Chapter 6: Experiments

Paradox was slightly confused. Someone knew about his powers, said so to his face, and proceeded to not get him arrested and burned at the stake. Suffice it to say, it was a welcome development, if a strange one.
Paradox followed the map Kira had given him in a path that was strikingly similar to the one he had taken on his way to the gate. Sure enough, Paradox soon saw the rubble from the battle off to his right, along with a squad of enforcement officers cordoning off the area for investigation and repairs. Luckily, the map directed Paradox down the street in front of him, which put him out of sight once more. The map then directed Paradox into the side of a building on stopped, which confused him only until he looked up from the glass pad he was holding and saw a set of double doors. Oh! This must be the place.
Paradox tried not to think about a bunch of armed troopers waiting just beyond the doors to ambush him and pushed through the glass and steel doors. Inside was a sterile metallic lobby with a desk at the far end. Behind the desk was a gray rat who was blunting her claws with a file.
Paradox tentatively approached the desk. "um, hello." He said. "I'm here for..." At this point Paradox realized he had no idea what he was here for. He was here because someone told him to be here. He'd been doing that a lot lately, come to think of it.
"Have an appointment?" The receptionist asked flatly.
Did being asked in here by a duchess count? Maybe. "Um, yes?" Paradox said.
"Have a name?" the receptionist asked.
"Paradox?"
The receptionist thumbed an electronic pad absentmindedly. "I see." she said. after a moment she put down the pad and looked in Paradox's direction. "I have you down for an appointment in lab three. It's down the hall to your right." she pointed vaguely in that direction and went back to polishing her nails.
"Oh. Thank you." Paradox said.
The receptionist looked up for only a second before returning to her business.
Paradox walked down the hall, rubbing his wrists nervously. There were a lot of doors here, and they all looked the same. Which one was lab three?
A muffled boom vibrated the metallic hallway. Paradox wasn't sure what to make of it until a gray bunny in a lab coat and disheveled spectacles burst from a door, trailing smoke and coughing up a storm. Paradox approached apprehensively.
"Are you... okay?" He asked.
The gray bunny didn't respond. He coughed for a few more seconds,
"Um, hello?" Paradox said.
The gray bunny noticed Paradox for the first time. "Oh! Hello there!" He said, straightening his lab coat. "I was just experimenting with, ah- well never mind what." Then he adjusted his cracked glasses and took a better look at Paradox. "I say, you don't seem familiar. who would you be?"
"Oh, um, I'm just supposed to be in lab three..." Paradox said
"Lab three?" The gray bunny said, confused. "That's my department. You wouldn't be going to my department unless... you're Paradox?"
Paradox flinched slightly. He wasn't used to strangers using his name. "Uh, yeah. That's me."
"Hah! A stage name if I've ever heard one." the gray bunny said as he led Paradox Into another room. Paradox wasn't sure what he meant by that, but he kept silent.
The room the two bunnies walked into was tall and spacious. In one corner was a folding table laden with what seemed to Paradox like random scientific implements.
"So, Paradox, if that is your real name." the gray bunny said as he walked to the table. "Let's see what tricks you have for me today!" He grabbed something that looked suspiciously like a ray gun and spun around, pointing it at Paradox. As he pulled the trigger, Paradox spread his paws in a defensive stance, ready for anything.
click. The tiny device flashed a small light that blinded Paradox for a millisecond. The scientist didn't seem to notice Paradox's miniature panic attack as he inspected the other end of the apparatus. "interesting" he mused to himself.
"Sorry, but, who are you?" Paradox said, confused.
The gray bunny looked at Paradox with a vaguely hostile expression. "I," he said importantly; "Am the one you're trying to fool." Seeing Paradox was still confused, he continued, stalking closer to Paradox with every word. "I am Professor Tiberius Forban. I am the world's leading expert on psionic technologies and head of research here at KiCorp, So I assure you, Paradox, whatever game you think you're playing, I will be the one to detect you."
At this point the professor was very close to Paradox, practically brushing his nose. "What... game... am I supposed to be playing?" Paradox asked nervously.
The professor backed off a bit and chuckled. "Alright, I'll play along, But only till I see you exposed for the fraud you are!" The professor relaxed a bit and took a casual look at the tool he was holding. On the back end was a black-and-white image of Paradox in a defensive stance, like he had struck only a second ago, but in this picture Paradox could see his own skeleton, not to mention the contents of his satchel even though it was closed.
"A cursory glance reveals no electronics in your cranial area." The professor said. "So that means that either you've cloaked it somehow, or you've removed it since the spectacle in the street. So the first test should be this." The professor handed the device to Paradox. "Lift it." he said, looking pleased with himself.
Paradox wondered if this was some sort of trick question. After a few moments Paradox waved the instrument up and down. "like... this?"
The professor gave a laugh. He obviously thought he was winning. "You don't want to use your so-called powers, eh? What's the matter? Go ahead! use your telekinesis!"
"Oh." Paradox said. He wasn't sure what "telekinesis" meant, but he knew "powers". He thought a bit before concentrating on the device. A green aura enveloped it, causing it to levitate away from his paws. The professor's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. Paradox move the object through a few loop-de-loops before returning it to his paw, then he offered it back to the professor, who seemed frozen with his new expression.
"Um, professor? are you all right?" Paradox said, genuinely concerned. This seemed to snap the professor out of it, who resumed his stern expression, albeit with a bit more annoyance to it. "So it's cloaked, is it?" He said. "No matter. That's far from the only trick up my sleeve!" The professor returned to the table and tossed a metallic ball to Paradox. It had a bit of heft to it and Paradox nearly dropped it.
"Alright then, lift that if you're so intelligent!" the professor demanded.
"Is... is that it?" Paradox said, hefting the sphere to his chest.
"Oh ho ho!" the professor said. "well if you're so confident then why don't you try this!" as he said it, the professor whipped another gadget from behind his back. When he pulled the trigger, a wave of crackling energy shot from the end, briefly enveloping Paradox. "Let's see how you fare with every electronic system on your person fried!"
Paradox didn't think that sounded healthy, but he felt fine, if a bit tingly. He'd bet if he touched someone like this he'd give them a shock. In any case, nothing about this experiment kept Paradox from levitating the ball around the room, much to the professor's dismay.
"So you have the device EMP protected." the professor said like a detective interrogating a criminal. "Then I suppose it is time to take the kid gloves off." The professor began a series of tests, most of which involved firing some device at Paradox and having him use his powers afterwards. As they progressed, the schemes become more and more convoluted, and Paradox was beginning to feel uncomfortable. At some points, the Professor would ask Paradox put on some sort of wire helmet while he levitated the sphere and the professor would furiously write down the data he received on his pad. At another point, he injected Paradox with some sort of thick green solution. "Yes, yes, it's harmless. Now levitate!" was all he had said about that one. There was even a time that the professor brought in a new sphere and had Paradox lift it without touching it, just so there could be no way for Paradox to tamper with the sphere beforehand.
After a while, Paradox become worried; both for himself and for the professor. "Do you think that we should, maybe, take a break?" Paradox ventured after a while.
The professor pounced. "Aha! I'm getting close, aren't I?" he said. "You want to take a break so you can think up more ways to trick me, don't you?"
Paradox held his paws in front of himself and shook his head. "No! No! I just-"
"I can do this all day!" the professor said, sounding just a bit mad. "You'll slip eventually! Now put this on!" The professor handed Paradox a small headband with blinking lights along it's circumference. It was about the right size to fit around Paradox's head, so he reluctantly slipped it around his ears and over his forehead.
Snap!
A jolt of pain flashed through Paradox's head as a white spark erupted from the space between the headband and Paradox's right temple. Luckily Paradox was still holding the thing in his paws so he was able to get it off his head very quickly.
"What was that?" the Professor said, looking abruptly up from his table of tools.
"What is this?" Paradox said, referring to the band-thing that had shocked him. He was holding it at arm's length now. "It shocked me!"
"It's just a simple Psionic Stimulation Device." professor Forban said. "What have you done to it now?"
"exactly what you told me to!" Paradox said.
"and what was that?" the professor demanded, clearly skeptical.
"I just put it on." Paradox replied, trying to be as clear as possible.
"Well that's just not possible." The professor replied matter-of-factly. "Not unless-"
It had sounded like the professor had started that last sentence as a joke, but his face turned deadly serious in a split-second. He rushed back to his table and grabbed his pad, furiously inputting equations and scratching his chin whiskers at the results. He was thoroughly distracted for a solid couple of minutes, and Paradox wondered if he should leave before the two of them got back to the experiments, or worse, the professor insisted Paradox put the pain-band back on. Before he could gather the courage, though, the professor seemed to realize Paradox was still here and turned to him, an altogether different expression on his face. "Paradox! you- you- you're really a Psion!"