"How long have you been able to do this?" Adam calmly questioned after Emma had explained everything.
"I honestly don't know," Emma answered in a whisper. "This was the first time I'd even attempted it." She cast her gaze down towards her hands resting in her lap and waited for the inevitable. She didn't have to wait long.
"Nothing like using your friend as a guinea pig," Shalimar hissed before standing up from the small kitchen table and resuming her pacing.
Emma flinched at the words but didn't try to defend herself.
"But you erased the memory, right?" Brennan asked, ignoring Shalimar's outburst. "So he should be fine."
"He sure didn't seem fine earlier," Shalimar mumbled while glaring at Emma.
"No, I didn't erase it." The words were barely audible.
"What?" Brennan and Shalimar chorused in shocked outrage.
"Emma can't permanently alter someone's memory," Adam explained with a thoughtful expression on his face. "In a relatively short amount of time, the forgotten memories will be recovered just as the implanted memories will fade."
"Okay, so EVENTUALLY he'll be fine," Brennan amended his earlier statement, clearly exasperated and desperate to resolve the situation.
"No."
"What?" This time Adam joined the other two in the question.
Adam leaned forward and reached a hand out to tilt Emma's head up, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Tell me exactly what thought or memory you broadcasted to him," he coaxed in a gentle voice.
Tears overflowed Emma's eyes, only to be brushed away by Adam's thumb. "I didn't broadcast any."
A simple raised hand from Adam effectively preempted Shalimar's vehement protest. "Tell me," he encouraged.
Emma took a deep, shuddering breath. "There was no single thought that would affect all of the rebels. I had to do something that was guaranteed to make them all turn back." She paused, unsure of how to explain things.
"What did you do?" Shalimar ground out through clenched teeth. The continual need to prompt the younger woman was beginning to wear on her nerves.
"I used a broad-band psionic blast to unlock their own bad memories," Emma explained, refusing to specifically mention Jesse's name. "It would have been something different for everyone. For some, it might have been remembering a traumatic childhood experience and for others it might have been revisiting a bad nightmare. Whatever memories came forward, they would have been as vivid in their minds as if they had just experienced them for the first time, and since the memories were theirs to begin with - not something I had implanted - they won't simply fade away. I was able to temporarily block it in Jesse, but the block isn't holding." Emma glanced at Shalimar just in time to see an expression of horror cross the feral's face before she bolted from the room. Emma looked questioningly towards Adam.
"Jesse..." Adam sighed and leaned back in his chair. He brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Jesse was only a young teen when I brought him here. Considering his rather...sheltered...background, I was surprised to learn that he suffered from horrible nightmares. I never knew if he was reliving something that had happened to him or if he was seeing something his own mind had created, but I did know that his erratic massing and phasing while he dreamed could have easily put his life in danger. If he would have phased and then rematerialized in his mattress or even the floor..." Adam shook his head as if to remove the thought.
"I could never get him to open up to me, but Shalimar finally got him to talk to her - probably because she was much closer to his age. It was months before Jesse could sleep for more than a few hours at a time and almost a year before he slept through the night. Neither he nor Shalimar ever told me..."
"Adam!"
Adam's story was interrupted by the frantic call from Shalimar. The three rushed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to find Shalimar standing at the entrance to Jesse's bedroom. Looking in, they saw that Jesse, his bed, and a large portion of the floor and furniture were massed. The surrounding floorboards were creaking ominously, threatening to break under the strain and send the young man crashing to the level below.
Brennan took a step forward only to be halted by Shalimar. "We've got to get him out of there!" he exclaimed, confused as to why she would stop him.
Shalimar was obviously anxious, but amazingly controlled. "It was bad enough when he was younger and he'd take a swing at me when he woke up, but if you go in there now, you'll be massed right along with everything else. That would just put you and him in even more danger." She looked to Adam with a silent, desperate plea in her eyes.
In response, Adam turned to Emma. Understanding exactly what was expected of her, Emma closed her eyes in concentration until another psionic bubble formed. She opened her eyes and launched the bubble towards Jesse.
With a deep inhalation, the distraught young man returned to normal density and bolted upright in the bed, gasping for breath. Adam held the others back as Shalimar rushed to Jesse's side and gathered the trembling figure into her arms. Jesse's arms wrapped around her waist and he held her tightly against his sweat-dampened body.
While whispering soothing reassurances into Jesse's ear and rubbing small circles on his back, Shalimar cast a look to the others still standing at the door. She would handle things. Wordlessly, Adam closed the door and led Emma and Brennan back to the kitchen.
"Adam?" Emma called in a small voice upon reaching the kitchen. The single word held a litany of questions. Are you angry? Should I have done things differently? Do you need more information? Will Jesse be alright? What should we do for him? What happens next?
Adam chose to answer the last question. "Shalimar will take care of him for now, but we're going to have confront this soon. Is the mental block still in place?"
The young woman took a moment to engage Jesse's mind. "It's pretty weak, but it's there."
"Good. Reinforce it as much as you can. In the morning, after we've all had some rest, we'll start working on a solution."
Emma complied and, when she was finished and confident that the barriers in Jesse's mind would hold until morning, she and Brennan reluctantly headed off to bed.
Adam went back upstairs and tapped on Jesse's door before quietly entering. He was greeted with the touching sight of Shalimar sitting on the edge of the bed, tenderly stroking the brow of her now peacefully sleeping friend. When Shalimar looked up, he motioned that he wanted to speak with her.
"I'm not sure what happened," Shalimar whispered when she joined Adam by the door. "He just suddenly relaxed and went back to sleep. He doesn't seem to be having the nightmares right now."
"Emma was able to reinforce the block she had created against the memories. She's pretty confident that it'll hold until the morning so he can get some rest."
Shalimar directed pain-filled eyes back towards the sleeping form of her best friend. "It was almost as if the last ten years hadn't happened, Adam. He just...I know that Emma didn't intend for this to happen, but...he was reliving...he seemed so..." she sighed and leaned wearily against the wall.
"I know," Adam soothed. "You were able to help him through this once before and I'm sure you'll be able to do it again. Hopefully, Jesse will let the rest of us help this time."
Shalimar shook her head sadly, tears forming in her dark eyes. "You don't understand. You CAN'T understand." With that, she reentered the room and gently closed the door, shutting Adam out.
"I honestly don't know," Emma answered in a whisper. "This was the first time I'd even attempted it." She cast her gaze down towards her hands resting in her lap and waited for the inevitable. She didn't have to wait long.
"Nothing like using your friend as a guinea pig," Shalimar hissed before standing up from the small kitchen table and resuming her pacing.
Emma flinched at the words but didn't try to defend herself.
"But you erased the memory, right?" Brennan asked, ignoring Shalimar's outburst. "So he should be fine."
"He sure didn't seem fine earlier," Shalimar mumbled while glaring at Emma.
"No, I didn't erase it." The words were barely audible.
"What?" Brennan and Shalimar chorused in shocked outrage.
"Emma can't permanently alter someone's memory," Adam explained with a thoughtful expression on his face. "In a relatively short amount of time, the forgotten memories will be recovered just as the implanted memories will fade."
"Okay, so EVENTUALLY he'll be fine," Brennan amended his earlier statement, clearly exasperated and desperate to resolve the situation.
"No."
"What?" This time Adam joined the other two in the question.
Adam leaned forward and reached a hand out to tilt Emma's head up, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Tell me exactly what thought or memory you broadcasted to him," he coaxed in a gentle voice.
Tears overflowed Emma's eyes, only to be brushed away by Adam's thumb. "I didn't broadcast any."
A simple raised hand from Adam effectively preempted Shalimar's vehement protest. "Tell me," he encouraged.
Emma took a deep, shuddering breath. "There was no single thought that would affect all of the rebels. I had to do something that was guaranteed to make them all turn back." She paused, unsure of how to explain things.
"What did you do?" Shalimar ground out through clenched teeth. The continual need to prompt the younger woman was beginning to wear on her nerves.
"I used a broad-band psionic blast to unlock their own bad memories," Emma explained, refusing to specifically mention Jesse's name. "It would have been something different for everyone. For some, it might have been remembering a traumatic childhood experience and for others it might have been revisiting a bad nightmare. Whatever memories came forward, they would have been as vivid in their minds as if they had just experienced them for the first time, and since the memories were theirs to begin with - not something I had implanted - they won't simply fade away. I was able to temporarily block it in Jesse, but the block isn't holding." Emma glanced at Shalimar just in time to see an expression of horror cross the feral's face before she bolted from the room. Emma looked questioningly towards Adam.
"Jesse..." Adam sighed and leaned back in his chair. He brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Jesse was only a young teen when I brought him here. Considering his rather...sheltered...background, I was surprised to learn that he suffered from horrible nightmares. I never knew if he was reliving something that had happened to him or if he was seeing something his own mind had created, but I did know that his erratic massing and phasing while he dreamed could have easily put his life in danger. If he would have phased and then rematerialized in his mattress or even the floor..." Adam shook his head as if to remove the thought.
"I could never get him to open up to me, but Shalimar finally got him to talk to her - probably because she was much closer to his age. It was months before Jesse could sleep for more than a few hours at a time and almost a year before he slept through the night. Neither he nor Shalimar ever told me..."
"Adam!"
Adam's story was interrupted by the frantic call from Shalimar. The three rushed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to find Shalimar standing at the entrance to Jesse's bedroom. Looking in, they saw that Jesse, his bed, and a large portion of the floor and furniture were massed. The surrounding floorboards were creaking ominously, threatening to break under the strain and send the young man crashing to the level below.
Brennan took a step forward only to be halted by Shalimar. "We've got to get him out of there!" he exclaimed, confused as to why she would stop him.
Shalimar was obviously anxious, but amazingly controlled. "It was bad enough when he was younger and he'd take a swing at me when he woke up, but if you go in there now, you'll be massed right along with everything else. That would just put you and him in even more danger." She looked to Adam with a silent, desperate plea in her eyes.
In response, Adam turned to Emma. Understanding exactly what was expected of her, Emma closed her eyes in concentration until another psionic bubble formed. She opened her eyes and launched the bubble towards Jesse.
With a deep inhalation, the distraught young man returned to normal density and bolted upright in the bed, gasping for breath. Adam held the others back as Shalimar rushed to Jesse's side and gathered the trembling figure into her arms. Jesse's arms wrapped around her waist and he held her tightly against his sweat-dampened body.
While whispering soothing reassurances into Jesse's ear and rubbing small circles on his back, Shalimar cast a look to the others still standing at the door. She would handle things. Wordlessly, Adam closed the door and led Emma and Brennan back to the kitchen.
"Adam?" Emma called in a small voice upon reaching the kitchen. The single word held a litany of questions. Are you angry? Should I have done things differently? Do you need more information? Will Jesse be alright? What should we do for him? What happens next?
Adam chose to answer the last question. "Shalimar will take care of him for now, but we're going to have confront this soon. Is the mental block still in place?"
The young woman took a moment to engage Jesse's mind. "It's pretty weak, but it's there."
"Good. Reinforce it as much as you can. In the morning, after we've all had some rest, we'll start working on a solution."
Emma complied and, when she was finished and confident that the barriers in Jesse's mind would hold until morning, she and Brennan reluctantly headed off to bed.
Adam went back upstairs and tapped on Jesse's door before quietly entering. He was greeted with the touching sight of Shalimar sitting on the edge of the bed, tenderly stroking the brow of her now peacefully sleeping friend. When Shalimar looked up, he motioned that he wanted to speak with her.
"I'm not sure what happened," Shalimar whispered when she joined Adam by the door. "He just suddenly relaxed and went back to sleep. He doesn't seem to be having the nightmares right now."
"Emma was able to reinforce the block she had created against the memories. She's pretty confident that it'll hold until the morning so he can get some rest."
Shalimar directed pain-filled eyes back towards the sleeping form of her best friend. "It was almost as if the last ten years hadn't happened, Adam. He just...I know that Emma didn't intend for this to happen, but...he was reliving...he seemed so..." she sighed and leaned wearily against the wall.
"I know," Adam soothed. "You were able to help him through this once before and I'm sure you'll be able to do it again. Hopefully, Jesse will let the rest of us help this time."
Shalimar shook her head sadly, tears forming in her dark eyes. "You don't understand. You CAN'T understand." With that, she reentered the room and gently closed the door, shutting Adam out.