Psionics

Overview

Psionics are a type of metaphysical ability enabled by the implantation of special devices known as Psi-Amps which allow seemingly unnatural warping of reality. Reading minds, levitating objects, throwing lightning, and even creating realistic illusions are all possible to the trained Psionic!

This all occurs through use of a special massless subatomic particle, called a Psion, capable of being transformed to an incredible degree for numerous tasks. It is theorized these particles have existed since the beginning of time and are responsible for creation of the galaxy. They are generally omnipresent but certain areas may be more densely or sparsely populated.

Flux and Psions

One of the main components in Psi-Amps and vital to psionic abilities. Flux is a densely packed neural cell, bioluminescent in appearance, which, when electrified in the correct ways, will emit a field capable of interacting with psionic particles and coaxing them into various states. Flux is naturally occurring in any organism with a functioning central nervous system but often goes entirely unnoticed without proper testing for Psionic ability, and even those who are aware may only have limited use of these abilities. True Psionic potential can only be achieved through implants.

Psions on the other hand are elementary to the universe. As Stem Cells are to the human body Psions are to physics, and when given proper instruction are capable of transforming into any number of materials, albeit briefly. This instruction comes in the form of waves only Flux seems to emit, and even then only focus seems to maintain the effect. When not fixated upon keeping Psionic effects in place they quickly disperse and revert back to Psions.

A feature of both Flux and Psions is their incompatibility with most modern electronics and cybernetics. The field produced by Flux has a tendency to short wiring and cause glitches, often making complex cybernetics a problem for those with Flux present in their system.

Abilities

Psionic abilities are performed by a focused use of mental processing to ‘imagine’ the task being performed or an object being created. This often takes a level of practice or understanding of physics to perform correctly, abilities rarely occurring by accident. They are also normally quite obvious in their use, any time Flux electrifies it will glow visibly and the space around the area being changed with a psionic ability will shimmer. The exact look and color of these effects may vary by user but is quite easily identifiable in all cases of it occurring, excepting those abilities whose intent is to remain unseen such as those disguising an area or confusing the senses.

As an example of how this occurs the Telekinesis ability proves quite useful. First a user will choose the object they wish to move, then they imagine a method that would life the object such as a hand or scoop picking it up or gravity changing in the area to lift the object, then so long as the object is light enough to be lifted by their psionic power the effect will occur. In the case of a hand or scoop being imagined often the shimmer or glow of the area might resemble that object.

Psi Amps

Psi-Amp implants are required to be integrated with a person’s Central Nervous System, normally the spine or brain. This is due to the sheer processing and electrical power required to manipulate Flux in the proper ways to perform Psionic abilities. Implantation of too many Psi-Amps will result in an overstimulation of a user’s mind and subsequently damage them. Implants also often come with minor amounts of knowledge inside them that aid in the performing of abilities, such as knowledge regarding the chemical makeup of cells for abilities where the user modifies their own biology.

Psi-Amps are biological in nature and mostly made of Flux with trace parts of other components. Like the lobes of a brain Psi-Amps will be dedicated to specific functions, neural stimulation creating the effects of Psionic abilities.

Group Psionics

Since its discovery the idea of group-led psionic use has been a consistent point of research among interested organizations. However in practice this approach has often met failure as individual minds have difficulty meshing together enough to perform coordinated tasks. Research on this point remains ongoing however.