The Cosmic Mind

Dr. Mina Kosmova was a psychical researcher in the U.S.S.R. during the Cold War era, when the Soviet government heavily funded a number of secret programs to study paranormal and psychic phenomena. Dr. Kosmova sought to replicate telepathic experiences through technological means, but her experiments did not produce enough successful data. Her superiors wanted to cancel the project so that she could research more useful things, such as remote viewing and ESP for covert surveillance. Certain that her theories were correct and desperate to prove them, Dr. Kosmova secretly created a more powerful version of her neural receptor array and used herself as the test subject. Moments after the switch was thrown, Mina Kosmova’s mind expanded out into the cosmos. She came into contact with a vast and powerful alien intelligence, beyond anything the human mind could imagine, and her thoughts seemed to touch the reaches of infinity. The lab technicians later found Dr. Kosmova’s body slumped over in the test chair, dead of what looked like a massive cerebral hemorrhage. Soon thereafter, the Russian Science City reported strange happenings and “poltergeist” phenomena. It began among the psychics and sensitives there, but soon other personnel reported hearing voices and seeing visions. An associate of Dr. Atom got word to him, and The Atom Family came to investigate. They found the people at the Science City under the mental control of Dr. Kosmova’s disembodied mind, its psionic potential vastly increased by the neural receptor array. The so-called “Cosmic Mind” wanted to join all of humanity in a telepathic gestalt, controlled by it as the “queen,” to direct the future of the human race. Dr. Atom was able to modify Kosmova’s neural array to allow Mentac to disrupt the gestalt and disperse the Cosmic Mind’s psionic field. Initially, it was believed destroyed, but it managed to reintegrate itself over time. The Cosmic Mind has returned on several occasions to fight the Atom Family, including once possessing Mentac and forming a temporary alliance with Lady Lunar. It has proven one of the Atom Family’s most persistent foes, lacking a physical body to either fight or imprison. More recently, the Cosmic Mind was defeated by beaming it away from Earth toward a distant galaxy on a hyperspace carrier wave. That wave intersected the borders of The Lor Republic, where the Cosmic Mind was able to “anchor” itself with the psychic potential of a number of Lor mentats. It began the process of infiltrating and influencing the mentat population of the Republic, such that when Magna-Lor was destroyed by the cosmic menace Collapsar and the Stellar Khanate rushed over the borders of the shocked Republic, the Cosmic Mind was poised to exert its influence and make arrangements with the new power structure in Republic space. A surprisingly large number of mentats were willing to betray their oaths to the old Republic and serve the Star-Khan, strengthening the ranks of his “hounds.” The involvement of the new Stellar Imperium in affairs in Earth space has allowed the Cosmic Mind to reestablish ties with its home world, and plans are in the works. The Imperium is infiltrated on multiple fronts and, when the time is right, the Cosmic Mind will make its move, either to seize control of the whole of Imperium space or to reveal its presence and arrange a power-sharing deal, either with the Star Khan or The Grue Meta-Mind, which is more of a “psychic peer” that understands the value of a hive-consciousness. Of course, those who study Earth life know full well that two “queen bees” in a hive are compelled to fight each other to the death....

Physical Description

Special abilities

The Cosmic Mind is a being of pure psionic energy with no physical substance. It is immune to most physical concerns and most forms of harm, although it can still be affected by psionic powers and certain high-frequency signals that “jam” its energy frequency. The Cosmic Mind has a range of mental powers at its command, the greatest being telepathy. It can read the thoughts of other beings and project its thoughts into their minds, communicating across vast interstellar distances. The Cosmic Mind can directly control others and maintain control over a large number of minds, creating a “telepathic web” that connects them, allowing every part of the group-mind to know whatever happens with every other part. It can project mental blasts that stun the minds of others, which can be lethal, if applied continually. The Cosmic Mind has a small measure of psychokinesis, allowing it to move a few hundred pounds through mental force; such exertions are tiring, so it is a power the Cosmic Mind uses sparingly. It generally prefers to use mentally controlled “drones” to serve as its “hands” in the physical world.

Mental characteristics

Intellectual Characteristics

The personality that was once Dr. Mina Kosmova is all but gone. The Cosmic Mind considers itself “beyond” human failings and concerns. It is cold, detached, arrogant, and evidences a strong dislike for all “primitive” forms of government and bureaucracy, claiming that its telepathic hive-mind would be far superior and far less corruptible to all of them. It cares almost nothing for individuals, seeing people as mere drones for it to manipulate. It understands that its foes often have far more scruples, giving the Cosmic Mind an advantage when sending entranced minions against them. The Cosmic Mind is convinced that its collective is the true pinnacle of the communist ideal and the best for all thinking creatures, whether they agree or not. Clearly, its superior intelligence empowers it to make the right and necessary choice for less “developed” beings, and its ability to create a “cosmic consciousness” obligates it to do so. Arrogantly intellectual, the Cosmic Mind enjoys communicating with other minds, particularly those capable of grasping higher concepts, and can be distracted by such opportunities.