Max and Liz were having dinner together in a nice, quiet restaurant. Little did they realise the turmoil going on around them.
They were followed, as always, by two discreet bodyguards. Liz was grateful, that, although she knew she was being watched, it never actually felt like they were being watched. A recent visit from a microkinetic confirmed that Liz's transformation to Sem DNA was about 97% complete.
There was also the usual SPM spy.
However, on this occasion, there were a few other SPM representitives. Draagan and Hugh among them.
The SPM had manage to concoct a fast working poison. One that proved through a number of tests to be able to kill someone faster than a healer could heal. The poison was teleported into the kitchen and Hugh used his telepathic abilities to make use that the chef put the poison in Max and Liz' meal. He also wiped the memory from the Chefs' mind.
"I don't like this," said the empathic bodyguard to the other, shivered. "There's menace in the air."
"Who from?"
The waitor came out with their meal and put their plates on the table with practiced ease.
"Thank you," said Max.
The two began to eat.
Draagan caught Hugh's eyes in warning. He had seen the bodyguards on the move.
Suddenly Liz fell forward, hands around her throat.
"Liz?" Max exclaimed, hands reaching out for her.
The bodyguards shared a look, and aimed straight for the SPM members. The teleporter got away clean, taking as many as he could with him.
Max's hands touched Liz. He immediately identified the poison and started getting his power to work. But... something was wrong! It was moving too fast! He couldn't keep up with it.
The emotions coming from Max threw the empathic bodyguard off. After a look with the other bodyguard, he returned to Max and Liz' table. The other bodyguard went straight for Hugh.
Vainly, Hugh tried to use his telepathy to stop him, but the guard had a telepathic sheild, one even stronger than usual. Draagan, who had someone managed to avoid being picked by the empathic guard, taped the guard on the shoulder. The guard turned around, and Draagan landed him with a fine punch in the face.
"Max?" asked the empathic guard.
"Too fast... poison... moving too fast!"
The guard swore, then stood and ran to rejoin the fight.
"We have to get them out of here, now! Poison, moving too fast for Max."
"Run Hugh," Draagan ordered with a chuckle.
Hugh made a break for the door.
Meanwhile Max was tiring, and running into despair, trying so hard to save his wife, and seeing her systems shutting down faster than he could start them again. Then a peculiar thing happened. Slowly, but with rapid acceleration, her systems started starting up again - in places where Max hadn't even gotten to yet. It was as if there was a second healer helping him. But that was impossible... he was the only nearby healer around!
The empathic guard reached out to Hugh with his power, and amplified his fear to the point where Hugh was too terrified to move, then grabbed his phone and dialed furiously. The battle between the other guard and Draagan continued.
Max collapsed on the table. Liz was sitting up now, and breathed deeply.
"What? Impossible!" Draagan exclaimed, seeing her alive.
Liz turned her head slightly to look at him, just in time to see the SPM teleporter return to retrive him and take him back.
"Hurry! Before they try to take the boy!" the empathic guard urged into the phone.
**********
A team of healers checked Max and Liz over back at home. Both were pronounced free of the poison. A sample of the food from their meals was collected, and found that the poison had been in both meals. The testers had been quite alarmed at the poison they found, and were completely amazed that the two had survived.
"Well, I can explain it," said the microkinetic on staff.
"Oh?"
"As I noted the other day, Liz' transformation was 97% complete. It would appear that 97% includes the acquisition of her specialty power."
"Specialty power?"
"Healing, obviously."
The revelation of Liz' power explained their survival perfectly. Where one healer couldn't heal fast enough to counter the poison, two healers would be more than enough. The bodyguards were annoyed that they had been poisoned at all, but it was pointed out to them that they couldn't have known that it was going to be poison, as neither the chef, nor the waitor had been directly involved.
Hugh was kept under guard. Because all the guards and all the people who questioned him had shields - rather strong ones - Hugh couldn't use his power to escape.
"I can't use my power to read his mind - telepathic shield," said one of the YIRAAS telepaths. "It's too fluid to be made from someone who has been properly trained, but it's too strong for me to get past. We have to call Tanya."
Tanya
By the time Tanya arrived, Liz and Max were both doing much better, sleeping off the evenings' excitement. After checking for any updates regarding Hugh, Tanya entered the cell in which he was being kept.
"Hello," she said.
Hugh just looked at her sullenly. Tanya sat down.
"I'm not going to hurt you," she assured him, then sent in her mind to his.
She felt the fluidity of the shield. She sensed that there had been some training involved, but it was not enough. They didn't know what the powers of the full roster of SPM had, but Tanya felt it was reasonable to assume they didn't have much in the way of particularily powerful telepaths.
Until now.
*So. You're an untrained telepath, Huulion. Or may I call you Hugh?*
*I have been trained!* Hugh objected.
*The training you have recieved is barely adequate to your level of power, and even your trainers knew it.*
*Leave me alone! I want to go home.*
*Sure, you can go home. If you are willing to show a YIRAAS raid team the way.*
*No!* and Hugh's objection put a large, thick shield around the sensitive information.
*Hmm. Rather reluctant to share, aren't you?*
*I will not let you destroy the true royal family of earth!*
*There's no fear of that,* Tanya replied. *I'm more concerned about you and the SPM trying to do that.*
*The usurper -*
*Max's family was voted fairly, according to the Sem's tradition. It is your founders that could not stand for a fair vote, and tried usurping themselves.*
*Lies!*
*Whether you believe me or not is inconsequencial. You have a great deal of power at your disposal, both telepathic and in knowledge. But until you understand what you know, you shall not practice the other,* and Tanya pulled her mind out.
*What do you mean?* Hugh asked, startled. "What do you mean?"
Tanya said nothing. She concentrated, staring at Hugh's neck. She placed her hands on his shoulders, and Hugh attempted to move away but discovered that Tanya had a surprisingly strong grip. He felt something emerging, and put his hands to his throat.
"This collar will prevent the use of your telepathic powers until taken off. And it can only been taken off by me."
"What? No! You can't do that to me!"
"I just did."
Hugh screamed at her as she left, but Tanya paid it no mind. No pun intended.
"So, what's the story?" asked Wayne.
"Name's Huulion Grasini," Tanya replied. "He's been fed all the usual SPM propoganda. Hates the Evans', hates Daths, hates mutants, and considers humans to be so far beneth them, they're only good as slaves. Was looking forward to getting a slave girl for his upcoming 16th birthday. Three guesses what his plans were for her, and the first two don't count."
Wayne snorted.
"Any information?"
"All the sensitive stuff he's keeping behind a shield of raw power. He has the power to be a Master, but almost negligable training."
"A Master? But I thought Avery Hanson..."
"She has the power of a Grandmaster. In fact, she is a Grandmaster," Tanya amended. "She just hasn't finished mastering the known techniques yet. It makes sense to me that there would be another Master in the world."
"Hmph. Can you get past the shield?"
"Sure thing. If I wanted to mutilate his mind or leave him brain dead. And there would be no guarentee that we'd pick up the location of their base either."
"Hmph," Wayne was silent for a moment. "Well, at least we know why they brought a teen along to do an adult's job."
Tanya stared at him for a moment.
"Yes... you would understand that, wouldn't you?"
"Excuse me?"
"Sending children to do the work of adults."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Really? Then maybe these names will ring a bell: Avery and Christian."
"Ahh... You know."
"I'm her telepathy instructor. Of course I know. How could you Wayne? It isn't enough that she got kidnapped by Craig, and then later had to kill him? If that wasn't traumatic enough you had to go an risk further trauma by asking her to go into Christian's head? Are you completely mad? She could have seen anything in there! The number of horrors and atrocities that he's gone through - and you were willing to risk exposing her to that? Not to mention the fact that Christian was providing you with good intel of his own free will, and didn't deserve to be treated that way."
"Tanya - "
"No, no Wayne. I'm sick of you. Truly sick of you," Tanya was on a roll now. "You might be the head of security, but you're failing to protect the most important members of our community. Our children. I have regretted for years that I didn't take Christian out of Craig's hands when I had the chance. And I know you probably think I'm some sort of bleeding heart the way I've defended and stuck up for him - and every other child that's been hard done by - and I don't appologise for that. The children are our future, as they say, and all I have to add is thank goodness you're not in childcare, because the whole future generation would be comeplete screwed up by now. Because that's what you do! You screw up kids lives! Seriously, has life in this job made you so hard that all you can see is security threats and objectives? And fail to realise that your mechanisms are what are making people threats? If I had taken Christian out, he would have grown up in a loving family, and he wouldn't have killed, maimed or otherwise assulted any of our people."
"You can't blame - "
"Yes I can, Wayne. And I do. Christian's the product of your handywork. Your sheer inability to look after our kids. Well, I'm not going to let you do that to Hugh, understand me? He's a poor, misguided kid, who just needs a chance to find out that his prejudice is unfounded."'
"And when he's come to an understanding that he was misdirected as a child, why, out of sheer gratitude he'll tell us all we want to know. Meanwhile, Max and Liz are dead because the SPM finally found a way to kill them. Today was lucky, with Liz' speciality power kicking in - and being Healing. We may not be so lucky in the future."
"Don't think I don't want Max and Liz to stay alive. And don't you dare be sarcastic with me," Tanya growled, then changed her tone: "Y'know, you're right. Maybe Hugh will never reform. But that's no reason not to try. And we have no reliable method of taking the information from him, either. Now stop considering how best to mentally rape the poor kid, and do the right thing for once and help him. I've no doubt that we will stop the SPM once and for all, but you have to stop scarring our youth!"