The Earth Alliance: Telepaths
Terminology
Basement:
Informal name given to the dormitory for latent children. These children are kept separate from other telepaths until their abilities manifest, at which point they are integrated into an appropriate Cadre.
Black Omega:
Elite Starfury unit attached to Psi Corps. The unit still operates under the same structure except within the a division of defense.
Blip:
A general term used by security officers for fugitives from the law, though it has also become synonymous with rogue telepaths. "Type A" Blips are considered to be merely misguided and open to re-education. "Type C" Blips are those who are considered sociopaths or "born criminals", who enjoy abusing their abilities and are much more difficult to re-educate.
Bloop:
Referring to the involuntary broadcasting of stray thoughts, either through weak blocks, poor discipline and/or loss of control through panic and emotional distress. Very young or untrained teeps, as well as teeks of any age are particularly notorious for blooping.
Block:
Telepathic guard against active scanning or passive sensing. Blocks usually take the form of repeating songs, nursery rhymes, or mathematical calculations. With training, mundanes can also use these techniques to block an active scan, although the mundane's ability to resist depends on how strong the telepath is. Blocks can be broken by a sufficiently strong and/ or well trained teep, however doing so forcefully can lead to the subject suffering strokes, aneurysms or cerebral hemorrhaging.
This can also refer to subconscious conditioning that restrains a subject at the point of action.
Boot:
A security officers that operates in support roles, Bloodhound units are still considered in this category.
Bloodhound:
Originally Psi Corps tracking units, usually operating under the direction of a full Psi Cop. After the collapse of the PSI Corp, they were moved up to the law reinforcement agents. They have been retraining and are under the direction "Mr Jones"
Busybody:
Slang term for a commercial telepath.
Cadre:
Training groups composed of young telepaths, organized into boarding houses according to age group.
Cadre Prime:
A cadre of telepaths whose abilities manifested either at birth or before the onset of puberty. Housed separately from the other cadres, they account for less than 5% of all telepaths, and as such they are considered exceptionally rare and special. Other Cadres include Cadre Secundus and Cadre Tertius.
Casting:
(See "Mindcast")
Cops 'n' Blips:
An approved game played by children in the Psi Corps during "constructive playtime". Generally it involves one or two children ("the blips") who are tasked with getting to a prearranged location without being caught, while the others (the "cops") attempt to track and capture them.
Deathbed Scan:
Performed when a telepath combs a dying person's mind for vital information up until the very moment of death. Such scans are known to be harmful to the telepath's mental health, with some believing that one loses a piece of one's soul by being in contact with the soon-to-decease person as they cross the threshold. Almost no telepath who has done such a scan willingly does one a second time, since subsequent attempts are thought to be very damaging to the psyche. Psi Cop Alfred Bester repeatedly volunteered for such duty, once even following a subject's mind into the void. During that scan Bester very nearly died himself, and would have if not for the resuscitation efforts of hospital staff attending the dying subject. Some in the Corps say that Bester is the way he is because the better part of his soul is missing.
Fugue:
Telepathic attack. A favorite trick of blips, a fugue forces the target's mind to suddenly repeat its last thought over and over, effectively freezing the person's mind in the moment. The effect is short lived, but if timed right it can be enough to give the attacker an edge.
For a telepath, a fugue state is akin to a psi seizure or stroke, and can sometimes be brought on by extremely severe emotional distress or shock.
Grabber, The:
A children's nickname for William Karges and the statue that bore his likeness in Teeptown's alpha quad. Destroyed during the Telepath War.
Grins:
Term used by Psi Corps children for the faceless monitors within Psi Corps Cadre Prime youth training programs. Noted for their grey robes, almost mechanical voices, impersonal nature, and their blank featureless masks that display only very basic emotional symbols. Dealing out both punishments and rewards, they are more often than not a source of apprehension and mystery for most teep children. At age 12, the children are shown the true identities of the Grins, who are revealed to be their teachers and caregivers during a ceremony in which they receive their first pair of gloves.
Glyph:
Projection of a telepathic image. Can be used as a means of deception (making a subject think they saw something they didn't) or to accentuate communication through illustration.
John Trakker, Psi Cop:
Fictional character that features in a weekly vid series produced by the Psi Corps. A Psi Cop that works with his partner Heng, every week they work to capture "evil" and "stupid" rogue telepaths and send them off to be re-educated by the Corps. Also featured on a merchandising line based on the show. Still around and still being used, but now they turn against those who were once PSI Cops, and didn't convert to the new ways and laws.
Latent:
Referring to a telepath who has scored positive on the screening test, but whose ability has not yet manifested. Also called "late bloomers".
Later:
Referring to a telepath whose ability manifested after or during puberty.
Mindblast:
A sudden and powerful brute-force telepathic attack, a mindblast leaves its target in a telepathic fugue. Partial amnesia is also a common side effect of a mindblast.
Mindburst:
A sudden and debilitating burst of background "noise" from other minds, most commonly suffered by laters as their psi ability first manifests itself. The mindburst's intensity is directly proportional to the teep's psi rating. For example, to a P10 the experience is akin to a deaf person suddenly hearing a rocket engine right by their heads. The sudden shock can be severe enough as to render a teep unconscious.
Mindcast:
Direct telepathic communication.
Mind shredder: Term applied to an individual trained in attack probes who has an exceptional knack for disrupting the abilities of other telepaths.
Mindquake:
A localized kinetic agitation, usually the result of an unstable teek who is unable to control their ability.
Monitors:
(See "Grins")
Mundane:
non-telepath, meaning literally "normal". Often pejorative.
P'see:
Term used for a telepathic perception that manifests and is interpreted by a teep's brain as visual information, a sort of telepathic sight. Similar terms include "p'squint" and "p'hear".
Psi Cop:
Psi Corps police officers. Many still use the term PSI Cop, the current PSI Cop is really now called MR. Jones
Rogue:
(See "Blip")
Scan:
An active telepathic probe. Surface scans, while difficult for even a trained P5 to detect, can only reveal what a person happens to be thinking from moment to moment and is routinely used in business negotiations to detect falsehoods, omission and obfuscation. A deep scan, while often uncomfortable, can uncover deeper thoughts and memories. Under certain conditions deep and extended scans can cause seizures, heart attacks, strokes, permanent brain damage, or if the subject is particularly resistant, death. Sustaining and blocking extended scans can also affect the telepath running the scan - the best human telepaths can only sustain a deep scan for up to 40–45 minutes, at which time they burst arteries, have strokes, or black out.
Teep:
Referring to any telepath.
Teeptown:
Closed community for telepaths in Geneva, originally built up by the MRA and later Psi Corps from the old "metasensory compound".
Teek:
Referring to any telekinetic. Noted for their tendency to "bloop".
