All That Glitters Ch. 47

"Ikekia is correct, Elliya. Yesterday, Zarrenia confronted a bully by making her feel the sadness of those she had hurt. She turned the bully into a friend and changed her attitude.

"I was thinking along those lines when we were discussing potential punishments for William. I thought, 'What would make him sad?' I knew what would make me sad, to lose my powers. I saw the connection between his conscious mind and his unconscious mind. I thought, why not interrupt that connection? So, I slipped a block into that place and reinforced it. It is not permanent. I'm not sure but I think it will last for about a year."

"Junelliya, do you realize what you have just said?" Clarrisiya asked. "You went into a person's mind and altered it to non-permanently block his ability to use his empathic power."

No one spoke for a moment.

"Junelliya, would it be possible to permanently block his empathic power if he chooses to continue to misuse it?" Elliya asked.

"I don't know at this time, Elliya," Junelliya answered honestly. "But I would not like to be the person that would do such to another."

That got nods from all around.

"We best go to the clinic and see what is happening," Elliya suggested to Petronellaya, who gave her a nod.

"We will speak on this later, Junelliya," Petronellaya said, giving Junelliya a no-nonsense look.

Junelliya nodded as the pair left. Petronellaya had warned her before about overstepping her authority. She knew that she had. But letting that man get away would not have been good for the Council. She would face the consequences.             

Junelliya made to follow the Councillors but Fayad stopped her. "I should go with them," Fayad said. "The family would probably not like to see you at the moment, Junelliya." Fayad gave her a kiss and ran after the pair.

************

The group got to the clinic and transferred William to a bed.

"He has lost his ability to use his empathic powers," Dr. Maya informed the clinic. "We will have a couple of experts come and look at him. They can tell us what state he is in."

"Experts?" Doriliyea Chartrin asked.

"They are not human, Doriliyea," Maya explained. "However, they have been working with humans for a while now. They were brought in to help us with the more severely mentally damaged former slaves after the recent raid on the Alliance."

Just then, Petronellaya, Elliya, and Fayad came into the clinic. "I was just explaining that I have asked Tougrate and Malnad to look at William," Maya informed them, primarily to Fayad who gave her a nod. Petronellaya nodded as well.

Those luminaries were not long behind, surprising the Chartrin family.

"Hello, Dr. Maya, Petronellaya, it is a pleasure to see you here," Tougrate said.

"There has been an incident on the beach, Tougrate," Maya explained. "William here had gotten himself into a very serious situation with the misuse of his empathic abilities. Junelliya blocked them as a punishment."

Both Toolend blinked in unison. "What do you mean, she blocked them?" Malnad asked.

"May I show you what happened?" Maya asked.

The two Toolend extended a tentacle each and Maya gave them a swift mental synopsis of what had occurred.

"That should not have been possible, Maya," Malnad said. "She has not had the training necessary to do this kind of thing."

"Did she overstep herself, Tougrate?" Petronellaya demanded.

"We will not know until we look at William," Tougrate replied turning to the parents. "We would like to look into his mind to see what has been done."

"Will that hurt him?" Galliya asked.

"No, it might give him a little headache but he is likely to have that from what has already been done to him," Malnad answered. "We need to look into his mind to see what exactly has occurred."

"We would normally ask the patient for permission but he is being punished for abusing his abilities," Tougrate told the parents. "As such, he has shown that he is not acting as a responsible adult. We would need your permission, as his parents, to look into his mind. I assure you he will not be harmed by our actions."

"The Toolend are telepathic," Maya explained. "They can look into a person's mind. Like us, they have a strict code that prevents them from abusing their abilities. In a like manner to the Council of Empaths, they are controlled by the Order of Telepaths. All Toolend who leave Toolend space must be members of the Order and respect the code established by it."

"They can only use their powers in limited circumstances," Petronellaya stepped in. "By invitation from those they are looking at, as has just occurred with Dr. Maya. For medical requirements with the consent of the patient, a guardian, or medical personnel representing the patient. By a judges warrant, when working in security and only for specific situations, or when directed by the Order of Telepaths."

"The tenants of the Order are built around the tenants of the Council," Elliya finished for her significant other.

"We need to look into his mind to ensure that there is no permanent effects on him. We assure you that he will not be harmed by our intrusion." Tougrate informed the parents.

"Can you reverse what she did to him?" Galliya asked.

"We cannot know until we have scanned his mind. We can inform you of what can be done after we have done so," Tougrate replied.

"Very well, I give you permission to 'scan' his mind, then," Doriliyea stated formally.

The Toolend waved a tentacle in acknowledgement and each reached out and touched William's head, with Dr. Maya holding one of Malnad's tentacles and acting as an observer. Their eyes went out of focus for a couple of minutes and then they withdrew their touch.

"This is something that we had not anticipated," Malnad explained to the watchers. "His mental abilities have been very selectively blocked. He basically cannot consciously touch his ability to use his empathy."

"The mechanism is unique," Tougrate continued. "William's ability to reason, to think for himself, to function as a normal person, has not been touched. But his ability to selectively use his powers has been blocked."

"Can it be reversed?" Galliya demanded angrily.

"Now that we know what mechanism was used to block his abilities, yes," Malnad assured them. "However, we will not do so."

"WHY NOT!?" an angry Doriliyea shouted.

"Because Junelliya is correct in what she has done," Malnad replied. "William's mind was open to us. He was preparing to flee the encounter on the beach. We can see that he does not care about the Council's edicts. He believes that he is above them. He would have continued to abuse his power. Going to jail would not have altered that.

"Junelliya was correct in temporarily removing his ability from him. He needs to learn the limits of his responsibilities before he is allowed to once more have access to those abilities. He is simply too powerful to have access to such power without a solid foundation of responsibility in its use."

"But you can remove the block?" Petronellaya asked.

"Yes, we have seen what Junelliya has done and can repeat her actions or negate them at our leisure. Now that we understand what has been done, we can also permanently block his power should that be necessary," Tougrate told them.

Seeing the look on Petronellaya's face, Malnad stepped in. "Forgive us, we did not pry, however, that idea is at the top of your mind at the moment."

"Junelliya said that her block was temporary?" Elliya asked.

"Yes. It will only block William for a short time, perhaps a year, though we cannot know for certain exactly how long, this is a first for us," Malnad advised them. "It can be removed sooner if we are lead to understand that William has reformed his actions."

"How will we know if he has?" Doriliyea wanted to know.

"We can scan him again to ascertain this," Malnad said. "He cannot hide his intent from us once we have permission to do a scan."

"Thank-you," Petronellaya said to the Toolend. She turned to the Chartrin family. "I will speak with the other members of the Council that are here. We will determine if we will continue with this punishment or if we will ask for the block to be removed.

"However, if we remove the block, William will be charged with mind rape. Be sure this is what you want as that will mean he will go to prison for an extended period of time. We will hold a disciplinary hearing tomorrow."

Petronellaya turned to Dr. Maya. "I apologize to you, Dr. Maya. I must impose on you during your vacation. Can I ask you to monitor William?"

"Yes, of course," Maya replied.

Petronellaya turned to the Toolend and bowed. "Thank-you for your assistance."

"The Council has helped us to develop our code, Petronellaya. Because of your support, the Order is now gaining acceptance throughout the Greater Community. This is a small return on your support," Tougrate waved his tentacles in an intricate dance before Petronellaya. The four turned and left the room.

"You may visit your son when you wish," Dr. Maya informed the parents. "We will begin to work out a routine for him that will hopefully allow him to regain his abilities. The warning is clear, however. If your son does not change his ways, he will be stripped of his ability to use his powers."

Maya, Heyya, and Fayad left the room. They found Petronellaya, Elliya, and the Toolend waiting for them.

"William's situation is not the only thing that the Council will be discussing today, Fayad. Junelliya will be included in the disciplinary hearing tomorrow. Please let her know."

"She will also face the Order of Telepaths ire," Tougrate informed him.

The group turned and left, leaving Fayad with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

***********

Fayad found his ladies back under the sun shelter but without the children, who were now at the daycare.

"How did things go?" Hanalei asked.

"The Toolend scanned William and informed Petronellaya that William did not care about the edicts of the Council. He would have transgressed again. They said that they could repeat the temporary block or remove it at her request. They also informed her that now that they understand the mechanism Junelliya used, they could also use that to permanently block his power.

"Petronellaya told the parents that if they removed the block, she would have to charge William with mind rape, leading to some serious jail time. The parents are in a quandary as they do not know what to do about William.

"Maya, Heyya, and the Toolend are starting to work on something that they hope will instill in him a sense of responsibility for his power.

"What is more important though, is that you will be involved in a disciplinary hearing tomorrow. The Order of Telepaths are also involved in this disciplinary hearing.

"They are right to do so, Junelliya. Petronellaya has already told you that you sometimes act outside of the limits of the Council tenants. She cannot let this go unchallenged," Fayad told them.

End of chapter forty-seven.

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