Chapter 12
After doing some therapy sessions with Boyd and the other members of the asylum, including our prisoner in Doctor Loboto, we had managed to find out that each had tragic backstories. Loboto had lost his psychic powers because of a botched brain surgery by his old man, which also made him go crazy. Oh, and he also was the one to swap the brains, but I only saw that for a brief moment in his mind before he then booted me out, much like in the game.
Boyd had the exact same backstory as the Li-Po documents from my world, which included him having an abandoned father who used to be a milkman, his mother remarrying and getting 14 sisters, and him getting problems with conspiracy theories involving people out to get him and the dairy industry, which I then smiled at him and said something to make him feel better. "I can assure you that no one is out to get you. And if anyone tries anything against you, I'll find out and I'll make sure to defend you to the end, okay, Boyd?" I smiled. And he then nodded at my offer. But I did know he was the only one that needed further sessions because of that.
The actress Gloria, who I decided to call Bonita (she liked the nickname, as it was one of her best acting roles in the past) had a very hard time at Hagatha Home, but she was one of the few actress students who improved daily and, due to that, she didn't get hurt nearly as often. But it still bring up old wounds, especially when she had to tell me about her mother's suicide, which is what caused her to get into a deep depression. I simply smiled at her and told her something to make her feel better, which succeeded. "If your mother was here right now, I know she wouldn't want you to wallow in despair, Bonita. She'd want you to be the best you could ever be," I said, which she nodded at me with a couple tears in her eyes before giving me a hug.
"I also know more than that, love, but I promised myself and Jenna not to speak a word," she said, me nodding at her.
As for Fred and Edgar, they promised they didn't need any further help, as Lili had already helped them plenty, whether it be getting back their mental state and confidence or getting over their anger issues caused by a love triangle in high school respectively... but then there was Crispin Whytehead.
When I spoke with him, I learned that he had mid-functioning autism to the point where he had to be retrained how to talk by Fred, as he was able to talk in the past, before then losing it during his time at the asylum. And, according to Sasha, he'd called ahead to the Motherlobe for two reasons. The first was to let them know about what had happened at the camp and that we had two new official Psychonauts joining... before he then relented and gave us intern positions, as they thought Ford couldn't employ Psychonauts anymore... and by 'they', I meant Hollis Forsythe. But the second reason as more important, and that was bringing our asylum allies to the place, including Crispin, who desperately needed some eye surgery to get rid of the numerous cataracts he'd contracted from living at the dirty building for nearly his whole life.
Raz and Lili were, of course, annoyed at the fact they had to take the intern program instead of becoming true Psychonauts, but I confirmed to them that I could show them how good of a teacher I was to newbie psychics and how good my Psychic prowess was, and they got some hope, same with the three students in question, which I knew I had to give some explanation to without telling too much... as for Raz's psychic siblings, they wanted to join, but just to be with us. That, and my family in both of them wanted to find a way to become their own selves.
Then, finally, day four came, which is when our allies then boarded the jet to go to the Motherlobe. I had already sensed ahead and saw that Truman's body was already there and that the one in control wasn't Truman, but I didn't say anything to him or anyone. Instead, I invited Bobby, the asylum patients, and my trio of students (Blackjack had to come, Pinoko's rules, not mine) to come along, which was just enough to fill up the space in the psychic jet, which we then used to go to the Motherlobe. But in the process, we did probe Loboto's and Mitsy's mind one last time, where we saw that Naraku had told a mysterious figure about Maligula while the same mysterious figure threatened to kill Loboto with Maligula if he told us anything... but that was seen by me and Raz instead of anyone else, since our mind was able to get to the deepest parts of it without any outside assistance.
And when we woke up, we shared our findings. "From what I saw in their minds, Loboto was being threatened with death if he ratted out who the boss was, being caused by Maligula... but what does she happen to look like?" Raz asked, him then getting his answer by Oleander showing the picture on the display, her looking just as creepy as in the game. "I thought I recognized her! Psychic issue number 42! She's on the cover," Raz smirked.
"So what kind of powers does this dead girl have, per chance?" Edgar asked as he painted a small picture on a canvas, it being of Kanna, who was very good at sitting still in solemn thought, making her the perfect subject to paint a portrait of.
"She was the most dangerous hydrokinetic Psychic in the world. She flooded Grulovia, killing thousands of her fellow denizens in her wake. But from what I've heard from some of the others at the Motherlobe, there are some people who follow her to this day... and with desperate straits, these deluginists are hoping to go to the dire tactic... of necromancy," Sasha explained, just as in the game.
"They're going to try bringing her back to life?!" Mirtala asked in shock.
"When people follow blindly, they blindly act without reasoning. I've seen it happen before... does anyone know about a person called Hitler?" I asked, the group looking at me and shrugging their shoulders. "A man who, in my world, managed to brainwash the entirety of his country into going to war with the world... and in the process, he killed over 6 million Jewish men, women, and children, and thousands of other innocents in the name of progress. And the people either completely supported him out of fear, or out of blind faith," I sighed.
"That doesn't sound like something you'd want to teach to Forsythe. She had a bit of an issue with a racist person in the past," Milla explained.
"People who fail to learn from history... are always destined to repeat it..." Kanna said cryptically in the middle of her meditation, me smiling at that.
"Ahem... well, we've been flying for a bit. How much longer until we reach the Motherlobe?" Fred asked, the answer coming from over the mountains as the front of the ship showed that we were arriving at the place in question. We then parked the ship before exiting, seeing that Forsythe was the first to greet us and she looked a bit surprised at the amount of people coming out of the jet, including the kids in me, Bobby, Raz, his sisters, Pinoko, and Kanna.
"Agents Nein, Vodella, Oleander... and Cruller? What does he think he's doing here?" Forsythe asked when she saw the final of the quartet, him having three different sets of Psytanium on his person so that he could keep in control of his mind while we were here. But even then, it was only enough for 2 days' time.
"I shouldn't have to explain anything as of my mental state, young Forsythe. Besides, I have some allies who can help out with that in the near future," Ford said as he looked at me and Raz, which she frowned at.
"You mean the new interns? Why would you even give them the title of Psychonauts when you haven't been officially hired for 19 years?" she asked, me sighing at that.
"Well, I would say that, if I'm able to do this-" I said as I then forced Forsythe into the air via levitation. "-THIS!" I shouted before she could retort by teleporting her to the ship and then behind Bobby and then to me again. "And THIS!" I smirked as I showed her the memory of flooding the mind of Mitsy with holy water to defeat a whole army of demons, which made her gasp. "And manage to tutor and awaken some Psychic powers in these unique ladies here," I smiled as I pointed to the anime girls, which made Hollis confused big time at their looks. "Then I'd say that I'm more qualified than most, right?" I smirked, Hollis frowning at me.
"You have good points, but you fail the important art of self-control. You rush headlong into danger, which is not a part of the Psychonauts... but we need to discuss certain things, especially with Commander Mitsy," Hollis said, her then sighing and nodding.
"Only if Raz and Lilli join me, including their mental friends. I'd prefer their company, as they saved me from my own darkness," Mitsy sighed.
"Very well, if you wish... and since Truman is currently in bed with some kind of sickness, you're next in command... but still, I have the final say in what these young ones should be," Hollis said as she looked at me and then tried to give me an intern pin... only for me to zap her accidentally. "OW! What was that for?!" she asked in annoyance.
"Sorry, I should've warned you ahead of time... I have no control over that. I just end up shocking anyone I touch that isn't considered as family by both myself and Raz. So, because we've never met, you got zapped..." I said, her frowning as she looked at Raz and he then spoke.
"I don't have the same problem, just her, Jenna, and Gloria," Raz smiled as Hollis then reluctantly gave him the pin of intern, then Lili, and was about to walk away before Pinoko teleported in front of her with the other anime girls, Squeepie, Mirtala, and Frazie.
"Could we also get into this program?" Pinoko asked with a big smile.
"Not for babies," she said, which is when I gulped as Pinoko looked ready to snap.
"Uh-oh... you shouldn't have said that, Hollis..." I gulped as Pinoko then got into her mind and proceeded to make her start moving around in pain as she spouted stuff.
"NOT A BABY! NOT A BABY! ADULT! 18 YEARS OLD! DON'T CALL ME A BABY AGAIN!" Pinoko shouted in her tantrum through Hollis's mind, which is when Blackjack grabbed her and hugged her, which calmed her.
"Pinoko! I told you not to do that," Blackjack frowned at her.
"Ow... dammit... that was a bit too much... when she was in my mind... is that true?" she asked.
"What is? That she's 18, a psychic vestigial twin, she and the other girls come from alternate realities because of the demon, or that she managed to control your mind in her outburst?" Lili asked, which made her frown.
"Fine, your point has been proven," she frowned as she gave the intern badge to all six of them, which made Frazie smile widely.
"Finally! I finally get some recognition!" Frazie smirked as we then went into the building and followed Hollis to her office, but only after Raz and Lili got their intern portfolios. We then had the other new interns stay behind while the rest of us went to the upper levels with Forsythe, me not needing to carry the asylum members as, with enough talking, we managed to find out each had latent psychic powers, which I immediately trained them in levitation just for the occasion, which they used to fly up the current to the main hub of the game.
"Okay, this way to my office," Forsythe said as she led us to the area with her office, where we saw the other interns and they looked at us with surprise, before then looking at me, Raz, and Lili with looks of annoyance.
"Who are you, kid?" asked Morris, the constant levitator. I simply frowned at him.
"New interns, we have an important meeting, not now," I said before the big bitch of the group then approached.
"Sorry, but you don't look cut out for it. How about we get you some new official Psychonaut uniforms before you go in there?" asked Norma Natvidad, me simply looking in her eyes and seeing the future, which consisted of her trying to steal our clothes and embarrass us by locking us in the supply closet.
"Only if you can change into those duds as well, considering you and your friends aren't in uniform," I said, that making Norma look concerned as she looked at the others and she feigned innocence.
"Oh, that's because we're level two interns. All newbies have to wear it," Norma said, me simply looking at her thoughts and seeing them for myself. "Not really, these punks are just going to lose their clothes. Same with all the other suckers," Norma said, me frowning at that.
"Bitches are the real suckers, especially bullies with nerd glasses and old lady hair," I said, which made her and the other interns gasp. But as for Norma, her gasp was followed by anger.
"W-What?! HOW DARE YOU!" she shouted as Mitsy frowned at her.
"At ease, Norma. It's not wise to deal with the devil, especially when she can read thoughts and see the future. You deserved to get knocked down for that," Mitsy frowned as Norma then finally huffed and simply avoided eye contact with me, allowing us to finally go to Hollis's office without any interruptions.
"I will admit, mind reading is definitely an advanced power that isn't easy to master. So I'll test that further. What am I thinking of right now?" Hollis asked as I noted her mental protection was up. I then attempted, and found her mind was even stronger than Oleander's when it was in defense mode! But I did manage to see one thing in her mind.
"Uh... I can see a nasty doctor... and he's stealing your papers?" I asked, her smirking at that.
"Impressive... but I'm not sharing anymore than that for... personal reasons," Hollis said as she then cleared her throat and closed the office. "Now, we have many things to discuss. Firstly, the issue that arose at Whispering Rock. Not only do multiple Psychic students infiltrate the camp, but Commander Mitsy, who was apparently controlled by an unnatural force, planned to kidnap the childrens' brains and use them to power literal think tanks, in a plot to rule the world... and only by these young Psychadets could they not only infiltrate the asylum hideout on the lake, not only heal the inner issues of the remaining asylum inmates, but also free numerous captives while saving Mitsy from whatever was in control of her... and from what your reports say, it's related to the Psychic that flooded Grulovia 20 years ago... anything else to note?" Hollis asked, me nodding.
"Well, Truman Zanotto being bedridden could be a good start. When did that happen, per chance?" I asked, Hollis sighing.
"It happened roughly 2 days ago. And ever since then, he's had a strange box handcuffed to his wrist that can't be opened except by a fingerprint lock. But we don't know whose fingerprint could open it... and Truman hasn't muttered a word since," Hollis said, Lili looking concerned at that last bit.
"Well, one more thing to note is that there's a mole in the Psychonauts. The person in question is disguised, but his real name is Gristol Malik, according to what we've discovered from delving into Mitsy's and Loboto's minds," Sasha said with seriousness.
"How very perplexing... it appears that we need to try and look into the backgrounds of the numerous employees that have been here for a bit to find the mole in question..." she said, that making Boyd concerned as I then said one thing.
"Could you make it so that my asylum friends are not included in that interrogation thing? Because... well, Boyd here has had issues with that kind of stuff in the past," I said, Hollis then looking in my mind to see what exactly I was talking about, me showing her the state of the interior of his mind when I found him... and the history he had before and after the asylum.
"Ah, gotcha... I can keep that promise. For now, we need to apply your new mentors... Raz, you and your mental friends are going to go meet with Nick Johnsmith in the mailroom first. He's not your mentor, we just need to check up on him. We haven't seen him for a bit," Hollis said, me nodding as she then gave us our real mentor, me seeing that it'd be Hollis herself, me smirking at that. She probably thought we had potential. "I heard that," she said, me then frowning. I still had issues with that.
We then finally went out of the office towards the mail room and Raz noticed that the interns were getting introduced to way more of their kind, which I could tell surprised them.
"Huh... usually there aren't this many newbies," Lizzie said bluntly.
"Heh, I like the fact they're all girls... aside from the littlist one," Sam smiled at them.
"Hmm... you are the older sister of Dogen Boole, correct?" Kanna asked, which I could tell surprised her.
"H-How'd you know?! And how come you and those other two... er... three look so weird?" Sam asked in surprise.
"It's because we come from a different dimension. If you want to know more, ask the ones behind you," Sabrina smiled, which made Sam look and for me to smirk.
"If you really want to know, Sabrina comes from a world filled with super animals called Pokemon, her specializing in Psychic Type Pokemon like Alakazam and Jynx," I said, Norma frowning at me.
"That sounds stupid," she frowned.
"Well, certainly not Pinoko or Blackjack. Despite her size, she's actually 18 years old and their unofficially married. Pinoko used to be a vestigial twin, and when she gets mad, look out, because she can control your mind like she did to Hollis outside the place. Word of warning, never make fun of her, or you'll regret it," Gloria explained, which I could tell surprised Adam.
"Another mind girl? Are you secretly a Psychic harem?" he asked, that making Jenna come out.
"Say that again and you'll lose that hat and your clothes," Jenna said, which is when he shut up... as for Norma?
"Psychic harem," she said, that making Jenna immediately prove her point by doing something that made me smile. She teleported all of Norma's clothes off of her body and into the closet, her shrieking before covering her naked, purple body before rushing into the closet. Lizzie smiled at that.
"You gotta admit, that was kinda deserved... and she did deliver on her promise," Lizzie said, definitely loud enough for her sister to hear her.
"SHUT IT, LIZZIE!" Norma shouted as Sam then looked at the circus family with a smile.
"And I'm assuming that you three came from the circus?" she asked.
"Not only that, we're Raz's family members. I'm Frazie, this is Mirtala, and this is Squeepie the Strongkid," Frazie smirked as she introduced the family.
"Does this place even take 5 year old interns?" Gisu asked.
"Apparently so, if Hollis is allowing it," Adam smirked as Norma then finally emerged from the closet with heavy red blush.
"Never say anything about what you saw, or I'm gonna be very mad," Norma frowned.
"See, this is the difference between us. I don't say stuff to egg others on, so I'm leaving this conversation to check on the mailman," I said as Raz and I then finally dispersed before I then said one more thing. "Oh, one more thing, Kanna is the one with the white hair. She's actually a demon, but a nice one," I smiled, which I could tell spooked Norma specifically as she backed away from Kanna slowly and cautiously.
Raz and I then went to the mailroom, where we got through with the pass obtained from Hollis and we proceeded downwards through the stockpiles of mail packages, which made Raz confused.
"Huh, lots of mail in here... why is there so much?" he asked.
"I don't know, but we'll need to find out soon," I said as we then went to the bottom part and saw that there was a big case that was just coming through.
"This one goes to Truman Zanotto? Any ideas, girls?" Raz asked me and the trio.
"Only this once. Nick Johnsnith's body is in there, completely brainless," I said, making sure that my mind was 100 percent safe from intrusion before I said that.
"Then let's get him out of here and show him to the others," Raz said as we then picked him up with telekinesis, but not before grabbing some Psitanium and Psi Cards. And when we got out of the mailroom, I then opened the box and showed that the contents was Nick Johnsmith, which made the interns arrive.
"Look at this, guys, the newbies killed the mailman," Lizzie smirked, which I frowned at as the rest of the agents arrived and I then explained.
"Okay, we found this box in the mailroom as it was being delivered, and it was set to go to Truman Zanotto. And who would be inside but a brainless Nick Johnsmith. Someone took his brain, the body is set to go to the head of the Psychonauts, and said boss is currently in bed and unresponsive," I said, which Hollis looked at him in confusion.
"But who would want to steal Nick's brain? I mean, it's NICK!" Oleander asked in shock as I then spoke.
"First, I must ask this. Has there ever been an instance of a person's brain being sent to another person's mind?" I asked, which made Sasha look at me in concern.
"Are you suggesting that someone swapped Nick's brain with Truman's and hid his somewhere else?" Sasha asked as I simply smiled.
"You said it, not me," I frowned.
"But... then what do we do about this?" Hollis asked as Ford looked at me and I smiled. He was giving me that look. The look of expecting me to give guidance.
"I'd say that, for right now, we hide this information for now. It could be that Nick is a victim of the Deluginists, or it could be that he's in cahoots. Until further notice, I suggest that we don't mention anything about this to whoever is inside of Truman's head. Besides, of it's Nick's brain in Truman's head, then he's not going to be able to read minds or have any mental protection, since I've learned from Lili's mind JUST now that Nick wasn't a psychic," I said, her frowning at me.
"I told you to stop reading my mind or you won't get any kisses!" Lili spouted at me.
"Wait, you like her?" Gisu asked, me smirking at that.
"Is there an issue with that?" I asked.
"Just... uh, how would that work?"
"And I'll answer that question by asking who the heck cares? Love is universal. So long as it's just hugs and kisses, I don't care. After all, according to issue 38 of the Psychonauts comics, Helmutt Fulbear and Bob Zanotto were married. And said Bob Zanotto is Lili's great uncle," I smirked.
"She's right, you know?" Raz smiled at them before he found the key on Nick's body. "Hmm... Lady Luctopus Casino? Does this ring any bells to anyone?"
"Isn't that where we sent Agent 33?" Sasha asked as I looked into Hollis's mind and saw that she did have the memory that 33 was on vacation after failing the mission, but she then said something different.
"She hasn't reported back for 2 months!" she said as I frowned.
"Actually, you gave her a vacation after she got distracted by the gambling life and lost tons of money," I said, her gasping and looking at me in surprise.
"You... could see that? I completely forgot, yet you could see that thought?" she asked.
"See what we told you? She's the best when it comes to reading minds," Milla smiled widely. "But we should probably still go to the casino to see if there's any clues there as to Deluginist activity. Maybe we can find a hint about this very convoluted plan..."
"Then we know what to do. For now, just to make sure nothing bad happens and with so many new interns, we'll need to have some go with us while others stay behind," Ford said.
"And who put you in charge again?" Forsythe asked.
"I do," Mitsy said, which made Hollis frown.
"Mitsy, why are you siding with him?"
"Because, if not for his help, then I'd have gotten my mind fractured as well when Naraku was killed in my brain," she said with seriousness, me looking at the old man and him nodding.
"It's true, kids. Just a hunk of Psitanium and I can think on my own... but for now, I can only operate for roughly 2 days before I need another source," Ford said.
"Fine, who are you taking with you?" Hollis asked.
"I think I'll enlist the interns that have already begun their training beforehand along with Raz and Kanna," Ford smirked.
"Why them?" Norma asked.
"Because I said so, missy," Ford frowned at her.
"Hmph!" Norma pouted.
"Keep that attitude and you're not coming," Oleander frowned, which finally made her stiffen up and hold her hand to her head.
"Understood, Sir!" she said, me smirking at that. She probably knew the wrath he could dish out.
"Then the deal is set. But before that, I need to teach the interns about a new technique that will assist tremendously," Hollis smiled.
"Ooh, a new skill? I'm excited!" Mirtala smiled widely at that notion.