Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dr Simon" data-source="post: 4247591" data-attributes="member: 21938">Stand by, casting 'Wall of Text'.The Telepath 'Crisis' as it is usually styled ended 2 years ago (2265).  There's little clear data about it, but it seems to have been ongoing in its intense state for about a year, although the seeds were sown in 2262 and rumbled on in the form of terrorist attacks on Psi Coprs by the followers of Byron.For those of you who didn't make it to Season Five, Byron was a former Psi Cop and protege of Bester who left the Corps in disgust at its actions (and his own complicity in the murder of mundanes). His goal was to set up a homeworld for human telepaths where they would be left alone, and he started by forming a colony on B5. Unfortunately, the combination of mundane mistrust, Psi Corps hunting, the fragile cult of personality that had built up around Byron, his own martyr-in-waiting personality and a misguided attempt to blackmail a planet from the League of Non-Aligned Worlds resulted in Byron fulfilling his martyr fantasy (along with many of his followers) in a huge explosion. The remnants of his followers, led by his former lover Lyta Alexander, vowed to fight on in his name. Although Byron pursued a fanatical devotion to non-violent ways, Lyta and the others do not share this idealism, which failed so dramatically.Ultimately Lyta succeeded at the cost of her own life, thanks in part to her Vorlon modification and also thanks to money and resources provided by G'Kar (in return for DNA to help experiment in producing Narn telepaths) and Edgars Industries (run by Mr. Garibaldi who had a serious wish to harm Bester). Most of the details of this are unknown to non-telepaths.For a human teep, you have the choice of having fought on either side (and not all in Psi Corps were evil, and many would have seen the Byronites as terrorists and a force of chaos), or of having avoided taking sides, as you see fit and depending on your chosen age. A P-11 would have been quite important in Psi-Corps and a more experienced teep would have been an instructor or similar. Or they might have been subjected to Psi Corps infamous breeding and enhancement experiments.Who employs telepaths now?Due to the Telepath Regulation and Control Act (2265), telepaths are required to be registered with the Bureau of Telepath Integration but are otherwise free to pursue any career. The commercial sector is common for low-level teeps, as it was under Psi Corps. Telepaths are now permitted in law-enforcement and military roles (although Due Process still ensures that a scan is not legal evidence). A high level Teep may well work in a covert intelligence role.Some, of course, may work in jobs that don't utilise their telepathy; a partial fulfillment of Byron's dream of a world where telepaths were not simply used as mind-reading tools by mundanes and Psi-Corps.Enforcement of the Act is carried out by the Watchmen of the Bureau (all known as Mr. or Ms. Jones). They conduct scans every six months of registered telepaths (registration carries the implicit permission to allow this) and check for any infractions. Some are former Psi-Cops. Others are not. Unlike Psi-Corps, the Earth Senate has ultimate jurisdiction over the Watchmen and can act to prevent any abuse of power.Infractions are classified as minor, major and serious. Minor infractions carry no penalty by themselves, but can accumulate to a higher breach. Major infractions usually require a spell in a Telepathic Compliance facility for re-training. Serious infractions usually result in criminal proceedings. The abilities and their related infraction levels are:Accidental Scan - none if accidental, minor if intendedCommunication - noneDanger Sense - noneDaze - seriousDeep Scan - majorFalse Memory Implantation - majorJamming - minorImage projection - none if defensive, minor if aggressiveLocate mind - minorMind mirror - noneMind Shield - noneNerve Stimulation - seriousPain - seriousReality Fabrication - majorSense Telepathy - noneSurface Scan - seriousWarning - none.(This list is from a 1st edition supplement. They changed the rules for telepaths in 2nd edition so not all abilities may be listed above, I haven't cross-checked).Note that some roles are given exceptions under the Integration Act. Teeps in law enforcement, for example, are allowed to use Locate Mind or Jamming. Military teeps may be allowed to use Pain in a combat situation and so on.Telepaths still tend to wear the 'psi' symbol to denote registration, but are no longer required by law to wear gloves (nor the badge). Unregistered telepaths are still considered a danger to society, but are now normally treated as other criminals via mundane law enforcement with a telepath on the team. The fanatical hunting of 'blips' conducted by Psi Corps has been toned down - with a less oppressive and power-mad body controlling them, fewer telepaths see the need to go rogue, apart from those using their powers for nefarious purposes.  Currently the greater effort is being expended hunting down 'war criminals' from the Telepath Crisis, like the notorious Psi Cop Bester.</blockquote>

Verification