Esper Register

Although espers only came into existence a generation ago, they already effectively constitute a societal class, a subculture with its own jargon, fashion, and code of conduct. No one wants to say it directly, but many espers cannot help but look down upon the mundane 99.9% of people blind to the glory of the noosphere. It doesn’t help that, through control of thoughts, emotions, and memories, a skilled esper could infiltrate and subvert an entire national government if they so desired.

For these reasons and many others, espers congregate in a special district of a certain metropolitan city, one with lax legal oversight that they effectively govern for themselves. Within this district, certain personages dominate the unwritten social register: here, mental power translates almost directly into authority. The following is a survey of the seven most notable residents of the district.

Ash

The discoverer (and first user) of glass chrysanthemum, a hallucinogenic drug so potent that it either destroys the mind or uplifts it to enlightenment. Ash was a professional chemist when the first synchronicity events began, and found one so sutble no one else had noticed: a newly appeared crystalline polymorph, structured according to a noospheric pattern. Under highly specific conditions, he managed to grow this seed crystal into a shape resembling an iridescent many-petalled flower when seen under magnification. In an act of near-suicidal Promethean boldness he ingested his first batch, plunging himself in an ego-dissolving trance that awakened his latent abilities.

Today, Ash remains the only person who knows how to grow glass chrysanthemum, and guards the secretly jealously. He only gives it to those he judges ready for (and worthy of) its shamanistic trial. He himself no longer needs it: although once a chemical psychonaut, he now experiences psychedelia through psychic access, making him a sort of paradoxically rationalist mystic.  

Celeste

The first esper. Spontaneously achieved psychic breakthrough while receiving magnetic brain stimulation as a treatment for depression – however, without modern safeguards, the process broke her mind into whirling pieces. She persists as a sort of Delphic oracle, omniscient but often incoherent. Under the permanent care of a research foundation that records all of her cryptic ranting and analyzes it for hidden pearls of truth.

Celeste seems mostly incapable of leaving her access trance. On extremely rare and unpredictable occasions, however, she comes down from access into a state of lucidity, during which she invariably requests termination.

Dev

A consummate engineer, who loves to solve problems above all else. Easily one of the most intelligent of all espers but only in the field of things he cares about, namely mathematics and computer science. Due to his narrow intellectual focus, he’s something of a socially awkward shut-in despite being halfway to a god. While fundamentally still a friendly (if prickly when irritated) person who wants to be loved, his deeply introverted, autistic personality alienates him from most other people. Poor sense of circadian rhythm, personal hygiene, or personal space.

Dev naturally enters access whenever he slips into a flow state working on a programming problem. This power be aims entirely at the creation of an artificial intelligence capable of linking with the noosphere – an outgrowth of his past work, as he achieved breakthrough by installing a direct neural interface into his own head. Already, he has almost merged with the machine he makes.

Eliza

A brilliant neuroscientist who broke through purely through obsessive analysis of neural readings taken from existing espers until she discovered the underlying pattern. Subsequently developed the now-standard protocol for breakthrough induction. Prone to speaking quickly when she gets excited about a new hypothesis. Virtually no disgust response whatsoever, only finds terrible things interesting in an academic way. Usually found in a lab coat over a black turtleneck sweater, and never without her round half-rimmed glasses. Drinks a truly heroic quantity of coffee on a daily basis.

When accessing the noosphere, Eliza slips into the mindset of a classic mad scientist, brain burning with reckless ideas she can sweep others into the romance of bringing to life. In this mode, only her favorite undergrad assistant can talk her down from potentially life-threatening experimentation. While normally a physician by training, her unfettered mind draws down the knowledge of all disciplines as she needs them.

Grey

Leader of a special law enforcement unit that technically claims sole jurisdiction over the special district. A veteran paramilitary operator who exhibits a masterful degree of strategic thinking, never without a contingency plan. Also a near-sociopath, contributing to his fearsome reputation. Does not say so directly, but privately views non-espers as barely above animals, ethically speaking. His hair displays the hue his name suggests, but a disciplined regimen of diet and exercise keep his body strong and his mind sharp despite the passage of years.

Grey trained in a neo- Korzybskian form of general semantics, giving him – when in access – perfect, unimpeachable objectivity in his deduction and memory, making his testimony virtually beyond contestation. When on the job, he remains in constant telepathic contact with his entire unit of mind cops.

Meta

An omnidisciplinary artist with an oceanic soul. Initially broke through into esperhood while experiencing Stendhal syndrome from observing a piece of fractal art, thus establishing that as one of the standard components of esper training thereafter. The experience led them to see their own identity as inherently fragmentary and mutable, a hundred different masks over an underlying unknowable self. As such they refer to themselves with the plural pronoun “we” and assume no singular gender presentation. An absolute auteur committed to creating their perfect Gesamtkunstwerk, known as both infuriating to collaborate and an unparalleled creative talent all the same. Their name is a post-breakthrough personal rebranding.

 While in access, Meta experiences sensations and emotions an order of magnitude more powerfully than a normal human, making them a sort of living utility monster. Often falls into fey moods, locking themselves in their studio only to emerge a week later with a new, breathtakingly beautiful work of art. As an exper, primarily uses their powers to generate intensely vivid hallucinations.

Nektarios

Famous for sealing himself inside of an isolation tank to meditate for a year (hooked up to a nutrient IV drip, among other amenities) and emerging with a new gospel. Subsequently founded the new religious movement “Kairos”, which claims to teach adherents how to dance to the beat of the world drum. A beta wave savant, absolutely emotionally grounded and suffused with otherworldly bliss 24/7, making him free from worldly attachments and utterly incorruptible. “Fights” by inducing overwhelming joy into opponents, pacifying or sometimes outright converting them.

Nektarios is constantly in the psychic access state, which he experiences as a nirvana-like enlightenment. His religion heralds the arrival of a savior-deity formed from the pooled consciousness of all its adherents joined in ecstatic unity.