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You visualize your mental shield, manifesting as a screen of water radiating pale pink light. You remember learning once that in the Guanche language, the name Aydan means “he who lives underwater,” so this seems appropriate.

7 drops her own shield. “The lock,” is the impression you get from her now. You remember you’re still holding the device in your physical hand, and still have your terminal connected to it. You signal it to lock again. As you direct your mental focus to the device, you also imagine its image in your hand here in your mind, and hold it directly behind the center of your shield.

“Ready,” you say.

You feel 7’s connection with you break, and the image in your mind becomes distorted and confusing. After opening your eyes, the world looks normal again. But you still feel the presence of the shield you manifested. Then, you feel pressure against that surface, now as solid to you as your own body. Even being here on the surface, with no visible element to what you two are doing, the feeling is the same as in the æther.

You push back against her, now using more than just common trickery but technopathic force. You hold her back for thirty seconds at least. But in the end, her direct force is greater than you can resist, and she breaks through and opens your lock.

She simply nods.

Your exchanges go on throughout the training period allotted for today. And you become more and more able to resist 7 and closer and closer to breaking through her defenses as well. But ultimately you never can defeat her. Even with you both being in your first day of true training, her skill is far greater. She has very little to say throughout, but you still feel you learn a lot from the experience.

The time comes for today’s class to end, and not a moment too soon, as you find yourself mentally exhausted from the session. You have a lot to learn, but you’ve taken your first steps.

END CHAPTER TWO

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