Creating Illusions

“Illusions,” posited Karen.

“Hmm, what? How?” asked John.

“You know make me see something that is not there.” Karen explained.

“Okay, give me a second,” John sighed. He reached out with his thoughts. He could feel Karen’s mind, it was like a steady humming machine in the not so distant void he could hear other minds, they were like a distant rancorous mob. He focused just on Karen’s mind. He thought about a rose. He pictured it in his mind. He knew about it, every petal, every thorn, the smell, the history from seed to blossom. He pictured her holding the rose.

John opened his eyes. “Well?”

“Well I could see the rose in my head but it was just a very vivid idea of… a rose?” she asked, trying to be sure it was a rose.

“Yeah it was a rose, but not exactly an illusion. I don’t think I can do this kind of thing.” John didn’t like to admit it but it seemed he didn’t have the ability to do what Karen asked of him. He really wanted to impress Karen with yet another power. This did not seem possible.

“Think about it, sight, sound, smells, they are all just memory, very very very short term memory but memory.” Karen offered. “If you can change someone’s opinions you have to change how they react to a memory so how different would it be to change the memory itself?” Now John felt even worse about not coming up the idea himself. “John, just try changing a long term memory first.”

“Okay,” John agrees. He looks into Karen’s mind. He reaches in her mind but what kind memory could he alter safe. ‘God, Karen is trusting.’ John thought to himself. ‘I could do anything in here. If this works.’ He concentrates on her memories of their conversation about how to create illusions. He changed the whole encounter...

“Memories,” posited Karen.

“Hmm, what? How?” asked John.

“You know change how people remember an event. Make them forget you were there or believe you were there when you weren’t.” Karen explained.

“Okay, that sounds practical,” John agreed. He reached out with his thoughts. He could feel Karen’s mind, it was like a steady humming machine in the not so distant void he could hear other minds, they were like a distant rancorous mob. He focused just on Karen’s mind. He touched her mind and made her remember that she had worn pants all day long. That way she and he could be sure of the change.

‘Hmmm,’ John thought. ‘I wonder if I can change my own memories.’ He shuddered with the thought. ‘I got to know.’ He tried to reach into his own head. Now he too remembered their conversation differently, and he remembered Karen wearing pants not a dress the whole day.

Suddenly, John felt water splash on his face. He sputtered and coughed. “What the Fuck!?”

Karen was standing over him with a now empty bucket. “You fell ****, I had to do something fast.” She was suddenly wearing a dress.

“Wait you had time to change clothes, but you could come up with something less wet to wake me up?” an irritated John asked.

“I didn’t change, you closed your eyes and suddenly I am wearing a dress and you faint.” Karen finally had time to realize what happened. “Wait! John, you did it!”

“I did what?” then John remembered what he had done, or rather what he made himself think he had done. “Wait, so you think I made us think you were wearing pants.”

“Yeah! You went into my head and rewrote my memories for the whole day. Wait, John, you changed your own memories?” Karen asked bewildered.

“I had to see if I could do it,” John explained.

“Why?”

“In case I ever need deny something, I can have plausible deniability,” John stated matter of factly.

Karen realized that if he had done that then he might have done anything to her memories and she could never know any better, hell he wouldn’t even know any better. ‘God, Karen, he could have rewritten anything, you are way too trusting about this stuff.’

John didn’t even realize that he was still partially in Karen’s mind at the time and so he responded as if she had spoken her concerns. “Well, in my defense, if I were going to mess with your memories, I would like to think I am smart enough to not have let you be able to think about it.” John spoke before he realized exactly what he would say, and now that he thought about, he was not sure how comforting this was. “I think… that is in my defense…” he stammered.

Karen was not comforted. “Get out of my head.”

“Sorry.” John frowned sheepishly. “This is not a good place to be, with respect to these abilities. Got anything safer?”

Karen was not sure she wanted to continue to help, especially not as the lab rat. She sighed. “How about Illusions?”

“Okay,”

“Illusions, you know like make me see something that is not there.” posited Karen.

“Okay, give me a second,” John sighed. He focused just on Karen’s mind. He thought about a rose. He pictured it in his mind. He knew about it, every petal, every thorn, the smell, the history from seed to blossom. He pictured her holding the rose.

John opened his eyes. “Well?”

“Well I could see the rose in my head but it was just a very vivid idea of… a rose?” she asked, trying to be sure it was a rose.

This was too familiar. “Uh, Karen,” John asked, “are getting a déjà vu feeling?”

Karen was indeed feeling the strange sensation of have in done all this before, “Yeah, I am.” Karen thought about is for a second. “Okay, think about it, smell, sight, sound, they are all just memory, very short term memory but memory.” Karen offered. “If you were trying to create an illusion you might have been altering memory and perhaps you over did it?”

“Eww, Shit,” John exclaimed. “I bet you are right.” He grimaced.

“Okay, John, I hate to keep trying this but you are probably more dangerous untrained than trained,” she hesitated, “I think.”

“Hey if you don’t trust me you could always take some yourself and make me forget any of this,” John smiled, “as long as you don’t mind killer headaches, the occasional fainting spell, and the probably high chance of brain cancer.”

She sighed, “I think would rather get in on the good side of the future evil emperor, just don’t make me a vegetable.”