[video] she can also explode heads but nobody freaks out about that one

[zerg_rush]

[Given how badly people reacted to (in Kerrigan's opinion) nothing at all, she figures she needs to go public before someone finds out she's a psychic and loses it over the possibility she overheard them thinking about her ass or their bank password or where they hid their ex's body.

Sigh.

What would Dan do? Something friendly and open, probably, so she writes that possibility off and decides to wing it. Kerrigan pulls out that stupid mirror that won't just stay broken, and with a minimum of fiddling, gets it to a decent size, hovering in front of her.

A twenty-something redheaded woman is sitting on one of the rocks outside the canyon, wearing sci-fi armor and a neutral expression.]

I'm Sarah Kerrigan. I've met some of you already, but in the interests of...group harmony [she says that like she doesn't believe those words just came out of her mouth] you should all know that I'm a telepath. I can read minds.

Hearing is a good analogy for it. Anytime I'm near people, it's like being in a public place where a lot of conversations are going on. It's easier to "overhear" someone closer to me, or someone whose thoughts are more focused or emotional. I can't turn it off.

I can go deeper than surface thoughts, but I don't do that without a good reason. You're just going to have to take my word for it on that one.

If you decide you're going to avoid me, fine. I'm used to it. I wanted to tell people so no one can accuse me of keeping secrets later.

[Kerrigan doesn't sound defensive or hostile, or even resigned. Just matter-of-fact. Nobody likes telepaths! She knows! Buuuuut it looks like they're all stuck with each other, so people are going to have to deal.

OOC: Lookie here, it's a telepathy permissions post!]

Comments

[greyerrant]

Sounds like heresy.

[ did the big man make a joke ? </Small ]

[millenyal_pink]

[Wow, that was brave as hell to come out and say it like that.

Elle honestly thinks it's really cool (and is a little jealous), but she doesn't want to make anyone who isn't cool with it feel alienated, so she takes the pragmatic approach.]

Thank you for sharing and explaining, it means a lot.

[She's 100% genuine about that, too.]

[zerg_rush]

[lineface]

You're lucky you're cute.

[unsealthecatbox]

...

[Ange has to take a moment to gather her thoughts after hearing that, wondering if the stuff she does is surface thoughts or if it's deeper than that. Well, probably it's deeper than that and therefore it's no big deal, but the thought someone could peek into her thoughts and hear her private conversations with an imaginary friend -- in everyone's eyes except Ange's, at least, to her she exists even though she's aware her friend isn't "real" -- is a tad freaky]

I suppose if you intended to delve into people's heads you wouldn't be saying all this right now. It's fine.

[zerg_rush]

[Since she doesn't know Elle personally, Kerrigan can't pick her up telepathically without concentrating and sorting through the minds in the camp, which would be contrary to the spirit of this whole exercise, so she has no idea how sincere Elle is being.]

Uh.

[...]

You're welcome.

[hasapoint]

[Same hat, but she hasn't spelled it out like that, leaving it as 'mind to mind contact'. Need's Mindspeech comes through the mirror without the usual flow of additional context, but it's definitely still a form of telepathy, seeming to come from somewhere between the ears.]

That must be difficult for you, if you can't shut it down. I mean it. A verbal filter is a beautiful thing.

[cw: dead animal]

[hallelujahjunction]

[Dan's recovering from all the emotionally-charged drama of the last few days, which means he's keeping himself either drunk or busy - in this case, busy, as he's working to butcher the wild boar he and Ace just brought in to the camp, and appears on the mirror shirtless and bloody, partway through quartering it.]

Sorry, hacking up a hog.

Given that you might could have gone a long time, possibly forever, without a none of us catching wise, I reckon it speaks volumes to your integrity to come forward like this. I know I appreciate the transparency.

I don't see no reason to avoid you, but I trust we can rely on you not to relay thoughts we don't speak aloud to others.

[Dan absolutely hid his empathic ability from everyone but Bunny and Price on the Rig. He no longer can use that ability, and since he rarely used to the power he figures no harm, no foul.]

[millenyal_pink]

[Elle smiles warmly and makes a note to herself to talk to Kerrigan in-person at some point soon. It's always good to know that someone isn't afraid of you, especially since it sounds like that's Kerrigan's default experience.]

[zerg_rush]

[Well, it could be some reverse psychology nonsense, but Kerrigan doesn't get that devious until the zerg get their claws on her.]

It sounds mean, but really: most people's heads aren't that interesting.

[zerg_rush]

I've always had the talent [at least, as far back as she has memories] so I don't have anything to compare it to.

[hasapoint]

Ahhh. On my plane it usually comes on at around puberty, sometimes later. Because that's exactly the kind of complication someone needs at that age.

[zerg_rush]

[Neither death nor blood bother her.]

I'll rat you out if you have real plans to murder someone or something like that, but I'm not a shit-stirrer.

[She lacks the social skills for that.]

[zerg_rush]

It usually pops up later where I'm from, too. I'm just an outlier.

[unsealthecatbox]

I'd hope so.

[She also adds:]

From the way you describe all this it seems to me it's more like a curse than a perk.

[A lot of powers surely are overrated, she thinks]

[zerg_rush]

I couldn't tell you. I've had it as long as I can remember.

[She's not the philosophical type, so it doesn't occur to her to ask if hearing's a curse or anything like that.]

[hallelujahjunction]

Darn, and here I was thinking I could find a conspirator for the blood massacre I got planned.

[hasapoint]

So you're used to it, at least. That's something. In my experience when these things awaken they're a bit on the traumatic side.

[Anyway.]

You helped out my boy during the attack, didn't you?

[unsealthecatbox]

[Hah, another reason not to delve into Ange's thoughts: she has a knack for elaborate philosophical musings, it's quite something, Kerrigan]

Does it ever get tiring to have all these voices echoing in your head talking about stuff you don't even care about?

[zerg_rush]

You look like you already got started on that.

[zerg_rush]

"Your boy?"

[Raistlin's going to die.]

[zerg_rush]

It's more like...not being able to leave a room full of people. Just a constant mixture of voices, none of them clear unless they're closer or you focus. You learn not to notice it, but if something reminds you, suddenly you hear the noise again. Nobody's that close to me right now, so it's more of just a background hum.

[hasapoint]

[He will absolutely die.]

Will you reach me from a distance, just for a moment? I think I can reach you, but my Gifts have been clipped down.

[zerg_rush]

Yeah, I think I've got a good enough sense of you.

[TELEPATHY]

[It's not verbal yet, just a questioning feeling. You out there?]

[action]

[zerg_rush]

[Kerrigan's better at socializing than the Master Chief, but not by a whole lot, so in the aftermath of her big announcement, she's assigned herself sentry duty and is walking the treeline, where people aren't.]

[hallelujahjunction]

First, I came for the pigs.