A Chunk of SciFi – 1.09 Esper Guard [Class/Profession]

“Espers, psyks, call em what you will. Since humanity started reaching out towards the stars their number has increased. Some say it’s because of the cosmic radiation, or that humanity as a whole has evolved…hah…Whatever the reason, we’ve been given a gift with these people. You know the odd thing? There wasn’t the hatred and fear towards them that plagued our planet for generations beforehand. Maybe we learnt our lesson with the race riots and such. Who knows. One thing I will tell you, though, one politician to another, I will never go anywhere these days without at least one in my security detail..”

Class/Role – Bodyguard/Security
Primary Ability – TK (Telekinetic) Shield Generation
Secondary – Hostile/Danger sense

The Esper Guard, also known as Telekinetic Security, known in documentation as Psionic Projection & Protection Officer, is a rather new development for humanity. Just before the first contact, the first Espers were born. Unlike almost every other race in the universe, and for practically the first time in humanity’s history, with minor exceptions, these breeds of people were accepted. Their use and potential were immediately recognised. An Espers power level is not as high as other species, but for humanity, and a few others species, that lack of power is made up for with a much greater range of abilities.

Despite Espers being quite rare, something like only 1 in 300,000 people having the potential to unlock their mental abilities, they have quickly become a welcome and accepted part of day-to-day life. The first power to develop was telepathy. Then came telekinesis, or the ability to move items with mind power alone. The various military tried to capitalise on these abilities, but it was soon discovered that adrenaline and stress caused espers abilities to fail. The calmer and focused you are, the better the power works.

A few people also noticed that with a few experts, they abilities seemed to interfere with other espers from working properly. It was believed that this was an off-shoot of telepathy. It wasn’t long before someone had the bright idea of using espers with this skill as security guards against unwanted metal intrusions and attacks. Having to remain calm, being able to spot threats and react against them made them the perfect bodyguards, but very expensive, as finding someone who was first an esper, with a strong enough TP rating AND what was able to notice and disrupt other Espers was hard and expensive.

Although effective, there is one major downside to using an Esper Guard. Not for those they are protecting, but for the Esper themself. The constant use of their powers can put a strain on their brain, like a muscle being used too much. When, or if, this occurs, its classed as a “Burn-Out”, resulting in, at best the permanent switching off of the esper abilities, or at worst what is referred to as a “Storm”, when all their abilities fire off at one, destroying the espers mental capabilities and mind in one impressive, yet scary mental explosion.