Still was the air. The sleek metal walls sheened with the white light projected onto them. A cacophony of instruments slung harsh melodies into the inorganic room, a symphony of discordant sounds whipped up by the newly found muse. All around in the air hung instruments, some metal, some wooden, others both, as well as cups, plates and other random detritus that would be found throughout a home.
Blankets draped over the body lying in midair, supported by nothing more than just his mind. The power of the mind was what held everything in the room suspended above, nothing touched the ground, nothing remained on the ground, and nothing obeyed the laws of nature. It was a supernatural phenomenon that occurred in very few people. He had been one of the lucky ones. One of the random chosen, as his research had so far shown him.
His research was a far off thought to him now. Not only had he left behind the meticulous notes and video logs he had created, but he also left behind the man that had cared about such things.
That man had a family, estranged albeit, but it was still a family, one who feared him for his power, even though he had inherited it from his own parents.
When he was young, he had felt a strange power within him. He could sense the emotions of those around him, their intentions were easy to gauge. He knew now that he could read their minds, invade their personal palaces of secrets and steal away with their most prized hidden treasures. It had gotten him into trouble many a time at school. The casual system of the public school failed him time and time again. He could just reach into the
minds of others to find the answers he sought, although he usually had already gained the knowledge in his own pursuit.
His parents had taken him out of school when there was an incident in the lunch room involving a large vortex of terrible food flying around the simple minds of his classmates. It was a food fight after all. Why wouldn’t he use his power to move objects with his mind to his advantage?
Soon it was private school after private school until he was placed into home schooling by his parents. He could sense the fright in them, even though they had told him that they loved him, he could see the fear deep in their minds. They were afraid of their own creation.
As soon as he reached the age of eighteen, he took off, leaving them far behind. It was a time to find himself among the world, to find out what he really was, instead of being hidden away deep in the room of a suburban house. His first conquest was that of the college scene. It seemed a good choice to him, bright minds alike, coming together for a higher purpose. Something he thought he could be good at, a fit for his unique gifts.
It was here he found out that he was not alone in the universe. There were others like him, or to be precise, one other he knew of at the university, just like him. It didn’t take long for the two to find each other. Their minds were drawn together like magnets.
From this one, he learned the true power of his mind, at least what he could unlock at the time. This one was a man who had taught classes at the university for years, soaking up the knowledge of all the students who came to his classroom, secretly planting years’ worth of studies into their heads. All of this man’s students graduated at the top of their class, and no one was the wiser to this teacher’s workings.
His name evaded thought. The blanket levitating in the metal room jostled with movement as the man tossed and turned about, trying to remember the name of this man who was so important to him.
It started with an A. Al something. Albert? No, it was longer than that. The image of an ancient Greek commander came to mind. Yes, that was it. Alexander was his name. Alexander the Great was what he was called, conquering the minds of students in mass, slaying their doubts with his mind. His intentions were good natured. This was a man who was not corrupted by greed or power. He used his gift to help the world, one class at a time.
The blanket slipped from the man’s body, floating off into the corner of the room without purpose. His naked body lay motionless, suspended in air.
The conversation they had always hung in the forefront of his mind, clinging to his consciousness like a leech. He asked a question to Alexander once, a question that he had always wondered through the years of knowing the teacher.
“Why don’t you just make them do what you wanted? You could easily make them change the world the way you see fit.” Red leaned back in his chair and scratched the scruff on his chin.
Alexander poured a glass of wine, “Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.” He sat down on the leather chair across from Red, “Yes, I could, in fact, make them change the world, but what world would that be? A world where I make the choices for the many? One man can’t decide what is best for a hundred million men. I can try to make things better for the whole, but there will always be those who oppose even the brightest of ideas. If I make them, then where is their freedom? Where is the choice wherein lies the ideals of the human mind? It is nonexistent. People must decide for themselves if something is better or not, regardless if they are wrong. They must be swayed to see the right side of the argument if we are to truly change our world.” Alexander took a sip of his dark red wine. “This is something you must see for yourself as well. People are People, dear Red, not cattle or sheep. If the world is to change for the better, everyone must come to this conclusion. We are all people, with loves and fears, lives full of wonderment and tragedy. We are all individuals, but we are also one in the same.” He took another sip of wine.
Red nodded in thought. This man was more powerful than the world’s leaders, but he chose to help out in a small way. Was it his fear that he would become known, found out by forces with dark agendas? Or did he hide away here to enlighten the minds of the young? To change those before they were set in their ways? Red thought long on this subject. Another thing Alexander taught him.
If he could come to a decision in one day, he had not pondered his choices enough. A technique to strengthen his mind, Alexander said.
Alexander stared out his window. The sun was departing the sky, leaving to the other side of the world, spreading life evermore. He took another sip from his glass and decided he would tell Red one of his biggest secrets.
“I’m part of an organization. They call themselves the Institute.” Another sip, “I can pull some stings to get you a part there. I could use a bright mind to help me with my work. I am studying the effects of Psychics, in all their domains. How many of us there are in the world? How we became part of this world, whether it was evolution, or radiation, I’m still unsure, but another mind would propel my work forward decades worth in just a few short years. You interested?” Alexander raised one of his white-haired eyebrows. The slight wrinkles in his skin stretched as he smiled.
Red slowly looked up to Alexander, “An organization? Like some sort of Illuminate stuff?”
Alexander chuckled, wiping his lips with his sleeve, “No, no, this is more legitimate than the Illuminate. This is a group of individuals just like us, working for the greater good of our planet.”
“They’re psychic like us? I thought you said there were only a handful of us around.” Red leaned back in his seat and rubbed his neck. Secret societies were something he never thought to get involved in.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Not at all. Most of these men and women are just, unique, like us. Not all of them have some sort of power they control. Some are just good at killing monsters. The things that go bump in the night can’t hold a match to these people.”
“Monsters? You have got to be joking. They don’t exist, if they did, we would know all about them by now.” Red started to get uncomfortable. This was all new to him. Alexander was always down to Earth when he had these conversations with Red, but these secret organizations and monsters, it was too much to handle. Red started to fidget with his hands, picking at his nails.
“Yes, they are all real, all of them. Every myth or fantasy has come about from a real life monster, so to speak. You think that psychics could exist but not vampires, or zombies.” Alexander tipped his glass to Red and knocked back the last of his wine. “I want you to think about it, but tomorrow is the start of spring break. I leave in the morning. Be packed and ready to go by eight.” Alexander winked at the small fireplace nearby, the wood inside sprouted flames instantly, illuminating the room in heat and light.
“Pyrokenetics.” Red looked at Alexander. The older man nodded. “I’ll be there. Eight in the morning. This Institute will be my future.” Red stood, doubt still in his mind, but his ambition and his lust for knowledge pushed him over. “I want to help the world, like you do.”
“Excellent.” Alexander stood and shook the younger man’s hand. “We best get to sleep then. It is a long boring drive out to the Institute.”
But that was the last he saw of Alexander. The man wasn’t there at eight. He was nowhere to be found. No one knew where he had gone to; the man had simply vanished into the world without a trace. Red stood there waiting for him, but he failed to show. Red made a promise then, that he would find the Institute that Alexander had told him about. He would find his teacher and figure out why he had left Red there all alone.
Since then he had found the Institute, very easily at that, but Alexander was gone from there as well. No one knew where he had gone. Red had found his office at the Institute. Alexander’s research had been there, all of it, untouched in the months he had gone missing. Countless nights and days of going through the mountain of papers revealed nothing to Red, but they did bring an answer, a way to find Alexander.
If Red could find other psychics with his mind, he could pick Alexander out of the world. It was flawed, but it was the only lead he had on his teacher.
“This office is no longer Alexanders. Please clean out your stuff here.” The emotionless face of the Institute’s leader looked at Red from the doorway.
Red looked up from his research, “But he could come back, even if…”
“He is gone, Red. If I was you, I would move onto more useful projects. Now clean out of here.”
Soon after that, Red had made the fateful meeting with a young woman by the name of Sam. His first obstacle, first hurdle he had faced in his life. Everyone else was simple to him. He could read them like an open book, but her, she had something about her that kept him back. Not only was it the talisman given to her, but her own being was different than others.
That was the mission he was sent on that changed him, not only his physiology, but his life had changed too. He had found his love. Andrelle was there.
A spark shot thought Red’s mind. Everything in the room crashed down onto the ground, smashing down upon the metal floor. He caught himself before he could smash his head on the floor. Slowly he floated upright and settled down on his feet.
Red rubbed his eyes as he regained focus of his powers. His deep sleep had distracted him from his duties. It had never happened before. Something in his dreams awoke a deep passion inside of him, but what was it? He couldn’t recall what was there that had startled him.
The metal door to his room swung open, creaking and grinding as it revealed the woman entering. Her skin was young and full of life. Her hair stretched far past her feet, wrapping around her body several times to keep it from dragging about the ground.
“Look at this mess Red. What happened to your focus?” She cocked her head to the side as she smiled at him. “You’re better than this. You’ve come so far to have something like this happen to you.” She moved closer to him, gazing upon his naked body. She embraced him and pressed her head into his chest. “Was it something in your dreams?” She reached into his mind to find out what had happened to her thrall lover. She couldn’t have him running about on his own free will. He could destroy everything Hans and her had worked for.
“No, I just lost focus was all.” Red stared at the metal wall. He could feel her wriggling around in his head, but he was powerless to force her out. She would not find his dreams though. They were locked away in a place that no one knew of. Alexander had taught him this trick the first week they had met.
Maria probed every inch of his mind but found nothing. She took a step back and caressed his chin. “I believe you, darling.” She smiled at him tenderly.
From the doorway stood an ominous figure, watching the two in front of him like a stage play presented for the world. His metal hand wrapped around the metal doorway as he gazed into the windowless room.
Hans had a great awakening when he learned the truth behind the world. He knew without a doubt that powerful artifacts had existed, but monsters too, that was a truth he failed to see when he lived his first life all those years ago. His reemergence into this world had awoken his mind to many new aspects he failed to see before. His red eye zoomed onto the two people before him.
The old lady psychic had this poor fool tightly wrapped around her finger. There was no way a young man like this would willingly fall for Maria. She was too craven for him. She had his mind under control, something Hans had learned to fight against all those years ago. It was a perfect shield when he was surrounded by such individuals who would invade your mind like it was a community fridge with food for the taking.
He pulled his hand from the door frame, scraping the metal as he did so. He wanted to let Maria know that he was not some chump she could manipulate. He wasn’t the pawn on the chess board. He was the king, the Furhur.
Maria jumped a bit by the scraping of metal. She turned to see the menacing look of Hans still human face leering at her from the doorway. Why had she not sensed him coming? She should have felt his presence long ago. How long was he there for?
Maria pulled her hand from Red’s face, “Keep practicing my love, soon you will be able to walk in the sun with me. Your power will keep you from burning into a pile of ash, as your kind does.” She kissed him one last time, Red returning the gesture, before she strode towards the doorway and Hans inside of it.
All the instruments in the room that had shattered, rose into the air. The slowly pieced themselves together as the bald man in the center of the metal cage closed his eyes and focused on all around him. The instruments started playing Franz Schubert in perfect synch. This was not his choice of music, but he was compelled to play it. He much preferred the music he had enjoyed with the woman he loved. Her name escaped him as he played the classical music. It was in the front of his mind, but he could not grasp it. It teased him as a young romance would, flighty but still strong in in love.
“What do you want, Hans?” Maria pushed him out of his way, forcing him back with her mind.
Hans’ metal leg scrapped against the factory’s floor. “Just checking in on our guest. It would be a great waste if he were to be set loose in our new home. He could destroy everything we have spent years building. You said it yourself. He is more powerful than you are.” Hans crossed his arms. He knew his last statement would strike anger in Maria, just enough anger to get her to talk.
Maria stopped in her tracks like Hans expected. She turned to the cyborg, “I still have control over him. He is yet to be more powerful than me.” She stepped forward and placed her frail hand on Hans’ chest. “Be careful of what you speak. I can still kill you, even if you are only half a man.”
Hans laughed out at the woman, “Please, we both know that we need each other to succeed. I just need reassurance that he won’t be let loose on our factory here. If you say so, I believe you.” Hans smirked and turned away from her. “Get ready. We are expecting guests soon. These are no simple farmers or police.” He stopped in the shadows of the nearby hallway. He glanced back at her, his red eye glowing in the darkness surrounding him, “Our future depends on it.” Hans disappeared into the darkness of the factory.
Maria took in a deep breath. If Hans could sneak up on her, what else could he do to get away from her powers? She would need to build up more psychics if she was going to be able to defend herself from Hans’ wrath, if he was ever going to turn on her. He was right. She needed his mechanical army, and he needed her mind control. The two were symbiotic.
These thoughts could wait till later though. She needed to work on fortifying the factory from this assault Hans feared so badly. She needed to prepare her mind.
Andrelle.
Maria turned around and looked at the naked man floating in the room behind her. Did he say something? She wasn’t quite sure what was said. The word was muffled and distorted. She placed her hand on the thick metal door and slowly shut it. Her control over him was absolute. She was sure of it.