Psionics Potential

Psionics potential was a nascient field in Artemisia's sciences before the cataclysm. Though still relatively obscure and only worked on by a few, the possibilities were exciting--the telepaths in the first study had developed everything from telekinesis to mind tricks to surprisingly effective emergency healing by the time further psionic practice and study were outlawed in Artemisia.

Discovery

It has been said that many of the greatest scientific discoveries came about not with someone yelling "Eureka!" but with someone saying "Huh. That's weird." Psionic potential was definitely one of the latter discoveries. In fact, it was first spotted in a completely unrelated study involving Neurals and human memory.

The scientist who kicked it all off was, in fact, cheating the system a little bit. Charl Wikhtori wanted to work on human memory, hoping to increase both its power and the individual's conscious control over it. "Wouldn't it be great," they said, "if you could decide that you were going to remember the exact place you put your car keys, while entirely forgetting for the day about the argument you just had with your mother?"

Unfortunately, the law strictly prohibited any kind of testing with neurals that was aimed at the brain and its normal functions. There was, however, a loophole--telepathy was not considered a "normal brain function" as defined under the law. So Charl cheated a little and recruited volunteers with telepathic ability, stating that their study was aimed at understanding how this low-level brain magic actually registered in the brain, how they consciously controlled it, and so on.

Various members of government collectively shrugged and told them they could knock themself out, as everyone reasoned that it was just telepaths they were trying to understand so no one would particularly care. And out of that mundane bigotry was born one of the most significant and dangerous discoveries Artemisia had seen in a long time.

During a routine experiment on amplifying neural connections in a participant's memory processing, Charl noticed an odd anomaly in the readings. They commented aloud that there was a lot more activity in some nearby neurons than they had seen last time--long past the period that enhancement by neurals should have lasted. The telepath in question laughed in relief, and cheerfully told them, "Oh thank goodness, that explains this, then." She proceeded to stare at their hand for an awkwardly long time, and then a ring on Charl's finger suddenly became the temperature of bathwater.

Charl, of course, immediately reacted with excitement and curiosity, and when they asked around, it turned out that most of their participants had been experiencing weird little phenomena when they were sleepy or angry. Several had deliberately not mentioned it for fear that they would not be able to work magic on command and would be assumed crazy. Another--upon discovering that his open-bangle affirmation bracelet had suddenly gone burning hot in his sleep--had simply assumed that he was crazy, and unwisely taken a second dose of the sedating medication that he had been prescribed for when he needed a break from his telepathy. He reappeared at the study in pajamas, unaware that he was a day late, explaining that if he weren't still so sleepy from the meds that he would be having a panic attack about finally losing his mind.

The course of Charl's study was irrevocably shifted onto understanding how and why their participants could suddenly cause physics to happen with their minds. And it was just the tip of the iceberg, as they and those telepaths who were eager to discover what else they could do soon discovered.

Utility

At the time of its birth, psionics actually had no serious practical applications, as Charl and the developing psions were mostly operating under the principal of "Wow, isn't that awesome? What else do you think we can do?" After the cataclysm, however, psionics secretly became the cornerstone of travel between the islands of reality, as well as integral to Charl's efforts to restore their psion friends to corporeal form.

Social Impact

Psionics was a discovery that sparked excitement and enthusiasm in both Charl and their participants, leading them to celebrate each step of the progress they were making. Nonetheless, psionics also represented significant mental and emotional changes for the people in whom they were unlocked. Participants developed what were essentially magical powers--along with the perception of magical phenomena they had not previously been aware of. They had to adjust to suddenly being able to influence the world, people, and even reality itself in ways they had not previously dreamed of. Each individual dealt with it in their own way, from the one who left before the study was finished, to the one who spent long hours studying the universe as they could now see it.

Eventually, psionics came to the attention of the government and the general public, and people were generally not thrilled when they found out that some random telepaths were developing reality-warping powers. After the cataclysm, the government offered psions up as the culprit, and ultimately they were publicly killed, and the practice of unlocking psionic powers outlawed. They were from then on generally believed to be dead and gone, and the matter settled, and Charl disappeared shortly afterwards, leaving a cryptic and weirdly optimistic note behind in a mostly empty house.

Inventor(s)

Charl Wikhtori

Access & Availability

The field had only experimented with a small number of study participants by the time the plug was pulled. Any post-cataclysm study had to be conducted in absolute secrecy.