Chapter Fourteen:
Caught
At around six o' clock P.M Kellen strolled out of his office. He had a pleasant and faraway look on his face that put one in the mind of straight jackets and small padded rooms. Students ignored him, or rather they avoided him. He didn't mind. He folded his hands behind his back and walked purposefully toward a room at the end of the hall.
Inside, on one of many tables, Jeremiah was fiddling with an object by means of a small unidentifiable tool. Kellen strolled up to him; taking pleasure in the look of surprise the boy gave him when he finally noticed he was standing there.
"Sir?" He said, while pulling back a heavy facemask and setting both the tool and the thing he had been working on atop the desk.
"What have you got for me Agent 016?" Kellen questioned pleasantly.
"Um…well." Jeremiah began to search through various boxes and cases he had set aside. "I didn't realize you'd be calling on me so soon…so I…have nothing prepared but…so far I have been tinkering with a few things." He pulled out what appeared to be a gas mask, an earpiece and a small gun, which was so fargone looking that it could have been made out of Styrofoam for a bad Science fiction flick from the sixties.
Kellen examined the items soberly.
"I see…and what do they do?"
"Uh…well that's suppose to work against most forms of hazardous gas and chemicals…as well as uh…confusion grenades set off by a psychic agent…both the lethal and undisruptive ones, sir." He said, while pointing at the gas mask. "This is a basic mode of communication and, it can be used to measure psychic energy…and that is, er, suppose to be able to leave a psychic more or less…um powerless for ten to fifteen minutes, as well as causing significant damage to the cerebral area…but none of the items have been properly tested yet, sir." Jeremiah said, taking a deep breath after he did.
"I see." Kellen said, grinning. "Well, let's test it now then, shall we." He picked up the gun. Jeremiah flinched back from him, but relaxed a little when the older man tucked it away and picked up the gas mask and earpiece as well.
"I'm taking a ride down to Whispering Rock, Agent 016. If all goes well I want you to make at least ten of each items…and perhaps…if I am really pleased a promotion is in order." He pulled the gas mask over his face, and then let it rest around his neck and stuck the earpiece in his left ear, for there was already something jutting from his right.
"Okay…what happens if things don't go well?" He asked, and then frowning, shook his head. "Never mind, good luck, sir."
Kellen grinned unpleasantly and then left Jeremiah to himself. The boy sighed, shook his head again and started to mess with the object he had been working on once more.
XXX
In Psychonauts HQ, there were several classrooms for ordinary types of learning. These were important, because many of the students didn't attend school for several years when they were training to be a Psychonaut.
Stephen was currently sitting in one of the small rooms. He had drifted off into a daydream fifteen minutes after the lesson had begun. All he knew was that the instructor was talking about brain activity. Everything else was a blank. At present, Stephen was more concerned over how he was going to sneak out of the building then furthering his education. It was the sixteenth and therefore he had about ten more hours to think about it. It made him nervous.
Over the past few days he had been keeping an eye out, particularly in the later and earlier hours for doors that weren't guarded exceptionally well and hallways that led to the outdoors. He had a few ideas…but he still needed a better plan then just sneaking out at three o' clock in morning. Since class had started his mind had pointed out the possibility of using the explosions. He had a few in his mattress…and that was certainly one thing that could easily be the source of a diversion while he escaped…or…it could alert someone of his presence.
He was weighing the pros and cons of this idea when he became aware that the entire class was staring at him. He blinked and looked up at the instructor…who was also watching him carefully.
"Wha?" Was his natural reaction.
"I just asked you a question, Mr. Brickall." The man responded sternly.
"Oh…what was it?" Stephen asked, his face growing slightly warm. A couple of the students giggled.
"What part of the brain would have to be altered in order to control the body?" Stephen bit his lip and looked around, hoping to find something that would hint at the answer.
"I dunno." Stephen answered finally. The teacher turned back towards the board.
"Well then perhaps you should be paying attention." The man said. Stephen sighed and rested his chin in his hand as the teacher went on to explain the answer.
"Mind control is a very tricky technique. The Psychonauts forbid it's open use on the grounds that it is a violation of a person's privacy. In order to completely control someone the mind in question would have to be very weak, vulnerable, or off guard. Most advanced agents are fairly impenetrable to such methods. It is also proved that the older a person is, the more in control they are over their thoughts and psychic energy. This is why we are very strict about age in the Psychonauts." He started to talk about something else, but in the corner a young man had raised his hand.
"Yes." The teacher said, giving the child his full attention.
"Um…you say the Psychonauts are strict about age, but aren't they letting in kids that are fifteen and sixteen years old right now."
"Yes…but the children are, for the most part given very risk-free posts, and are tested thoroughly before their initiation is approved. They must be skilled. Otherwise, even the lowest positions are generally given to adults in their twenties and older. Also…you must remember…this is…a very unusual time. We need as many agents as we can get."
"Okay…but…I read somewhere that six years ago…the Psychonauts let in a ten year old…without any official training."
The teacher seemed stumped for a moment. At his desk, Stephen raised his eyebrows. Ten was very young.
"Yes…well…that also was an extraordinary situation. It…probably wont happen again." The teacher turned back to the blackboard and dropped the subject, as he continued to talk about mind control.
After class, Stephen and Dogen were walking back to their room. Dogen seemed to be thinking deeply about something. Stephen, who was beginning to grow uncomfortable, decided to try and strike up a conversation.
"I didn't know the Psychonauts ever let a ten year old kid join. That's…really young."
Dogen nodded.
"They did it after Raz saved the kids at the summer camp." Dogen said, still halfway in his daydream. Stephen raised his brow.
"Ever meet him?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"Oh yeah? When?"
"I was at the summer camp."
"Oh." Stephen said, and went back to his own thoughts, involving bombs and the subject of what information he had gathered over the past few weeks. Dogen spoke and interrupted his thoughts.
"I liked Raz…he was nice. He once helped me through a lot of mines when I kept exploding." Stephen looked up at the boy. For a moment, he thought about the sentence, completely disregarding the part about exploding…which was an aspect he didn't wish to enquirer further on…
"Was?" He asked after a while.
"Yeah…he disappeared a while back."
Stephen found himself thinking about this for the next fifteen minutes before he was aware of what he was doing. When he caught himself, he went back to thinking about his own problems.
When they reached their room, both boys seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Stephen's mind kept jumping between his meeting at 3:00 am with Tank, before it would inadvertently slip back into issues regarding the Psychonauts. He had vaguely heard conversations about the Cerebral Soldiers while he had been here…which led him to believe that no one was really sure what was going on. He knew this should have made him feel relieved and given him a sense of pride…instead…it made him feel both guilty and ashamed. He thought it was a pity he hadn't found the Psychonauts first.
After a while he finally pulled his mind out of the spiraling trance that was holding it he turned to Dogen, who was staring at the ceiling.
"Hey…how strong would you say Psychonaut security is?" He asked. Dogen pulled his eyes away from the ceiling and gave Stephen an oddly dismal look. Stephen frowned…as he felt a twinge of depression. Then he sighed. "Never mind." He said, wondering vaguely how he would be punished if he just didn't show up at 3:00.
XXX
Sunset, and The gates to Whispering rock towered over the elder man as he grinned. He never went to the camp personally. He was a leader. When it came to this sort of work, it was other people that should be thrust into the jaws of danger as the leaders sat back, and waited. But he was there now.
Kellen levitated over the gates, expecting that somewhere, an alarm had gone of, alerting someone of his presence. He didn't stand by and wait for them to show up. That would take too long…instead; he intended to find whoever guarded this place himself.
In the warm spring breeze crickets chirped, and branches snapped as squirrels…and the occasional dangerous and psychically polluted bear or cougar walked through the forest. Kellen ignored them. He tried to operate the mechanism to measure Psychic energy, which worked a lot like heat detectors or night vision goggles but turned it off almost immediately. Whispering Rock was a severely unstable area and the reading went crazy almost at once due to the high psitanium count in the earth. Kellen decided to rely on his own talents instead.
"Excuse me, but do you have permission to be here?" The voice came from behind, and seemingly out of nowhere. Kellen grabbed at the gun and spun around, pointing it at a hunched over elderly man dressed in a straw hat and carrying a rake. His finger was on the trigger and with an extra ounce of pressure, Ranger Cruller would have been completely obliterated, being pure Psychic energy in himself.
However, after a moment, Kellen's grip relaxed. He lowered the gun, and gave the man a very perceptible look. Kellen grinned.
"Well...I didn't expect to ever see you again, Agent Cruller."
XXX
There was a waning spot of moonlight on the floor of Stephen and Dogen's bedroom. The younger boy had been staring at it for the last fifteen minutes, his heart pounding in his chest. From across the room he heard Dogen snoring. He swallowed and slowly and quietly got out from under the covers.
He had been dressed since ten o'clock…and had even slowly put his shoes on at around one o' clock to keep himself busy. Now, all that was left was to pocket a few small explosions and actually sneak out of the room. That part was easy. Dogen didn't stir.
As he crept down the hallway, he listened for any sounds that might be someone else wandering the building at night. He had already decided on a specific door to use and was currently moving towards it as quietly as possible.
For the most part, he wasn't bothered. Twice he had to duck behind something when he thought he heard a door opening and shutting, but he never actually saw anyone moving around. Around him, in his heightened sense of perception and apprehension the shadows suddenly became too cluttered and sounds seemed to come from everywhere, until he was finally at the door. He thought at the time that it was odd that it wasn't being guarded…and it should have sent off some sort of alarm in his head right then and there. But it didn't. Instead, he slipped out and was gone into the night.
He had walked a considerable distance, and therefore, did not notice when, fifteen minutes later, the door seemed to open and shut on it's own.
XXX
Raz was sipping absently at a cup of hot black coffee, which had long ago stopped being terrible to him because when one was on the road a lot, specifically in something as poor as the circus, hot black coffee, however old or strongly made, was something that came in abundance and to good and grateful use, where as cream, sugar, and mocha cappuccinos…alas, did not.
He was dressed commonly, and had retired the goggles and hat because they made him stand out. He had thought about sunglasses, but decided that they weren't much less suspicious…it being three o' clock in the morning and therefore completely dark outside.
It was for this reason that when Stephen walked in, looking nervous and exhausted, he had to look over the café twice before he recognized Raz. Still, he remained motionless for a moment until the older boy waved to him.
"Hey." Raz said, while taking another drink of his coffee. Slowly, Stephen sat down in the seat across from him.
XXX
He couldn't help but stare. After a moment he forced himself to relax and answered.
"Hi." He replied, while meeting the boy's bright green eyes. Tank smiled lightly and set his coffee down.
"Want something to drink?" He said, and motioned towards the menu, hanging on the wall.
"That's ok." Stephen replied. Still, a few minutes later, he found himself with a cup of tea in front of him.
"So," Tank said from across the table. Stephen bit his lip absently as he prepared to be asked the questions he probably couldn't answer.
"Having fun?" Stephen looked up.
"Uh…yeah…it's great." He answered, and then backpedaled a little. "Or…you know, it's okay." He took a drink of his tea and began to play with his sleeve.
"How's the training going?"
"Good…it's easier then your…our training." Stephen frowned and looked away. When he looked back Tank was wearing a look of amusement. When Stephen caught it the older boy cleared his throat and drank quickly from his coffee. Stephen found this a bit odd.
"So…" Stephen started…as he became increasingly uncomfortable. "Is there…anything…in particular you want to know?" He asked nervously.
Tank smiled and downed the rest of his coffee.
"Nah. Just wanted to see how you were getting on. Unless there's something important…" he looked at the watch on his wrist for a moment. "I won't keep you too long." Stephen blinked.
"Uh…not really." Is this how it's supposed to go?
"Well." Tank said. "Not usually, but I figured in the first couple weeks you wouldn't have too much information. I just wanted to check up on you and make sure things were going well." This time Stephen felt his smile had a bit more meaning in it.
"They are." Stephen replied, grateful, ignoring the fact that the boy had just absently read his mind.
"Great." Tank stood and motioned for Stephen to do the same. "Then I better be going. I'll meet you in the same place in a week."
"Uh…will Mr. Chitt be upset at not having any information?" Stephen questioned as he stood. Tank pushed his chair in, wincing a little and grabbed a crutch from beside him, which Stephen hadn't noticed at all until that very moment.
"Probably, but don't worry about it…he'll take it out on me, not you." He said this so nonchalantly that Stephen felt slightly ill.
"What…happened to your leg?" Stephen asked, watching the crutch. Tank looked down and then shrugged it off.
"Just got a little bruised up on a mission." He seemed to catch Stephen's look and smiled. "It happens."
Tank looked at the door for a moment then turned back towards Stephen.
"I'll go first, wait five minutes before you leave. It's dumb, I know…but only a precaution. Good luck, Stephen." He walked out, using the crutch only slightly as he did.
XXX
Generally in these situations, he was prepared for anything. That was why, when the tall boy with the crutch came out first, he was taken slightly off guard. It was dark, he was invisible, his mind was completely blocked off and the boy hesitated! He actually stopped and looked around…and here was the other thing, although he was only two feet away, he couldn't catch even a whisper from the boy's mind.
He could hear the young boys thoughts inside the café, and the workers thoughts, as they concerned themselves with heading home and closing up…he could even hear vaguely, the thoughts of other individuals on the streets and in apartment buildings, but the young man, standing so close that he could reach out and touch him was silent…and he could sense him…he knew it. He could only hope that the boy's senses were not as strong as the barrier into his mind.
For a moment, the boy who had pulled a hood over his features, pulled it tighter around him and in the darkness, examined the area carefully. He then blinked in the darkness and started to walk down the street, limping slightly. The man stood and watched him go, his brow furrowed in concentration.
So…familiar.
Stephen, the younger boy offered him no difficulties at all, aside from the fact that he was still concentrating on the retreating figure when the younger boy exited the coffee shop. He was about five steps out when, behind him in the shadows; Sasha made himself visible.
"Ah…Mr. Brickall…out for a night stroll then?" Sasha grinned, satisfied as the boy froze in complete terror and guilt.
Got you. The German man thought to himself.
XXX
Once again, sorry for the delay. I'll try to update Always the Same soon, as well. I go on Spring Break in about a week…so I should have time then. Luv you all! Thanx for the reviews!