Screen panels lined the walls of the small dimly lit room, numbers raced across the screen and different images of the brain were illuminated in great detail. In the midst stood Italy, and in her hand was a small tablet that she used to sort the information from the greater screens. She was currently studying the extent of the mind’s influence on the physical world. Her brother, Roman, was the test subject in the next room. She could barely see him through the wall-wide window, but the movements of shadows and the occasional grunting.
Early in the month, she was approached by Malcolm Nurdstrum, her uncle, about the potential revelations of Noetic Science and human consciousness. She -being a woman of real science, disputed the notation as nothing more than ancient mysticism. ‘Exactly’ The Head of the Nurdstrum Family spoke with an unwavering conviction “Science is currently catching up with what the ancients of our kind has already known.”
That statement blindsided her, he wanted her to make the comparison between the scientific and the supernatural. He went on about comparing current scientific phenomena such as string theory and how ‘the bulk of the cosmos’ was exactly the same way as the astral energy in mysticism. Yet even with the structured argument, it was all just conjecture in Italy’s eyes, no math backing it up, simply a hypothetical. So when he proposed a series of experiments to confirm his suspicions, she accepted the idea of disproving the notion.
Today, however, she was starting to believe the opposite. The results, while subtle, were most certainly there. By simply thinking it, she could change the structure of the crystals in snowflakes to become more structural, and through further experimentation she learned that it could be augmented by how many people focused on the same thing. Her brother was currently working on developing and testing a new form of technology that developed around this new discovery, they called it NuPsi. The principal was the potential unification of people’s neural-networks and the ability to influence reality outside the mind.
Suddenly, footsteps could be heard in the distance, the all-too familiar voice of the revived Nurdstrum and Italy’s ‘artificial sister’ - the lab experiment that now took up the name Amai. They were headed this way. It was time to test to see if their experiments were ready.
What I am saying is that tonight...we master what the mutants only partially have. Tonight humanity masters the mind." She could hear Maragret speaking.
Mastery? Italy thought to herself. We just started building this on the basis of speculation. She didn’t like to bear false hope, and while she did also believe in the evolution of mankind as the ultimate triumph over the randomness of Mother Nature, they were in no way fit to take on the collective class of mutants, some of which were capable of moving planets with their minds.
Amai moved up against the glass where Roman was working on the machine, Italy eyed the walking experiment with curiosity, even in the dimness of the Black Box, she could still see the scar of where the incisions went into her arm. It brought a slight sense of accomplishment, like seeing the creation she made walking in front of her, with a reminder of who made her. But soon she brought her attention back to the current experiment, the NuPsi Web. She walked out of her glass box, approaching the group of people with professionalism behind her every step. They were waiting to see what she found and how they could implement it into themselves. She hoped their hopes weren’t too high.
“The NuPsi Web is still underdevelopment, but in its completion, we’re hoping to at the very best mimic those of a mid-tier psionic mutant. For around an hour or maybe two.” If they were disappointed, they definitely didn’t show it. Poker faces seemed to run in the family. “It turns out actively concentrating our thoughts on shaping the world arounds us takes a lot more energy out of us. We’re simply not designed for that. So we’re working on a way to siphon energy into the brain, so the effects last longer. But this is a higher level of science.”
She didn’t feel all that bad about delivering the bad news, it was a new form of technology to her. Of course she wasn’t going to have all the answers right then and there. Mind technology was currently reserved for the aliens who try to claim godhood amongst humans. “Have you received any biologics from your NuGenesis?” Her uncle finally broke the silence that was starting to stir. NuGenesis was once a property where she could reliably gain the resources she needed, but now it was run by her less ambitious cousin. Who severed ties with the mission of eliminating mutants.
“The backdoor operations are getting a bit harder to complete. And the T.I.T.AN units are still in America, so I’m unsure of whether we have them” The T.I.T.A.Ns are an elite group of Bio-Soldiers developed during the failed attempt of colonizing mars, who moved in complete radio silence in the case any of the high-tech giants were to intercept.
Roman was suddenly standing next to her, she made a conscious effort to not jump. He said nothing. “But it does work?” Amai asked, she sounded eerily like herself but a bit deeper. “Yes it does, just be careful not to fry your brain.” Italy stepped to the side, the machine turned on and a pink light illuminated the tubes. As Amai placed the pulsating on top of her head, Italy had only one thought. Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea...
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