Fragment of Destiny

Samuel stood alone among the mass of students that filled the auditorium. Even as hundreds of students flocked to the auditorium floor, none were registering with the school of spirit. His isolation made him an immediate spectacle among those waiting in the other lines. Unlike his peers Samuel let his pendant hang loose over his uniform. Just another oddity to add to a Halsinion in an Imperium school. Though he longed to make contact with his crystal like everyone else he dared not. He had already made that mistake on the day of mourning. The moment he had touched it that day all the grief and anguish from everyone at the catacombs had assailed him.

Today he didn’t need his crystal to know how the others felt. The disgust in their eyes and on their faces was overt, and they felt no need to manage their disdain for what he was. So, it would begin all over again. Not two minutes since parting ways with Demetrius and already he was just the Hali. Even the staff despised him though they concealed it better, choosing instead to hide behind tight-lipped smiles.

A woman in a staff uniform noticed him at last and hurried over to the empty registration desk. A momentary look of surprise creased her aging face as she looked at the desk's terminal.

“Samuel Spector?” She asked.

Samuel nodded. Who else would have a Halsinion family name? Then there was that smile again. The attendant tapped something on the screen. A moment later a slip of paper printed with new instructions.

“Hand this to the enforcer at the school of spirit and he will direct you to your first session,” She said, quickly sliding the sheet across the table. As if touching the paper at the same time as Samuel would cause her to burst into flames.

With his new orders, Samuel joined the funneling mass of students making for the exit. The others gave him a wide berth as though they too would spontaneously combust if they came too close. But that was fine, it was nothing new.

Outside clean slabs of concrete cut through a sea of gravel as they split off towards the thee adjacent schools. Each of the other buildings was substantially smaller than the main hall, yet Samuel couldn't help wondering why the other three were of equal proportion. By contrast, the school of spirit was such a large building for a single student.

At the entrance, he was met by a lone enforcer who had been glaring at him from the moment he started his approach.

“Slip?” Was all the sullen enforcer said when Samuel arrived.

Samuel wordlessly gave up his info sheet as the enforcer turned it over and scribbled something on the reverse side before handing it back. It was marked Instructor Tensin room fifty-seven. Samuel walked past the man who now stood like a malevolent statue. There was no hollow congratulations or fake smile from this one, only a whisper “Hali,” as Samuel passed. Samuel closed his eyes and constructed an imaginary barrier around himself. Whatever others said and whatever others thought about him, he would be safe behind his wall. In his mind, the hate evaporated like water trying to touch the sun. This man was nothing to him and his words were meaningless.

Walking the empty halls each footfall crashed with the weight of conviction. He would not let their hate define him. He would master his ability and prove himself worthy of everyone’s respect.

Following a long curved hall, Samuel eventually found his room. He tried the door only to find that it was locked. What the hell was that staffer playing at? Giving him a fake room number. Samuel’s fists shook with rage, as he forced himself deeper beneath his barrier. A moment later the enforcer appeared at the end of the hall.

“Instructor Tensin has been summoned. You are to wait here until he arrives,” He said. Then he disappeared back around the curve of the hall before Samuel could respond.

Samuel slumped against the cold door and closed his eyes. He held his pendant in his palm letting his fingers touch the exposed crystal. With no one else around he felt safe to touch it. At once the familiar warmth flooded through him and he marveled at how he had survived so many years without it.

After far too long he could feel something approaching. It was like a light breeze, a presence that he could feel but could not identify. Letting go of his crystal the pulsing approach stopped but now he could hear footsteps as they echoed down the hall. Samuel opened his eyes to a withered old man, cane in hand, moving with determined steps. What was left of his white hair hung in little tufts over his ears and his wrinkled skin sagged with the weight of a spent life.

“Instructor Tensin?” Samuel asked as the old man ushered him inside.

The old man looked thoughtful for a moment, “Yes… though I have not been officially an instructor for many years now. I had been enjoying my retirement until you came along,” He said and waved his cane in Samuel’s direction. “Have a seat boy, have a seat.”

Samuel complied though he couldn’t help wonder what good a retiree would be. Especially one who looked none too happy about being summoned to teach again.

The old man leaned in as if he couldn’t see Samuel though he sat in the first row. “Ah, a Halsinion I see. Well, I guess I should have expected as much. It is quite rare for an Imperium born to have an empathic ability. I am one of the few you see, and as such, I am the only one who can train you. Tell me boy just how much of your ability have you discovered?”

Samuel tried to put the awkward feelings into words. The way he had felt a cloud of overwhelming emotions on the day of mourning. Everything all jumbled together until it had nearly choked him.

“Alright, not bad. But you certainly have a long way to go,” Tensin said waging his cane at Samuel’s terminal. “Turn that thing on, and we will begin. First, I will have you take some notes. There are a few key things you must master. The most important of which is the empathic barrier.

“By creating a barrier, you can avoid inadvertently absorbing the emotions of others. Which as you have experienced, can lead to emotional instability. Over time this emotional instability would lead to irreversible mental instability. If you intend on having your crystal grafted, mastering the barrier is a must. If you are able to do that, then I can teach you more complicated techniques like constructing openings to absorb a specific emotion. And lastly, if you can get a handle on that I can teach you how to use your empathic resonance like a tracer. To isolate a set of emotions from an individual even when in a crowd.

“Now take hold of your pendant, and we shall begin. First, I want you to identify what emotions I am emitting. Close your eyes and concentrate on what you are feeling. You should be able to sense a cloud of emotion emanating from me. Examine it and find the line between it and yourself.”

Samuel closed his eyes and focused. He could sense the old man. His teacher was curious, but also bored, and weary. He could feel it all pressing down on him even as he felt himself being tossed between boredom and fatigue, then back again. Then he felt despair. Yet somehow, he knew it seemed different from the fatigue and boredom that still circled around him. Then without fully comprehending what he was doing, he felt more than saw a separation between the three emotions. The despair was his own and more powerful than the other emotions. Yet the distinction was subtle like the separation that divided the ground from the sky.

“I see you have found the separation point. Now focus on that. Then work backward from there and calm yourself. You must douse your despair with calm and bring yourself to a state of rest. This is your barrier. The better you become at it the stronger your barrier will be.”

Slowly he felt the despair fade as a sense of calm shone like sun rays driving back an evil fog. Samuel smiled, it was working. Like a ruptured dam, intense waves of the old man’s emotions broke over him as his barrier vanished. He let go of his pendant and opened his eyes in a fit of panic.

“What happened? It was working then all of a sudden it just broke,” Samuel said.

“You did well, however, to keep your barrier up you must keep your own emotions in check. If you do not the barrier will vanish. Your joy at the temporary success was the catalyst. Now, do it again.”

Gripping his pendant Samuel found the separation point and began to construct his barrier. The difference between holding his barrier and giving in to an emotion was like attempting to hold opposing magnets in place. A moment later the barrier vanished in a wave of frustration.

“Again!” Tensin shouted.

Over and over they practiced each time Samuel lasted a second or two longer before his barrier imploded.

“Let’s take a break. I am sure you must be hungry. I know I am,” Tensin said giving Samuel a semi-genuine smile.

“Don’t feel bad, Samuel my boy, you are doing exceptionally well. There are no others here to which you could compare yourself, but let me tell you this. When I was learning to control my ability. It took me three full days of hard training just to identify the separation point, let alone forming a barrier. So, do not feel as though you have accomplished nothing. Come now let’s find something to eat.”

Samuel followed as the old instructor led the way. They moved together at Tensin’s slow pace as he favored the cane heavily with each stride. Though the cafeteria was quite close, it turned into a rather lengthy walk.

“What’s eating at you boy?” Tensin asked as they entered the long rectangular cafeteria.

“I was just wondering where everyone else is that’s all,” Samuel said.

“You are a rare case. Most students who come to this school do not do so right away. You may be surprised to know that this facility is normally empty for the first two weeks of every year.”

“That long?”

“Yes. Unlike yourself, the majority of your peers will need to undergo a large battery of tests for each of the other three pillars before they end up here. The other pillars are much easier to identify, and they are far more common. None the less there should still be something edible to be found,” Tensin said with a toothy smile. “Go ahead and have a seat I will get us something.”

Tensin disappeared around a serving line and into the kitchen with far more speed than Samuel thought possible after their excruciatingly slow walk. In a few moments, Tensin returned with an arm full of meal bars. Samuel grimaced. Not more of those things. They had been the only food in his survival pack during the trial.

“Well eat up,” Tensin said with entirely too much excitement as he dumped the pile on the table.

Reluctantly Samuel grabbed one and ripped open the seal. It wasn’t that he hated them. It was just they were mushy and had almost no flavor. They were food supplements, not an actual meal. Samuel bit into his bar, chewy goop oozed its way in-between his teeth and he forced himself to swallow the first bite. Maybe once he graduated from the academy, he would try and get an assignment in the foods department. Then he could make these meal bars taste like something other than runny chalk.

Still on the fence about taking a second bite, Samuel watched in horror as the old man ravenously devoured one bar after another. To which Samuel’s stomach started doing flips just watching the spectacle.

“How can you eat so many of these?” Samuel asked.

Tensin stopped as he was about to shove another bar down his throat. “What do you mean?”

“These things are so disgusting, I can barely stomach eating one, and you are already starting your fifth.”

Tensin looked down at the pile of empty wrappers on the table. “So I am,” He said before taking another bite. The sound of gooey muck smacking between Tensin's teeth was enough to make Samuel forgo eating any more of his.

“Honestly these things don’t bother me one bit. They are gooey and easy for an old man to eat, as for the taste, I don’t really notice it anymore. After spending enough years eating military rations, you kind of just block that sort of thing out.”

“I thought you used to be an instructor, not an enforcer?”

“I’m an old man Samuel. I used to be many things. Do you know your history?”

Samuel nodded, but what did that have to do with anything?

“Back during the Imperium-Halsinion war. Every citizen became a part of the military for a time; regardless of their ability. Your nation has us to thank in part for their current technological prowess, did you know that?” A wrinkle in Samuel's brow prompted Tensin to continue.

“Before the war, the Halsinion nation was considered primitive technologically speaking. Your people, having such a greater innate ability with crystals, the need for technology never arose. Because of this, our leaders at the time believed the Halsinion armies would be pushed aside with ease. I don’t know what made them go and start a war. I don’t suppose you believe that blabber-ghast about fighting over the rights to the ergo mines in the north. You’re too smart for that I think. Our two nations had lived in peace for generations. But times change and so do ideologies I suppose.”

“So the war caused them to create new technologies in order to win?” Samuel asked.

“It’s true your people adapted quickly but the real boon was when the peace agreement was signed. They were granted access to information on all Imperium technologies… What is it, boy? Just ask.”

“If you don’t mind, I am curious-”

“I know you’re curious. Just spit it out.”

They both chuckled. “You said that everyone had to be part of the military for a while. What assignment did you end up with?”

Tensin’s eyes went cold for a moment. “I was assigned as an inquisitor. With my superior ability to read people I was a perfect fit.”

“I have never heard of that assignment before.”

“I would assume not. Most people do not know about them, and if you do happen to find yourself dealing with one, then you are already in over your head.”

“So what kind of stuff did you have to do as an inquisitor?”

“My primary responsibility was to identify spies and traitors. I dealt with traitors mostly, Halsinions physiology makes it hard for them to be spies.”

“Do you think someone with my ability should try for that assignment?

“It is a good fit for an empath. For someone else perhaps. But for you,” Tensin shook his head. “Times have changed. Though I doubt they have changed enough that anyone would allow a Halsinion to play such a vital role. Old men do not come by change easily,” Tensin put the meal bar he was holding on the table and stretched. “Finished? Good. I believe it is time we continued your training.”