Chronicles of Han: Preserving Creata: Part 1: Learning Curve
Chapter Thirty-One

I was woken up by a low, droning sound.

It was unknown to me and I lay listening to it.

Eventually opening my eyes, I saw Tucker snoring in the chair in the corner of my room.

It was dark outside.

I carefully lifted my head. The alarm next to me read 01h01.

There was still a dull ache between my eyebrows and at the base of my skull.

I tested the rest of my body. Every part seemed to respond to the correct signals. I felt cool, but starving.

Slipping out of bed, I had to sit on the edge for a while to stave off the waves of nausea and dizziness.

Tucker was still sleeping. He had had a difficult time with me and I did not want to disturb him.

As I stood up, I realized that I was still in agony.

My body was now responding as if all circulation had been cut off for a long time. Pins and needles were assailing me from my toes to my scalp. With every step, new pain shot to my head.

By the time I reached the bedroom door I was drenched in sweat and ready to collapse. Somehow I knew that the more I moved now, the sooner this would be over. Clenching my teeth, I made it to the kitchen.

Tucker had restocked the kitchen while I was a loss to all worlds. I managed to make a protein shake without spilling too much, feeling better almost instantly after consuming the disgusting lot.

I struggled to my meditation room and started on some slow stretching exercises. Little by little, the pain in my body started to subside. The dull throb in my head persisted. The droning sound was becoming louder and was extremely irritating.

I heard the front door open. I smelt Julie’s perfume and stepped to the door in order for her to see me.

She was closing the door carefully behind her. The noise felt like thunder in my head and I winched.

She turned around, surprised to see me.

“What are you doing up?” she rushed over to me and placed her hand on my forehead.

“The fever is gone, but you are soaked through! Sit here so I can check your vitals” she indicated the couch.

It was a long way off, but as I started over, my body responded well enough.

She checked my temperature, which was slightly below normal, making a attractive brown eyebrow rise slightly.

She checked respiration and heart-rate, which was slower than normal, resulting in another raised eyebrow.

She checked blood pressure, again very low.

“Are you sure you are not dying on me?” she asked.

“I’m feeling much better. Thank you for all your help. If you are looking for Tucker, he’s snoring in the bedroom.”

“Poor Uncle Tuck. He really has a soft spot for you, you know. He did not sleep a wink until I told him that you would be unconscious for at least twelve hours.”

“Did he say anything to you regarding why he’s helping me in this way?” I wanted to know from her.

“I think he wants to keep you safe. I just came by to see if you both were feeling better, before my next shift starts.”

“You looked somewhat surprised at my recovery?”

“Not really. You present some of the same symptoms we see in the younger psychics. I’ve never come across these symptoms so radically accentuated and all at once.”

“You have dealings with people like me?”

“Of course. Oh! I see. Uncle Tuck does not speak of it, does he?

He had a son like you. Patrick was taken away by the Government when he was ten years old. His parents were allowed to visit him regularly, but he was not allowed out of the compound. He later went into a Government project program, but was killed in the line of duty.

Uncle Tuck was devastated. He ranted about giving his life for his Planet and getting repaid for his service by his family being taken away from him. Anyway, his wife died shortly after Patrick’s cremation.

I was always focusing on nursing and thought it a great way of infiltrating these facilities. Our movement has been helping people like you disappear with fake deaths, insanity, etc. for a very long time.”

“My symptoms? You said I presented some of what you have come across?”

“The fever is common in young psychics learning to use their abilities. This usually presents in a raised temperature for a prolonged time. Not an extremely high temperature for a short spell, as with you.

Body pain and discomfort, again over an extended time period. Headaches, especially at the base of the scull and between the eyebrows, nothing intense, simply a constant ache.

Disorientation, hallucination, out of body experiences. All of these are present.”

Then this was the way I was coming into my skills, all at once, not over a period of time as with regular psychics that started learning control over their skills from the age of ten.

“And a constant droning noise?” I wanted to know.

“No, I’ve never came across that.”

“How does the Government train psychics?”

“That, I’m not sure of. I’m only a nurse helping these people as best I can to make their bodies more comfortable. That is why I knew exactly what and how much to give you to help you through your discomfort.

Although, I had to up some of your dosages quite a bit. We took a gamble and it seemed to have paid off.”

“What exactly does the Government use psychics for?”

“Whatever they wish to, I guess. They are considered extremely valuable property. I overheard recently that they’ve actually started a breeding facility for psychic skills. Is that not disgusting?”

“Do you know what people like me can do?”

“I’ve seen some of your kind in action. Especially when they come in stressed and all confused.

You have powers beyond comprehension. Some of you can move objects by looking at it. Or walk through walls. Or throw people across rooms. I’ve seen what people like you can do when not treated with respect and dignity. May I ask what you specialize in?”

“This is quite new to me and I’m still learning. I see things.”

“Like visions?”

“I think so. Sometimes I have premonitions. Sometimes I can see what dead people saw. Sometimes I can replace missing people. Sometimes I see dead people and even communicate with them.”

“This is the first time I hear of such a thing. You must be really special.”

“I do not think so. There are others like me, doing the same things I do. Tucker said that that is how the Captain received the idea of putting me on the missing person’s case.”

“Then you must fall in the semi-private category. There the Governing body of the local city would have responsibility over you.”

“Thanks, you just referred to me as property again.”

“Sorry. I tend to think in categories.”

I changed the subject.

She was really pretty with soft, brown eyes and an open, honest face. She was a typical nurse type, although a bit on the petite side.

“So, on a scale from one to ten, where do you put me in the category of having a chance to date you?”

“Please! I do not date strangers. I never date psychics. And besides, I do have a boyfriend, if you have to know.”

Wow, speak of rebuke. I probably scored a zero due to the fact that I’m still considered ‘property of State’.

I was extremely relieved when Tucker walked into the room, beaming a huge smile at us.

Julie jumped up, gave her Uncle a fond embrace, winked at me and dashed out the door.

Tucker came over and offered his hand to help me up.

Unexpectedly, I was Tucker . . .

Captain Truman gave me first pick of a rookie. There were five files open on his desk.

I was drawn to the handsome boy in the middle. He had haunting eyes, like Patrick used to have, with a fair skin and dark hair. It made for a dashing contrast.

His grades were good. Not exceptional, but definitely not standard. He seemed to be teachable. His temperament was described as quiet, hard working but tending to be introverted.

Han Storm. He sounded solid enough.

I broke the contact as soon as I realized what was happening.

Tucker stared at me as if I had given him an electric shock.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Trouble,” I confessed. “I saw how you picked me. This is going to make things difficult if it works on other people too.”

I sat back down on the couch and buried my face in my hands. I reached out to Sensaii.

*Now what?*

*At the moment your whole body is acting as a receptor.

Look around you. See with your spirit.

Do not use your physical sight. Use your real sight. See as things really are.

Not much can be hidden from you in this way. It is nothing to fear. It is growing up and being reminded of what you can do. That is all. Learn quickly. Learn how to shut it off and open it up. But learn quickly.*

*You are pressing me for time?*

No answer.

It was really infuriating sometimes to be able to communicate with entities not of the physical realm. They knew things that I did not, and they mostly did not consider me ready for the next level.

I looked up at Tucker.

He was watching me from the chair on the other side of the coffee table.

I suddenly felt exhausted and very old. It felt as if I had the whole Planet’s weight on my shoulders.

I felt like crying.

It was probably only the after-effects of the drugs.

“Let me touch your arm and see if it happens again,” Tucker said.

I agreed with a nod.

He placed his hand on my elbow.

Nothing happened.

I smiled at him and felt better. It must have been the contact with my fingertips, in the same way I had to touch the essence of a person with my fingertips to produce a required psychic response.

“As long as I do not touch someone with my fingers we should be fine,” I told him.

“Look on the bright side. Now you can see things without having to ask people for permission. This will work really well . . . if we still . . . made arrests” he finished lamely.

Not being too discouraged, he tried to perk me up.

“Well, we’ll replace a job for this too. Now, to bed with you. You’ve stayed up long enough and I need some decent sleep too.”

Movement was becoming easier and less painful and I was able to reach my own bed without help.

It was freshly made with clean sheets and all.

Thanks Uncle Tuck.