Page 36 of It takes a Psychic

“I disagree, but that’s not important. Tell me more about it.”

He gave the question a moment’s thought and then he evidently made yet another decision.

“Ever heard of a Vortex machine?” he asked.

Chapter Fifteen

“What is a Vortex machine?”Leona asked.

“It would be more accurate to say Vortex machines—plural,” Oliver said. “There have been several attempts to perfect the basic technology over the years. The first versions were introduced back on the Old World in the twentieth century as part of a secret government research program called the Bluestone Project. There were more upgrades in the twenty-first century. Someone among the First Gen colonists evidently managed to smuggle at least one through the Curtain.”

“What are the machines designed to do?”

“Enhance human psychic talents.”

She took a deep breath. “That kind of experimentation is seriously illegal.”

Everyone knew that research carried out with the goal of enhancing the psychic senses was strictly prohibited because it was incredibly dangerous. The historical records were replete with cautionary tales ofexperiments that had invariably resulted in death or insanity. Humans were still adapting to the unpredictable effects of the paranormal environment on Harmony. Using technology or chemistry to speed up the process was unquestionably risky.

So yes, she repeated the common wisdom without any hesitation because she had practiced it since childhood. But inside she went ice-cold. She and Molly were the products of just such an illegal experiment.

“There are credible rumors that an individual or maybe a clandestine organization is attempting to engineer a new version of Vortex here on Harmony,” Oliver continued.

“Did the old Vortex machines work?” she asked cautiously.

“Depends on your perspective.”

She frowned. “What does that mean?”

“Evidently at least some of the various versions of Vortex have had some limited success. There has always been a theory that Vincent Lee Vance used a Vortex to turn himself into a triple.”

She wasn’t just cold now. It was getting hard to breathe. She stayed very still, desperately trying not to show any reaction. Thankfully, Oliver did not seem to notice that she was fighting off an anxiety attack. She had to make sure he remained oblivious. She had to protect the Griffin Family Secret.

“So, the Vortex technology worked,” she said, leaning in to her detached academic voice. Just one professional chatting with another. “At least some of the time?”

“Yes, but according to the records in the Foundation archives, inevitably the test subjects proved unstable. If the process did not kill them outright, they deteriorated and went insane within weeks—sometimes days. If they did not take their own lives, they were tracked down and killed.”

“Killed?”She stopped breathing altogether for a few horrible seconds. “They weren’t locked up in a para-psych ward?”

“This was back on the Old World, remember? They didn’t have hospitals or prisons designed to house people with dangerous talents. They didn’t have the medications to treat para-psych instability, either. Society and the scientific community as a whole didn’t take the paranormal seriously. Law enforcement wasn’t equipped to deal with the monsters because they didn’t believe they existed.”

Monsters like Molly and me,Leona thought. Back on the Old World they would have been tracked down and destroyed. Here on Harmony they would be considered candidates for a locked ward in a para-psych hospital.

She needed answers but she had to be careful. Oliver Rancourt was looking more dangerous by the minute.

“How are the yellow crystals connected to the Vortex technology?” she asked.

“We don’t know for certain,” he said. “But the theory is that the crystals, when tuned, served as a source of power for the machine that was smuggled through the Curtain two hundred years ago, the one Vance may have used.”

She started to touch the crystal pendant she wore beneath her jacket and quickly lowered her hand. “Are you telling me that I might be wearing a stone connected to an Old World device that was used to create monsters?”

“It was meant to enhance human psychic talents,” Oliver said. “The monsters were what you might call unintended side effects.”

A dose of fight-or-flight adrenaline rezzed her nerves.Don’t panic,she thought. He was fishing in the dark, trying to find out how much she knew.You know nothing.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything about the yellow crystal I’m wearing except that it has sentimental value to me,” she said.

“You said your sister found the two stones you wear in the location where she was held captive. Were there more of the crystals?”

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