Installment L

It was a beautiful day outside. Spring made it's entry into the year by pumping the temperature up to a hot summer's day after a frost-filled week. Birds chirped outside while Amman prepared lunch. Lena was in the other room quizzing Atticus over his alphabet. Sigmund was laying in the backyard, working on the math homework Amman gave him. I was sitting at the computer desk, doing some research on a report I was writing about the recent discoveries I'd made in the field of psychic studies.

I received a message from Mira about a month ago, the day after I came home. She gave me a good inside scoop on all the events to come. A war is now raging between Russia and the U.S. Within the next year drafts are going to be sent out especially for people above the age of 18 who shows psychic promise. Every tactic I've ever read about is useless. The Army, Navy, and Air Force have become utterly obsolete. Nothing can be done without Psymen. The Russians have the most advanced psychic resources known to man at their disposal, and they aren't afraid to use them. Right now, the most the U.S. can do is lob bombs at Russia, but without the use of effective ground troops, we've already lost this war. The moment Russian troops hit our borders we might as well throw up the white flag, rather then waste the few psychics we have on trying to put up a defense. I tried to look at the situation from every angle I can, and the facts always fall on the same conclusion: America is ripe for the picking, and Russia has greedy hands.

Mira specifically told me to write about any conclusions I've made based on my experience with psychic potential, especially the powers Lena and I possess. But, in order to do so I need to get some of the scientific terminology down.

I closed my eyes and spaced into one of the African scientific databases. It was the only one I could find without any restrictions. I saw a long thread reaching out to the database, and gave it a good tug. It took a moment to load, but after a few seconds the database came whirling out of the dark abyss surrounding me. I did an inherent search of any material related to the words I was thinking, and found a handful of excellent papers submitted from a series of English and German psychologists. They're research was a few decades old, when the majority of the world was still skeptical to the existence of psychic powers, but It was effective none the less. Even if the research itself was inconclusive, at least the terminology was there.

I opened my eyes and started typing the vocabulary. As a memorization tool, I decided to say them out loud.

"Conglomerate -- a series or network of permanently interlinked minds."

"Interfering Field (IF) -- A series of electromagnetic waves that constantly radiate outwards interfering with any psychic impulses in the local proximity."

"Incompasitating Interfering Field (IIF) -- electromagnetic field that stuns and immobilizes those within the general vicinity."

"Accelerated Focused Lethal Electromagnetic Ray (AFLE) -- Single wave of focused electromagnetic waves that disrupts the electrochemical process of the brain, resulting in mental retardation, chronic paralysis, mental disabilities, comatose, stroke, aneurysm of the brain. (Several cases are awaiting diagnosis.)"

I stopped there. This was below me, I already had my own vocabulary for all these terms, and this only made things more complicated, and a whole hell of a lot darker and more depressing. I decided to start writing about the words I've already created. I'll see what Mira thinks of them.

"Psychic Impulse--A psychic wave with direction, that contains information.

"Secondary Impulse--A psychic wave created automatically, without creator input. Usually sent as a response or reaction, can be used as a natural distress signal towards other psychics."

I've never used it as a distress signal, but I've gone over every plan of action I can think of. Usability takes precedence in my analysis, I hope Mira doesn't get confused and start assuming.

"Slipping/Diving--Entering another person's conscious, retrieving sensory information, thoughts, memories, and even subconscious.

"Secondary Persuasion--The use of delicate psychic impulses in order to sway the mind being viewed towards one thought over another (can not be done against the will of the person.)

"Psychic Persuasion--The use of delicate psychic impulses to sway a person(s) against their will."

The list went on for pages.

So, I started my actual paper for Mira. I told her about my ability to absorb other people's memories, see tiny insignificant psychic impulses and locate them within milliseconds, and even my ability to use Lena's powers. I thought for awhile about whether or not I'd tell her about Atticus, but before I make him the center of attention I want to make sure he can actually cope with the fact that he does have psychic powers. A few lessons in meditation couldn't hurt either.

"Hey Atticus!" I yelled.

Atticus came running. "Yes?" He answered quickly. His eyes were wide, and his face quickly turned into a smile.

"How would you like Lena and I to show you some cool tricks?"

Lena's face turned a bright scarlet.

"Psychic meditation!" I quickly added.

I guess Max really was right about potty humor.