Mentally - 2. Wiped

"K-Kieran." Sergeant Snyder gasped for air. I made sure that he won't be inhaling, or else he might be able to resist. And I won't let that happen. "Stop it. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Don't hurt him!" My mother almost shrieked. She was aware of my killing intent. But I was still able to keep it under my control. Good thing he arrived just after we ate dinner, so I kind of had the energy to keep him pinned down. "You're not a dangerous person Kieran."

"Of course, I'm not going to kill him." I muttered. A bit dryly, to be honest. Because deep inside, my instincts were telling me to crush his head. But I knew better. He was too shocked, and his will has already been broken. Controlling him and planting a construct inside his mind is what I was after. I would be able to get information out of Helix Corp through him. "He's just going to be my spy in the government."

The officer just stared at me and realized that I wasn't bluffing. And the worst part was he had no idea what I was truly capable of. Because I've discovered that I was a Mental a few days before Damian went to Washington. And it's been three years since then. So I still have a few tricks under my sleeve, and I was not afraid to use them.

"Mom. Don't watch." I pleaded. And added an extra push with my ability. Not that I was invading her mind. I just needed things to go my way for the moment. "Please, go to your room. Don't worry. I'm not going to kill him. But it might be a little painful to watch."

My mom complied and went away. While Sergeant Snyder's eyes were almost pleading to let him go. With the use of my ability, I assembled his gun and put it in his sheath. I used the dormant energy inside of me and enveloped us in a giant bubble.

"You can scream all you want. No one is going to hear you." I said. Then looked down in shame and guilt at what I was about to do. On the other hand, we had to make sure we survive. I am not going to let them get us. Now that I knew I am one of the most powerful Mentals around, the government and Helix Corp will surely try to get ahold of me. "I'm sorry. But I already knew that powerful Mentals are being experimented on. That's why we have been hiding. I also knew that I am not your average Mental."

The soldier didn't say a word. But I could feel his will getting strong. Fighting off my intrusion. And I wasn't not going to let him escape my prison that easily. So I put a stronger dose of energy in his mind and broke his will again. He didn't know that I could affect his emotional stability. I bombarded his mind with signals to produce the necessary neurotransmitters that will cause his mind to be led to a semi-depressed state.

"I will cover for Kieran and Kelly Klein." I said. Then I blasted his mind that sent him into a hypnotized state. His eyes went blank, and the tensed muscles he had become more relaxed. "I will register him as a regular Mental. The H-Score I will put on his profile is 15."

"I will cover for Kieran and Kelly Klein." He repeated mechanically. His voice was monotonous and had a robotic feel. I had only tested this ability on animals but never with a human. And this would be a perfect opportunity for me to utilize my ability. "I will register him as a regular Mental. The H-Score I will put on his profile is 15."

"I will replace his blood sample with a fake one." I added. "I will make sure that they will not be discovered. I will tell my backups later that everything went well and the operation was successful."

"I will replace his blood sample with a fake one." His voice was annoying. But the good news was that he wasn't hurt by the process. He seemed to be relaxed as I slowly imposed my thoughts on him. Slowly, I began wiping his memory and replacing them with vague ones from my own imagination. "I will make sure that they will not be discovered. I will tell my backups later that everything went well and the operation was successful."

"I am going to share all the information I know with Kieran. It will be my secret mission, and I will not remember anything related to it." I stated. Then my back suddenly felt heavy because I was using too much of my mind's ability. I was not used to this kind of mental stress. But it was still the perfect opportunity for me to practice. For some reason, this ability would really be handy when it comes to avoiding authorities. "I am Kieran's agent from now on, and I am not aware of it."

"I am going to share all the information I know with Kieran. It will be my secret mission, and I will not remember anything related to it." He repeated. I also felt the stress he was experiencing on his mind. The officer was fighting it, but the process was almost complete. He still won't be able to remember any of what just happened. "I am Kieran's agent from now on, and I am not aware of it."

"Mom, you can come out now." I called out. "And sit on the sofa while I set him up. It would be good if you don't look so shocked."

My mom obeyed and came out of the room. She sat down on the sofa and looked at us as if we were a couple of weird-looking human beings. Then I commanded Sergeant Snyder to pick up his gun and keep it in his bag. After that, he sat down with us and started finishing the Mental Registration Form for us. I checked to make sure my brainwashing worked, and he typed down the wrong H-Score to keep us covered. The rest of the information was proper so that it would not be too suspicious. All that government would know is that I am a normal Mental who is just undergoing puberty.

Slowly but surely, I was pulling him back to his senses. As I examined his mind, I knew that he wasn't aware of the incident. After that, I slowly dispersed the bubble because it was already taking a toll on me. Then in a snap, I pulled him entirely out of the trance.

"There, we're all done!" He smiled warmly. Utterly oblivious to his near-death experience with me. If he pushed on further with his fighting spirit, our apartment would have been bloody. And things would have been more complicated. "Now that wasn't so hard! Thank you for complying, Kieran and Mrs. Klein, of course."

"You know where to look for me." I told him. "And you know how to contact me. If you have some news for the Mentals, I'm not afraid to listen."

"Thank you." He said warmly. "Thank you for trusting."

"No, Sergeant." I beamed. "Thank you for trusting me."

"It was a pleasure to meeting the both of you and welcoming me into your home." With that, he left quickly. As he walked away, I made sure to probe his mind and check the remaining memories that could give us away. But there was none. The procedure was a success.

"What did you do to him?" My mom quickly asked after she closed the door. "One moment you were both hostile to each then the next moment you were fine as if nothing happened!"

"I brainwashed him." I replied. "Don't worry, it was a success."

"Kieran! What were you thinking? We could have been exposed. And all our efforts would have been put to waste." She started scolding me. But my brain was so exhausted I was barely listening. Mom was also stressed about what had happened. We were almost caught. And I was also able to confirm that powerful Mentals are being experimented on. "I don't want to lose you, Kieran."

"Relax, mom. I got it. It will be our perfect cover. I'm a registered mental now, and I made sure he put the wrong H-Score." I assured her. Mom can be paranoid. And over-protective. I get it. We needed to survive. It was her motherly instincts that saved us most of the time. Not my abilities. "I extracted some information. Yes, our assumptions were right. The stronger Mentals are being experimented on. But that's the point. I commanded him to put the wrong H-Score so I'll be categorized as an average Mental. In the eyes of the government, I'm just a normal boy. And they will not run after me anymore."

The sudden realization crashed upon her. She then rushed to hug me. For a few moments, we were both crying. Tears fell down from our eyes. The moment of victory was at hand. And we have been enduring too long now to get a settled life. The exhaustion we get from constantly running away and moving from state to state was paid off. Besides, I think we moved from at least 7 states, excluding Chicago. It was over. We didn't have to run anymore and keep on hiding from authorities.

"Mom, we're free." I sobbed. "We don't have to hide anymore. We don't have to keep moving from town to town anymore. Maybe we can stay here for a change."

"Kieran. Why did we have to wait so long before we could finally settle down?" My mom was relieved. And that feeling of hers was radiating all over her. It was soothing my senses, and I realized that we could finally relax. We don't have to be hostile to everyone anymore. "Well, it's the first day of school next week. And we won't be needing fake documents anymore."

"Yeah, I don't have to repeat a level." I sighed. "It would be a walk in the park. And we could finally live a normal life."

"I'll access your grandad's savings account tomorrow. And maybe we can move to a bigger and more comfortable apartment by next week." Her statement helped me relax some more. Truth be told, our family was filthy rich. My grandfather owned a huge company, and we still have partial ownership after he died. Mom and I can survive even if she doesn't work. But since we had to hide, we had to keep a very low profile. We weren't able to maximize our resources. "And maybe I could call his company as well."

"Yeah. I guess we finally had some good news for the first time." I smiled with that thought in mind that we were finally safe. The company's new CEO was a close family friend and helped us look for places we could hide. But I'm not really sure if we are really going to settle in this current town. At the back of my mind, I want to go back where it all started. "Hey, mom, maybe we could go back to Chicago? Our own hometown is the best place to settle down."

"That's actually a great idea." My mom's eyes lit up when she heard it from me. "We have a lot of fond memories there. I'm sure we can go back by this week if everything went fine. I'll just have to ask help from Dawn, and we're good to go. He always has time to help us even if he is running a big company."

"Yeah." I replied. Then stretched a bit. My muscles felt sore for some reason. I used too much energy during my brainwashing process with Sergeant Snyder. "I think I'll go to bed now. It's getting late."

"Okay. You better rest now." Mom was finally calm. Her eyes were glowing with excitement because we could finally stop the cat and mouse chase. "Tomorrow might be a long day for both of us."

We said our goodnights, and I went straight to my room. When I sat on my bed, I checked my phone and saw a text message from Colin saying, "I miss you, Kieran." He was one of my closest friends from Chicago. And it was the best time now to give the good news that I'm just about to go back. So I texted him back to see if he's awake.

[Hey, are you still up? I have good news.] I texted.

He replied after a minute. [Yeah, why?]

[I'll call you.] I replied again. [Wait a bit.]

After sending that message, I phoned him, and he answered within a few seconds.

[Hey man, how are you? I haven't heard from you for months!] He started. Wow, I missed my friend's voice. Colin has always been a lively kid. [What was the good news you were talking about? Come on! Tell me!]

[Oh, about that.] I replied. But I was already holding back a smile. I was holding back my tears. It was so exciting to know that I will be reunited soon with my friends. Over the months that we have been moving, I barely made a friend because I know that mom and I would need to move again to another State soon. [I might finally return there next week. And this time, it would be permanent.]

[Are you serious?] He exclaimed excitedly. I hadn't seen them for almost a year from our constant moving. It also stopped me from my studies, but I was not really worrying over that. I knew I was way more intelligent than most people my age. And it might have been because of me being a Mental. I have not really tested it yet, but I think I have an eidetic memory. [You're not kidding anymore, right? Don't you dare provoke my expectation. I missed you already too much. And I can't wait to tell the others!]

[Don't. Please.] I pleaded. [It's going to be a surprise. Hopefully, I will be there on the first day of school. I trust you, Colin. Don't let me down.]

[Just when did I ever let you down, huh, Kieran?] He laughed.

[Colin, you've already let me down more than a couple of times.] I replied.

[But you still trust me. After all that? You know, it felt like those were the times that I betrayed you big time.] Colin said. Trying to sound amazed by his statement. He was a bit exaggerating. But it was true to some extent. We had experienced some clashes. Every couple of close friends have those every once in a while. [You're really unbelievable, Kieran.]

[Of course, I am. You're one of my closest friends. I talk to you whenever I feel down.] I assured him. And that was no lie. Colin might be hyper and talkative. But he was a good listener most of the time. [Even if I left all of you guys. You still listen to me.]

[One of your closest friends, huh?] He sighed. [I thought I was already your best friend.]

[Don't even go there, man.] I quipped.

[I know. I was joking.] He stated. Colin loved to bully me. In a friendly way, of course. [I'm not trying to replace Damian. You know that will never happen. And besides, I miss him too.]

[Yeah.] I replied sadly. Colin felt that. The sadness in my voice was real. And if we talked more about it, I might just end up crying. [I haven't heard from him since he left. Not a single word. But I'm confident that he would never forget me just like that. He wouldn't do something like that.]

[Yeah, me too. I'm sure he would try to contact you if he can.] He encouraged me. Colin knew that talking about Damian was a very sensitive topic. It was a good thing he was sensitive to people around him because of his listening skills. But there were still days wherein he lost a screw in his head. And none of us would understand him. [It has got to be because of that psychotic father of his. To be honest, I pity Damian for having a dictator dad.]

[Yeah. His dad is an important person. But I'm not sure why they need to hide Damian as much as they need to hide Major Davis.] I wondered out loud. Colin was silent and knew that I just sometimes need a person who would listen to me. [I can't even find Damian on social media! No Facebook. No Twitter. I wonder how he is surviving all that.]

[We can go look for clues about them when you get back here.] He replied. But at the back of my mind, I could get help from Sergeant Snyder. And he wouldn't have any other choice because he was under my control. [I'd like to have an adventure too, you know.]

[Yeah.] I smiled. And I was thinking as well how soon I could have a lead on Damian's location. I remembered the promise suddenly that he made. A promise he wasn't able to keep. [Don't make me too excited. I might not be able to sleep tonight if you keep going at it.]

[What are you thinking, Kieran?] Wow, he got me there. Colin had always read me like an open book, and he was taking advantage of it. [I know Damian made a promise. But don't blame him. It's not his fault.]

[I know that, Colin.] I replied. [Maybe he was under a fake identity or something. There might have been some serious stuff that was happening, and we're not just aware of it.]

[Yeah.] Colin agreed. [And that's why he needs to hide. I think I haven't told you yet that some of our schoolmates related to military officers were also pulled out when you left. It's already a clue if you ask me.]

[Woah. I didn't know that.] I admitted. After analyzing what he said, I knew he was right. It was already a clue to what's happening. From what I know, the tension between humans and Mentals was still on-going. It just became a passive-aggressive mentality in our country. No wonder why Mentals are still discriminated against in some areas. [We really need to check that out when I get back.]

[Yeah. Sure. We'll get there.] Colin yawned. [I guess I need to go now. We both need to take a rest. Especially you. Didn't you notice that you were taking short breaths.]

I got silent when he said that. He was really observant. Even I overlooked that.

[Kieran. You best take care, man] Colin muttered.

[Yeah. Thank you, Colin.] I replied. [I'll see you soon.]

[See you soon.] Colin quipped. Then he cut down the line. He sounded so urgent. But I knew I could ask that by the time I went back to Chicago.

Deep inside, I was excited. It was a good thing that I managed to pull out Sergeant Snyder's personal number to call him if I wanted to ask something. It was a valuable thing to have a spy in the army. Maybe I can get something meaningful from them.

I closed my eyes. It was so relaxing because of the sudden turn of events that day. I could finally go back to my hometown. And the best part was that we were finally free. Or so I thought.