agentlenet | psychic thread

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psychic thread

[The gentle brush against the Strangers' minds comes in early evening. It is, as all mental touches are from Fayura, soft and unassuming, much like a polite knock at a door. Once as many minds are connected as she thinks will open the door to her, she speaks.]

I am curious, Strangers, what you would do with the young man who shot and killed Councilwoman Vera.

Many of you come from worlds where there are laws against murder. While we have no such laws here, when a Blood male in a Queen's Territory kills another without cause, she may demand a price from him. Sometimes, that is his own life if he was negligent enough with his temper and sometimes, it's something less.

My trouble is this: if I execute him according to the laws of the Blood, of which he is not one, the Guilds will rouse their people into a furor and attack not only me, but the people of Draega. If I turn him over to the Ebon Council, the Guilds will do much the same, and that will incite the Council to strike back. And if I return him to the Guilds for accolades instead of punishment for taking a life, the Ebon Council will have cause to rip apart the Guilds and anyone in their way to extract from him the price for murdering one of their own.

Were you me, what course would you take? And please try not to shout over each other; this is as many of you as I could reach.

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[ Thoroughly humiliating. He should be better at this, but coming from a non-magical world doesn't help anything. ]

Jesus... Yes, please.

For the Blood, the mind is an almost physical place. There are different parts for it, but we often think of it as a layered thing. Superficial thoughts are on the outermost layer. The core of who you are is at the deepest. You have natural shields to protect your mind, but if you focus on building them up, that will help you. Let your mind wander when you're alone, and when a thought crosses your mind, place it behind a wall. Envision a barrier around it. This will help put the pieces where they belong.

[She reaches out, spinning out a thread like a bridge between his mind and hers.]

If you'd like, you may look at the way I've constructed the outermost shields on my mind. Follow the thread back. I won't be offended if you'd rather not.

[While not a deeply intimate offer, it's certainly not one made lightly.]

[ Mind walls... mind bridges, this is all a lot, but he can't exactly put this off until he's okay with it, because he'll never really be okay with it.

So very tentatively he reaches back towards that bridge. ]

Actually, yeah. I think that might help.

[ The theory already makes sense, but Calvin's always been good with hands-on learning where he's able to observe and replicate something himself, before he starts trying to branch off into more creative applications for his knew knowledge.

Crossing a... well, a mind-bridge is a weird concept, but seeing, or maybe feeling(?) what she's talking about will make it make more sense.

There's definitely a lot of stuff he'd rather keep to himself too if he's going to be telepathically talking to people here. ]

[Fay helps him across the thread that bridges their minds, inviting him to stand in the shallows of her own thoughts. Her own shields are solid, impenetrable things, impossible to see or sense through.]

Here.

[She wraps on one with her fist—as she said, the mind for the blood is an almost physical space. They don't occupy their bodies inside her mind, but their forms are present in front of her shields.

Carefully, she lets part of one shield fade. Beyond it, another stands tall and imposing.] Beyond that are more personal thoughts, less the fleeting "I'm so hungry" or "Verim's knee is in my kidney again" thoughts and more... "I'm afraid if Verim doesn't move his knee I might yell at him and hurt him." That kind of thing.

[She invites him closer, letting him inspect the shield in her mind.

It's simple, made of clean lines, and gives the impression of steel.]

The shields are as much to keep others out and your thoughts in as they are to protect you. I've been building these for... [A thoughtful noise.] Fourteen hundred years. So don't expect yours to be as big or as grand straightaway.

[ Calvin is no expert (at all) on things like mental shields, but if the walls are something you create yourself then solid ones like this have to take a lot of practice, or willpower, or whatever else might be needed to make them.

Fourteen hundred years would definitely be enough time to get some practice in, and in the middle of closely examining one of the shields he starts, and turns his head to look at her.

Her mental projection?

Whatever the case is. Then again, if you count the time he's lived on repeat he's much older than he himself even realizes. ]

Yeah... I don't think I'll ever really have a chance to log in that much practice.

[ Clearing his throat as he turns back to the wall. ]

I get what you mean now. The end product ends up looking a little more literal than I was thinking.

[A smile blooms on her face, and warmth radiates through the bond between their minds.]

A literal wall is a helpful mental visualization. I don't usually use something quite like this, but I figured you would find it more helpful than...

[The wall fades—and so do several more behind it. Much further away, much deeper in her mind, a solid barrier remains. It's impossible to say if that's the last one before the Core of self is reached, but if Calvin gets that impression he wouldn't be wrong.]

You'll slip often to begin with, but you'll also find building the shields natural. It won't take long to get the shields in place and keep them there as easily as you breathe.

[ Even if not the core that she was talking about, Calvin as least has the sense to put together that this is a pretty buried part of herself she wants to keep locked up. So while he does his best to focus on the structures in the distance, he tactfully opts not to move closer towards it.

Sometimes you want to guard yourself a bit, sometimes he wants to guard himself a bit, and to intrude on someone else like that would be extremely hypocritical. ]

Do people usually get invasive with things like this? I mean, until I get these walls, or shields down anything that's not on the surface will probably be ignored, right?

[ He can live with people knowing he's an awkward loser. He already messes up in person conversations, mental ones are probably going to be the same. But he doesn't want people probing deeper than that. ]

[Calvin, in one moment, has understood the sanctity of the mind better than nearly anyone else who isn't Blood.

But his question pulls a rumble of unease through Fayura's mind along with a sudden spike of terror that feels old and familiar. In an instant, all her shields are back in place. Her expression becomes a mix of shame, embarrassment, and apology. When she speaks, her voice is soft.]

Forgive me. I didn't anticipate that question.

[She should have, she thinks, but the emotional reaction to that thought doesn't reach them where they stand in the shallows of casual thought.]

They don't, unless their aim is to manipulate or hurt. The mind holds the core of the Self and the means by which we access our power. Stepping inside someone's mind without permission is an incredible breach of trust between the Blood. While we might casually brush each other's minds to get a better sense of someone's emotional state, doing more is... [She swallows hard.] Let's just say that if one of the Blood tried to push into your mind, the conversation we're having about the young landen man? It would not happen again in that other situation.

[Because Fay would execute that person. And the Blood would not stop her.]

[ Turns out it pays to be emotionally guarded sometimes. Kind of...

Mostly it was just him being hopeful people had some common courtesy, but the immediate response he gets alarms him. He shrinks down on himself, not sure how to really protect himself in a situation like this.

It takes him a second to process the implication of what she's saying, and he's not entirely sure if it's a comfort or not. ]

Wow... okay. I'll... I guess I'll rest easy knowing most people won't be dumb enough to try something like that then?

Trust is important among the Blood because we can cause devastating hurt with casual ease. When that trust is violated, the offender is... removed. So they might not hurt someone else.

[She gives him a faint smile.]

It's not something I enjoy, but trust, once violated, is not easy to regain. If someone proves unworthy of it and capable of damaging society as a result, they won't be allowed to continue.

[ It's actually a little horrifying, and there's definitely a sense of discomfort surrounding him at the thought. He came from a place where rules of law were extremely important, and a state where the death penalty hadn't been issued in a over a decade.

He's trying to keep that in though, because he's currently at the mercy of the court, and he's got decent survival instincts. He's not exactly looking to tick off his hosts right now.

So he tries to keep it light, even if this isn't a light conversation. ]

You guys really don't mess around.

[If she senses his horror at all, she doesn't show it.]

We don't, no. The Cataclysm itself...

[Fayura's brows come together. Deep in her mind, there's a quiet rumble like thunder over a mountain peak at midnight.]

Well, it was 5000 years ago, and we've nothing to tell us what it was. [She leads him back to his own mind, following the thread that still hangs between them.] I think, however, I should go deal with our guest. Eventually, he'll stop associating my presence with fear if I walk by him enough times and cause him no harm. If ever you need something, don't hesitate to ask.

[ Just like going home. Or more, this whole experience has been a little strange and jarring, so settling back into something he's more familiar with is easier. ]

Yeah, thanks. I appreciate that.

[ And even though emotions can be felt in this link, he still feels the need to add-- ]

Seriously.

[ Oh, also-- ]

And good luck with the guy, and, you know, the whole murder trial in general.

Thank you, Calvin. I need all the luck I can get.

[Her mind withdraws, a gentle ripple, and leaves him alone in his thoughts once more.]

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