pass."
"Well, it might be your lucky day."
He looked up at me. "Don't get my hopes up, you fucker."
I told him about how I manipulated my brain functions to enhance my memory. It wasn't perfect, but it let me get away with minimal studying. "I'm not promising anything, but I can try and tweak you a bit and see what happens."
"I'll do anything for you."
"Don't get all sappy on me."
"No, you have no idea." Max pointed at me and then at the ground. "I will drop to my knees right now for you. Assuming this shit works."
"Thanks, but no thanks. Shut up and let me think."
For once, he did shut up. For my own brain, I tweaked some of my neurotransmitters. Shade had shown me the basics, and Absynthe helped me refine it. The basics were the same for everyone, but it took several attempts to learn what affected my brain the most. Using my own parameters as a starting point for Max seemed reasonable. I'd tweak it from there. If anyone found out about this, they'd be royally pissed off at me, at a minimum. "All right. Let's do it."
"What do you need me to do?"
"Close your eyes and relax."
"Think of England?"
"No. Just sit there." He grinned and closed his eyes. I walked over to the door and locked it to make sure no girlfriends walked in. "All right. Tell me if you feel anything."
"Is it in yet?"
"Max, I'm going to be fucking with your brain chemistry. Do you really want to piss me off right now?"
He chuckled and shut up again. I tapped my power with only a twinge of pain and called my Sight, focusing down into his brain until I targeted the right parts of the complex chemical soup. His chemistry was notably different from mine, so I took a moment to recalculate what to do before reaching in to tweak a cluster of cells.
Energy erupted from his mind, malevolent and dangerous. It slapped my psionic touch away. Electricity seemed to rush through the connection between us. I clenched my teeth and shunted the backlash away. As suddenly as it had appeared, the power vanished, but now I could sense it waiting. "Max, you need to relax," I said.
"I am relaxed."
"Right." I tweaked another cluster and the energy lurched to resist me again. "Are you fucking with me?"
"What?" He opened his eyes.
"You're fighting me. Stop it."
"I'm not doing it on purpose!"
That had to be true. Max wasn't a psion, but he had the mental defensive reactions of one. "Just relax." My power quivered as I called it again, but this time I used a lighter touch and tweaked fewer places at a time. The energy in his mind stirred at each touch, but stayed quiet until I finished. It had taken twice as long as I thought and sweat rolled down my sides by the end. "Holy shit. That sucked. How do you feel?"
He shook his head. "Lightheaded, but all right. Did it work?"
"We won't know until you study and tell me how it goes. It only lasts for a day or two at a time for me, so we'll need to go through this a few more times."
"Great. I can't wait to study. God, that sounds lame." He shook his head again, then looked me in the eye. "So what the hell do you mean I was fighting you?"
"Your mind," I said. "Like you were screaming 'bad touch'. Let me try something." I reached out to him with a telepresence link. His mind reached back to me and for a moment, I felt like I was about to link with him. Before the link completed, his mind withdrew and slapped me away. My head rang before I could cut my power off. "Shit, Max, you're an asshole."
"I know, but for once I'm not sure why."
"I think you're latent, Max." It made sense.
"What's that mean?"
"You've got psionic power locked up in your skull," I said. "But you can't use it. Can you?"
"Can't say as I've ever tried." He shifted to rubbing his temples. "And here I was bitching about you being something other than human when I might be on that train myself. So can I learn how to use it?"
"Not without having your power awakened. You need some sort of trigger."
"How do we get that to happen?"
"Beats the hell out of
"Well, it might be your lucky day."
He looked up at me. "Don't get my hopes up, you fucker."
I told him about how I manipulated my brain functions to enhance my memory. It wasn't perfect, but it let me get away with minimal studying. "I'm not promising anything, but I can try and tweak you a bit and see what happens."
"I'll do anything for you."
"Don't get all sappy on me."
"No, you have no idea." Max pointed at me and then at the ground. "I will drop to my knees right now for you. Assuming this shit works."
"Thanks, but no thanks. Shut up and let me think."
For once, he did shut up. For my own brain, I tweaked some of my neurotransmitters. Shade had shown me the basics, and Absynthe helped me refine it. The basics were the same for everyone, but it took several attempts to learn what affected my brain the most. Using my own parameters as a starting point for Max seemed reasonable. I'd tweak it from there. If anyone found out about this, they'd be royally pissed off at me, at a minimum. "All right. Let's do it."
"What do you need me to do?"
"Close your eyes and relax."
"Think of England?"
"No. Just sit there." He grinned and closed his eyes. I walked over to the door and locked it to make sure no girlfriends walked in. "All right. Tell me if you feel anything."
"Is it in yet?"
"Max, I'm going to be fucking with your brain chemistry. Do you really want to piss me off right now?"
He chuckled and shut up again. I tapped my power with only a twinge of pain and called my Sight, focusing down into his brain until I targeted the right parts of the complex chemical soup. His chemistry was notably different from mine, so I took a moment to recalculate what to do before reaching in to tweak a cluster of cells.
Energy erupted from his mind, malevolent and dangerous. It slapped my psionic touch away. Electricity seemed to rush through the connection between us. I clenched my teeth and shunted the backlash away. As suddenly as it had appeared, the power vanished, but now I could sense it waiting. "Max, you need to relax," I said.
"I am relaxed."
"Right." I tweaked another cluster and the energy lurched to resist me again. "Are you fucking with me?"
"What?" He opened his eyes.
"You're fighting me. Stop it."
"I'm not doing it on purpose!"
That had to be true. Max wasn't a psion, but he had the mental defensive reactions of one. "Just relax." My power quivered as I called it again, but this time I used a lighter touch and tweaked fewer places at a time. The energy in his mind stirred at each touch, but stayed quiet until I finished. It had taken twice as long as I thought and sweat rolled down my sides by the end. "Holy shit. That sucked. How do you feel?"
He shook his head. "Lightheaded, but all right. Did it work?"
"We won't know until you study and tell me how it goes. It only lasts for a day or two at a time for me, so we'll need to go through this a few more times."
"Great. I can't wait to study. God, that sounds lame." He shook his head again, then looked me in the eye. "So what the hell do you mean I was fighting you?"
"Your mind," I said. "Like you were screaming 'bad touch'. Let me try something." I reached out to him with a telepresence link. His mind reached back to me and for a moment, I felt like I was about to link with him. Before the link completed, his mind withdrew and slapped me away. My head rang before I could cut my power off. "Shit, Max, you're an asshole."
"I know, but for once I'm not sure why."
"I think you're latent, Max." It made sense.
"What's that mean?"
"You've got psionic power locked up in your skull," I said. "But you can't use it. Can you?"
"Can't say as I've ever tried." He shifted to rubbing his temples. "And here I was bitching about you being something other than human when I might be on that train myself. So can I learn how to use it?"
"Not without having your power awakened. You need some sort of trigger."
"How do we get that to happen?"
"Beats the hell out of
Similar Books
