Cade raised his eyebrow affectionately. “I have time during fourth period, Ms. May. I shall reserve a training room. I expect you there Mondays and Wednesdays during that time.”
“Thank you, sir!”
Annisa hugged the Professor. Physical contact was unusual between telepaths as it was more difficult to maintain thought shields. Cade caught glimpses of her excitement, her worry about the future, and her crush for her favorite teacher. Knowing that she had broadcast private thoughts, she blushed. “Excuse me, sir. I have studying before my biology finals.”
Cade tried to rememeber when he last felt that excitement.
Annisa arrived at the fourth period training session a minute early. Cade had prepared a safe environment. The walls and floors were matted. He was sitting inside a circle on one end of the room. There was another circle on the other end.
“The first test is the blocking test. I’ll attempt to pierce your shields slowly until they break. I’ve had years of training, so you aren’t expected to keep me out. Just try your best.”
Annisa sat down into the lotus position in the opposite circle. “Yes, sir!”
The traditional approach to shattering a mind shield is to strike hard and fast like hitting it with a mental sledgehammer. This was a test of Annsia’s endurance. He pictured her mental shield like a balloon and instead of popping it with a tack; he began to apply subtle pressure to it.
Across the room, Annisa smiled at the slight mental contact. Slowly, Cade added additional psionic pressure to his attack. Annisa was resisting quiet well, above her last rating even.
“Are you doing well enough to continue, Ms. May?”
Annisa gritted her teeth and nodded.
“During the training session with Professor Cade, Annisa ignored the pain in her head. As an athlete, she was used pushing beyond her normal limits,” Doctor Mayes explained. Images of her brain flashed on the screens. “As a result, she suffered from an internal brain aneurysm that triggered an acute stroke. This stroke made it difficult for her to stop and caused the accident.”
Doctor Mayes pressed a button and the holo-grid displayed the image of Annisa’s head exploding. Several of the audience members gasped. There was a dull telepathic roar across the room. “The inquiry showed that Annisa May had a unique condition, which was unknown to the staff. Professor Cade was vindicated of any negligence.”
Cade mentally strengthened his shield and focused on running his body through breathing exercises. Doctor Mayes changed the display to an examination of Annsia’s brain. “While performing the autopsy, I noticed that certain areas of her frontal lobes were slightly swelled from a typical human. At first, I thought this might be due to the aneurysm, but this area was undamaged. It was a healthy zone surrounded by dead tissue. My theory was that this area might be responsible for psionoic activity in humans. I did a research query for other brains with this phenomenon and almost ninety eight percent of the sample autopsies with these enlarged lobes, that I am calling Mayes Lobes, were graduates from this academy.”
Startled, the assembled guests began to discuss the proposal amongst each other. It took several minutes for Cade to calm the crowd so that Doctor Mayes could continue. “Using a chemical formula and medical nanites, we’ve managed to enlarge these areas in humans with a zero psionic rating. We’ve been able to affect a shift of two to four levels. We believe that this increase will grow exponentially the more powerful the subject is. Further, the nanites allow the subjects to focus their potential and achieve their maximum potential in a matter of days rather than years. My proposal is simple. I wish to give the new students this treatment to advance the cause in science.”
Cade banged the gavel three times to dull the roar. “Chairpeople, do any of you have questions?”
According to the rules of the forum, the Department Chairs were allowed to ask direct questions before the opposing council addressed the forum. Professor Gavin stood, slowly and painfully. He broadcast his thoughts with great potency that somehow remained polite. “I can see how your process could increase potency, but not how it would decrease the learning curve. Please explain.”
“Very well, Professor Gavin,” Doctor Mayes replied, leaving a bit of mockery on the word Professor. “It is theorized that one way that psionics effect the material plane is via the shapes of the brainwaves broadcast. A psionic teaches their body to shape these thoughts. Bio-feedback allows students to practice and learn the hard way. The nanites allow students to learn the same process at an extremely accelerated rate.”
Professor Gavin sat back in his chair and chewed on an apple satisfied. “Any other questions?” Cade asked.
He slammed the gavel three more times. “Very well. My statement shall be short, but to the point. I have no doubt that Doctor Mayes’s treatment can perform as described. However, I believe that such a treatment will leave us with weak and inferior students.”
“What? Are you out of your mind, Professor Cade?” Doctor Mayes bellowed.
Cade glanced at the Doctor and smiled. “Not at all Doctor, but I am willing to allow you to change my mind. I challenge you to a duel.”
Doctor Mayes opened wide with fear. “Professor, you are ranked at a PSI-12. I am only a PSI-10, I can not possibly defeat you.”
“At the present, you are correct. However, according to your own words, you believe that your treatment will allow you to increase your rating at a fanatic rate. I propose the following. This day, you accept treatment of your formula. One week from now, we shall duel. If you win, I shall withdraw my objection. If I win, you will withdraw your proposal and destroy the work.”
The audience muttered their approval. Doctor Mayes’s face turned red as he bit back a retort. “Of course, Professor, but I can’t promise your safety in such a duel.”
“Excellent.” Cade winked briefly. Everything was falling into place. “Then we shall make it to the death, yes?”
Trapped, Doctor grunted his acceptance. “Professor Gavin, will you serve as legal witness?”
“Of course, my boy. Of course.”
The Institute buzzed with rumors and predictions about the coming duel. The last sanctioned duel to the death occurred twenty years ago when Professor Gavin first joined as an instructor. Cade noted that his students paid careful attention in his classes, half expecting that this would be his final week.
Cade maintained his usual weekly schedule. His ethics class continued to worry him. Stephanie seemed resistant to his instructions. “Ms. Williams, perhaps you can explain to me exactly what it is that you don’t understand.”
“You’ve been teaching us that it is wrong to force others to think as you do, but you are dueling in a few hours? What’s the difference if I make someone think better, or you kill them for disagreeing with you,” Stephanie asked, feeling bold.
“We are not dueling because we disagree, Stephanie. But I am glad that you brought up the subject,” Cade replied. He scanned the thoughts of the room feeling the buzz of their curiosity. “Why do you think that I am opposed to the treatment?”
“You don’t want to be out of a job, sir.”
The class laughed. Cade smiled. “I do have a pension from thirty years service so I imagine I would survive. Further, my field would not be affected. Even augmented psionics would require lessons in ethically using their abilities. Let me ask you another question, do I seem motivated by selfish desires?”
The class laughed again. Cade could have worked in the private sector and made a fortune instead of slaving away for a teacher’s salary. “Very well then, you have your assignment for Monday. Write an essay about why you think I oppose the proposal so much that I am willing to kill over it.”