The silent Minds

What's silence? It could be danger, fear or a broken promise.

— Ancient text. Anonymous

Individuals of Xonta have an unique ability that no other species has: They are telepathic. Through thousands of years, they had developed the power to communicate with thoughts constructed by colors, not words. This power awakens at the age of six for every child in the planet, and then everyone is trained to use this power to their advantage.However, in every generation, a handful of children turn six and their minds stay silent to everyone around them and vice versa. This genetic condition affects them all their life.

The appearance of this condition doesn't follow any pattern. It doesn't matter who their parents were or if every member of the family is a telepath. It doesn't matter how they were raised, if they were well fed, starved, educated, or never went to school, if they are an only child, they have many siblings or if they're orphans. Anyone in any place, of any background could have a silent mind.

There is no cure for this condition. If a person is not born with the power of telepathy, the science hasn't discovered how to give them that ability. There is no combination of drugs or devices that could supply what the individual doesn't have. Medical science tried everything, even cruel and painful treatments that people with this condition endured, sometimes willingly, sometimes not.

What you need to know is in the strength of my hands, the speed of my legs, and the numbers of heads my arms can carry.

— Tamue. Warrior

Nowadays people affected by this condition don't try to fix it and accept what they can't change and adapt to their situation to have happy lives. The rest of the population accept it too, but that doesn't mean that everyone is free of fear around a person with a silent mind. Some people even attempt to scare them. They fail.

The ones who fear the people with this condition are unnerved by them because they can't use their mind tricks against them. Although telepaths are trained to not open their thoughts to every person they come across, some individuals develop mind reading techniques to break the protections and discover other's secrets.

Non telepaths are free to disclose their condition if they want or to keep it for themselves for as long as they want or need. This is usually not a problem because telepaths don't broadcast their thoughts to every person all the time.

People without the ability to communicate with their minds are very sought after in careers where secrecy and discretion are highly important. Like politics, the military and espionage. Several famous and revered leaders and warriors were non telepaths.

The main difference between them and telepaths is that if they are interested to prove their loyalty and honesty to others, they have to rely on actions. What they do is what makes them worthy because no one can read their mind. And they, as almost everyone in the planet, need to prove they are loyal to someone (their family, their leader, a faction) to have a good life. This means they are willing to take on tasks others are not.

by Unsplash (modified)

Type

Genetic

Origin

Mutated

Cycle

Chronic, Congenital

Rarity

Rare

-Our victory as non telepaths is our transformation from outcasts with a curse to important figures with a gift.

-Yes, but at what cost?

-Nobody cares.

— Names classified

by Unsplash (modified)