The Psi-Rens of Love

One
The Only Princess in This World is Your Daughter

Daisy kissed Drew goodbye as she walked backwards into her small family home where her father anxiously waited for her to return from her date. She stumbled slightly as she went over the threshold causing her blond hair to drift across her teenaged face. She was smitten and excited about her future.
Drew happily watched his girlfriend disappear behind the door, but it was a hard sight to see. He had been told earlier in the evening that he was being shipped to Texas for an emergency. His enlistment in the United States Army Psychic Operations seemed as though it would keep him busy. But, he could not complain if it weren’t for the USAPO he wouldn’t have his cushy cover job at the movie theatre, he would not have been able to psychically convince his boss to give him the night off, and he would not be with Daisy.
Daisy wandered in to see her father sitting nervously on the couch, he was not yet used to his daughter going out, unsupervised, with boys. “Have fun?” He said to his little girl, the question full of questions he would never outright ask his daughter.
“Yes daddy. He is so great.” She danced whistfully across the room as if she was in an animated princess film.
Her father cringed at the puppy love he saw in his daughter. No matter how nice Drew may be, he was a teenage boy and as a father he could only imagine things he didn’t want to imagine. “Glad. Go to bed darling, Church is at eight.”
She smiled to him and made her way back to her room. The night was amazing. It was as if Drew always knew when the perfect time to say things was. He always spoke to what was on her mind. He made big romantic gestures at the perfect time.
Their night of a nice dinner consisted of Drew having reservations at a hip restaurant last minute, ordering her favorite food which was not on the menu, and somehow finding her favorite song on the radio on their drive back to her house. Drew may have let his “abilities” become a bit too prominent.
She swung her door open and flipped the light on in her room exposing the movie star posters to the bright white. Her mind was still infected with Drew. He was such the gentleman. She hated to see him leave, but it made the next time so much better. She wondered when they would go out again, when she could surprise him at work, even the cliché of what they might name their children.
She went to flop on her bed when she noticed something at her window. She creeped in closer trying to block the reflection away with hand when she noticed it was Drew. She opened the window, kneeled onto her hardwood floors and laid her head on the window sill, gazing into the eyes of her knight.
Drew looked at her with glee and spoke to her in his young, cracking voice, “I couldn’t leave without one more glance.”
She perked up to reach out for a kiss, but he grazed his hand across her cheek and just said thank you. He blew her a kiss as he walked away. She melted in the perfection of her date.
He turned around to get back into his little hatchback, but noticed someone sitting in the driver’s seat. He took a deep breath knowing that he may be in for a fight. He started focusing on the bubbling in his gut. He was building Psi, an internal substance that he used for most psychic abilities. His first thought was protection, he concentrated on the psi to focus it for his own protection as he carefully walked around to the driver’s side of the ten year old car.
He tried to prepare himself with a deep breath and a ridiculous attempt at summoning some sort of military battle mentality. He paused for a moment, then grasped the door handle. His hands tensed into fists and his stance had him ready to move. Yanking the black plastic he flung the door open, to reveal himself already sitting in the driver seat.








Two
Briefs? I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Briefs. I Wear Boxers.

“Major Wallace.” Drew couldn’t help but let the smirk appear as he gave his formal military salute. “I am guessing it is time, sir.”
“It is, Private Darby. I am to give you your briefing before you depart.” The man had all of Drew’s mannerisms down perfectly. It was not a surprise after he spent weeks impersonating Drew while he was in boot camp. “But first,” There was a dramatic pause, “how are things?”
Drew, still being a sixteen year old always felt flattered when adults asked him about his life. Even though they were friends of sorts it was the suggestion that Major Wallace would actually be interested in a kid’s life. Drew let out his thoughts a little more eagerly than he intended. “Everything is great, man! Daisy is in love with me and I am with my dream girl. The job is great, I have time to do anything I need. School is no big deal with all my training and I have money, so I can do anything I want now.”
The impersonator Drew looked concerned. “With all your training? Are you using Psi for school? That is not what a soldier does! You are not permitted to use your abilities, which are government owned, for your own personal gain!” It was a stern warning more than a lecture.
Drew did not think much of it. How was he supposed to know how to read minds and make things happen and not use it. “Yes, sir. I understand.” He did not, but he held his thoughts steady as if he agreed just in case Major Wallace was scanning his thoughts.
Major Wallace smiled Drew’s youthful dorky smile and let it go. “Get ready, Private.” With those words Major Wallace closed his eyes and recalled the briefing report that he was given for Drew’s mission. The words formed sentences which formed paragraphs which formed pages in his mind. Once he had the entire report recalled he envisioned the information leaving his own skull and forcing its way into Drew’s.
The information rushed into Drew’s mind and filled his train of thought. The entire mission became clear.

A new amusement park in central Texas has been overtaken by a rogue psychic gang. The group known as the Atheiagics has spread out over the amusement park controlling the minds of the patrons and forcing them to act as soldiers defending the park. The Atheiagics have smuggled in weaponry, so the patrons are armed with guns as opposed to psychic weaponry. The Atheiagics are in the interior of the park. All enemies that will be encountered at the perimeter of the park are innocents. It is unknown at this point what types of forcefields or shields they have set on the mind controlled or the park itself.
The Atheiagics are a group of psychics that refused enlistment into the USAPO. Their stated mission is to spread the knowledge of Psi to the civilian populace in a way that promotes their organization as miracle workers who should be put into positions of power. They reject the belief in a religion and derive their name from the word atheism.
The Emerald Forest is the amusement park in question. It is located in the hill country of Texas. It is a historical theme park depicting different ages throughout human history. It has four exterior sections with rides, theatres, stores and back areas. The south section is the traditional entrance to the park, it is themed as the ancient world. There is little fence protection, but is heavily armed. The east section is themed as ancient Egypt. A recreation of the pyramids block any land entrance possibilities for the US Army. The North section is themed as medieval Europe. It is also the traditional employee entrance to the park, it has less fencing but also appears to be heavily guarded. The west section is themed as 1600 – 1700 world of explorers. There is a large lake that runs the perimeter and will impeded any land entry from that point. The final section is the interior which is themed as the modern day technical world. It is where our intelligence suggests the Atheiagics are hiding.
“No religion?” Drew was annoyed at the thought. “Helped battle Satan just a few weeks ago!”
“Private Darby,” Major Wallace paused collecting his composure attempting to remember the kid was not accustomed to just accepting what he was told. “Did you know about the USAPO two months ago? Did you know that there was a ongoing battle between the US military and the Devil? There are different factions that know different things.”
“Got it.” Drew was short and to the point. “Anything you need to know to fill in for me while I am gone?”
It was the first thing Drew had said to Wallace that left the impression that he was just a child. “Drew, I am responsible for getting your life in order. I think I can keep your world together better than you.” It was a taunt, but a good natured one.
Drew shook his head in agreement. He had not considered that Major Wallace had accomplished in a few weeks what Drew could not in his first sixteen years. While Drew was in bootcamp, Major Wallace had impersonated Drew so no one in the non-psychic world would miss his presence. He managed to make him some friends and land the girl of his dreams. It was good to have a shape shifter filling in for him sometimes.
Drew looked over at his girlfriend’s house for one last look. He was filled with an excitement just from the thought of her, but the looming mission brought him right back down. He closed his eyes and envisioned the state of Texas. He saw it from above in the form of an aerial map. He envisioned the map zooming in until he saw the central Texas area, then the hill country, then an overhead shot of the Emerald Forest.
He pictured his soul, ethereal body, expelling from his body and traveling through a tube of light from where he was to the point on the map that he envisioned. He saw his body disintegrate into tiny particles and follow the same path down the flashing tube, whirring sounds emitting from their journey. And after a few moments he saw himself reform in a parking lot among thousands of soldiers. The tall peaks of roller coasters and pyramids were visible in distance as they were less than a mile from the Emerald Forest.
He opened his eyes and he was there.



Three


The theme park had a wonderous glow in the darkness of central Texas. There were no prominent lights with the exception of the Emerald Forest. It shined from the other end of the valley they were standing.
The heat of Texas was something Drew was not prepared for. He had been standing in the state for thirty seconds before he realized that he was sweating quickly into his clothes. Even in the dark of night it was still over a hundred degrees.
Drew looked side to side trying to figure out where he was supposed to go. The old parking lot was littered with military tents. He quickly came to the realization that this was expected to take some time. It looked like a base camp for a land invasion, which it was of sorts.
He did not see any familiar faces standing among the Seargents and Generals walking through the rows of tents. He figured it was best to just report to anyone ranked above him.
He saw a Leitenant walking his way and he quickly saluted, “Sir, reporting for duty, sir!”
The man grimaced at the sight of Drew, too young to be a soldier, too weak to be of use. “Where is your uniform, soldier?”
“Sorry sir. I have not had time… I just arrived…” Drew was stammering, he felt out of his element.
“Suit up! Army over there. Marines over there.” The leitenant pointed to two directions as he yelled.
“And the PO, sir?” Drew had lost all his force from his voice.
The man turned to look him in the eye. His tanned face going red behind the dark brown hair and eyes. “I don’t know what kind of joke you are playing, but if you are not out of my face and in uniform in the next two minutes you will be in the brigg, soldier!”
Drew having forgotten most of his experience from basic training, got back into military mode and wandered off to go change.