Chapter 7

It was the first day of class, and Spock was mostly controlling his newfound powers. His intelligence had fully stabilized, though Mr Fantastic opted to wait until Spock was in full control of himself before he came to help with the man's experiments. Spock quite agreed. He was still wearing the harness, but on a low level; he was mostly in control. The class was just beginning, and Spock was curious to see what method of education would be utilized.

The instructor introduced him to the class, in a method far longer than would be applied on Vulcan. It was not logical to devote long periods of class time to introductions when class time was supposed to be dedicated to learning. Even though occasions where a student unexpectedly transferred was quite rare.

When they began class, Spock realized that he was to begin utilizing his telepathy in basic attacks and defences. He did not believe this reconciled with Vulcan principles. They were to begin with defences, so Spock did not wish to disrupt class. He would wait until class had finished.

"Instructor Psylocke?" Spock stood by her desk after the bell had rung.

"Yes, Spock?"

"Instructor Psylocke, I do not believe utilizing telepathy with the intention of causing harm to others is reconciled with the teachings of Surak."

"You don't want to learn to use your telepathy in attack?"

"I do not."

"Well, you don't have to, but I hope I can change your mind. If you want you can solely focus on the defensive aspects… you don't mind using your telepathy in defence?"

"To not do so, especially in a world of rampantly emotional and violent telepaths would be illogical."

"All right then. But I would prefer you learned attacks."

Spock gathered the principals of Surak around him like a cloak. They enveloped him, defined him, were him. There was nothing else, nothing that mattered.

"I do not think that necessary." A memory, unbidden. Meeting with teachers after school was never good. They had criticized him, accused him of cheating, told him he was inadequate. There was no emotion. Logic enveloped him, defined him. It defined him. It was him. Nothing else mattered.

"As vulcans mature they gain inherent knowledge of how to use their abilities. We study how to control our minds, and defence is extensively studied. However, we have no need to study attack. As the knowledge is inherent, it is considered that teaching how to attack will encourage attack. Attacking the mind of an individual is considered an unforgivable offence, excluding the most extreme of circumstances."

Psylocke nodded. "I can see where you're coming from, Spock, but you'll find a lot of the most extreme of circumstances here. And I wish more people had your respect. But with people trying to destroy the world every other weekend we can't afford the luxury of not taking full advantage of our abilities. Learning to attack with your mind has lots of advantages, some of which being that it is sometimes the only way to defend yourself or others around you. It helps you develop other aspects of your mind, and it teaches you about yourself. It's a long range attack, and one of the best there is. And you don't need to just go around constantly attacking people like that.

"I've read your file, Spock, and you have a lot of abilities; telepathy is just one of them. You have more than just telepathy to rely on, and you don't need to rely on telepathy for attack. But not exploiting a resource is illogical, right?"

"Unless it is one that should not be exploited."

"Spock, there is nothing wrong with telepathy. I know some people use it for horrible things, but someday someone's life may depend on your ability to get information from someone's mind, or disable someone from a distance or without touching them. I can't tell you how helpful telepathy is against someone who absorbs kinetic energy like Sebastian Shaw. Just because something can be used for evil doesn't mean we should be afraid of that thing. It does mean we should be careful, but not fully knowing something as powerful as telepathy can be dangerous and irresponsible. Do you understand?"

Spock considered this. True, on Vulcan there was no need for telepathy, and no good reason to encourage it as a weapon. However, this world was different. Lives really could rest on his telepathy. And it would be good for there to be a telepath with his amount of respect and control. "I believe so, instructor Psylocke."

Psylocke gave a smile, and noticed he hadn't thanked her. Perhaps thanks weren't logical. Oh well. He would learn about things like that from psychology class or just from some other person. Perhaps Lightspeed. She seemed to have taken a liking to this new student.

List of non mines: Psylocke