Chapter Text
“The human mind! 900 kilometers of synaptic fiber, 30 milliliters of cranial fluid, fifteen hundred grams of complex neural matter. A half kilogram pile of dreams.”
Around a campfire, Lili Zanotto sat completely zoned out on a log. She had heard this speech a dozen times before. Well, technically this was only the third time, but her dad had made her proof-read and “child approve” the brochures for the camp over and over again so she had it memorized.
She was currently attending the opening ceremony for Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. Run by the organization known as the Psychonauts, it was supposed to teach children how to hone their psychic abilities, but for Lili it was utterly useless. She had practically been raised by the Psychonauts, up until recently her father Truman had been their grand head. She had been learning how to use her powers since she was born. In her first year of attending camp, she earned every single merit badge with ease and was left bored watching the other kids struggle. The next year had been the same, and this one was bound to be as well. She was only here to be babysat while her father attended to his “personal business”, whatever that meant. It was so frustrating! She was old enough to know about whatever top-secret government agent mission her father was on! She was 10 for crying out loud!
While Lili sat there ruminating in her annoyance, the other children were giving all their attention to the speakers. Superstar Agents Loboto, Cooper, and Teglee of the Psychonauts. They had just wrapped up their speech on the brain, and the three of them stepped down from the stage to direct the campers to their respective cabins. Lili, still lost in thought, didn’t notice the others leave and continued to sit there. She only snapped out of it when Loboto snapped his fingers in front of her face. It’d be hard not to notice that considering his hand was made up of glowing red and green psychic energy.
“Yoo-hoo Lili! Time to go!”
Lili blinked as her vision went back into focus and looked up at him, “Huh? Oh! Yeah, I knew that. I just... wanted to sit by the fire longer.”
“I suppose that tracks. But you can’t stay out here on your own, you know that already. Go on then!”
She hopped up from her seat and turned towards the cabins. She hesitated for a moment, looking back at him.
“Hey, Loboto-”
“Please Lili, I've told you before you can call me Cal.”
“Cal. Sure. Do I really need to go to class tomorrow? I’ve already passed it twice, isn’t there something more... productive I could do?”
Cal sighed, “I’m sorry Lili, it’s a requirement for all attendees. Don’t get too upset though! I’ve been working on an especially advanced course for the repeat campers. It should be fun!”
Lili rolled her eyes and started walking towards the girl's cabin. She waved at Dogen, who was sitting alone on the steps of the boy's cabin as she passed by. A few other girls sat chatting together on one of the bunkbeds and quieted down to whisper when Lili entered.
“What?” Lili stared at them.
“We were just-” Kitty began to say something, then Franke elbowed her, and she went silent.
Lili frowned then threw her backpack on the ground and climbed up to the top bunk of the only bed without any occupants. A high-pitched voice came through the doorway, belonging to Penelope, one of the non-psychic counselors at the camp.
“Okay everyone! It’s lights out now, so don’t be too loud please.” She told them as she flicked off the light switch.
After hearing her walk away, the conversation immediately picked up again, but it was quickly put back down when Lili glared down at them, using a little bit of pyrokinesis on her finger to light her face and make sure they all saw the stink eye she was giving them. While they shuffled to their beds Lili tucked herself under her blanket and closed her eyes.
~~~
Drifting through sleep, Lili felt as though she was floating gently through the air. A pleasant feeling ended when she suddenly dropped down hard on her back. She got up groaning. For a moment she believed she had rolled out of bed but looking at her surroundings she realized she was dreaming. She had lucid dreams often, being a psychic she had a deep connection with her own mind, and what was dreaming if not entering a small, distorted part of your mind? She stood up and took in her surroundings. She was in a dark garden filled to the brim with plants, a common location for her dreams, she loved gardening. Something felt wrong though. Looking closer she could see that all the plants were either dead or dying. Dried leaves littered the ground and bare trees reached up endlessly into the sky. She eventually spotted a sign of life, a little yellow petal on the ground that must have just fallen off its flower. A little ahead she saw another, and another, and another. It was a trail leading into the dead forest. She decided to follow it.
She walked through the woods, leaves crunching under her feet. As she got further along the trail, the petals started to grow in size. The first petal she’d seen could have fit into her palm, but now they were as wide as she was tall. One drifted down from above and landed on her head. She pushed it off and searched for its source. Through tree branches she spotted it. A massive rose, probably a hundred feet tall. Long thick spines stuck out of its stem at crooked angles and vines spiraled up its sides. At the top, a yellow rosebud not yet bloomed. The edges of the closed petals were brown and worn, starting to die before it ever got a chance to live. Lili looked up at it in wonder. Usually her dreams were predictable, but she’d never seen this before.
She climbed up one of the rose’s leaves with some difficulty, using the spines like rungs on a ladder to gain elevation. She could swear there were faint voices coming from above her. She wanted to hear what they were saying, but the thorn she was standing on snapped beneath her. Instinctively she brought her hands up to form a levitation balloon to catch herself, but it wasn’t forming. A flash of panic hit her as the ground grew closer and then-
~~~
Lili’s eyes shot open, and she sat up in bed almost hitting her head on the ceiling. The sun shone in through the cracks between the logs of the cabin. Looking around, the other campers had already left to start for the day. Stretching, she got out of bed and slung her bag around her shoulder. She’d go to the main lodge for breakfast then go find Loboto and the other campers for telekinesis class. She was already late, but she didn’t seem to care.