"First off, I've never heard of visions being messages from anyone. I was under the impression that you're born a Seer, not made one." Xander said. "Our friend Jenny's grandmother was a Seer and I met a vampire who was a Seer, both as a vampire and as a human. Which means the ability exists within the mind. On the other hand, these Powers might take advantage of a preexisting ability and hijack it for their purposes."
"You really think they'd do something like that?" Doyle asked, confused. "Because when Whistler recruited me, he was very insistent that they want to help people."
"Really? Because he told me that they test people. In my case, they wanted to test my convictions, my commitment to the cause I'd chosen. Their idea of testing got people killed, like I said. And they had no right to do any of that. No one ever asked them to stick their noses in our business and they're not gods. Now, anything else you can tell me about this vision of yours?"
"No, just what I've told you. It's a curse aimed at you and will take the form of a nightmare from your own mind."
"That could mean anything." Xander projected the thought at Cordelia. "Tony was a real life nightmare to me for years. Jesse, the Thirdspace nightmare, what I saw in that demon's mind or the vampire's mind. Or something entirely different. Gods, it could include you dying, that's one of my biggest fears."
"I have protections on me, Xander." She thought back. "I shouldn't be affected directly and I promise you, I'll do everything I can to not die. We need to let Giles and Jenny know so they can try to figure this curse out."
"Alright, we're gonna go talk the heads of our Research and Magic teams and see if they can figure out this curse before it goes off." Xander motioned to Doyle. "What should we call you?"
"Doyle, only my ex ever called me Francis, my parents called me by middle name."
"I'm Xander and she's Cordelia." Xander told him.
"Nice to meet you. The vision has been in my head for a couple of days now and I know what you look like, but not your name or anything really, about you."
"So let's get to know each other. I'm eighteen and I hunt vampires."
"I'm older than you and I thought I was a messenger for a Higher Powers that said they want to help people. Now I'm a little shaky on that."
"Well, we could see if we can help you with that too." Cordelia offered. "Like Xander said, Seers are born, not made, so if you're really getting visions and Whistler told you the Powers wanted you as a messenger for them, then they probably have done something to hijack the visions. If we could figure out what that is, we could separate you from them. If you want to be separated from them, I mean. Just because we think they're a bunch of puffed up assholes, doesn't mean you're required to also think that."
"I'll think about it." Doyle agreed as the approached the former Sunset Club where the Anla'Shok made their headquarters. As they neared the door, Doyle hit what felt like a brick wall. A snick, snick sound and something was pressed against his throat.
"You're a demon." Xander said flatly. "Talk fast, you're seconds away from death."
"I'm half Brachen!"
"Prove it." Xander remembered Giles listed Brachens in the non hostile demon category.
"Look, man, I'm not comfortable doing that."
"Easy way or hard way." Xander answered firmly. "But I'm not risking a demon in our headquarters anyway, but you're going to prove you're not a problem and you're going to do it now."
"Fine." Doyle let himself change and his skin changed color and spines appeared on his face.
"And now we go to neutral ground, because like I said, we won't risk a demon in our headquarters, non hostile species or not. Cordy, call Giles and Jenny and have them meet us at the warehouse we interrogated that vampire in."
"On it." She pulled out her phone and reported the situation and Giles said he and Jenny would meet them there.
"Let's go." Xander prodded Doyle with his denn'bok and Doyle did as he was instructed, praying he wasn't about to end up dead on his first mission for the Powers. Maybe his last given everything that had happened and been said so far tonight. They headed for the warehouse and met a middle age man and attractive woman there. Xander introduced them and explained the situation.
"Well, he's right about Seers being born, not made." Giles confirmed. "An organization I'm a part of employs several and I know a number of them personally."
"And Seers do run in my family." Jenny also confirmed. "My grandmother being the most recent. It's not a common ability, but it is a naturally occurring one. I'm not sure how it could be interfered with though."
"Radio signals." Xander said. "Sometimes a radio or even a phone can get a crossed wire and you pick up someone else's transmission. It can be done on purpose by tapping into the frequency. Maybe they're doing something similar. Unfortunately, we need to deal with the reason he came to see me in the first place first. Mayor Wilkins failsafe may be a curse on me. One that creates a nightmare from my own mind."
"Oh dear, given the kind of things you tend have nightmares about, that could be something quite gruesome."
"It might not be something he has nightmares about." Jenny said. "It could just be something that would be considered a nightmare. Like from a movie or something."
"Oh gods, that could be anything." Xander groaned. "Jesse and I use to watch everything from Friday the 13th to Hellraiser, before he got vamped and I found out Hell is real."