so, but here...

If he hunkered down near this thing, apart from his usual lack of body, of breathing or feeling in a physical sense, he almost felt normal again. Everything was quiet.

He kind of liked it over here.

The Science of Psionics, Wednesday

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