Forgotten Valley, Nevada

Psychonauts Facility 51

Forgotten Valley was hot as hell. According to every weather guide Oleander could find, apparently it was always hotter than hell. Why the High-Ups decided to build Facility 51 in the middle of the Nevada Desert is always going to be beyond him. And, even if they insisted it wasn't, he couldn't help but feel that the relocation was a punishment for the…incident with the tanks a few months ago at Whispering Rock.

To be fair, it wasn't completely. The action to move Agent Oleander's active post to Facility 51 was actually due to a combination of concern that continued exposure to the Psitanium deposit at Whispering Rock may cause a relapse of his more villainous antics…and that the Coach's experience at the camp, particularly in dealing with some of the more…troubled, lets say, campers meant he was uniquely qualified for this new position.

Morceau Oleander was now the head of security at Facility 51, a combination of a mental health facility and a prison for underaged individuals guilty of psychic crimes. Some of these "crimes" were accidents caused by poor control over psychic powers, some of them were intentionally performed by the inmate in question. In either case, it is believed that helping them through whatever they were going through that caused them to act out would be much easier in a facility designed for psychics than in a normal juvy, and in recent years Facility 51 has had a perfect reform rate on its released patients.

And now Oleander had been tasked with somehow keeping any of the not insignificantly powerful psychic delinquents there from causing trouble.

Yep. This job is… definitely a punishment.

The Facility itself isn't particularly large. That's the first thing Oleander noticed as he was escorted in by one of the facilities…counselors? Is Counselor the right word here? He doesn't think they were qualified to be called a therapist. Anyway he supposed it didn't need to be. Not many psychic kids do so much damage that they actually get taken to court. Probably how Zilch ended up in camp rather than here now that he thought about, little delinquent didn't do anything dangerous enough to get taken to court.

That train of thought was interrupted by the arrival of the Man in charge. Dr Jacob Mandela, award winning psychologist and the man who dreamed up facility 51. Apparently he had decided that Oleander deserved a personal tour on his first day.

"I told Hollis that we needed to have Psych Evals on agents before assigning them to Whispering Rock. Even minor mental issues could become exasperated by the psitaniums effects."

"Yeah well I-"

"And with how deep routed your trauma was according to the files I've been shown I'm surprised you made it that long"

"Doc I have no doubt you could write a hell of a paper on me but I'd really rather not talk about this. At all"

"Of course, of course, sorry. Call it professional curiosity." He lead Oleander down a hall of…rooms. They could barely be called holding cells, despite this place being a Juvi apparently. Other than the door locking from the outside…and them being modified psycho-isolation pods…they basically just looked like any teenagers room.

"We currently have 5 patients with us, each for their own reasons. Some of their own choice." The taller man stops in front of the first door, through an observation door a particularly immaculate room with shelf after shelf of textbooks. "As security chief, ensuring there safety and the safety of the rest of the staff is your responsibility. First up, our…troublemaker. Ignatius?"

What Oleander had first assumed was a particularly lumpy mattress suddenly sat up, a teenager a head taller than him put a book down and walked up to the door. "Doctor Mandala, I don't suppose you'd like to come in and talk with me today instead of talking through the door."

"Ah. Yes thank you Ignatius, that's a good thing to note." Mandala turned to Oleander. "Ignatius Quasi, 16 years old. He has a rather rare form of psychic abilities that allows him to drain information from other peoples minds to increase his own intelligence. I believe your friend Agent Nein helped bring him in. Regardless, he's not allowed out of his cell unless he's wearing a dampener helmet. Same rules for anyone going into the cell."

"Oh come now Doc, let the new guy learn on his own~"

"Last time I did that you drained one of my staff's memories to the point he thought he was still in high school Ignatius"

"Well. It wore off. Did you at least bring-"

"A new book, yes" The doctor slipped one through a mail slot on the door.

"How to make friends and influence people. How charmingly quaint" And with that Ignatius walked back to his bed.

"He's guilty of 4 accounts of psychic grand theft of intellectual property. Still has 3 years on his sentence and we've yet to make any major success in helping him learn to value himself on anything other than being the smartest person in the room"

"…Wait. How Grand we talking?"

"He stole the entirety of a Harvard education from 4 different scholars in one day."

Oleander whistled. "That takes some serious oomph…"

"Hence, no out of cell time for him without the helmet." Mandala gestured for Oleander to follow to the next room. Other than a bed, a small tv on a table, and a desk, it seemed practically empty, an at best 12 year old watched the Television with wide eyes. "ah, this should be more pleasant. Augie, could you come over here please I'd like to speak with you"

"…Do I have to leave the room sir?"

"No Augie, you may stay on that side if it makes you feel better. I just want to introduce you to Chie-"

"Coach."

"…Alright, Coach Oleander."

The 12 year-old slowly stands up. For some reason, he is wearing a surprisingly impeccable tuxedo. And then he puts on a Fez he had apparently hung near the door.

"Wait a minute…" Oleander's eyes lit up with recognition "Your Augur Seer! I used to watch your sh-"

"No Autographs!" Augie immediately pulled some blinds down on the door, blocking himself from view.

"…Alright then?"

"You'll have to forgive him. Augie's time on TV didn't exactly treat him well"

"He was an excellent mind reader; hell, his show made the most popular broadcast 3 month running!"

"A 10 year old shouldn't be forced to take in the thoughts of hundreds of random strangers in quick succession to sell tickets to a live show, Oleander. It did…significant damage to his mind"

"…How bad?"

"He can't turn off his mind reading. Ever. That's fine when theres one or two people…"

"But when you've got an audience of a couple thousand people…"

"Sensory Overload on a grand scale, yes." He sighs. "I doubt he's going to want to talk today now. Let's check in on the others…"

To Be Continued.