Tag: collective thinking

Chapter

Of Doubts and Traitors

by Tower Curator — Dyna moved through the halls of Psychodynamics. The wood and brass walls and the marble tiles had a warm feeling to them. Not the cold, clinical decor of a research laboratory. She had to wonder if it was supposed to be comforting to the people walking through. Psychodynamics, and the Carroll Institute as a whole, delved heavily into the mind. Not just in terms of psychic abilities, but in mental health and psychology as well. They would know better than anyone how to decorate their buildings to achieve a…
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Chapter

Not a Crazed Gunman

by Tower Curator — Three things happened in rapid succession following Dyna firing her pistol. The first was the most obvious effect. Having aimed outside the Thai restaurant, the glass window shattered. Dyna had aimed up at the diner’s signboard. She figured that was the safest place to put a bullet. Too high and it would fly off into the night, potentially hitting someone unintentional far off in the distance. Too low and she could hit a customer over at the restaurant. Even lower than that, and the bullet could…
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Chapter

Noosphere Adjacent

by Tower Curator — “Noosphere adjacent?” Dyna asked, looking around. If she blocked out the impossibly large cavern they were standing in, the place—Tartarus, apparently—looked remarkably similar to the containment areas of both Phrenomorphics and Tartarus—the real-world section. There were large containment units stationed around, though far less organized than either of the real-world locations. Everything was lit in that odd, uniform, near-twilight look to it. That might have been enough to make her realize…
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Chapter

Night Rider

by Tower Curator — Dyna felt calm. An unnatural calm, but at the moment, that feeling was rather refreshing. Her worries, her stress, even some of the pain she was in felt muted. It didn’t go away. It was all still there in the back of her mind. She wished the feeling would persist, but she had a feeling the calm state would recede the moment she touched the objects presented to her. The objects in the truck were definitely artifacts. No blind experiment this time, though it probably was still an experiment. At the…
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Chapter

Mountain Man

by Tower Curator — Dyna had been seeing a therapist, Doctor Bellows, for the past several months. Once a week with a few exceptions ever since the mirror became a proper artifact. The sessions were fairly relaxed, though they did have a goal. Two, actually. For one, she was supposed to work on her self-esteem issues, which Dyna thought she had mostly under control. Coming to the Carroll Institute with no demonstrable psychic ability had sent her mental state into a spiral of self-defeating despair. That, she thought, she…
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Chapter

Monologue Room

by Tower Curator — Avoiding the gondola, Dyna stuck to the road. It was… eerie. The entire trip had progressed in silence. Beatrice highlighted which turns to take but had stopped talking, wanting to allow Dyna full concentration. She wished she had Walter’s car here. Beatrice could have handled the road while Dyna kept her eyes to her mirror and watch. The most eerie aspect of this trip was the utter lack of opposition. She had been driving for a little over one half hour. According to Beatrice, she was coming up on…
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Chapter

Mission Failure

by Tower Curator — Emerald placed her back against a concrete pillar, wincing as bullets pelted the other side. This was not how this operation was supposed to have gone. Arriving in Seoul, Korea had been nice enough. Lovely city. The accommodations had been nothing to complain about. Then began the search for the artifact. Emerald had been hoping that they would be able to find the artifact in good time. Perhaps in the hands of a collector they could pay off or maybe a museum with a single night-shift security guard that…
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Chapter

Meditation

by Tower Curator — Meditation was far from Dyna’s favorite activity at Carroll. It wasn’t electroshock testing, so it wasn’t the worst, but it was a close second. Other students seemed to like it. There were more meditation chambers at Carroll than there were students and most of them saw daily use. Many were simple rooms with unobtrusive walls and floors with a mat or pillow to sit on. Others varied. Some looked like a psychologist’s sitting room. One was located beneath a large aquarium, where someone could sit…
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Chapter

Medical Matters

by Tower Curator — Dyna awoke to dim lights, a low hum droning on in the background, and a steady beeping that sounded like every electrocardiograph she had ever had. Which, she supposed, explained the dozen wires stuck to her chest, arms, and legs. It wasn’t the first time she had been hooked up to such a machine. Rather, she had lost count of how many medical tests she had been through. Carroll mandated regular health checkups of both the body and mind. She had always been told that, should she awaken in such a…
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Chapter

Measure of Success

by Tower Curator — “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,…
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