(Throne Room, Aurum Throni, Terran Orbit)

I took a glance around the bridge. The crew were all frozen in place, literally, like a video where someone had pressed the pause button. That was a good sign. It meant that, at some level, the Empress had control over the mindstate, and wasn’t being controlled by it. Most likely, her subconscious had pulled her here, retreating in the face of the psychic onslaught her powers caused, bringing her someplace that was familiar and safe.

That was all positive. Now, I had to convince her of the truth, without threatening the temporary calm. I took a breath, and then looked Captain Vaughn in the eyes, and smiled. “Tell me, what is the last thing that you remember?”

Captain Vaughn took a breath, and looked around, frowning at the sight of her crew obviously frozen in place. She waved a hand in front of the helmsman’s face, and just nodded slightly when she didn’t see a reaction. Turning, she looked at me, and said, “I-I am having trouble remembering. I know you. But you were never on this ship! And I haven’t been captain of the Purity Blade in years! So, how is it that I’ve been suddenly transported here? And why is my crew from back then frozen?”

I didn’t answer her, not directly. I couldn’t. She had to remember for herself if this was going to work. All I could do was guide her. “What do you remember? You know you are not the Captain of the Purity Blade, so what are you? Who are you?”

She straightened herself up, and said, in a clear voice. “I am Empress Merida Vaughn, ruler of the Terran Empire!” A pause, and then, “Now, how in the hell are we here? What is going on?”

I nodded once, a smile on my face. “Excellent. Now, before we start talking in earnest, why don’t we move somewhere a little more pleasant. Think of the private dining room where we ate last time I came to Terra. You remember it, don’t you? Can you picture us there?”

Merida’s face blushed as she clearly remembered some of the discussions that went on that night, where her little sister suggested that I give Merida an heir to the throne. It was… well, not the kind of situation that happened often, even in a strange situation like mine. I decided to give her a bit of a nudge. “Focus. The room, not the conversation.”

The blush got deeper, but I could see her focus. The world began to blur, to shift. She and I remained in focus, but everything around us faded, changed, and reformed. When things came back to clarity, we were in the dining room. I nodded once. That was good. Not an instant change, by any means, but she did not struggle too much.

Merida, on the other hand, gaped, her eyes disbelieving at what she saw. “What the hell? How is this happening? Mollen, what the hell is going on?”

“It is simple, Empress. We are not really here, in this dining room in the Inner Throne of the Aurum Throni orbiting Terra. Just like how we were not really on the bridge of your old destroyer, the Purity Blade. Just like you aren’t really wearing that uniform you have on.”

The Empress, blinked, and said, “What? What do you mean I’m not wearing my uniform? Clearly, I am! Just look at it!” A shriek escaped her lips as the uniform faded into smoke, and she quickly covered herself with her hands. “What did you do?”

I bowed slightly. “I did nothing. That was you, Empress. And, might I say, thank you for the meal.” I chuckled as she blushed again, and said, “Picture the clothes you wear normally, when you don’t have formal events to deal with.”

The Empress concentrated for a moment, and then smoke formed around her, forming the military-style outfit she normally wore when she didn’t have to be involved in formal gatherings. She looked down at the clothes, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, and then looked up at me. “How?”

“It is simple, Empress. We are not in the ‘real’ world. This is the world of your mind. Your subconscious, actually. Everything here is the way it is because you will it to be so. Well, except for me, that is.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“If this is my mind, then what the hell are you doing here?”

“What is the last thing you remember?”

“The battle against the… whatever they were that came through the rift. The rift that opened just as you said it would. And then… a warning about something coming from the rift.” She paused, thinking. “And then I was on the Blade, trying to keep the ship from being torn apart. What happened?”

“The battle on Pluto was hard-fought, but won. The battle by the rift was going well, with the creatures being unable to stand against some of the weapons we brought to bear, but the casualties were high. In the midst of the fighting, some disturbance in the rift caused a massive wave of psychic energy to crash across the system. This wave awakened anyone with latent psychic abilities, and enhanced many of those who already had psy powers.”

I took a breath, and looked her in the eye. “Unfortunately, for some people, the process was more than just suddenly being able to light candles with their minds. These people, who were mostly those of some influence or importance, were empowered by the energy of those who supported and believed in them. People like, say, an Empress.”

Merida nodded slowly, and said, “So, I’ve been, what, not only made into a Psy user, but empowered somehow? What does that mean for me, exactly, and for the children?”

“For you, it means that you are the most powerful psy user in the Empire. Perhaps in the galaxy itself. And people were not meant to just suddenly ‘flip on’ that much power all at once. Sure, massively powered individuals exist, but they’re meant to grow into their powers, not simply wake up with them. The good news is that the children are safe. Your subconscious shielded them instinctively, but I don’t doubt that they’ve been changed in some ways by the experience. On the other hand, you’ve been unconscious for days, radiating psychic power to the point where even your guards can only approach you for a minute or two at a time.”

“Wait, what? I know those guards, and the training they go through! How powerful am I? And how did you get into my head if I’m that strong?”

“Simply put, your body is working to shield itself while your mind fights to keep control and keep sane. I was able to, for lack of a better word, launch myself at you, inside the bubble of pressure you were putting out, and slip through the shattered defenses left by the awakening of your powers. I inserted myself into your head, so that I could try and lead you out.”

Merida took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “And I assume that there’s a reason you had to try and ‘lead me out’, instead of something else?”

I nodded. “Oh, plenty. But they all basically revolve around the fact that making the kind of changes necessary for me to lock down your powers, and then slowly release them over time, as you got used to them, would leave you open to all kinds of allegations of being my mind-controlled puppet Empress, a slave to my will. And while I admit that has a certain appeal, I would rather not start down that road. If I did, I’d probably never stop.”

“What do you mean?”

“Simple, really. When I was first able to break free of the research lab on Luna where I first entered this world, I found my way to Choson Ring. There, I found a black-market shop that had items for sale, which could be used to increase my power, something I desperately needed at the time. One of those items was a tattoo with psychoactive inks to increase my power.”

“But power always, always, always has a price. If you cannot tell the price off the bat, then it is likely larger than you can afford. The price, in this case, was that the tattoo gave me hoarding instincts, I guess you could say. Except what I hoard are weapons and slaves. The instinct the tattoo gives me is to gather them, and to ruthlessly strike down anyone who threatens them.”

“Now, that is simply an instinct. A powerful one, no doubt, like people ducking for cover when they hear an explosion, but it is just an instinct. And instinct can be controlled, it can be managed. I have a massive stockpile of weapons, more than any person could ever use, especially if you count my Navy, and my people are always working on new things. This pleases my instincts greatly, and I don’t fight it, because it makes my other goals easier, as well.”

“But with slaves? Well, much of the Black Star Company is enslaved, or the family of slaves. And I’ve indulged myself greatly with the slaves who are my property. But I have to maintain control, or I’d be no better than those idiots from the Hundeherstellar world, who just slap collars on any female they see. You see, I have been training my restraint and control even before I left the Luna facility. The more I work on it, the easier it is to fight down the instinct, like a firefighter who runs into a burning building to rescue someone trapped inside. Instinct is tempered by training, but not removed. If I gave in, and enslaved someone as powerful and desirable as the Empress of the Terran Empire, I would find it very hard to stop there.”

Empress Merida nodded slowly. “I can certainly see that. And I appreciate your candor on the subject. But, then, what were you hoping to accomplish here? And how does this relate to the psychic power I was apparently putting out?”

“Simple. I could not shut down your powers without risking far too much temptation. However, I could get in, and persuade you to shut down your powers, even subconsciously. That is a much… less invasive method, which wouldn’t impede your will, or tempt me to do unfortunate things. Now, with you ‘powered down’ for the moment, we can work on rebuilding your defenses, and your control.”

“So, just how did I get so powerful that you had to come into my mind and talk me down?”

“Well, you were threatening to collapse the Aurum Throni in on itself. As in literally straining the energy fields helping to keep the ship’s structural integrity intact. And, right now, if you tried using your powers you’d be inundated with the unshielded thoughts of everyone who didn’t have psychic training within your range. And with your power, that could easily be all of Sol System. So, we will work on your defenses, and on keeping your power clamped down, and then, when we return to the real world, you’ll arrange for tutors to come and teach you the skills you need to know.”

Merida blanched. “That sounds… unpleasant. Is that what all you psy users go through? How do you all keep from going insane?”

I shrugged, and said, “It is the same way as you don’t go insane trying to analyze every detail the eye can see. You learn to filter out some things, and focus on others, while keeping everything ‘in view’, as it were. It is something you usually have trained before your powers can passively ‘read’ someone more than a few feet away from you. You don’t have that option, so we’re going to work on your defenses, and then you can gradually ‘open up’ your powers, without destroying things accidentally.”

I took a breath, and said, “Now, shall we begin?”