Tell No One.
"Remember, tell no one." the ghost of her mother's voice warned as she stared at the dead form on the ground, knife buried deep in the heart, blood pooled around. "Mama," ten year old Susan screamed as she knelt by Sophia and sobbed.
" Tell no one." voice rang in Susan's head as she downed another shot of vodka while sitting on the sofa in the dark living room of her quarters on Babylon 5. In less than two hours she was to have her mind scanned. The glass dropped from her trembling fingers and ignoring it she rose and walked out the door.
She stood before him, her worried eyes meeting his confused ones, " I am a latent telepath," she said, falling in to the chair behind her. All the while Sophia's voice echoed in her head, " Tell no one, trust no one." But she told, feeling as though she had betrayed something, though not quite sure what.
" Are you sure there is no subconscious reason you don't want your mind scanned, Commander?" The rogue hinted, as if accusing her of some crime. Lyta, not three years ago a loyal Psi Corp member, who had accused the first Babylon 5 Commander of murder, was now claiming to be a changed woman demanded that the command staff submit to a scan to determine if one of them had a planted subconscious personality.
Hands on her ears, she screamed, " No." but the woman wouldn't give up. Forcing her way into Susan's mind she questioned, " Who are you?" He came behind them and stopped the violation by revealing Susan's secret to the trusted group.
She sat in the gray cell of the Psi Corp, years after her time on Babylon 5. The rogue Lyta, had been nothing but a spy and betrayed Susan immediately.
The Corp came chanting it's mantra, " The Corp is mother, the Corp is father." They gave her the same choice they had given her mother. " Join, take sleepers, go to prison." To join would be to become the very thing she had avoided and detested her life. To chase, to hunt, to kill poor souls in the same situation with her, turn her back on all things humane, to give in where others had died rather than take the easy way.
Sleepers, which Sophia had chosen when the Corp caught up with her in her thirty fifth year, were a drug used to suppress telepathic ability, had clouded her mind in such a way, that she killed herself within ten years.
So, she sat in the prison cell, more of a dungeon with an old fashioned lock, half mad from years of solitary confinement. The garment she wore was a thin robe and her weakened limbs stuck out, bent into odd positions and offered little protection against the chill of the cell. Her unkempt hair fell past her hips and was prematurely streaked with gray. Her blue haunted eyes were blank of purpose.
Days would pass without a single thought passing though her head. Nothing but emptiness. She would be unaware of time passing, unaware of her surroundings or even of her own existence. But she was aware now; she was thinking. After they had apprehended her, they tried to break her to their will. Mentally, they pressed into her mind but could not enter. She had spent her life building mental shields. Physically they tortured her until she was near dying, but received no response.
They made her a breeder and stuck her in a cell where they could forget her when they wanted. She could not fight the men who came to her. She couldn't keep the children they gave her; those of her flesh, taken at birth and kept away from her.
At first she would spend hours on her knees praying for a quick escape. But God had not answered her prayer, although He was with her, she knew, she could feel a peace where there was once anger. The years subdued her. Her cell was minimally guarded. Broken and not fully in her senses, she had not taken advantage of that yet. Having a new purpose, her mind cleared considerably. She rose and played with the lock with her bony fingers. It was strong, a metallic one of twenty first century style. However, with the meager tools she was able to come up with and her old abilities returning, she managed to open it. She slipped out. using her hand to guide her through the dark and unfamiliar building.. Miraculously, no one saw her. There was the nursery for children under five, too young to be useful to the Corp with their talent yet undiscovered. They were given the best care possible and were brainwashed to the Corp's ideals. She gazed in the door at those of her own blood, and whispered, " tell no one." knowing her words were futile.