A Loner Mentalist Pt. 07

"Jack wants to hear all about your work, too," Mia said. She pulled Jack to the seat next to hers. "Here, babe! You can sit down and hear all about it. Eric's happy to share."

Reluctantly, Jack let go of Eric's hand and sat down. Eric winced slightly as he flexed his hand. He shot Jack a sour look, as if Jack had been the one out of line, and returned his attention to Mia. He got an eyeful of cleavage as Mia leaned forward whilst sitting down in her own seat.

Jack was distracted by the beautiful hostess, who leaned in to tell him, "I'll send your server right over." Jack nodded and smiled his thanks at her.

When she left, Mia leaned towards him and whispered, "Babe, you're not gonna believe our luck. We got into town yesterday and Eric did, too! Can you believe it?"

"What's so lucky about that," Jack asked, as he leveled an even glare at Eric.

"Well, babe, Eric is the nation's leading expert in all things supernatural."

Jack gave the sleazy-looking guy a good once over. The only thing he saw was a middle-aged loser. "Is that so," he said.

"Well," Eric said, leaning back and giving Jack an actual look, "I prefer the term paranormal connoisseur. There are many things in this universe which transcend science's narrow views. Those who are not constricted by the vaunted paradigms of the establishment can perceive such things, but only if they are willing."

Jack fought hard not to roll his eyes at the man. He was losing the battle, so he turned his face towards Mia. "And how did you meet Eric?"

"I attended his lecture today. Isn't New York great? You can find anyone and anything here!"

"Yes, quite." He made holes in his cloak, in the shape of his incredulous face and waited to feel Mia's mind through them. When he did, he made holes to look for anything that she might have already told this man about his real abilities. He found nothing, so he felt relief wash over him. He made more holes and looked at why Mia had gone to Eric's lecture and why she invited him to dinner.

He felt her need to be useful to him. It had driven her to seek all things paranormal and landed her an invitation to Eric's lecture. The man had spoken of many things, but a part of his lecture spoke about people with paranormal powers and that got her attention. It also netted Eric an invitation to dinner.

Jack modified the holes in his cloak and projected the words,What is this idiot doing here? Asking him about mentalism is like me asking a drag queen about you, into her mind.

"I invited Eric to dinner and he said yes. He's going to tell us all about mind powers. You should hear him out, babe. It's better than asking a drag queen about your girlfriend." She turned to Eric and flashed him a conspiratory smile. "Would you believe he did that once?"

Eric chuckled. "Sounds to me like your boy has a lot of growing up to do before he can deserve a girl as beautiful as you."

Jack dropped his connection to Mia's mind.Sound to me like Eric's going to develop a severe case of Sudden Testicular Explosive Pain Syndrome and it's not going to go away until after I leave town tomorrow.

Eric gave Jack a dismissive glance. "Boys can be so insecure. What you need is a man who's been around the block a few times. Seen all there is to see." His leering smile made it clear that he considered himself the right man for Mia. He acted as if the two of them were destined to wind up in bed together, later tonight.

Before Jack could vent his wrath upon the asshole, a waiter came over to deliver Mia and Eric's starters. Jack sighed with displeasure at seeing they've already ordered. He wanted to tell Eric to fuck off, but Mia shot him a pleading look. The waiter placed a menu in front of Jack and he resigned himself to spending an hour or so in Eric's company. He ordered a steak au poivre with fries.

"So, Eric, could you tell myboyfriend something about the government's mind reading experiments?"

The way Mia accented the fact Jack was her boyfriend made him cool off. His anger was pointless, he understood. She was with him and nothing this middle-aged punk did could ever change that. He settled back in his chair and waited to hear what Eric had to say. He doubted it would be anything but wacky conspiracy theories, but they might turn out to be amusing.

Eric swallowed a mouthful of his appetizer and looked at Jack. "I sense that you're a skeptic."

Did the fact that I'm looking at you like you belong on the short bus tip you off? Jack bit back his sardonic grin. "I like to think that I keep an open mind. Please, say what you want."

"Oh, I get to say what I want," Eric sarcastically said. "How generous of you." He drew a deep breath, as if he had come to a decision, and said, "When people hear 'government mind control', they think MK-ULTRA and slipping people LSD. That was only a small part of it. It wasn't about achieving mind control through drugs, but it was aimed at identifying individuals with the potential for mind reading powers."

Jack stiffened in his seat. His aether connection was fueled by hallucinogens. LSD is a hallucinogen. He knew that MK-ULTRA had been real and that the government had really secretly dosed Americans with LSD.Could they have been trying to spot mentalists? He shared a look with Mia.This is why she brought him here. She grinned, looking like the cat that got the canary, and attacked her appetizer anew. "Did they succeed?" Jack asked Eric.

Eric shrugged. "If you want to know the truth of that, you'll have to get the government to share its files with you. Theirreal files, mind you, not the redacted crap they feed to the public." He paid Mia's breasts another dreamy look. "The truth is a treasure, hidden behind a flimsy veil." He wagged his eyebrows at her. "All the best things in life are."

"What else falls under the government's mind control efforts?"

Eric was focused on Mia. "What," he asked, distractedly.

Jack huffed and said, "You said MK-ULTRA was only a small part of it. What else?"

"Oh, well, the rest is too big for any one person to know about." Eric chuckled. "Hell, if I knew even half of it, they'd hunt me down and wipe my memories, or something. The things your friend wanted me to talk more about concern the Ghost Company of the OSS and Operation Librarian."

"Do tell," Jack said. He realized that Eric was only talking to impress Mia, but he didn't care. If he wasn't so tired from spending the day reading the memories of fifty mentalists, he'd just reach into this guy's mind and see what's what.Besides, I'm hungry and it doesn't hurt to have some dinner theatre.

"Well, during the years leading to World War Two, the Nazis rose to power by leaning heavily on the Thule Society and their paranormal abilities." Jack's flesh broke out in goose bumps. This sounded like the stuff the gypsy leader had heard from her mother, who had been in a concentration camp. "The Office of Strategic Services was formed to fight against all the unconventional things the Nazis brought to bear. They quickly realized the paranormal abilities of the Thule Society were the biggest threat by far, so they formed the Ghost Company, made up of US psychics."

"Let me guess, they defeated the Thule Society and really won the war?"

Eric shook his head and sneered at Jack like he was a particularly stupid child. "No. The Thule handed them their asses every time they went up against them."

Jack spread his hands. "So, why aren't we speaking German right now?"

Eric sat back in his seat, pleased as punch at the notion that he had answers others wanted. Mia sensed Jack's impatience and interest and said, "Oh, please, don't leave us hanging, Eric."

Eric smiled at Mia. "How could I possibly leave such an enchanting creature hanging?" He leaned towards Mia. "Mia, I can tell that you're truly interested in this subject." He shot Jack a disparaging glance. "I'd like for us to have a chance to converse on this delicate subject matter in private."

Jack shook his head at the man's impertinence.Hitting on my girlfriend right in front of me, like I don't even exist? Here's a nice dose of pain to your balls for that! Jack made holes in his cloak in the shape of Mia's embarrassed face and felt like he was falling on his face. There was no mind currently viewing Mia's face, except for his own. Jack frowned and tried to sort things out. He closed those holes and made new ones, in the shape of his words. "No, please, Eric, don't exclude me. I'd be honored to learn all that you have to say on the subject." Through the holes in his cloak, Jack felt only Mia's mind hearing his words.

The realization hit him like a freight train.Eric's mind is cloaked! He struggled to keep his panic off his face.He could be the evil puppet master mentalist cunt! Jack's fists tightened as adrenaline flowed through his veins. He bit back the bile that was rising in his throat and reached out for his dogs. They felt his need and eagerly answered, feeding him with strength and a predatory drive.If you've come here to gloat before taking me down, Eric, then you've seriously fucked up! He sent his dogs the order to find the back entrance into the hotel's kitchen and come here.

Spot worked the RV's door with his mouth and the four of them spilled out to follow their master's bidding.

Eric sat back down in his seat and relaxed. "I won't bother you with specific details, but the Thule Society was aided by many groups. I'm not talking about just the Nazis. They were their patrons and sponsors and all that, but there were many more groups which joined forces with the Thule Society during the war."

Jack felt his dogs find the rear door. There was no way they could open it from without. Jack would need to buy some more time until someone opened the door for them to get in. "What were these groups?"

"Well, there was the Catholic Inquisition, various witch hunting groups from across protestant Europe, Sufi mystics from all over the Islamic world, and lots of non-religious groups that knew about humanity's true powers. They all joined the Thule Society to study the very nature of humanity's paranormal abilities. The Nazis gave the Thule and their associates full run of the concentration camps, where they performed experiments on the prisoners."

"What kind of experiments?" asked a horrified Mia.

"My dear," Eric said in a smarmy tone, "a woman of your exquisite stature should never learn about such terrible things. It's best that the details of such atrocities remain unspoken. Besides, it all boiled down to torturing and executing the people in the camps in creatively gruesome ways. It was like Mengele, only more cruel."

Jack made holes in his cloak and checked on Mia's mind. As far as he could tell, she had no ideas recently implanted into her mind by Eric. He felt relieved.

"Why would they do that?!" Mia sounded like she was learning about the horrors of the Holocaust for the first time.

Eric's smile grew even wider. "It is so rare to find a woman that is as sexy as you and so smart at the same time. You've hit the nail right on the head there. They were making use of the misery the Nazis were going to cause anyway, and they did it so they could discern the very nature of human mental powers."

Someone opened the rear door to take a bag of trash to the dumpsters and the dogs rushed in to find the kitchen. Jack's adrenaline kicked into higher gear as he got ready to take down the true cloaked figure. An image of the four goons lying in their blood popped up in his head, unbidden.I just need confirmation of the target, first.

"What were their findings," Jack asked.

"Not all of their research survived the war. Most of it was lost, actually. I can only tell you what was recovered by the Ghost Company in Operation Librarian. It was a part of Operation Paperclip which was specifically aimed at the Thule Society's works."

Jack frowned. Operation Paperclip had brought Nazi scientists to the US to create America's space program. "Are you saying that Nazi mind controllers were taken to the US after the war?"

Eric laughed and waved his hand. "No, no, no, no, no. Let me start over. The Thule Society and their associates tortured people to discern the very nature of mental powers. But they and their allies had plans that were...let's say, incompatible. The Thule wanted to learn how to bestow mental powers on normal people. They wanted to create a master Aryan race that would literally have rule over all the other races, by paranormal means."

Jack felt his dogs gain entry into the kitchen. The staff immediately noticed them and he knew he wouldn't have the element of surprise on his hands.Never mind. After I take down this shit, I'll just make everyone forget I was here and tell the cops Eric committed a particularly horrible suicide. He sent three of the dogs the order to rush into the restaurant proper and make a ruckus. He sent Spot the order to sneak in beside them and hide under tables until he got a good whiff of Eric and could confirm he was The Scent.

"Some of the Thule's associates wanted the same thing, but most wanted to understand humanity's mental powers so they could purge them. Wipe the abomination from God's green earth once and for all."

They could hear noises coming from the kitchen and Eric peered that way. "Let me guess," Jack said, leaning forward and trying to reclaim Eric's attention, "the religious groups wanted to rid humanity of the paranormal."

Eric looked at Jack with surprise in his eyes. "Yes. It wasn't just the religious groups, most of the others wanted the same thing, but all of the religious groups wanted to end-"

Porthos burst through the big, swinging doors to run around the restaurant. Everyone jumped up in alarm. People started rushing around and Spot was able to slip through behind Athos and Aramis, unnoticed. He slid under a table and began to creep closer to their table. He sniffed the air. Not wanting to be outdone, Porthos, Aramis and Athos suddenly wheeled around and rushed towards a panicked Eric. Eric was holding on to a thin, metal necklace he had pulled out of his shirt. He looked like he was praying.

Jack was struck speechless when all four of his dogs got a good whiff of Eric's scent and declared him tonot smell like the true cloaked figure at all.If he's not the evil puppet master mentalist cunt, then who is he? Why can't I read his mind?

The hotel staff was trying to wrangle the dogs and Jack gave the three big ones the order to rush out the back, run to the RV and hide inside. He sent Spot the order to come and hide under their own table. He wanted to have some backup, just in case Eric turned out to be adifferent evil mentalist.

With the dogs gone, and Spot hidden out of sight under the fourth chair that was at their table, the hotel staff did its best to try and placate the angry patrons. Most left, understandably angry at the intrusion. They complained loudly about the hotel's lack of hygiene and some threatened legal action. Jack almost winced at the damage he had done to the hotel's reputation.What choice did I have?

Eric was as pale as milk and he had looked like he was going to soil himself when the three large dogs had run his way. Jack looked at Mia and nodded at Eric. She nodded, getting the message, and reached across the table. "Eric, won't you tell us more about the, uh, the Thule?"

Jack grinned at how lost Eric looked and raised a hand to summon a waiter. The hostess soon joined them and apologized for the incident. She insisted their meal was complimentary and thanked them for their patience. A waiter came rushing over when she snapped her fingers and took Jack's order for a double Scotch without protest. Jack intended to pour the drink into Eric, to get him to relax, but he saw his chance, so he ordered a bottle of wine for the table, as well.

Neither the hostess, nor the waiter, contested his order because of his age and he smiled. Pretty soon, Eric downed the Scotch and the waiter opened their wine to let it breathe. When the waiter left, Jack leaned forward and said, "Eric, you were saying?"

Eric startled and looked at him. "What? Oh! Oh, yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, uh...where was I?"

"The Thule Society wanted to create a supernatural Aryan race and their allies wanted to wipe out all of humanity's supernatural abilities."

"Now, you have to understand that most of their work was lost forever. I don't know anything more than what was recovered in Operation Librarian. The bad guys were able to determine that humans themselves were the source of their abilities. People project this sort of...group subconscious that particularly sensitive people can use to read minds and such."

Jack sat up straight in his chair.He's talking about the aether.

"The more humans lived on the planet at the same time, that is, the bigger the population became, the stronger the shared subconscious would become. This would lead to more and more people gaining supernatural powers, since even the ones who were less sensitive to the group subconscious would be able to feel it." He held up his hands like a pair of balancing scales. "The stronger the shared subconscious, the less strong the gifted person needs to be to access it. Do you follow my meaning?" Jack and Mia both nodded.

"The associates of The Thule knew that the only way to truly end the paranormal was to end humanity itself and they didn't want that. They stuck with the research until they discovered a way to sever humanity from the shared subconscious."

"How?"

Eric lifted his plain necklace. "This is how, actually. My great-great-uncle left me this. He had been a part of the Ghost Company. Everything I know about this subject, I learned from his surviving correspondence that I also inherited."

Jack looked at the simple chain of links with a skeptic eye. "How does a necklace sever humanity from the shared subconscious?"

"It's the composition of the alloys themselves. See, half the links are made from one alloy and half the links are made from another. Each link is connected to links made of the other alloy. When they touch each other against human skin, they piggyback on human bioelectricity and create this static field that shields a person's mind. If they're worn around the neck, that is. If you wear them around your ankle, they don't do much." He gave Mia a leer. "Unless you can put your ankle behind your head."

Mia gave a tiny shudder of disgust and Jack beat back the urge to backhand Eric across the mouth. He cleared his throat instead. "My question still stands, how does one necklace sever humanity from-"

"No, no, no," Eric interrupted. He was much more talkative once he had some Scotch in his belly. "The necklace only protects my mind. It's the two alloys when they're touching each other and a living person, that's the trick. They emit this static field that's similar to how human minds interact with the shared subconscious. While the Thule strength was out steering Operation Citadel, their associates somehow used the combination of these alloys and the mass sufferings in the death camps to sever the link."

Jack frowned. "So, there are no more supernatural powers?" He briefly had the urge to point out to the man just how untrue that claim was.

Eric shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm a bit shook up. I don't see rabid dogs run through an upscale restaurant every day, you know. I'm not explaining myself right. It's only severed in two of those places. In the areas where two concentration camps once stood, there can be no supernatural powers used. They were still experimenting, you see. They did it once, by accident, and a second time to make sure they knew what it was. They were gearing up for a global event, but didn't make it in time. The Thule had felt the events and rushed back to stop their associates."