On the myth of projection
(Excerpt from: The Mysterious E Designation. Empathic Gifts & Shadows. By Alice Eldridge)
There are rumors among the populace that some empaths are capable of actively changing or even inciting emotions instead of just heightening or dampening them. This ability is often referred to as empathic projection. Some historic documents even suggest that projection once was a means to cure severe emotional disorders and insanity. They also claim the skill was correlated with the ability to shield from psychic powers as well as emotional influences. This combination of abilities would make sense by biosocial means, as shielding would be crucial for someone who worked with mentally ill Psy patients. But the present study could not find sufficient evidence for empathic projection or significant correlations with special variants of shielding.
In empaths shielding skills seem generally more prevalent, which is by most researchers explained as an evolutionary development that compensates their lack of martial potential (see also chapter 2.3). The ability to shut off the empathic senses however is observed to be relatively weak in most E-Psy. Although this exposes them to the emotions of others around them, most subjects report not being troubled by it.
Among those who participated in the present research, there were only two subjects who reported incidents on which they might have been projecting. Both individuals had slightly higher ability to shield themselves from the emotional influences around them. But the observation of such a small sample is not enough to draw scientifically reliable conclusions.
Presumably projection is an extremely rare variation of empathy comparable to Backsight in the F-Designation. If the similarity is further applicable, this variation is likely to be too instable to be systematically influenced and thus trained. It is in any case currently not trained in empaths and all further research on the topic is not publicly available.
We can therefore not be certain about the existence or nonexistence of such a skill. It seems however as if rumors about ancient empaths who could cure even the worst forms of mental or emotional disorders belong to the realm of legends.
Chapter 28
It was almost midnight in San Francisco. The Ghost was waiting for Judd in the shadows of an old warehouse, where they'd met before. He had chosen the dimly lit location so the other man wouldn't see his face. The former Arrow had told him that even knowing the Ghosts true identity he wouldn't risk visual memories that would be harder to remove if he were ever taken. That was only one of the things that had gained him Kaleb's trust over the time.
Enough trust to risk giving Judd a hint that he was looking for information on empaths – especially projecting empaths. He had to know more about what Alja was capable of, since he could no longer trust his logic when it came to her. And specifying his request was the only option left, after his fellow rebel had informed him that Alice Eldridge was conscious most of the time now, but had not gotten back much of her memory. There was however a good chance Judd had other sources on empathy. They never talked about it openly, but Kaleb knew Judd had connections to Sascha Duncan – Nikita's defected daughter and a cardinal empath.
His own research on empathy hadn't been very fruitful. Even the Obsidian Archive that held the remnants of knowledge that the Council had tried to erase for over hundred years, had not revealed much. But in one point the information had been specific: an empath could not leave constructs in a brain like some telepaths could.
That meant Alja's influence should have ended the moment he was out of her projective range. But he had teleported to the other half of the planet often enough just to feel an instant urge to get back close to her. And it had proven futile to try to reinforce his conditioning even thousands of miles away from her. That was why he was now ninety-nine percent sure this could not be her psychic powers that were melting his Silence so irrevocably.
Still there was the question why she acted as if she didn't know about his fracturing conditioning. As an empath she must be able to sense that he had started to feel. Maybe she had her own agenda after all… And she was all but consuming his control which was a problem, whether she did it deliberately or not.
"I didn't expect you here already. What makes that information so important to you?" Judd's voice was calm, yet guarded when he materialized out of the dark.
"I can't tell you yet. But I can promise I won't use it to harm anyone." And he wouldn't. He just needed to know.
"Something about you has changed." Even knowing the other man for years Judd needed a moment to pin his conclusion down to observable facts. "You never were one to make promises – And you seem restless tonight."
"There's a lot of change…" For a moment the Ghost seemed distant – if his mind wasn't fully there.
"How's your sanity?" Blunt words from a man who knew him better than most.
"Holding." Yet was the unspoken word that hung in the air. And they both knew it. "Now will you tell me what you found out?"
"I was able to access some of Eldridge's work on empaths. There might be a rare variation of the E-designation that fits your description. But obviously Eldridge didn't have access to all the research about it. The thing you asked for was only mentioned in one chapter." He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over. "That's a copy of the page that discusses the term projection. It's not much. And the knowledge is heavily outdated."
Kaleb skimmed through the lines quickly before answering. "Yes, what she writes about backsight certainly is." Nowadays it was well known how to influence backsight and it had been considered a stable enough variation of Foresight to be considered as an official subdesignation. There were after all a lot of F-Psy who were significantly stronger seeing the past than the future.
"About what that last paragraph says…" Judd began.
"I know what you want to ask. And the answer is 'no'. I am not pinning my hope on some mythical creature to fix me. There are things that cannot be fixed." Final words.
Judd looked into the shadows before him for several seconds, wishing for once to be able to see, to read the face of the man who was so much like himself and yet so different. It was the first time the Ghost had openly admitted that something was wrong with him. But he had no help to offer to the man he called 'friend' although he probably didn't understand the term. "That is not for me to decide. – Do you have anything new on the political conditions in Europe and Asia?"
"The war is still mostly covert. There were some Pure Psy attacks on companies that work closely with the other races. But so far not as many as I expected. It's making business hard for some, but it's still manageable. In the Net on the other hand, the tension is rising perceptibly."
The Ghost didn't mention any human casualties. A few years ago Judd wouldn't have noticed that fact. Now it drew a sharp contrast between him and the other rebel, revealing how much he had changed since he left the Net. Again he wondered how much longer their goals would align. "It's mostly the same here. Pure Psy is still quiet – suspiciously so. But the few attacks they do pull off are getting more and more militarily refined."
"Ming?" Kaleb had already suspected the older Councilor for a while to have taken over the fundamentalist organization since Henry's death.
"We don't know for sure yet. He didn't stand behind Silence as firm as Henry and Shoshanna did, but he lost the Arrows. Maybe he wanted a replacement."
"I intend to ascertain that soon." With Alja's help he'd be able to break into the highest levels of Pure Psy's hierarchy.
"If he is? Will the Net tolerate his death?" Judd had no doubt Ming's life was forfeit the moment the Ghost decided he stood in his way. His sole regret was that Sienna wouldn't get the chance to kill the bastard herself.
"Why do you think I hesitated so far?" Even without connection to Pure Psy Ming had lost any right to exist the moment he'd tried to hurt Alja. Discomfort rose at the thought. He had to get back to Moscow soon, even if she should be safe for now. Since he had trouble functioning when he didn't know exactly where she was, he had decided to make sure he always did by minimizing her possibilities to move.
"Is it that fragile already?" Open concern in Judd's words. He had no reason to hide emotion anymore.
And not for the first time Kaleb envied the other man. "We're still keeping most of the violent outbursts secret but the rot spreads." It was the one thing all former Council members still unitedly worked on. If the populace knew the truth about the disease that drove more and more Psy to the most hideous and violent forms of madness, chaos would ensue. "Any major incident might cause severe stability problems."
Two minutes later Kaleb teleported into the bright light of the midday sun that was breaking through the glass front of his Moscow office. The first thing he did was to check his messages. Both Silver and Delenko had tried to contact him. He got back to the latter first, dialing in a video call to the other man's office.
"What was it about the security reports?" he asked as soon as Delenko answered.
"I just wanted to inform you that Dardo caused some tumult in the entrance hall today."
Kaleb paused at Delenko's phrasing. The members of security had a habit of addressing only the most senior among themselves simply by their last names. It was their version of showing trust and respect to well-tried colleagues. He wasn't yet sure how to interpret the fact that Alja had ascended inside that exclusive circle so fast. "What did she do?"
For a moment the security chief seemed slightly confused, as if he didn't understand the incident and thought about how to report it accurately. "She had an Arrow teleport in – with some unusual items."
"Did she leave the building?" Kaleb's mind automatically scanned for hers, only calming when he found her in the gym.
"No, but she seemed surprised to be halted. Hanser was in charge of the tightened security protocols. It must have slipped his attention to inform her about it."
"It didn't. I thought it unnecessary to inform her as long as she didn't get in contact with the new protocols."
The man on the screen hesitated, unsure how to phrase what he wanted to say. "You keep a very close eye on her. And this is not the first irregular incident with her. I think I am not certain about what her status among the staff is."
"Her skills – as you have already seen – make her a valuable asset I do not intend to lose. That's why her safety has absolute priority, even over her own preferences. Otherwise she is a member of your team like any other."
"I appreciate to hear that. The team values her for her work, too." Somehow Delenko seemed relieved, as far as one could say that about a perfectly Silent Psy.
"Good. Has the scene in the entrance hall caused any problems?" Kaleb wondered what Alja had been up to. But he already had a good idea who the Arrow had been. Both Aden and Vasic had repeatedly inquired after Alja, whenever their work required that they contacted Kaleb. And Vasic was as fast a teleporter as Kaleb himself.
"Only as far as the presence of Arrows generally causes discomfort in some people. – And then there are the items she had him bring to her. She officially signed them in, asserting she wasn't sure whether any of them qualified as weapons, although they were just –" A short pause as Delenko searched for the right description of things he rarely encountered. "It was a blue dress, a pair of woman's shoes and some pieces of decorative cosmetic."
When he heard it, Kaleb felt a strange sensation coming alive in his stomach – closely followed by some new spikes of dissonance. He had to actively control his facial expression to prevent the corners of his mouth from tugging upwards. Had it not been for the painful warnings he would have laughed out.
That stubborn, mischievous woman! Of course she hadn't tacitly accepted to be locked inside. But she hadn't come running to him to complain either. Clever and bold as she was she'd sent him a message: She would not tolerate to be restricted.
And she was not alone. The loyalty of the Arrow Squad went far enough to take the time and the risk of confrontation with him to bring her something as trivial as some clothing.
But she had also stayed – by choice. She might as well have asked the other assassin to teleport her wherever she wanted to go and given him hell of a time finding her again. But no, Alja did not hide from him, just like she still hadn't cringed at the thought of what he'd done. And for the first time he caught himself comparing her to the woman he'd been searching for so long. The one who was so soft and gentle, he probably couldn't let her see a tenth of what he was without scaring her to death. On the other hand that woman would probably not mind restrictions for her protection. If she was like he'd always pictured her, she'd rather ask, maybe beg for his help, like the swan changeling had. And he wouldn't fail her like he had that girl, because he had to live up to his silent vows.
But that helpless softness held no appeal for him. Not like Alja did, the woman who had gone through death and survived – more than once. She would never tolerate the prison he'd built for his quarry. It was so comfortably designed, most would never recognize it as what it was, but his perceptive Arrow would see the bars of the cage.