The Ashes of My Soul, page 21
I couldn’t say anything to that. I knew Nikki had her issues, but this was far beyond anything I thought she was capable of. Using Kaitlyn to get to me? I clamped down hard on my rising temper. “Fuck her and fuck that,” I said.
“What?” I hadn’t realized I’d spoken out loud until Drew spoke up. “Kev, dude, what’s going on?”
It’d been less than thirty seconds since we’d all tapped powers and gone silent. “Kaitlyn’s mind has been tampered with,” I said. Andreas leaned forward on the table, but remained silent. “You can guess who did it. She also set a trap to place the blame on me if anything happened.”
Kaitlyn’s jaw tensed, but Star’s grip held firm. Absynthe grunted, drawing my attention back to the mental link. “Almost done. Let the loop go when I say.” She spoke again a few seconds later. “All right, let it go. Everyone, thank you. You can release her, but make sure she doesn’t freak out.”
I let the loop go. Her mental feedback loop snapped back into her mind and vanished. Kaitlyn’s eyes rolled back and she twitched as we all withdrew. Andreas jumped to his feet. “She is having a seizure.”
“It’s a reaction to a major shift in her mental processes.” Absynthe didn’t take her eyes off the blonde. “She’s fine.”
Kaitlyn’s body twitched again, then she took a deep breath and sat back up. Her eyes seemed to just be pointing toward the middle of the table, rather than focused on anything in particular. “Kaitlyn? Can you hear me? Are you all right?” Andreas’s voice was tense.
“I’m here,” she said. Her head came up and her gaze focused. “Yeah. I’m here, I’m ok.”
“Do you have a headache?” Absynthe asked.
Kaitlyn shook her head. “I’m a little dizzy, but no headache.”
“If you get a sudden headache within the next day, get in contact.” Absynthe gestured around the table. “If she says anything, call me immediately.”
“Watching for a stroke,” Star murmured, her voice too low for anyone but me to hear. “It must have been a mess in there.”
Absynthe continued to speak. “Now, if you feel up to it, I’d like to test something.”
“I’ll try.”
“What do you think of Kevin?”
Kaitlyn’s head turned toward me. Her expression shifted from disgust to confusion and back. “I don’t know? I remember hating him, but I don’t remember why. I don’t think I should? Like someone was whispering in my ear all the horrible things he did every time I looked at him. I can’t remember any of them now. What happened?”
“She made you hate him,” Absynthe said.
Chapter Fifteen
Alistair’s office was as intimidating as ever, but for once, I wasn’t the one being intimidated. Nikki stood in front of his desk while Absynthe, myself, my mother, and Professor Burke sat on the couches behind her and watched. Alistair himself sat behind his desk, hands clasped in front of him. “You have one chance to tell the truth, Miss Wainwright,” he said. “This is not a trial or a tribunal. You do not have any rights to counsel or advocate. This is an internal disciplinary matter. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.” She didn’t flinch.
“Why did you influence her mind?” We all knew who. We all knew she had done it. The only question was her motivation.
“I’m not sure what you’re looking for,” she replied.
“A reasonable defense? Anything that may weigh in your favor?” Alistair shook his head. “I don’t expect there to be.”
“No, sir.”
“Is there anything else at hand here?” he asked, shifting his gaze to the rest of us.
I shrugged. “Did you tell Shade anything?”
“No!” She looked over her shoulder at me. Her expression was pure shock. “No,” she repeated, quieter.
My mom cleared her throat. “I’m inclined to believe her.”
“As am I,” Alistair said, drawing Nikki’s attention back to him. “Miss Wainwright, while we do not offer the same level of protection to normal students, we cannot overlook malicious intent. Your traineeship is suspended until further notice. You are denied usage of your psionic powers except in immediate mortal danger. There will be no warnings. If you violate this order, your suspension will be lengthened or you will be expelled. In either case, your powers will be sealed. Is this clear?”
“Yes, sir.” Her chin was held high, but I saw her hands ball into fists.
“You will report to Absynthe tomorrow at her convenience. Absynthe, you will take steps to enroll Miss Wainwright in a remedial ethics class. Upon successful completion of this class, your suspension will end.” Alistair gestured to the door. “You are dismissed, Miss Wainwright.”
She walked to the door without another word. Her glance at me as she passed was cold. I almost brought up the other issue, but held back. Once the door closed behind her, I let out a sigh. “I’m impressed, Kevin. I expected you to get a last comment in,” my mom said.
“Not worth it.”
Alistair tapped a button on his desk. “Susan, coffee service if you could. Thank you.” He joined our small circle and turned his attention to me. “So much trouble, Mr. Parker.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Absynthe snorted and I tried not to smile. Alistair shook his head. “In a way, I feel like this is a reward for your troublemaking, and I don’t like it. However, we do need to follow up on our responsibilities regarding your training.”
“Responsibilities?” I asked.
“You were registered and licensed for second tier powers,” Alistair said. “However, we are also responsible to provide training so you can productively control those powers.” He waved me off. I’d wanted to point out how productive I’d already been. “Yes, I know you’ve used them, but you’ve only used them instinctively, the raw power as a bludgeon.”
The door to his office opened before he could continue. His secretary pushed a cart in with a carafe of coffee and a full set of cups. She smiled at us as she placed everything on the coffee table, then left. Once she was gone, Burke spoke up. “This is where I come in. I will be providing you with a somewhat accelerated training program.”
“Wait, you’re second tier?” I asked.
He took a sip of coffee before responding. “Yes, Mr. Parker, I am.”
Absynthe was busy dumping packets of sugar into her coffee. She paused between the fifth and sixth packet to glance up at me. “Don’t give him any trouble.”
“Me?”
“Mr. Parker.” Alistair’s tone snapped my attention back to him. “Levity aside, please understand. Second tier powers are dangerous by nature. Not only to others, but to yourself. You have been fortunate so far. Austin will attempt to ensure you remain so.”
“Emphasis on attempt.” Burke took another sip.
“I get it,” I said. “When do we start?”
“In an hour,” Burke said. “We’ll be heading a bit out of town. Bring enough clothes for two weeks.”
“Out of town?” I looked at my mom, then at Absynthe. Both of them looked concerned. “Is that safe? Besides, that’s overlapping finals week!”
“You will be safe in my presence,” Burke said, setting his cup down with a clink. He turned his head toward me. “Shade won’t dare make any attempt on you while I am watching. I’ll provide Absynthe with a way to contact us in an emergency, but after this latest debacle, I believe he will be licking his wounds and regrouping.”
“I concur,” Alistair said. “And your finals will be taken care of.”
“Let me be clear, Mr. Parker.” Burke hadn’t taken his eyes off me. “I do not have the same level of faith in you as Alistair. We will be training eight to twelve hours every day. I expect you to break before the end.”
“I’ll do my best to disappoint you, then.”
Burke finally smiled. It was a thin, brief smile, but it was still a small victory. “I’ll pick you up outside your dorm in an hour. Go and get ready.” Alistair gestured for me to leave. I left.
I got back to the dorm and threw clothes into my backpack. Once I’d finished, I made a phone call to Star. Her reaction was as vehemently negative as I’d expected, but she did understand the need for me to learn those skills. She left me a parting promise which left my ears burning red. I sent a text to our group chat to let everyone else know I’d be gone. Max promised to miss me.
One hour to the minute later, Burke pulled up in front of the dorm. I was already outside waiting. His car was as nondescript as the driver. “Punctual,” he said as I threw my backpack in the back seat.
“I figured if I didn’t show up on time, you’d drive away and tell Alistair I failed.”
“Correct.”
I buckled myself in. “Not surprised. So, where are we going?”
“My cabin.” We drove off. He wasn’t the type for small talk, so I played with my phone until we pulled off the highway into a series of smaller and smaller roads, culminating in a track of dirt and gravel. His cabin was a simple bungalow, one of several in a small community. He led the way in and I followed.
“Your room,” he said, pointing. “Stow your backpack and come back out.”
I threw my backpack on the bed, which looked to be as hard as stone. Burke probably slept on a granite slab. It fit his personality. The lack of décor struck me as I came back out into the main room. The furnishings were all simple, wood frames and cloth. I assumed Burke was in the kitchen as I heard water running.
He came out with two glasses of water. “Sit,” he said, gesturing at a chair. I sat. He stared down his nose at me. I stared back. Burke had always been stern and no-nonsense from the few interactions I’d had with him during the silly council. My impression of him shifted as he smiled, then laughed. “You’re the one, then.”
“I’m the one, I guess.”
“Threshold. Diaspora.” I wasn’t surprised he knew the names. “Alistair didn’t tell me ahead of time, but I suspected one of the students I was encouraged to invite to the council was the centerpiece of those projects. Anderson was a year too early. Wainwright turned the invitation down. I thought it was her at first. The rumors about you were too unbelievable, and I couldn’t believe Alistair would let Shade train someone so important. Then you arrived at the council and you were an asshole.”
“Wait, you thought it was Nikki?”
He snorted. “You’ve never seen her at full strength, have you? I have. She’s nearly as skilled as you. Nearly as strong. She isn’t as experienced, however. Not as resilient. Not as pragmatic. I suspect that’s why he gave you to Shade. He wanted you to learn endurance as well as strength.”
“Do you think that’s why he’s still throwing Shade at me?” I asked.
Burke didn’t respond for a long moment. “There is circumstantial evidence he is still in contact with Shade. It’s not enough to act on.”
“Shade himself said-”
“Shade himself lies.”
I grunted. “That’s a fair point, but what if he wasn’t?”
“What if he wasn’t?” Burke repeated my question back to me. “Alistair still has the support of a majority of the Establishment. His position is secure, even with strong opposition. Even if you proved he was in contact with Shade, even if he was directing Shade, what would happen? Nothing would happen. His supporters either already believe that or are fine with the possibility.”
I gripped the arms of the chair. “Not what I wanted to hear.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard many unwanted things.”
“Shade wants me to die,” I said. “As a scapegoat.”
Burke nodded. “I’m not surprised.”
I forced my fingers and hands to relax. “No, I didn’t think you would be. So, who are you, Professor Burke? Were you pulling strings behind the scenes too?”
He chuckled. “No. Alistair trusts me, but I had little involvement until now. I did advocate for you against Shade, and I also advocated you and Wainwright be separated. Shade’s untimely twist was unhelpful there. I’ve also advocated your Resistance ties be cut. Your relationship is a weakness.”
“Rude.”
“Shade tried to use it against you. He’ll do it again.”
I nodded reluctantly. Rude, but accurate. “So, when are we starting training?”
“Once the food arrives.” I must have looked surprised, because he continued, “I ordered Chinese. I don’t keep food here, and only one place delivers here, so I suggest you get used to it.”
“Oh boy,” I said.
The food arrived and we ate in silence. I kept one eye on him as we methodically demolished our meals. In the one instant I took my attention off him to close the container, he made his move. His eyes glowed white and my chair splintered into pieces. I started to spill backwards, my focus too scattered to try and keep my dinner from spilling all over. I hit the ground and as I started to push myself back up, he was already standing over me, driving one foot into my stomach as he nonchalantly ate another bite of his meal. My breath exploded from my lungs and I gasped. Any hope of drawing on my power was gone as I desperately tried to breathe.
He reached down and grabbed my belt, forcing my back to arch and I sucked in air. He repeated the motion a few times before returning to his chair. When I found enough air to speak, I choked out a few words. “What the fuck, Professor?”
“I needed to know a few things before we began. It was faster this way.” He set his container down on the floor next to his chair. “So, your first use of the second tier was when you sent Shade into a coma?”
I blinked. “Wait. Did you scan my mind without my permission?”
“Only to compare your power usage with what I already knew.” He shrugged, rolling his shoulders. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone you were the one who put Shade down. I always hoped one of his students would get the chance.”
“Great. So what did you figure out?”
“You know less about the second tier than you think. Explain it to me.”
“First tier lets you affect the physical world, second tier lets you affect the psionic world, so to speak.”
He shook his head. “Partial credit. Manipulating psionic energy is the basic trick of second tier power, much as simple telekinesis is for first tier. What are the three schools of psionics?”
“Telekinesis, telepathy, and metasensory.”
“Good. We will be learning advanced techniques, building on what you’ve learned before. What second tier powers are you familiar with?”
“Teleportation and precognition.” Absynthe had mentioned those before. “Oh, and clairvoyance?”
He nodded. “I’ll be teaching you those, as well as metacreation, teleprojection, and telefiguration. Metacreation is the ability to create psionic constructs.” I’d already created things, dating back to when I’d first asked Nikki out. I shuddered and shoved that memory away. This sounded different. “You can already enhance your senses, but true clairvoyance allows you to extend those senses to other places entirely. You will be able to enhance more than your regular senses, you’ll be able to change your derived and inherent senses such as proprioception and nociception. I advise against rendering yourself unable to register pain, by the way.”
“Noted.”
“Teleprojection allows you to project a psionic echo of yourself into reality. A good teleprojection is nearly indistinguishable from you, and an expert teleprojection can act independently for a short time. Last, telefiguration is an extension of transmutation. Rather than temporarily manipulate the properties of an object, you change the basic conceptual structure of the object.” He gestured at the splinters of the chair. “That was a wooden chair, yes?”
“Yeah, it was.” I sat up and leaned back on my hands.
“Instead of the solid wood, I changed it into something like balsa wood, incapable of supporting your weight. I could have changed it to dust or air, but the more complex the change, the more power and time it takes.”
I brushed myself off as I stood up. “Seems like it could be useful.”
“A word of caution. Telefiguration can only work on things at rest in your frame of reference.”
“What?”
“You can’t use it on something moving that you’re not moving with. You can’t use it on another car, but you can use it on the car you’re driving, or items within the car.”
“I get it now.”
“Also, you cannot use it on anything alive.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
“What is consciousness?” His question deepened my frown. “If you knew, you’d have a Nobel. No one can agree on what it is or how it arises. You can distinguish between minds when you search for them, yes? If you attempted to telefigure Absynthe for example, she would no longer be Absynthe. Death might be preferable.”
“What about myself?”
His eyes narrowed. “Dangerous. You could change yourself to the point where your brain wouldn’t recognize your body.”
“What about non-conscious stuff, like bacteria?”
He shrugged. “I’m not a biologist. Any other questions?”
“One more, actually.” He nodded and I continued. “Your eyes only glowed a moment before the chair broke. I’ve seen other people hide it too. I’d like to know how .”
He offered me a wry smile and set his empty tray on the floor next to his chair. “Perhaps it’s a factor of my experience and skill. No, I can see you don’t believe me. To be honest, cloaking power usage is something a skilled first tier psion can learn. It requires the ability to multitask several disciplines at the same time.” He gestured to another chair and it slid across the floor to me.
When I sat, he continued. “You need to telekinetically block the glow from your eyes. You can accomplish this in multiple ways. My preference is to use telekinesis as a lens to diffuse the glow. This doesn’t completely block the effect, but it lessens it enough to go unnoticed in normal lighting. Others manipulate the light energy itself, but that takes far more concentration. Most also use a very light touch of telepathic suggestion to keep witnesses from registering the glow. Fourth, as an option, is a stronger focus of misdirection to stop people from paying attention to you. This keeps most normal people from noticing anything strange. Most psions will be fooled unless they’re actively manifesting their own powers.”
