My name is Jude.
That's not my full name though. I don't exactly feel comfortable giving that out freely. Of course, if you were in my place you'd be hesitant to hand out your personal information to people too.
Now I know you're probably thinking "But Jude, not everyone's bad. I'm sure your personal info would be perfectly safe with people, like me," and you're right. Contrary to what I used to, and still occasionally do, believe most people are actually pretty decent and understanding. I wouldn't say people are necessarily good as a collective group, but they're not half as terrible as I used to think. Decent. That's how I'd describe humans on whole.
I'm getting off track. Right.
The reason I won't give you my name, and why you would be wise to keep yours from me in return, is connected to my talent. What I mean by talent, by the way, is what most people would call a 'psychic power'.
Mine is pretty cool.
If I know someone's name, first and last, and I know what they look like, and they're able to hear my voice I can make that person do almost anything I want them to with a verbal command.
There are LIMITS to my ability, of course:
1. I can't make someone do something impossible, like breathe under water.
2. I can't use a command to keep someone from dying if they're critically injured. Nature will take its course.
3. I can't control people's feelings or thoughts, just their behavior. So before you ask me, no, I can't make someone fall in love with you, or make them fall out of love with someone else so you can scope them.
4. While my talent does work over electronic transmission - like over a PA or a tape recorder. It's not as effective as when I'm present on the scene to give the command to my target. There's a slim chance that they won't comply. Very slim, but still a chance.
Here are a few things I CAN do with my ability:
1. I can make people freeze in their tracks, no matter what they're in the middle of doing.
2. I can make my target go to a specific location, at a specific time, and do a commanded task.
3. I can command someone to actively ignore a situation. That's not to say they won't remember it - maybe a flash of color or a noise stuck out to them - but it can help to impair their attention to detail. It's sort of like that psychology experiment with the moon-walking gorilla.
4. I can command someone to do something they've never done before as long as I phrase the command properly. For example, instead of telling someone who's never been on a bike to 'ride a bike' I could instruct them, step by step, to grip the handle bars, sit on the front end of the seat, place their feet on the pedals, and after walking them through steering and pedaling, tell them to repeat the motion.
Here are some things I WON'T do with my ability:
1. I won't order someone to do things of a sexual nature.
2.. I won't order someone to take their own life, or someone else's.
3. I won't order someone to commit a crime.
These lists aren't exclusive of course. I'm constantly trying to expand my knowledge of my talent and it's limits.
I live at an institute founded in the mid-1900s by a parapsychologist and a scientist (who died before I came to the institute, so I never really paid attention to any details about him, which is a terrible thing to say.) A.P. Para-Tech is sort of like a combination school and science lab for people interested in the existence of paranormal phenomenon, and people like me, those with talents.
In addition to regular school work for Institute residents of school age, people with talents attend group therapy, group lessons, and individual lessons with experienced professionals (both 'talented', and not). The idea behind the lessons is to try to gain an understanding of the nature of psychic abilities - why they exist, how they work, why certain people demonstrate abilities while others don't, why similar abilities manifest differently in different people, and the effect the use of talents has on both psychics and others - and to teach people like myself how to control our abilities so we don't go off the deep end and hurt others.
We, the doctors at the Institute and I, don't understand where my particular talent comes from or how it works. It just does. So I can't really answer any questions you might have about that. Sorry.
I'm happy to answer any other questions you might have though. So hit me up. I guess. If you want to.