It took hours for Regina to feel like she had made any appreciable progress. Maybe she should be happy that she had made any progress at all. But with the pounding headache that focusing intently on using her psychic power for so long had given her, she only felt grumpy.
“I think you understand this aspect well enough now that you can work on it on your own, if you need to,” Madris said. She was leaning against the hallway with crossed arms.
Regina sighed and rolled her shoulders. “Alright.” Finally.
She was more familiar with the imprisoned gnomes’ minds now than she cared to be, although they hadn’t done anything really intrusive. It was mostly ‘passive’ scans, reading their emotions and the surface state of their minds. That was probably ethically questionable, too, but it really wasn’t all that different from reading someone’s body language or microexpressions. Which a normal interrogation would try to do, anyway.
“That leads us to the next point,” Madris said, ignoring Regina’s suppressed groan except to flash her a quick smile. “I have arranged for someone who agreed for you to intrude on their mind, looking for information.”
“When did you do that?” Regina wondered.
Madris just raised an eyebrow meaningfully. Right, psychic power. Duh. “Come on, My Empress.”
They walked to a side room, where two Hivekind were guarding a gnomish prisoner. Regina examined him, feeling a bit skeptical. A level thirty-eight Untarnished Shield, probably a tank Class. He didn’t stick out particularly in appearance compared to the other gnomish soldiers. This guy agreed to let her force herself into his mind?
He’s been accused of a war crime but protests his innocence, Madris told her silently.
Regina nodded in understanding. She was about to ask what war crime he might be accused of, but decided it was better not to ask.
Instead, Regina took a step closer and focused on the guy. He didn’t look shackled, but she could tell he had been bound with magic. The working of mana would probably dissipate soon, and it didn’t restrict his movements completely or anything, but it should stop him from attacking if he was so inclined.
She made herself keep her eyes open this time as she dove into her psychic senses and concentrated on his mind. The initial part, at least, was smoother, maybe Madris’ training had accomplished something. She could also tell why her teacher had chosen this guy; he had rudimentary shields. Not just a self-taught assemblage of self-control attempts, but real defenses, although to be fair, it wasn’t much better.
She knew she could break them, that wasn’t in question. The issue now was how to approach this. Regina breathed out deeply and then slowly pressured his mind, looking for weak points and holes in his defenses. She stared into his eyes and hissed quietly. He started, and a part of his mental shields buckled inwards for a second.
She took the opportunity, slipping in as deftly as she could manage. He tried to reform the shield behind her, but it was too late. She was in.
Regina tried to be gentle as she tore through his mind, but with mixed success. Maybe that was one thing Madris was trying to teach her, too. She was sure he wouldn’t sustain any permanent damage, but it probably wasn’t very comfortable right now. Still, she focused on looking for what she came here for, although she also took note of his experiences and opinions where they seemed relevant.
It was a very interesting chance to look into a member of the gnomish army and see the world through their eyes for a moment. He seemed to be fighting at least partly out of a sense of patriotic duty, something she hadn’t really encountered much before. It might superficially seem similar but was still distinct from honor or loyalty to one’s liege, like she’d expect to find in Cernlia or Nerlia. But at least as strong were more mundane motivations, like wanting to impress his girlfriend.
The last part led her to more information on her supposed goal, surprisingly. Regina looked through it carefully to make sure she didn’t miss anything. Then she withdrew from his mind.
“He’s actually innocent of the crime he’s been accused of,” she told Madris.
The dark elf raised an eyebrow and nodded. “How did he come to be accused?”
It was only a war crime because it had happened during a war, and in connection with one, she supposed. He’d been accused of rape; specifically of a civilian from the city, when he was stationed there as part of the defensive force in the leadup to the battle. It was a crime against his own side’s civilians. Not that that was unheard of in war, of course.
“I think it’s a simple case of mistaken identity,” Regina answered. “He doesn’t seem to know, himself.” She sighed. “We’ll have to make sure to track the actual perpetrator down.”
Now that she thought of it, Regina had the grim suspicion it wasn’t the only time this might have happened. The situation had been rather hard-pressed and desperate; soldiers had probably taken advantage by looting and hurting civilians.
She really didn’t like to think about that or the implications of it.
“Well, that sounds like a good teaching opportunity,” Madris said, nodding. “Perhaps something for later.”
Regina frowned at her for a moment, but she didn’t think she’d known about this. Procuring a rapist as a lab rat for her to learn on did sound like something Madris would do, though.
“Are we finished here for now, then?”
Madris agreed, so Regina released the gnome from his temporary bindings, then told him he would be cleared. As they stepped out, she talked with one of the guards for a minute to sort out the situation. She also told them to monitor his health and alert her if there was any cause for alarm, or a sudden change in his behavior.
Then, they finally stepped out of the building. Regina sighed and closed her eyes for a minute, welcoming the cool early evening breeze and hoping it would help with her headache. “Now on to larger scale abilities, I suppose?” she asked.
Madris nodded. “Walk with me. Your Majesty.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes, and Regina took the opportunity to center herself. She’d known this day would be mentally taxing, but that didn’t stop it from being true.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“What did you find in his mind?” Madris asked after a bit. “Show me.”
Regina nodded hesitantly. Carefully, she reached out to the dark elf’s mind, then took advantage of the opening Madris provided her to form a deeper link. Focusing on her experiences when she dove into the gnome’s mind, she tried to bring it all to the surface and pass it on to Madris.
Passing memories like this was not something she had much experience with, and it seemed like it would be even more distorted, a mind’s image of what it found in another mind. But Madris helped her with gentle, guiding touches, to structure the information and abstract the feelings and impressions from the more factual data — if there could be such a thing considering what they were doing — that she communicated. It was a very interesting experience and Regina felt like she learned something.
Finally, Madris gently pushed Regina away, returning to their normal state of being linked when they wanted to talk privately. “Well done,” she praised her with a slight smile.
“Thanks. How powerful am I?” Regina asked curiously. “You know, compared with other psychics?”
“Hm.” Madris tapped a finger to her lips. “Well, you are certainly not a beginner anymore. As for the rest, it depends on which skill we are talking about. Your communication ability with anyone beyond your Hive is still not as good as it could be, you’ve made progress with illusions but barely scratched the surface, and the rest is a somewhat eclectic mix. You have not even started trying to enhance your mental capabilities. Which I would also not recommend, especially at this stage.”
Regina frowned. “Do you think there might be issues because of my psychic link?”
“Almost certainly. Your mind is set up differently than a normal human's or elf's, especially considering your connection to your drones. The entire psychic link is in some sense part of you. From what I can tell, your people are like a subtle, lesser form of hive mind. Therefore, caution would be advised.” Madris fell silent for a moment, before she continued. “Enough of that for now, though. Let’s continue. I want you to stretch out your senses. Scan and analyze your surroundings and the minds in its vicinity.”
Breathing deeply, Regina tried to do as she was told. Madris kept walking, not especially quickly but at a decent pace, so she had to keep her eyes open and keep up with her. It made the task a bit harder for Regina, since she was used to only doing things like this if she was sitting in a quiet space with her eyes closed, or at least not multitasking.
She still felt like she did pretty well, though. She’d done this before. Of course, there were differences. This city was tense, its inhabitants felt many tumultuous emotions. And this time, she tried not just to focus on those emotional currents but also the shapes of their minds in greater depths, their surface thoughts and concerns. Spread out like this, Regina wasn’t really able to read anyone’s thoughts in detail, but she still tried to get a deeper understanding of what went on in their internal worlds.
It was chaotic and overwhelming. Everyone was different, of course, but it was only by looking at their minds that one could properly comprehend that truth.
“Try anchoring yourself with points of familiarity,” Madris commented quietly. “Categorize them but don’t get too hung up on specifics. If something is getting too much, withdraw a bit and keep focused on the big picture.”
Regina breathed out and followed her instructions. For the next interminable while, she kept up the exercise, listening to comments and advice from Madris and trying to improve.
It was different seeing the reactions to her own presence, not just in the people they met, but to sense them ripple outwards. The gnomes were obviously paying attention to her walking down the streets. In a sense, it actually made it easier for her, giving a concrete stimulus whose reactions she could track. There was something different about actually walking through a city and tasting its emotions and mental landscape, compared to just looking in from a distance. It made Regina feel lighter, somehow. It also made her feel like she understood the gnomes better.
“You’re getting the hang of it,” Madris finally commented. “Now, there is only one more thing we should try.”
But first, apparently, they tracked down some people. Regina was happy enough about the chance to hunt down the perpetrator she’d noted earlier, and they found a few others who had done similar horrible things as well. The soldier had already been captured, one of their prisoners, and he did bear a striking resemblance to her former test subject. They weren’t related, as far as he knew, although she supposed it was possible one of their parents had an affair or something, but she didn’t really care about the details.
Unsurprisingly, he was who Madris had chosen for her next victim. And that term is strikingly accurate this time.
“You don’t want me to get informed consent,” Regina said flatly.
“If you want to try to learn or even just test out any affinity with mind control, you can’t do it with someone who agrees to it,” Madris said.
“I’m sure I could still learn things from that, actually.”
“Certainly, and we will be trying that as well. But there’s something different with an unwilling mind.” Madris sighed. “If it helps, I can get him to agree and then wipe the memory of that agreement from his mind, so he will have given consent even if he doesn’t remember it.”
Regina chewed on her lip and nodded. “You should get him to agree to that as well, and agree freely.”
Madris shrugged. “In exchange, I’ll promise I’ll persuade you to leniency in your judgment. Shouldn’t be too hard, after you use him like that.”
Regina made a face, but didn’t object.
Madris went into another interrogation room like the one they’d used earlier to talk to her test subject, and Regina leaned against the wall, trying to clear her head and collect her thoughts. The headache had finally subsided, mostly, at least.
Ten minutes later, Madris called her in and Regina met her victim-to-be. He looked unremarkable, just another gnomish soldier, and disgruntled. She didn’t look at his information, not sure she wanted to know his name. Though she’d find it out soon in all likelihood.
Regina didn’t bother with niceties or waste any time. She just stared at the guy and then made her way into his mind. He had rudimentary mental defenses, the kind some people developed naturally, but compared to even a partly trained person they were shoddy and easy to crush or bypass. She settled in easily.
Then she tried to bend him to her will.
A distant part of her mind noted that it was unsurprising it did seem to come easily to her. She was focused on his mind, on what made him into who he was but even more so the mechanics of it, how he functioned.
It wasn’t the same as communing with her drones, but some aspects were similar to when she took control of one of them.
First, she focused on the part of his mind responsible for his senses. She slid into place, delving deeper to assimilate the information. She got to look through his eyes, listen through his ears. It would have been disorienting, but she had enough experience to manage easily. With a part of her mind, she cataloged that gnomes seemed to see colors slightly differently, and had keen enough hearing.
Then, she increased the pressure and bore down on him, grasping his mind in her metaphorical palm and twisting just a bit in just the right way. She focused on his sense of his body and actions, and then forced it to bend to her will. His left hand rose, and she saw it through his eyes. He stood up, not of his own volition. She turned his head and sat him back down. Then she started writing on the table with his fingers. She didn’t have to control every movement, he could form the letters and words on his own.
“You weren’t wrong,” Regina finally said, keeping her tone even. She withdrew enough to keep him sitting there but turned away to face Madris.
Her teacher’s expression didn’t change as she replied. “I see.”
Regina glanced at the gnome, then stood and walked out the door, not looking back at him, centering her mind again. She reached out to the psychic link, letting the connection flow through her and also noting the differences.
“We’ll take a break here for now,” Madris said, calmly following her down the corridor.
Regina nodded, her thoughts already churning on to other topics. “I’ll go talk to a few gnomes, I think. Neralt already noted a few, and I might have found one or two more. It would be good to at least tentatively start discussions.”
“Good luck with the politics, then. I’ll pass on participating, thank you.”
Regina smiled slightly and turned to say a temporary goodbye to her teacher before they went their separate ways. Her thoughts weren’t really on it. She did have a lot to consider.