"My name is Raven." The young dark headed woman thinks as she is walking the corridors of the dorm attached to the University of New Hampshire. "But here people know me only as Rachel Roth." She continues as she enters her dorm room and closes the door behind her before putting her books on the table then sits down and begins studying the deeper meanings of the mind.
"Some, like you, will wonder why I am doing this. I have powers more keenly attuned to this sort of thing than any other study could give me and I have powers that can mend physical wounds with ease. But I will tell you; because I hope that one day I may be able to help people in a legal fashion. And because I can't stand hospitals, not for very long at least."
"Understand, that I am an empath, I can sense the emotions of others, some even consider me one of the most powerful of my kind as I can even manipulate the emotions of others if I wish and I can even push it to mend physical wounds by taking away the pains of others. I also have other abilities, but they currently aren't important in this setting."
"People here at UNH are generally nice and helpful at times. They can get on my nerves at times, but that's young people for you. The girls on my dorm block even more so, but they know I am serious about my studies and occasionally I come out of my 'shell' and join in their antics. Recently we've had a new face on our dorm when one of the others dropped out and she moved in, according to her, having been looking for a place to stay for weeks. Generally she seems nice enough, if it wasn't for the fact that she was the herald of change…very unwanted change."
"One by one, everyone outside my usual dorm-friends, changed slightly. Faces changing slightly and attitudes gradually slipping to giving me the impression I am suddenly the most popular girl in the school and that I am surrounded by friends. As you know, thanks to my empathic powers, I can see through this charade quite easily and now I am telling you that everything you might have seen of me and this place so far is a lie. A fabricated reality. A hologram. Cyberspace."
"Two weeks ago I remember going to bed in the real world, when I woke up I was in here, everything looking exactly as before with nothing to tell me otherwise save my powers. I knew something like this was bound to happen considering the current climate arrayed against powered people, and especially powered young people, I just expected them to have done their homework a little better. So I suppose I have been outed or just gone missing back in the real world."
"Since I am not somewhere else, I guessed by day one that there's a game being played, one for my cooperation and it didn't take me long before I understood. Let me tell you what's out there; I am currently sitting in a reclined seat, arms and legs secured to it, and a large bulky helmet on my head, all of it linking me to a huge computer that allows a host of people to monitor everything there is to monitor, or so they think. By day two, I had pushed my consciousness out of this reality and into the real one to see this, sipping from the memories of the people around me told me that they believe they have me under control and that the simulated reality will eventually mellow me to them. Eventually they, and a man called Templar, expected I would help them locate and capture other meta-humans through my powers, but they are all scared of me, since they think I can snuff out their lives with but a thought, which is true I suppose."
"But I have wanted a closer look at this Templar, so I have played ball. Noticing the changed I mentioned earlier is all a means to give me the impression that I am amongst friends when they let me out of this fake world. However, as you know better than most, I have another side of me, a side that is the reason why I haven't fallen to their games. See my father was a literal monster, a demon from the depths of hell called Trigon. You know this of course, so I won't go into detail and I only mention it because I need you to understand why I am talking to you now. Despite our differences, and the fact that I keep you deaf, blind and mute, I can still use what you are and the things you do with such ease. For today Templar is here to see me, and I hope you will be a sport and show him." She thinks as a wry smile plays across her face while still apparently reading.
"Attention on deck!" The leading doctor of the base calls as a black clad man enters the room dedicated to monitoring the slumbering empath.
"Gentlemen, I hope you have progress." Templar asks.
Unknowingly to them all, under the helmet a pair of white glowing eyes open in the darkness, they blink once before they slowly turn a deep crimson red then multiplies. "Time to let the monster out." Raven thinks as the alarm starts blaring.