Min looked at the pendant watch hanging from a long chain around her neck, for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last fifteen minutes. “All right,” she sighed, reaching over for my arm. “I’ll come back to put it on again, make sure you don’t leave this room until I return.”
“Hello, there,” came a call from the Chamber door.
“Anderson,” Cormac replied. “What brings you to our little party?”
“Taron can’t make it, so here I am!”
“I get to train with you?” I asked, overjoyed at this turn of events. Not only did I not have to spend an afternoon with Taron, but I’d take Imparting over Discerning any day of the week!
“Aye,” he said, rubbing his hands together eagerly. “We’ll have a good time of it, we will!”
“All right, I’m off,” Min said, releasing my arm as the gentle brushing sensation of other’s abilities came rushing back to me. “I’ll return in an hour.” And with that, she left.
I took a moment to re-accustom myself to the feeling of my new sixth sense, but at least this time there were only two other abilities in the room, and not seven like the first time.
“How do you feel?” Cormac asked.
“Good,” I said, grinning. “It feels natural now, not weird anymore.”
“Excellent.”
“OK.” I hopped up off of the window ledge I’d been sitting on. “What’s first? What do I do?”
“Well,” Cormac said, smiling at my excitement, “that is up to you. Start out however you feel comfortable. Stretch your legs a bit.”
“Wait,” Mr Anderson said, holding his hand out. “What about Jocelyn? He’ll be stopping by, won’t he? We don’t want her accidentally latching on to him…”
“Don’t worry, Min has made sure that won’t happen.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, feeling out of the loop.
“We had to take special precautions when it came to Jocelyn,” Cormac said. “We have made sure that you will not be able to meld with or use his ability, even accidently, until you are ready.”
“Why not, what’s the big deal? You all worried that I’ll start reading your minds?” I laughed.
“No, no, it’s not that,” Cormac said, growing serious. “I’m not sure you realize how far-reaching Jocelyn’s ability actually is. He is one of the most powerful Holders in recorded history, and, like all Holders, his power increases with age. The vast majority of mind-reading Holders – even the fully empowered and awakened ones – can only read the thoughts passing through the average mind, and compel thoughts. Jocelyn however is in a league all his own. Not only can he read the thoughts a person thinks as they are thinking them, but can also look back into their memories, sifting through the millions of thoughts they have had over the course of their lifetime to find the exact thought or memory he wishes to see. Not only can he compel the thoughts of others, making them do anything he wishes, but he can change, create, and even erase memories, without the person having any idea it was done. And once a thought has been erased, it cannot be returned.”
“But you said he can create memories, couldn’t he just put back anything he erased?”
“The best he could do would be to recreate the memory, but it would never be the same as the original. If a thought or memory was only altered then he can set it right again, but once something is gone, it’s gone for good. So,” he chuckled, “you can see why we might be nervous about letting you have access to him in that sense, especially while you are still so new to this. You could try to read someone’s mind, and wind up accidentally eradicating every thought they have ever had.”
“And Ryland?” I asked, knowing his ability was less than a day from being fully awakened and suddenly fearing for all of humanity.
“Don’t worry,” he replied, guessing my fears. “The odds are that Ryland will be vastly less powerful than Jocelyn. At best he might be able to compel, but I doubt he will be able to cause any real damage. We won’t know for sure until tomorrow, but I wouldn’t worry too much.”
“What about me? Can I just skip that one altogether? Sounds like that safer option…”
“You will learn it in time, but that won’t come until much later, when you are ready. For now, we will keep to the abilities with a much smaller margin for error, like Imparting.” He gestured to Mr Anderson. “Now, relax, take a deep breath, and explore.”