AW [Secret World] Luminocity

[Char]

The thing that got one's attention was that there was nothing to get their attention. The silence was loud and annoying in the way that even the beating of the heart and the sound of blood flowing was as loud as a burst dam when someone in sensory deprivation came back to lucidity out of the other place the mind resided while cultivating. It made their sensitive ears ring, and the muscles of their back twitch. Day in, and day out, despite the lack of ability to tell time in the dark and lightless tanks until the mind began to animate and the body follow suite as the metabolism fastened and hunger pains prompted from the awakening body that it was time to rise once more.

But it was not hunger that awoke them from their cultivation, no sound even if one could exist had woken them, no odor or flicker of light had seeped into the psyche to alert them to wake. Instead, it was something beyond the five senses; A mental caress on the periphery of an organ unseen and non-existent in the way of a physical vessel might understand.

No. This was different. A reflex to something ingrained in the mental faculties installed in the occupants of these tanks as something foreign to them, but not unknown invaded the absolute nothingness and gently, just barely enough to stir them and realize the mental invasion of what one might consider an aura for lack of a better term.

And just like that the body then reminded them they needed to breathe as the near lethargy of their heart and blood flow slowing as it did in their self-imposed suspended animation faded and more than a few of them coughed and wheezed as their normal bodily functions once again took over.

When the atrophy of muscles unused for days started to fade as their muscles stimulated again, and their blood had begun to flow again to the point their hearts almost hurt from running at a normal blood pressure rate. At this point they were able to find and push open the lid of the sensory deprivation tanks and sit up.

They would find a small room only large enough to fit the tank and a small locker; Inside being towels, some personal effects stored before entering the tank, a bathrobe, personal health items, and a basic smock with light scrubs-style trousers, shirt, and slippers. Able to dry off the room-temperature water from their bodies and stretch underused muscles once again the body would stiffen as the mental invasion infringed on them, urging them on and forcing the erection of mental defenses as the details in the room became sharper, the smell of the ozone stronger, and the ambient sounds of the sloshing water more clear and vibrant.

Each one of them knew that outside that door they would find a hallway lined with others its twin, each finding an identical setup for which dozens of other Augurs just like them still cultivated like that had for days before. The walls were not so thick as to do more than muffle the sound and vibrations from a couple of the doors opening and closing as slippers shuffled on hard hospital-tile floor, however.

On the back of the door of the locker in the room upon getting dressed was a small tablet built in just barely large enough that the mirror function it solely provided could they appraise themselves in.

Beyond the door, the mental tug urged them on not hurriedly but enough to make its presence known that they were beckoned and expected.

 

[Gunhand4171]

One of the first stir was a tall, stocky young man. He had felt the tug on his mind and began to awaken. His feet made contact with floor, but his unused leg muscles weren't quite ready to bear his body weight. He crashed down to his hands and knees while his lungs greedily sucked down air.

After several hacking coughs, he righted himself. His training started kicking in and his mental defenses were quickly being erected as he made his way to the locker. The nameplate on the locker door had one word "Judgment."

Inside was a small mirror which Judgment used to check himself over. He ran a hand over a bald head, Crimson eyes staring back at him. As he finished dressing, he looked back to see if anyone else had finished getting ready.

 

[Soresu]

The girl that had been known as Anaïs had lain in a state of dormancy for however long. Her body was unfeeling for the most part. Just the girl and her thoughts. Things had been slow but steady in a way that someone may have perceived it so. But in relative terms, it would have not been so for her or not nearly so much. Having stopped caring about the length of time growing, or the quickening of the mind-expanding, Anaïs had accepted this in the end. It was serene in a way. A haven from the hell that had been absolute war.

That sensation of peace faltered at the faint intrusion. Just on the edge of expanded consciousness. And with it, her world had begun to be wrought into a riot of sensation. Steadily it had all comeback. Things were half-remembered and old reflexes kicked in. The sucking in of air and it coming out as a pitched croak and another while her muscles twitched then tensing at another, sharper intent coming from her probed mental defenses.

All of this had made her lurch forward and open a door while her heart had felt as if someone had squeezed the damn thing. Just to get it pumping again.

Everything came off as strange. Details sharper. Scents heightened. That ozone smell wrinkling her nose a little. Items pocketed in the robe and smocked, her feet slippered and thankful for it. But also hate it at the same time.

In the hallway even muted and muffled as they were, the footfalls and doors opening still startled her enough to make her jump. Anaïs, now known as 'Hermit' had shrugged muscles still unused to being used to seeing a tall, sturdy young man ahead of her and followed. Hermit had been going in that direction anyway it felt like. And whatever lay down that hallway was waiting for her.

 

[Wolf626]

In a certain room, the child know as Ciaphas pushed open the lid of the tank and stepped out. He called himself Ciaphas, but he wasn't entirely sure that was his name. That was the name the labcoats used before they started calling him 'Magician'. Supposedly some of his memories had faded during the procedures, or so they said. How much could he trust them to be telling the truth?

Sighing, to himself, he thought "One existential crisis at a time brain." Quickly getting dressed, his eyes lingered on the small set of books that formed the core of his personal effects. Those he remembered. He remembered their smell, the smudges, the creaks and the words in them. He remembered being carried away to strange worlds on wonderful adventures in his mind. They were a beacon of solace for the lost boy.

Checking himself in the small mirror, he saw his tanned skin, his dark shaggy hair and his hazel eyes. As he prepared his mental shields to hide his disposition, he smiled in the mirror. Not the smile of Ciaphas the child. The devilish smirk of the Magician, the trickster on par with the grand adventures of Dr. Ajax Jones the adventuring archeologist, Ronan the Barbarian, James Blackstone the detective.

Now ready and confindent he turned for the door. He stepped out and he spoke clearly.

"Gooooood Morning, Ereshkigal!!! Who's ready for another day in this dark and broody dirtball?"

 

[Soresu]

"You're so loud!" hissed Hermit, hands cupped against her ears. The fragile-looking young woman with her alabaster skin, strawberry blond hair, and blue eyes. From her accent, she was from the eastern part of Babel's continent. Part of the plating at her feet suddenly dipped with a protested groan at the sudden outburst of emotional stress.

"This is a dark world with a dead name." her voice small and withdrawn in answer and folding into herself. There had been the ever so faint traces of thoughtfulness to her choice of words. As if the belief had been delicately entwined with perceived truths.

Her voice was low, but it lost none of its quality or accent, "Where are we going loud boy? I feel someone trying to tug at my mind."

 

[Char]

Columbary.

At Ciaphas' usual and unnecessary shouting a few responses were elicited. At least four other rooms had their occupants shift their attention his way and it was obvious to all of those near Ciaphas that the negative emotions from the waking psychics that if they could have harmed him with their negative emotions; They would.

The rest of the rooms were silent, but from the barely perceptive psychic emanations from within, there were still some twenty-plus of their fellow AUGURs still cultivating their mental energy and seeking a deeper understanding of their power and mind in the absolute isolation of their sensory deprivation tanks.

Other than these doors was just a single archway devoid of a hatch or door that opened into a massive expanse of an interior roughly the size of a sports field and easily fifty-foot to the top of the domed ceiling of paneled lights in a symmetrical grid creating the illusion of an endless white void that could any of the psychics not sense the boundaries could very well have gone into the sky itself.

Not that any of them had been outside to see the sky save a select few the OIA took to support them on operations. They knew what some of their knew dark home looked like through viewing screens, videos, and pictures. But nothing out there would ever be as bright as inside the Columbary.

The Columbary itself was little more than an arena-sized dome and some ten-score diverting halls identical to what they had just come through that led to the same rows of halls and cultivation rooms. Inside the dome was a different story as it was a flat and level arena with only a few noticeable diverts in the floor where they knew objects like tables and chairs and stools could be pulled out of their spaces in the floor.

Other than that cubbies in the wall for simple equipment storage arranged to an OCD fanatics perfection and a sealed window for which their 9,000-calorie supplement meals could be retrieved to help from the calorie burn of their extreme mental exertions.

The final exception was several rings painted on the floor at fifty, forty, thirty, twenty, ten, and finally five-foot intervals in a near-spiral where AUGURs can sit in pre-defined points and often an OIA sanctioned teacher would come in from time to time and take the center of the formation and educate them on various topics.

On this particular day, some ten AUGURs were situated around the second ring and sat statue-still in simple lotus position while each of them wore their simple clothes and all of them blindfolds while they tried to levitate various objects around the circle in tandem with one another while adjusting to the properties of the objects.

A heavy cement ball weighing almost 5 kilograms, a light rubber ball just after that would almost jump away as they suddenly had to adjust from the exertion of the weight, a ball with an electronic gyro that spun and jerked it in different directions, an hourglass where the weight from the sand would shift from one side to the other, a balloon full of water that constantly warped its shape as each psychic tried to grasp it mentally without the use of hands, and such objects were levitated in near-perfect unison ever so slowly. By the physical feeling of the mental exertion coming off of the psychics it was obvious they had been at the task for some time.

Each of the new arrivals knew the training and had performed it multiple times. And they also knew the true hardship was the powerful psychic sitting in the center circle who was constantly flowing against the intentions of the larger group and pushing the objects in the opposite direction; Making them fight against a proverbial current. Upon their arrival, the first generation in the center had stopped her part of the ordeal, and with a clear gasp of exhaustion, the participating group each sagged, sulked, or collapsed from near-exhaustion as their trials and tribulations for the day finally ended.

"Okie! 'S all for today, gang!" The first generation clapped once from the center circle, the off-white bathrobe opened down the front to expose the same hospital wear as the rest of them chimed with her slight Rathcroghan accent as each of her wards slowly grumbled as each of them dropped their blindfolds to the floor and stumbled up and over to a basket where they deposited the various training items before shuffling tired and wordlessly into one of the halls and back to their cultivation rooms.

"I see you got my wakeup!" She grinned and looked not quite at the group while beckoning them over with an enthusiastic wave and motioned for them to also sit.

Still looking past and off to the side of each of them, it would have been odd if each of them had not known that behind the black shades she wore, Scathatch Kay was as blind as the day she was born.

"So!" She offered a sunbeam smile to the group, "Before we begin today's lesson, why not show ye older sister what ye been working on since last week?"

 

[Gunhand4171]

Columbary:

Judgment too winced at how loud his fellow AUGUR was being. "Pipe down Magician, and follow me." He said leading Hermit from their shared space. As the three entered the big central chamber he found Ms. Kay.

He made his way over and sat down. "I've gained a few more seconds on my sight." He replied. Judgment was primarily a Seer, though he had dabbled a bit into matter manipulation. Over the past week he had been trying to extend how far he could glance into the future. He could still only see about 3-4 seconds ahead, but he could see those seconds with intense clarity.

Taking one of the 5 kilo balls he tossed it into the air and closed his eyes, facing Ms. Kay. In his minds eye, he could see the ball coming down and smacking his head.

Bringing both hands up, he caught the ball and set it down infront of him before opening his eyes again. It was the best he could without somebody throwing something at his head.

 

[Char]

Columbary

"Very good, judgy!" Ms.Kay clapped twice before moving onto the next as the last few Augurs where still shuffling in.

Most wandered about, collecting materials from nearby bins or on tabled pulled from the floor with the last groups own tests spawled about as one by one each of them showed of some of the progress of their theories to one another.

A man around Scathach' age took a several kilogram cube of tungsten in his palm and in his hands it became as malleable as old putty.

Another man younger than them held his arm straight down towards the ground, palm out, and his skin visibly rippled in waves as it turned an irritated pink but slowly started to darken as he catalyzed the tyrosinase in his body locally until a light-brown band had formed around his forearm that could have looked like a tattoo with some more practice.

A younger girl next stood on her tip-toes, and then even further as she stood almost impossibly on the points of her slippers and ever indication of the mental energy she was exuding that the others could feel made it clear that in time she could catch up to the near-levitation and faux-gravity alteration some of the first generations had devised.

A particularly devious young man had snatched up a three-kilogram cube of titanium and broke its bonds until it was flowing about him like sand in a breeze before brazenly declaring that he was close to his theory of reforming it through his pores and into his body to strengthen his bone structure. Kay joined in on spitballing enthusiastically about the properties and rapid expulsion to extract the element as needed. The man of barely nineteen paled when the possibility of removing a kidney or other spare organs to make dead-space for such material quickly had him beg off.

A particularly young girl, advanced in her cultivation compared to some others, demonstrated a staggering mental aegis when she startled the man next to her and then perfectly mimicked his every jerk of surprise directly across from him and even seemed to lead him on unwittingly with her own directions to the point she was able to manipulate him into lightly slapping himself in the groin which caused him to double over with a grunt much to his chagrin. With the limited reading, everyone present was able to deduce the blooming sadism in the girl who showed every intention of continuing on before the young girl stiffened with an audible squeak.

"Never forget that you are still human, little yulia." Scthach intoned with a less than jovial tone she used when someone went too far. None of them seeded any supernatural abilities to feel the drop in temperature or the psychic waves of overt hostility Scathach purposefully bled off as she actively triggered a fear response in the group. The first generation Augurs like Scathach Kay were not too different from all the second gen' in the group; The prime exception being their control over mental energies being much more raw and powerful.

While all the first generation were fanatics when it came to researching and experimenting with their powers, Scathach Kay was one of the few ahead of the curb in most of the theories that she attributed to the breakthroughs she was able to cultivate in most of the second generation that she was able to attribute to her own research much like lab rats, while most of the other first gen' prefered to work alone or in small groups amongst their specialties with only controlled variables.

"Because of our power we need to ensure that we are the ones controlling it and now the other way around; If we let our power get to our heads and allow ourselves to become something other than human..."

She let the statement linger as she withdrew her suppression of the young girl; Those of the group with keener senses able to already see-through and begin the basic understanding how she overwhelmed the girl Yulia by psychically suppressing her mental energy and wavelength the same way as snuffing out a candle by depriving it of oxygen.

"The difference between you and me," She began, no doubt somehow reading the candle analogy off of someone despite her blindness, "Is like a match compared to a lighter; We of the first generation burn brighter and hotter than you but burn quick, whereas you of the second generation can burn much longer, reliably, and consistently." She patted the floor where she still sat, urging everyone to take a seat around her.

"Now then, does anyone have any questions or anything they would like to show off before we start todays lesson?"

 

[A_Bibor_Farkas]

In the emptiness, that echoed in her head, the deprivation tank forcing a focus on both silence and the deafening noise. It would seem the constant fight, that so often occurred within the young girls mind, had finally crowned a Victor. Too often did the silence of the tanks, create the perfect playground for each girl in her head. All wanting to Burst out and take hold of the body they all now encompassed. Her atrophied muscles would finally tense to life, lashing back at the rude intrusion. A small ripple caused by her own mental defenses.

The placard now reformed, from being crumpled like paper read,'Tower'. Hurriedly throwing her clothes on, forgetting her slippers, the sound of little feet slapping hard against the cold floors of the white hall could almost be heard, more as flesh smacking tile than any real weight.

Columbary

Through dark charcoal hair one wide almost crazed golden orb took in all of the sights, smells and other sounds of the dome. Far too enthusiastic Tower sprinted through gasps of air as her body could barely keep up with her mind."You are all too slow! They'll play with 'yer brain if you don't make results!" Stepping immediately into one of the rings Tower looked to Kay in the middle of the room, her one visible eye erratically darting for something to manipulate. before locking onto the girl. " gimme gimme gimme, I'll make something really nice......REALLY nice, then they can stay out for a bit. If it's not nice they dig....." Tower pulled one of the balls from a nearby circle, interrupting the Augurs performance. Breaking down the rubber ball before attempting to reformat the item into a hammer, impatiently breaking down and rebuilding until finally the item falls apart in her hand. Tower's hands begin to shake as she looks around, her one golden orb dancing through everyone, looking for another item to manipulate.

 

[Wolf626]

"Come now, Hermy, if I didn't do my routine, we'd suffer critical broodiness levels." At her question, Magician turned to answer before being interrupted by Judgement. "Guess we're following Pinball over there."

Columbary

WIth a warm smile, Magician greeted Ms. Kay. "Hey Big Sis, hard at work as always I see. I've made progress with Static. Observe!" With a dramatic flair of his hands, his hair puffed up. With a tighter smile, he continued, "I've improved a bit on the other stuff, but nothing to write home about." While Magician never flunked, he never excelled either. There was always someone better at telekinesis, or matter shaping or something else. The best anyone ever said about him was how rounded he was, which frankly upset. He wasn't chubby! Definitely not fed enough to be chubby.

As he opened his mouth to answer Ms. Kay, he was interrupted by Tower. With a grimace, he whispered to the others, "Nuts, we got a PMS day." PMS was code for irrationally angry. Or at least, that's what Magician had deduced from listening to the whitecoats complain one day.

 

[Gunhand4171]

Columbary

Judgment was happy for the praise from their older sister. As the others demonstrated what they learned, he retreated back into his mind building up his mental defenses. What helped him was to imagine a fortress. As he erected towers, walls, and bunkers his mental defenses were strengthened.

Yet a commotion from the other AUGURs broke him from his exercise. Looking over he saw Tower, in a frantic state.

At Magician's comment he snapped "Shut it Magician! You aren't helping." Standing, he moved to Tower speaking in calm, low tones. "Tower, slow down. Take a breath and come sit down." He said gesturing to a spot next to him and closer to Kay. He cast an apologetic glance to the AUGUR who Tower took the ball from and handed them the one he had been using.

As he brought her over grabbed a few more pieces for Tower to deconstruct and reconstruct. Hopefully it would keep her occupied for the time being.

 

[LavaLung]

Columbary

The presence of another made itself known in a horridly cloy way, a stray discordant string amongst the chorus of more concise, cool aligned auras.

"Peace, be still." An impressively tall woman lingered into the space behind Tower's left shoulder, pale and lithe like a royal ghost. "Peace comes to the animal nature, and... then the abyss does cease, giving up a form."

The Moon was like that. She glimmered an unwelcome light upon all secrets. She saw everything. A bloodhound of burgeoning, blossoming ability; And one that rarely chose to hide their smothering, intimate psychic presence.

A peaceful smile crossed their lips, downswept eyes and long nose giving off a genuinely interested and supportive expression.

But to a psychic, there was nothing behind those eyes. No memory, like a truly functioning person should have. No barrier of emotional defence to protect the soul from the outside world.

Just an untamed subconscious. A mirror. Endlessly looping psychometry producing this... walking humanoid-like device.

"...Judgement is right..." The attention shifted to Magician next, laying down on the cold ground behind them, stretching arms fully outward and making it look as unnatural as possible. "The others, they find your candour... quite destabilizing..."

This was technically following Scathach Kay's instructions.

 

[Soresu]

Hermit would've shot a retort to the loud boy as she called Magician... when he was loud. But the girl, well, a young woman now watched the other Augurs at their work with only mild interest. But when Judgement had been the only one to show off his training at first, Hermit watched. She was a bit of a quiet one. Enjoying the deprivation tanks. Being alone with one's thoughts was... so satisfying. It had allowed her time to contemplate. Remember. Lessons she had learned before the freeze. And then after the thaw. But as Magician once again cracked a joke at poor Tower's expense, even if he could fluff his hair on end it didn't make up for the girl's erratic behavior and mocking.

"Here's a secret," Hermit murmured to Magician from her place. Cross-legged, her thin frame swaying a little as she leaned toward him. "All girls have them." so profound was the tone of her voice it could've possibly been some form of precognitive foretelling. Or the blindingly obvious. Probably both. And a warning.

But as the others showed their progress, Hermit merely lifted an arm, delicate hand in a grasping gesture. With a flexing of her mental will, one of the other Augurs, a boy who had been thawed after her had in his hand an orange. Looking pleased, he had been set to peel it before feeling that tug on the delectable citrusy delight. The little orb, one lab-grown flew from his hand with alacrity and into her waiting grasp. With a warning look to him, Hermit turned the bumpy rind over in her hand.

Adopting a thoughtful look to her countenance, "Hello, Moon." was her way of greeting another of her creche. She liked the girl, despite seemingly being on auto-pilot most of the time. Hermit brought the orange to her nose, inhaled deeply, and let the fruit rest at eye level.

For all the flash she had seen, the floating. The melting and liquifying of metal. Even the hairstylings of Magician, Hermit just looked at the orange. And just like that lowered it after a minute or two.

She kept her nails cut short, but there was enough there to dig into the peel. Soon the aroma of not an orange, but the aromatic scent of lemon perfumed the air around her. With deliberate care, she peeled while leaving the pith intact.

Offering a slice to Moon, then reluctantly to Magician, if either bothered to try it that is. As a show of good faith, Hermit went first. There didn't seem to be much juice for none ran down her chin or at the sides of her mouth as she chewed. With a swallow, she offered a wedge to their teacher. It wasn't an apple. But it would have to do.

But to those she'd offered the morsel's too, the lemon scent was higher, the pith thinner, and the flesh just a little firmer. It didn't taste like lemon or orange, but more like grapefruit. Another failure on her part, the young lady had been gnashing her teeth for candied lemon for days and days.

And had made it her mission to try and just make it herself. The first had made her sick. But progressively it had gotten better. Peeling a wedge off, Hermit held it in her free hand, the bit of fruity flesh floating toward the lad she'd stolen the whole glorious orangery orb from. With a dubious look, she could feel the wafting paranoia and tinge of fear as he took it.

Rolling her blue eyes, another wedge disappeared between pale lips and made a visible show of swallowing. Even opening her mouth to show naught but teeth, throat, and tongue.

Shrugging then, Hermit's air of 'I don't give a fuck' toward him after the offer as she turned to walk toward Judgement, and Tower. Hearing the gasp from behind her, the slight cough and curse of: "Damn it, Hermit!"

Too sweet? It wasn't too tart that she knew. Likely just her method of juice retention. It literally exploded in one's mouth and coated the palate with flavor with the slightest of syrupy consistency. Still not much, but it was progressing. Simple switching of limonene for the smell (For it and lemon were quite literally molecular mirrors in using it), decreasing of the pith and concentration of the vitamins... and just a little firmness of flesh. But no fucking lemon.

Grapefruit had been her sister's liking. Feeling longing welling up, and the faint wafting of abandonment, the placating gesture toward Tower, holding out a little of the changed organic material she cooed, voice sweet from someone who usually kept her cards close to her chest.

"Tower..." she began in that coo, "Tower, you did a much better job today!" with the wedge between fingertips, she dangled it. "Maybe they will let you have something nice for the effort? And we can try again later. Come on, let Judge and I get you seated with Ms.Kay. Maybe she can help to yes? They won't dig then because you're getting proper instruction. And a little reward for the effort in the process."

"But no trying to change the fruit," came the warning. "It is for eating for being a good girl and putting in the effort in trying to make something nice."

 

[A_Bibor_Farkas]

Columbary

Callsign: Tower

As her Fellow AUGURs began to respond to her outburst, Tower groaned in frustration. " I have to get it right....get it right,get it right,get it right! If not they will dig again...." Looking to hermet, clearly distressed, she took the changed fruit, making a face after eating it, calming down slightly. "Hermit, do you understand? The digging and grinding, beeping and....and....and.." Tower trailed off looking to Kay before touching her left brow quietly picking up another object, this time breaking it down and reshaping again and again trying to change its opacity time and time again.

"Moon, why? I have to do this, the handlers told me to. I have to I need to." Her golden eye never leaving the small objects as they broke shape and reformed with a milky opacity. Never truly becoming clear.

 

[LavaLung]

Columbary

Moon rolled onto her back, looking at the ceiling, and was clearly overcome with the mentally transmitted taste of faux-lemon-grapefruit. She wondered if Hermit could ever really imitate the taste of something from memory alone...

Holding the tiny slice up to the surrounding lights and looking through the little cloudy transparent compartments, her platinum hair splayed out onto the floor in a dense cloud. It made her nostalgic... But that was Hermit's nostalgia, wasn't it?... Did it taste better to Hermit because of it? Or even wrong now, because it didn't match the memory?

Breaking it down in her mouth, floating in ownerless thoughts, Moon struggled to answer...

Surging upright without using their arms, her head lulled up and over like a dolls. She skulked towards Tower on all fours, and then melted back into a pile of foggy hair before them.

"...peace, be..."

"...Pray tell... Does a sailing ship move, because it's made of strong, armoured wood? Because it can deflect cannonballs?" A grumbling, one-note monotone. It was almost like they were taking on the role of an oracle quite sarcastically now. "Or is it the wind? Ship becometh strong to catch the wind, to harness that gust and bluster? But does that also not make it heavy, I wonder?"

Sullen eyes looked upwards, and a narrow, toothy smile escaped their lips.

"~A secret is this; Our elders are not so self-scrutinizing. I do not taste your brute force in them.~"

Head down again. Relaxed as a corpse.

"...ehhhhh..... They are older.... They are supposed to teach us... It will be.... A more pleasant dream.... in time....~"

 

[Char]

Columbary

"Okie, enough youthful spunk antics. Come take a seat~" Kay cooed to the group as she didnt even try to hide the calming, soothing aura targetted at everyones empathic senses.

"We're going to continue on from where we left off earlier in the week and work on your nodal perception. Or as i like to call it; Blind Sight!" Kay clapped for herself when nobody else did. Scathach Kay made no small deal about her perception powers and the key to her limited view of the world despite the milky-whites of her eyes stealing all traditional sight from her.

For some, like tower, knew the truth about what the 1st Generation went through having been through it herself. Most of the 2nd Generation with the exception of the single apprentice of loner 1st gens were in the dark as to the details, and the context clues didnt paint a pretty picture to what they could guess.

Each of the 1st Generation had some kind of handicap for lack of a better term. Usually an injury or scaring that Babels medical advances were usually well within their capabilities to fix, but had never done so. For Kay, she had been chemically blinded, but had never eluded as to the circumstances. But through her handicap the pyschic had developed a form of sight without sight that allowed her to navigate the world around her without much aid. She had been builing into imparting the foundation of this power onto their group for the better part of a month to that point...

"Now, just like last time; Close your eyes, open up your mind, and let me in. Once you get a feel for it remember the feeling and the sensation and work towards achieving it on your own."

With everyone sat in the circle, even with their eyes closed it was not hard to Feel Scathach shuffle forwards on her hands and knees. She wasn't wrong about the lighter analogy as they could feel her presence approaching her like the lick of a flame but without the heat or pain. One by one she went to each psychic and pressed a thumb to each temples, the uncomfortable sensation of the pressure in their heads lasting only a moment; Their enhanced senses already feeling the tampering with their frontal lobe and the disconnect from their optic nerves and each of them had to actively fight their passive psychic ability to set their bodies back to their normal sense of rightness.

As she passed, opening their eyes they would see nothing but gray and black, equilibriums instantly fighting the sense of vertigo as more than a few of them had to put their hands on the floor to the side or behind them to steady themselves while a few curled up into a fetal position as if not feeling the floor beneath them would make them fall into the nothingness.

Eventually, after a minute or so, Kay was done and scurried back into the center of the circle.

"Now focus on me." She said, right behind Magician and close enough that he could feel the heat of her breath on the back of his neck and the trace of a finger down his back despite the fact that his every sense screamed that she was sitting instead a few feat infront of him.

"Follow me with your senses". She elicited a meek eep from a young woman, but was still practically invisible to them all.

"Follow where you know i am, paint a picture" A light tap of Towers back, but the presence could be followed as it moved away and to the right before she faded again.

This went on for several hours, Kay occasionally resetting the physical block on their sight from time to time. Each interaction the psychics seemed able to follow her presence a little bit more. It was still just a feeling and nothing more. But there was a growing sense of their surroundings that each psychic could at least now sense their neighbor in their proximity, and ocasionally the misdirection of Kay shuffling her slippers where she was not, or projecting her mental energy somwhere else was washed away.

For those with already high perceptual abilities, it was easier. A picture began to form as she slowly painted it around them with every interaction. For the others it was slower but one by one it finally clicked.

It was like a rippled at first. An echo of a feeling that built and built until when one was unsure any longer if their eyes were even open or closed anymore they would see it. Not kay, no.

But the outline of their neighbor as their near-silent breathing, the small changes in their body as it swayed or moved, the slight flicks of mental energy as they extended their senses augmented by their powers. It was like looking at someone in a pitch-black room and not quite knowing if they were there or not as the mind attempted to correct what it thought it should see.

"I cant explain it. Not until you can see like i do someday" Kay continued to keep everyone focussed on searching for her as she practically drifted about silently, much faster than a blind woman should be able. "I cant see your faces, the colors, the little details. Instead i just see you. Someday you might understand..."

Despite the barely perceptible feeling of sadness the words intoned to their empathic senses most of them could begin to see it, their ingenuity and prodigal nature as artificial geniuses and the less limited nature of the second generation of AUGURs already giving them insight.

All around them were small flames like that of a candle, ringed around like a circle; Some burned brighter, some less so. Some were calmer and more refined while some flickered frantically. And each one illuminated the outline of a person devoid of detail or gender. Only the familiar psychic aura they emitted might identify them.

Kay could be seen too, but in a different way. She was invisible to them all, but instead of the raging bonfire one might expect to see there was instead the absense of anything shifting around them in a circle as she psychically suppressed her surroundings which to a normal person would mask her to their every sense and even if standing in front of them might make their eyes simply glide over and past her. She could be seen in a way she couldnt be seen. That the absence of anything in their new perception was as glaring to them and stuck out as much as a sore thumb.

"I can see through walls, the floor, the screens the overseers put up with the noise that makes it impossible for most to sense through." She continued. "I can see when you're lying by the way your bodies signals change and the change in the biological chemical changes. I can see the makeup of an object without needing to touch it, and even alter it the same."

"I dont think you'll ever be able to see exactly the same as me, or even as well. But keep enhancing your senses one by one by cutting it off as you can and use this method to cultivate an answer to its loss. Now tell me,"

At the end the nothingness also disappeared and the columbary was empty of Scathach Kay.

"What, do you see?"

There was a pause, and then like a light had been flipped on a force brought everyone's new perception back to the center of the ring as something new began to take shape. It was like smoke being sucked into a fan but instead, the null simply flowed and compressed into an indiscernible shape as not matter, but instead, a psychic force was channeled into the center of the ring to form a complex and ever-changing shape beyond description. They could all tell there was nothing there physically. And that Kay was instead using telekinesis to localize her psychic energy into one spot.

Normally telekinesis was invisible to them. Only ever felt like a sixth sense when being used or touched by it. But now the energy used was visible if intangible to them. The patterns it created called to each of them in a different way as their newly opened mental perception told them there was a frequency or a pattern to read the same way they had trained to read each other and make predictions based off what their rapid mental calculations told them would come next.

"Tell me what you see?"

 

[Gunhand4171]

Columbary

Judgment sat Tower down as Kay began talking. Moving and taking his own seat, he closed his eyes.

The young AUGUR felt Kay touch his temples and then his vision was cut off. He immediately got dizzy and had to put a hand down on the floor. Taking deep, slow breaths and centered himself. He hated this. He needed to see.

Then after several minutes of darkness he began to feel Kay. A few more minutes and he could feel the other AUGURs around him.

As Kay began using her power he could sense the shapes of the telekinesis was making.

He wasn't exactly sure what he saw. His face was contorted in confusion. "I... don't know. I can't make sense of it. It just looks like a blob." Judgement admitted to Kay sheepishly.

 

[Soresu]

Hermit, ever reluctant to give up, and vehement to keep her inner solitude hated what was to come. And as the technically blind First Generation blinded her, having to let her in was a test in her ability to calmly accept it. Layer upon layer stripped. Like locks falling away, doors opening. Alternating sensations, emotions, most her own, perhaps some lifted from others. The young Augur had been on the search for means to prevent this. And as her elder pressed on her mind and vision darkened, the younger Augur's emotional state flared at the intrusion. An all too brief kindling out of an otherwise (usually) calm young woman.

As silence set in, that slight lilting brogue tickled her senses as the older woman 'played' with them. That was how it felt. Calm and patience settled in again. And so the whole of it continued, her head turning a little.

This way and that, trying to catch Kay in her little lesson. Occasionally thrusting an arm out, waving it at a perceived ripple in a pond. Was this how it felt to be blind? Or just learning to see? How a babe felt when they opened their eyes for the first time? All haze and unfocused essentially fighting for clarity and sight. Her thoughts had begun to turn ever inward at those intrusive questions. That was not the lesson.

Her final attempt to thrust her hand out and snatch at their teacher elicited a small sound of frustration. "Trompe l’oeil." was past her lips as soon as all that darkness was replaced with murkiness.

Indistinctness. Once again she was asked what she saw. What could she say? Her stomach felt like it was doing little flips. 'Seeing' whatever she 'saw' gave her a feeling of vertigo. When it came her turn her sharp inhalation through her nose, and the shifting sound followed by a hand slapping against the material of the floor were Kay's expected response to the question. Anxiety, dizziness, a little confusion. It felt like falling.

'Looking' again caused her to grimace. "Smoke." came her response, "A cube? I feel sick..." and what came next were a coltish attempt to reassert her mental layering wards. To lock them out. All of it.

 

[Wolf626]

Magician gaped at Hermit's words. "All girls have multiple personalities?" he whispered in shock. The implications were... troubling. Before he could say anything, he noticed Moon. And no jape, no snarky remark came from him. Moon was different, not even Tower's multiple personalities were as unsettling as her. He was truly thankful for his mental defenses. It wouldn't be right to have Moon sense his fear.

As Kay's exercise began, Magician panicked slightly at being blinded. It wasn't the vertigo or anything like that, it's just if Ms. Kay didn't bring back his eyesight, he wouldn't be able to read. He wouldn't be able to escape with his mind. That truly frightened him.

'Relax, have faith in Ms. Kay' he thought to himself, calming down. Then she whispered in his ears, hot breath blowing on his nape and finger tracing down his back. Fire crashed into his face, as his mind scrambled. ´What the heck?´

Thankfully the following hours allowed him to have some semblance of calm control. Suddenly, Scathatch vanished and then something else appeared. It was... different. Like something between seeing and feeling.

As the image in his mind settled, as Kay ask him the question. "I see... a geometric shape. It looks solid but like air too?. The vertex points are shifting, flowing, changing..." It was beautiful, like when the words in the page hit just right.

 

[LavaLung]

Moon spent most of the first few minutes clutching their face, as if to replace her eyes' normal confirmation of 'realness' with a more direct approach using their fingers. Kay didn't have any trouble moving though their mental defences, but instead could inject themselves right into that fuzzy, grungy amoeba of disconnected, writhing emotions.

The loss of body and self was so great that Moon felt like they were sinking into the floor, and soon placed their nose directly against the ground so they could at least use the smell of their own breath to tether them.

Of course they could feel the vibrant pulses, the churning flames of the souls around them; But the scope was so great and overwhelming that it felt like being on the front of a comet, hurtling through space...

There was no 'them'. Only noise...

Perhaps the discomfort of Magician, the others, combined, magnified?

She thought of the old guitar in her locker, the only... the only thing that made her... remember... something?...

"Is it... is it a voice?..." A pained rasp. She was sweating. If the others could see, they'd find her keeled forwards, hands clasped, as if praying. "...o-or... maybe a song?... Maybe a dream..."

"...Peace... Peace..."