#xcom 2 geist

[anaveragedisaster]

Some lore for the reimagined non-XCOM Resistance factions in my Nine Sols/Xcom 2 crossover thing I'm calling the Solcom AU

(By the way, I'm not sure how much the fandoms for these games overlap. I'll try my best to keep things understandable to non-xcom players.)

The Reapers: Similarly to their XCOM version, they're a loose group of guerrilla fighters that live in the wilderness, away from Sol-controlled cities. I don't think it's confirmed anywhere in the OG game's lore, but in this version, they definitely formed out of old-world prepper groups. Instead of using guns, they've elected to go especially primal and use combat bows.

Their leader, so to speak, is Shennong. He's still one of the humans who was abducted and brought to New Kunlun's Apeman Facility to be experimented on. Over the years, the others were successfully brainwashed and genetically modified to be loyal to the Sols, people who could be presented to the public as ideal citizens of the Solarian-ruled Earth (instead of being a disguised alien, the Propaganda Speaker from XCOM 2 would be one of these humans). Shennong, despite being subjected to the same treatments, remains the paranoid, anti-social guy we know. Luckily, either Eigong or Goumang chose to keep him around as a (probably) harmless anomaly they could observe. However, one day he got fed up enough to break out of the livestock pen and, through sheer luck, made it off New Kunlun and into Earth's wilderness, where he was discovered by the Reapers. They were obviously sceptical of him at first, but his conspiracy theorist personality and his ability to create booze out of random stuff he eats wins them over.

Some of the more devoted fighters have even begun to follow his example and eat poisonous animals and plants they find or grow (in small amounts, obviously), which in gameplay would give them immunity against poison and/or other negative status effects.

Once XCOM has made proper contact with the Reapers, Yi and Shennong hit it off over their shared drinking habit. From then on, XCOM can find and pick up both exotic poisons to trade to him, as well as different types of booze from all over the world that he and Yi can enjoy together.

The Skirmishers (will probably change the name, but haven't thought of one yet): In XCOM 2, they were part of ADVENT's genetically altered army that broke free of their mind control. Similarly, here they're soldiers from the biomechanical army, primarily the Red Tiger Legion, that somehow gained sentience and went rogue. I'm not quite set on how they would be in combat compared to game Skirmishers, though they definitely have their grappling hooks.

Their leader is obviously Chiyou. He made it off New Kunlun soon after it landed and began wandering the Earth, marvelling at its beauty and cultures. Once he encountered other self-aware robots, he happily joined up with them, helping them comprehend their newfound state of freedom with his philosophies. Their primary goal now is to keep their freedom, while helping any other Solarian weapons find theirs. Their storyline would involve XCOM having to destroy Xingtian (probably multiple times, like in the actual game) to put him out of his mindless misery.

There's also a group of geno-soldier scholars that has grown to share Chiyou's appreciation for art and belief in nonviolence. Yi's XCOM can find and give their little circle various artistic works to safeguard and contemplate over (though they've promised to return them once peace and freedom have been restored)

The Neo-Fangshi (aka solcom!Templars): Once the Fusang's roots had spread throughout the world, it didn't take long for humans to start developing or even getting born with a connection to it, much like Heng. Some have even accessed the Limitless Realm and witnessed the great Tao. This has led to a revival of Taoist beliefs in places across the Earth, something the Sols haven't been too happy about due to their science-centric worldview.

Geist (I might change his name as well), in this AU, developed a particularly strong connection to the Limitless Realm, catching glimpses of Lear and his younger warrior form. From records the Sols had made public to humans, he learned about Lear's accomplishments as a scientist and fighter and was inspired to follow in his footsteps. Geist and like-minded 'gifted' humans decided that the power the original Fangshi gained from the Limitless Realm isn't to be ignored like the Sols are seemingly doing. Their New Fangshi guild is dedicated to both using advanced technology and cultivating their qi abilities to become more powerful, so that they may one day bring down the Sols' regime and bring humanity into a new era themselves.

Geist's ambitions are challenged somewhat towards the end of the story (which I've been able to develop somewhat), when XCOM raids Kunlun's Grotto of Scriptures and retrieves the holorecording of his dear Lear's Declaration of Inaction, which Yi gives to him. Soon after, both of them are summoned to the Limitless Realm, where Geist gets to properly meet Lear for the first time. The old master lectures them on what being a Taoist actually means, including telling his story about the Demon Dog. This is even more sobering to Geist, who begins to realize that, with how power hungry most of them are, he, like Lear long ago, may have to put down his fellow Fangshi if there is to be lasting peace after the Sols are defeated.

In terms of fighting style, the Fangshi are like XCOM 2 Templars, whose style in turn is incidentally a lot like Yi's style in his game (which is what inspired me to make them Fangshi like him here). Both use basically magic (psionic energy and qi/rhizomatic energy, respectively) to conjure blades for attacking and to avoid damage through parrying. So yeah.

[etherealvoidechoes]

An Unlikely Bond - Pt. 3 of 3

Parts: 1||2||3(You are here) - Links will be updated as the chapters are posted. Currently in the queue.

May be posted on Ao3 and FF.net later.

Content warnings for the usual language. Mental invasion. Violence via memories which includes murder(and faked suicide(it's more murder.)

Approx. 8.2k.

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Moments later, they reappeared with another ping outside the Isolation Room to the Psionics Training Grounds.

Zhang roughly cleared his throat as he fought off the dizzying effects of teleportation. Something he strongly detested despite how useful the skill was. Just something about it his body did not like. 

“Quickly, follow.” Geist was already beside the door to the Isolation Room. Raising his hand to the door, a bolt of purple energy leaped from his palm and struck the door. The next second, several circular patterns appeared on the door before several locks clicked and turned before it finally opened. Heavy purple mists tumbled and rolled out of the doorway, followed by streams of psionic energy.

Zhang’s nose wrinkled at the heavy metallic smell of Elerium and other alien metals that were psionic sensitive. He thought he would have been used to them by now, but he wasn’t. 

Once both were inside, the door shut and locked itself.

“Sit there. Collar off. Don’t lower your defenses until I tell you to.” Geist gestured to the spot beside himself. A thick mat covered the cool metallic flooring.

Zhang simply nodded, sat down, and took his collar off. He shuddered, feeling his psioncis reach out and mingle concentrated psionic energy once it was freed from the collar. For a moment, it was intoxicating, just like when he awoke from his time in the sarcophagus to awaken his powers before it all subsided. So much power.

He kept his eyes trained on Geist and watched the man make sweeping motions with his hands, shortly followed by streams of psionic energy. The energy permeating the room swirled around them.

He could feel the subtle changes in the air, both physically and mentally. Priming the room with more psionic energy for the mental bridging that would take place, reinforcing the barriers in the Isolation Room, and he could only assume several more precautions were being set. 

“Okay.” Geist returned his hands to his lap. He took in several deep breaths before he raised a hand and brought it towards Zhang’s head. “Lower your defenses. Open yourself to me.”

Zhang took in a breath before letting out a sharp exhale and closed his eyes. It took him a moment to still himself and lower his barriers. “Done.”

As soon as the word left Zhang’s mouth, he felt Geist enter his mind. He did several quick sweeps before he started to dive deeper into Zhang’s mind. He carefully sifted through the patterns and connections of his psionic signature. Purposefully pressing and testing the parts of his mind and powers the Elders had damaged. Even with the lowered defensive, Zhang’s psionics reflexively bite back in defense. He couldn’t find Their touch, nor any of Their creations. Nothing felt out of place.

Geist refocused his efforts to find that connection that had spontaneously formed between the two earlier. In a little time, he located it. It was faint, barely humming with any energy. He probed it, lighting it up energy before severing it and forcing a connection again. He did this a few times, much to Zhang’s growing discomfort, but with the last closure of the connection, Geist couldn’t find a source for this issue.

Geist did a little more probing before he began to recall his psionics. The patterns swirling in the air grew calm.

“This is… escaping me.” He let out a heavy sigh. He opened his eyes and looked at Zhang. “I’m not finding anything out of place. No touch of the Elders of their thralls.”

“Hm.” Not the news Zhang wanted to hear, but was expecting it. The only good news was the Elders were not involved. “Seems we may have to—HEY!” He felt a sudden surge of energy run up his spine.

“Hm!?” So did Geist.

The next second, both felt a strong series of tugs on their respective minds, ones that slowly pulled their powers loose from their body before a connection was suddenly established. 

The surrounding energy wisps and orbs in the air seemed to jitter and jolt, sensing the sudden reconnection between the two.

“What are you doing now?” Zhang spat, but not at him, but towards the pain coursing down his spine and synapses. 

“N-n-nothing!” Geist struggled to catch his breath as he too was caught off guard by the sudden pain. “This isn’t me.”

Before either could say another word, another surge of energy silenced both.  

“Aaah…” Geist hissed. Raising his hands, his fingers fluttered around, catching control of the errant energies around them. “D-don’t… d-don’t do anything. Let me fix this.” He didn’t want to risk Zhang’s psionics becoming damaged once more from this strange phenomenon. 

It took some time to stabilize the psionics around them, which alleviated some of the pain and pressure thumping against their skulls. But that sudden connection was holding strong. What was the cause of that?

“This may… this may cause more pain.” Geist warned before he delved back into Zhang’s mind since he could feel a majority of that pull was coming from there. 

Barely scratching the surface, he found the source. A maelstrom of energy of swirling energy in a partially ordered structure of Zhang’s mind. Strands were erratically reaching out before collapsing back around the connection. The source of their pain.

“Let’s see, let’s see, let’s see.” He carefully weaved his psionics around it to figure out what was going on and find the right spot to sever it. As he came closer, he hissed as he felt a sudden pull once more and reach deeper into him. It reminded him too much of a Sectoid trying to claw its way into his mind. 

Instinctively increasing his defenses, the pull only grew worse. That made no sense. It should have decreased. 

He was beginning to regret his decision to keep this matter private. He should have pulled aside another top-tier psion, like Vixen. There was no time to find one now and it would be dangerous to leave this room with the state both of them were in. He would figure out this mess hopefully before it some sort of feedback would fry their minds.

Keeping his defenses high, Geist went back to examining this connection. The erratic nature of the strands and how they collapsed back into the connection between the two. How they were trying to break down his barrier. Why? Why? Why?

Hundreds of theories were running through his mind. What was it?

“Wait…” He felt something. Noticed something different. He noticed a pattern in the strands. It wasn’t entirely erratic, and they weren’t collapsing, per se. They were searching and attempting to weave something. “Wait… wait…” Weave. 

His mind drifted back to what he was doing earlier, before all of this. Something he had been delving more and more into for the past month since its discovery had been noted in some of the psions interspersed with him delving deeper to better understand the Earth’s psionics and this Void, it all called back to.

“Could this be…?” His eyes fluttered open with excitement. A Psionic Bond forming? It’s quite different from the reports, but with Zhang’s current condition could explain the volatility. More thoughts race through his mind. Could it be? Should I? He was tempted to lower his defenses completely and let things take their natural course. But there were risks.

“Zhang.” Geist spoke calmly. “I’m going to try something. Don’t alter your defenses. Don’t react. Stay calm. Let the psionics flow.” He was decided. It was worth the risk. 

Zhang just let out a grunt of pain.

It took him a few moments to still himself and let himself drop his guard. The barrier lowered tick by tick. They felt a surge of energy ripple across the connection several times before it finally hit its crescendo and calmed down.

Moments later, he felt most of the pain burning his nerves and pounding against his skull wash away. Now, it was just faint tingles as he felt an occasional pulse coming from the connection. It was slow, but progressing from Zhang’s side. 

Better. He could faintly pick up Zhang was no longer in pain. Perhaps opening myself up more can help? It was another risk, but he was willing to take it. Void guide me.

A brief moment of concentration before he felt the concentrated energy of the room wash over and through him. As that happened, he felt his psionic power reach out towards Zhang and strengthen the growing weave. He could feel something growing. Something changing. Hm, yes, yes yes.

“Geist.” Zhang finally spoke. “What is—”

“Shh.” Raising a hand, he hushed him. “Wait.”

The two sat in silence. Geist kept a close watch on the growing weave.

As it inched closer and closer, he could feel the energies shift around and within them. It felt familiar to a growing mind meld, yet simultaneously different.

Slowly, he could sense Zhang’s growing confusion mixed with the irritation of being left in the dark. The sensations running through the man’s body and those synapses reworking themselves to accommodate this change. And then he picked up on his thoughts. “There’s always something with psionics. This damn cu— wait…” 

“You sense me, don’t you? But deeper than before, yes?” Geist said. The excited smile he was wearing. Yes! Yes! This is unorthodox, but this is a bond forming!

Zhang didn’t reply. He didn’t need to. Geist could sense and hear it all. Thoughts and emotions were nearly unfiltered. His bewilderment and more annoyance. Was he purposefully being cryptic and how he could even reply to that? And then it clicked. Zhang was beginning to sense Geist’s growing excitement, which only confused him more.

“Dig a little, and you’ll soon figure it out.” Geist told him.

Still no reply from the man, but he did as he was instructed and only grew more confused. He could sense more of Geist’s emotions unfiltered and was beginning to pick up on the intricacies of the man’s unique psionic signature. And then he finally heard his thoughts. “Figured it out yet? Not exactly how I thought I would forge another psionic bond.”

Psionic bond…

Zhang’s shoulders slumped. “Seriously…?” Why? “You have got to be kidding me…” Throwing his head back, an exasperated sigh came out. Why!? Why Geist of all people? He knew there was always a chance of him developing such a bond with another psion, but Geist? The man was irritating enough. Just his luck for him to be his lucky partner. “We can’t stop this… can we?”

Geist shook his head. “No. Let it take its course. We can reestablish boundaries once it is done.” The man closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths before letting himself slip into a deeper meditative trance. 

Zhang cursed under his breath. But what could he do? Nothing. Now, was just thinking of the boundaries he was going to reinforce with the man. 

He soon followed the same actions as Geist and entered a deeper trance.

Time ticked by as the bond between the two continued to form and weave their psionic signatures together. As painful as it all began, it all washed away, leaving beaming curiosity on Geist’s end and an eerie unease on Zhang’s.

Braid after braid, more and more of their emotions became plain to each other, as so did their thoughts. Their innermost thoughts. Ones that psions took great care to hide from others.

Raising a hand to his face, Geist stifled a chuckle as he felt a wave of embarrassment trickle over from Zhang’s mind as he saw the many thoughts, some colorful, on how he viewed him and his mannerisms. It was nothing new. He had heard it many times from others and would hear it many times more. Just a fair trade in kind for unlocking his true self.

Again, he felt that embarrassment shift between unease and shame as Zhang detected Geist’s thoughts on him. There was barely a negative thought about the man minus he needed to stop being so cagey and cold at times when he interacted with others, but he stood why. That checked past of his. But he found what Zhang did, turning on his bosses, to be a noble thing. He could have followed their orders or, hell, thrown his lot in with the aliens. A weaker man would have done that, and he was anything but that.

As the connection weaved deeper, memories began to flow. 

It first began with more current events. It was fragmented and didn’t flow in any particular order. Debriefings. Training sessions and weapons tests. Chatting with friends. And a few on-the-field operations. 

Then they slowly began to shift further down the line. Months to many years back. Just to the beginning of the world going to hell as the aliens began their invasion and then times before, most of the Earth was unaware there was intelligent, yet sadly, hostile life beyond our Solar System. The pure ignorance of bliss when their lives were less complicated.

But just as these memories were about to flow, Geist felt a sudden block. 

“Hm?” Carefully, he reached out only to find a fierce wall holding back the tide of fragmented memories that wanted to flow toward him. There was a mixture of anger, shame, guilt, and frustration. “Zhang?”

“No.” Zhang spoke through his teeth. There was some anger, but not fully directed at Geist.

Oh dear, what now? He opened his eyes and turned to face Zhang. It didn’t surprise him to see a fierce expression fixed on him like a set of daggers. He just studied the expression. Why? His mouth began to open.

“No, Geist.” Zhang spoke curtly before a word could slip out.

Geist raised a brow. “You’re only making things more difficult by stopping this weave. It has to continue. It will continue despite your efforts. The memories must flow.”

“No. Not these memories.” Zhang said through his teeth.

“Not these memories?” Geist questioned, which only made Zhang’s hostile expression increase. He felt some of that anger be shifted to him and sensed one of his surface thoughts.

“Mùtourén. Idiot. He can’t be that daft.”

Geist only raised his brows more, lips pulling back as he bit his bottom lip out to keep himself from replying out of sheer offense. What has him more twisted up than usual? Just as he was going to dwell on the thought, he felt something slip through Zhang’s mental grasp that his own psionics were all too happy to snatch up.

“No, no, no!” He could feel Zhang desperately try to catch it, claw it back, and bury it. But it evaded him. Geist’s psionics refused to relinquish it.

He could sense why he was so desperate. Grief, pain, and betrayal radiated off to if.

As it zoomed through their connection over to his side, he shuttered. More of those emotions came crashing through. They were heavy. And then he could feel a certain set of thoughts, thoughts Zhang was attempting to force back coming forth.   

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.” Zhang’s thoughts repeated and repeated, no matter how hard the man tried to stop them.

With the memory firmly within his psionics, Geist began to process it. Unfold the memory and all it held within. 

Zhang physically shifted, lunging at Geist only for a surge of energy to paralyze him. “Stop!” He raised his voice. One last desperate plea for his privacy. Geist, more or so his psionics wanting this bond to continue, did not head it.

Another wave of emotions hit Geist, shutting out Zhang’s attempts to stop him.

He froze. “Oh.” He understood why.

It was an old memory. Many years after, Zhang was comfortable in his fairly high position in his Triad clan. He was given an opportunity to check on an old member of the clan who was an old friend of his. Kit was his name. A nickname as he had an affinity for an American treat by the same name. He had “retired” some years ago after a retaliation from a rival clan his family in the crossfire. Somehow, he transitioned himself into a more simple life and kept sparse contact with the Triad. But, someone heard down the grapevine they were a rat. 

Zhang didn’t want to believe it. The man was loyal through and through. He never spilled his guts when he was accosted by some police after he and Zhang crossed paths one day and caught a bite to eat. He quickly offered to get the job done and his bosses were more than pleased to give it to him, as he would be thorough. He was always thorough. Reliable. 

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.”

Within a day, Zhang called Kit. Just a quick little chat to see how he was doing, to gauge if he sounded off or paranoid. Nothing sounded off, besides him sounding tired, which made sense for his age. Working that silver tongue, he invited himself over with the promise of bringing his favorite drink and the candy he loved. 

One would think the cursory call would tip Kit off, hinting that they were onto him. For Zhang, it was another part of the test. Though it had been some time since he had been to the man’s place, it wasn’t the first time he had been to the home of someone colluding with the cops. Something would have been out-of-place inside or outside the home.

Days later, Zhang arrived at Kit’s residence. A fairly nice apartment block. He examined his surroundings first. Nothing looked off and checks beforehand by other members noted they only saw the occasional patrol roll through the streets.

With his surroundings checked, he headed to the level Kit called home and knocked. 

Genuine pleasantries were greetings were exchanged when he saw his old friend. He did miss him. Much to his surprise, two other people were there. Kit introduced his new girlfriend — in his opinion was too young for him — and her brother, who was crashing with them due to falling on hard times but was pulling his weight. Much to Zhang’s relief, the two were leaving to do a grocery store run. But he kept it in the back of his mind both could have been undercover agents.

As the two left, and before he knew it, Kit snatched the drink from Zhang’s hands and ushered him to a more private room so they could catch up. As they entered, Zhang checked around, pretending like he was checking out the bookcase or admiring some artwork on the wall to see if any bugs or wires were around, and taking care to leave little to no fingerprints. Everything looked clear.

Booze pouring and cigarettes lit, the two began to catch up on life and how things had been changing in China. Just simply things and annoyances such as Kit’s neighbor’s kids kept knocking over his plant pots in the back. The man was trying hard to grow some herbs.

But as they discussed things, Zhang noticed the man would occasionally ask him how things were doing with the old gang in a roundabout way. Mainly he pointed at a new scar on Zhang’s hand asking how it got that or asked how someone in the clan they knew was doing, and if “so and so” was still alive or did their bullheadedness finally landed them in the grave. Zhang found that odd.

Ever since that gang war went sour, Kit detested any mention of his old life when possible and always tried to distance himself from any of those conversations. Zhang respected that and that was one reason why he kept sparse contact with him. 

That was an immediate red flag for Zhang. He felt a part of his heart sink. Now he had to press more, but cautiously. He had to fake his “slip-ups” to see if that would make Kit ask more questions. As he did so, his eyes methodically scanned the room once more to see if anything was out of place. Again, everything looked normal. 

Geist felt a flood of negative emotions strike him as Zhang plays this plot. It worked. Kit slowly started asking more questions.

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.”

Out of precaution, Zhang continued to keep his answers vague to avoid potential problems and incrimination if there was a recorder he couldn’t find. Their chat kept going and going on until Kit mentioned a smuggling bust that caught three Triad clans. Except this bust hadn’t reached the news yet. 

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.”

That was it. That was all Zhang needed to hear. His demeanor turned cold and distant. 

As Kit turned to refill his cup with more alcohol and he turned back, he froze, nearly dropping his glass. A stone-cold expression had replaced the once warm, jovial face of a friend. And then he felt it. Glancing down against his chest was the tip of a knife. All the color drained from his face. 

Zhang only spoke two words to his friend. If he could call him that anymore. “How long?”

Kit stammered and stammered before it all spilled out of his mouth like an avalanche. Survivors from that other clan had found him again. Threatened him and his new life. He was afraid. He didn’t want to return to his old life for protection, so he went to the police. He told them bits and pieces, which slowly became more and more information over the months. 

Zhang couldn’t believe his ears. The rumors were true. How could a man so loyal fall so low? He demanded details about what was told and who his police contacts were. Kit hesitated. Zhang pressed again. 

“No! I’ll be a dead man!” Kit pleaded.

That knife shifted to his neck and pressed hard. “You’re already a dead man.”

Hearing those words, Kit knew he was done.

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.”

The two soon struggle over the knife.

Another wave of negative emotions and energy struck Geist, causing him to double over in pain. They grew in intensity as the two struggled.

The coffee table flipped over. Papers and that good alcohol went flying. And so did that knife. Now the two were on the floor, each struggling to pin the other to gain the upper hand and get that knife.

Though Kit knew it was most likely over for him, he still pleaded with his friend for mercy to just forget everything they talked about. There was only silence(minus grunts) from Zhang. His mind was settled. He had a task to complete. 

The silence only made Kit more frantic. A swift knee to the guts caused Zhang to cry out and lose his grip. He curled inwards as Kit stumbled to his legs like a wobbling goat to get the knife. By the time he got it and turned, he froze once more. 

Zhang always kept a gun on him. His trusty FN Five-Seven. This time with a suppressor. It was firm in his hands and his finger was already tugging at the trigger.

Seeing that suppressor, Kit’s throat trembled as he closed his eyes for a moment. Even if he told the truth after Zhang figured him out, he was going to kill him? Wasn’t he? His grip tightened on the knife. Opening his eyes, determination filled them. A fearful one. He charged forward. 

Four shots rang out. 

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.”

One missed but the others hit. Two to the chest and one to the head. Blood spray painted the ceiling. Kit staggered before hitting the floor dead. The knife clattered across the floor. 

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.” That maddened mantra only grew louder.

“Bèndàn. Bèndàn!” Zhang didn’t have time to contemplate what had just transpired. He quickly got to his feet and retrieved the bullet casings, his knife, and that bottle before leaving the property. He was quick to call his bosses concerning the matter. The job was completed, but not to his preferred standard. A place needed to be ransacked and torched ASAP. Two people needed to be intimidated, to be kept silent or disappear. And they needed their moles to keep the heat off of him and damage some intel. Also, they needed to scramble all their current activities, as they could be compromised. He would fill them in the details later.

Zhang went into hiding for a few weeks as the clan took care of what they could and the homicide case went cold. By the time he was nearly ready to be active again, he had two final loose ends to clean up. Collateral damage he was hoping to avoid.

The initial intimidations to keep Kit’s girlfriend and her brother silent were beginning to break. He had to fix that. They knew his face and perhaps knew too much if Kit had loose lips as he did with the cops. A little more murder would fix that. With the help of a few other clan members, they made it look like suicide for both of them. The girlfriend couldn’t live without him and hanged herself and her brother had nowhere to go next, drunk himself to death by stepping off a bridge into a watery grave. 

“It had to be done.” The mantra finally came to an end.

As the memory came to an end, Geist gasped for air. How suffocating all the emotions were. He could still tell Zhang was still angry and sad about that day. And he could feel he was more guarded than ever.

He looked at him again. Looked like the sudden paralysis was gone and the man moved back to his seat. He studied that face. It was still laced with anger, and this time his lips twisted into a grimace as he barred his teeth. But he noticed a faint twinkle, faint trickles running down the sides of his face.

“See?” Zhang nearly growled. 

Geist simply nodded. “I… I think I understand.” He paused, knowing he had to carefully choose his next words. “I’m going to take a shot in the dark and ask, are you afraid if I saw these memories of your past life, it would change my perception of you?”

“No.” He was short. “I don’t care what you or anyone here thinks of me. I rather keep those dealings private.”

“Zhang…” Geist let out a disappointed sigh. Despite how harsh his voice was, he could sense the truth underlying it. It was a half lie. “I do tend to look past your background, but I strongly believe viewing these memories will barely shift how I perceive you now.” He spoke truthfully. “Have you done distasteful things? I can only assume so with whatever trusted ranking you had in the Triad, but even some bad people can be good deep down.”

Zhang only narrowed his eyes. Geist could sense he wasn’t buying what he was saying. But he also sensed a subtle murmur. A part of him that believed.

Geist raised his hand to his face and tapped at his chin. How to make the man admit it? How to make him believe him and reopen himself? Those barriers needed to come down to let the memories flow and let this bond be established before it would force it. Did he have any of his own memories that he could share? Well, nothing to the disturbing degree of Zhang’s. He had no criminal record. He snorted. Mostly none. He had his fair share of trouble-making in his youth. 

“Hm.” He tapped away at his chin. Maybe something from his early life. An intimate memory with family and friends? Or Maybe something from his army days before joining XCOM? 

Maybe… maybe.. yes. That’s it. A particular one came to mind. One he guarded near and dear to his core and hadn’t shared with another he had bonded with.

“Zhang,” Geist looked at him again, “it may not be to the same degree as that memory I witnessed, but I share this with you.” As he spoke, he gestured a psionically imbued hand towards him. As he did so, a memory flowed down the connection to Zhang. 

Zhang didn’t have much say in stopping it as his own psionics greedily latched onto it and began to unfurl the memory. As he did so, a stream of Geist’s emotions flooded into his mind. 

Excitement, hesitation, fear, pain. A great deal of fear. It was suffocating. He gasped for air.

As his psionics picked through the sea of emotions, the memory became more clear. 

It was one of the Labs. Within the room was a sealed chamber. There were two cold metal tables. On one slab was the dissected corpse of a Sectoid and on the other was one that looked modified like it was a stepping stone to that more troublesome Commander variant. Both of their skulls were cracked open revealing their massive brains and many implants the Elders placed within.

Sitting in some jury-rigged but high-tech-looking chair between the two slabs was Geist. A massive mess of cables ran from the chair to both of the alien corpses, connecting into various parts of their bodies and those implants. Additionally, a mass of cables were attached to Geist, most being on the head via a cap that was all running back into the chair.

Nearby, in PPE gear, Dr. Vahlen and Dr. Marin were giving instructions to their assistants for the experiment. Some were connecting recovered alien containers that held a psionically enriched elerium gas as they were beginning to pump into the chamber. Others were monitoring stations, watching the faint psionic activity in the Sectoids’ brains and waiting for the orders to stimulate them. Others were watching the machines that were administering a steady flow of pre-programmed Meld into Geist. 

It took Zhang a moment to make sense of the memory so far, but he was able to quickly deduce this must have been one of the many experiments Dr. Vahlen and her team tabled with as they studied psionics. It looked so strange, almost barbaric to what they did now. 

As the memory continued to play out, he could feel that fear in Geist grow more as that elerium gas flowed into the chamber. It spiked when he heard Vahlen give the orders to stimulate the Sectoids.

“Here we go.” Past Geist mumbled to himself as he closed his eyes, preparing himself for another round of pain. 

The moment he inhaled that metal-tainted gas, pain ripped through his body. Zhang felt it too. Geist’s brain; his nerves felt like they were being set on fire as the powers of the Sectoids’ and their lingering thoughts sputtered to life and flowed into him. The intensity only grew as that elerium gas continued to fill the chamber and rolled over the corpses.

Purple whips and pops of psionic energy crackled through the air and around him. 

Minutes passed for the experiment, and the pain only grew worse. It had barely reached the 10-minute mark when Vahlen was about to pull the plug as she noticed Geist’s heart rate was becoming irregular.

“Keep… k-k-keep going.” Geist spat out between waves of pain.

“Are you sure?” Vahlen was hesitant to listen. Your heart is—”

“Keep going.” There was determination in his voice. “Th-t-this feeeeeels different. I-i-in-ncrease the power!”

Vahlen was hesitant, but told them to raise the power. Slowly.

As the memory continued, Zhang could sense there was more fear in Geist that this venture would finally kill him, but another sensation was flooding his system. What was it? He was hesitant to dig until he felt several pushes from Geist’s connection. Curiosity. 

He could feel that sensation bubbling deep within as something was shifting inside of Geist. That power was on the cusp of being released within him. Power that the Earth, that something from beyond the veil, was ready to let him in. 

The psionic energy within the chamber began to grow. The air filled with wisps, sparks, and crackles. Warning notifications and Warning klaxons suddenly went off. Shouts from those handling the Sectoids mentioned their systems were being overloaded. Before they could react, their systems were overwhelmed. The equipment fried, sending out plumes of smoke and sparks. The same happened back in the sealed chamber. Sparks shot off and smoke rose from the skulls of the Sectoids as their implants were overloaded. The same began to happen to Geist’s chair as the man let out a scream of pain before going dead silent. His vitals dropped.

Vahlen immediately pulled the plug and ordered for the chamber to be cleared of gas and opened now.

Geist didn’t hear anything of this. He was somewhere else.

For a second, Zhang felt like he was Geist. Temporarily pulled from this world and into another. A free-floating void. 

He could feel Earth’s natural psionic energy wipe away and replace what had been pulled from the Sectoids. A once-tainted power was made pure.

Then he felt something else. Several if not hundreds of presences. They felt… benevolent. 

You are worthy. 

A chorus of voices spoke. At first, he thought it was the Elders, but they didn’t sound like those bastards nor feel like them.

“What the hell.” He muttered as he became more engrossed by this memory. He never experienced this as his psionics were unlocked, from what he could recall. Nor did he hear stories from the other psions of something like this happening. 

Just as he was becoming engrossed by this oddity, he felt something else reach out to Geist. This one felt closer to Earth. Closer to the Base. It was more gentle as it probed over Geist. A moment later, a stream of energy entered him. Geist’s lungs sputtered back to life.

Just in time. What a risk taken, but this experiment has finally borne fruit. This is a good sign for us. The next step in humanity’s evolution. Now to refine it to be less dangerous.

He could hear this being’s thoughts. There was a faint echo to it.

 Hm. And another potential Host with how your synaptic connections are growing and resonating. Time to plant a seed. 

He felt that presence flow more energy into Geist before it left as suddenly as it appeared.

The next moment, Geist just felt something click within his being and he was back in the labs like he had never flatlined.  

Half of the gas had barely vacated the chamber by the time Vahlen and her cohorts had entered. They were checking his vitals, shocked to see how they had suddenly bounced back, as they were undoing his restraints to free him from the chair.

“Si— ! Si— ! Are you there? Are you okay?” Vahlen was doing her best to stay calm.

“I’m… ngh,” Geist paused, voice wavering. A wave of energy shifted inside of him making his head throb. “I’m… okay. Fine, really. More than fine.”

As the last of the restraints and cables were undone and that cap was removed from his head, Geist told them to stand back as he shifted to his feet.

His movement was unstable as he raised himself up. The world was spinning. Just as he took a step forward, he felt a surge of energy rip through him, causing all his nerves to fire off. His eyes ignited a bright purple. A gasp escaped as he fell to his knees. Someone moved to assist him but quickly backed off as psionic energy began to swirl around him. 

“Wait… wait… Yes.” Geist muttered. He tapped his fingers against the metal floors before pressing his palm against it. “Yes, yes, yes.”

Confidence flooding his system, he lifted himself back up. He looked around, paying no attention to the awe-stricken faces as he studied the energy flowing around him.  He raised his left hand, and with a mere thought, he formed an orb of bristling energy. He raised the other hand, with a mere thought, the surrounding energy swirled around it and into another orb. 

“My God…” Dr. Marin was the first the break the silence.

Vahlen dropped her tablet. Her jaw was slack before a wide, excited smile formed. She was bouncing with excitement. “We’ve done it! We’ve finally done it!”

The others soon matched her excitement. 

Zhang watched as Geist tested his newfound powers as the Science team worked to clean up the area. “So he was one of the first, if not the first?” He noticed Vahlen’s “finally” comment. But that could have been how quickly Geist was showing his capabilities. Either way, watching this memory was…. amazing. He didn’t know what to think, what to say. Geist nearly lost his life, unlocking his potential.

“How are you feeling, Si— ?” Vahlen spoke. 

Wait. Zhang felt something was off with her words. 

“How are you feeling, Si— ?”

Before he knew it, that part of the memory replayed, putting more emphasis on the partial blank.

Geist softly laughed, which only made Zhang look at him. Why was he laughing? “You missed this the first time.” Geist explained. “But were probably more engrossed by my near death and unlocked potential to notice Vahlen calling out my name.”

He studied his words. “Vahlem calling out my name.” Name… Zhang’s eyes widen. He can’t be showing that to me. “Wait… are you?” 

Geist nodding. He raised his hand and with a wave of two fingers; the moment repeated.

“How are you feeling, Silas?” Vahlen said.

Silas. That was his real name? 

“I share a great secret of mine with you. Geist said. 

Zhang stared blankly at him. He had no reply, he just let his and Geist’s psionics take over to continue the memory.

Vahlen walked around Geist, waiting for an answer. She watched as the man spawned several psionic orbs and effortlessly rolled them through his fingers before letting them all disappear into faint wisps of smoke.

“I’m,” Geist paused as he tilted his head back and forth as he rocked on his heels, “feeling fine. Better than fine.” He smiled. One so familiar to Zhang. “And please, don’t call me that anymore. It’s just not…” He let out a long hm as he tapped his chin. “It’s just not fitting anymore. That old man is dead, buried under the sea.” Seemed like that philosophical side of him was already appearing.

Vahlen raised a brow before she looked at Marin, who was equally confused. She was already making notes for a physiological evaluation. “Okaaay. Then what shall we call you?”

Geist let out another long hm as he paced back and forth. What to choose for his psionic baptism? As he paced and paced around the good doctors, he took glances at their tablets to see what they were writing about the successful experiment and him. Then he saw it. His name, full name. Silas R. Leland. And then that callsign. Geist. Geist. Yes, that feels right.

He stopped his pacing in front of the doctors and cracked his signature smile. “Geist. That shall do. I have been reborn anew.” 

“Well,” Marin paused as he snorted, “that’s an easy switch.”

“Geist it is.” Vahlen simply nodded.

The memory came to an end.

The two sat in silence. 

Zhang was still digesting all he saw. What was revealed to him. The pain and near death Geist went through, whatever his otherworldly encounter was, and then his name. His real name.

“Why show me this?” Zhang broke the silence.

Geist let out a snort. “Do I even need to answer?” A little sarcasm came through his voice. “Do what you will with the information.”

Zhang wrinkled his nose for a moment before relenting. This memory didn’t match his own memory that slipped through the gaps, but it didn’t take a genius to realize Geist shared something he kept guarded. Faintly, he could sense what transpired deeply affected him and changed him in more ways than one. Those encounters. What was that? He was faintly familiar with the theories Geist had lodged in the database about this Void being connected to Psionics, but couldn’t recall anything about him making note of possibly being contacted by other beings. 

Did Dr. Vahlen and Dr. Marin know? Did Commander Reeves know? If not, there had to be a reason why he was keeping them in the dark.

“You are… very trusting.” Zhang said, nearly mumbling under his best. 

There was more silence between the two. Like Geist could sense he wasn’t done. 

Zhang let out a gruff sigh as he shifted uncomfortably. He knew what he needed to do but was still hesitant. Yet, he found himself slowly relinquishing his death grip on his memories and letting them trickle through that connection once more. “And maybe, so should I.”

Geist only nodded in return. He felt words would ruin the moment. He could feel the flow between the two of them flow uninterrupted once more.

More moments and more intimate memories flowed between the two until their psionics were satisfied and gradually shifted back to them, feeling each other’s emotions. But it was different this time. They were entering an odd resonance of sorts, as they pushed and pulled on their senses and they became more in tune with each other. 

It continued for some more time before it all naturally faded away. There was no more pain. No flow of errant emotions. No more rushing energy. There was still a connection. Faint, but still there. A connection that had deeply changed the two.

“Is it finally over?” Zhang broke the silence.

“I believe so.” Geist said.

“Do all psionic bonds form like this?” He was curious.

“No, buuuuut…” Geist bit his tongue for a moment. How to explain why this went so strangely. “I believe the circumstances of your still healing psioncis cause this bond to form in a much more unorthodox way.”

Zhang snorted at that. He felt that was an understatement.

“I’m been studying this phenomenon for some time and it seems to be a more gradual development as one psionics will naturally find another they resonate with.” Geist. did his best to put it in simple terms. Then he started to laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Seems like yours wanted to skip several steps and mine was more than happy to help with that!”

“Just my luck.” He shook his head. “So, where does this put us?”

Geist was silent for some time. His eyes shifted all around the room as he tapped at his chin. “Most likely we’ll be fielded together more often. Relations wise as I sense that’s what you mean, hopefully, we can still be acquaintances.”  

Zhang’s throat trembled as he took down a hard swallow and mumbled under his breath. Lovely, just lovely. My life is changing again. “New things to adjust to. Again.” He tried his best not to be annoyed. As Geist sensed within him, he meant something else. He could sense there was something behind acquaintances. “And maybe… Just maybe.” He paused as he dug deeper into that meaning. Tapping at their newfound connection. 

Geist raised a brow, feeling the dig. 

“Eventually friends.” Zhang’s face was plain. 

Geist’s eyes lit up with surprise. Was he hearing things? Especially with all those negative thoughts the man had about him since this began and up till now?

The next moment, cracks of an evil grin crept across Zhang’s face. “I’d hate to have to kill you for what you’ve seen. Don’t think the Commander would like that.”

It took a moment for Geist as he was still processing the friend comment and then had to process the next set of sentences. But once he did, he couldn’t help but laugh and roll his eyes.

“Nor do I think the Commander would like your brain fried so I can keep my secrets.” He made his own little threat.

The two laughed.

“Speaking of Commander.” Geist’s posture began to relax as he leaned back on one of his arms. “Does Reeves know what your handler has been calling her under her breath?” He caught a glimpse of a memory of one of the private meetings Zhang would be called to from time to time. At first, he couldn’t make sense of the Mandarin until something clicked, and the language became clear to the racist slurs that the handler was calling Commander Reeves shocked him.

Zhang bristled for a moment, remembering those words all too well. “She already knows. Has known for a long, long time.”

“Really?”

Zhang nodded. “She’s waiting for just the right moment to say something in Mandarin to her.”

“Oh, ho, ho!” Geist laughed. “To be a fly on the wall when that happens.”

“Now, If I may ask…” Zhang paused. Should he ask? He barely had a second before he felt a few tugs on that psionic connection; almost like Geist knew what he wanted to say. “Why the name change?”

“Ah, that.” He had been waiting for the question. “It’s hard to explain but, I don’t feel like Silas Raphael Leland anymore.” He nonchalantly waved his hand. “In a way, that man died for Geist to be born. But there is a sliver of him is still alive,” he paused, tapping at the center of his chest with his free hand, “deep within.”

“Hm.” Zhang listened intently. He wasn’t sure he fully understood him, but felt he could grasp the concept to some extent. So far he wasn’t feeling like to himself. Somewhat. Ever since he went through the gene mod procedure, he felt differently about himself. And then unlocking his psionics only amplified that feeling but not to the extent he rejected his identity. “I’ll make sure to keep it a secret.”

“Thank you.”

The conversation continued, shifting back to how they would handle their newfound bond and the boundaries they would set. Zhang gave him friendly, but stern warnings for Geist not to overstep them, especially when it came to training, and Geist promised he would do his best to respect that.

As they began to wrap up their discussions, Geist informed him we would have to inform the Psionics team and Commander Reeves of what happened. He was free to join him or go on his way.

Zhang thought about it for a moment. Better to bite the bullet now and be there when Geist told all, instead of being called to a meeting at another time. He joined him.

“Wait.” Zhang grabbed his shoulder just before they were about to leave the chamber. “Back when you flatlined and visited that place. You were visited by something.” To think he had nearly forgotten about that. “What was there?”

“Wondered when you were going to ask about that.” Geist turned to face him. “The Void. At least a part of it. I don’t know how to explain it. It wasn’t the Elders. Some sort of ‘higher beings’? I can only presume that are connected to that place. I believe they faintly had something to do with my psionics being unlocked and the rest was the Earth’s natural energies finally resonating in my being.” He tried his best to explain. “Except for the other being that touched me. That one was much closer to home.” 

Zhang listened intently. More concerning and confusing nonsense. There were more aliens out there with psionic power that most likely dwarfed their own. At least they seemed nice. “Closer to home?” He questioned that statement.

“Just think of what I mentioned some time ago when we had a chance meeting with the Commander.” 

Zhang furrowed his brow. Why did the man always have a roundabout way of telling him these things? It always seemed like he wanted him to work his brain. He searched for his thoughts for the last time they crossed paths with Commander Reeves. His eyes dropped to the floor, bouncing from tile to tile as he processed information until his eyes abruptly went wide, nearly bugging out of their sockets. “That being you sensed within the Commander.”

Geist grinned. “Bingo.”

“When are you going to talk to her, I guess, them, about that?” Zhang said. He could only imagine the revelations that would unfold once that happened.

“In due time. I’ll just know when the time is right. There’s a reason why she or he hasn’t revealed itself to us, especially once the Psionics Division was truly established.” Geist could wait. He didn’t want to push his hand or luck.

As they left the Isolation Room and Psionic Training Grounds, Geist said he would leave out some key details of how it all began, so Zhang didn’t look irrational. Zhang thanked him. 

Little did Zhang know that day going forward, he and Geist would become close friends. 

[astudyinpanda]

rules — shuffle your “on repeat playlist” and list the first ten songs, then tag ten people

Thank you for the tag, @mystical-salamander ! Have some synthwave, TV soundtracks, and trailer music. Sorry about the SPN jumpscare. It's in a playlist for XCOM 2's Avenger mobile base, and I'll have you know it's a perfect fit, tonally.

Reframed Future - Schlepp Geist [genuinely good stuff]

Planet F - Moritz Hofbaur

Beacon (feat. Dimi Kaye) - Volkor X [sampled quote is from the radio drama Earth Abides]

Scrap Metal - Dominic Lewis [drastic tone shift time!]

Cherry Blossoms - Dominic Lewis [I am obsessed with 2:30 to 3:15]

Signals - Timecop1983 [back to synthwave]

Exoplanet (Alex Stein Remix) Intara, Alex Stein, & Third Person

Luna (Extended Mix) - Ann Clue

The Grateful Undead - Christopher Lennertz

Life on the Frontlines - Epic Score

No-pressure tagging: @theres-whump-in-that-nebula @befuddled-calico-whump @gettiregretti @allroseshave-their-thorns @samati @suchanadorer @usedkarma @boxoftheskyking @mossywriting @nonhumanhottie and you if you wanna play

[ask-the-elders-chosen]

[asofterxcom]

darling it’s better

[ltdres-blog]

thinks about Elena and Mox: (◡‿◡✿)

also me: but what about Volk and Betos: (◕‿◕✿) 

Reapers and Skirmishers together in general: (ʘ‿ʘ✿)

[northeasternwind]

BY THE WAY I LAUGH AT MY OWN JOKES

[witharsenicsauce]

Some good comfort fluff that was EXACTLY what I needed today 🥺

I’m still writing.

Barely.

Have some Zhang/Geist fluff

ff.net link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13939955/1/All-we-Need

[ask-manda-of-the-6]

#NewVember Day 9: #Geist, Leader of the #Templar faction in #XCOM2 #WarOfTheChosen.

[glavazz]

Go grocery shopping with, go to ikea with and go clothing shopping with... Dumpling, Titus and Dekster Alternatively 6hours roadtrip (no Radio), 6 Hour flight, 6 hour train journey with... The three leaders of the XCOM 2 factions.

IKEA shopping with Dumpling- Ikea is a great place to hang around in and not buy anything in, unless you specifically went to Ikea to buy something

Clothes shopping with Titus- Great fashion sense, knows how to get good quality stuff without spending too much

Grocery shopping with Dekster- won’t ask for too much snacks and Dumpling would have asked for a complete cake compared to dekster’s sunflower seeds

Road trip with Volk (no radio)- a 6 hour drive is too much without music, Volk is the most interesting of the bunch so hopefully that would keep me from going insane

Plane trip with Betos- I hate the process of going to go to a flight and being in the flight but it’s not as bad as the road trip option and Betos is a great person in my eyes

Train trip with Geist- I’m left with this I just hope nothing happens in the trip

[commanderguixi]

After years and years of fighting on his own, struggling to survive, the X-COM Project's original veteran soldier, Delta 2, the Argentinian Heavy, finally comes back to XCOM, reborn as the figurehead of the Resistance. What is the first thing that happens?

The first thing, naturally, was finding himself facing the Commander, snapping into a brisk salute. The tension in the air was palpable; Bradford beside the silent Kingsley torn between greeting him like an old friend or letting her set the tone and precedent. They hadn’t seen him for years. He thought the man, known back then as Delta 2, was dead.

Kingsley stared, voice lost. Her days of the original XCOM project were steeped with false memories and lucid awareness. The careful crafting of the Elders’ manipulations shadowing over the truth of what happened.

Flashes of reality surfaced past the implanted thoughts in fits and start, blindsiding her. Her gaze roamed – he’d got a few scars, whiter hair and was on a competition to match her for most wrinkles – but the sense of familiarity in the haze of uncertainty was.. frightening, but not unwelcome.

“So..” the Commander starts quietly, meeting his single eye with a neutral look. “I’m glad that Argentina has decided to annex their support and waive the armistice.. twenty years later. Did they realize that the alien’s promises were not as well kept as they originally thought?”

A pin could have dropped. Delta’s lips twitch. Bradford looked between them hesitantly.

Kingsley laughed and laughed hard, which calmed the two men. It wasn’t full of warmth, but not devoid of it, either. It was perhaps the first real laugh she’d had in decades. She waved him at ease and it was only then did he flash a lopsided grin and speak.

“ – You know I never agreed to them pulling support. Including me. Back then, I thought it..”

“.. Sabotage?” Kingsley finished, oddly bemused. Her comparison of Geist’s actions to their little problem country couldn’t have been more apparent than in this case. The Heavy – or rather, a Grenadier now, in their current ammo and arsenal – had the decency to look sheepish on their behalf.

“Yeah.” he plainly agreed. “But hey, I was just a body. Germany took Vahlen from you, so if we’re playing the blaming game..”

Bradford’s eyes hood darkly at the mention of her name, and Kingsley patted his back placating, gesturing Tomas forth not as a Commander, but as an old friend.

“ – We have a lot of catching up to do. Bradford will get you up to speed on the technicalities, but I..” she bit her lip. Finding someone else from the original project meant that there could be other survivors, though her memory was too foggy to be reliant on.

“… Let’s get a drink, first, and I’ll explain.”

[etherealvoidechoes]

An Unlikely Bond - Pt. 2 of 3

Parts: 1||2(You are here)||3 - Links will be updated as the chapters are posted. Currently in the queue.

May be posted on Ao3 and FF.net later.

Content warnings for the usual language. Accidental mental invasion. Part three is where they're violence via memories which includes murder(and faked suicide(it's more murder.)

Approx. 2k.

-----------------------

Days had passed since the incident. Zhang had pushed it to the back of his mind but was still actively avoiding interacting with Geist, though he knew he needed to apologize for his outburst.

Seemed like it was just his psionics acting up and not Geist pulling some psionic trickery to guilt trip him for the psionic training sessions he had been skipping out of spite.

But he still wanted to stew on what had happened. It all just felt off in a way he couldn’t describe. He was sure he felt Geist’s touch on his mind when the voices started, but there was barely a trace of his touch when searched. Maybe it was just another odd quirk of psionics, or Geist had learned a new trick he wasn’t sharing. No. Geist had his quirks but believed the man wouldn’t tempt his luck with the Commander, keeping something like that secret with how some soldiers and staff were weary with the psions at the base.

————

The Hazard Course. The favorite place for all Gene-modded soldiers to put their more physical mods to the test.

Zhang was assisting Training Officer Conrad, per Commander Reeves’ request to put the new round of Gene Modded soldiers through their paces. Specifically, the ones with the “Muscle Fiber Density” leg mod. Zhang didn’t mind assisting, as it gave him something to do around the base and kept his mind occupied. It was time to scale some cliffs. 

“Come on y’all! Y’all can’t keep up with the old man?” Conrad heckled the soldiers that were falling behind Zhang, who was close to the top of the cliff face and was about ready to step off, completing another circuit. He had barely broken a sweat.

A few shot back that they were still disoriented as they were either freshly out of the Gene Labs or were still getting used to the new sensations coursing through their bodies.

“Tch! Tch! EXCUSES!” Conrad wasn’t having it. “And he was leaping bounds like a jack rabbit right out of the tube with 3 other mods in his newly tweaked SYSTEM! What’s y’all’s excuse?”

Zhang was back on the ground floor before he jogged over and leaped up to the platform Conrad was barking his remarks from. He let out a few chuckles and shook his head.

“Go easy on them. It took me some time to warm up before I was ‘leaping like a jackrabbit.’” He said.

Conrad silenced his mic quickly. He smirked. “They don’ need to know that. Besides, when those pheromones and adrenaline kicked in, you were hopping all a‘bout. And you were still movin’ faster than them with two of those mods conflictin’ for a bit.”

Zhang tilted his head back and forth, trying to remember the day. Some details were faint since so much had happened since then. “True… Still, it’ll take them a bit before they’re running circles around me.”

“Tch, heh, heh. I’ll think about it.” He wouldn’t. “Now get back in there!” He unmuted his mic. “Do I need to get Corvo to whip y’all slugs up to speed?”

A collective groan could be heard, but that made everyone pick up the pace.

Zhang just rolled his eyes. What a character the old instructor could be. 

He leaped off the platform and headed back over to that wall. With a coach and spring, he was already at the 8-meter marker and assisting whoever was failing to clear their first jump fully.

It took a few more rounds before most of the fresh batch could clear their first jump without missing it by a few inches or botching the landing, but as the training continued, all were growing confident in their new abilities. 

Another set of rounds was done and Zhang no longer had to assist anyone and just kept a careful watch as the soldiers made their ascent and helped or playfully sabotaged each other. 

Zhang had parked himself on the second-highest overhang and was watching a few soldiers make a race out of their latest round of climbing.

“Heh, youth.” He chuckled to himself as he watched them.

Taking a moment, he had his fingers around this neck, checking his psi-dampening collar. His eyes flashed purple for a moment. “Hm.” Everything felt in order. The collar was sitting just right. No new dings with how training was going today. And that faint, barely irritating disruption was sitting at the back of his mind. Good. Nothing to worry about. 

He smiled to himself. Digging his fingers into the rocky soil. Legs kicked back and forth as he took in the fresh, hot canyon air. He was content.

He watched the soldiers go on, making mental notes here and there. He would pass on to Conrad what each one had to work on. Some were still hesitating, stepping off the ledge, which was causing them to fumble their landings.

“Have to get over the fear of heights.” He noted.

As he made these observations, he didn’t notice a faint static sensation grow in the back of his mind that was slowly shifting to a more familiar psionic tug. One tug, two, three, he finally noticed as it shifted into a skull-splitting series of thumps, causing him to hiss in pain. A hand flew to his head and the other quickly dug into the ground.

The blood between his ears was pulsing with a near-deafening ring. “What… the?” His collar was fine. What was going on?

Concentrating, he searched for the source, only to find a blur of sensations shifting within his mind and psionics. 

Another sharp piercing sensation hit his mind, making him hiss again. He felt a shift in the sensations. A connection began to form and so did a voice. One all too familiar to him.

“Geist.” He growled. “Not this again.”

Just as he had finally pushed the incident to the back of his mind, all the rage from that day came rushing back. 

Grinding his teeth, he worked to still himself and his infuriated thoughts. “Calm, calm. Don’t need an outburst.” He was glad no one noticed his hissing. “Let’s see what he wants.” 

It took a moment to steady his mind and refocus his psionics, as this connection was still causing him pain.

“Strings, patterns, weaves…. Hm.” Geist was muttering under his breath. “Just when I think I figure it out, it proves me wrong. A new leaf emerges. A new petal unfolds. The tides wash away the sands, erasing my expeditions but revealing something new. Something exciting.”

Zhang continued to focus on the connection. So far, he was only picking up Geist and no one else like last time. He was having difficulty making sense of the cryptic words Geist was speaking but could figure out it didn’t deal with him or training.

As quick as that anger came, it was disappearing. Maybe it was his psionics messing up again and not Geist forcing a connection to him.

He let out a disgruntled sigh. Was this a sign of his psionics becoming unstable again? How were they going to get this fixed? 

“I yearn for the days I was not given this curse.” One of the few times he lamented this psionic potential being found in him. 

But no time to lament. He wanted to see if he could close off this connection before it caused him more problems. He still had training he needed to assist with before he could pay Geist a visit. 

As he focused on the connection to sever it, Geist’s voice grew louder in his mind.

“More weaves and patterns across the Earth. A mass expanse. Everything is connected to, flowing into and out of a Void. One flourishing with life and another devoid of it. A gap. And…” Geist passed. As he did so, Zhang felt a surge of power in the connection. “Hm… hm?” Seemed Geist did too.

There was a pause before Zhang felt a tentative touch, Geist’s touch, reach out and flow through the connection. It quickly overpowered Zhang’s attempts to close it off, causing some psionic feedback, much to his frustration.

Dammit. Zhang mentally recoiled, but did his best to keep the pain under control. For the moment, he held back his power to avoid any more feedback.

“What is this? I’m in the isolation chamber. There should be no connections to anyone but the Earth and Void.” Geist almost sounded confused, if not concerned, as he searched out this connection to its source.

  But as Geist reached the source, he paused again. “Wait…” He weaved his way through the connection again, carefully picking the familiarity of the strings to this mind. “Z-Zhang?”

Just ask Geist made the discovery, their connection was abruptly cut.

A whirl of psionic swirled inside Zhang’s mind before it all finally snapped. 

“Gah!” He gasped, lurching forward. He barely stopped himself from tumbling forward. “What the hell?” There was always something strange going on with psionics.

“Hey!” Someone called out. “You alright up there?”

Figures I’d slip with those growing backlashes. He shook his head a few times before letting out a gruff snort. “I’m fine. Feedback from the adrenal glands.” A little lie.  

Zhang craned his neck back and forth as he gave it a good rub. He could feel his mind and psionics slowly ordering itself back in place after the spontaneous psionic connection again. His mind lingered on Geist’s connection. The man seemed just as surprised as him as he had discovered the connection.

“Hm.” He chewed on his tongue. Why was there always something wrong with psionics? He needed to find Geist. This couldn’t wait. 

Pushing himself off the ledge, one last rush of adrenaline ran through his system before he touched the ground. He made his way over to Conrad first.

“Something just came up.” Zhang made a simple gesture towards his head. “Have to go.”

“Ah, gotcha. Go on and get!” Conrad simply nodded. 

————

Zhang was halfway through the base before he felt a familiar psionic ping in his mind before a more audible ping rang out around the corner. The next second Geist came around the corner. The man looked a little frazzled as his eyes twinkled with purple energy. There was no dampening collar in sight.

“There you are!” He exclaimed, quickly hushing himself in order to avoid drawing too much attention.

“I was heading to you.” Zhang paused in his tracks. A brow was raised. He was half waiting for the Bases A.I. to go off, mentioning the psionic activity. “Did you..?” He felt like he didn’t have to explain.

Geist swiftly nodded, like his head was going to fall off. “Is this what happened days ago? Collar on?” 

“Yes.” He nodded. “Though this was somewhat different. More painful on my end.”

Geist paced around him, finger tapping away at his chin and mumbling under his breath. “What could this be? What could this be?” 

So far, nothing was ringing a bell in Geist’s mind. This just made him worry more, which increased his pacing. He turned his attention back to Zhang. The man’s puzzled look didn’t help ease his mind. He reached his hand out towards his hand, psionic energy jumping between his fingers. Wait, no. Not here. Not safe for the others. He cut his psionic energy for a moment and just let his hand fall on Zhang’s shoulder.

“I feel I need to explore your psionics. See if They are planting seeds of madness. Isolation room. No time to tell the Commander and Psi Division.” Geist said.

At the mention of Them, Zhang grimaced. It had been some time since those Elders had touched his mind again with Their bids to make him betray XCOM. Did They have new tricks up Their sleeves? Better to find out now than before, he was an unknowing thrall. “Teleport away.”

Geist tightened his fingers on his shoulder. Psionics energy flowed from him to Zhang before faint wisps appeared around the two. 

The next second, they disappeared with a ping. 

[symbianosgames]

Mittwoch, 26. April 2017 um 14:11

Themen am 26.04.2017:

GameStop-PS4-Pro-Aktion sorgt für Unmut

Das ging nach hinten los. Die Spielehändler-Kette GameStop hatte mit einer besonderen Aktion, bei der man günstig eine PlayStation 4 Pro bekommen kann, geworben. Dazu sollte man eine alte PS4 mit zwei Spielen eintauchen und rund 100 Euro bezahlen, um die leistungsfähigere Konsole, die ansonsten 399 Euro kostet, zu bekommen.

Eigentlich sollte die Aktion erst heute losgehen, vielerorts gab’s am Ende der langen Schlange bei GameStop aber lange Gesichter, da das Kontigent bereits ausverkauft war. Auf der Facebook-Seite des Unternehmens beschwerten sich viele Enttäusche Spieler. Besonderes Ärgernis: Einige Filialen hatten bereits vor dem offiziellen Start der Aktion begonnen, PS4s zu tauschen, weshalb zum offiziellen Start schon keine Geräte mehr verfügbar waren.

Auch bei uns hat von drei Kollegen nur einer eine PS4 eintaschen können. Laut offiziellem GameStop-Statement soll’s in der kommenden Woche nochmal eine Nachlieferung geben.

XCOM-Nachfolger Phoenix Point vom Original-Erfinder beginnt Crowdfunding

Phoenix Point heißt ein Nachfolger im Geiste zu XCOM und das kommt vom Erfinder der ursprünglichen Reihe Julian Gollop. Der arbeitet mit seinem Studio Snapshot Games seit einiger Zeit am Projekt und möchte das Ganze über die Crowdfunding Plattform Fig finanzieren.

Spielerisch orientiert sich das ganze am alten und neuen XCOM. Man führt also ein Soldatenteam in taktische Rundengefechte gegen fiese Mutanten. Die Feinde sollen sich aber an die eigene Spielweise anpassen und durch Mutation entsprechende Gegenmaßnahmen einsetzen. Zusammengehalten werden die Einzelschlachten von einer dynamischen Kampagne, die man über die Weltkarte ansteuert. Hier gibt’s außerdem auch Bosskämpfe und Diplomatie mit anderen Menschengruppierungen.

500.000 Dollar soll über die Kampagne zusammenkommen, 300.000 sind schon da und noch sind mehr als 40 Tage Zeit.

  Gerüchte um Alien Isolation 2 sind falsch

Aktuell macht ein Gerücht die Runde, dass die Entwickler von Creative Assembly nach Halo Wars 2 die Arbeiten an Alien Isolation 2 aufgenommen hätten. Wie Eurogamer.net unter Berufung auf Entwicklernahe Quellen berichtet, ist das offenbar falsch.

So würde das Halo Wars 2-Team zwar tatsächlich an einem Prototypen für ein neuen Projekt arbeiten, das ist aber noch Jahre von der Fertigstellung entfernt und hat außerdem nichts mit Alien zu tun.

Zudem sei der Großteil des Alien Isolation-Teams gar nicht mehr bei Creative Assembly beschäftigt und auch die Verkaufszahlen waren für SEGA eher nicht zufriedenstellend. Ob es also jemals eine Fortsetzung geben würde, ist aktuell nicht abzusehen.

[etherealvoidechoes]

An Unlikely Bond - Pt. 1 of 3

Well gosh darn I guess the hyperfixation has hit and hit hard again. Was organizing some files and saw the one on Geist and Zhang developing their psionic bond and my fingers ran away with it.

A lot has changed with the initial idea as I'm re-writing the earlier chapters of Wandering Souls and shifting the timeline. But takes place when Zhang is still forced to stay on base until his psionics are fixed.

Also some fun backstory diving for Zhang and me putting my own spin on the name origin for Geist. I am not using anything from that mobile game for Geist.

Parts: 1(You are here)||2||3 - Links will be updated as the chapters are posted. Currently in the queue.

May be posted on Ao3 and FF.net later.

Content warnings for the usual language. Accidental mental invasion. Part three is where they're violence via memories which includes murder(and faked suicide(it's more murder.)

Approx. 3.5k.

-------

The Barracks. Like every other section of the main XCOM HQ, it bustled with activity. Even more so because of the recent expansions, commissioned by Commander Reeves, to house more recruits to the cause and an overdue expansion for the Gym and Rec Room section of the Barracks that the soldiers (and other staff) needed to blow off some steam. The expansions were welcomed by all.

Even with several squads sent out to deal with the ever-evolving alien menace terrorizing the Earth, each floor in the Barracks had a fair amount of activity going on. On the lowest floor, the bar was full as always, with some “reasonably” drinking away and chatting with friends. Others were playing a game of pool. And some were fighting over who could watch what on the largest TV. Typical soldier behavior.

The floor above, the Gym, had a fair amount of activity. New equipment, designed specifically for the enhanced abilities of their Gene-modded soldiers, had arrived and was being tested by some soldiers. Zhang was one of them.

12:03. The Hazard Course was occupied with Gene-modded soldiers fresh out of the labs, already putting their new abilities to the test, so the Gym was the next best place to stretch his legs. His still mild pariah status because of the psionic incident some time ago, which mostly eclipsed him being a former Triad, meant most still gave him a wide berth. Which he didn’t mind, as it meant he wouldn’t have people working out next to him.

13:18. Currently, he was breaking in one of the new reinforced treadmills that could handle that “Muscle Fiber Density” leg mod. 

It had been about an hour’s jog and everything was working perfectly. The steady tread of boot heels hitting the belt and running deck. The muscles in his legs contracted and relaxed at a steady rhythm. There was a nice bounce back from the suspension, which kept his stride nice and smooth. It was so much better than the old treadmills that would stutter if he came down too hard, which would break his stride. He was happy he could be less conscious about that and exert nearly as much force as he wanted to his heart’s content. But he didn’t want to push too far. He didn’t want to be the first one to break the new equipment. 

“This is the best shape that I’ve ever been in my life.” Zhang chuckled under his breath as he adjusted his headphones. Sometimes he felt like that was an overstatement, but it was true. He had considered himself “fairly” healthy, minus his smoking habit, before his recruitment to XCOM. Now, he had lost weight and put on a lot of muscle. And then those Gene Mods and other tweaks the science division was experimenting with. Sometimes he had trouble recognizing himself when he looked in the mirror.

A glance down to check the time. 13:32. About 30 more minutes and he would call it. He had some psionic training he needed to get to later and couldn’t tire himself out.

Psionic training. He rolled his eyes. What did Geist and the others have in store for him today? Knowing Geist and Sam, something headache-inducing, especially if it was learning how to teleport again and some other odd psionic concept. Teleporting. He felt his psionics, those synaptic connections, bristle with annoyance. That task and another were impossible for him. Just thinking about teleporting made him want to skip out on training again, but knew he couldn’t.

“Wonder how much more I have to endure before I’m back on full active duty and don’t need one of these collars when on the field.”

 He still had a fair deal of work to stabilize his psionics, so he didn’t have to wear a modified dampening collar on the field. A faint growl slipped from his lips as his hand went up to his neck and tugged on the collar that was there. He hated the thing, but it was required for all psions to wear one at the base. At least the newer models caused fewer headaches.

“How much longer?”

The chains of command were suffocating, but he was doing his best to be patient and play nice. 

For now, all he could do was wait and jog. A new tune began to play through his ears. Something with a faster, more electric beat. His footfalls quickly matched the rhythm. Negative thoughts melted away. 

The latest tune entranced Zhang. He hadn’t noticed faint voices slowly intruding into his mind. Or perhaps he subconsciously noticed as a grumble or two slipped out as he adjusted that collar on his neck a few times. As quickly as the whispers came, they disappeared.

As he was entering the final cooldown phase of his joke, he felt an all too familiar jolt run up his spine as his eyes flashed purple. Then a more familiar touch before it became blurred by other sensations. The voices were back and much clearer than before. 

“Ah, Vixen! You’ve made it.” Geist’s voice was strong in his mind. Though the name Vixen was distant to him. 

“Cheery as always, huh Geist?” A female voice spoke next. Geist just chuckled in response. “How has training been for this branch?”

“Ah, training. Where to begin?”

Oh, hell no. Zhang cursed in his mind. Either the collar had a fault or Geist was purposefully using his bypass trick to tap into his mind. He figured the latter was happening due to the mention of training. He had been avoiding some sessions. Not in the mood for a guilt trip. His fingers quickly checked every part of the dampening collar. It was cool to the touch. No signs of overheating. One good sign. Must have been the bypassing. Figures.

Steadying his pacing and breathing, he concentrated on the psionic wavelengths to block it all out. Within seconds, the voices faded from his mind. He smiled. No guilt trips now. He would do some psionic training later, but would not be bothered right now. Just as he felt like he could relax his powers, the voices came back in full force.

“We have more soldiers cooking down below. I’m sure the Commander filled you in on that before your arrival.” Geist spoke of several potential psions in the making. It was always a delight to add more to their ranks.

“I read up on a few of them during my flight over.” Vixen said. “The science division has been making strides.”

“But back to training.” Geist almost seemed to hiss the word. “Truthfully, I’m a little disappointed with how things have been developing for researching how the — — — and function. That aspect is still escaping me. But I believe your fresh mind should be able to help.” 

Zhang concentrated again to block out their voices, but his attempts failed once more. The discussion continued, though parts of it cut in and out. But the words “disappointed” and “training” frequently came through clearly. 

Several disgruntled mumbles slipped from Zhang’s lips as he slammed his hands against the handrails to the treadmill. His grip tightened until his knuckles went white.

“For fuck’s sake…” He was glad no one was next to him to witness his sudden change in demeanor. Straightening himself back up, he brought his jog to an end. “Fine. You win this time, Geist.”

————

With more than a pep in his step, Zhang made his way deeper into the base towards the Psionic Training Grounds. However, he was mostly mindful of his steps, as he felt like kicking a few holes into the concrete because of his disturbed mood. Cracks would be barely noticed. Anything worse and he would get written up.

In about 7 minutes, he reached the main room. It was sparsely populated, a few psions were meditating or sparing here and there. Off to the side, he spotted Geist and who he figured was this Vixen he was speaking to. Both looked to be in a rather pleasant mood. Geist hadn’t noticed him yet.

Zhang took a moment to still himself. He didn’t need to go off on Geist. Feeling somewhat calmer, he headed over to them.

As he got closer, Geist noticed him. His eyes always seemed to brighten when the old man came around. 

“Ah, hello Zhang!” Geist gave a friendly wave. “Early for once. No teleportation training for today.” 

Zhang stifled a snort even more so when he felt the voices in his head diminish. Once he was next to them, he gave Vixen a nod before looking at Geist. “You rang?” Though he tried his best to hide it, irritation riddled his words.

He was about to reply until he caught the annoyance in Zhang’s voice and then noticed the faint rage in his eyes. “Is something the matter?” 

Is something the matter…? “Are you fu—” Zhang bit his tongue before shaking his head. “Is something the matter?” Shifting his pitch up an octave, he sarcastically repeated the words before shifting back to his normal voice. “Are you serious?”

Geist’s expression shifted to a more puzzled, if not, concerned look. Though he was still slowly becoming more aquatinted with Zhang, this attitude was out of character for him. “I’m sorry, but you’ve lost me, Zhang?”

Zhang’s brow twitched. “Don’t play coy with me!” He finally snapped. His eyes flashed before he jabbed a thumb at his own head. “You did your damn bypass trick to get into my head!”

The sudden outburst disrupted the tranquility of the room. All eyes were on Zhang.

Geist raised his hands and took a step back. This felt greatly out of character for Zhang to just snap like this. He wanted to probe his mind, do a quick check to make sure none of their hard work to fix his psionics was unraveling, but the man was accusing him of already probing his mind. “Zhang, I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but I have not made a connection with you.”

“Really? Really?” Zhang sneered. “You’ve been sure to repeat the words “training” and “disappoint” frequently in my mind since I missed the last few sessions.”

“What?” Geist looked more confused. That made little sense. He was more mildly annoyed with Zhang occasionally skipping the training sessions, but knew the man needed his space. But the words more or so matched what he had been discussing with Vixen. He glanced at her. She looked more annoyed at the matter. “I haven’t contacted you. I knew you would be coming around here within the hour… hopefully.” He muttered the last word under his breath. “In all seriousness, I haven’t done my psionic bypass to contact you.” Cautiously, he took a step forward as his eyes began to glow purple. He began to reach out. “You have me concerned. I could check to see if—”

The denial only seemed to infuriate Zhang, and then feeling the man’s touch in his mind only made him angrier. “You think for a sin—”

“Stop.” Vixen stepped in between the two, with one hand imbued with psionic energy placed against Zhang’s chest. “Let’s get this settled. Since you’re about to bite his head off, let me check for any connections. If there’s a connection from him to you, then Geisty has been lying. If there isn’t, your collar needs to be checked. Fair?”

Zhang glanced at her hand on his chest before looking at Geist and back at her. He let out a huff as he took a step back. “Fair.” 

Vixen looked at Geist. “Cut your connection and get your collar.” 

He nodded, quickly severing his powers. With a faint ping, he teleported his collar into his hands but didn’t put it on just yet.

Vixen then gestured for Zhang to it down, which he begrudgingly complied, before moving behind him. She raised both hands to either side of his head before letting her psioncis envelop his head. “Okay, let’s see what I can find.”

The room was a near dead silent as Vixen went to work. Most wanted to see how it would all play out as Geist did have his trickster tendencies, but a few wanted to pretend nothing was going on just in case there was a blowup.

Zhang did his best to keep his calm as Vixen searched his mind. It was always strange having an unfamiliar psion go through one’s mind, but he took notice of Vixen’s soft touch. Though she had to work around some of those locks he and Geist had created and the still unstable part of his psionics, she was doing so with care as she looked for those threads of a connection.

“Hm…” Vixen’s eyes narrowed. She found something. Or at least felt it. “Geist, collar on.”

With no hesitation, he put it on, and it snapped into place.

Minutes passed.

“Collar off.” She said. He took it off.

Some more time passed.

“Hm. There’s something, but it doesn’t fully feel like Geist.” She stopped her psionics and moved her hands away.

“Doesn’t fully feel like Geist.” Zhang questioned, doing his best not to scoff. He shook his head a few times to shake off the faint buzz coursing between his ears.

“It feels like a mixture of threads here. Feels like it’s coming from the growing,” she gestured with one hand, “background psionic radiation permeating the base.” She explained. “Not feeling a direct one from Geist per se. Just a mix. Perhaps your… odd psionics… amplified something.” 

“That partially clears things up.” Geist mumbled as he tapped his chin. One thing cleared, but Zhang still didn’t look happy, which had him concerned. “Anything feel out of place, Vixen?”

She shrugged. “His psionics feel odd, but I bet you know them better than me to determine if something is truly wrong.”

“True.” He looked at Zhang only to sigh, seeing the man was glaring at him. He took a step towards him. “Zhang, I can check to see if—” 

“Don’t.” Zhang cut him off. He got up.

“Zhang. This could be your psionics ac—”

“No.” Another terse answer left his lips. He turned to Vixen and gave her a half-hearted “thank you” before he made his leave.

Vixen raised a brow at him as she watched him leave, before turning her attention back to Geist. “Is he always like this?”

“No. He can be difficult at times, but this is… different. It concerns me.” He spoke truthfully. He wanted to follow, chase after him, but knew that would only lead to a fight. 

With a faint ping, he teleported a tablet into his hands. “I’ll make note of this. Give the Psionic Division a heads up just in case.”

“And Commander Reeves?” Vixen asked.

“Eventually… her.”

“‘Eventually’?” She questioned.

“Eventually. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt. But I will tell her if something happens.” He said. He just wanted to keep Zhang off the Commander’s radar. Things had gotten better between the two, but he didn’t want to risk it with this.

————

Zhang proceeded to skip the 14:30 Psionic training session he was going to attend. Despite Vixen’s findings, he didn’t believe her nor Geist. It felt all too convent that their conversation stopped intruding on his mind when he entered the room. He knew what he heard and felt.

He needed to cool down and what better way was there to cool down than by allowing himself to get dragged into some silly card game with Akemi, Kim, and Jarvis as the three happened to come back from some fieldwork. He refused to elaborate on what had him irritated, only stating “Geist being Geist”, and they mostly respected that. The trio helped him push the day’s events to the back of his mind with the card game and updating him on the latest alien threats. More of the same ol’ variants and some new ones were being fielded. The aliens, well, Elders, were probing for weaknesses and how they would react.

The hours flew by until it was either time to get some food, shower, or get dragged off by one of the science teams. Zhang was ready to hit the shower until Akemi pulled his teeth to join her in the Psionic Training Grounds. Though her psionics were still developing, she had been assigned to join in on psionic training sessions. Dr. Vahlen’s and Dr. Marin’s teams wanted to experiment with various ways to unlock a soldier’s psionic potential without having to rely on the weeks-long process of psionic energy saturation inside of the sarcophagi.

He was loath to go there as he wanted to avoid Geist and the man practically lived in there or in the Psionic Labs. Yet, with some playful banter, begging, and mild guilt tripping — as he was the reason she was psion now—, she convinced him to tag along. He had noticed she was less nervous when he was around when she trained with one of the elite psions.

“You’re going to hold that over my head for forever, huh?” Zhang questioned.

“I may.” She smirked and playfully nudged him with her elbow. “At least you didn’t fry my brain.”

He let out a sigh, shaking his head. “Don’t.”

Much to Zhang’s relief, Geist wasn’t there when they arrived. As Akemi went to her instructor, Zhang found himself talking to a fellow psion, John Tanner. Someone who was a witness to what happened earlier in the day. Tanner probed a little to find out exactly what the issue was, but Zhang kept most of the details terse. But he trusted Tanner enough to probe his mind, and the man felt nothing was amiss. Just a mixture of threads faintly connected to the psionic background radiation in the base. That still didn’t sit well with Zhang. It was something to stew on for later.

With little convincing, Tanner roped him into some psionic meditation and defense strengthening so he would have some psionic training marked down for the day and off the Commander’s radar. 

Moving to a side room and finding a place to sit, he gladly took his dampening collar off. It took some time for him to enter a “calm” state of mind as the irrational side of him felt Geist would show up at any moment, but once he did, he felt a great deal of the day’s irritation melt away. A quick check of his own mind with his powers unrestricted; he barely felt any active traces of Geist. The usual connections were a near-dead silence. Anything else resonated with the psionic background to the base.

 Hm. That was still strange, but maybe his psionics were acting up again and the overly friendly psion didn’t connect to him.

For the next hour, Tanner carefully pushed and pulled at Zhang’s psionic defenses. It was a delicate and dangerous game of finding the cracks that needed to be reinforced and avoiding the traps that could lead to a nasty psionic backlash. 

“Aaah… Okay. Okay, think we’re good… we’re good for the eve’ing.” Tanner said as he recalled his psionics. Body wavering from side to side, he raised a hand to his face and rubbed it.

“Mhm.” Zhang let out a sharp exhale as he came out of his meditation. As his pionics receded into himself, he picked up his dampening collar. He finally noticed Tanner’s wobbliness and the faint purple sparks buzzing around his head. “Are you alright?”

“I’m… good. Just a little mind spin trap of yours I triggered as were were finishing…” He said before hunching over and vigorously rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s… nasty. You’ve improved.”

“Ah.” Zhang chuckled. “I’ve been adjusting them as those Elders make their calls to me from time to time. Something to push them out.”

A few moments later, the psionic disruption around Tanner disappeared. He straightened himself back up and let out a sigh of relief. “I can see that annoying them. They deserve worse. Need to take notes and get the others more prepped.” There was always work to be done. “Those are some green checks for you. A few more sessions and,” he paused, knowing mentioning Geist would be a sore subject, “you know who is doing his own tests and you should be back on the field before you know it.”

Zhang’s mood didn’t immediately sour. He simply nodded along. Talking to a Geist about the incident earlier and apologizing would have to happen, but he still wanted some distance. “The sooner the better.” He was ready to get back into the field.

With his training session wrapped up, he returned to the main room to see how Akemi was doing. Her session was just about coming to an end. Once she was done there, the two left and went their separate ways for the night.

[etherealvoidechoes]

So, if Chosen Thaddeus have secondary arms and summon psionic ones, the total he can have at once is six arms? Or is he able to summon even more psionic arms? I'm curious about the maximum amount of those he can have >:)

Anyway, I love his design so much! Multiple arm gang, let's go!!

He really has no limit. He can project as many psionic arms he wants when his rage is high. That rage(besides his hearts/cores) powers his ability to project several and then be able to change the size and shape of them.

Does he give good hugs with all those arms? Yes and no. With all that underlying rage, it’s best not to push your luck. Though Brady boy and Asaru will be getting a bear hug when they meet again :)

He gives his Archons, Berserkers, and Sectoids lots of head pats; and the same with the heavy ADVENT units he deploys. And the same to Kon-Ris but that’s his way of messing with him when the Hunter is toying with him.

And thank you! All my Chosen Commanders(and at some point their Hybrid forms) have form arms.

[etherealvoidechoes]

I'm feeling a bit evil.

👎for Thaddeuas.

"👎 Is there someone your OC can’t stand, despite them being on the same side or sharing basic values?"

Bradford because the damn man won't give him any peace because that darn Avatar project tracker increased again and he needs someone to look over some reports for the 15th time. Someone's just asking to get their nose broken again.

Kidding! Man, I have to think for this one. I don't think Thaddeus would have had too many issues with the canon XCOM 1 & 2 staff. I would have to think of my OCs he would clash with since I know there would probably be a few. Will just say if you're an alcoholic and not getting that treated, are a sexist, and some other things, he will dislike you strongly even if you're putting in the work for the Resistance.

Overall, he's on good terms to friendly with my other Commanders.

Of course, there would be several soldiers that were pains in the neck he could barely stand, but for most, nothing they did reached the point of him discharging them.

I know any of the Council members that were just highly unreasonable in the beginning and got worse as the war continued he come to despise.

Read more because semi-long.

Hm, back in XCOM 1, I can see him having a lower tolerance for some of Geist's psionic shenanigans(testing and other things) and (somewhat) change in personality which also made him get highly annoyed with Vahlen and the Psionics division for some time as they feed off of each other despite the good results. He's trying to run a military operation not a clown house. That lower tolerance for Geist may continue once he recalls him when they meet again.

Hm, just thinking about it, Asaru would be on his shit list for a little bit once he learns who and why he lost his pilot wings. Part of him understands and knows Asaru didn't mean too much harm from it, but the man will forever be miffed and will ignore him from time to time because of that besides also questioning if that alien was controlling him the whole time back then (though deep within himself he knows Asaru didn't.)

Oh heck, thinking about it, this would be more or so his Chosen version, but Maker would be on the barely stand. But it's very complicated since his current state of being and having that constant devil on his shoulder has him highly volatile around any Elder, including Maker though the two are working together to undermine things. His brain just keeps ticking to the "shut up before I strangle/drain you" whenever Maker is getting philosophical or talking about the hypocrisy of his brethren.

I won't really continue on with his Chosen self since for his story he doesn't get the "proper" conversion like Jynn(and maybe the other two) as he will be a double-agent since his "conversion." But him and Hunter are besties.