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Community Center Class: Psionics for the Headblind Herd [Monday Evening]

"Today," Emma began, "--we are going over the touchstone disciplines of psionics.

"Telepathy is the supposed transmission of information from one person to another without using any of scientifically known sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the earlier expression thought-transference."

"According to Roger Luckhurst, the origin of the concept of telepathy in the Western civilization can be tracked to the late 19th century. As the physical sciences made significant advances, scientific concepts were applied to mental phenomena, with the hope that this would help understand paranormal phenomena. The modern concept of telepathy emerged in this historical context."

"Within the field of parapsychology, telepathy is considered to be a form of extra-sensory perception, known as ESP, or anomalous cognition in which information is transferred through Psi. It is often categorized similarly to precognition and clairvoyance. Various experiments have been used to test for telepathic abilities. Among the most well known are the use of Zener cards and the Ganzfeld experiment."

"Nearest in scope to telepathy is psychometry, occasionally called psychoscopy. It is a form of extra-sensory perception characterized by the claimed ability to make relevant associations from an object of unknown history by making physical contact with that object, and some supporters assert that an object may have an energy field that transfers knowledge regarding that object's history. The most common type of psycometry has the practitioners able to see into the past of an object from the object's point of view, although some claim to be able to see future events as well, since inanimate objects may not view time as we do."

"Many people believe that clairvoyance and precognition are the same thing, when in fact they are not. Within parapsychology, clairvoyance is used exclusively to refer to the transfer of information that is both contemporary to, and hidden from, the clairvoyant. It is very different from telepathy in that the information is said to be gained directly from an external physical source, rather than being transferred from the mind of one individual to another. While outside of parapsychology, clairvoyance is often used to refer to other forms of anomalous cognition, most commonly the perception of events that have occurred in the past, or which will occur in the future or to refer to communications with the dead. Types of clairvoyance can include precognition, clairsentience, clairaudience, clairalience, claircognizance, and clairgustance."

"Precognition, or 'second sight,' is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics or nature. History records many instances of apparent precognition, such as the Ides of March, and belief in its occurrence as a form of seeing into the future; this can be through visions, déjà vu or through dreams. It is not uncommon for a telepath to have a few precognative episodes, but not all precogs are telepaths."

"And last, but far from least, is the brute-force member of the family, telekinesis, which is the catch-all term often used for psychokinesis which, no, does not mean a super-powered psychopath. Telekinesis, however, tends to refer to movement of matter at the micro or macro levels; move, lift, agitate, vibrate, spin, bend, break, or impact, by the direct influence of mind on a physical system that cannot be entirely accounted for by the mediation of any known physical energy. Psychokinesis can cover abilities such as teleporting, magnetism, transmutation, and other mutations, but has yet to be proven on as all being part of the same type of brain function. Personally, I feel shape-shifting also falls under the psychokinetic family, but I'm years away from being able to publish a paper on the topic."

"So now I'm interested in hearing from you." No, really, she was. Ignore how she was checking her nails. "What other type of psionics are you familiar with, and what do you wish you knew more about? Afterwards, we'll test to see if any of you have any potential powers, or are a card cheat."

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Powerful!

Jonothon Starsmore

Eliot Spencer

Hannibal Lecter

Bob

Raven Darkholme

Take notes, pass notes, be very very worried that Emma writes scientific papers on mutation...

Most of these things, Jonothon already knew from practical application, either through his own powers or though experiences alongside people who wore some manner of X, good or bad.

Still, it was interesting to hear Emma's take on it all, and he paid rapt attention, making the odd note here or there when she did bring up something he could use a better understanding of.

Eliot was following along perfectly well until the whole "inanimate objects may not view time the same way we do." Then he just had a headache. Because he was reasonably certain that the whole point of inanimate objects was that they didn't view anything at all. (Though, really, the fact that it took till the third class for him to end up with a logic induced headache was pretty good.)

Oh, Raven was absolutely going to tell Charles all about how she was totally psychic, too.

What other type of psionics are you familiar with, and what do you wish you knew more about?

Jono just shrugged as he tugged down the top of the wrappings over his face.

//This is all psionic energy,// he noted. //Though it can be used as a concussive force, or to even create actual fires, it's my very consciousness, not technically an actual physical construct so much as it does an excellent job of looking and behaving like one whether I want it to or not. I'm curious what your take on this actually is, given that it's rather unusual even by most psi-standards.//

"Oh darling, I'd need to get my PhD is psychology to start getting into why your consciousness manifests the way it does, and I'm taking a break between degrees right now," Emma teased.

"The best guess I can hazard without working with you more intensely and running tests, is that everyone has an electromagnetic field. It's just how humans are built. With you, your mutation has taken that to the next level, and using that field to maintain your current shape while feeding into your psionic reservoir. You're like the infinite looping fountain: power in, power out," she said, cycling her hands over each other. "Which is not surprising, since what are thoughts but electromagnetic signals sent throughout your body?"

Jono nodded thoughtfully as he smoothed his wrappings into place again.

//I like that 'ultimate' part,// he decided, half-joking, before shrugging his shoulders and getting serious again. //Though it's as good a theory as any I've ever had. Would explain, at least, why it doesn't all bleed off into nothingness.//

Hannibal chuckled. "I have mine, and I still couldn't tell you why, although I could hazard a few theories. But then, my world has no proven instances of psychic phenomena, so little has been studied on the matter."

//Well, now you've got me curious.// Jono quirked up an eyebrow in Hannibal's direction. //Let's have some theories, hm?//

"I said that I could, not that I had." Hannibal smiled, then thought about it. "Emma's seems a good start. Also I wonder to what extent it's informed and influenced by your great-grandfather and your affection for him."

//... You know, I never thought of that as... I mean, that the way it manifested might have... Huh.//

Been an unconscious choice? That?

That, yes.

Hannibal would tactfully not mention the many body issues that any teenager - let alone one who'd been largely rejected by his family - might have to feed into things.

"It's possible." He shrugged. "It is also possible that some connection to fire or energy runs in your family." He smiled at Emma. "Hence the aggravation at the lack of understanding."

//There's a lot that still hasn't been figured out, even in my time,// Jono allowed. //Never mind the fact that it'd be like pulling whatever teeth I've got left in my skull to convince me to let a doctor go poking around to try to figure out what makes me tick.//

I'm a doctor, Hannibal thought in his direction. And I have certainly poked around.

He would be tactful enough not to say that out loud in class. Emma could probably hear, but she could handle or ignore it; they weren't in her mind this time.

It was fortunate that Jono couldn't blush, or choke on anything, there.

//Not like that!//

Yes, he was directing that particular thought to Hannibal alone.

And Hannibal was keeping his smirk completely internal. I've had my hand inside you. How much more literal could the poking be?

AND NOW YOU WERE JUST THINKING THESE THINGS AT JONO BECAUSE YOU KNEW EMMA COULD PROBABLY HEAR YOU, HANNIBAL.

Which was one of many reasons why you were getting telepathic garble in reply, yes. Even if Jono knew full well you were referring to his chest.

"I'm considering starting a program within the next two years," Emma admitted, "--but I needed a break after finishing my MBA."

Emma, stop being such an overachiever. Seriously.

"Part of it is that we have so little hard science on X-Gene manifestation-- is it genetic, is it situational, etc, that it makes it hard to start separating that out from the Self expression."

Hannibal had his MD and PsyD, so he was the wrong person to talk to about overachieving. The only reason he hadn't gotten more degrees was the fact he preferred to learn on his own.

Hannibal raised his eyebrows and leaned forward. "Situational - you mean that environmental influences may help to determine when and how the gene expresses itself. Are there instances of individuals determining their own manifestations? Are there those who have the gene and never manifest at all?"

Between three majors, two minors, and one graduate degree in four years, Emma had to take a break to get her many projects going. She had a world to take-over, after all.

"There are many who have the gene and have not manifested; those that have the recessive X-Gene that won't manifest in all likelihood, and those with a dominant X-Gene that has the ticking timebomb of either puberty or extreme stress," she said, ticking the two off on her fingers. "A boy who freezes things when he's attacked, one in Russia who turned to living steel to save his sister, a woman from Africa who controls the weather... genetic predisposition, or situational activation of the mutation, affecting its pathway subconsciously? Unless the families agree to extensive genetic mapping, we may never know until we're three or four generations into manifestations."

...yes, Emma had totally read the brains of the X-Men whenever they'd shown up to trash NYC in another bout with Magneto. She needed data, dammit.

"Neither of my parents have every demonstrated a mutant power... am I a telepath because of a genetic predisposition, or because of the circumstances going on during my manifestation?" Emma shrugged. "Nature and nuture, maybe."

"For instance, I have it on good authority that many telepaths apparently exhibit mild signs of OCD prior to their awakening." How Hank knew that, who knew, but Emma believed him. "I know I did. If we can find patterns in behaviour and genetic markers, it's my hope we can eventually develop a test of some sort to determine a mutation before it develops, to help prepare for safer and less traumatizing activations."

Was Emma looking at Jono then? Hannibal certainly was. "So there are at least two different genetic markers involved, and any number of environmental influences. What sorts of studies are actually being done?"

"Sadly, not many," she said, making a face. "For good reason. Most mutants are reluctant to volunteer for studies, since the dominant vibe amongst humans is 'kill them all.' They're afraid - and rightly - that any data gleaned from scientific work will just be used to wipe us all out."

"Tuskegee is barely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to unethical human experimentation by medical professionals here in the United States. When you're a mutant and seen as sub-human..." Emma shrugged. "There's not exactly a wealth of mutants volunteering for studies. The best work is coming out of Scotland right now, but Dr. MacTaggert can't do it all."

Hannibal shook his head. "The versions of your world seem to have taken fear of the unknown and other to ridiculous heights." Not that he was against unethical experimentation, but that was on an individual scale as needed, to benefit the ones being studied. Not short-sighted wholesale slaughter.

"Frankly, Ms Frost, I find it remarkable that you've managed the self-restraint you have. The temptation to beat heads together must be overwhelming at times."

"I've a measure of psychometry." Bob waggled his fingers. "I've known various wizards with different skills, though I'm not sure if you'd classify spells with all this. "My only telepathy's if I'm possessing someone, though."

He only wished he were telekinetic. Ah, to be able to move things!

"Is your brand of psychometry retroactive-only, or precognitive as well?" Emma asked, curious. "Since, really, an inanimate object exists all along its own timeline at the same time, if you think about it. Things act upon it, but it, itself, can take no actions."

"However, time itself being distressingly linear - at least in my world - retroactive only, I'm afraid. It's less about seeing what the object has seen, and more about seeing what it is and has been. Becoming one with it," he intoned dramatically before smirking. "In a fairly real sense."

Raven raised a hand. "How would you go about proving shapeshifting is pyschokinetic?"

"Personally? I'd start with brain-mapping. Large-scale study looking at what areas of the brain light up when shape shifting versus psychokinetics," Emma said instantly, letting her own change ripple back-and-forth over her skin. "If you think about it, what is shape changing but changing your cells on a macro and micro level, exactly like how many forms of telekinesis operate? Instead of agitating air molecules, you are agitating your very body."

"Oh!" Raven clapped once and smiled as Emma shifted. "That is stunning." She let her own change cascade over her in response -- it seemed only polite (and honestly, she liked to show off). "I never really thought about shifting that way. I always kind of looked at it as a muscular thing, but I guess it really does go deeper, does it?"

"Down to the tiniest bits of our cells," Emma agreed, grinning at Raven's smile. "In my case, I become a moving diamond. I hesitate to use 'living,' since I do not need to eat or breathe, but I'm actually quite flexible within reasonable parameters."

She picked up her hair and let it fall back down, the individual strands staying rigid and chiming as they hit each other. "Not going to lie, I totally had a disreputable fellow cut my hair once, and then we took it to an equally disreputable gem cutter. It's how I paid for college."

"I'd ask why only once, but I suppose you didn't want to flood the market," Raven said. "So, really, you keep the same shape, but change your make-up. Where as I'm always made of flesh and bone, but I can be shaped like anything."

"I am not allowed to Science on my students, not even with their consent for non-invasive testing," Emma sighed, looking up at the ceiling and sounding quite put-out. "I am not allowed to Science on my students, not even with their consent..."

Look, she'd had to give Hank the same mantra many times. Sometimes it helped.

"Maybe someday I'll actually be able to publish research on mutation and not be immediately be burned at the stake," she said, giving Raven a crooked grin. "How that Dr. MacTaggert manages, I'll never know. Possibly because she's a madwoman."

"But yes, just the once, for exactly that reason. I didn't want to flood the market, and I don't know the long term effects. Will they break down eventually? Is my DNA still in them? When I cut them, they were flawless diamonds, in every way measurable, but mutations, well, mutate. I was a telepath long before I was the World's Most Expensive Date."

Grab a partner and a deck of zener cards and see if you have any talent!

Aha. Jono really didn't need to test himself in this regard, no. He could merrily cheat to see what his opponent was seeing if he cared to. Or, he supposed, he could try to guess at the cards themselves, though he was fairly certain he wasn't that sort of psion.

Still, he shrugged and looked around for a partner all the same. Maybe he'd surprise himself, or somebody else would be surprised, themselves. Hard to say, around here.

"What are these cards meant to test?" Hannibal asked, frowning at them. "Clairvoyance, telepathy, or precognition?"

He was reasonably certain he had none of the above, but he also wasn't terribly impressed with the lack of variable control in this experiment.

//At least one of the above,// Jono decided, amused. //Some measure of psionic ability, at any rate. Or at least whether or not you're a very good guesser.//

That was his best guess, anyway.

Hannibal grinned. "Well, as my world has no proven psychics, I rather doubt I have any of them. I am, however, a very good guesser." He could read expressions and behavior with the best of them.

//Well, then I'm interested in seeing if you can read something as vague as 'plus sign' in my expression when I draw a card,// Jono teased. //Want to give it a go?//

"Why not?" Hannibal shrugged. At the worst it would be a dull few minutes.

And really, either way, it would be educational, right?

Jono winked and reached for a card, holding it up and looking at it for a brief moment.

The star, then.

//Ready when you are, mate.//

She's around, before and after the class.

Mooooooooooooooondaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

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Community Center Class: Psionics for the Headblind Herd [Monday Evening]

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Talk to Miss Frost

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