Prometheus II - Central Campus - Classroom A
Maire stood at the front of the tiered classroom, her arms tucked behind her back and her gaze focused on the backdoors, with a slightly far away expression on her face. After a few moments she turned her gaze on the students scattered around the seats and waved her hand at the board behind her. It lit up, showing today's lesson plan.
"Fairly easy today, I think. In a sense. What I just did, standing there with my eyes glazed and my mouth open like an idiot, is exactly the way you do not speak with others in your mind, ever. Not even in private. It's a dead give-away for those that can recognize the signs of a telepath, and the easiest way to be trusted by a stranger is to never be recognized as a telepath. If psychics are to perform their jobs out their in the galaxy appropriately, we can't be concerned about the people we're working with actively distrusting us. It causes tension and reduces efficiency.
So, today we're going to practice talking to other people in their minds without giving away that that's what we're doing. As an example of what you will one day be able to accomplish, I can maintain 8 synchronous conversations for hours at a time. 7 telepathically and 1 in person. This does of course strain my concentration quite a bit, but it is possible. Throughout the rest of the class, I will speak with some of you randomly. At some points it will be more than 1 at a time, and I expect you to continue paying attention in class and speaking on the topics I provide you mentally at the same time.
You are, of course, welcome to resist my intrusion, but please keep in mind that this is the purpose of this class, and a failing grade on any assignment is... unfortunate."
Maire spun on her heel, at the very last moment linking with a young woman at the top of the room by the name of Angela. She was the top of the class, currently, and as such, had the much more difficult assignment.
'You will remain in the link for the duration of the day, including after this class. Your other teachers have been informed to keep watch of a wandering attention. Your assignment, argue the merits of psychic manipulation on unwilling recipients with each other student and teacher I bring into the link. Every slow response or drift in attention will merit a loss of points. You have 10 minutes to prepare. I will supervise and interject with new points when necessary. Other topics will be provided after you have had time to grow accustomed to this one.'
Maire tapped on the console on her desk and turned back around, grabbing 2 other students sitting together at the bottom of her class and putting them into the link. Michael and Seanjai were close friends, and also fairly close to the top of the class, just under Angela.
Out loud, she said, "In the meantime, we will discuss the responses and defenses you need to employ in case of mental intrusion from a non-friendly telepath. Ironic, yes. To start with..."
To Michael and Seanjai, 'Both of you will argue the drawbacks of psychic manipulation of unwilling targets with Angela. You have 10 minutes to prepare.'
"... a sufficiently skilled telepath will not be stopped by the majority of mundane defenses you employ, but without being a master of the metapsionic discipline, you have few choices. If you suspect you are being monitored, the advice you'd receive from the average citizen of the Hegemony is to distract yourself. Think of your grocery list, your grandmother's will. Think of nothing of importance. It's harder than you might think, and is a pointless tactic in most cases because psychics are more than capable of ignoring that kind of redirection and simply take what they want without you being any the wiser.
That being said, the most efficient tactics. One, incapacitate the psychic. Two. Leave the psychics line of sight."
She waved her hand and the students consoles turned on, each having a little bit of writing at the top and an otherwise empty document.
"Both, of course, have their issues. Each of you have been provided a different scenario where you encounter an aggressive telepath. You have 40 minutes to describe what you would attempt to do to survive the encounter. Some of you will be brought into the telepathic link in the meantime. You are expected to succeed at both assignments, and even if you do not, this is practice that will suit you well. Multi-tasking is something you must learn."
To those in her link, 'You have 5 minutes before the debate begins.'