"Extend the projection through the barrier, not around it," Lieutenant Voss instructs, her voice calm but insistent.

  I focus on the opaque energy shield she's generated between us—a psionic construction designed to block conventional telepathic transmission. The challenge is to penetrate it without breaking it, to find the frequencies or patterns that allow consciousness to pass through seemingly impermeable barriers.

  It's a crucial skill if we're ever to understand how the Nexari hive mind can extend across vast distances despite the apparent limitations of physics. And privately, I suspect it might be essential for any future communication with whatever sent the signal.

  I adjust my approach, recalling Elara's guidance about resonance frequencies. Instead of pushing against the barrier directly, I attune my mental projection to harmonize with its energy pattern, creating a state where my thought construct vibrates at precisely the complementary frequency to the shield.

  For a moment, nothing happens. Then, like light passing through precisely aligned polarized filters, my projection slips through the barrier without disrupting it.

  Lieutenant Voss's expression shifts to one of surprise and approval. "Excellent. That's a technique most resistants take months to master, if they manage it at all."

  "It's about matching frequencies rather than overcoming resistance," I explain, unable to hide my satisfaction at the breakthrough.

  "Precisely." She deactivates the energy shield, studying me with that evaluative gaze that seems to run in the Voss family. "That's an insight Elara developed during her advanced training. Did she share it with you?"

  I nod, seeing no reason to hide this particular exchange of information. "During our range extension sessions. She explained that consciousness energy passes more efficiently through compatible frequency patterns than through brute force projection."

  "A principle that applies to more than just psionic barriers," Lieutenant Voss notes. "It's how the Nexari collective maintains its coherence across vast networks of individual minds. Each drone's consciousness vibrates at a frequency harmonious with the overall hive structure."

  "Which is why some humans are more susceptible to assimilation than others," I suggest, connecting the dots. "Their natural neural frequency is already closer to the hive's pattern."

  "Exactly." She seems pleased by my understanding. "And why resistants like us, with our modified neural architecture, can perceive the hive mind without being drawn into it. Our frequencies are deliberately designed to remain distinct while still being compatible enough for interaction."

  This confirms aspects of what Elara has told me while coming from a more trusted source. Lieutenant Voss might interpret the implications differently than her daughter, but the underlying science appears consistent between their perspectives.

  "I've reviewed Dr. Khoury's assessment of your development," she continues, moving to the monitoring station to check something on the display. "The accelerated growth in your temporal lobe is particularly notable. It matches patterns we've observed in Elara's brain structure, but with even greater density of connections."

  "Dr. Khoury mentioned it might correlate with extended perception abilities," I say, watching for her reaction.

  "Yes, that region appears to facilitate consciousness projection beyond immediate physical proximity." She turns back to me, her expression more serious. "It's also the region that showed unprecedented activity in Dr. Matsuda before her... transformation."

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  There it is again—the cautionary tale, the implied warning about pushing these abilities too far too fast.

  "I'm maintaining the stability foundations you've taught me," I assure her. "Integration rather than compartmentalization, controlled expansion rather than unconstrained exploration."

  "I know you are," she acknowledges. "But there's something you should understand about consciousness expansion, Andrew. The further you extend your perception, the more you open yourself to influences beyond your immediate control."

  "What kind of influences?" I ask, though I suspect I already know where this is going.

  "The universe is filled with consciousness of various kinds," she explains. "Most are benign or neutral, some are beneficial, but others..." she pauses, choosing her words carefully, "others might have agendas that don't align with your wellbeing or humanity's interests."

  "You're talking about the Nexari," I suggest.

  "Not just them. There are consciousness forms we've barely begun to understand. Ancient, patient entities that operate on timescales and motivations alien to human comprehension." Her expression grows distant, as if remembering something troubling. "During my own development as a resistant, I encountered... presences... that defied conventional categorization. Neither human nor Nexari, but something else entirely."

  This is new information—something neither the official records nor Elara has mentioned. "What kind of presences?"

  She hesitates, then seems to make a decision. "Observer consciousnesses. Vast, diffuse awareness that seemed to exist primarily to witness and record but not necessarily interact. Except occasionally... they do interact, subtly influencing developments in ways that serve their long-term objectives."

  "And you think these... observers... might take an interest in resistants like us?" The implications are unsettling.

  "I think they already have," she says quietly. "The genetic modifications we carry—I'm not convinced they originate solely with the Nexari. The patterns are too complex, too precisely aligned with multiple consciousness frequency bands, not just the Nexari hive mind."

  This contradicts Elara's certainty that a Nexari faction engineered our modifications, suggesting an even more complex origin story.

  "You're proposing that these observer entities might have influenced our genetic development? To what end?"

  "That," she says with a slight smile that doesn't reach her eyes, "is the question that keeps Admiral Thorn awake at night. And why Border Command maintains such careful protocols around resistant development. We're not just potential weapons or tools in a conflict with the Nexari—we may be unwitting participants in a much larger pattern none of us fully comprehends."

  The training session continues, but my mind keeps returning to this new perspective. If Lieutenant Voss is right, the signal Elara and I detected might not be from a Nexari faction at all, but from one of these "observer consciousnesses" with its own inscrutable agenda.

  Or perhaps even more concerning—what if multiple consciousness forms are vying for influence over beings like us, each with their own purposes for what we might become?

  As we conclude the session, Lieutenant Voss gives me a searching look. "You've been unusually quiet since our discussion of observer consciousnesses. Has it raised concerns for you?"

  "Just processing the implications," I tell her honestly. "It suggests a more complex situation than I'd previously understood."

  "That's why I shared it with you," she says. "Not to frighten or discourage you, but to ensure you have a broader context for what you might experience as your abilities continue to develop." She places a hand briefly on my shoulder—the first time she's initiated physical contact outside of necessary training protocols. "Be careful out there, Andrew. Especially in the dreamspace. Not everything that offers guidance has your best interests at heart."

  The warning stays with me as I leave the training room, adding yet another layer of complexity to an already bewildering situation. Everyone seems to have pieces of the truth, but no one—not Elara, not Lieutenant Voss, not Admiral Thorn or Dr. Khoury—appears to have the complete picture.

  And I'm caught in the middle, trying to find my own path forward while forces I barely understand observe, influence, and perhaps manipulate events around me for purposes I can only guess at.

  One thing is becoming increasingly clear—if I'm going to navigate this successfully, I need more information from multiple sources. It's time to expand my circle of confidants beyond just Elara, carefully and selectively.

  First on my list: Dr. Chen, whose offered data sets I haven't yet had time to fully explore.