Title: In Cognitio

Author: Jintor

Summary: Thefts of psychic equipment have begun occurring around the exclusive boarding school of Demure Academy. Lili Zanatto is returning for another boring year of boarding school at Demure, but she - and the rest of her friends - are caught up in the action when Razputin, professional psychonaut, is dispatched to find out what's really going on under the school's snooty exterior...

Author Notes: In case you're wondering, I write most of the story whenever I have free time, and type it up whenever I have free time… at a computer. This means much of my story is written on public transport.


Lili was walking back to her shared room in a thoughtful frame of mind. Nothing interesting had happened at orientation, aside from a couple of new teachers being introduced, and… that was it, really. Demure wasn't an exciting place. She couldn't wait until the day she became a fully fledged Psychonaut and - could spend her days working with Raz - could get out of this crummy hellhole.

Tessa and Lester were somewhere arguing over the little Psitanium arrowhead, Zoe had drifted ahead to the room they shared (looking highly depressed) and Angus had gone to the library to print off his proof of psychic activity. The mind… or minds… that had brushed by hers were nowhere to be found.

It was the minds that interested her. She had never sensed them before in all the years she had been boarding at Demure, which meant that they were either new here or they had somehow… developed… psychic powers.

Which was ridiculous. You couldn't just develop psychic powers. Even if they only manifested themselves later in life they were still present, they found ways of leaking out; they lurked in your subconscious waiting, metaphorically, to show off. Psychic powers were always there, for better or for worse; it was the control element that was generally missing.

This train of thought derailed when she walked straight into somebody.

"Ow!"

Lili sat sprawled on the floor, rubbing her head. "Watch where you're going! That really hurt!"

"So Sorry." said the other kid. He looked Brazillian, tanned and bronzed, with dark brown hair. He offered her a hand up. "I apologize most profusely. I am new to this academy, and I am unaware as towards the location of several places. Including -" he made a gesture with his other hand - "including the boys' dormitory".

Lili took his hand. "New?"

"Yes, I am from Rio de Janeiro." he said, hauling her to her feet. He was strong. "What is your name, pouco dama?"

"Lili. Lili Zanotto."

"Lili... "he said. He looked as though he were testing the name. "Yes, it is a good name, a name like Lili."

"Your name, Mr Rio de Janeiro?" asked Lili. This boy was easy to like.

"Ricardo Cortez." he said, extending a hand yet again. Lili shook it. "I do not have the best... howyousay... command of english. But do you know where boys' dormitory is, Lili Zanotto?" he asked as she disengaged from the grip like steel. She shrugged. Why not?

XXX

Somewhere in the darkness surrounding Demure Academy, magic moved on silent feet. In this case thought, magic was a simple combination of ability and psychic skill.

A bird failed to notice as nothing passed below its perch, brushing foliage out of the way. A dog, loose in the grounds, didn't see nothing swing from tree to tree above it, branches shaking loose and leaves fluttering to the ground. A completely non floating bear failed to grab nothing with its telekinetic paws and bash it to death. (1)

The little patch of air found the gigantic wall with the hideous ornamentation that marked the border of Demure Academy, and started to climb.

(1) Although, to be fair, this was because it didn't have any telekinetic paws.

XXX

Zoe Martingrau was depressed, and the effort of trying not to let is show it made her even more depressed. The reason behind the depression was simple; she was back, again, in this squalid hellhole, and, well... that was it. You didn't need much more reason than that, around here. That was why she was in such a black mood.

Somewhere in the back of her head, she was wondering why she was depressed. She had quite happily held up for many years before this without getting horribly depressed. Her parents had said something about 'puberty' and 'adolescence' when she had called them after arriving, but really she had been fine until she had come back to Demure, but as soon as she had set foot on the grounds, well... reality had kicked in, or something very much like it, and she had looked up at another 11 months of drudgery and pure boredom.

She sighed, and continued unpacking. The masses of pink seemed slightly out of place, now...

XXX

There was a window. It was locked.

The thin air considered this. I could see no other alternative if it wanted to reach the target undetected. If it had hands, it would have raised them to its brow.

The window catch started vibrating. It shuddered and shook violently. If anybody of a psychic bent had been nearby, they would've sensed the massive concentration being invoked here, the tell-tale traces of mental muscle. But there weren't, and as the catch slid down, and the window slid up, only a breeze wavered some bushes as something - someone - that wasn't there slid inside Demure Academy.

XXX

The grip like steel, Lili discovered, was attached to a mind like steel. Ricardo hadn't really grasped the complex nonsense of the english language yet, and so made do with understandable words. But he was smart, and clever, and he knew what happened to clever and smart people, and so he played the stupid, hulking giant.

Which was stupid, because though he was giant he didn't hulk. He wasn't muscles all over, like Lester, nor was he wiry and fast, like Raz. He gave of a sort of aura, an aura of danger, which warned: I can smash you through the ground, and I'm not doing it. Don't make me choose.

Lili had lifted this from a low-grade mind sweep. Ricardo probably wasn't able to pronounce some of those words in english, although it was pretty clear that he would understand what she meant if she spoke in Spanish. His mind was sharp as an arrow and probably at least three times as deadly.

"What is in," he asked, pointing, "that room over there?"

"Cafeteria" replied Lili absently. No doubt he was constructing a map in his mind. "You know? Food? Eating...?"

"Hey! Cortez!" someone shouted, along the corridor. An older kid, 15 or 16 years of age came up to them. He shot Lili a glance of pure disdain. "What are you doing with freak-girl out here? Mr. Sheil sent me-"

He stopped. Lili's icy glare was legendary at the Academy for being literally freezingand though he had heard about them he had never experienced one before. Something cold was touching his sleeve. It was a moment before he realized it was his shirt. He could feel the ice crystallizing before Ricardo stepped in and broke Lili's concentration.

"It is no business of yours," he growled at the haughty kid, "Who I am with. At any place, and at any time."

"Uh..." he said, little puffs of snow and ice falling from his shirt, "Mr... Mr Sheil sent me to guide you... guide you to the dorms..."

"Ah." said Ricardo, relaxing his hands from their clenched position and turning to Lili. "Goodbye for now, Lili Zanotto, and I feel we shall soon meet again." He moved off along the corridor, and was near the corner before he turned back again. "And thank you for showing me round!"

And then he was gone.

XXX

Some students in the hallways in Demure later told of how they had brushed against something that wasn't there as they walked the hallways after orientation. Others claimed of some sort of 'presence', of objects moving by themselves or acting as if they'd been bumped by someone rushing onwards, invisible. One or two swore they saw a kid who disappeared if you weren't concentrating on him.

The presence hurried along corridor after corridor, closing in on the target. The target was angry, and curious, and mad - a strange combination, if there ever was one - and one that could be used...

XXX

A mental alarm clanged silently - to the outside world, at least - in her mind. Lili reacted quickly, rushing into a deserted corridor and concentrating. Another psychic! She could sense it, it was using its powers right now; the mind was slightly familiar - she found the entry point, linked up to the mind -

- there she is -

-and was abruptly disconnected, sending her reeling. It had found and kicked her out of its' – his, yes, definitely a boy's mind - in a matter of seconds, it was a really powerful mind - it was right behind her -

- she spun around. Nothing there -

- invisible arms enfolded her from behind. She struggled against them. A voice whispered in her ear.

"Gotcha".

A familiar voice...

Invisible hands spun her around as Razputin Aquatto, Professional Psychonaut, dematerialized around her and drew her into a warm, comforting hug.

"I missed you..." he whispered into her ear, again. Lili just held on, and hoped she would never have to let go…