Unforeseen Dives – 17b – Revelation

<< 17a – Revelation

Casey’s jaw hung open and his eyes widened.
“Wait a minute! Rewind! I haven’t been on your floor for quite sometime.”
“Fuzzy on the agents’ tech speak?” Rebecca teased.
That would take longer than I thought. I wished I could have some time alone. The fifteen minutes in the shower hadn’t been nearly enough. With my mind fully awake, the risks of my new-found skills appeared clearly. It was hard to sort out my feelings toward it all while explaining its unusualness.
“Well yeah! The categories weren’t as precise three years ago and I haven’t kept myself informed.”
“Let’s start from the top then.” I said, pulling my gaze away from the clouds. I turned in my seat to face Casey.
“I hope you know what category Cassidy’s in?” Rebecca impatiently asked from her seat in front of us. Casey sighed.
“Yes. She is a seer. She sees the near-future, which is exactly what she did in the interrogation room. What’s the fuss?” Casey was really close to losing his temper. I couldn’t blame him since Rebecca kept pushing his buttons. We had agreed that she would lock her mind to his inspection so I could reveal things at my own pace. I had denied Casey the permission to read my mind because it was a mess. He was thus left without his usual bearings which contributed to his anger.
“You’re missing the other part of the definition.” Rebecca hammered. I shot an irritated look her way. While my love/hate relationship with Casey skewed more toward the “love” end, Rebecca’s did the opposite. I understood it but needed her to stop for a moment. She was peeved that he didn’t catch up as fast as she thought he ought to. I had to explain the details of my freakiness and it wasn’t fun but her attitude wasn’t helping.
Reading the whole string of thoughts in my head, Becky nodded and turned around in her seat.
“Seers need a tool to dive.” I explained.
“The chair, you mean?”
“Yes. At PSI, we use the chair but it’s specially built for us. Other seers, like my mom, use tarot cards, crystal balls and the likes. The point is we can’t dive without help.”
“But oracles can?”
“Yes. Oracles dive by themselves when an omen hits them.”
“So you’ve just been misclassified. I can’t see the problem.”
“Oracles only see far and imprecise futures.”
“Oh!” Finally! I thought. It might not have been that long an explanation but I was sick of talking about it.
“Yeah, I’m a freak.”
“I don’t believe that. There must be others like you.”
“A handful.”
“Well…”
“They’re all in mental institutions. In solitary.” Rebecca cut in. I sighed. I yearned for my bed and the calm of my home. I might need to do some more painting to expel the last days’ emotions. I sure didn’t want to dwell into the “why people like me are crazies” discussion. I sighed again and offer my hand, palm up. My thoughts might be a mess but it would be faster this way. I trusted he could handle my internal turmoil.
Casey saw the hesitation in my eyes and arched an eyebrow in question. He now fully grasped how upset I was. I nodded and he wrapped both his hands around mine. He pumped confidence and calm into my mind and I basked in it before channeling its strength to organize my thoughts.
Telepaths honed their skills. They could choose whether to hear other people’s thoughts or not. Psychics had no control. Seers needed assistance to dive. Oracles dived whenever the Ocean wished to convey a message. We were at the mercy of one thing or another. Being able to see the near future without having control over that ability opened a nasty can of worms.
We could never know when a dive would assault us; showing us the person we just walked past dying, our lover cheating or learning the decision we just made will get us in trouble.
We can’t save everyone. We don’t want to break off a relationship when our partner doesn’t even know they’re going to hurt us yet. We shouldn’t obsess about each choice we make in a day, wondering if we will learn, seconds after, that we were wrong.
There was a reason why, genetically, we had developed the protection mechanisms that split us into seers and oracles.
Psychics like me dived too often. Some got permanently lost in the Ocean and their empty bodies were transferred to mental institutions awaiting their spirit’s return. Others chose to be isolated to limit drastically the amount of stimulation and possible futures they could see.
Good thing I didn’t need to catch my breath in my thoughts because I literally blurted out the whole thing. Satisfied that I had managed to sum it up intelligibly, I pulled my hand from Casey’s. He held it securely, keeping our connection open. A wave of care washed over me. It was so strong that tears filled the corners of my eyes.
“Neither Rebecca nor I will let that happen, you know.” Casey thought, clear as a bell amidst the strength he broadcasted in me. “But it’s not just our help that’ll matter. You’re the emotionally strongest person I know and your self-control is envied by a lot of psychics. Psychics that wouldn’t have held against the waves you cleaved to stop the New York bombing. Don’t sell yourself short. If anyone can deal with this, you can, Square!” He winked as he thought the nickname. I stuck my tongue out.
When he let go of my hand, I was surprised that the calm and confidence still lingered in me. They weren’t his. They were mine. Feelings he had forced out of me with his words. His playfulness had also lightened my mood and the rest of the flight back home was easier than I thought. From the smile Rebecca and Casey exchanged, I suspected she thanked him for his support. Nevertheless, they resume their childish bickering at the first opportunity.
Everything was normal. The world wasn’t falling apart. I could get through this.
Now how will I tell Mom?

18a – Division >>