Interlude II

Three people sat in a conference room. A nervous tension filled the room as they all waited for the inventible conference call that they had been summoned for. So, it was just a Doctor and two Drill Instructors who had been called into the meeting room in order to facilitate the processes.

"Good morning. I don't believe I have had the pleasure of making your acquaintances. I am Dr. Charleston. A pleasure to meet you both." The good doctor said, holding out his hand and shaking that of the two Drill Instructors, who introduced themselves.

"DI Hopewell."

"DI Wagner."

After the shaking of hands, a tense silence filled the room. Dr. Charleston, being an expert at communication, decided to broach what he thought was the elephant in the room.

"I assume we are all here, due to our recent encounters with Cadet Goldman?"

With that the two DIs both nodded in agreement, though both seemed reluctant to tell anything. Just hearing the name caused them both to tremble nervously with tension.

Finally, after a few minutes General Sharma comes in. As soon as she enters the room the two DIs instantly relax slightly. Dr. Charleston watches their reactions with a subdued form of curiosity, as he tries to delve deeper into the mindset of the instructors. While only blessed with mild forms of Mental Powers, he is still capable of delving deeper into the minds of others just by observation alone. Thus, he takes into note the character of both Drill Instructors who will have a direct impact on the development of his patient, Mr. Goldman. Though he notes that he should likely start referring to the subject as Cadet Goldman, to avoid unwanted confusion with these three.

"Good. You are all here." General Sharma begins taking control of the situation right away. Her authoritarian demeanor allowing no room for discussion.

"The way I see it, we have a fairly large project ahead of us." She continues.

"Ma'am, is this about Cadet Goldman." DI Hopewell asks.

"Yes, it is the reason you two are here." She says pointing to her two DIs that are in the room. "Is that you two have raised warning flags about Cadet Goldman. That is good as it shows that you two are paying attention. First I will let you begin, before I will let the good doctor give his diagnosis and things to watch out for." General Sharma states.

Hearing that the two DIs look at each other, then DI Wagner begins. "I came into class and saw what appeared to be Cadet Lowel threatening him. He had a finger touching Cadet Goldman and a fist balled up to swing. The only problem was the boy was not moving when I got there. It was like he was being held in place just to draw my attention. Looking back on it, even the way Cadet Goldman then proceeded to seemingly ridicule Cadet Lowel stating something along the lines of not fearing Lowel or others." DI Wagner began. "Then when in line I witnessed the other students giving weird looks to Cadet Goldman. Cadet Goldman seemed to be disinterested in the whole thing as he began doing handstand push-ups right there. So, to cover for him, I made everyone do exercises. Then on his way out, Lowel again said something to entice Goldman, calling him a Freak or something. Then Lowel proceeded to trip and nearly fall. The only problem was I saw a smirk on Cadet Goldman's face. That is the only indication he did anything, the gesture he did was so quick I might have missed it."

"I don't believe you missed the gesture. Cadet Goldman is at the Maximum tier of proficiency and no longer needs to use simple gestures to help direct his powers. This means to stop him from hurting others, we will need to be extra diligent around him." Sharma notes. Then when it appears that DI Wagner is done, she turns her attention to DI Hopewell.

"Yes, I first met Cadet Goldman at evening formation. He was late so I had a few students go to find him. He came back with a violin, saying he was practicing and lost track of time. To mock him I asked him to play for everyone. I was expecting a high schooler or something, but what I heard was the work of an expert. How long has he been practicing?" DI Hopewell asks.

Everyone turns to General Sharma, who pauses for a second. Then after a moment's consideration she decides to tell some of what is happening. "That is actually why I called all of us in together. Cadet Goldman is a unique case study, one that Dr. Charleston here will go into more details about when it is his turn. But suffice it to say, before his Awakening Trial, Cadet Goldman never played the violin."

She paused, then nodded for DI Hopewell to continue.

"Well, since I made others do push-ups while they waited. I heard from Wagner that he did handstand push-ups. Realizing he too needed to be punished I had him do handstand push-ups. The only problem was I used the phrase do them until I get tired."

"What happened then?"

"Well, I dismissed the formation and he seemed to be zoned out just staring blankly into space. I went in front of him to see what was happening and he pointed out that I didn't say I was tired yet. So, I told him I would be tired in thirty minutes and that he should be done by then. The boy then glanced at his watch to note the time, then continued. I left, that is when I stepped away for a moment to contact you about him, as per your request from earlier. Then by the time I got back it seemed Cadet Lowel, Chase, Steel, Vickers, and one other that I couldn't identify were all surrounding him. The boy never moved from his position, even when they kicked around his violin case. I was about to intervene when Cadet Lowell reached down and grabbed the violin case, opening it. That is when it snapped shut on his finger slicing the digit off entirely. Now, I am not going to lie. After watching that I nearly vomited. He sliced a finger straight off with a violin case, who does that? Then when I turned back, the case had dropped to the ground and Lowel reached to pick up his digit when it shot into his mouth, causing him to gag. Simultaneously his missing finger stopped bleeding and began healing. I could see it; it was expert level healing magic on full display." DI Hopewell states, clear excitement in his voice.

Hearing this Sharma nods in understanding. "Now as you might or might not be aware, Cadet Goldman is a special project of ours. His ranking in all Psionic powers he possesses is off the charts. Wagner can attest, as he first broke then caught the exploding shards of the highest-grade affinity testing crystal we had. One that was my personal project that could evaluate up to the 250th Percentile." She pauses as she lets that sink in.

"Does that explain the hair and the eye coloring?" DI Wagner asks.

"I could answer that, if you don't mind, General?" Dr. Charleston asks, finally speaking up.

Sharma nods her consent and with that Dr. Charleston begins. "Now bear in mind that I have taken Cadet Goldman as my patient, that affords him some basic patient-client confidentiality. Though what I can say is that the striking hair and eye colors are a natural warning, given to those noted as having exceptional levels of power. In fact, every named has such a colorful marking that marks them wholly distinct from others." Dr. Charleston says, then projects images of said Named individuals. Most prominent in the picture is the Endar Matron The Iron Buttefly who looks like she has wings made of iron coming from her back. Next is The Dwenvar Smithy known as GoldHammer due to his entire body having a lustrous hue of gold. Each is known to be uniquely powerful, and wholly distinct based on the aliases.

"Now I am led to believe that the students have already begun calling Cadet Goldman by an alias too?" Dr. Charleston asks.

Then with a sigh of defeat, the two DIs nod to each other. "Yes, they have taken to calling him Powder."

Hearing this Dr. Charleston only nodded in his understanding of the mindset of children. "How did Cadet Goldman take to being called Powder?"

With that Wagner scratched the back of his neck in clear discomfort. "See that was related to the scene I walked in on. The one where Cadet Lowel had their finger touching Cadet Goldman. Apparently, Cadet Lowel took to calling Cadet Goldman the name, but Cadet Goldman just ignored Lowel's remarks. Then finally Cadet Lowel got angry enough to go over and touch Cadet Goldman, thus gaining his attention. At which point Powd...Cadet Goldman grabbed hold of the finger and subsequent fist, then proceeded to crush both objects with a level of Telekinesis that is unheard of. Then he went so far as to make a comment of Powder being an apt name, as it is what he grinds his enemies into, Powder. Then he healed the crushed finger and hand back to full size before I even walked into the room. Only after hearing eye-witness testimony and reviewing the surveillance footage of the room did I realize what was happening before I walked in."

"I see, that is concerning. It is a good thing you called me when you did Sharma." Dr Charleston says. "See, as a matter of protecting him and others I feel I must present my findings. Cadet Goldman is a good man who is currently suffering from a condition we have termed Precognitive Dissociative Disorder. This is a condition wholly unique to peak Precognition practitioners. In Mr. Goldman's case his first true vision happened within the Awakening Trials. See during that time, Mr. Goldman experienced twelve consecutive lives, all where he learned, grew, experienced the world, and then ultimately died. When I first met him, he felt that this was a continuation. That this life held not true meaning, that if he died here, he would just be reborn. This is a condition that is not uncommon with patients of his exceptional caliber of Precognitive powers. I should also note that he has now had his powers fully emerge marking him as a top 99+% user of Precognition. Meaning the powers that were sealed away during his initial visions of twelve consecutive lives is now fully active. It is not unusual for someone so powerful to feel disconnected with the real world, when visions of the past, present, and alternate futures are all so vivid and real. That is why we need to find things to keep him grounded in this reality. You say he already got the violin?" Dr. Charleston asks DI Hopewell.

"Yeah, he had its last night. He was pretty damn good with it too, played a song that...well let's just say it moved me." The DI answered.

With that Dr. Charleston nodded. "He spoke about this during our session, about having spent thirty-three years practicing all to woo a woman. While the woman in question he will likely react negatively to, he did say that playing the violin offered some form of catharsis. Yesterday, towards the end of our session I suggested he get the violin immediately."

Sharma nodded, then asked "so what are you suggesting?"

"He likely needs anchor points. You mentioned this girl, the one he gave the lottery ticket to. She is a good start, especially as she is under Mave's protection. Mave will help her help him. So, at the very least I recommend keeping that connection alive and prospering when at all possible. Also, I would make this violin a permanent part of his uniform. Make it so every formation he goes to he must have it. Also, given the way others are already reacting to his oddities, I would warn the others. Let him defend that violin as if it was a part of his body. If someone touches the violin or its case unwillingly, then allow Mr. Goldman to defend himself." Only after the last comment does he stop and realize his mistake. "Sorry, I mean Cadet Goldman. Sorry still used to being a civilian psychologist."

With that Sharma nods. "That is a good idea. You two put it out that this is both a PII and part of his personage. If the violin or case are to be messed with by anyone without permission Cadet Goldman is in full rights to protect himself. No different than someone making unwanted physical contact." With that order given the two DIs nod to each other, no doubt typing into their communicators to send out the new directive to their subordinate DIs and the school's support Cadre. Then she turns back to the good doctor. "Do you have any other recommendations for us?"

Dr. Charleston shakes his head. "No, he is very confused and powerful. Two things that often go poorly together. He needs structure, but he is likely so odd and disassociated with everything around him that the other students are likely noticing this. This difference and his perceived special treatment will likely generate resentment. It is best to be aware that this will likely be a common occurrence for the foreseeable future."

"Should we stop it?"

"When you can, but from my experience if you stop them directly the kids will get nastier behind your back. No, it is best to let this play out and only step in when things get heated. Cadet Goldman is a good lad and has already shown the want to heal others even after defending himself. It is for that reason that I say you let this play out accordingly. Cadet Goldman is more than powerful enough to take care of himself. Last thing you want is for the other DIs to be seen as complicit with the treatment, if that happens then we will have a PDD episode like what happened is Destonia."

Hearing that Sharma nods.

"Destonia? What is that? A location?"

Dr. Charleston nods. "Look it up, in fact once this escalates to a certain point it might be good to have all the students look up what actually happened in Destonia, and why the last PDD patient perished from the universe, along with the residents of Destonia."

Hearing that, the room fell unnaturally silent at everyone took in the doctor's words of warning.