//…// Thoughts

~/.../~ Telepathy

… Empathic Impression translated from emotion into symbolic words.

*…* Flashback / Memory

The Agency: Meeting of Souls

Chapter 36

Chasing down a specific memory which originated deep in the past of an individual was not, by any means, an easy task to accomplish. The younger the subject of the procedure was at the time of the events they sought to examine, the harder it was to retrieve those memories. In this instance Treize had no idea how old Zechs Marquise had been when the particular events recurring in his memory originated.

How clear the viewing of those memories might be they would not know until the memories were accessed. The means employed to deal with the memories would then depend on how clearly the past could be recalled; on how efficiently they could remove the pollution that was a child's perceptions and isolate the pure event.

Treize took the time to settle his thoughts, gathering himself to a calm point from which he could work efficiently. He would accomplish nothing if he was not centred when he began and he needed to remain balanced throughout the retrieval process and examination. Knowing there were to be observers to what would happen did nothing to settle him.

He was no longer a student whose future hung on the observations of his instructors and he had worked many times before with Gabriella observing him. It was nothing new to him… but this time the subject was Zechs Marquise, for whom he held a certain regard, and there was some unknown 'somebody' in the link compounding his unease.

That was really the sticking point, he acknowledged. This unknown body linked through Gabriella's perceptions who would see and hear everything filtered through Gabriella. Treize did not like working with unknown psychics and by his very nature, being raised in the intrigues and power struggles of the family that had birthed him, he did not give his trust easily.

The unknown observer both annoyed him and alarmed him.

Gabriella had her fingers in innumerable pies. She played games, working in the highest circles of power that ruled their society and she had designs of her own for the future. She knew much of what happened behind closed doors in the ESUN, and he had to wonder just how many of the games being played in the world's political landscape and business circles Gabriella had instigated… and for what purpose?

He needed to be calm and settle within himself the question of the unknown observer. He had made it plain to Gabriella he was far from happy with the presence she screened, but…

Calm. Tranquil shades of softest blue interspersed with calming greens…

One could solve nothing if one became agitated.

Dwelling on the unknown would serve no purpose and it was not fair to Marquise for him to divide his attention and focus. The younger man needed his assistance. These memories inducing such debilitating responses must be dealt with. There should never again be a recurrence of memory to send him over the edge and toward the gulf of a nervous breakdown, something that was a certain recipe for insanity to an empathic telepath of prime level.

How far back must they delve to resolve the memory? How pure would the memory be, polluted as it was by a child's perceptions, fear and the years that separated the 'then' from the 'now'? Locating the memory, viewing it, examining it in detail, resolving memory into fact… it all took time.

There could be no headlong rush into the unknown.

He had no idea how long the session might take, but dwelling on Gabriella and her 'guest' would not bring about resolution. Treize had made his objections known to both Gabriella and her interested party, and, regardless, he had been refused the grace of any real explanation. He had made his dissatisfaction plain and still his concerns had been rejected. He could back right away; he SHOULD back right away and approach Zechs Marquise to perform the session at another time. A time when Gabriella and her companion were not peering at them.

Assurances of non interference in the proceedings had been given but he was far from happy. It was a breach of privacy issues to begin with and though Zechs knew Gabriella was there, watching, he did not know about that 'other'.

~/Is needful, this is Gabriella begging, Stubborn Childe. Not often does Gabriella beg, knowing this you do. For safety… for safety of him this thing is needing doing and Gabriella will be keeping control be assured. No interference. No questions, simply observing we will be./~

~/If that is all a simple report will do!/~

~/Ah, giving no ground are you! Difficult child! Explaining will I be, but later for this explaining. Understanding Gabriella is asking."

~/Well understanding Gabriella is not going to get! It is a breach of privacy!/!

~/Knowing this Gabriella is. Helped write rules did Gabriella, forget that you should not. Extenuating circumstance this is. As senior Prime is Gabriella telling you needs to be done it does."

But she would not tell him why it needed to be done with a witness. The infuriating old woman had called in her rank to use against him, but he was not defeated yet. He would have as many layers of protection as he could manage to apply and if she did not like it… well, they would cross that bridge when it came time. They were due for a long and potentially colourful discussion.

~/Consent is given by one who pays fancy schooling bills. Let lie, Naughty Boy. Let lie./~

Treize hesitated, considering the lightning fast psi 'whisper' that had brushed his mind. It was a salve to his abused sensibilities concerning the privacy issue, he knew, but could he believe it? The delivery suggested Gabriella was up to her arm pits in intrigue she did not desire that other 'party' to know about.

Marquise's Guardian? Had she found him? No, now wait… 'by one who pays fancy schooling bills…' that sounded… off. What was the old Gypsy up to? But he knew there would be no answers to any questions he asked, at least not now.

He had put forward as many protests as he could and had learned little more than how to think up new questions. If he did not do this then someone else would be brought in to supervise the session and he was unwilling to allow another psi to perform this task. But he was a stubborn bastard and was not done yet in making his thoughts crystal clear on the matter. She would be unamused with him, but then, he was quite unamused with her for forcing this breach of privacy on him.

~/Zechs?/~

He could sense the unease in the younger man and he offered up soothing thoughts, projecting an aura of calm and control in a bid to ease Marquise.

~/Are you ready to begin?/~

The flavour of the thought revealed the nervous tension in Marquise and his uncertainty. Treize was not surprised, it was not something lightly done, this riffling through old memories to dredge up something decidedly unpleasant; and perhaps Marquise might yet decide not to pursue the matter, at least for tonight. That might give him a bit of time to work on Gabriella and permit him to find out more of her companion and why she would flaunt the rules she herself had, as she had so recently reminded him, brought into effect for all psi talents to follow.

~/Almost. I have a request./~

~/From me?/~

He could sense, if not see, the frown from Marquise. Tsuberov was a brilliant instructional institute but in his view they needed to work on a few areas. Building the self confidence of their students was as necessary to a sound working mind as training the talent that marked psychics apart.

~/Indeed. To be honest, my friend, I am in awe of the shields you are capable of fashioning. This shield you have erected is well in advance of what was taught to me, and like all Primes in our field I have very strong shields. I am hopeful you will consent to instruct me in how to fashion and polish this diamond brilliance into my shields. I have honestly never before encountered shields of this level. I request, for the duration of this session, that you erect and maintain a shield about the working we are about to do. Do you understand what I intend you to do?/~

Oh yes, he had indeed upset Gabriella! He could feel her flash of ire, but he was not concerned. She would still be able to watch and listen, to share the memory through his mind, but the younger man's talent would ensure no trespass into his consciousness would be possible.

~/I'm not sure that I do./~

His thoughts betrayed his uncertainty over exactly what it was Treize was asking of him, and the confusion at the need for a third ring of protection… and the entire procedure itself involved in the pursuit of old memories. Treize was not surprised. What they were about to attempt was not the sort of exercise a novice would be taught, not withstanding Tsuberov's exemplary training program. It was an advanced procedure and rarely performed, taught to Treize by the Primes and not by his instructors during his training.

His instructors at the Psi Institute had taught him the theory of such an exploration into another person's psyche, but the actual technique was demonstrated and supervised by the T/E Primes soon after he had begun his year long 'finishing' under their supervision. In the interim years following that initial instruction, he had had occasion to advance the technique considerably beyond what he had been taught by his fellows.

Gabriella would have to trust him as she so blithely insisted he trust her.

~/Making it difficult are you, Naughty Boy. Not too big and old are you for Gabriella to paddle backside… at my age enjoy it I would!/~

Lord above that woman was a menace! He was trying to work here!

Marquise could 'feel' the additional shields Treize erected within the protection of his own diamond like shields. A third set of shields when two sets already existed would seem somewhat odd and would require a plausible explanation. It was as well he could provide one.

~/I am hoping, with your assistance, to fashion a ring of protection specifically around the area of your memories we are to work on. Your existing shield will keep us secure from any outside influences. The shields I have erected will constrain Gabriella to a set position within the contained space inside your shield. This will keep you and I free from any possible distraction from her presence./~

~/Yes, I understand that, but… why a third shield?/~

~/For isolation. Within this ring of protection there will be just you and I, and the memory we will identify. It will be isolated from other memories to lessen any possible leeching effects from other events of note in your memories. I will maintain a link to Gabriella through the shield, but it is my wish to keep her isolated from the pure memory we will be seeking. In my line of work as an investigator I have learned the value of an uncontaminated crime scene, and I want no impressions from anyone else to cloud our view. No outside influence can be permitted to be absorbed into the memory and, since you are psi capable and have the most incredible set of shields I have ever encountered, and it is your memory we seek to access, the final shield would best be erected by you./~

That gave Gabriella pause, he noted, but he chose to ignore her for the moment. The younger man had to be the focus of his attention, not the pair listening in.

~/I though the idea was to stop the memory from returning?/~

~/It is, have no doubt of the intent of this procedure. In order to stop this memory from interfering with your life in the here and now, we must first 'see' it. One can not deal effectively with anything if it is not understood first, so we must experience it and then we pull it apart so we can understand it. Only when we understand it can we secure it so that it does not again rear it's ugly head in so dramatic a fashion./~

He could feel the reluctance of the young man to explore, and view clearly, what had been a terror to him for so many years. Treize reached out, a warmth of emotion, enfolding Marquise within its protective folds and picturing a hug, enfolding the man within a warm, purely psi embrace.

~/To deal with this memory we must first understand it; to understand it we must first see it. It is the only way things can be settled once and for all./~

~/ I… suppose. I'm a frightful coward./~

~/ Not at all. We all face the demons of our past with trepidation. You know now this thing is not from outside you, that your shield, wonderful as it is, will not keep the terrors out… they are already in./~

~/Yes. I understand that now./~

~/You will not be alone, Zechs. I am here for you, to help you. You need to remember throughout our investigation that you are not facing this on your own. Having company always makes life's trials that much easier to face. Remember and reach for me any time you feel the need. I am here. Gabriella is also here and if you need her I will reef her through the shields, be assured of that. When you are a Prime you are never alone./~

~/They won't… Even after this… You think I will make a Prime ranking?/~

Treize could feel his smile emanate outwards and fill this purely psi awareness with a steady warmth and certainty.

~/Zechs Marquise, you are already a Prime. I have no doubt the remaining portion of your accreditation will follow. Dealing with this memory so that it does not impact on you in the future will only speed along that process./~

~/I am afraid Tsubverov's instructors will not agree. I'll be pushed back to the beginning of my training so that they can find out where they went wrong. I'm… not safe for anyone to be around./~

Treize felt Gabriella's mental growl directed at her mysterious companion, though he missed whatever comment might have drawn the snappy rejoinder to 'shut up' and 'the Primes will handle any and all training of their newest member'. It pleased him and somewhat eased his ire with her presence. That she defended Marquise against this unknown and claimed him as belonging to the Primes eased a few worries he had been quietly entertaining.

~If blame is to be accredited to someone, then it is to Tsuberov it must be adhered for misdiagnosing these instances. Your trainers and evaluators failed to understand what it was that was bothering you, but really no one is at fault. It is unfortunately one of those things which happened and now must be faced and dealt with. You are not alone, Zechs. You will find we Prime's can be annoying bastards and we NEVER go away once we find something we count as belonging with us. Another Prime has been found in our rather exclusive field, and you will find we will not simply up and vanish on you./~

~/That would… be nice./~

Nice? Yes, it was, but there were drawbacks too! Sometimes family could be an annoying problem one might wish to escape… but one could not escape when one was a Prime amongst a family of Primes.

~/You might not think it so fine when Gabriella pokes her striking Gypsy nose into your affairs one time too many./~

His resigned sigh seemed to echo about them and he could feel the old woman's high amusement. Deciding enough was enough Treize focused on the younger man and deftly drew his attention with a touch to the serious business they needed to attend.

~/We need to focus on the task at hand. Centre for me and erect the shield around us. Do not be concerned with Gabriella, I will maintain the link with her through your shield. Just allow me to merge within it…/~

Marquise might entertain doubts about his own skills but Treize was impressed with him, and he could feel Gabriella's approval as a diamond brilliance began to fill his awareness within this isolated psychic sanctuary. Quickly and with a minimum of fuss, seemingly without effort the shield formed, enclosing them within another layer of protection.

It was a sound performance and Treize wanted to know just how Marquise managed to produce that brilliance. He promised himself he would somehow arrange a time and place to engage in a controlled session with Marquise and attempt to build shields of this calibre himself… and perhaps test just how solid the shields were in keeping out unwanted distractions.

~/Thank you. Now, can you see the marker for the memory? It will be visible in some fashion and you should be able to see it, to feel it and recognise it./~

Treize could see it as a shadow, veil thin; a shadowed area within the enclosure they had constructed to contain it. As had happened in past instances with the decision to investigate and remember, to stop fighting the memory, the out of control surges of memory that had panicked Zechs had dissipated. The surges of chaos had reduced to a shadowy wisp of its former ferocity.

~/ Yes./~

~/ Good. Now I want you to tighten the area contained within your shield. Still give us a little room, but further isolate the memory… Good. I think you could well be suited to this kind of work. What we are going to do now is float over to that memory. Don't focus directly on it, just allow yourself to move around, to float freely within this confined space and we will find ourselves moving closer in no time./~

The blonde's reluctance was obvious to Treize, but he could feel Zechs utilising every relaxation technique he had been taught to relax… and it was working. Very slowly they were drifting in this confined space and eventually they had to drift close to the shadow of a time long in the past. In matters of movement had they made a push to reach the memory it would have eluded them, riding the bow wave of their movement. On this plane, most often, the indirect method of approach worked quickest and best.

~/Gently now. It will not harm you. This is a memory, it is not the here and now, and you are not alone. Reach out your perceptions toward the shadow and reach toward it… feel it's texture, its flavour…/~

Treize could have taken the lead and enveloped Zechs within his awareness, reaching out to merge with the shadow, but he wanted Zechs to be the one who initiated the process. These memories of traumatic event were always clearer if the originator of the memory took the lead, and Treize was quite happy to be the guide. Marquise was a talented individual and only if things looked to be teetering toward a direction he did not approve of would Treize move accordingly. For now it was best if it was Zechs who investigated the memory.

~/ I… can't feel anything./~

~/That's alright. Now that we have calmed things down by acknowledging the memory is from within, rather than something from beyond you, things are reverting to a more normal placement. The memory is faint because it is from a time long in your personal past./~

He took the time to skim the lightest of touches over the surface of the wispy veil his 'sight' revealed to him. Not deep enough to 'look' within, but more along the line of a caress, testing the timbre of the substance that made up the shadowed veil.

~/I would think you were quite young from what I sense. When we are young we feel things intensely and when we panic, for any reason, that intensity only escalates. An adult's perceptions see things quite differently./~

~/So… what do I do?/~

~/ I want you to visualise yourself as a substance not unlike how you perceive this memory. Become something similar, not the same; keep yourself markedly different from the memory as I do not intend you get lost within it. I want you to try slipping into the centre of the disruption that is the memory. How do you see it? A distortion of the forms about you, a shadow…? What does it look like to you?/~

~/A… sort of… like material I suppose. Very thin, almost see through… and black, like a shadow./~

~/ Not unlike how I perceive it, then, that will help in my giving you instruction. We will not need to dance around descriptions. It is a very intense memory to still be present 'visibly' in this state. Because it is visible to us it gives us a reference to focus on. Think of yourself as being made up of a similar material, a slightly different shade of shadow, however, you must maintain that distance. You should be a substance able to touch it; to merge with it. I will be with you and I will assist in maintaining a safe distance for you from that memory. You will be a spectator looking in, seeing it from the eyes of the child who lived it; but you will not be lost in that child's emotions./~

Zechs' unease escalated the closer he came to the shadow and Treize flowed forward, presenting his presence, keeping solidly 'there', a part of Zechs, an anchor point to his psyche.

~/Its alright. Ease into it, draw the shadows about you and allow it to seep in. You have to remember it for us to deal with it and to remember it you must touch it… become a part of it./~

The instant before the initiated 'touch' could seal, Zechs shied back, his psychic persona unmistakably trembling from even the fleeting contact he had initiated. Treize was there, steadying him, offering instant comfort. He was, truth to tell, pleased with the young man's reaction, though alarmed by it at the same time. That Zechs had reacted indicated the memory was viable, fresh enough for them to see good detail when he merged with it.

~/ I'm here./~

~/It… I don't… want to feel THAT./~

Treize ignored Gabriella's push against his shields. He had warned her he would permit her to watch and listen, and that he would not tolerate input when he was working. She could just sit back and allow him to do what he was trained to do. In the performance of his duties as an investigator he had delved into the blocked memories of victims of violent crime, and he had an uncomfortable feeling that was exactly what he was dealing with here.

The reaction Zechs had displayed was all too familiar to him; he had witnessed it before in pursuing cold cases relating to adults regressing into childhood memories. Memories affected by violence. Marquise might not consciously recall a violent crime in his personal past, but his subconscious was another matter.

~/ How much do you trust me, Zechs?/~

~/ I… trust you./~

~/Good./~

He emanated confidence and stability, projecting it into the sealed space about them, filling the space with it and feeling it gradually calm Zechs. He was, more and more, falling back onto work practises, but in this instance, with this particular subject, he had an enormous advantage in the pursuit of an elusive memory. Zechs was a trained, almost accredited Prime level psychic, and he did not strike Treize as being a shrinking violet.

In no previous case where this kind of work had been required had Treize had the luxury of working with a strong telepathic empath. It was clear to him the memory needed to be breached and the innocence of the long ago affected child coloured it with more terror, fear and… something else. There was something there, in that momentary contact, that Treize could not touch with sufficient clarity to understand.

~/If you will trust me and consent to a deeper merge between us, we can go into this memory and you would be able to 'see' it from within a protective perception. You can, if you should be willing, experience the memory through my eyes, through my psi sight, and maintain a distance between you and it./~

~/I… How would that work?/~

Gabriella clamped hard on that other awareness, he could feel her tighten, and though his shields were not tested in any way he could feel her throw up an additional shield of her own to contain that other mind. He appeared not to be too happy, Treize mused and then paused. He? Yes, definitely a He. But he would examine that contact later.

~/It works by looking through your eyes, with your perceptions… then through the eyes of the child who witnessed something that terrorised him. I will take the brunt of the emotion of that time and filter it, becoming a buffer for you so that you do not have to fear being overcome by it. Do you understand what I mean to do if you consent?/~

~/Yes./~

For what seemed like a long time Zechs considered the suggestion whilst Treize waited, ignoring Gabiella and her choice of colourful invective. Treize had known the Gypsy Prime would not be pleased with the idea, but she was not feeling what he was from the younger man. He had felt this reaction before in witnesses needing to access locked memories of terrible events. Those memories had produced less than desirable repercussions for the witnesses, and he would not have Marquise suffer those psychological problems when it was easy enough to avoid. On those past occasions it had taken him hours of careful, painstaking work to stabilise them psychologically, subduing the refreshed memories' terror to something more tolerable.

If Zechs was willing to initiate a deeper level merge than Treize had been capable of performing with non psychically active individuals, then there should be no need to piece back together a psyche shattered by horrors of the past.

~/I… I don't… It's not…/~

A flash of the Dean of Tsuberov intruded into their sealed space, a fleeting memory of him speaking of requiring his Guardian's consent before they could work on a particular training procedure. Another flash, this time just a voice admonishing Zechs for acting without thinking against the tenants of the Institute without permission and due protocol.

~/I am well aware it is not the accepted form at Tsuberov to have a psi who is not on the teaching roll or listed to contact your mind directly initiate a merge, but we have done so now on a number of occasions. What I am asking for is your consent to take this existing state of merge to a deeper level. To permit our senses of sight and hearing, on a psychic level, to merge. I will remind you that I am a Prime, fully qualified to do this work, and that Gabriella is watching. There would be a witness and Gabriella could step in at any time if there is a need. Nothing of an improper nature could be perpetrated during the contact that she would not detect. I will take whatever protests Tsuberov's Board of Governors cares to dish out, your Guardian's protests as well, but you need to be aware that they will also be receiving my formal complaints over their mismanagement of your condition. Do you understand that?/~

~/Yes./~

~/I am a registered Prime and I have done this work before in the course of my professional capacity with the Agency. It is part and parcel of my job, Zechs./~

~/I… trust you./~

Treize smiled to himself. ~/ Thank you. Is that a yes? You can have more time to consider this deeper stage; all the time you wish for. You need to be confident in your decision before we progress further./~

~/Y...yes./~

~/Yes?~

~/Yes. I… want to go ahead./~

~/You don't sound as certain of this procedure as I would like and I will not initiate the deeper link if you have any doubts./~

He could feel Zechs easing himself further away from the veil of shadow and his unease rising the longer he maintained proximity to the shadowed memory. Thankfully Gabriella had fallen quiet within the link. She would be sure to let him know just how unamused she was with him, and what the hitch-hiker she carried thought of the entire incident he did not dare to consider. He would face their censure later; right now his concern was for the young man shifting uneasily in his awareness.

~/I don't want to feel this fear… but I'll have to, won't I? Eventually. If I ever want to be free of it, I have to relive it./~

~/Yes./~

~/I don't remember it, you know, I just… know… its not good./~

Empathic reaction to the emotion contained within the memory. Treize could help damp down that feedback, that was a large part of the merge he requested they initiate. Buffered by Treize damping down the emotional gradients Zechs could better 'see' through his childhood eyes.

~/If we initiated the deeper merge between us, you can watch the events take place from the perspective of an onlooker. Me. You, in effect, become third person, maintaining a distance to give you ease. There is no need for you to feel the full force of the child's emotions; but you must remember that you are not a child now. For the initial contact with the memory you will be divorced from it, but to thoroughly investigate it you will need to step 'closer' and experience it. That does not necessarily have to take place in this session./~

~/We would need Tsuberov's… should have Tsuvberov's consent… or my Guardian's but…/~

~/It would be good to gain their combined consent and we can certainly discontinue this session now and go through the protocols to hold the session in the laboratories at Tsuvberov. That is entirely up to you, Zechs. When this procedure is done, whether it is now or later, it is your decision, but be aware that it has to be done if you would be free of those flashbacks. You don't have to do the work with me; you can request any of the T/E Primes up to, and including, Gabriella. Any of us. I am the junior Prime after all. You can have a dozen checks and balances in place before any investigation begins, the choice of when, who and how is your decision./~

~/Tsuberov would assign…/~

~/ I will interrupt you there, Zechs. Not just anyone delves deep into the psyche of a Prime level candidate. Only a Prime will do this work with you./~

~/I admit I… would prefer it to be you. Or Gabriella./~

Treize waited, feeling Gabriella watching them, knowing she was prepared to return immediately should Marquise call for her to be the one to delve deep into his subconscious to interact with this memory. Treize could feel Gabriella's acceptance of the cautions he had given Zechs, of the demand this work be supervised and performed by a Prime T/E talent. Treize had given every appropriate warning to Zechs, hiding nothing, giving him the opportunity to think and demanding he understand that the choices to be made had to be made by him.

Tsuberov might have brilliant trainers but they did not have T/E Prime psychics on the payroll. If Zechs chose to call a halt and wait for monitored and more controlled conditions, then that was alright with Treize. He would assist Zechs in creating a containing field around the memory so they would not lose it, and it would not be free to haunt his waking or sleeping mind.

He would not think less of the younger man for his caution. It was sensible, a sound caution to have.

~/ You. I want… would prefer you to do it./~

Treize ignored Gabriella's reaction, she was not forbidding him to make the merge, merely requesting his assurance he knew what he was doing and was confident of the outcome. It was not Gabriella asking for the reassurance, but that other person she kept shielded. An assurance He could not escape her containment to disrupt the proceedings flowed along their link and Gabriella retreated back to watching and waiting.

~/Why?/~

The simple question startled Zechs, but Treize was not of a mind to continue until he was certain of why Zechs had chosen to continue.

~/Why? I'm sorry..?/

~/Why did you decide to choose me over Gabriella, or one of the other more senior Primes in our field?/~

~/Oh. Because I know you know what you are doing. I know you and I know Gabriella, but I do not know any of the other Primes. You are a trained investigator and you have assured me you have done this kind of work before. You have looked into people's pasts, into their memories, and you know what you are doing. I know I don't know you very well, but I feel that I can trust you./~

Sincerity seeped through the contact between them, assurance that Zechs had made the decision for sound reasons. Marquise was not a fool and it was clear enough there was something in his past that was traumatic and potentially a crime. It could be anything, perhaps nothing illegal had occurred, merely a child's over reaction to something that happened near him. Whatever it was it was something a child's fear had locked away and, from time to time, it emerged to demand attention only to be locked ruthlessly away by an older consciousness that misunderstood what it was.

Gabriella's acceptance of the reasons given was clear and Treize guessed she set her observer in his place with her usual aplomb. He himself was satisfied with the response, and in the trust he sensed from the other man. He could work with Zechs and he would be sure to see the younger male had no cause to regret his decision to trust him.

~/Well then, I accept your reasoning and Gabriella has given her consent. She will act as witness to the proceedings and testify on our behalf when Tsuberov, and your Guardian, begin to squeal. I have to ask you if you wish to continue this session tonight, or if you would prefer to rest and resume either within the laboratory centre at Tsuvberov, or perhaps in the laboratories at the Agency?/~

A moments uncertainty flashed through his awareness and Treize got the impression Zechs blushed, though why he should Treize chose not to pursue. He was not here to delve into the working mind of the young man, merely to settle the matter of an out of control memory flash.

~/If you would, I prefer we begin now. What do I need to do?/~

~/Very well. This should be relatively easy given you are a close match to me on the psychic level. Your psi potential should ease our way somewhat. We will begin by matching our senses, and the easiest sense to match would have to be the sense of 'touch'./~

Treize pictured a hand, palm raised, fingers open, as though he was inviting a hand shake.

~/You need to remember what it is to touch a person's hand. The feel of their skin contacting yours, of the ridges lines and curves of their skin… the warmth of their skin. You need to remember what it feels like and allow that awareness to suffuse your consciousness. Let it become everything to you; that feeling of warmth in the clasp of hands, what it feels like for you to be touching, physically, a friend and what it might feel like for them to be touching you./~

Zechs sighed softly and Treize caught a scent of what he identified to be irony. ~/It had to be touch, didn't it? What's the one thing telepaths and empaths avoid like the plague?/~

Treize laughed softly within their isolated plane of existence, genuinely amused, and enfolded the young man in a cocoon of warmth, offering up his own memories, scant though they were. Memories from the time before he had developed the higher side of his talent, before he felt the unwelcome rush of thoughts and emotions from those who touched him… from before he had fallen under Gabriella's protective wing.

~/I know what you mean. If there is anyone who would know what it is to be isolated in a crowd, it is an empathic telepath who desires to remain sane. Remember touch and then we will remember what it is to scent life too./~

It was there, in their memories. The feel of warm flesh touching warm flesh, of calluses on a hand clasped in his, of the roughness of fingerprints on a hand grasped in his. A scarred palm on his own smooth flesh. The memories were there and with them other sensations began to filter in. Glimpses of people and places one would recognise, things one had witnessed and the other now shared, trading back and forth on a deepening level with increasing confidence. Scent came gradually, the faintest smells of cooking food, stable stink, garbage rotting in slums, snatches of overheard conversation, laughter, cursing…

~/You are wonderfully responsive to work with. Our fellow Primes will love you./~

Again that sense of a blush, of a pleasure in being recognised, and a shyness of nature developed in being isolated from others. A burgeoning psi talent forcing distance between him and others, the distance bringing with it the feeling that he did not belong…

~/Shall we proceed, Zechs?/~

Treize refused to have him laid open to the unseen observer with Gabriella, and he took their shared senses in hand and faced the shadowed veil that had become fainter in the time they had been focused elsewhere. How much time had actually passed since they had merged?

His thought or was it Zechs'? Treize dismissed the concern as unnecessary. They would work together as long as they were fit to continue, or until the memory was exposed and examined, and the terror taken from it. It was there, the memory was here, right in front of them. They need only merge with it and see it… hear it. Discover it.

~/Ready?/~

~/Yes./~

With full confidence in his own ability, and the sensitivity and strength to be found in the mind linked to his, Treize merged them into the shadow, becoming a thin wisp , spreading out their awareness to pick up the strands of deeper darkness, drawing them to each other, drawing them together…

There was a fleeting sensation of falling, an illusion, and he was pleased Marquise showed no disorientation. It was more a sense of movement than of actually falling and it was brief, far shorter than Treize had experienced before with long repressed memory subjects.

~/I am hoping to go back, if we can, to a glimpse 'before' this memory. If I can nudge it a little to give us some sense of where you were, perhaps gain an insight into how old you were, it might help us pinpoint the event. Do you have a problem with that?/~

Trust flowed back into him, trust and denial of concern. Zechs was curious, observant, trying to follow exactly how he drew them through the veil, thickening the shadowy wisps into something darker, stronger, more detailed. The darkness was nothing more than the manifestation of the gulf of time, where the memory had been cut off from the conscious mind. Again it was nothing more than an illusion, a reference for their senses to recognise and for him to work with. They needed to sink through the layers and seek out the conscious memories, if possible easing past the memory itself and securing a hold a little further back. Such might not be possible.

How old Marquise had been when this memory related to the events in his past that they sought to touch, would dictate how far back they could venture before the trauma occurred. Bypassing the memory to glimpse a prior time might not be possible in that he had a feeling Zechs was very young, but he would try. It would help clarify the memory, give it a basis from which they could work to examine the trauma itself by having a secure base to fall back to when Zechs inevitably became stressed.

Treize was as startled as Marquise when the gathering darkness went from comfortingly black to something else entirely. Total absence of light, not the sensation of falling but of suffocating darkness… and the screaming!

It was solid about them, enfolding them, suffocating…airless… black. A momentary flash of voices subsumed by the screaming…utter terror and loss.

Treize was quick to enfolded Marquise in a buffering layer for protection, standing as a shield between his perceptions and the screaming darkness. Zechs was stiff within his protection, trembling, and if he had had eyes in this psychic plane they would have been wide with reaction.

~/What? What is it? I… don't…/~

~/That was rather an unexpected surprise./~

He kept the thought mild, carefully unconcerned. Zechs was nervous enough without his reaction being aggravated by Treize's personal response. He had no idea what had given birth to that memory, they would investigate it to be sure, but for a moment he wanted to absorb the big surprise.

According to the records Treize had viewed, Zechs Marquise had not been psi active until he was approaching his adolescence, as was normal with most young psi's, but what he sensed in that moment of utter darkness and terror was the signature of a very psi active child and it was most definitely Zechs Marquise.

Karina Robertson 2010

Notes

Treize Kushrenada : Level 10 Sending/Receiving Telepath + Receiving and Projecting Empath at Level 10. Prime rated. Agency Operative contracted term of 5 years with 2 years remaining. [25yrs of age] Training facility: Psychic Institute Munich Division.

Zechs Marquise: Psi Student 5th year at Tsuberov Parapsychic Investigation and University. Level 10 Receiving/Projecting Empath [approaching Prime Designation] + Level 9 Sending /Receiving Telepath, Projected L10 function. Finder function suspected, not officially registered. Country of origin, Luxemburg. [20 years of age]

Gabriella : Romany descent. Level 10 Sending / Receiving Telepath + Level 10 Receiving and Projecting Empath. Prime Rated. Training facility rumoured to be Government Laboratories of the Prussian Republic deposed in the year AC 45. Age: Unknown [rumoured to be approximately seventy four]. Oldest of the Prime Telepathic Empaths.