Call him back!

Taking the Offer

"Michael Hersh
Mind controller extraordinaire
(555)555-555"

"Mind controller." What a funny term...and to be extraordinary at it? It doesn't seem possible, but what is this feeling? There's something drawing you to Hersh...something letting you know that he's genuinely speaking from his heart and mind. Are your supposedly latent powers waking up already?

"Hey, wait!"

Michael Hersh stops and turns at your call. You catch up with him and look him in the eye. "I'm in," you utter decisively. "Teach me everything you know."

He smiles and puts his hand on your shoulder. "You won't regret it, my friend. You won't regret it."

It was damned exciting to learn that you might have psychic abilities, but given your poor state of wellbeing yesterday, it's probably for the better that you both agreed to start the next day, in Gribbin Park. It's a nice day, with lots of sun and a good breeze. At 1:30 in the afternoon, you should be in class, but you have other priorities, namely, learning how to become a "mind controller extraordinaire." If only Hersh was actually here.

"Sorry I'm late." Michael Hersch comes to you ten minutes tardy. "I was, uh... enjoying myself," he laughs, "or rather, I was enjoying someone else."

You nod at him. "Sure."

"Okay, let's get started, shall we?" He sits you down at the nearest park bench and leans in. "The truth is that there have been plenty of people like you and me in history. People just don't know it. They keep it a secret, or no one believes. Those old pushers sure showed them, though, right?"

"Um, yes?"
"Yes. Alexander did it. Mao did it. Uh, Hugh Heffner still does it. Heidi Fleice? I'm not sure. I think Jesus did it. Even Hitler did it."
"Hitler did it??"
"Yah, but Hitler was crazy. You don't want this kind of power in the minds of crazy people. I think the Jews had a natural ability to resist him or something, so that really pissed him off. Oh well he had a small penis anyway."
"He did?"
"I don't know, I'm just kidding."

"Oh." The whole notion brings you pause. Are you really being put in the same category as Hitler and Jesus? You can't even believe that the two would be in the same sentence. If this is true, then it's amazing how much responsibility a pusher must have to choose what he uses his power for. God, could you really have the mental capacity to control millions? Your head hurts.

"Woah there, champ," Michael puts a reassuring hand on your shoulder, "don't get too megalomaniacal already, or you'll hurt yourself. This takes practice. Even I can only push a few people at a time. Three I handle easily. Four I'm okay with. Five is a challenge."

Now that doesn't sound right. The night of the frat party, Hersh had you looking like a fool in front of a whole room of people! There were <i>at least</i> twenty people in that room.

"A suggestion is one thing," he explains, "to push into a group of people. It's quite another to actively control and direct a person or persons-- such as my girls-- especially if they're headstrong."

So, what Michael Hersh is saying is "people can resist you, then, right?"

"Right. Suggesting someone to look over here isn't difficult. Anyone can turn his head to look at something. It's natural. It's normal. Getting a person to do something that she isn't used to or comfortable with is the challenge. Sometimes it takes one instance of forceful, concentrated pushing, and other times it takes weeks of gradual manipulation. I spent two months on my little Ho Bag before she was trained the way I liked her."

"Your <i>Hoe Bag</i>?"
"That's right. I don't remember what her real name is, actually; she's been using that name for herself for a long time. I guess I was a little immature, but you gotta admit it's pretty funny, right?"
"You made a girl change her name to Ho Bag?"

Hersh smiles with embarassment. "Yah yah... look let's forget about me. We're here for you.