Moth to a Lamp

from the mental diary of Christopher Lancier
a Psi-Kicks story

© 1996 G.F. Willmetts (UK)

My world is one of sensations. No, I'm not handicapped. At least not in the normal sense of the word. I have all the regular five senses, plus many others. I'm a Psionic.

These augmentations are some of the things which makes me different to humans. I use that word advisedly. There is a world of difference between me and a 'Normal'. I just have to touch something to get an impression from it.

There is as much difference between me and my senses as there are between a Normal and a slug. Humans and slugs have a limited view of the world. I don't. Unless I shield, I'm forever picking up sensations from everything around me. If I touch something, such sensations escalate.

It's a kick picking up all this extra information, but much of the time, I prefer isolation. I absorb too much to make complete sense of it all. I become too much with the world without shielding.

I'm, for the want of a better word, a Psionic. The Stable call me a Full-Range Psionic. I'm one of those folk who the press media would try to break my door down to interview one week and spend the next denouncing me as a fake with their so-called experts. To be expert in what I do, you have to be a Psionic.

Would I want such attention? Not if I can help it. Picking up sensation signatures from everything around me all the time might seem terribly exciting, but it often feels like I've been out in a nova without sunblock.

Sensory overload is a frequent problem we Psionics suffer from. When I'm not on assignment, I prefer a safe familiar environment with few people around and objects I've already scanned and absorbed. Not too many hidden surprises please. I would have the urge, like a moth to a lamp, to scan them.

Forgive me, I'm jumping ahead. The name's Lancier. Chris Lancier. I was called 'Kit' as a kid, but prefer 'Chris' now. I'm contracted to the Stable Consultancy - a closeted Government department who makes a habit of employing Psionics to do jobs they wish they're regular employees had.

 

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