Hope, Topaz and Haller (backdated)

[x-trance.livejournal.com]

Wandering around outside in her astral form, Hope discovers a fascinating new aspect of her powers.

With a last check, she sunk down cross-legged on the blanket she had carefully arranged on a quiet part of the grounds. With the weather making it possible to be outside on occasion, she had quickly expanded the range of her astral meanderings. No longer content to be contained in the mansion, Hope now sometimes went outside and explored the grounds in her astral form, enjoying the chance to take a look up a tree or other unusual spots.

Another deep breath, eyes sliding closed and the flower unfolded in her mind, releasing her astral form from her physical form and she headed of into the woods, her body slumping on the blanket.

Topaz folded her arms over her chest, pressing her lips tight together as she took yet another stab at manipulating Haller's emotions. She'd been pushing more to try positive emotions lately, mostly because it bugged her that she hadn't yet managed to successfully manipulate those. She didn't like when she couldn't do something.

Jim didn't speak until it looked like she'd exhausted her efforts, though their sessions had told him there was no chance of success once Topaz's body language went closed and tense. Not for a positive emotion, anyway.

"Tired?" he asked, waiting until her expression loosened from its intense concentration.

"No," Topaz replied at once. Aggravated, yes, but not tired. She wanted to keep trying, but even she had to admit to defeat at some point. No matter how annoyed she was.

"Then let's shift gears. We've been at this one for a while, we can both use a change of pace." The telepath rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully. "We've already touched on the manipulation of my alters. Maybe we can do another experiment."

Hope has been wandering around for a while, exploring the forest and one time even startling a mother bird when she took a peek in the nest to watch the baby birds high in the tree, when she caught the sound of people talking. Curiosity peaked she moved in the direction of where the sound was coming from.

Something new. That sounded absolutely wonderful. "You got something in mind?" She asked curiously, her posture relaxing just a bit at the thought of doing something different - and maybe actually succeeding at it.

Jim nodded. "We know you can draw out Cyndi if you push the right buttons. I think we're both comfortable enough with the process now to see if you can put her back in."

"Put her back in," Topaz repeated slowly. "I'm guessing you mean by draining?" Manipulating would have meant she'd have to shift him to something positive, after all.

Another nod. "It's possible to force a switch with telepathy, but there's . . . resistance. Your empathy isn't nearly as disruptive to my system. I think it's because of the different emphasis -- cognition versus emotion." He spread a hand. "We know you can drain me without consequence without provoking a switch, but I'm the baseline. I'm interested to see what happens when you drain an alter."

"Okay." Topaz agreed readily. "Let's do it." She was interested too. And she knew Cyndi wouldn't hurt her, so even if it didn't work it wasn't a huge deal.

"Okay. One second . . ." The man's posture changed gradually, becoming looser and more open. When he opened his eyes again the irises had gone from blue and brown to green.

She stopped though when she realized it was Mr. Haller and Topaz together, realizing the reasons they would be on the grounds together were not conductive to being interrupted. She made to turn away when something caught her attention and she froze, her eyes widening as she watched.  

The colored corona that surrounded Mr. Haller started to shift... That was nothing strange in itself and she had seen it happen in so many occasions. But nothing like this...

Soft shades of blue and purple, mixed with light pink and orange disappeared, to be replaced with an autumn palet of brown and a little soft red, all with lots of bright orange laced through it. Hope frowned, unable to tear herself away from what was happening in front of her.  
Cyndi spun towards Topaz and clapped her hands together. "Okay, let's do this thing." There was a hint of trepidation to her aura, but it was overwhelmed by curiosity and the alter's natural exuberance.

Topaz's lips twitched into the faintest of smiles as she said, "Yes ma'am." She closed her eyes for a moment, zeroing in on Cyndi's emotions and taking a deep breath before she began draining off every emotion she could detect in the alter.

At this point the sensation in itself was no longer disconcerting. It was odd, in a purely intellectual way, that it triggered no reaction whatsoever. No knee-jerk defense like what a psychic attack elicited, no automatic flip to the next alter. Just a gradual emptiness, as if someone had pulled the stopper on a drain. The green of Cyndi's eyes receded as quickly as it had emerged.

"It's true," Jim said with clinical interest as the drain completed, "Only David can feel nothing."

Topaz tilted her head, observing the process in the disconnected part of her mind that wasn't dealing with the emotions she'd siphoned off Haller. It was...interesting, watching him switch between personalities. "So you probably wouldn't be able to switch between alters now," she said finally. "I mean, if they're triggered by emotions, and you don't have any right now..."

And Hope had to blink yet again. How did this happen? First the colors were bright and very visible and then as suddenly they were drained away, to be replaced with something that resembled some kind of grey fog... A kind of grey fog she had seen before... but where?  
"It depends on how deep self-preservation runs in the absence of emotion. Certain things switch me automatically. We'd know for sure if we could get someone to fire a gun at my head." He thought about this for a moment before adding, "Although that would probably be frowned upon."

"I...feel like if someone's holdin' you at gunpoint I'd be obligated to go get another teacher or somethin'," Topaz said, raising an eyebrow. "Or a doctor dependin' on how fast I can get back."

"That's a good instinct, yes. We . . ." The telepath paused. He could see a shape hovering nearby, faint in the sunlight. One he recognized.

"Hope?"

Eep! Hope was so lost in though it took her a moment to react, trying to figure out where she had seen the mist thing before. <i>I am sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I saw you and Topaz... She fell silent when it clicked where she had seen the mist thing. I have seen it before!!! When Tandy had her nightmare!!! But...

"Seen what before?" Normally Jim would have been a little more fixated on how much she might have overheard, but temporary apathy was typical of a drain. He reflected that the state did have its uses.

The corona that surrounds everyone. First it really changed colors just before and then it become like a greyish fog... The corona that surrounded Tandy did the same back in December... Her gaze slid to Topaz, frowning as she studied the Indian girl.

She knew what Hope was referring to. "The first time I drained Tandy," she muttered, shoving her hands into her pockets. "How long have you been watching?" She asked after a moment, her tone more curious than anything else.

Not that long. Just before Mr. Haller's corona did that strange thing with the colors. Hope looked at Topaz curiously. Did... did you do something just before draining Mr. Haller too?

Topaz pressed her lips together, not really sure how to answer that. It almost sounded as if Hope had seen the shift to Cyndi. She moved her gaze to Haller, deciding to let him take that question.

Jim gave this some thought. "Corona . . . interesting. It almost sounds like you can 'see' emotions. Or, in this case, the lack of them."

Emotions? Hope fell silent, her memory flashing back to several other occasions where she has seen the corona around people with all the assorted shifts in colors as she contemplated it. And the different colors could be different emotions? Feelings? It dizzied her a little. She had grown used to see the corona's, but this was a whole new aspect of her powers.

Jim nodded. "It's sounding that way. You said you saw my colors change right before everyone went grey? That would make sense. My telekinesis is directly tied to emotion. We were trying to see whether removing the necessary mood would cancel out my ability to use the power. If you can see emotions, I'm guessing what you saw was me getting ready." He left it at that. They could determine later whether elaboration was necessary, but if this was indeed some new aspect of Hope's power they hadn't known about he wanted to keep the focus on that rather than what might be happening in his head.

Hope's ghost form just hovered there as she 'blinked', trying to make sense of this. How... what... what does this mean? Her gaze shifted to Topaz who was still standing next to Haller. Is this something like empathy? Like you can do?

"I think empathy involves being able to feel what the other person is feeling," Topaz said as she returned her gaze to Hope as well. "Like it's your own emotion." She was trying to think back to everything she'd learned on her own when her mutation had first emerged. "I don't...really know, though." Internet research didn't make her an expert by any means.

"That's the conventional definition," agreed Jim. "Do you feel any sensation associated with it, or is it strictly visual?

No. Hope 'shook' her head. All I can see is the corona surrounding people. I have never felt anything. She paused for a moment.

"Hm. You are essentially an astral body. Maybe your perceptions overlap with the astral plane." The telepath turned this over in his mind. "I got hazy when Topaz drained me. Was there any change in her aura?"

I am sorry, but I didn't really notice. I was focused on your... aura... Hope hesitantly tried out the word, finding it fitted better then corona though. The color shift and then the grey haziness drew my attention.

Something piqued Topaz's curiosity. "What does it look like now?" She asked suddenly. She herself was completely calm, but she still had Haller's emotions chasing themselves around in her head, waiting to be burned off in a spell.

Hope tilted her head a little as she studied the aura that surrounded Topaz. It was predominantly a very soft shade of pink with orange threaded though it and a more then a few bits of green and purple as well. She had to smile a little, pink not being a color she usually associated with Topaz. It's pink... with orange, green and purple running through it. And... Hope frowned a little. It was almost if there was a kind of inner band to the aura, but the autumn colors she has seen before easily contrasted with the pink. But there is an inner band that matches the colors I saw on Mr. Haller earlier... Wait... those are his emotions?!?

"More than likely, yes." Topaz shrugged. "That's the way my powers work - or part of them, anyways. When I drain a person's emotions, they have to go somewhere. So they end up in my head instead." It was the easiest way to explain it.

This is so strange... Hope shook her head again, looking slightly overwhelmed. But what happens now...

"Observation and study, like any other aspect of your power," suggested the telepath. "You see colors, and the colors are probably emotions. But can you tell what each color represents?"

No, not really. I could perhaps guess a few of them, but it's not really instinctive. Hope replied. And thank you, Mr. Haller. That does make sense.

"Hm." Jim glanced at Topaz. "Finding out what color corresponds to which emotion is an elimination game. If you don't mind, maybe we can work out something with the two of you. We're already working with emotions; you know what you're pulling or decreasing. It may be worth the two of you comparing notes."

Topaz shrugged. "Fine by me." Wasn't like she'd be doing anything different anyways. Except maybe stopping a few extra seconds for Hope to memorize colors.

That sounds like an idea that should work quite well. Hope replied after considering the idea for a few moments. I think it might not be so simple as just assigning colors to emotions though. There are so many emotions and I have seen a limited amount of base colors, though in a great variety of shades.


"And we don't work with the whole spectrum, so you aren't likely to get the full scope just by observing our sessions," the counselor noted. "I think your best course will be everyday exposure. Note what you see and talk to people to get some idea of what it might mean." He gave Topaz another appraising look. "You might be able to help her there, too, if the other party doesn't mind being analyzed." Unspoken was the question, And you're all right with off-the-clock interaction.

The idea made her twitch a bit, but she'd get over it. "If Hope doesn't mind me taggin' along, sure. I'll do what I can."

I don't mind tagging you along, Topaz. I am sure we will be able to work something out that works for the both of us. Despite the Indian girl's often prickly exterior, Hope still liked her. And maybe we will find a few of the others willing to be analyzed. Maybe Matt would be willing to help?

Jim smiled. "All right. As long as your classmates are informed that shouldn't be too much trouble for either of you. The professor might want to work with you himself too, at least to get a better idea of what you see, but options never hurt." And frankly anything that got Topaz in the same room as her peers was a bonus, even if it was only as close as her empathic range required.

I will mention it to the professor the next time we have class. She looked back and forth the two solid people in front of her. But I will not disturb you any longer. Thank you for helping me figure this out.

Topaz shrugged - she hadn't really done much. "Let me know when you want to start working on it."

Jim watched Hope float away, then turned to the empath. "Thank you for agreeing to help," he said. "I appreciate the sacrifice. I know it means human interaction."

"I don't know how how I'll cope," Topaz returned dryly. "I don't mind helping, though."

"Even so, I'll make sure it counts as extra credit."