Lt. Jg. Kim Stapledon - Making some Connections
John Smith
Zeylinn: ~ If you want, I can enter what is called Shehan, a telepathic conversation where surface thoughts are read rather than you speaking verbally. A kind of exposure therapy. But there is no need to rush to something that extreme. ~
Zeylinn walked toward a table by the far wall and Kim followed her, feeling light as she did so. She had to do something.
When they sat at the table Kim looked at her thoughtfully.
There was something about the word extreme. Maybe there was a need for something that extreme. She heard the terrifying roar of the monster on the planet below in her mind again, remembered the creature's hideous face, the way it had shook her to her core only to lay there less than an hour later, its fur feeling as soft as that of the cat that had visited her in her room all those years ago.
Zeylinn: ~ I am happy to discuss whatever you would like to discuss. The specifics of your concerns over telepathy, recent events on the ship, or my custom bicycle. Whatever you want to talk about. ~
Kim: Actually, I... ::She thought she was watching herself say it more than saying it herself:: think that would be a great idea to... try entering Shehan.
Zeylinn: ~ We can do that, if that’s what you want. ~
The floating pink cat flickered in her mind, her attempt at experimenting with this realm of psychic communication. As the image solidified a bit more, Kim felt something odd, like the way a book or a page might feel when briefly skimmed. There was a chuckling sound, mirthfully echoing through her mind as she heard it in front of her. She realized it was Zeylinn.
Stapledon: I think it is important for me to... ::Remembering what she'd learned in the past working with Professor Bartholomew and the curious case of Cáemgen during her senior year in high school:: expose my mind to a different example of telepathic interaction.
Zeylinn: ~ The bond is established. All you need to do is think it. I’ll hear you. Go ahead and give me the background on what happened. ~
Kim felt uncertain at first. And then she just imagined herself speaking.
Stapledon: Well... It's complicated... I grew up on New Cyprus.. I was a bit of a loner... I'd been spending a lot of time creating worlds for myself in the holosuites.
Zeylinn: ~ And this leaked out of the holosuite thanks to telepathy? ~
Stapledon: ~ I got... emotionally attached to the life I'd created in there and this one Betazoid girl picked up on that I guess. ~
Kim felt a sudden surge of anxiety and dread again as the memory threatened to surface.
Zeylinn: ~ That does unfortunately happen from time to time. Mostly with younger telepaths first developing their abilities. ~
Kim nodded, remembering her voice.
((Flashback))
Stapledon: ~ That does explain that. I think I know that intellectually, it's more convincing my emotional self that telepaths won't just abuse their abilities. ~
Zeylinn: ~ There are those with these abilities who do abuse them. But across different species and civilizations, there are some constants. Most of us have our own strong feelings about what is or isn’t moral. ~
She tried to picture things from the perspective of the Betazoid. She wondered if perhaps there might have been something painful or disturbing about their initial telepathic abilities developing.
Stapledon: ~ Maybe... there's another way to look at this. Not as a telepath problem but a telepath youth hardship... ~
The word youth came with images of maturing, growing up, and unfamiliarity which merged to form an approximation Kim hoped would suffice.
Zeylinn: ~ I’ve worked with multiple young Betazoids and Deltans and Rodulans and hybrids. There’s already so much pressure caused by the changes that come with growing up. Developing telepathic abilities only adds more pressure. Sometimes, they can’t control the ability itself and get hit by waves of emotions and thoughts they weren’t trying to read. Other times they can control their telepathy but not themselves. It’s a struggle every family with telepathic children has dealt with at some point. ~
Kim nodded, thinking to herself. Was it rational to believe there were a couple of Betazoid woman her age now who spent all their time reminiscing on how much they'd gotten her back in the day? Or was it more likely Kim's mind, with its chatter as it came of age, combined with everyone else's minds, along with social pressures around telepathic ettiquette made for a very insecure and uncertain pair of Betazoid minds?
Stapledon: ~ Maybe they were just lashing out... ~
Zeylinn: ~ What you experienced is unfortunate, but not the norm. Almost any telepath would condemn that kind of behavior. You certainly aren’t likely to encounter it outside of school. ~
Stapledon: ~ They did it to other people too... I remember them riling up some Klingons ~
Zee tried to think of a way to put the incident in perspective. It was a very embarrassing incident, she could see how the mental wound was still tender years later. But she didn’t want Kim to spend the rest of her life running away from every telepath.
Zeylinn: ~ Think back on your childhood. I am certain there were lots of antisocial, meanspirited, or disruptive behaviors you encountered. Do you fear anything that reminds you of anyone who was ever mean to you, like you do telepaths specifically? ~
Stapledon: ~ Strangely no ~
Zeylinn: Response
Briefly an image of her mother telling her to have more of a social life flashed through her mind. It had been the fact that..... She let the thought bubble up as words to be thought to Zeylinn.
Stapledon: ~ The fact that my parents had been telling me to have more of a social life and stop world building so much in the holodeck made it worse. Like the Betazoid knew I was having trouble reaching out to people. ~
A snippet of her words flowed through her mind again
Stapledon: ~ "Guess now we know where she spends all her time! In her holoprograms, the only place she can make any friends." ~
She forced herself to experience both her mother's insistence that she needed a social life and the Betazoid's insults.
Zeylinn: Response