132 Results in the "Collective Thinking" category
Definition: Collective Thinking
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Chapter
Paranormal Investigation
“Where is Hematite going to die? How is Hematite going to die? When is Hematite going to die?” Each question brought with it a scratching noise as the rough felt under the planchette slid across the larger board. Some questions Dyna asked got definite answers. Where was Hematite going to die? Central Park. Presumably a park in or near Idaho Falls and not the famed park in New York. The latter was a bit too far away to fit within the time scale of when Hematite was going to die. Two…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
The First Words
Two weeks following Mel’s successful use of the fog machine, Dyna found herself seated on the floor of her insulated apartment room. The Ouija board sat in front of her, the wolf statue loomed over the ‘No’ corner, and the voodoo doll was slumped over near the ‘Yes’ corner with its crochet hands touching the planchette. The planchette wasn’t moving. Dyna didn’t really expect it to. In fact, despite that being something she was trying to change, it felt like it would be a bit spooky…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Measure of Success
“So,” Dyna said, handing over a pen that hadn’t existed an hour ago. “What do you think?” “You get me out of isolation just to show me this?” Ruby asked, looking distinctly unimpressed. “It isn’t even a nice pen.” “I am sorry about that, Ruby,” Walter said, arms crossed over his vest. “Things have been… hectic.” “Oh, I understand. You get a fancy new artificer and forget about me,” Ruby huffed, glaring through the shielded glass. Mel sat on the other side,…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
A Gift for Cross
Doctor Phillip Cross stepped away from the terminal screen with a sad shake of his head. They were getting nowhere. The small fog-emitting machine demonstrated exactly one anomalous effect and it was nowhere near the level of proper artifacts. The only unusual property of the fog machine was that it didn’t need to be refilled or charged. It could run perpetually and indefinitely—or at least for seven days, the longest they had tried thus far—and would emit the same level of white clouds of fog, never…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Paranoia
Dyna took therapy. Doctor Bellows, a psychiatrist who formerly worked for NASA. A nice man, if a bit formal. Dyna had one session a week, barring certain events, mandated by the Carroll Institute. She was supposed to deal with self-esteem issues and paranoia. Watching an old woman standing on the sidewalk across the street from her apartment, taking photographs of everything around, had her paranoia acting up. She looked like an old woman. She had a walker with tennis balls on the ends. Her camera…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Plain Jane
Artifacts produced a wide variety of effects, but not too many of those effects were fully confirmed. Some were obvious. The Red Feather, said to be a feather from the mythological phoenix, caused spontaneous combustion to flammable objects in its immediate vicinity. Others were more subtle. The Writer’s Journal was a leatherbound notebook that, on its first page, had a small animated window looking into a small island that had yet to be located out in the real world. Aside from the animated window, no…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Administrator Theta
Following her arrival back on campus, Dyna realized that she had no idea where to go. A quick call to Beatrice resolved that problem. She had figured that she would be directed down into the deepest darkest depths of Psychodynamics, deeper even than the Vault, perhaps. However, instead of taking the elevator in the administration building down underground and into Psychodynamics, the elevator went up. The administration building had the appearance of a modern skyscraper—though stunted with only six…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Ticket Escalation
Dyna wiped a bit of sweat from her brow as she stepped back into the small hallway. The apartment was coming along nicely. Dyna had gone out and found a cheap place to rent. It had a single bedroom, a single bathroom, and a tiny kitchen, dining room, and living room that were all basically the same room. It had come with a fridge and stove, but no other furniture. Just a bunch of empty faux-hardwood floor. That suited Dyna just fine. She didn’t intend to live here. Maybe she could get a cheap couch…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Welcome to Psychodynamics
“So,” Dyna said, motioning with a hand. “Welcome to Psychodynamics.” Mel managed to take her eyes off the steel insulated cases that held both the actual physical coffee mug that hadn’t existed a few hours ago and the fog machine that Dyna was hoping to see returned to her at some point. It was really only the second time she had looked away from it. The first having been when the black vans showed up with the containment team. Psychodynamics’ main lobby was as grandiose as ever. Brightly…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
A Quick Trip to the Store
Shopping with Mel was something that Dyna wouldn’t soon forget. Dyna didn’t do shopping in person all that often. When she went to a store, it was usually to pick up something specific that she really couldn’t wait on delivery for. Everything else, she ordered online. Clothes, snacks, supplies, toiletries, and everything else she needed got loaded up on a truck and shipped out to the Carroll Institute. Prior to her enrollment at the institute, the only places she really went shopping were…-
402.5 K • Completed
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