Psychogen (An Original Series) - Ep. 2: Tribulations of Trusts
Do we ever really know anyone? Do we ever really know ourselves? Gideon is free, having abandoned the kogen tables and gambling to seek out some better future in a new ship that can travel farther than he's ever gone before. But onboard, a young woman has hidden herself using an unknown, dangerous power. Has he simply traded one deadly game of chance for another?
Gideon once again tapped on a number of places along the smooth surface of the ships main console, grunting with frustration. As an accomplished pilot, he had flown in the local sectors for the last ten years in a variety of roles and on a range of ships, from shuttles and NPI-enabled skiffs, to Light Jump capable craft. In the last five, however, the Supreme Prime Authority had banned any craft that had not been retrofitted to include a neural piloting interface. The NPI links each person to a number of systems, giving them full control over their ship.
In the regional trade hubs, however, it was common to hear rumors that spoke of such illegal legacy ships. Like Freedom. No NPI. With a prize like this on the table, he had to admit that he was surprised the Mogley brothers hadn't found some pretense to claim fraud and kill him to keep this living myth of a ship.
But it's this headache that's going to end me. What is this?
The feeling he'd had at the tables had returned as he squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, and he saw his vision swim for a moment. He traced a path from the bridge toward the back of the ship, where he imagined supplies would be kept, like headache medicine. The heavy thud of his slowing steps became the dragging scrape of his boots. Again his field of vision danced and jerked, and a soft but building roar was beginning to fill his mind, drowning out even the scraping of his feet.
It was back. Just like at the kogen tables, the pressure building from some other source was not only crushing his head, but smothering his spirit and crushing his will to live. With a spear of hot pain in fierce pursuit, the ground rushed up to greet Gideon, their embrace resounding with the hollow slap of flesh on metal. Though he could no longer determine direction or see the world in anything but a writhing set of blurs and shadows, he did see a pair of soft, leather boots that grew bigger and bigger as they approached.
Fingers soft and cold as spring dawn brushed along his forehead and cupped the side of his face. In the torrent of pain that crowded Gideon's mind, this... touch... became an eye in the hurricane. Words from a celestial sky, somewhere above the churning clouds, began to rain down on him.
"Gideon... I'm here... I need you to concentrate. Listen to my voice... Gideon..."
Gideon heard the voice, but it had been even more than just hearing. Gideon was moving, upward, toward the voice, and it seemed he was gaining what had to be unnatural speed. Ahead, the roiling storm presented a dense wall that seemed to encompass the universe and as he plunged through the murky pool of soot and gray, his mind seemed to be everywhere.
He heard a voice. "All the way, Razvan?" The voice had not been Gideon's, but a small girl's. Yet from his perspective it had come from where he'd expect his mouth to be. And when he tried to move, he found he had no control over this body. This had to be a dream.
"To the last star, Ityani. And then home for supper before Aunt Devie even knows we'd gone". The field of vision turned without his control and a young man appeared, grinning back at Gideon... her... them.
Hello?
"You're a liar, no one can go that far, uh-uh," the tinkling little voice vibrated as the vision swung back up to settle on the stars as seen through the canopy of the surrounding copse of trees.
Hello, can you hear me?
"Now what kind of big brother would I be if I lied," Razvan tickled along the sides of this body sending it, and the melodic voice into a fit of convulsing laughter.
Hello!!
The field of vision that Gideon could not control swung wildly as the little girl laughed.
When his vision cleared, Gideon found himself trapped in yet another body. Well, mind and body.
*What the hell is going on, where were... they, and why was she sobbing?
The girl was seated, hugging her knees to her chest and crying onto a pale yellow dress. Gideon could not make out much, as she was looking down, but when he did catch glimpses and snatches of the world outside of her terror, he thought he heard other children, crying. She could almost feel the light slicing into the small confined space where they were keeping her, streaming through the metal slats.
Whatever vehicle they were in, it felt like a cargo transport, and the sudden force of the landing ship surprised Gideon.
When the top of the cell slid open she heard the other cells opening too, Gideon felt the mouth of this body open as wide as the Milky Way, to issue a scream that could cross the same. Then, hands were grabbing her. Soon, nothing.
When Gideon understood that he once again existed, he found that the body he inhabited was under attack. Not attack... restrained and struggling. Men in white clothes were struggling with this body, but if this was the same girl it felt like she was older, stronger.
The muscles in the small frame relaxed and the head turned to look at one of the men in white. Gideon could feel her anger building into a blinding rage. The man stared, hypnotized by the deep yellow glow coming from her (my?) eyes. His bottom lip began to quiver, and two rivulets of blood traced a fine red line from his ears and down his neck. The man dropped out of sight in a free fall, and Gideon was sure the man was dead before he ever hit the ground.
A sharp pain, a needle. A needle, and then the labored creep of blackness around the edges of her vision. Then, the inexorable reunion with darkness.
Gideon snapped up, still disoriented, but otherwise wholly conscious and aware. Across from him, a woman on her knees still held her hand out, where it had touched him. As his vision resolved into his reality, he found himself looking at a strange woman, kneeling with one hand still extended. He scrambled backwards on hands and feet.
"You weren't supposed to see that," the woman said, rising to her feet. "Your mind's getting stronger, but that was just a temporary 'patch'. If you don't learn to control these abilities, it will kill you."
"Who... what abilities? Who the hell are you and what did you do to me?"
"Calm down, Gideon. You're a psyc..."
The ship rocked and an explosion on the far bulkhead sent a spray of fiery lances arcing and hissing.
They were pressed to the floor by the blast. They regained their footing and sprinted for the bridge.
Two mercenary ships had closed in on Freedom. They were taking damage, some of which to the engines. The ruptured conduits that serviced that engine needed to be re-routed if they were going to make their escape.
Another jolt and another rock, followed by more popping noises and a heat that felt as though it were getting more intense. "We can't take another hit like that, not in this state. Rerouting power, executing Light Jump!" The quiet that followed was punctuated only by the continuing fires and exposed circuitry that grumbled along that far bulkhead.
Having studied similar vessels many times, she had wasted no time in effecting repairs and diagnostics. Gideon worked on the opposite side of the bridge, replacing couplings along a power line that lay hidden beneath a console floorboard. Both did what was needed, but neither said anything they wanted.
He had seen her memories back by the cargo bay. Again his raw talents had taken her unaware, and he had managed to see something of her mind, her memories. She could not be sure what part of her psyche he had accessed, just that he had slipped inside when she had only initiated contact to relieve the headache. She would have to be careful with him, he was much more talented than she could have expected. In a way, much more talented than she could have hoped.
The rustling from the other side of the bridge stopped. He looked at her, his head tilted in curiosity. His mind was awash in a sea of questions.
"Ityani. How's your head?"
Ignoring her question, he said "what did you do to me, and why're you here?" He asked as he worked, grunting with the effort.
"You're a psychic. A natural one, undisciplined, untrained, raw. The headaches you've been experiencing are caused by the manifestation of your abilities. What I did was just a temporary fix. Untrained, they will kill you. But I can teach you."
"Wait, why now? I've never had these headaches before," his suspicion was written on his face.
She turned back to the bulkhead, reaching down. "Listen, right now we have bigger problems. I rerouted power from Life Support in order to get the engines up to capacity for that last Light Jump. We're fine right now, but we can't stay in Jump forever, and once we exit we won't be able to do it again. Not without a condralitic converter. This thing," she pulled up a schematic of the part in question.
"We're already on course for Reikulus Station, and there we part ways" He was sure more than ever that this Ityani would be bad news.
"What about the headaches? The equipment? The repairs? I know people, people who won't ask questions. You don't have enough credits for all that, let alone food and supplies. I can help." She never let her gaze leave her work, but she could feel the moment his face fell from defiant to crestfallen.
"And what do you get out of all of this... help?"
"There's a storm coming. And we're a part of it, whether we choose or not"
The console beeped, and she turned. They had exited Light Jump and were en route to Reikulus station.
She looked back at Gideon.
"You have to trust me."
If Gideon had wanted adventure, he's found it in Ityani. Is she telling the truth when she says she can help train his burgeoning psychic abilities? Can the two make it into, and out of, Reikulus Station without any trouble? Does it seem likely? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out!
Thank you for reading Psychogen - Episode 2. This episode was written by @prufarchy and produced in collaboration with @defiant30.
All images are under CC BY-SA 3.0 or public domain, and edited for use here.
Other Works:
Of Gods and Ends I
Of Gods and Ends II
Of Gods and Ends III
in Collaboration:
Steem Survivors Ep. 2
Steem Survivors Ep. 3
Steem Survivors Ep. 4
Superb continuation. I love the pre and post synopsis and you convey Gideon's confusion really well. Very much enjoying these!!
A wonderful, excellent post congratulations history