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Message-ID: <51446asstr$1119442201@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: El Sol <munster@eden.rutgers.edu>
Subject: {ASSM} The Institute Series Set II by ElSol (MC, MF) (2/4)
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Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 08:10:01 -0400
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Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
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        This email address is NOT read. If you wish to contact me please
do so ONLY at munster(at)remus(dot)rutgers(dot)edu.

	Thank you
	ElSol

<1st attachment, "institutecombo2.txt" begin>

THE SECOND INSTITUTE FLASH STORY

   Why Not To Tell Her: Miguel's Story by ElSol

   "My breasts are probably bigger than hers."

   "No, Susan!" I replied automatically.

   "This is the last time," Susan whined.  "I promise."

   "It was the last time with Michelle!  It was the last time, the last
dozen times.  I should never have told you about the Institute test!"

   "I can't believe I've been wrong every time," she complained.  "It's so
unfair!"

   "Look at who you keep comparing yourself to," I said.  "Which one is it
this time?"

   "Her," Susan said pointing.

   "Jennifer Gottos!  Those aren't tits; they're landmarks!" I told her.

   "It could be a padded bra," Susan insisted.

   "You take gym with her," I said.  "Don't tell me you haven't peeked."

   "Yeah," Susan shrugged.  "But I need to touch them to make sure they're
real!"

   "Sixteen year old girls don't have fake boobs," I protested. 
"Especially now!  What's the point?"

   "Shows what you know!" Susan said with all the superiority sixteen-year
old females claim over males their age.

   "I'll let you touch them," Susan offered.

   "Suse!  I'm the Symbolic," I said exasperated.  "I'm the reason Jennifer
will let us compare."

   "I meant mine," she whispered.  I stopped, and someone walked into me.

   "Watch it, asshole!" the guy growled.

   "Gerald!" his friend said, pulling at his arm.  "That's the Positive."

   "Dude!" Gerald said, brushing off where he bumped me.  "I'm sorry."

   "It's okay," I replied.

   "Are you sure?" he asked worried.

   "Yes, I'm fine," I said with a fake smile.  "Thank you."

   "This sucks!" I said when he walked away.

   "A jock apologizes to you, and it sucks!" Susan exclaimed.

   "They know about the test," I said.

   "Everybody knows about the test, Miguel," Susan said.  "One out of five
hundred thousand people are Positive!  If the Institute doesn't move you,
everyone around here will be assured Institute acceptance of their
Applications unless they fail the genetic anomaly test.  My mom is already
planning what to name my new little brother.  Our New Christian priest has
been asking when you're going to stop by to 'talk' to him!"

   I stopped in front of my locker and input the combination.

   "It still sucks, the way they look at me," I said.

   "You're too sensitive," she replied leaning against the locker next to
mine.

   "A few weeks ago, I was nobody," I said.  "Now, every guy wants to be my
best friend, and every girl looks at me like I'm the god-jock of the state.
If I find out who let my results out, I'm going to kill them!"

   "The Institute probably makes sure people find out," Susan said
thoughtfully.

   "Why would they do that?" I asked in shock.

   "You're bound to do stuff," Susan said shrugging.  "They have to prepare
us for it."

   "I wouldn't do anything if someone didn't keep asking me to," I said
eyeing her.  She waved my words away and slammed my locker door shut.

   "You're EMC-Pos!" she said.  "You're expected to do wickedly naughty
things; we need you to do wickedly naughty things, Mig.  It's the only time
any of us can do wickedly naughty things anymore."

   "Did you get into your grandmother's romance novels again?" I asked.

   "The Institute gave me some reading material, asshole!" she said over
her shoulder.

   "Why did they do that?" I asked grabbing her arm and turning her around.

   "A lot of people still have problems with Positives, especially the
Zero-Gens or Geddonists," she said.  "But NOBODY wants the Institute to
send that Santos guy around; everybody says Operative is a just fancy word
for goon.  Anyway, the Institute said I would be your most likely
'experimental' subject, and they wanted me to know what to expect."

   "I would never do anything to you!" I spat.

   "Why not?" she asked pissed off suddenly.  "I'm a girl!  It's because of
my tits, isn't it?  You like them as big as Jennifer's!"

   I had never won an argument with Susan, so I turned away only to end up
face-to-face with Jennifer.

   "You like my breasts?" she asked.

   "Not me, her!" I said pointing at Susan.

   "You don't like my breasts!" Jennifer said disappointed.

   "Hi, Jen!" Susan said smiling brightly.  "I was just trying to talk
Miguel into playing with your Symbols."

   "Are you crazy?" I yelled.

   "Cool!" Jennifer said staring at me.

   "Fuck!" I breathed.  "You're all crazy!"

   "Do you even know how to read, Mig?" Susan asked.  "It's in the manuals
the Institute gave you."

   I had read one of them but righteously decided not to inform Susan.  The
manual explained why a certain Symbol came into focus when I looked at
Jennifer and Susan.  I turned away from them and walked into my next class.

   "Are you going to do anything with my breasts?" Jennifer asked from the
doorway.

   Everyone in the room looked up with interest.

   "No!" I bit out.

   "Do you need time, Miguel?" Miss Johnson asked.

   "No!"

   "The law requires accommodation for Positives," she reminded me.  "If
you need time with Jennifer and Susan, the class can wait.  The survival of
the human race is more important."

   "Are the Sex Symbols really broken, Miguel?" Susan asked.

   "Not yours," I answered without thinking.

   "Why not Susan's?" Jennifer asked from behind her.  My Institute mentor
had helped me understand what I had done to Susan.

   "Every Symbolic subconsciously fixes the broken Symbols of his..." I
looked at Susan before continuing.  "His Susan!  It's a permanent fix; the
only one that anyone knows of.  You see, I can too read!"

   "So that's why I wanted to look at those girls' tits!" Susan said
laughing.

   Jennifer and Susan's Symbols floated into my vision again.  I saw them
as Kanji characters of a language only I understood; Susan's was complete
and glowed slightly, while Jennifer's was missing a connecting slash.

   I couldn't help it!  I reached out and put a pair of fingers on Susan's.

   "Ohhh!!!" she gasped getting up on her toes.  Those breasts, that I
thought were perfect, pushed towards me with their cherry drop nipples
pressing against her shirt.  I reached out with my other hand and drew the
slash to complete Jennifer.  Her knees buckled, and an addicting feminine
sound of pleasure escaped her lips.

   I pressed against their symbols.  Susan collapsed onto Jennifer as they
experienced something only an EMC-Pos could make possible anymore.

   Orgasm.

   I let their symbols go and turned around.

   "Oh shit!" I whispered.

   The hand gestures were unnecessary; I had completed every Sex Symbol in
the classroom.  Unlike Susan, the effect was only temporary, but the manual
had been clear about what would happen in the meantime.

   "Hey!" Susan said around Jennifer's lips.  "My breasts are bigger than
that girl's, and that one too!"

   END FLASH =====

   THE SECOND MOTHERLESS CHILD INSTITUTE STORY Case #57: Signs Of Healing
By ElSol

   "So where's the fire?" Sheila asked before sitting next to me in the
Institute lounge.

   "Shouldn't you be reducing the number of idiots in some town in the
middle of nowhere?" Robert asked her with a superior smile guaranteed to
get under Sheila's skin.  Her work in Red Falls made her the designated
liaison when a community lost its way but could still be saved.  She had
been working on her third town when the Director recalled us.

   "All five active Operatives in the Institute at the same time," Albert
said.  "The last time it happened was when Jason received his grays."

   "The Director called all of you in too?" Lianne asked.

   "Obviously, there's something wrong," I told them.  "There's no point in
talking about it until the Director decides to tell us."

   "You're not even a little curious?" Robert needled me with.

   "Someday Robert, you're actually going to piss Jason off," Sheila told
him.  "If the prospect weren't so terrifying, I'd love to be there."

   "Jason understands his duties," Lianne said staring at Robert.  "Unlike
some people!"

   Robert winked and blew her a kiss.  Sheila and Albert looked away,
pressing their lips together.

   "Each of us has our own style," Sheila said to Lianne.

   "I heard you asked the Director if he had anything brighter when he gave
you the grays," Albert said to Sheila, trying to forestall an argument
between the youngest and oldest Operatives.

   "Gray is so gloomy," Sheila said patting her uniform.  "I did not ask
the Director if he had something brighter, I merely suggested yellow might
make us seem less goonish."

   "I like my Operatives to look like goons, Sheila," the Director said,
gliding up to us.  "If they look like goons, they don't have to act like
goons quite as often."

   "Where is everyone?" Sheila asked.  The Director raised an eyebrow at
her.

   "I know the presence of five Operatives can empty entire counties, but
this is the Institute, Director," she said quickly.

   "Jason was practicing his 'I'm the Prince of Broodiness' act, Sheila,"
Robert said.  "Positives positively flee in fear for their lives whenever
he does that."

   "Why are we here, sir?" I asked the Director.

   "There's a situation, which we'll get to later," he said turning his
chair around.  "First order of business is my personal assistant,
Stephanie. She's playing with the trainees again."

   The other Operatives groaned as we stood up to follow him; Stephanie
managed to get kidnapped a few times a year.

   "Whose turn is it?" Sheila asked.

   "I saved the trainees last time!" Robert said immediately.

   "The girl has inhuman stamina when she gets going," Albert sighed.  "She
can fuck two Positives unconsciousness and look around for a third to keep
the orgy going.  I wonder if new trainees think chasing her around a
bedroom is a graduation requirement."

   "There's a ribbon," Sheila told him.  "Blue if you managed to catch her;
her favorite in each training class gets a red ribbon."

   "There aren't that many trainees a year," Albert said.

   "There's only been one Trainee who didn't get a ribbon since she started
working for the Director," Sheila said.  Everyone glanced at me.

   "Sometimes, son," the Director sighed.  "You make me wonder."

   There was no point in saying anything.

   "So whose turn is it?" Robert asked.

   Stephanie knew more about the Institute than a majority of Positives and
far more than any politician or New Christian priest.  Like the Director's
assistants before her, she became the most valuable source of information
about the Institute for outsiders.  Her ventures into the trainee dorm
non-coincidently corresponded with one of the Director's private meetings,
which must have been frustrating for anyone using her.  Everyone involved
knew what was going on, especially Stephanie, but the Director was adroit
at making people play the game by his rules.  Anyone complaining about the
system discovered the hard way that Stephanie only gossiped into a list of
approved ears; getting cutoff had ended several political careers.

   We walked into the trainee lounge to find Stephanie sitting in the
middle with a number of trainees lining the walls.  Four trainees, each at
a cardinal direction to Stephanie, stood a few feet from her.

   "What are they doing?" Lianne asked curiously.  She was the oldest
Operative and had tested Positive when the Institute was still willing to
use mentors rather than bring all Positives to the Institute for training.

   "It's a competition," Sheila said staring at Stephanie.

   "Four Positives, one of each type, use their power to wrestle for
control of someone," Robert said.

   "Why do they bother?" Lianne asked.  "A Telepathic shouldn't lose if he
has enough brains and power to get a mental command through."

   "The other types don't usually win, especially with someone of Operative
potential like Elijah," Robert said looking at the Telepathic Trainee
fighting for control of Stephanie.  "But a very good Symbolic can
neutralize Telepathic commands before they become fully inscribed."

   "Telepathics lose often enough to keep things interesting for the
others," Sheila added.

   "Elijah's good," Robert said.  "He wants to be an Operative so he
doesn't like to lose these and hasn't yet."

   "He'll lose," I said.

   "To who?" Sheila asked.  "None of those three have enough power."

   "The Symbolic understands her power better than Elijah understands his,"
I said staring at Stephanie.  "She's playing for a stalemate, which makes
it easier to stop his commands from inscribing on Stephanie.  The Empathic
is the youngest and has the least amount of control; it's a destabilizing
combination.  With Elijah having to deal with those two, Lucinda will win."

   "You brought the Pheromonic in, Jason," Robert pointed out.  "You're
biased."

   "They set Elijah up!" Sheila said studying Stephanie.

   "Given time a Pheromonic hold is as unbreakable as a Telepathic command,
probably more so," I reminded them.  "You can only put the subject down and
keep them down until their system purges the pheromones."

   "Why would those three work together?" Lianne asked.

   "They must have bet on the outcome," Robert told her.  "No one will bet
against a Telepathic; but if they set Elijah up, and he doesn't know it..."

   "He has individual bets with the girls and thinks none of them know
about the others," I said.

   "He didn't!" Sheila exclaimed.  Her eyes snapped at Elijah with
annoyance.

   "If he wins, he gets the girls until he graduates from the training
program," I said.  "If he loses..."

   "They get him," Albert said shaking his head.  "The fucking idiot!"

   "Positive on Positive sex, that's disgusting!" Lianne said.  "And
willing sex slaves!  The perverts!"

   Lianne had New Christian doctrinal views on the role of Positives and
their interaction with others.

   "He had to have set it up so the girls wouldn't find out," Robert
protested, "or he's not Operative potential."

   "Elijah needed a lesson in humility," the Director said.  "I asked Jason
to take care of it."

   "Still..." Sheila started to say.

   "Elijah thinks the girls hate each other," I said.  "They've spent the
last three months baiting him into the bet."

   Robert, Albert, and Sheila broke out laughing.

   "At least, we know he respects the minds of others if he didn't look to
make sure his plan was working," Sheila said nodding towards Elijah with
respect.

   "He would have gotten the surprise of his life," I said, "and ended his
chances of becoming an Operative."

   "If you didn't kill him for it," Albert said seriously.  I shrugged at
the obvious.

   "Elijah believes his power makes him special," the Director said.

   He did not have to continue; an Operative's rite of passage was killing
or dying at the hands of a Positive who thought they were special.

   "That's surprising," Albert said when Elijah took a step back and nodded
at his opponents.

   "He can still win," Lianne said.

   "He could," Sheila said.

   "But it's not just about Stephanie," Robert said smiling.  "He could
win, but the ladies beat him.  A man takes his lumps."

   Sheila and Robert shared a warm smile.  With only ten percent of
Positives being Telepathics, few were in the same Training class.  Sheila
and Robert entered the Institute the same day; the chaos they caused made
most pray we were never so lucky again.

   Stephanie let out a frustrated gasp as the other competitors released
her.  She looked around to see what had happened.  Her kidnappings usually
ended much differently.

   "I guess there's no one to rescue this time," Robert said.

   "Jason," the Director said loudly.  "Show the trainees how it's done."

   Everyone in the room turned towards me; Stephanie's eyes lit up, and she
leaned in my direction.  I nodded to the Director and walked up to
Stephanie.

   "Stand up," I told her.

   "Make me," she purred.

   "The Director wants privacy for a few hours, darling," I replied.  "You
need to go to sleep.  We can do it your way or mine.  Which would you
prefer?"

   She got on her feet so fast the chair tumbled behind her.

   "Are you sure?" I asked.  "My way is quicker."

   "And miss the opportunity to see the Director's Bastard in action," she
said.  "I've got a lot of experience with Positives, Jason.  Can you live
up to my expectations?"

   I got close enough for her to feel the warmth of my breath against her
cheek.

   "Do you know why I never touched you, Stephanie?" I asked.  She would
have touched my skin with hers as she shook her head except I moved away.
"Because for you, this is a game, and I would have spoiled it."

   "Spoiled it?" she asked leaning back so she could stare at me with her
warm brown eyes.

   I let her become aware of my jack.  Most of the time, I made it feel
like I was coming in through the base of someone's skull.  It was an
illusion but a useful one.

   Stephanie spread her feet apart as her mind told her I was getting
inside through her pussy.  She closed her eyes as I drove the tentacle up
her spine and into her brain.

   "Arms, dear," I said gesturing upwards with my fingers and taking a step
back.  Her eyes opened, and she looked at her arms as they followed my
instruction.  Her pupils widened, and her nostrils flared as she struggled
to keep her arms in position.  I let her think she was making it a fight to
heighten the sensation of being trapped by my power.

   With arms akimbo, her brow furrowed as she continued to send commands
that went unheeded.  I waited until drops of sweat formed on her forehead
before stepping forward again.

   "Let me take a guess about your experience," I said putting my hand on
the top button of her blouse.  "Telepathics said come, and you came."

   I undid the button and the one below.  I took a step back and held my
hands up for her to see.  She felt the third button being worked on by
unseen hands; she looked around to see who was touching her, while I
blocked the awareness of her hands doing my work.

   "That's so easy though," I said bringing her focus back to me.  "Come."

   Her knees would have buckled except an instant before her pussy tried to
grasp the link that only existed in her mind I slammed a wall between her
and the pleasure.

   "No!" she whimpered, fighting to push past the barrier.  She thought she
was moving but stood frozen.

   "Then there's Pheromonics," I said walking behind her to undo her skirt.
"But at their best, it's only your body."

   I stood in front of her and tilted my head.

   "Like this," I said.  Every nerve awakened outward from her spine, each
screaming signals of sensation at her mind.  The wave spread upward,
downward, and around her torso until it felt to her like she was covered in
a silky web of physical bliss.  I opened her mind until it could process
all the pleasure I was giving her.

   "But that's just physical," I said.  "Your body feels to the point of
need, but it's not really you.  The Pheromonic isn't really in control, are
they?"

   I pushed her up until she got to a point that felt twice as high as the
one my order to come had taken her to and cut it off again.  There were
tears in her eyes when she looked at me.

   "And Symbolics are so..." I said.  "They make you feel like one second
you're going about your business and the next you're standing in your bra,
panties, and heels.  Like that."

   She tore her eyes from me and looked down.  She was standing in her bra,
panties, and heels.  The experience of her entire body being bathed in
feeling had been in her mind; in the meantime, I directed her hands to take
her down to essentials.

   "Empathics are my personal favorite," I told her.  "You feel what they
feel; they feel what you feel.  It's like sharing, but YOU don't want to
share, do you?"

   Her eyes bored into me.  She bit her lip to the point of drawing blood.
I smiled before walking behind her.  I put my hand on her bra, making sure
I did not touch skin.  I undid the hooks and walked back in front of her. I
pulled on the front of the bra, and her arms moved forward to allow me to
slip it off.

   Stephanie's eyes widened as she witnessed counter-evidence to what her
mind told her, that her arms were still akimbo.

   "What's the point of being with a Positive, if they don't take?" I
asked. She bit her lip again.

   "Take the panties off," I ordered.  Her eyes turned fearful again as her
mind said she was standing still, but her hands followed my instruction.

   "You've been playing with Trainees because they're safe," I said. 
Stephanie shook her head hard; I smiled and shook mine.

   "When I'm done, Stephanie," I said.  "A part of you is going to stay
with me."

   I inserted a second link, making it feel like a ruthless invasion coming
in through her anus, an invasion of power and pleasure.  I lifted her mind
with my holds on it; through the ceiling, over the building, up into the
sky until there was only emptiness, the warming light of the sun, and my
jacks into her.  I held her there, letting the sun pleasure her with its
warmth, letting her get hotter and hotter until she thought it would be
over with the next degree of heat.

   I dropped her mind back into its body.

   "You've been playing with children getting their first taste of freedom
and power, Stephanie," I told her.  "I grew up in the Institute; my lessons
about power were taught by the Director."

   I stared into her eyes for a minute allowing her to catch her breath.

   "Goodbye, Stephanie," I said.

   "What?"

   "You're not going to be same person anymore," I said and dropped her
into the Abyss.  Stephanie screamed as I closed my links into a loop taking
away the sensation of anything except her mind.  From her perspective, she
floated in a sea of nothing but herself.  I pushed her mind into an endless
cycle of increasing pleasure, but without the connection to her body it
could only grow.  I waited fifteen minutes, which to Stephanie felt like
several eternities.

   "Are you ready, Stephanie?" I asked through my links, the voice of God
cutting through the darkness.  She was in no state to put together a
coherent answer; I dropped her awareness back into her body.

   Stephanie collapsed as her body received the totality of what her mind
had experienced.  Stephanie convulsed and spit up as her mind stretched
into insanity to process an eternity of pleasure.

   The only Trainee, other than Elijah, who was not puking or lying
unconscious walked forward and put her hand on Stephanie.  She pulled the
hand back immediately and curled into a ball as the backwash of Stephanie's
experience took her under.

   "The Trainees tried to break your hold on Stephanie," Albert said coming
to stand close to me.  "What were they thinking?"

   "The Director had reasons for choosing me to put his assistant out," I
replied.

   "We're been losing control of the Trainees?" Albert whispered in shocked
tones.

   I turned to look a Lianne.

   "People are conspiring to break our hold," I said.

   "The New Christian Church?!?"

   "Among others," I said.  "The Trainees needed to have the consequences
of becoming an Operative case file illustrated, especially one of mine."

   "Ten Trainees," Albert said looking around.  "They could have broken
anybody's hold, except yours or David's."

   He looked at Elijah, who was studying the fallen Trainees, and then his
eyes moved to the Trainee who had touched Stephanie.

   "At least, our future Operative and the new Healer weren't a part of
it," he sighed.

   "The Healer has the advantage of being in daily contact with David," I
said.  I turned and walked towards Elijah.

   "You want to be an Operative?" I asked him.  He nodded confidently.

   "Stephanie is mine," I said.  "If by the time you graduate, you can make
her hesitate to say my name when I ask who she belongs to, without giving
her a command to be yours, I will sponsor and mentor you."

   "When is she going to stop having that orgasm?" he said looking at the
still twitching Stephanie.

   "Soon," I said.

   "Operatives," the Director said.  "Join me."

   Outside the Trainee building, the Director turned his gravchair towards
the Institute laboratories.  Robert and Sheila walked to the side engrossed
in conversation.  Lianne tried to make it seem like she was not watching
me, while Albert watched her.

   We entered a conference room where an Institute technician waited for
us.

   "Sit down," the Director told us.  "This is Jeremy, a population tech;
he has some findings I want investigated."

   "Operatives," Jeremy said nervously when we took our seats.  "What do
you know about Geddonists?"

   "What is there to know about a suicide cult?" Lianne asked
sarcastically.

   "Enough, Lianne," the Director said.  "Jeremy, frame the issue and your
findings.  The Operatives have time to hear it all."

   "Yes, Sir," the pop-tech replied, feeling more comfortable with
instructions to follow.  "Geddonists believe Armageddon has arrived or more
generally that the human race's time on Earth has come to an end.  They're
not a suicide cult, so much as a 'lie down and die' cult."

   "Lie down and die," Robert snarfed.  "Is that the technical term?"

   "Robert, this is important," the Director admonished.

   "Yes, sir," Robert replied sitting up straighter.  The Director did not
use the word important often.

   "Geddonist can register with the government, and while it is not
codified into law, it is Institute policy that Positives avoid them," the
pop-tech continued.  "For their safety and to make it easier for the
Institute to stay clear of them, Geddonists form enclaves: neighborhoods in
large metropolitan areas, a specific building in towns, etc.  Large
enclaves are rare but not unexpected so the county of Summertown being
populated mostly by registered Geddonists did not raise an alarm."

   "An entire county?" Sheila asked.

   "We've had towns with one hundred percent Geddonist registration," the
pop-tech said.  "The psych-techs believe the behavior is a form of mental
disease, a contagious one.  The solution has been to isolate the outbreak
before it spreads out of control.  Summertown was isolated and if worse had
come to worse they would have been allowed to die out."

   "So what makes Summertown different?" Robert asked.

   "There are two unexplained phenomena," the pop-tech said.  "First, the
presence of a New Christian Cathedral and two priests."

   "The Church sends missionaries to Geddonist enclaves," Lianne said. 
"We've converted many who lost their faith."

   "Yes, Operative," the pop-tech replied.  "But Geddonism took a seat in
Summertown seventeen years ago, and has continued to grow rather than
recede.  The Church has kept the same two priests in place the entire time,
and the Cathedral was built after the county achieved nearly ninety percent
Geddonist registration."

   He paused to see if Lianne would say anything.

   "In every other case where Geddonism has continued to spread like this,
the Church has changed the priests that could not stop the disease and
increased the number of missionaries," he finished.

   "What does New Christian Policy have to do with the Institute?" Albert
asked before Lianne could respond.

   "Nothing if it were the only strange thing about the county," the
pop-tech admitted.  "The real problem is Summertown's population
statistics."

   He projected a population graph on to the wall with a curve none of us
had seen outside of a classroom.

   "The Positive mutation and our requirement of it to consummate human
mating was unquestionably the worst of the Event effects but not the only
one.  A greater number of miscarriages and a climb in infant mortality made
the situation worse," the pop-tech said looking at his graph.  "The
reaction to Positives was best in this country due to the Director's
ceaseless efforts to convince the people in power of the Event's reality,
but there are nations that killed off most of their Zero-Gen Positives. 
Worldwide we haven't come close to achieving a population growth of zero
since the Event."

   He stared at the graph as if it were a map to the Holy Grail, which
population G-Zero was to pop-techs.

   "We've discovered the higher rate of miscarriages was only among the two
Zero Generations, people alive during the Event and those born of people
alive during the Event.  The Institute's genetic testing for viability
between matched males and females has brought down the infant mortality
rate, though it is more likely counseling is what really turned the corner
in that area."

   Geddonism was not the only form of mental despair people suffered after
the Event.

   "The truth is even in areas most accepting of the Institute, we have yet
to reach G-Zero," he said turning back to us.  "Therefore a Geddonist
enclave of this size having a population growth of Zero-Plus is an anomaly
of monumental proportions."

   Even I sat up and leaned forward.

   "Migration of new Geddonists to Summertown," Sheila suggested.

   "People without children are ten times as likely to become Geddonists as
those with children," the pop-tech said.  "Summertown's expenditures on
schools is growing and not receding.  Those financial numbers is what
brought Summertown County to my attention."

   "But people with children do become Geddonists," Robert pointed out. 
"So it is possible, especially if the enclave is recruiting, which has been
known to happen."

   "The Summertown hospital recently expanded their maternity wing," the
pop-tech replied.  "These people have been obscuring their finances for
years, but it was easy to find a host of things no other Geddonist enclave
spends money on."

   "Positives are far from saints," Lianne said.  "A few could be using
Summertown as their personal sandbox."

   "The Director has assured us, it is not happening here," the pop-tech
said looking over at him.  The Operatives turned towards me instead.

   "These people can't be this stupid!" Albert said.  "Someone had to know
we would notice."

   "Actually, Operative, an expectation that we would not notice is
reasonable.  I only ran into them because of a pet project," the pop-tech
said.  "A Geddonist enclave is a waste of our resources."

   "Geddonist enclaves were a waste of our resources," the Director said.

   "Do we know what IS happening in Summertown?" Lianne asked the pop-tech.

   "No, I do not; but I want an answer," the Director said turning his
gravchair towards us.  "No controls, Operatives; dissect the residents of
Summertown County if you have to."

   He turned his gravchair and glided out of the room.  The pop-tech nearly
ran after him when five Operatives turned towards him like we were going to
start the dissections with him.



   ---



   "They're angry," the Healer said.

   "They have a right to be," I replied watching Robert and Sheila's
gravcars seem to vibrate with emotion.

   "I guess I understand the pain of the people in Summertown," she said.

   "No," I said.  "You understand the pain the world feels over their
crime. Selfishness when everyone has sacrificed is cancer."

   "Robert and Sheila are so angry," she said rubbing her temples.

   "They had hope; maybe it was something in the water or anything, as long
as it showed the human race was healing," I said.  "They did not expect to
find such a base answer in one sweep of Summertown."

   Since the first Operative, Santos, our gray uniforms identified us. 
There were jokes among Positives and non-Positives about Operatives fucking
in the uniform.  It made things easier when Operatives needed to go
unnoticed during investigations.  No one in Summertown County thought a
couple looking to buy a house was something to worry about, especially with
their mental powers pushing people away from asking too many questions.

   "Are you sure calling David in from the Euro-Institute wouldn't be
better?" the Healer asked.  "I haven't finished the training program."

   "He has confidence in you," I told her.  "Institute training isn't just
about your power."

   I watched in the mirror as Albert's gravcar came to a hard stop and turn
to block the road behind us.  He stepped out of the car and put his hand
up. The vehicles had been following us since we entered the County; they
halted as Albert's mental command gripped the drivers.

   A few minutes later, our four gravcars came to a halt in front of a
building.  I stepped out and walked towards the front door with the Healer
following me.  Robert, Sheila, and Lianne fell into step at my sides with
the three most powerful Symbolics at the Institute walking behind them.

   There was a large crowd in front of the edifice looking like they were
building up the courage to mob us.  Robert hesitated in his step, and I
felt the shockwave as rage fueled the power of his Scream.  Everyone in the
crowd grabbed their heads and shouted in pain.  We walked around them until
we were at the doors.  Sheila turned around and waited a few seconds before
layering a Scream of her own on top of Albert's.  The people passed out
from the Operatives' combined effort.

   "Was that really necessary?" the Healer asked rubbing her arms.  "Either
of you could have knocked them out."

   "It wouldn't have hurt as much," Robert told her while holding the door
open for us.

   I walked in first, people were pouring out of offices.  A man stepped in
front of me.

   "You can't come in here!" he shouted.  The other occupants screamed as
my bullet entered between his eyes.  I put two more bullets into his chest
as I walked by.

   "Stop!" Lianne ordered.  The fleeing people froze in their tracks.  I
halted and waited for the Healer to finish walking through Lianne's
statues, putting a hand on each of them.

   "They've been Healed," she said in amazement.  "All of them!"

   "But he's a Symbolic!" Sheila protested.

   "The Director has always considered Symbolics and their form of Healing
our best hope," I reminded her.

   "Then he knows how to Heal consciously," Robert said, "and not the way
other Symbolics do it."

   "Or he loves all of these people," I said.  "There's been documented
cases of Symbolics Healing their parents and friends so it does not have to
be 'in love', just love."

   The Healer closed her eyes and stretched out her arms.  I felt her
reaching out with her power.

   "There's too many," she said opening her eyes.  "Everyone in my reach
has been Healed.  That's more than the combined total of ALL people
Institute Positives have ever Healed.  One man couldn't have done this!"

   "If he's powerful enough, he could," one of the Symbolics said with
tears in his eyes.  "He's in there, Operatives."

   He pointed to doors at the end of the hallway.  I walked to them with
everyone a couple of steps behind me.  I opened the doors and took a few
steps inside.

   The room had once been a gymnasium so the space was wide open.  In the
middle was a platform with a high chair placed in a position of honor. 
Seeming to wash from the platform were naked bodies rolling around in
various states of coitus.  There were at least two hundred people
participating in an orgy of mindless lust.  In the high chair, a
middle-aged man watched all the action while clapping happily.

   We wended our way through the bodies until we stood in front of the high
chair.

   "Hello, Simon," I said.

   "Simon says!  Simon says!" he shouted gleefully and hesitated before
reaching out to me.  "Simon says, you fuck!"

   His fingers danced as he attempted to manipulate my Symbols to the shape
he wanted.

   "Oh my God!" Sheila gasped putting a hand over her mouth as she finished
a study of Simon.  Her reaction was not surprising; in front of us was a
vision no one had seen since the advent of the Institute's genetic testing
and the discovery of our first Healer.

   Simon's face was misshapen with eyes set too widely apart and a forehead
too large for the rest of his face.  His teeth were malformed, and he had
trouble breathing.  The biggest shock was the innocence in his eyes; it
spoke of an inability to process the pain of life.

   "You evil!  You evil!" Simon accused after he discovered one of the
mysteries surrounding me; my Symbols were immutable.

   "Distract him," I told the Symbolics before Simon could make a decision
to run.  They lined up at angles to him and stretched out their hands.

   The four corners tug of power game Trainees played was not the only one
Positives entertained themselves with; each power had an iteration of the
game Positives with others of their type.  Symbolics created a special
Symbol and challenged others to change it while they tried to maintain its
form.

   "Game!  Game!" Simon said settling back in his chair.  He looked at each
of the Symbolics before stretching his hands out.  "Simon always wins!"

   "God Apart!" the oldest Symbolic said.  "He's too powerful; we won't be
able to hold him long!"

   "Healer," I said without looking at her.  She walked around the platform
until she could approach Simon from behind.  She put a hand on his shoulder
and closed her eyes.  I watched Simon to ensure he did not notice her.

   "It's not genetic," she announced.  "Most of it is pre-natal.  His
mother must have been exposed to a toxin, but something went wrong at birth
too.  Oxygen loss."

   "Can you take care of it?" Lianne asked harshly.

   "He's dying," the Healer said ignoring Lianne's words.  She let Simon go
and stepped back to stare at me.  "Positive-Drain, Operative.  Less than
two weeks before his body ceases to function."

   "What have these idiots done!?!" Robert shouted looking around the room.

   The Healer took a deep breath and stepped towards Simon.

   "Do not, Healer," I told her.

   "I can do it!" she insisted.

   The other Operatives preferred modern weapons, but I thought the noise
of an old fashioned gun was more intimidating.  The ability to stretch out
the realization of intent by cocking the hammer was also useful.  The
Healer's hand stopped moving when I pointed the gun at Simon's head.

   "Your Elder has stated the most likely result of trying to heal PD is a
dead Healer and a still dying Positive," I said.  "If you insist on trying,
I'll kill him now rather than let him have the two weeks you are
predicting."

   "David says 'most likely', Operative," she argued.  "There's still a
chance.  It's worth the risk!"

   "The Director decides what risks are worth taking, and Operatives make
the decision in the field," I said.  "I've made it.  Step away from him!"

   She looked at Simon again but took a step back.  The Symbolics crumbled
to their knees as Simon overpowered them.  I jacked into them, pushing
through the burst of energy necessary for them to break free of his hold.

   "Cheater!  Cheater!" Simon shouted at me.

   "Take them outside," I told the other Operatives gesturing at the
Symbolics and the Healer after holstering my gun.

   "The girl is right, Jason," Sheila said after everyone left.  "It's
worth the risk.  He's obviously capable of Healing on a scale we haven't
seen before in any Symbolic.  Simon is what we've hoped for, more than
we've hoped for!"

   "Do you think the Director will order us back to try what the girl
suggests?" I asked.

   She did not reply.

   "I know you don't understand, Simon," I said stepping forward to touch
his cheek.  "I'm sorry they abandoned you.  I'm sorry I have to abandon
you."

   "Simon says!  Simon says!" he giggled.  I turned around and followed
Sheila out.

   Two New Christian priests were at the head of a crowd confronting Lianne
and Robert when we stepped out of the building.  An old woman stepped out
the crowd and approached me.

   "What you have done to my Simon?" she asked in tones of accusation.

   "How old is he?" I asked.

   "What did you do to him, you Institute Bastard?!?"

   "You're his mother?" I asked.

   "Darla, no," one of the priests said putting a hand on her shoulder. 
The other priest took a position at her other shoulder.

   "The oldest teenagers around are about eighteen," Sheila said to me. 
"No one in Summertown has been Institute approved for children since
Geddonism began to spread here.  He's got to be in his mid-thirties."

   "Why didn't you bring him to us?" I asked the woman.

   "You would have killed him for being born that way!" she spat.

   "An interesting view of the Institute," I said.  "How did you arrive at
it?"

   She looked at the priests, but tightened her lips.

   "Oh!" I said glancing between the priests.  "Now, I'm curious."

   "We don't answer to the Institute," one of them forced out between his
teeth.

   "If I don't like the answers to my questions, I'll speed your journey to
the one you do answer to," I replied.  I jacked into the mother and ensured
she would only speak truth.

   "What hospital was Simon born in?" I asked her.

   "A New Christian mid-wife helped delivered him," she answered.  My link
forced her to answer what she knew I was really asking even when my words
were not exact.

   "She couldn't have been Institute certified," I said.  "At the time of
Simon's birth, the Institute had a Healer.  She would have known to bring
him to us, in case we could have done something for him."

   "She said you would kill him for being born like that," she said.

   "How did you hide him from us?" I asked.

   "I told everyone he was the son of a Positive, so the Institute had let
him live," she replied.

   "She spread that disgusting rumor about us with her story of our mercy,"
Sheila said stepping towards the woman.

   "What about Positive testing?" I asked the woman.  "It's administered by
Institute techs."

   "I didn't allow Simon to be tested," she answered.

   "When you discovered he was Positive, why didn't you bring him to us?" I
asked.

   "The New Christian priests told me not to," she said.  Everyone from the
Institute took several steps away from me.  I did not bother to ask; I
jacked into the priests and ripped the answers out of them.

   "Jason!" Lianne warned.

   The bullet went through the priest I shot and hit someone behind him in
the crowd.  The people closest to him were assaulted by blood and brain
matter.

   Lianne took a step towards me as I pointed the gun at the other priest.

   "The law is simple," I said.  "The Institute has total jurisdiction over
Positives.  Making decisions for Simon and about his power means you do
answer to us."

   Whatever Lianne's religious ties were, it had been the law since the
Director created the position of Operative.  She walked through the crowd
and got into her gravcar.

   "Do you know why I killed him instead of you?" I asked the priest.  His
eyes had followed Lianne as if with her left his salvation.

   "No," he answered looking back at me.

   "He believed in his Creator as much as I believe in mine," I said.  "He
was happy to die in HIS service.  He even thought he was doing his God's
Will instead of serving the power-hunger of your Episcupus."

   "How do you know about the Episcupus?"

   "The only secrets are the ones the Institute lets people keep," I said.
"I let you live because I need a messenger to tell the Epispucus, I'm
coming for him.  It will give you the opportunity to discover your faith
before I kill you."

   I wrote the instructions of what he was to say to the Epicupus into his
mind and sent him running.

   "Are you really going to kill a New Christian Episcupus?" Robert asked.

   "Had they just been hiding Simon's power, I would have let them live
because at some point it would have been his choice," I said.  "They knew
we could heal Simon though, and they kept him imprisoned in his body."

   "But why?"

   "Listen to them," I said gesturing at the gathered crowd.

   He turned and took down the shields he had been trained to use to
protect his mind from others.

   "Is everyone like that?" he asked me.

   "I jacked into every resident of Summertown County," I told him. 
"Everyone here believes the New Christian Church is the only way to save
the human race."

   "Lianne has the same opinion," he said erecting his shields.

   "Can the Church control you?" I asked.  He laughed in response.

   "How about Sheila?" I asked.  He shook his head.

   "Maybe the young Healer," I suggested.

   "Not even her, Jason," he replied, putting a hand through his hair.

   "If they can't control Positives..." I shrugged and made my way through
the crowd.

   "Operative," someone said loudly.  "The girl said Simon's dying?"

   "He is," I said facing them.

   "What's going to happen to us?" a female voice asked.

   "Geddonist enclaves eventually die off," I replied.

   "You can't abandon us without Simon," someone yelled.

   "Institute policy is to have nothing to do with Geddonists," I said.

   "The priests made us!" someone protested.  "I'll drop my registration."

   "Any one of you could have stopped this, you chose not to," I said. 
"You will live with the decision; everyone in Summertown County is
Quarantined."

   "Jason," Sheila said.  "There are children here; some of them could be
Positive."

   I stared at her.

   "We'll test every child over the testing age in a month," she announced
to the crowd.  "At the time of testing, any child willing to walk away from
Summertown will have their Quarantine lifted."

   "You can't take our children!" someone yelled.

   "At every yearly testing, any child can make the same decision.  If I
were you, I would convince them leaving Summertown is the best thing for
them," she said smiling viciously.

   I turned only to have the Simon's mother put her hand on me.

   "What about my son?" she asked desperately.

   "You did this to him," I said.  "Make his last days comfortable."

   "How could you do this to us?" she asked in tears.  I reached out and
pushed a loose lock of her hair behind an ear.  I jacked into her and
stripped away anything that would let her ignore the truth of my words.

   "You were given a gift beyond imagining," I whispered to her.  "Simon is
the most powerful Symbolic I've ever heard of.  He's dying of
Positive-Drain.  The Institute killed Positives with PD early on, but none
survived longer than five years.  How long has your son been doing this?"

   Her eyes widened, and she tried to hide from my words.

   "Symbolics Heal, but Simon seems to do it at will," I told her.  "It's
been our hope to find someone like him!  Each Symbolic sees symbols in a
unique way so he couldn't have taught others how to do it but matched with
a Healer equal to his power, like David..."

   I put my hands on either side of her face and rested my forehead on
hers.

   "Together they could have healed every child in this country," I said.
"Those children's babies would still be affected by the Event, but Simon
and David would have been there for them.  Your son could have bought us
generations to focus on finding a solution rather than surviving."

   I let her go and stared into her eyes.

   "Your son was in a prison, and you left him there to rot," I said.  "I
used to be teased at the Institute because everyone knew I didn't have a
mother.  Trainees would get those wonderful care packages, daily calls, and
visits.  I used to feel..."

   I sighed and shook my head.

   "You've made me glad I was born without a mother," I told her and turned
to leave Summertown County to its fate.



   ----



   "Simon's dead, son," the Director said gliding up to where I stood in
the Institute gardens.

   "Entire nations have expired, and still they fear us," I said staring
into the distance.  "They'll jump into any hole that will justify hating
us."

   "Positives are their only hope, and the Institute the only chance we
have of controlling Positives.  There are good reasons to hate your only
hope," he replied.  "Chief among them is maybe the hope will decide not to
save you."

   I nodded; it was a warning he had been giving to Positive Trainees as
long as I could remember.

   "Plus I have been a cruel..."

   "Savior," I finished for him.

   "And a lot of them think I'm actually..."

   "Satan," I said smiling.  It was a game we had played since I heard
someone call him both in the same sentence.

   "At least, you didn't have to kill the Episcupus," he sighed.

   "The Trainees tried to break my hold on Stephanie in part because of the
Church's campaign to undermine our power," I said.

   He leaned back in the gravchair and closed his eyes.  He looked the most
exhausted I had ever seen him.

   "I made a lot of deals after I discovered what the Event had done to
us," he said.  "I made every deal that let me take one more step in the
direction of what had to be done.  I ducked away from or danced around
paying my side of those bargains when the cost was too high.  I outlived a
lot of people that had papers on me; some I even forcibly outlived.  The
Church was very useful at the beginning; I might have failed without them."

   "They've got hooks into most politicians," I said.  "They want control
of the Institute."

   "It would be perfect," he said.  "The first Church in history to have
direct control of sex."

   "It wouldn't be just sex they would control," I said.

   "No," he agreed.  "I've focused Positives on sex, but there's more to
their power than that.  Telepathics can make someone do anything."

   "We have to deal with the Church soon, sir," I said.

   "The question is how, son," he said.  "I owe them a great debt. 
Humanity owes the Church a great debt.  Its founders were men of faith
trying to do what was right."

   "They're dead," I said.  "Converting would relieve the Institute and you
of the connections to the Church."

   "I have said we will not speak of this," he said infuriated.

   "If anyone other than your son had founded the God Apart Cult, would
this be an issue?" I asked.  Behind us from her customary position near the
Director, Stephanie gasped.

   "It doesn't have to be the Cult," he said turning his face away from me.

   "Joshua's teachings are advantageous to your cause," I said.

   "God does not love everyone," Stephanie intoned.  "God loves each
individual one."

   "Like that drivel?" the Director asked me.

   "He taught bringing God into the world outside of ourselves is to poison
our internal relationship with him," I said.

   "More drivel," he said.

   "Your son was brilliant," I said.

   "And he wasted his time with religion instead of helping me here," he
said loudly.

   "The Prophet Joshua had nothing but the kindest words for you, sir,"
Stephanie said.

   "The Prophet?" the Director asked looking at me.h

   "What else would they call the oldest son of the individual God sent to
guide them from the damage man had done to himself?" I asked.

   "What do you mean to himself?" he asked Stephanie.

   "The Prophet taught that we caused the Event," she replied.  The
Director turned to meet my eyes.

   "Joshua served," I told the Director.

   "Aren't you the Trainee gravbed?" he asked Stephanie.  "How does that
sit with your religious views?"

   I had never seen Stephanie blush before.

   "The God Apart religion has certain advantages," I looked at Stephanie
before continuing, "built into it to serve a world trying to survive the
Event."

   "Advantages?" the Director asked raising an eyebrow.

   "Read the God Apart Texts, sir," I said.  "Joshua served you well."

   "But did he have to call them a Cult?  How is a Cult supposed to be a
viable alternative to a Church?"

   "The Prophet taught that God's humor was boundless," Stephanie said.

   "Do I have to call my own son the Prophet?" he asked me.  "And how do I
get a hold of one of their priests to discuss my imminent religious
crisis?"

   "They're called Leaders," I informed him.

   "Cult Leaders?" he asked in disgust.  "You overestimate Joshua's
intelligence."

   "Stephanie is one," I said.  He turned his gravchair to study her.

   "My daughter recommended you for this position," he said drumming his
fingers on the chair.

   "Jason's confrontation with the Church comes as no surprise to Cult
members," Stephanie said.  "It was prophesized."

   "Prophecies?" the Director asked me in complete shock.  "Joshua gave
them prophecies!"

   "Religious people like prophecies," I said.  "Especially the ones that
say everything is going to be okay."

   "My daughter is a Cultist?" he asked.

   "Joshua was her beloved older brother," I answered.

   "She has many beloved older brothers and a younger one," he told me.  He
sighed and looked between Stephanie and me.  "Converting to my son's
religion does not mean you can go around killing any New Church Episcupus
who is dumb enough to get in your way, son.  We were lucky this one killed
himself rather than face you."

   "You mean the Church was lucky he died before I questioned him," I said.

   "A lot of people would have been angry if what you found in the
Episcupus's mind made you kill the New Christian Abbas.  I doubt he was not
involved in this considering it guaranteed a confrontation with them when
we found out."

   "The Abbas was probably looking to be a martyr to the advancement of the
Church's agenda," I said.

   "And you would have made him one," he said.

   "For Simon, yes, I would have," I replied.  "But more because I've heard
some New Christian priests call you Satan."

   "I might be," he said before spinning his chair around and shooing
Stephanie ahead of him.

   I stayed in the gardens to watch the sun set.

   The Geddonists were right.  The end of the world had come, and now it
was time to bring about my God's Armageddon.  Everyone would have to choose
to die or walk on into His Promised Land.

   The truth about my birth would be the catalyst.

   THE END

   To Be Continued in The Institute Stories Set III


   

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