Other Fan Fiction ❯ All Is Calm ❯ Four ( Chapter 4 )

Farcie's Word: Sorry again for the delay! I don't own Psychonauts, so there.

 

-Four-

“Sasha…Sasha, wake up. I have to talk to you…” A soft, female voice pleaded in the distance. Sasha opened his eyes slowly, looking around his cube drowsily. While sleeping, Sasha did not usually dream. It was unlike him to sleep at all, with all of his experiments taking up most of his time, but with his father and all the stress he brought, Nein could not help but pass out afterwards. The Psychonaut figured that the voice was his partner's, most likely checking up on him, though that was unnecessary in Sasha's opinion.

“Milla? Is that you?...Agent Vodello?” There was no response. Sasha scratched his head and was about to head over to another face of the cube when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Curious as to how someone could enter his mind without him noticing, Sasha spun around frantically to see a mysterious young woman. She appeared to be in her thirties, had wavy, black hair reaching down to her shoulders, and she was tall and thin. Her hazel eyes contrasted with her light skin, which was a sickly, transparent white. Sasha could not help but recognize her face from when he was a baby. Immediately, he assumed he had gone insane. I'm hallucinating, he thought to himself, I should never have eaten that burger at the lodge, or taken those sleeping pills, or drank those two coffees after taking the sleeping pills… I should look into that later…The woman shook her head and smiled.

“Sasha, you are not mad. I am here to warn you.” She paused, her eyes searching her son. “My, you have grown up so fast… I'm sorry I was never there for you, but I am here right now. You, along with hundreds…thousands of Psychonauts are in trouble, and you need to find out how and why.”

“But who will believe me? My partner, Agent Vod-“

“I know about Milla, dear. I know more about you and your life than you think. I used my mental connection to keep part of my psyche in your mind before I died. You will not be alone on this mission, I promise you. Milla will help, but you will have many more on your side, including an old friend.”

Sasha thought for a minute. “Wait, an old friend? You mean-”He stopped talking as his mother's image nodded. His eyes widened under his sunglasses. “That's…impossible! How can-”Placing her hand on Sasha's shoulder, the woman smile changed from obliviously joyful to feeble and sympathetic.

“I know, I know. It's a shock to you, and it will hurt for a while, but don't worry. I know you will make amends. I'm sorry, but I must go now.” Sasha could not say what was on his mind. He tried to rationalize his mother's presence, but it was impossible. The German began to think that his dream was the consequence of his father's return the night before, and maybe she had emerged to deny his accusations. He had not gone completely crazy, as multiple censors rushed to the scene in an attempt to restore order. They failed, however, as Sasha's mother was able to destroy all of them within seconds. He remembered what his father told him, that she was an internationally-renowned Psychonaut, but it was strange to him that her powers were beyond what he had initially imagined. It was a bit difficult for the agent to restrain his disappointment; he had seen his mother for the first time in twenty-nine and a half years, and she was only there to deliver a convoluted message, and nothing more. Mrs. Nein sensed her son's sadness, even though he masked it well.

“Sasha, you and I both know that I am not needed here. You learned independence in my absence, and leaving your father was the only way to improve your psychic abilities.”

“You saw that? Eh, that was entirely accidental, I assure you. Anyways, the old man stopped by the other night and claimed that Truman Zanotto was to blame for your death. He said that you refused to give me up to the Psychonauts, and out of desperation from wanting to train me, he killed you and your friend?”

“Sometimes, Sasha, family is the greatest distraction, because there is no person closer to us than those who are linked by blood. He may have appeared like himself, but with all of these accounts of brainwashing, I would not be too certain that it was truly him who came by. I cannot tell you what happened, because my memory was lost when I died. You can discover the truth for yourself, but remember that you have your own life to live, so do not look back to the past. This is all I came to say, so good luck and goodbye, Sasha.” The memory vanished, and Agent Nein was alone. He blinked, his brain unable to register what had just happened, and he turned in the opposite direction and walked away.

“Sasha? Agent Nein, are you okay?” Raz did not know what to do. He had been poking his mentor in the shoulder for the past five minutes, and it was getting really, really tiring. “Ow, my arm hurts.” The boy decided to take a short break and stretch his legs. After joining Lili and her father for dinner the other day, Razputin reported to Whispering Rock, because he had remembered that Sasha asked to see him following the mission. He wished someone else was around to help wake the man up. While he passed time before the meeting by setting a few squirrels on fire, Sasha was testing the Brain Tumbler in his lab. It had not been long before Raz entered the GPC and found him passed out on a nearby couch, mumbling incoherently in his sleep. He thought nothing of it at first, but after a while, worry set in. Sasha doesn't sleep often, so something must be wrong, he thought, I might as well wake him up. It's past noon and he's still asleep! “Alright, Sasha, I'm going to have to bring out the big guns if you don't wake up. I mean it, so don't you think I'm joking.” Nein gave no reply, so Raz was left with no choice. The boy smirked as he ran over to a freezer, where he found a few ice cube trays which had conveniently been filled. He took out one tray, popped the cubes into a cup, tiptoed over to Sasha, and poured the ice down his back. This brought the poor German from his waking sleep instantaneously.

“Ach! What the hell?” As he saw his student chuckling next to him, Sasha sighed and stood up. He shook the ice cubes out, grimacing as they melted in his shirt. “I was out that long, Raz? Do you need something to entertain yourself?” Raz shook his head.

“Nope,” he replied, “this is entertaining enough for me, thanks.” Brushing his hair out of his face, Sasha bent over and picked up the ice. He never understood kids, and he never would. As he walked over to the sink, he started to wonder how long he was in his cube. Reading his mind, Raz answered his mental question.

“You were out cold for a while. I didn't want to do it, but you would have slept all day, by the way you were talking to yourself.”

“Hm, I was sleep-talking?”

“Yea, but it wasn't loud or anything. All I heard was, `stupid pills, I'm insane', but otherwise…” Raz laughed, and Sasha slapped his face lightly in spite of himself. As he placed the ice cube tray back into the freezer, walked back to Razputin, and sat down, Sasha felt as if he had never woken up. The events in his mind were all too strange to be real, he thought, and though he could believe that the Psychonauts were in danger, he was not sure that his mother was the one to tell him of this. The whole thing was a dream, and nothing more. It could have been Ford, Milla, or anyone else but her. How could I be completely oblivious to her presence? That is not right. There has to be something wrong with me. I cannot find any other reason for this occurrence. Well, I suppose if she has been in there for a long time, I would not recognize a change as she revealed herself. Even so, one would think she would have better things to do with her memory, like placating the old man. He paused, remembering that Razputin was there for a meeting, rather than a social gathering.

“I apologize. I invited you here for a reason. Have a seat and I will show you something that should prove rather interesting.”

“Don't worry about it. I'm in no rush.” Sasha strode to his computer, which was littered with papers and coffee cups. Shoving the pile off the screen, he pushed a few buttons which brought down a large, white screen. Suddenly, a slide show began to flash strange images at a rapid pace. Raz could hear Sasha growling under his breath as he slowed the computer down.

“Let's start from the beginning, shall we?” The first slide was a photograph of several Psychonauts standing by a steel door, most likely from Headquarters. In the middle was a light haired, blue eyed woman in a short sleeved, teal Psychonauts uniform. She looked physically fitter than any of the agents in the picture, her tanned arms and legs were wiry but strong. On her left was Ford Cruller, and though he still had white hair and wrinkles, there was a cheerful smile on his face which Raz had never seen before. Sasha and Milla stood beside him, both trying awkwardly to smile. It was obvious that the two of them were in the middle of a conversation and were caught off guard. To the right of the blonde woman was a reddish-haired man with his arm around her waist. They were exactly the same in height, but the man's face revealed his age, which was significantly greater than that of his neighbor's. A small, red goatee formed below his lower lip, and shaggy sideburns grew halfway from his cheekbone to his chin. Both of his ears were pierced multiple times, and he had a delicate, silver ring hanging through his left eyebrow. Behind a pair of thin, black glasses, his bright, blue eyes had a twinkle in them, and a genuine grin reached from ear to ear. His other arm rested on the shoulder of a freckled, platinum-blonde girl, her uniform hanging off her anemic body. There were small bags under her gray eyes which glared icily into the camera. Razputin was sure she was either seriously ill or despised cameras with a passion.

“Okay, I see you, Milla, and Agent Cruller, but who are those three to the left?”

“Far left, Lena Frye, center left, Jason LaTrois, and center, Mari Hann,” Sasha spoke in his usual monotone, “They were, and some still are Psychonauts working on the Bombay Ellison case. We were all commissioned to destroy the villain; after all he has done, the Psychonauts do not care what happens to him.”

“Wait. Mari Hann was that lady you and Milla were arguing about, right? What happened to her, exactly?” Raz studied her in the photograph carefully. Agent Hann was smiling, but she looked irritated. Her right arm was close to her side, as if she was trying to inconspicuously remove LaTrois's arm from her waist. Sasha pressed another button, and a blurred image of a crooked body standing menacingly before Ford. Both men had their eyes closed and their fingers at their temples, but the monstrous figure's façade was twisted into an hideous sneer.

“This is Bombay Ellison, the most wanted man in the psychic world. He is guilty on numerous counts of torture, sexual harassment, murder, and other crimes. He started out as the leader of an infamous gang of psychics called The Mental Marquis, but one act lead to another, and he left his group to kidnap important leaders of Psychonaut organizations around the world.” The German pulled out a sheet of paper listing all of the man's evil deeds and continued. “The Psychonauts have been trying to arrest him for years, but so far, none have been successful except for one man.” Sasha continued the slide show, and Razputin gasped. There before him was a picture of Ford Cruller in a hospital bed. The photo was taken close to the veteran agent, so Raz was able to see the defeated, miserable expression on his face. The sight of his teacher in that awful a condition brought a flood of bitter tears to the boy's eyes. “Ford was able to secure Ellison's position, and the Psychonauts sent several agents, including Mari, Jason, Milla, and I to take him back for imprisonment, but when we arrived, it was too late. They were in the midst of a-”

“A psychic duel,” Raz interrupted, wiping his eyes as discreetly as possible. “But with all those agents surrounding him, wasn't Bombay unable to defend himself?” Sasha shook his head.

“Not necessarily. He may have been cornered, but Ellison dragged Ford into the duel, so there was nothing any of us could do. You know that when one is in someone else's mind, he or she is at the mercy of the person whose mind it is. If the host is killed…”

“The foreign mind goes down with the ship.” Raz finished the sentence, his eyes widening as he put the pieces of the puzzle together. “You mean that Agent Cruller was held hostage in his mind?”

“Exactly,” Sasha explained, “and as much as Cruller likes to believe that the duel was in the real world, he has barely any recollection of what happened that night. Ellison staged the fight in his own mind because he knew he would win, and even if he lost, which is nearly impossible for a psychic of his caliber, Cruller would die for sure. He could imagine whatever he wanted, and that would manifest itself in his mind. That criminal mastermind could think up an army to help him. Anyhow, let us move on.” With this, the screen momentarily went blank, then a video clip began to play. The film was in poor condition; Raz could barely point out the fuzzy figure of Truman Zanotto speaking in a muffled voice to what appeared to be a large group of people. As the quality improved, the boy could see him making a speech to the Grand Heads of other Psychonauts branches from all over the world. Ambassadors from Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Japan, South Africa, and China all were seated before the American Grand Head. Sasha, Milla, Lena Frye, and Jason LaTrois were standing on the small podium beside Truman. All of them wore black, including Milla, which made it difficult for Raz to recognize her.

“My friends, I am here, accompanied by some of the best senior agents in the world, to announce a tragedy which has left us in shock and deep sadness. Mari Hann, a Psychonaut of great skill and knowledge in the field of psychic endeavors has passed away after a week in the Headquarters Infirmary. She was attacked by an Unidentified Paranormal Entity while on duty with Agent LaTrois…Mari will be dearly missed by her friends and coworkers...” Just before the clip ended, Raz shifted his eyes towards Hann's partner, who was silently crying beside Lena. The fair-haired woman was more sickly-looking than in the first slide, her body leaning on Jason for support. Milla bowed her head but showed no intense emotion. Sasha, as usual, stared ahead of him, his sunglasses masking any sorrow felt during the speech. Meanwhile, the slide show had already ended, but Raz gazed further into the blank screen.

“Do you have any questions?”

“Agent Hann is dead? You and Ford found that ripped sleeve yesterday. And what about that UPE? Lili and some other agents said she was captured by Bombay while on a top-secret mission with you and Milla, and she also said that the papers said she went missing from the HQ infirmary…” Raz stood and massaged his skull. All the different conspiracies and details were giving him a headache. He had cut out the part involving Zanotto, but he could tell that Sasha knew exactly what he had forgotten.

“Well, the truth is unknown, really. Truman received a death certificate, but as far as reliability goes, the source and production of this form is unknown. He states that an Energy Vampire, one of the more dangerous psychic creatures in the world, drained the life out of her during a mission. The only facts we have so far are these: Agents Hann and LaTrois were tracking Ellison in an old warehouse, the one we extracted Truman from the other day, when Mari disappeared. LaTrois noticed her absence, and he searched for her. When she was found, Agent Hann was unconscious, and she was taken to the Infirmary where she was never seen again. Milla and I were there, but we were in another sector of the hideout, so neither of us saw what happened. The specifics of her illness and of her stay at Headquarters are all up to the conspiracy theorists. I would not listen to any of them, Razputin, for they are made out of hysteria, rather than a desire for the truth. Young Miss Zanotto must be looking for trouble by paying attention to such gossip. Evidence and evidence only, Razputin. If you learn anything from this meeting, let it be that.” Raz nodded.

“But what about Coach Oleander? Where was he during all of this? Was that when Dr. Loboto brainwashed him?”

“No, not yet. Oleander first became a Psychonaut around this time, so he was not yet formally introduced to any of us. He knows nothing of Agent Hann or the other two agents which worked before him. Morceau is older than all of us, but he, as you probably know from that deranged Basic Braining course, wasted away his youth trying to join the military. That is besides the point, though.”

“Was there something wrong with Lena Frye? She looked like she was in pretty bad shape in all of those pictures. Was she attacked too?” Sasha shook his finger at the newest agent.

“Curiosity killed the cat, Razputin. I don't believe Agent Frye would want the status of her health to be mentioned to anyone she did not know. What I can say is that she was ill, but she has recuperated and currently works with Agent LaTrois. I do not know her very well myself, so that is all the information I have. Anyways, all of this is the general history of Bombay Ellison's conflict with the Psychonauts, and now, our duty is to find a way to prevent any more of this history from being made.”

“I'm on it. I'll do as much as I can to stop him!” Sasha gave Raz a pat on the shoulder as he tried to be as friendly as possible, which was difficult for him.

“That is the problem. I haven't discussed this with the others, for good reason, too. Oleander, Lena, and Jason wouldn't want someone so young to be involved with such a fragile operation, Milla would worry herself sick about you, and Ford would not hear of it because he would kill himself before you…before you suffered the same fate.” Sasha did not want to offend his pupil, but it was the truth. Razputin had the potential to surpass even his mentor as a psychic, but there was not much one could do to convince rational, professional adults that a ten year-old could do their jobs. Unfortunately for Sasha, Raz did not believe this was a hindrance.

“Hey, I proved to all of you that I am worthy of being a Psychonaut. I'll go talk to Agents Cruller and Vodello about all of this. I'm sure you are just exaggerating. One of these days, they will have to accept the fact that I'm going to be in danger along with the rest of them.”

“You have the badge because you earned it, of course. However, Bombay Ellison is a serious threat to every one of us, including you. As a newly recruited agent, you must feel exited and invincible, but do not let that distract you. Although I cannot officially add you to the Ellison Project or direct you to him, there would be no problem if you happened to stumble upon all of the official application and information papers in the bottom left drawer of that computer desk…” Sasha's eyes rolled to his left, twiddling his thumbs comically as Raz telekinetically pulled a large manila folder from the drawer and brought it towards him. He cautiously peeled back the front cover, but Razputin could not see what was inside before his superior took the files away.

“Hey, I thought you said I-”

“I know, but I also insinuated that you should not be caught by me with them. Why don't you go to Ford Cruller's sanctuary? I believe he and Morceau are occupied at the moment, so you would be alone to study the documents.” He returned the folder, and Raz nodded, leaving the lab to learn more about this mysterious case. Sasha knew that what he had just done would frustrate the boy. It was necessary, however, to prevent Raz from getting into a perilous situation which, for the many agents who dug too deep while looking for Ellison, was nearly impossible to escape. He wants to be a hero again, and I hate to deny him his greatest desire. Razputin is too promising to endanger now, though. I cannot let him bury himself…he will prove valuable soon enough. Sasha smiled to himself; he was alone once again, and everyone was too busy to interrupt him. Patting his computer, Agent Nein pressed a few keys which caused the Brain Tumbler to jolt inadvertently in strange directions. The second technological malfunction of the day inspired a string of loud, hoarse swear words to spring from the German in a fit of aggravation. I need a fucking keeper, Sasha mentally growled as he lit a cigarette.

 

Before he had reached Cruller's sanctuary, Razputin had already found a pen and tore open the folder. To his dismay, there was nothing on that page to read.

“Wait, this one must be the cover page.” He flipped over the paper and groaned; each “document” was completely blank. Sasha had set him up, apparently to distract him or something.

“I can't believe it. I save his brain and he won't even let me in on the case. What do I have to do to get a little recognition here?” Before he could respond to his own question, the transit ride ended, throwing Raz directly into Ford Cruller, who had approached the tree stump in curiosity. He did not think anyone would come to see him after such an awkward trip to Headquarters, but he was wrong. Both Psychonauts landed on their backs, and the white papers flew in every direction. Grumbling to himself, Ford rubbed his spine and glared at Raz, who was busy picking up the folder and collecting the false documents.

“What are those, Razputin? Let me take a look, will ya?” The old man flipped through the folder, and realizing that there was nothing to see, he chuckled to himself. “Hmm…fake sign-up sheets and info on Bombay Ellison from Sasha's lab. I remember these. Truman did not want any rookies to mess up the missions, so we put a bunch of copier paper in a folder which we would give to anyone we didn't want intervening. Why do you have those, son?”

Raz slapped his face. Either the psitanium had finally messed up his brain, or the old man was just being sarcastic.

“Sasha gave them to me…but don't think I will mess it up! Agent Cruller, I know I can take the case. Please, please, please give me a chance!” Ford knelt down and grabbed the boy gently by his shoulders.

“Son, I know you want this, there is not any doubt of that. However, I can't just give the job to you after one mission. Agents that work on this assignment are far more experienced, and that is the only thing you lack. I'm sorry, but there is nothing I can do.” He felt extremely disappointed, but he understood Ford's reasoning. It was all too true that he was inexperienced, and the other agents would not allow a mere boy of ten to join them. It was still hard to accept, and Raz found himself sulking away to the hollow tree stump without even saying goodbye. He heard Ford call his name, but it was hard for Razputin to face his mentor after receiving an enormous blow to his ego.

“Razputin, I know you could do it. I believe in you, so don't take this personally. I remember the first time I saw you, untrained but promising and enthusiastic. If you keep up that kind of motivation, you could be one of the best Psychonauts of the century. Never give up. That's what I told Sasha long ago, when he was a psi-cadet and was having some difficulties.”

The young boy turned around and raised an eyebrow. “You trained Sasha? What were those `difficulties' he had? Sasha doesn't have many problems, or at least he refuses to admit that he does.” While Agent Cruller was not about to reveal any of Sasha's newest issues to Raz, he was willing to spare a story to give his adolescent friend some inspiration.

“Well, everyone has problems. Even Sasha gets frustrated from time to time, so it is impossible to be one hundred percent unflappable. It was about seventeen years ago when Sasha discovered that he was psychic. He was twelve years old at the time, only two years older than you are now, and he was very different from the person he is today. A real hothead, that's what he was.” The two shared a chuckle and Raz forgot about his anger.

“Really? Tell me!”

“Alrighty then, but not a word to Sasha about this. If he found out I was telling you all about his past, he would kill me!” Ford drew his finger across his throat, making Raz smile. He promised the old man he would not tell, and they both sat down while Ford began to talk.

“When Sasha was a boy, he used clairvoyance on his father's mind and saw some…interesting things, to say the least, which left him a little traumatized. All I can say about that is that the thoughts involved his mother, who had died when he was a baby. He later snuck out of his house and ran away as far as he could. While in another town, Sasha picked up a Psychonauts flyer which had been posted up on an information center or something, I actually have no idea how he found it. Strangely enough, he was able to hide for a whole week without his father calling the authorities to look for him, and he contacted me using a restaurant telephone. Truman and I flew out all the way to Germany, and when we took him to HQ, we were amazed at his talent. The poor little guy thought he was going insane, and Truman had to convince him that the Psychonauts were not a hallucination. As a psi-cadet, Sasha was a lot like you, actually, except you don't have such a quick temper. He wanted to be a Psychonaut so badly, so he would get really frustrated when something did not work to his advantage or if his powers were not to his standards. I, well, I kind of had to straighten him out, and ever since, he has been dedicated to keeping his mind under strict control, as you already know. Everybody has to work hard to become great, Razputin. You have a lot of talent, but relying on talent alone is what sends promising rookies to the infirmary. Even Sasha had to spend time on boring or simple missions, but they gave him experience, and that is what made him what he is now. You know what I'm saying?” Raz nodded. The mild sting of sadness did not leave, but he felt less insulted and underestimated in the Psychonauts' eyes.

“Yeah. I know I'm new, and if Ellison did damage to the greatest Psychonauts out there, I need to be at my best.” Ford cackled happily as he watched Raz leave the sanctuary with a new vitality in his spirit.

“That's my boy!” As quickly as the child left, a young woman dressed in a sleek, black trench coat smiled shyly at the older Psychonaut, whose jaw dropped in shock.

“M-Mari?” Agent Hann giggled, running her slender fingers through her dirty-blonde hair out of nervousness.

“I'm back, Ford.”

 

Author's Note: Okay, okay, I know the chapter has a ton of dialogue, and it is sort of hard for the ADD folks out there to keep reading, but it will become more interesting! I personally enjoy these conspiracy theorist conversations, but The Farcie is insane. By the way, additional characters from other authors will be incorporated into my story, but I need more time. Remember, comments are what keep Farcie writing these horrifically long and detail-specific chapters. Thanks much!