Psychonauts

Chapter I: Whispering Rock

"Today, the day you all learn the truth, is an important day," the bulgy, bald-headed man said. "Welcome to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, where our staff are going to train you each and everyday to use your abilities, and to control them. I am Coach Oleander, a former sergeant in the Psychonauts International Tactical Squad, or P.I.T.S. This is Agent Nein and Vodello." Oleander gestured toward a tall, pale man dressed in a black suit and a dark-skinned woman with long, curly hair.

Together, they were standing on a raised platform, overlooking the main entrance of the summer camp. A group of twenty kids were sitting, some cross-legged on the dying grass and others on benches, around a campfire that divided them from the raised platform, or the "stage" according to Oleander.

"Hello, kids," Agent Nein said in a calm and steady manner. "I am going to be pulling some of you away from training for scientific study, examination, and ascertainment. This simply means that I am going to learn more about how psychic children react, how their minds develop, and how they make certainty of their abilities." The group of children just stared blindly at Agent Nein, still unsure as to exactly what his position is. "Oh, and you can call me Sasha."

"Don't worry, I have been here for a few years," a girl in the audience whispered to another camper. "He is just the scientist guy."

"Who are you?" the boy said in a bubbly tone. He was extremely pale, even more than Nein, and had a helmet made out of what looked to be plain tin foil.

"My name is Lili," she answered, extending her hand for a handshake. "What is your name?"

"Uhh." The boy was lost for words. He stared at Lili's extended hand as if he had never learned what a handshake was. "My name is Dogen," he said, grabbing Lili's pinkie and shaking it. "I wear this tin hat so that other people's heads don't explode."

"Okay..." Lili said, a bit disturbed by his comment. Right away, she turned back toward the stage and continued listening to the introduction.

"The first thing all of you will do in the morning is achieve the Basic Braining Merit Badge," Oleander announced loudly. "You will not continue on until this is complete! Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" the crowd of children shouted in unison.

"Good!" Oleander responded. "Now, just a warning to all of you, Basic Braining is not easy! It involves every battle I have ever encountered. You will go through an obstacle course that includes tanks, missiles, tightropes, barbed wire, tunnels, jets, and everything else in between! It will be a literal battlefield, filled with memories of each of my previous battles. Do I make myself clear?" There were a few nods in the audience but no verbal acknowledgment. "I can't hear you!"

"Yes, sir!" the children yelled, some nearly straining their voices. Oleander often shouted for responses to make sure people around him were listening. Often times, they wouldn't.

"Now, here is what is going to happen. I will—" Suddenly, there was a disturbance in the trees right outside the main gate. Since it was nighttime, and the toe nail of a moon didn't emit much light, no one knew what it was. In response, many of the campers began to panic.

"Oh no!" A tall, skinny kid shouted in an obnoxious, squeaky voice. "It's the lake monster I was telling y'all about! It finally evolved and grew some legs! Now it has come to eat us all alive!" This caused the rest of the campers to jump up and panic as well.

"Bobby!" Oleander yelled over the panic. "That is a legend that should not be toyed with! There is no lake monster out there!" Even with the assurance, all of the campers still rampaged everywhere, terrified of what Bobby said was a lake monster.

"Please don't kill us, lake monster!" Dogen cried out. "I promise I will be nice to the squirrels if you just spare our lives!" He started to run in circles around the benches, begging the "lake monster" not to do any harm.

"Into position!" Oleander ordered aloud. Suddenly, he put his left hand to his temple and his right hand extended in front of him, aiming towards the disturbance. Agent Nein and Vodello mirrored this position on either side of Oleander. It was like the three of them were trying to mentally connect with whatever was beyond the trees.

"I got something!" Vodello said. "But it is powerful. It's resisting my abilities!" Her extended hand was shaking slightly just like it would if it was carrying a heavy object.

"I have it as well," Nein announced. "It seems to be repelling my connection. This is very unusual. Have you ever actually made certain that there is no lake monster, Oleander?"

"I'm positive," Oleander barked in his rough, deep voice. "Whatever this thing is, it is definitely no monster." After a few more seconds, Oleander locked on as well. At first, his powers were repelled as well. However, he was soon able to grasp firmly onto it with his mental powers. Together, Oleander, Nein, and Vodello tried to use telekinesis on it, but it was not easy. "Harder! Try harder! This thing is weak, it cannot stop us!" All around them, a few of the children stopped in place to alternately watch the coach and the trees for an appearance.

"There it is!" Lili said in her girly voice. Sure enough, something popped out of the trees in midair. But it was not something big, like they had expected. It was just a small, tanned little boy wearing large, tinted goggles and a helmet.

"It is just a boy," Vodello notified in soft articulation. "A sweet, innocent little boy. Not a lake monster." The boy, under the control of the three Psychonauts, floated over the children until it was just half a foot in front of the stage, still several feet off the ground.

"Hey there," the boy said in a medium pitch. "How are you, today?"

"Incredible," Nein said, examining him. "I've never seen such dexterity and stability in a male of such young age. This is simply a marvelous creature that I must get to know more about."

"How is this possible?" Oleander complained. "Your brain must be really tight in that head of yours. I have never experienced a child with such ability to resist my psychological powers. My word, boy, I just about burned you if you didn't show yourself." Suddenly, he fell to the ground with a thump. To others, it looked a bit painful, but the boy simply stood up with confidence.

"My name is Razputin," he said, loud enough for most of the campers to hear him. At this point, everyone was almost frozen, especially Dogen. Actually, Dogen appeared like he might faint. Instead of an expression of awe, fear flooded his face. As for Lili, here eyes were locked onto Razputin. She had never seen someone more beautiful in her life. "But you can call me Raz."

"Well, 'Raz,' you must know what this place is," Oleander said.

"Absolutely," Raz said with utmost intrepidity. "This is Whispering Rock, a place to train Psychonauts to fight and defend against all evil-doers. I read it in the camp pamphlet."

"Then you also must know that you cannot be here," he said harshly. "This is a government training facility, it is not open to volunteers. You must be recruited to be a camper here." Raz glanced toward Oleander, almost with rage.

"Oh, come on," Raz disagreed. "I have special abilities like the rest of you! I came here so I didn't have to be an outcast anymore, a freak." He was directing his words to both Oleander and the campers. "I ran away from a family of circus performers, a family who rejected me because of what I can do. My own father wanted to hide me from my true self, but he knew it wouldn't work out. So, I came here. Please, train me to become a Psychonaut." Oleander began to contemplate this. At first, he nearly pushed the idea away, but after giving it some thought, he couldn't think of what harm would come out of it.

"Fine," Oleander said. "You can stay for now." Raz nearly jumped up with joy. "But," Oleander strained, catching his attention. "You will not be allowed to interact in any of the camp activities. Basic Braining and other training exercises only. Activities are entirely out of the question." Even though Raz was unhappy about not being able to participate, he was still proud of himself to have made it to Whispering Rock all the way from home.

"As for the rest of you," Oleander announced, raising his voice so that it could be heard by everyone in the camp. "Tomorrow is going to be one of the most important days of your lives. You best head to bed before you get trained to death in the morning." A large, exasperating gasp came out of each camper's mouth in unison. Oleander only chuckled in response. "Only messing with you. Seriously though, it is going to be an extremely difficult task for most of you. No lollygagging!" All of the campers scattered into different cabins, surely wanting to get some rest.

As Raz approached the closest cabin to his left, someone behind him had put their hand on his shoulder. When he turned around to see who it was, Agent Vodello was looking down at him.

"Raz, you must realize that we are going to contact your parents by the morning," Vodello explained. "Even if you do have extraordinary talent, we cannot keep you here unless you have been recruited."

"I understand," Raz replied, clearly disappointed. "But, could I just stay here a few more days? I want to at least go through Basic Braining and a few more exercises."

"We'll see," Vodello said. "I am not making any promises. Now get into your cabin and head to bed. We have all kept you kids up too late as it is." Vodello started walking back toward the bridge that led to the rest of the camp. On the other side, Raz had no idea what waited. But the camp staff had to stay somewhere overnight, and there had to be a location for Basic Braining. Who knew what else laid beyond the camp?

Just as Raz began to turn around to enter the cabin, he caught the glance of Lili. Nearly right away, she turned around and went right into her cabin.

Great, Raz thought to himself. Somebody already hates me. He went into his own cabin and closed the door behind him.

Inside, to his amazement, there were four bunk beds, nearly all of them taken up. Since there were only four cabins in the area, five people would have to share one cabin, so there was certainly enough space for Raz. He walked around the room and observed everyone else. Some were trying to sleep, but obviously failing, while others were exercising in bed. Honestly, how could they be exercising with something so important tomorrow? No sleep will certainly be a disadvantage on their part. However, the longer Raz was walking around, the sooner he began to realize that everyone was staring at him. Many campers had stopped exercising just to eye him down, like looks would make him disappear. So instead, he took the top bunk of a bed in the far corner and wrote his name on the small chalkboard at the foot of the bed. That was where he was going to sleep for however long the camp staff decided to keep him there.

Slowly, Raz laid his head down on the pillow and stared at the ceiling. A camp full of pretty strange people (even though he knew himself was strange), adults that he had never met in his life, and training activities that he was sure would likely threaten his life in the small days to come. If his parents didn't arrive soon to kill him for running away, the training sure would do it for them.

"Rise and shine, campers!" the loud speaker shouted from just outside the cabin. At first, Raz thought that it wasn't too bad. They weren't too loud, so they probably weren't that strict on getting everyone up at a certain time. Yet, seconds later, his assumption was obliterated by the big mouth of Coach Oleander. He barged through the front door, letting in all of the light from the rising sun. Of course, they just had to build the cabins facing east.

"Wake up, soldiers!" Oleander howled, making some kids fall right out of bed. "My reminder just went off and you know what that means! Up! Up! Up!" Many of them were groaning, but that wasn't the worst of it. A disgusting aroma filled the cabin, causing everyone to plug up their nose once they were fully conscious.

"Ah! What is that stench?" a kid asked on the other side. Elton Fir was his name, at least that's what Raz thought was written on the chalkboard. It looked like his name had been written by a two-year-old.

"That," Coach Oleander started, no doubt about to come up with a witty remark, "is the smell of hard work and dedication, which is what each of you are full of! Now get your rear up in gear for the Basic Braining that is happening today! Nobody, and I repeat, nobody is getting out of it!" Oleander was talking to Raz. He was trying to tell him that they have decided to wait on contacting his parents, which excited Raz to a point where he forgot all about his sleepiness. Then, the second his bare feet hit the cold, hard wooden floor, he realized what he was in for. Surely Basic Braining would be a pain in the buttock.

Finally, Oleander had left to bug the next cabin. This gave time for the kids to give sighs of relief, groans, depressed moans, and painful squeaks. Slowly, one after the other, the kids got out of bed and into their camp uniforms. Raz, on the other hand, wasn't too upset about waking up early. He was ready to start getting to know the other campers. Hopefully, it wouldn't be like the previous night where he got stared down until he fell asleep. So far so good.

"Raz!" a tall, thin kid wearing a headband shouted once Raz left the cabin. Apparently, the people from the other cabins had gotten up quicker than they did. "It's great to see you! How much do you know about powers? Are you ready for Basic Braining? I'm not that good but I think you will manage!" The kid was talking so fast that Raz hadn't even the time to ask for his name.

"Clem?" a girl from the other side of the cabins' circle shouted. "Are you talking to Raz? Hmm, so he isn't the lake monster after all!"

"What?" Raz said, trying to interrupt their conversation. However, they just carried on as if he didn't even exist.

"Oh hello, Crystal!" Clem shouted back. Well, at least Raz had learned their names. "I was just talking to him about the Basic Braining today. I told him, I said, 'It's great to see you!' Right? Okay, then I said, 'Are you ready for Basic Braining?' He didn't answer, but it is just so obvious that he is ready!" Eventually, Raz wondered why he wasn't off talking with other campers. Oh, I know why, he thought to himself. Because these two are one bulb short of being, well, as bright as one bulb.

"Listen, guys," Raz said cautiously, trying harder than anything in the world to avoid another rambling. "It has been nice meeting you, but I have serious business to take care of. So if you don't mind..."

"Oh, we don't mind anything, Raz!" Clem exclaimed. "Go on ahead! We will see each other again soon!" Out of nowhere, he gasped mid-sentence. "We might even see each other in exactly ten minutes from now! Not a second later. How cool would that be? Anyway, see you later!" To Raz's relief, Clem and Crystal began walking up the hill towards a large tree-house outside of the cabins' circle. In the nighttime light, Raz hadn't noticed it before, but with the sun up, it was clear that several campers were already up there, including the coach.

As Raz started to walk toward the tree-house, he caught someone in the corner of his eye. After a double take, he was able to see that it was Dogen, the boy with the tin foil hat. Becoming sidetracked, he decided to walk over and say hello.

"Hey, don't be like that, Ruffles," Dogen said. It didn't seem like he was talking to anyone, until Raz followed his eyes to the ground where four or five squirrels were sitting.

"Hey, Dogen!" Raz said from behind him. Instantly, Dogen gave out a short yelp of fright, turning around as he hopped into the air. Of course, he didn't know how to levitate yet, so gravity just pulled him right back down with a thump against the dirt and grass.

"Oh, h—hello Raz," he stuttered. It was clear that being around Raz was uncomfortable for him, but he would eventually learn to accept it. "What are you doing here? I thought you had Basic Braining to go to."

"I do," Raz answered, taking an occasional glance towards the squirrels. "But I just thought I could get to know a few people before I started doing training." Dogen just nodded in response, still paying much attention to Raz's movements and the squirrels. "So, who are you talking to anyway?"

"Wha—isn't it obvious?" Dogen asked, gesturing toward the group of furry animals. "They aren't being nice today. Which is unusual because they are typically quite polite. No! Ruffles, what did I tell you?" Dogen grunted. "Sorry about that." In reply, Raz just shrugged.

"So you have the ability to communicate with squirrels?" Raz asked rhetorically. "That's pretty cool. You know, I—"

"Oh, no," Dogen interrupted. "That's not one of my powers. I can just naturally talk to them. They usually respond to my words, even if not so politely, and they seem to understand me as well. It's like—like a mutual friendship, I guess. Even though I don't know what mutual means..." This time, Raz just nodded in response. "Anyway, they are being quite rude this morning. Probably because it's so early in the morning. You know, I have to wear this hat so that I don't accidentally make people's heads explode." Another weirdo from Whispering Rock. Even though Raz was technically one of them, he decided that he never wanted to turn into some strange person like the rest of the campers there.

"Well, that's cool Dogen. Listen, I have to go, but—"

"No worries, Raz!" Dogen exclaimed, again interrupting him mid-sentence "I will see you at the Basic Braining exercise. There is just one more thing I need to do." From the looks of it, Dogen had already decided that Raz wasn't the lake monster and that it was okay to trust him. Unfortunately, for Raz, he wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, Raz decided he better get a move on. There was no more need to meet any strange people.

As Raz walked away, he could see Dogen lifting his tin foil hat a tiny bit. Afraid to see anything that he knew he would not want to see, Raz quickened his pace to get farther away from him. Just as he reached the outside of the Main Lodge, he heard a small popping noise. However, he decided that it was best not to look back.

As he got closer to the wooden and tree bark staircase that led up to the tree-house, where the coach was still located, another kid stopped him in his tracks. Raz hoped beyond anything that this person would at least resemble something along the lines of normal.

"Psst," the boy said, cupping his hands over his mouth. "Raz! Come over here." At first, Raz wasn't sure if he should trust him. But something about his long, brown, curly hair and pale complexion made him decide to trust him.

"Yeah?" Raz asked, tip-toeing over to him "Who are you?" He continued to follow the boy all the way back to the Main Lodge where he hid behind one of the cabins as if he was a secret agent. "Look, I can't be playing around—"

"Shh!" the boy hushed. "Someone will here you." One of Raz's eyebrows went up. "My name is Nils. I heard that you have had a history with the ladies." Still confused, Raz simply crossed his arms, surely believing that he was wasting time. "Tell me, how exactly do you do it? How do you get them to be so interested?"

"I..." Raz wasn't even sure how to respond. How is it that everyone had already assumed what Raz is like? Nobody had even known he existed until the previous night. "No offense, but I have no idea what you are talking about, Nils."

"Listen, listen," he said. "If you haven't noticed, I am a full-time ladies man. I have spent a lot of my time trying to get girls to like me, but I haven't quite succeeded. So, I was hoping you could give me some help." As he spoke, he took a peek through a hole in the girls' cabin. "You know, be my wing man..."

"You listen," Raz mocked. Right away, he turned his tone back to friendly, knowing that it wouldn't be a good thing to be mean to him. "I don't know what you have heard, but my life before this was 24/7 circus entertainment. I have never been involved with any girls before. And even if I had, why are you looking in the girls' cabin? That is kind of perverted."

"Call it what you want," Nils said, still trying to look through the hole. "I am just desperate is all. If you happen to get the attention of anyone in the future, let me know. I will do anything."

"Mhmm..." Raz said slowly. "Well, I will see you later." He just walked off, leaving Nils behind alone to keep peeking through the cabin. Does anyone here actually go to Basic Braining? Raz thought. Or is everyone a stick in the mud? Finally, he had reached the staircase that led into the tree-house above. He was just moments away from meeting the coach and beginning his Basic Braining.

Just as he neared the last few steps, there was yet another interruption. Maloof, a dark-skinned, long-haired kid, started talking to him.

"You don't want to go in there, Raz," he explained. "That class is a death trap. The coach's 'Basic Braining' isn't anything like he says it is. It is nearly impossible to beat. You see, at the beginning of it, he pulls you into his mind to do these deadly challenges. Personally, I wouldn't even think about trying to beat them."

"Then how did you make it out, Maloof?" Raz asked. "You seem to already know so much about the Basic Braining."

"These smelling salts can get you out of anyone's mind," Maloof said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden-colored, bean-shaped object. "If you pull both halves apart, the scent of the smelling salts transports you out of their subconscious. They smell awful, but I think it is worth it to get out of that coach's head. Here, have this one."

"Aren't you going to need it?" Raz asked.

"I have plenty. I always keep backups." Raz thanked Maloof for the gift and stored it in one of his pockets. As Maloof went to walk down the staircase, he stopped and called Raz's name. "Also, keep a lookout for Bobby and Benny, the two camp bullies. They are a ruckus." He skipped down the stairs and out of sight. That's nice, Raz thought to himself. Even if I already have a few enemies, seems like there are a lot on my side as well.

Once Raz entered the tree-house, he noticed a lot of the campers in a meditation form. This confused him, but it would make sense pretty soon.

"Lili," Raz said after walking up to her. She was sitting cross-legged on a bench with her eyes closed. She looked just like the rest, meditating for some strange reason. "Lili?" Again, there was no response from her. Finally, she opened her eyes.

"Take a picture, will ya'? It'll last longer!" she said to him. Right after, she closed her eyes again and continued with whatever she was doing.

"Sorry," Raz muttered. "I'll just..." He started to turn around so that he could talk to the coach, but to his surprise, he was standing right behind him. Just after nearly running into Oleander, he stopped and froze in position

"You're late, soldier!" Coach Oleander shouted, somehow not getting the attention of any of the other campers. "What is your excuse?"

"Well, sir," Raz started, "I, um—"

"Never mind that!" he shouted. Suddenly, he took his hat off to reveal a small door attached to his forehead, which was by far the strangest thing that Raz had seen at that camp. How was it even staying in place anyway? Was it glued? Taped? "You will get in this head and then, drop and give me 20!" Oleander pressed the door with his forefinger and it opened up, revealing what looked like a small bright room with light shining so bright that you couldn't see into it.

Slowly, Raz felt something pulling on him, but whatever it was, it was invisible. As if by instinct, he pulled his goggles over his eyes and his psyche was pulled into Coach Oleander's brain, leaving his body behind, entirely numb and limp.

Author's Note:

What did you think of this chapter? I have decided to follow a thin line of the original story-line, taking a few quotes here and there from the game, but writing the story on my own. I also plan to build on Raz's and Lili's relationship and the mystery behind the psychic powers.

Criticism and reviews are appreciated.