From: "Julie" Subject: Brainwash - part 1/? Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 22:29:58 -0500 Hello to everyone! This is a story that's being going around in my head for a while. I don't know if I'll ever get around to finishing it. It's about a rogue P12, who gets found out by the Corps. Mainly, it's about the brainwashing techniques of the Corps (ie: "The Corps is mother, the Corps is father", and how they get people to believe it). Write me at julieg@ibm.net if you want more story. :) *************************** Brainwash Jessica sat on a chair in the corner of the ballroom of the Mars Regency Hotel, trying to look small. If only they didn't scan her, she'd be all right. For the moment, it was working. None of the black-uniformed Psi-Cops looked in her direction. They claimed they were at the hotel because several suspected Free Mars members, including its head, were staying at the hotel. It was true. Though Jessica was not a member of Free Mars, she had found out that several of the people in this room were in its ranks. The Psi Corps would find out too; they were thorough that way. No, Jessica was afraid for a very different, and to her mind more significant, reason. She was a rogue telepath. The Free Mars members, if discovered, would face imprisonment, maybe hard labor. Jessica would have to join the Corps. There were few things as frightening to her as the idea of joining the Corps. They had done terrible things to her family, her friends. They had... She was snapped out of her train of thought by a woman walking towards her. Jessica briefly thought of putting up barriers, but the woman wasn't a Psi-Cop, wasn't a member of the Corps. The woman came over and began to speak, just making conversation.20 "I wonder how much longer they'll be. I mean it's been three hours already. How long can it take?" She had a point. It didn't take long to scan. What took a long time was the interrogation, so that the telepath would know what to look for. Of course, Jessica wouldn't tell that part. She feigned ignorance and shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, I'm sorry," said the woman, "I haven't introduced myself, have I? My name's Minney. And you are85?" "Jessica." "Pleased to meat you. Have they gotten to you yet?" She said it in reference to the fact that the Psi-Cops had said the everyone in the room would be scanned before anyone was let out. Jessica shook her head, no. That was how she wanted it. Maybe the Corps members wouldn't notice her. "Well, lucky for you. They just got though with me. Not pleasant, I can tell you." Jessica knew already. The woman, Minney, was afraid. She was Free Mars. Poor woman, she'd probably be sent to Earth for trial. Before Jessica could think of something to say, a Psi-Cop walked up. "What, do you want me again?" Minney said, a little too quickly. "No, of course not." The Cop looked at Jessica, "Excuse me, miss, but you haven't been scanned yet, have you?" Jessica didn't move. "I'm not Free Mars." "That's what they all say. And I believe you, miss, really I do. This is just a formality. If you'll please come this way85" He gestured towards the room at the far end of the hall, that the Corps decided to use as their interrogation chambers. The hall was filled with protesting people. Jessica didn't move. "This scan, will it be a deep scan?" "Yes, that's the only sure way to get accurate information." "I thought it was against the law to scan someone without their consent." She kept thinking, knowing the answer, but needing to find a way out. "Yes, in most cases that's true. But since President Clarke declared marshal law, the Corps had been given permission to scan suspected criminals. Which is the status of everyone in this room still not scanned." He gestured again. "Deep scans? My friend was deep scanned once. Do you know what happened to her?" "No, but come now, you can tell85" "She now lives," Jessica interrupted, speaking softly, "In the Mars Mental Home. She babbles like a baby, and will until the day she dies. Which probably won't be much longer, because she keeps trying to kill herself." It was a long shot, but the woman, Minney, gasped. "Did that really happen?" "Oh, yes." "Interesting as that is," said the Psi-Cop, "you have nothing to worry about. Damage like that can only happen to a telepath resisting the scan. You friend was a runaway telepath." Yes, she had been. They were co-conspirators. Jessica pretended to be surprised. "Really?" "Yes. So you see, nothing to worry about. Come on, we're wasting time." Somehow, Jessica didn't feel any better, but she had run out of ideas. She got up and followed the Psi-Cop. Jessica was though the room, keeping her mind locked up tight, letting only little thoughts trickle through her barrier. She tried to make herself seem like a normal. The Psi-Cop didn't comment, and Jessica didn't dare scan him. He would know, and she would be found out. ********************************* Have a fitznanitating day! Julie :) Come to the Procrastinator's Aid! It's full of lists, quizzes, and jokes, to prevent you from doing any real work! http://www.geocities.com/~yourstruly/ From: "Julie" Subject: Brainwash - part 2/? Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 22:30:22 -0500 Okay, here's part two of the set. Again, it's about a rogue P12 who is found out by the Corps and their methods of getting her to join the Corps. ********************************* They came to the end of the ballroom, walked down a short corridor, and entered a small room. It was a modified conference room, there were several barriers set up, making each section appear small. In each section were two chairs and a Psi-Cop, and nothing else, except in some rooms the normal being interrogated. From what she had been able to find out, there were no other rogues in the hotel. Which would only make the Corps more interested in her. Her escort gestured to one section, which she entered, and her escort left and closed the door to the little room. The Psi-Cop in the room was waiting for her. "Please, have a seat," he said. She did, still thinking about how to get out, but not finding any answers. The Psi-Cop looked tired; he had scanned too much today, and that took a lot of energy. It helped Jessica a little, though, because it would be a tiny bit easier to try and block him, if it was possible to block a trained Psi-Cop. No, don't think about that. If anyone was able to block him, it was Jessica. She was the daughter of two telepaths, both greater that P10, one a P12. She herself would probably be ranked a P12, if she'd ever been tested. And she'd kept practicing her blocks. She had practiced with Belle, the telepath who'd tried to block but failed, and who was now crazy. Yes, Jessica was as ready as she would ever be. If it was possible, she would keep that Cop out of her head. The Psi-Cop, finally over some of his exhaustion, turned towards her. "This will be fairly routine," he said, "I'm just going to ask you some questions, scan you, and then you can go." Oh, if only it would be that easy. Jessica just nodded, her mental barriers ready to go up in an instant if he tried to scan without telling her. The Psi-Cop started asking questions, as if off a mental checklist. "What's your name?" "Jessica Matthews." Check. "How long have you been on Mars?" "About three years." Check. "Has any Free Mars member ever approached you?" "No." Check. "Are you a member of Free Mars?" "No." Check. His list completed, he sat down on the chair in front of her. "Thank you. I'm going to scan you now. Don't worry, it won't hurt. Just relax." At the word 91scan', her blocks were up. An invisible wall blocked off her mind. Just relax, no, it wasn't that simple. He would find out soon enough. She was scared, but she was ready. She waited. Whatever they would do to her, she would be waiting for them. Her blocks were up. She waited, on the balls of her mental feet. Then the shock came. Her wall nearly collapsed, but she held it up. He hadn't been expecting a barrier. She saw his eyes narrow, ready to try again. And he did. She was better prepared this time; she knew what was coming. So was he. He knew there would be opposition, so he came stronger. Jessica imagined a brick wall in front of her eyes, strong, solid. Instead of pulling away this time, like he had done before, he tried to push forward, knock out a brick. Jessica kept up her wall, kept it whole, putting bricks back where he had tried to knock them out. He wasn't getting into her head. She used her anger for him and for the Corps, who led her father to suicide bit by bit with sleepers, the Corps, who had made Belle go insane. She used her anger to make her wall stronger. The Cop pulled out. He was too tired to do the mental wrestling. "Security," he called, and two men were there. "Cuff her, and whatever you do, don't let her leave." Jessica couldn't scan the Cop, but she could scan the guards who pointed their PPGs at her. It was against the law to perform an involuntary scan, but if the Psi Corps was doing it, so would she. The guards were curious and attentive. They hadn't been called yet today. They wondered who was this girl, that she was of such interest. One the Cop saw that she was cuffed, his eyes got a faraway look. Jessica knew that look. He was talking with another telepath, probably his superior here, asking what he should do with the girl who could block him. It was probably the first time in his life he'd been blocked by someone other than another Psi-Cop, and he wasn't happy. He looked back at her, his eyes refocusing. He didn't say anything, and he didn't try to scan her, he just sat on his chair. In a few moments another Psi-Cop entered the room. He talked with the other Cop, silently, in their minds, where Jessica wouldn't hear. Then the first Psi-Cop left, as did all the security guards. Jessica was left alone, handcuffed, with the new Cop. She looked at him, memorizing his face. He had black hair and black eyes. He looked back at her, sat down. "Jessica?" He spoke with an accent she couldn't quite place. It didn't matter. She wouldn't talk to him, so he kept speaking. "I understand you've caused a bit of trouble for yourself. It makes someone like me wonder why you were here, waiting for us." Jessica wanted to yell at him that she hadn't been waiting, she'd been caught. But she wouldn't speak. She just kept her block up. "I hope you realize that while you might be able to block Johnson, you will not block me85 no one blocks me." <> he added silently, mind-speaking. And with that, he pushed. Her mind-wall felt the blow, shuddered, but didn't fall. Then, slowly, methodically, he started removing the supporting bricks. Jessica shoved them back in. Back and forth, in and out, her wall stood, barely. Then she knew, a few more pushes and he would be inside, and she would turn out like Belle had turned out. So with every scrap of anger in her body, she threw him out of her mind. He looked up, surprised. She took notice of her surroundings, of the world outside her head. She didn't know how much time had passed. It might have been seconds, it might have been hours. It really didn't matter. She was sweating, as was he, and she was gasping for breath. If he came back now, he'd win. She didn't have any strength left. But he didn't come back. He was surprised, shocked, angry. He had been telling the truth when he had said that no one had ever blocked him, and that made her scared, of him, and of herself. She didn't want him in her head, but how strong was she, to have done what she had apparently just done? **************************** Have a fitznanitating day! Julie :) Come to the Procrastinator's Aid! It's full of lists, quizzes, and jokes, to prevent you from doing any real work! http://www.geocities.com/~yourstruly/ From: "Julie" Subject: Brainwash - part 3/? Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 22:30:45 -0500 Okay, everyone. Here's the next installment. :) ************************** The PsiCop composed himself, and then smiled. It was a smile of a man who knew something she didn't. It frightened her. <> he asked. "Stay out of my head." "If that's what you want," he said, speaking aloud. "Yes." Jessica said it coldly, trying to keep her fear inside her, trying to calm it. He could scan her more easily if she felt strong emotions, and fear was especially effective. She forced herself to calm down, breathe deeply. "You haven't answered the question. Do they?" She didn't answer. She sat, letting him get at whatever point he was trying to make. He didn't speak either, for a few moments. "Do you realize," he asked, "that you are under arrest? You are a blip, a rogue telepath, and judging from your age, you have been so for several years. You've willfully resisted a scan, and refused to cooperate with the Psi Corps. Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?" Jessica kept quiet. Yes, she knew, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that.20 He didn't seem to notice that she wasn't answering. He just kept talking. "Now, I have some, in fact a lot, of influence in the Corps. If you cooperate, I'm sure I could get you out of some of the trouble you're in. Some paperwork might get lost. I don't want a lot, I just want answers. You just have to talk." Jessica couldn't stay quiet anymore. "I won't tell you about my friends," she said. "Your blip friends. No, of course not. We probably know more about them than you do." I wouldn't count on it, thought Jessica. "I just want to know, how do they treat you?" "Who?" "The mundanes, the normals." "What do you mean?" "Well, when you tell them you're a rogue telepath85" he paused, as if a though hit him, though Jessica was sure he'd had this conversation dozens of times before with others like her. "You do tell them, don't you?" Jessica shook her head, no. "Well, I suppose that makes sense," he said, still smiling. "If you told them, they would turn you in, and then you would be sitting handcuffed while I interrogated you." He paused. "Ironic, isn't it, that it turned out that way in the end, anyway. But it's a big secret you've been keeping all this time, not being able to tell anyone. It must have been hard for you, to have such a big part of you that you had to keep secret." "I managed." "Yes, I see that. But I can't image how hard it must be, not being able to trust anyone, knowing that at least some of your blip friends are undercover Corps operatives. Never being able to reveal yourself, always on the run. Tell me, what do you think the normals would do with you if they found out about your talent?" "I don't know." "Oh, but I think you do. There must have been one time, near the beginning, when you couldn't control it very well, where some normals found out." "Yes." "And?" "They were afraid of me, angry at me. They thought that I knew all their secrets, when I didn't know any. They laughed at me." Jessica hadn't meant to say all that. They words left her mouth almost as if of their own accord. The Cop didn't seem surprised at all. In fact, this was exactly what he wanted. He'd probably had this conversation dozens of times with other rogue telepaths. He was trying to separate her from her non-telepath friends. "Yes, people can be angry and scared at things they don't understand. In the Corps, you know, everyone will understand you. They'll look up to you for being better at your skill than they are." "I won't ever join the Corps!" "Why is that?" Jessica's mind flooded with thoughts that she pushed into him. He was caught off guard. His mind filled with a series of images, of her times with Belle, the only person she had ever really trusted. She showed him what the Corps had done to Belle. She showed him how they had driven her father to suicide. She showed him her mother, who had died during childbirth and never been there for her. She showed him how she had to be constantly on the run from the Corps. She tried to show him more, but he closed off his mind. "Well, I can see we have a lot to talk about." Jessica glared at him. "There's nothing to talk about." "That's not the way I see it. Look at it this way, you don't want to join the Corps, because of all these terrible things you believe the Corps has done. That's your right. But what if I were to show you why these things weren't really so terrible, and how you can never really fit in outside the Corps." "You couldn't do that." "And if I could?" "You. Could. Not." In fact, Jessica's resolve had started to waver about how she could fit in to normal society. She could never tell anyone about herself, and if she made even one little slip, she wouldn't just be interrogated. It would be worse next time. But it didn't matter, she wouldn't ever join the Corps, no matter what would happen. ******************************* More to come, possibly. This is all I've already written. Have a fitznanitating day! Julie :) Come to the Procrastinator's Aid! It's full of lists, quizzes, and jokes, to prevent you from doing any real work! http://www.geocities.com/~yourstruly/