A meeting at Thero house

Jueqel was alone in a meeting room on the first floor. He supposed it didn't matter which floor he should be on, but he felt a little safer being at ground level. He paced around a small table waiting for an answer. Eying the papers he'd just read. When no one responded immediately he sat back and closed his eye and allowed his thoughts to drift over the earlier event, but was interrupted with a disturbance in the room.

He looked to the spot in the room where the air shimmered, announcing the arrival of a teleporter.

“You got my message,” Jueqel said. “Thanks for coming so quickly. I wasn't sure if I'd sent it out right.”

A slender young man, just under 6 foot tall, with curly auburn hair faded into the room. “You felt the thing, same as us,” his voice echoed in as if passing through a tunnel.

“Hello, Kefen,” Jueqel greeted him with a warm smile.

Another shimmer appeared next to Kefen, and an echo of Dru's voice came into the room before him, “I've never felt such power.” Then Dru appeared into the room. Dru's dirty blond hair was matted down close to his face.

The pair were dressed in simple drawstring breeches, barefoot, and gathered shirts. They appeared ready for a Scarborough fair event, but Jueqel chose not to mention it.

“I'll never get over how you guys do that,” Jueqel said with a touch of jealousy.

Dru smiled, “Cheshin said he would teach you.” His perfect teeth bright as toothpaste, almost sparkled even in the low lights of the room.

Oragwains were so physically perfect, and their minds were strong. Jueqel thought, “How could one man have created these beautiful creatures?”

Kefen picked up on his thoughts, “We're not perfect. We're peaceful. We've only come to help because we know that something terrible has happened.”

“You haven't aged,” Jueqel remarked. “How can you not be perfect when you remain young and strong?” This time he could hear his own jealousy.

“Enough,” Dru said. “Another time. What do you know about this thing that kills with its mind?”

Jueqel straightened up, “Yes, well. You're right.” He walked over to his papers and read. “Ah, his name is Karden Lowen. He was assigned to us two years ago. He had had a psychotic episode, and that's what brought him to our attention, and we decided to intervene. We were keeping him sedated.” Jueqel went on further to explain Thero's involvement. Prior to being admitted into the hospital, Karden was a Psychinian candidate due to his parents psychic activities. His father ended up missing for several months, but he showed up at a hospital under a John Doe. His mother ended up in a convent and died two years ago. They figured that was what triggered Karden's breakdown. By this time, they all but ruled him out as being a Psychinian.

Dru nodded his head to Kefen. “There was someone else in the building. A surviver.”

Dru and Kefen had been in constant communication with each other. Jueqel wondered if they were all connected in their “One Mind”. It made sense that they would be. Jueqel confirmed, “We felt him, too, but couldn't detect any psychic activity. His name is Nepal Chambers. I don't think he's a blank, though.”

“I agree,” Kefen added. “No blank could have survived the slaughter. He's dormant. The killer wasn't able to get to him then, but that doesn't mean he could go head to head with this thing.”

Jueqel noticed they kept calling Karden a thing, an it, as though they wanted to keep him far removed from humanity. They did not consider Karden human?

As if Kefen picked up on Jueqel's thoughts, “that creature is no longer human. It must be dealt with. Destroyed.”

Dru continued, “however, it will take more than a hand full of Oragwains to take this thing out. It has awakened. It was strong enough to force everyone on Earth to urinate, and that was before it was fully aware of its surroundings. We don't know what it will do next, but there will be more death as a result.”

“The precogs are working on the potentials, but they're having trouble picking him out of the possible futures,” said Jueqel.

Kefen spoke, “Cheshin says, hi.”

This struck Jueqel as an odd interruption, but said hi back. This was a serious matter, and he didn't think it would be appropriate to socialize.

“Cheshin likes you, you know,” Dru said.

“Can we not do this just now?” Jueqel felt a little embarrassed. “There is a killer on the loose,” he said, trying to keep the topic to business at hand.