"Read 'em and weep." Olly proudly stated as he shoved his result paper in front of Adam. "Twelve PCI! I have now surpassed you my friend, but do not worry, I shall not forget you when I make it big, you can sleep on the couch of my mansion."
"That's very generous Olly, for that, I'll let you sleep in my guest bedroom," Adam responded as he smugly shoved his own result in his friend's face.
"...Fuck. Fucking hell dude, are you secretly Mulon? Or is it bigger? Cause otherwise that's just unfair!"
"..."
"..."
They both burst out laughing, reveling in the moment before slowly winding down.
"There's no doubt we can get into the same school now." Olly finally spoke up. "OSU would be insane not to accept you with a twenty PCI."
"Only if I graduate though."
"Dude, you'll pass finals, don't worry," Olly said as he patted Adam's shoulder heartily. Both of them planned to apply to the same college, Oregon State University, so that they could still study together.
"Now c'mon, we've got Psionic Theory next." Adam groaned at that, it was his worst subject.
Adam looked at himself in the mirror, turning his head sideways, even grabbing his mom's handheld mirror to look at the back of his head. There were no bumps, no differently colored skin. All day, the image of the black dot in the back of his head had bugged him. For some reason, he felt that if he told Olly about it, it'd ruin his chances of going to Oregon State with him.
He poked the back of his head a few times, feeling nothing out of the ordinary. He had been in here for twenty minutes, yet there was-
"Hello Adam"
"Fuck!" Adam yelled as in surprise he kneed the sink, dropping the mirror in his hand into the sink, thankful it didn't shatter. "who the f-"
Adam trailed off as he turned behind him, confused at the door being closed, as he left it. There wasn't anybody at the window, as he was on the second floor of his house.
"What?" H muttered under his breath as he opened the shower curtains, revealing an empty bathtub.
"I am not in this, 'bathtub'."
"Then where are you, no scratch that, who the Hell are you then?" Adam had to put physical effort into not screaming those words out. Somehow he managed to let them out in a shaky, but normal volume.
"You may call me... Prime."
Adam sat down on the toilet, his legs shaking. "So Prime... wait, that wasn't a dream?! Your a Psionic Parasite!"
"I... am?" The creature said sounding confused, which halted Adam's panic. "I am not sure. I had to discard many memories due to my size. However, I am forced to reside within your Organic Consciousness Housing Unit."
"What?"
"The organ your species calls a 'brain'. Your low-energy psionic waves most likely intercepted some cast-off memories. According to your own memories, I could be considered one of the 'psionic parasites.' due to the current circumstances."
Adam sat back, resting the back of his head against the wall as he took a deep breath to steady himself. "So... why did you reveal yourself then? You could have stayed silent and I would have never known what you were."
"There was a seventy-two point three percent chance that you would discover me within the next three months after looking at your behavior, twenty-seven percent you would find me after a year, and a point seven percent chance I would escape detection."
"Then couldn't you just find a new host?"
"I am a 3-centimeter crystalline structure in the back of your brain. I am quite anchored into your existence."
Adam sighed. "Then couldn't you have just, I don't know, lied about you being a parasite? Besides, you don't know if I would have actually gotten rid of you."
"I have observed that you are a straightforward individual who values honesty and straightforwardness, which is why your best friend is Olly with a ninety-six percent compatibility. should I have lied, there was a fifty-six percent chance you would find out and eliminate me, If I stayed hidden, there was a sixty-seven percent chance you would immediately remove me, with a twelve percent chance you would keep me in place."
"Fuck," Adam said into his palms, sucking in a cool breath. "Whatever, I have to study so just... stay quiet."
"Affirmative, I shall stay quiet after this sentence."
Adam merely sighed as he exited the bathroom and grabbed the book titled 'Psionic Civilian Law'. He opened it up to page two hundred and two, the beginning of chapter fourteen, and the chapter about the penal punishments for abusing psionic aptitude.
For twenty minutes he repeated the first paragraph. All his thoughts instead raced about the psionic invader in his mind. Psionic parasites were the number one enemy of the federation at the moment, though the average person, including Adam, had only seen the aftereffects of their destruction. These beings massacred entire outer system colonies without even a declaration of justification.
None had ever appeared on earth, or at least none Adam had ever heard of. Was this something new? Or had the federation lied to them? Were there hundreds, thousands of them on earth? Could his neighbors- parents- or even O-
He shut the book before opening his desk's drawer, pulling out the thin plastic headband, and putting it on. The Blueish black crystal rested upon his right temple, softly glowing with blue light.
He reached out his mind to the crystal, and soon, the startup interface greeted him with the image of a spinning blue circle. The headband was today's modern computer, fully built to be interfaced psionically.
His grandparents' generation, had something similar, but it required direct implantation into the head via surgery. Such devices were now only seen in museums.
With a final spin, the Computer booted up. With a mental click he opened up Mir-Chat. One of the many chatting platforms available these days.
He waited as he mentally pushed the person he wanted to talk to through. The low thrumming in his mind informed him that the psionically transmitted ping was going through. A moment later it stopped, from the other side, a heavenly "heeey~" came through the connection.
"Hey, Charlie. How's it going."
"Just preparing dinner. How about you?" Adam sighed, though he didn't transmit that across the connection. Charlie hated people pitying her just because she was an orphan. Both her parents were psionic soldiers who had lost their lives defending a station near Pluto.
She especially hated when her boyfriend pitied her, so Adam did his best not to think about her living alone and doing all the household chores while also being an honor student.
"Just studying... Kinda. I uh... Have a lot on my mind."
"Like the fact that you'll fail your classes if you don't pass finals?" She asked with a schadenfreudian giggle.
"...kinda. I've also been thinking about the future."
"Oh?"
"...yeah. I've been thinking about... Well, what do you think about the Psionic parasites?" He finally asked tentatively.
"They're monsters. Unrepentant mass murderers who enjoy the pain and suffering they cause. And each one should be violently tortured before being killed." The rage seething in her voice, combined with her lack of hesitation put Adam off center. If she ever found out, would she break up with him? Scratch that, she would absolutely murder him. No place on earth or beyond would be safe if she thought he was a psionic parasite. Her next words focused him back to the present.
"This is actually a great time to announce another thing though. After graduation, I'm applying to Europa Combat University."
"The private college orbiting Mars?" Adam asked, grateful for a topic to ground his feet. "Aren't Combat schools stupidly expensive?"
"Yeah. But I'm aiming for their full excellence scholarship. My PSI of Twenty Seven just barely passes, and even if I fail every final, my GPA would still be enough to qualify."
Adam paused, thinking about the fees for space travel. "That's... a long way from earth."
"Yeah, but it's the best combat school in the Federation... I have to go Adam..." This time Adam let the sigh carry over the connection. He felt the desperation in her voice.
"Alright. Go for it, I know you'll get in. There's just no way I can get in with my grades. Besides, I already promised Olly we'd go to the same university, and you know his situation."
"You can't stick with him forever Adam. One of these days you two will have to go your own ways. It's not healthy how much he sticks to you. And you just let him."
"We've been friends since kindergarten, I wouldn't know what to do even if I didn't want him around..."
This time Charlie sighed. "Alright, don't say I didn't say anything. You should get back to studying, otherwise you won't graduate." With that, she left the call, leaving a pink heart in chat as she changed her status to offline, Denying any psionic connection from reaching her.
"That was your mate?" The thoughts of Prime popped up inquisitively in his head, almost causing Adam to jump out of his chair.
"Girlfriend, god knows how... Didn't I tell you to be quiet?"
"Apologies. This is the first time I have been able to witness Such organic practices and emotions so... viscerally."
"...Whatever. Though Prime, with how you talk, what exactly are psionic parasites?"
"...I do not know about any others. But I was once a multi-Synaptic Psionic based Ultralite. In more concise terms, A sentient rock with a hive mind. I am Prime because I am that which my Nodes, similar to your autonomous nervious system, were derived from. The original mind if you need it in simpler terms."
"That explains the way you think I guess... So, even though I know you're going to lie, what exactly are you here for?" Adam slowly asked. Getting up and pacing his room.
"...I do not know..."
Adam groaned, falling onto his bed mentally exhausted. Tomorrow was the weekend, and he already didn't want to wake up.