Psycher Chronicles

Discoveries And Decisions

(Misha Tulley)

"Help, find me."

The echoing words of a dream, but also words that Misha knew all so well. Well not words per say, but the mental transmission of a voice. A mental voice that Misha had listened to for over a millennia in her past life, well lives. That was the voice of her queen, the Matriarch who had led her.

That same voice who had been responsible for taking her from her home world and all but locking her into a maintenance track. At the time, Misha had thought she was blessed, but now she knew differently. Almost as if the parts of her psyche that had been stripped away upon her last body's death, she now began to see the world differently.

Perhaps it was something as simple as having a new body with different urges and needs that caused this fundamental change in her. Only after a few moments of introspection did Misha even realize she was in a sleeping state. Normally the voice of the matriarch would have been enough for her to awaken fully within seconds, jumping up and ready to follow her commands almost immediately. But this time things were different.

She felt the waves of psychic energy hitting her mind, bouncing around and warping away. At this revelation she awoke, and looked deep inside her organo-tech coding to see if it could provide any insight.

What she saw, sent chills down her spine and plunged her from the deepest depths of dreaming, into full awakened mode within seconds.

…

On and on the lines went showing what had happened and how her organo-tech body had begun minor processes to improve and prevent future attacks like that.

"GASP!"

Misha awoke to hear the first sound of her awakening being her gasping for breath. Only after that gasp did her brain kick in and begin inundating her with sensations.

Her back hurt because she had apparently fallen asleep in a hospital chair with backing that only went halfway up her spine for support. Her eyes still burned as she had fallen asleep in the middle of the day, with all the lights on. There was a pulsing in her left food that told her if she tried to stand immediately her foot would feel like it was dead. All of these sensations and pains her body was relaying to her were things that her old body never suffered from. That or, her body had been enhanced to such a degree that her nerves never let her know that such conditions were not ideal for optimal resting.

Crack.

Even her neck popped as she straightened out her spine and tried to unlock her joints from her fitful slumber.

"Oh you're awake?" The voice of Darcy cried out, her tone soft and thankful. Hearing her speak, Misha shook her head trying to understand where she was, and why she was here.

As she thought back, her thoughts invariably passed by that odd request by the Matriarch, one that sounded young and helpless. In a past life, it would have been not just her but every Psycher's duty to go out, find her and secure her safety. That was what she still felt in her mind, abandon all tasks and come to her.

While she was able to avoid immediately reaching out for help now, she still felt that command in her body. A command that was so powerful that if she but closed her eyes now, she knew in which direction to go to find the Matriarch.

Then she remembered the command lines of code that her own body had to write and implement to begin stopping the commands from seeping fully into her psyche. That's when a more devastating concern hit her, as she wondered if she had been commanded, or at the very least influenced to follow the directives of the Matriarch for all that time?

Seeing the way the organo-tech of the Bakshee seemed to know how to monitor for and develop resistances to such commands, it was clear that there might have been more to the Bakshee's plight than just political ideology. Had they broken away, and then tried to make it so others could break away as well? Did they terraform planets with their protective technology as a means to prevent the high divinity level Psychers from controlling their minds?

These thoughts and more flowed through Misha as her mind wondered.

"Must have been a good dream," Darcy's words again broke through her stream of overactive thoughts and forced her to focus on the present. Shaking her head, she turned to lock gazes with Darcy, and for the first time saw her.

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Then she realized something was different about her.

Darcy seeing Misha's sudden stare at her could only smile brightly and nod.

Misha questioned what had happened, but was soon informed by her organo-tech once again stepping in to provide her the answers.

There it was, Darcy's starting and secondary elemental affinities all laid out. Seeing the numbers and percentages, it was clear that they could go up or down in time, as this was meant more of a current snapshot of her affinity ratings and what avenues she could go down in the future, if she so wished. Seeing the primary and secondary steps noted in such a way it was clear that Water and Air were her top choices for the moment.

Taking a moment of introspection, this was sort of what Misha had expected from a deep understanding of Darcy, and from a long penetrative scan that her mind was now capable of. In time she knew she might be able to get as much information from others, but it would take a lot more insight. Misha knew that most of her understanding with Darcy came from their familiarity with each other.

Mentally, she was still getting sued to the unique commands before her, when she was offered yet more text from her internal system.

Just seeing that ability, Misha knew that this was part of her being a master Tier for her Reaper class. As this was apparently something that those who had mastered their own personal classes were expected to do.

In a way this sort of made sense, as the Bakshee wanted functional workers, and not just slotted professionals. Part of what made their forces so tough was their ability to adapt to certain situations. A true Ruler not present, then fall back on those that have the Advantages that could help them lead for the moment.

Then as if answering her unspoken question, the system continued to explain.

Seeing the question all but flashing within her mind, Misha blinked for a moment then seemed to nod in understanding. This was something her role as an immortal was meant to do. Now that she had been granted the ability to seemingly live forever, obviously taking and molding certain members of the future would be expected of her.

Misha shook off the messages and saw Darcy still staring at her expectantly. Seeing her gaze, Misha paused for a moment, and the responded.

"Well, it was a dream, but one I would rather not have in the future." Misha answered honestly.

"Oh? What happened?"

"A dark omen of things to come."

At that Darcy paused, and seemed to squirm for a moment as she thought about what she wanted to say. Seeing her, squirm in such a way Misha just paused, before realizing that this confession was likely eating her alive.

"Do you want to tell me about how you awakened your magical potential finally?" Misha asked, her tone calm.

Gasp.

Hearing her current condition laid bare before her, Darcy could only gasp in shock at the implication.

"You- you know?"

Misha just nodded her head, as if it was something she had been expecting for a while, which she had. All of her senses told her that Darcy was close, but for whatever reason had not fully crossed the boundary yet. It seemed that each system took slightly longer to awaken. Warriors were seemingly the first to awaken. Followed closely by the workers. Then finally the last had to be the rulers, which in a way made sense as it gave the user time to experience the world, and gain life experiences before they were set free to take control.

Pausing, Misha realized that there might have been a deeper design behind everything. What originally seemed like chaos, might have had more structure and thought put into it than she originally imagined. Even the ability to hone safeguards against mental influences were amazing. Even now she could still feel the direction of that cry, the cry of a baby in a womb.

Perhaps this was what was to be expected, that Misha would not be the only Psycher strong enough to come out here to find a host body to meld with. Thus, seeing the Matriarch, or traces of the Matriarch here were a given. It also meant that her royal guard and even Ms. Clayton, A.K.A. Ms. Ursala Jarnic, her future half-sister would likely flock to her as well.

Realizing all of this, Misha knew that things had the chance to go sideways if she was not careful. This thought in particular was why she took a deep breath and then asked something she never thought she would. Not in a hundred lifetimes had something like this ever occurred.

Taking a moment to center herself, Misha thought about her next step, then slightly nodding to herself she spoke the words that would forever decide her fate in what would come next. The world was at a crossroads, and she had her chance to choose which life she would follow.

Her options were clear, drop everything and go out to find the Matriarch so that she could still continue the resistance.

Or, choose to fight against the only life she has known for over a thousand years. A life that had only been broken in the last eighteen years.

Then betraying everything she ever held dear in her past life, she made her choice by uttering fourteen words. Fourteen words that would forever seal her fate as a heretic to her people.

"Would you like me to train you in the ways of being a mage?"

The words hung there in the air, as Darcy seemed to feel the weight and intensity of Misha's sudden confession. Blinking for a moment Darcy paused and then suddenly exploded with excitement.

"Heck yeah! Magical Sisterhood for life!" Darcy exclaimed while holding out a balled fist with only her pinky standing fully erect.

Seeing the odd gesture Misha just paused in confusion for a moment, long enough for a slight blush to hit Darcy's face.

"Too much?"

Finally, it took a moment of querying external prompts to find that this was a juvenile way in which children often sealed pacts or promises with each other. Seeing the gesture, Misha reluctantly shook her head while extending her own pinky finger to shake.

The moment the two pinky fingers intertwined, the deal had been registered and accepted by both parties. A fact that was then confirmed by the system.

On and on the list went, but more importantly, Misha felt her own system awakening with new parts and potential.

Seeing that message, Misha's eyes went wide with possibilities. Suddenly even more thought went back to the elegance, the way only three Apprentices were allowed at a time. One for each of the three classes, or three for one class to help become a master at teaching that one particular class style.

With this additional information, Misha realized that this was going to be interesting.