14. Not All There
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Egg Hunter: Cluster Headache

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Chapter 14: Not All There

Content warning for this chapter:

Spoiler

Severe Dissociation

[collapse]

Hunter wasn’t sure how to face Mark at the moment, so he ran. Almost robotically, he turned his back to them and walked out of their head and back into the library. It probably wasn’t fair to Mark to be acting this way, giving them the cold shoulder like that, but he didn’t know what else to do. Looking at Mark, listening to excuses, even just being in their presence… it all just hurt so much. 

 

He knew that Mark didn’t want to cheat on Mamata, and Hunter wouldn’t have wanted them to do that either… if they had been pursuing anyone else.

 

It wasn’t just that Hunter felt rejected by Mark. It was also a blow to his pride... that he would be a lower priority than his own stupid autopilot program. She wasn't even a person until a day ago! She... she... 

 

Hunter let out a sigh. Mamata deserved better than that. 

 

It was such an extraordinary situation for a psychic construct to gain sentience that, in all likelihood, any other psychic wouldn't blame him for having a hard time adjusting to suddenly having a headmate. He didn't want to be the kind of person to look for excuses like that though. He wanted to be the kind of person that gives Mamata the respect she deserves.

 

His mentor had even told him what the situation really was going to be from now on; Mamata was going to be around for good. She wasn't just going to spontaneously disappear the same way that she appeared. There was no getting rid of her so he needed to learn to live with her peacefully. He didn't need to upset her by being a dick and turning their head into a hostile environment.

 

His conscience and rationality were both in agreement, but despite that, he wanted to get rid of her... just for a moment. For the briefest of moments, Hunter wanted Mamata to disappear so he could keep both his body and Mark all to himself. Three seconds was all it lasted. Enough time for the idea of how he could get rid of her to worm its way into his brain...

 

Him and Eternity had accidently fronted at the same time and ended up blending together. That's how Eternity had ended up in his head in the first place. What if he did the same thing to Mamata? Get them both to front at the same time, blend, and then bring her away to somewhere else. The moment they unblended, he could abandon her and return to his body in peace...

 

What an absolute total piece of shit, I am...

 

Three seconds was enough. In that brief moment, Hunter had thought of doing something that might as well have been equivalent to murder. That moment told him what kind of person he really was, and it wasn’t a good one.

 

He didn't want to be like this! He wanted to put in the effort to make Mamata feel welcome! He was trying to learn how to be a respectful system... but that damn bitter feeling was affecting him again. He knew it was envy now... that same feeling that rose up in him seeing Karen discover herself. 

 

How stupid was he to ever mistake that feeling for pride? He'd felt it every single time that he’d helped an egg hatch and now that he knew what that feeling was, he wasn’t sure why he would have been feeling it those times. In this moment, thinking of Mamata being more important to Mark than he was brought that feeling back again. 

 

Was he really such a petty person that he can't help but feel envious of people gaining any kind of real happiness? Mamata wasn't like him though... she was still so innocent in comparison to him. The simple truth was that she deserved Mark way more than he did, and now he had somehow wormed his way in between them. 

 

Was Zoey trying to sabotage Mark and Mamata's relationship? Was that the reason why she had brought up polyamory to Mark? 

 

Being out of Mark's body… out of any body… left Hunter feeling much more vulnerable than usual. Doubt was creeping into him that Zoey wasn’t actually flirting with him seriously. Doubt was telling him that there wasn't anything attractive enough about him that Zoey or Mark could actually be interested in romantically; he knew what kind of garbage person he was after all. Doubt told him that people were cruel enough to trick and use him, and that he was dumb enough to fall for it; he’d done it before and he was doing it again.

 

For a moment, Hunter imagined there being a new headmate in his mind yelling all those things at him. It could be so convenient to blame all of it on someone else. Someone else that he could blame for the intrusive thoughts and self-loathing. He wasn’t even in his own mind at the moment though. He was alone and those thoughts were all his…

 

“How long are you going to stand there spacing out?” An impatient cough from his mentor brought Hunter back to reality.

 

He had only just stepped out of Mark's head, but suddenly, Mark, Grainne, Robbie, and his own body were staring at him in concern. That was weird… he should have been invisible to them all when he astral projected…. imperceptible by sight, sound, or anything else

 

“Can everyone see me?” Hunter asked out loud. He was greeted by a wave of nodding heads.

 

Had he done anything weird other than zone out and stare into space!? He should have had complete privacy from the world! All the pretense that needed to be put on in everyday life to act normal… he should have been free from that! He was used to it being that way! He’d made a point of it long ago to not force himself to comply with any of those god-forsaken societal shackles that ruled over his normal life when he was free like this… or at least he’d thought that he was free. What kinds of things had he done when he wasn’t consciously governing his actions, not realizing that others actually could see? 

 

If he had been more than just an astral spirit at the moment, everyone would have been able to see how red faced he felt rather than just see through him. He felt embarrassed enough to want to curl up and die. 

 

He dove at his own body for refuge but was shocked when he bounced off of it the same way that he had bounced off of Doris. There was a barrier keeping him from getting into his own body!?

 

“Sorry~ Sorry~!” his body said in the high-pitched lilting tone that was characteristic of Mamata. How DARE she!? “Aintín needs to talk to you and Emmie~ but someone still needs to keep an eye on Robbie~ Can you leave the body with me for just a bit longer~?”

 

Hunter’s form shook and a wave of disorientation started to overcome him. 

 

Mamata was keeping him out of his own body! The logical part of himself told him that anyone with psychic powers could have easily prevented him from entering them with the merest of subconscious thoughts. She probably stopped him by accident just by wanting to pass that message onto him first… she wasn’t trying to keep him out…

 

The more prominent part of himself, however, had turned on freeze or flight mode. It was telling him that Mamata wasn’t satisfied with just occasionally controlling his body. She wanted to keep it to herself and Hunter was just in the way… in the way of using the body, and in the way of her relationship with Mark. She didn’t want to let him back in! She might even be plotting to get rid of him the same way that he had briefly thought about getting rid of her!

 

He was surrounded by people who were all staring at him… judging him! The type of ESP that would have let someone see his astral form should have been fairly uncommon and yet every single person in the library could see him! His eyes darted around and he noticed a handful of other library patrons had turned to look at what was going on…

 

He needed to get out of here! He was vulnerable out here in the open and anyone could be out to get him! He needed to run!

 

He had turned to flee but had barely moved when he came to an abrupt stop. There was no whiplash or recoil… the stop was absolute. He was frozen in place for just a moment before the same force that stopped him started pulling him backward.

 

“I don’t have time for your games, Hunter,” his mentor said in a hushed but harsh tone. “That imbecile in your head used up the rest of my patience for the day.”

 

No! Gráinne had caught him! She had caught him just like she always caught him when he tried to get away from her. When he first met her as a child… during her training… even now when he was an adult… there was never any running from her.

 

There had clearly been a certain fondness in Mamata’s tone when she mentioned his aunt… they were probably on good terms already. Could Gráinne like his autopilot more than him already!? Could Mamata have roped her into some plan to get rid of him!? Was he caught in their trap!?

 

Hunter’s mind raced as he realized that there was one way for him to escape… 

 

The plane that he was currently on wasn’t the only one that overlapped their world that he could go to. It was absolutely the safest plane of existence for him to astral project to, but that was only true when there weren’t other psychics out to get him! 

 

Was it worth it to risk coming into contact with one of the unspeakable monsters that lived on those other planes?

 

A ripple of cold energy rolled over him at that same moment that he felt all of those other possible escape routes being cut off from him. He had been pulled into Gráinne’s office and whatever barrier was covering it cut him off from all other planes. The door practically slammed shut and he was trapped… like an animal in a cage…

 

***

 

“Is he okay?”

 

“Hunter will be fine. This happens all the time. He’s just dissociating again.”

 

“I think he’s having a panic attack!?”

 

“What reason would he have for having a panic attack? He’s the one who arranged this meeting.”

 

“I… guess you’re right… This seems different from other times though? Are you sure?”

 

“I’m sure.”

 

“God… this would be so much more comforting if I could just read his expression. Why are his eyes just white like that? There’s no pupil…”

 

“That’s just what it looks like when people astral project.”

 

“Is he twitching? He looks like he’s twitching…”

 

“I don’t see it.”

 

“Hunter! C’mon Hunter! Look at me! Isn’t there anything that we can do to snap him out of it!?”

 

“It’s safest to just wait it out. It’ll pass soon enough.”

 

“Hunter… I’m here… It’s me, Zoey… Damn! My hand is just passing through him. Giving him head scratches helps sometimes... Isn’t there any way to touch him?”

 

*** 

 

It seemed like someone was talking but a buzzing drone was drowning out the actual words. Hunter wasn’t sure where he was or what he was doing. It felt like he was just in an empty white void. Nothing but him and the tinnitus.

 

He tried to close his eyes but found that whether his eyes were open or not, there was nothing but that white void. 

 

A gentle rubbing on his ear caught his attention… It felt so nice and familiar… His eyes flitted in pleasure and he realized Mark was standing in front of him. Hunter must have had a dopey smile on his face as he looked at Mark.

 

“Hunter! Tell me five things that you can see!” 

 

Their voice was so commanding that Hunter couldn’t help but want to answer them. The idea of thoughtlessly obeying them… of submitting to someone was just so enticing.

 

“You…” his voice drawled out. They were so pretty to look at that Hunter’s mind went blank as he let himself get lost in the sight.

 

“Come on! Four more things! Tell me what you see!”

 

Hunter didn’t want to let them down so he let his eyes drift around at things other than Mark. “Umm… Wall… Shelf… Books… Carpet…” His words were sluggish and his mind moved slower than pouring honey. As he looked from object to object, he felt his head roll to stare at the floor. The carpet looked like the scratchy cheap stuff that every business had… not at all suitable for curling up on… but maybe…

 

“Good gir- ehem… Good, good…” Hunter let his head loll to look back over at Mark. They were so close and after an encouraging squeeze to his ear, they seemed to come a bit more into focus.

 

“Tell me four things that you can hear!”

 

That was an easy one! “Your voice…” Hunter could stay absorbed in that voice forever…

 

“Keep going!”

 

Why… why was Mark making this so hard? Hunter didn’t want to focus on anything but their voice. It sounded so pleasant but… off. Something about the tone was unfamiliar.

 

“C’mon Hunter! Three more things!”

 

Hunter didn’t want to. He wanted to let himself drift again… but he didn’t want to disappoint Mark. They sounded stressed.

 

“Your… breathing?”

 

“Yeah!” Another encouraging squeeze to his ear.

 

“The air conditioning…”

 

“One more!”

 

Could Hunter hear another thing? Almost everything was drowned out by that constant hum that was always present in the library. It made it hard to hear any of the more subtle sounds. Hunter was used to ignoring it but… oh wait! “The ley line…”

 

“The what? Nevermind…” Mark seemed confused but happy and leaned in close to whisper “Good girl.”

 

Good girl!? Was Hunter a good girl? He didn’t know if he was or not, but hearing that gave him warm, gooey and happy feelings inside.

 

“Three things that you can feel!”

 

Hunter froze. Was there anything that he could feel? There was nothing. His body was hollow and empty and didn’t have a sense of touch when he was in his astral form like this.

 

“Your hand on my ear?” Another squeeze told him that he got the answer right but at the same time his eyes were telling him that he was wrong. Mark’s hands were in front of him.

 

“How… how are you touching my ear?” Hunter asked. His eyes drifted over to Mark’s face and he could detect a trace of guilt in it. “What’s wrong?”

 

Mark’s eyes went screwy for a moment before they refocused on him. “Sorry… I know you don’t like Caitlyn touching you, but I couldn’t think of anything else.”

 

That tone… “Zoey?”

 

“Yeah, I’m here!” she responded. “Come on. Tell me two more things that you can feel.”

 

She seemed oddly insistent, which was odd. “Zoey, I can’t usually touch things when I’m astral projecting.” He told her.

 

“Oh… Um… Two things that you can smell then!”

 

Hunter couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the flustered change in subject. “I can smell tea and biblichor.”

 

“What’s biblichor?” Zoey asked.

 

“It’s the term for the smell of old books,” Hunter’s mentor, Gráinne, suddenly cut in to say. She was giving the two of them a strange look but suddenly rolled her eyes and seemed to go back to normal. “Hunter, maybe you should go back into your friend’s head so we don’t have to go through as much to snap you out of it the next time you dissociate.”

 

Had he been dissociating again? He couldn’t remember much other than Zoey telling him and Mark about polyamory. When had he come out of their head? How much time had even passed? 

 

“She tells me that there is a way for you to see and hear what’s going on out here from in there?” Gráinne asked, looking at him for confirmation. He nodded back. “Good.”

 

Hunter looked between Zoey and his mentor. When had they gotten around to talking? He supposed it didn’t matter. 

 

With a shrug he prepared to dive back into Zoey’s head. It would be more convenient, but for some reason he hesitated. An odd feeling of needing to avoid Mark pricked at him. 

 

“While I was zoning out, did you two already discuss what we came here for?” he asked.

 

Gráinne frowned as she said, “No, actually. We spent the whole time talking about you.” She approached the two of them and ordered, “Show me where the hole you made was.” 

 

Hunter circled Zoey, looking for the hole and to his surprise, it had almost entirely closed up. “Here! It was much bigger, earlier…”

 

Gráinne came in close to examine it, even pulling out the remains of the plug he had condensed out of psychic energy, which had now shrunken to about the thickness of a toothpick, to scrutinize that closer. She frowned as she examined it for over a minute.

 

“This is sloppy work, Hunter.” She finally said.

 

“What’s sloppy?” Zoey asked as she tried to look for what the two of them had been examining.

 

“The hole in your aura is luckily healing quickly due to the influence of the ley line-”

 

“Ley line?”

 

“- but what Hunter created to keep the hole plugged up while it heals was done rather poorly.” Gráinne flicked the remains of the plug away as she walked over to one of her cabinets to retrieve an almost impossibly thin pair of golden metal tweezers. 

 

“It’s been unraveling and it’s full of gaps.” From the same cabinet she pulled out a scalpel made out of that same golden metal; Orichalcum, as far as Hunter could tell.

 

Zoey’s eyes widened at the sight of the thin blade. “Wh- what is that for?”

 

Hunter gulped as he realized what his mentor was about to do. Orichalcum was an extremely rare and expensive metal that happened to be one of the few physical objects that could interact with the metaphysical. It could be used to slice apart spirits or sever parts of a person’s soul…

 

“I recommend you close your eyes, Zoey.” Gráinne said as she approached with the tools in hand, but frowned as she noticed Hunter closing his eyes as well. “Keep yours open, Hunter! You need to see this!”

 

Reluctantly, he opened his eyes only to catch Zoey staring directly at him. She smiled at him and he smiled back, trying to resist the temptation to break eye contact.

 

“Are you seriously flirting when I told you to pay attention?” Hunter’s mentor scolded.

 

“No!” Hunter said at the same time Zoey said, “Yes”

 

He couldn’t help but blush furiously at that… or at least it felt like he would have if he was in a flesh and blood body at the moment. The shy embarrassment that rippled through him felt just the same. Was she serious about flirting with him or was this all just some kind of joke? He thought back to all the cuddling and attention that she had been giving to him not that  long ago. If there hadn’t been other people there as well, it would have been pretty intimate… that wasn’t the kind of thing that friends usually did, was it?

 

Hey Hunter… your eyes are really pretty…” Zoey’s voice started ringing privately in his head. 

 

On instinct, he averted his eyes away from Zoey just in time to see Gráinne grabbing something with the tweezers. This whole time she had been just out of Zoey’s line of sight at work. Hunter’s eyes widened with shock as he saw the thing that his mentor was pulling out of her.

 

Even while they’re all ghostly like this, I can see-”

 

Don’t turn your head!” Hunter shouted mentally, interrupting what Zoey was saying. With her having already created the telepathic bridge, it was so much easier to talk back to her.

 

Why? What’s over there?” Despite his warning Zoey started looking over her shoulder towards Gráinne. As soon as she saw the thing, her face turned almost as ghost white as Hunter currently was.

 

***

 

It had taken a few minutes for Zoey to get over the shock and disgust at seeing Gráinne removing the parasite from her head and now it was floating around on her desk in a jar. Neither of them could turn away as they stared at the thing.

 

It was like someone had taken a centipede, twisted it into a helix, and replaced all of its legs with feathers that rippled as it floated. There were certainly more detailed ways to describe the thing, and more details to be described, but Hunter’s mind refused to allow him to comprehend the way the creature’s body existed across multiple planes.

 

“Wh-what is that thing?” Zoey asked. Her voice quivered as she asked. It was her third time trying to say anything and the first to actually succeed.

 

“A Pneuma Akatharton…” Gráinne answered gravely, “in basic terms it’s a daemon.”

 

“That thing’s a daemon!?” Zoey asked in surprise. “I always thought they were… I dunno… bigger?”

 

“There are many, many kinds of daemons. Not all of them are evil, but this thing…” Her words trailed off as she became lost in thought.

 

“It’s some kind of unclean spirit…” Hunter explained on his mentor’s behalf. “A psychic parasite. They can cause things like schizophrenia and phobias if they aren’t exorcised in time.”

 

Zoey’s face blanched. “What would have happened if Grawn- er, Grace hadn’t noticed it? Would it have invaded the neighborhood?” The way she stumbled over Gráinne’s name was adorable…

 

“No…” Hunter answered uncertainly, as he focused back on the daemon. “These things invade the mind on a deeper level. We never would have known it was in you. At least not until symptoms started… even then, it’s hard to tell that the cause was supernatural instead of a normal mental illness.”

 

“How long has that thing been in me!?”

 

“A few hours at most,” Gráinne answered as she focused back on the conversation. “It got access through the hole Hunter had made, but hadn’t burrowed in very far.”

 

“Only a few hours… how the hell did we not notice that!?” Zoey practically shouted as she gestured wildly at the daemon in the jar. It was at least as long as a hand and more than two inches thick, without even counting the feathers.

 

“For the same reason that you are only now seeing Hunter’s astral body,” Gráinne said. “This library is built on top of a ley line which amplifies psychic abilities. Once you leave, you’ll be as blind to these things as everyone else again…”

 

It seemed like there was more that she wanted to say, but her words trailed off again. Hunter stared at the daemon, trying to figure out what his mentor wasn’t telling them, when the realization suddenly smacked him like a slap to the face.

 

“Shouldn’t these Pneuma’s be…” He glanced at Zoey briefly, unsure if she should know about it or not. He raised his pinky up as he looked at Gráinne who nodded back in response.

 

A feeling of dread started spreading through Hunter. A normal unclean spirit like this should only be a couple of inches long at the most. This one was gargantuan in comparison and his mentor had noticed that much quicker than he had.

 

“Be what? What is it?” Zoey asked, looking back and forth between Gráinne and Hunter.

 

“It’s not something you need to worry about. Leave it to the professionals,” Gráinne stated.

 

Hunter… what aren’t you telling me?” Zoey asked telepathically.

 

Hunter didn’t want to lie to her, but he also didn’t want to make her worry unnecessarily. “Those things are usually only the size of normal bugs.” 

 

The best explanation would be to say that the ones in the wild were just the Pneuma Akatharton’s larval form. They had to attach to someone and feed off of negative emotions in order to grow and metamorphose, and once they matured, they wouldn’t stay in our world… they didn’t need to…

 

They could only become that large without maturing when they were near the presence of a Greater, capital ‘D’, Daemon. The kind whose very presence radiates the negativity these things fed on… months’ worth in mere moments. Zoey didn’t need to know those details! 

 

“Rather than that, let's get to actual business,” Gráinne said. “Zoey, now that you’ve awakened as a psychic, I need to know if you’re going to register as one or not.” Her gaze turned serious, which thankly grabbed Zoey’s attention and distracted her from the overgrown daemon in the jar.

 

“What exactly does registering as a psychic mean?” She asked.

 

Gráinne sighed, clearly having had this conversation numerous times with it rarely going smoothly. “Registering means that your name… your legal name… and the powers that you specialize in will be put on a government database that will be linked to all your other forms of ID.”

 

Zoey was clearly uncomfortable with the idea, but Gráinne reassured, “The database isn’t public, and only certain people with clearance will be able to see that you’re registered as a psychic when they look up your ID. It’s not the kind of thing that shows up on background checks or that average street cops can see.”

 

“Why even ask if I want to register?” Zoey asked. “Wouldn’t the government make something like that mandatory?”

 

Gráinne smirked at that. “They’ve tried, but registered psychics are basically all in a union and we’ve negotiated to make sure that our rights are protected.”

 

She stepped out from behind her desk and gently put her hand on Zoey’s shoulder. “That means that you can feel free to think of me as your union steward. I would arrange training for you, get you any restricted supplies that you need, and advocate on your behalf if you get in trouble with the law due to use of your powers. We’ll make sure you aren’t forced to use your powers for something you don’t want to.”

 

Zoey hesitated. “What happens if I don’t register?”

 

“Honestly, nothing. You can go home and there won’t even be a record of you having met me.” Gráinne paused for dramatic effect before adding, “But, you’ll go home without any training.” 

 

She tilted her head toward Hunter. “It’s illegal for a registered psychic to train an unregistered one. You’re lucky that telepathy is a pretty benign ability, but if you can’t learn to ‘turn off the voices’ it can cause a great deal of distress for you. There are plenty of abilities that are extremely dangerous to the user without proper training.” She tilted her head towards Hunter again as she added, “Hunter’s astral projection is among the most likely to kill the user, just after pyrokinesis.

 

A sense of unease crept up Hunter’s back as Zoey turned to stare at him, jaw gaping.

 

“How-”

 

“An astral body can fall through the floor just as easily as it can walk through a wall. And if you can’t find your way back to your body…” Gráinne let her words trail off. “As I was saying, we won’t be able to help you train your powers, and if you ever get into trouble with the law because of use of your powers, the punishment for unregistered psychics is usually much more severe.”

 

Zoey went quiet for a bit before asking, “Can I take a few minutes to talk it over with the others? This sounds like something that would affect all of us, rather than just me.”

 

Gráinne nodded before turning her attention towards Hunter. “Hunter…” she said slowly as a sadistic grin appeared on her face. “You’re aware of how much an exorcism usually costs, yes?”

 

Hunter felt a pit drop in his stomach. What his mentor had just done to pull the daemon out of Mark’s body looked simple, but it was actually incredibly delicate and dangerous work. The kind of thing that wouldn’t be cheaper than a real surgery. It’d cost more than his rent for half a year, and he barely had enough saved up for the next couple months.

 

“I- I can get you the money…”

 

Gráinne let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m not asking you to pay for it Hunter… I’m just trying to remind you that you let yourself get in over your head. Your actions have weight and the consequences of this could have been much worse! You could have ruined your friend’s life, mentally, physically, and financially. Next time, just call me for help before things get like this. We’re family… you can rely on me to help you when you need it.”

 

Hunter jumped at the unexpected hand going through his shoulder from his aunt. It looked like she was almost about to pull him into a hug, but reconsidered it from the way he flinched. Maybe it was just because trying would be pointless when she couldn’t touch him. The almost caring look on her face hardened as she loomed directly above him.

 

“Hunter…” With a sigh, she let go of his shoulder and went back to her seat behind the desk. She stared at him appraisingly for a moment before finally saying, “Fine… You’ve never been the type to just accept my kindness…”

 

Her eyes glared into Hunter, piercing through him. She was quiet for a long time. “Are you planning on training Zoey if she does register, or do you need me to arrange a professional to do it?”

 

“Oh, um… yeah… I guess I could train them…”

 

“You guess?” She continued glaring at him. “Hunter, training an inexperienced psychic is a big responsibility. Telepathy is a hard one to mess up, even if you’re not good at it yourself, but I need to know if you can handle this or not.”

 

“Um…” Zoey interrupted. “We talked it over and agreed to get registered, but…” She paused for a moment before continuing, “You mentioned powers being dangerous before and even though my power is safe, do we need to worry about Caitlyn’s?”

 

“Who is Caitlyn?”

 

Hunter and Zoey took a minute to explain a bit about Mark’s plurality to Gráinne. As she listened, she pinched the bridge of her nose and interrupted Zoey, “How many of ‘us’ are there exactly in that head of yours?”

 

“Shoot… I think there are about 18 or 20 of us now? It’s hard to keep count with all the new people that have been trickling in from the fog and everyone who has changed names recently.” Zoey straightened her back and began counting on her fingers as she tried listing off names, “Lets see… there’s me, M, Avril, Grace, Zoey, Greg, Pete-”

 

“Hold on! That is a lot to take in so suddenly.” Gráinne interrupted Zoey once more as she pulled out a notepad then paused. “I thought you were Zoey?”

 

“Oh no! I’m sorry, I am actually Karen,” Karen responded. “Zoey tagged me in since I am the one who manages everyone in here, or at least I try to. I used to just go by the title, “The Admin”, until yesterday when Hunter- never mind. Suffice to say that I have been keeping tabs on everyone in the neighborhood and managing access to the front up until recently.”

 

“Let me get a few things straight first before you continue…” Gráinne started scribbling near illegible notes on her pad. “Zoey has a talent for telepathy while Caitlyn has some form of possible telekinesis or tactile clairvoyance… what kind of psychic power are you manifesting?”

 

“Nothing, as far as I know. No one else has anything either.”

 

“Don’t forget about Jolene!” Hunter interrupted before feeling embarrassed for jumping in. “Or at least the one that might be Jolene…”

 

Hunter turned to his mentor to explain. “So, Jolene is an imaginary friend that they used to have and I may have come across her… or at least a monster that bears a vague resemblance to her. I think she has some kind of fear aura power.”

 

Gráinne glanced briefly over at the daemon in the jar and let out a brief sigh. Whether it was a sigh of relief or exasperation though, Hunter wasn’t sure. “I’m not sure if that is really possible, but if it is, that could explain the Pneuma’s extreme growth. Assuming it's the kind of daemon that feeds on fear, of course. Mamata is precedent enough to not rule that possibility out entirely.”

 

“Would that be one of the dangerous powers?” Karen asked cautiously.

 

Gráinne’s face turned hard. “It’s not directly dangerous, no…”

 

“But indirectly?”

 

“Indirectly, it’s extremely dangerous,” Gráinne said seriously. “You are aware of the public’s general opinion of psychics, right? There is a reason why we don’t publicize what we are.”

 

Karen thought through her wording for a moment before answering. “We are afraid of psychics because they’re a potential threat. Any one of them could be carrying a weapon that would be impossible to regulate. There are countless stories about rogue psychics engaging in terroristic acts and indiscriminately harming innocent people for no reason.”

 

Hunter flinched at the ‘we’. Karen hadn’t realized that they weren’t part of the general public anymore. They were a psychic too now, even if she herself didn’t have any powers, ‘Mark’ as a whole did. His mood dropped even further when he remembered Mark calling him a freak.

 

“Rogue psychics aren’t a threat to the public at large,” Gráinne stated through gritted teeth. She took a moment to calm herself before continuing. “The real danger to the public is untrained psychics, rather than malicious psychics. Are you aware that over 30% of psychic power related deaths are the result of children who are manifesting their power for the first time? Another 43% are the result of accidents that happen to unregistered psychics under the age of 16. Less than 12% of psychic power related deaths are the result of malice.”

 

Karen gulped at that and even Hunter felt chills from the intense look on his mentor’s face.

 

“68% of the nonlethal incidents that the news reports as ‘terroristic acts’ are accidents that happen from children and 13% are accidents by adults! Do not imply that the public’s fear of psychics is because we are prone to terrorism! That is sensationalist nonsense spread around by people who want to profit at our expense. And that ‘us’ includes all of you now too.”

 

Neither Karen nor any of her headmates said anything in response to that.

 

“An untrained power such as a fear aura is exactly the kind of thing that the public will refer to as ‘indiscriminately harming innocent people’ and there is a 42% chance that one of those ‘innocent people’ will retaliate against you with violence.” She paused for dramatic effect before adding, “There is a 25% chance that they retaliate and succeed in becoming the ‘hero’ that killed a ‘rogue psychic terrorist’.” 

 

Gráinne’s voice was dripping with sarcasm and vitriol as she said that. “Those are five year averages, by the way. The data for the current year to date is much less optimistic so far.”

 

Hunter felt like his pulse should be racing from how intense his mentor was being and he desperately thought of some way to end this conversation as soon as possible.

 

Karen gulped and when she finally began speaking again, her voice was distinctly different in its tone… less effort put into making it a bit higher pitch… “How likely is it for more of us to start developing powers?” 

 

Was that voice Mark now? Pain clutched at Hunter’s chest at the thought of them, but the reason why escaped him. Last he could remember of Mark, they’d been calling him cute and they were just about to…

 

Oh… the memory suddenly came back to him. Mark refusing Hunter’s kiss and Hunter dwelling on his own jealousy of Mamata… 

 

“Power manifestation in adulthood is rare, although somehow today you aren’t the first one to come to my attention. It usually only happens because of a weak latent potential being triggered by something external or even more rarely to a child who manifested and then lost their power, reacquiring them in adulthood,” Gráinne explained. 

 

Hunter forced himself to ignore the bitter feelings that were reemerging and focus on her explanation. It would be important in case any more of Mark’s headmates developed powers.

 

“What kind of triggers?” Mark asked.

 

“It could be a few different things… proximity to a leyline, response to possession, or even…” Gráinne facepalmed suddenly before shooting a glare at Hunter, “an injection of psychic energy that jumpstarts your powers.”

 

Hunter could feel the glare and his mentor’s recent scolding resurfaced in his mind. His actions had weight and the consequences could have ruined Mark’s life in multiple ways. This was all his fault, wasn’t it?

 

“I’m assuming that in your case…” Gráinne explained slowly and carefully, “the cause of your sudden emergence of powers is due to Hunter’s sloppy patch of the hole he had made in your aura. The ‘plug’ that he made was unraveling and if that energy was absorbed by you, it could be what jumpstarted your powers. This is just speculation though. Any use of your alters’ powers could also cause more of them to begin manifesting as well.” 

 

Mark gulped and shot Hunter a strange look… a look that probably meant that dating was no longer on the table…

 

“We’ll go ahead and register…”

 

***

 

The registration process was generally pretty straight forward and Hunter hadn’t expected any of it to be something that he needed to pay attention to. He quickly found out just how wrong he was though.

 

Gráinne had just been in the middle of entering Mark’s personal information into the database when she diverted from the usual questions.

 

“Mark Crawford… Your social security number shows that it was originally registered to Mark Jones?” his mentor asked with enough emphasis to the question to catch Hunter’s attention.

 

“Yeah, Jones was my dad’s last name. Mom had me take her maiden name after the divorce,” Mark answered.

 

“Mark! Why didn’t any of you tell me that before!?” Hunter blurted out.

 

Mark gave him another strange look before answering, “Why would it have been relevant?”

 

“Because, Marvin Jones… Eternity’s name!”

 

Gráinne had turned her attention to her computer as she worked away at something for a few minutes. “Mark, what year did your father die?”

 

“How do you know he’s dead?” Hunter asked at almost the same time Mark answered. He was a bit shocked at that answer. Mark couldn’t have been older than 12 when that happened…

 

“Are you aware of how he died?” Gráinne asked, ignoring Hunter’s question.

 

“Oh… no, Mom never told me what happened.”

 

There was a strangely familiar look that appeared on his mentor’s face… it had been one that she’d given Hunter plenty of times in the past. “I don’t have to explain it if you don’t want to hear it, but I think I can say with certainty that Eternity isn’t another psychic who was stuck in your head,” she said slowly.

 

Mark thought it over for a moment and noticeably looked quite out of it while they did. When they finally answered, their voice had changed once again. Had they switched out again?

 

“We don’t actually remember him at all, so I guess we’d be fine hearing it,” they responded.

 

Gráinne turned her computer monitor over towards them and gave them a moment to read over the news article that she had pulled up. Hunter sped read through it and then stared at Mark in shock. They weren’t responding strongly to it, so he could only assume that they genuinely didn’t remember their father.

 

Hunter looked at the screen and carefully read through the article once again. The main point of it was immediately apparent to him… as were the implications… ‘Christian Jones and Marvin Carswell murdered by gangsters in Atlantic City after having been caught gambling with counterfeit bills.

 

Hunter could only stare in horror as he remembered that memory of Eternity’s that he had stumbled into. The fact that Mark wasn’t reacting the same way could only be a blessing.

 

“I was originally going to let you and Hunter meet with Stellaris later this week to let her check if there were any signs of psychic tampering with your head, but I’m not sure if that is necessary anymore. I don’t think Eternity’s existence has anything to do with that…” Gráinne said cautiously after it became apparent that Mark, or whoever was currently fronting, had finished reading the article.

 

Mark noticeably perked up at what Gráinne had said, apparently completely unconcerned with what was in the article. “Wait! You were going to let us meet the Stellaris!? The superhero!?”

 

How did they not care about what happened to their father and their father’s friend?

 

Gráinne let out a sigh and that strange look appeared on her face once again. “She’s in town, showing the ropes to that newbie, Alley Cat. There’s a little meet and greet on Thursday to introduce her to the local psychic community. It’s supposed to be for professional psychics only, the kind that Alley Cat would be most likely to encounter on the job, but I can pull a few strings to get you two in as well.”

 

Her eyes darted briefly over to the daemon in the jar… something that Hunter immediately noticed but Mark clearly hadn't.

 

“I don’t think it’s necessary anymore, but I can still do it if you want.”

 

“We want!” Mark almost shouted back immediately. The look of joy and excitement on their face was so intense that neither Hunter or Gráinne wanted to tell them that they shouldn’t go.

 

“I’m just going to give you a warning though… It might be best to avoid interacting with heroes if you can help it. Trouble has a habit of seeking them out.” With that, Gráinne made it pretty clear that it was almost time for them to go.

 

“Hunter, set them up with the private messaging app when you get home. The invites for Thursday need to go through there. I’ll leave planning their curriculum up to you.” She handed Mark a box that was already packed with several hundred dollars worth of Mentali-tea, Dist-herb, and several other things generally necessary for training a new psychic.

 

“I think it would be best for you to get Eternity out of your head as soon as possible, and back to your friend’s where he belongs…”

 

Hunter mulled that over for a bit. Eternity was so positive that he was someone from the real world. He was so desperate for Hunter to believe in him and help him get back to his real body. Telling him that everything he believed in was a lie… that Hunter was giving up on helping him… that was going to crush him…

 

He was dragged out of his thoughts by his aunt suddenly passing partly through his astral body is an odd approximation of a hug. “Remember to contact me if you need any help at all. Whether it’s about Mark’s training or even something personal. I’m your family and I’ll support you…”

 

Something about that strange look in her eyes and conviction in her voice struck a chord with Hunter and he could feel himself become oddly emotional. He couldn’t figure out why though. It was something that she said to him in some variation after every meeting, but this time… something about it felt somehow more significant…

 

“One last thing…”

 

***

 

It didn’t take long for Hunter to get back into his body and for Mark to start driving him and Robbie back to their apartment. Both Mamata and Eternity were oddly quiet, but that didn’t surprise Hunter too much; he was usually in a similar mood after a meeting with his aunt- er, mentor. This time wasn’t any different.

 

His mind drifted back to the final request that she had made to him; to train another new psychic together with Mark. She was expecting the junior librarian that Hunter had suspected of being trans to also register before the end of the week. It wouldn’t be that much more effort than training one new psychic… or however many Mark and co counted as… and the money that she offered him to do it was definitely tempting. 

 

On the other hand, Gráinne had made it explicitly clear that his potential student had also seen his astral form and, if he accepted the responsibility of training her, she would be told that he was one and the same as the ‘ghost’ that had been sexually harassing her. Yet another opportunity for Hunter to die of embarrassment…

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