Chapter 14

While fulfilling sexual fantasies, both his own and others, was fun, it was certainly not the only thing that Seth used his powers for in his freshman year. In the process of scanning people, Seth came across some individuals that were in trouble of one kind or another. Where he could, he helped out, whether it was pointing out where to get extra tutoring help (discreetly, of course), or if it was helping someone get a job so they could afford to live while they were in school.

Seth knew - though didn't like to admit -was questionable moral behavior with women. He certainly rationalized that he wasn't hurting anyone, in fact he was fulfilling many of their fantasies. But deep down, well, not really that deep at all, he knew that what he was doing was violating these girls' privacy and using that knowledge to take advantage of it. So he sort of figured that these good deeds that he did made up for he otherwise questionable behavior.

While most of the people he helped were pretty simple fixes, there were two people he came across that were in much worse shape. In fact, they were extremely depressed to the point of suicide.

The first was a girl, Targa, who was very overweight and had low self-esteem. She had been teased all her life, and she was at the end of her rope, ready to throw it all away. Luckily for Seth, she went out regularly and got hammered. Once drunk, she was often taken back to some desperate guy's room when there was no one better looking left to take home. Seth took the opportunity to find her in a drunken state and implant some subliminal suggestions. He blocked the desire for food as a safety blanket, and gave her an urge to work out regularly. Other fake memories Seth implanted led had her convince herself that talking to a counselor would be useful. Not too long after Seth did that, Targa began getting the therapy that she desperately needed.

Seth certainly felt that the assistance that he gave Targa was much more important that helping someone get their homework in on time. The second person, however, was not nearly as easy. From his thoughts, Seth estimated that Jerome would pull the plug very shortly; he had already made up his mind and he was just trying to decide how to do it. Seth targeted him and dove deep into his memories, and they were not pretty. All throughout his life, his father had abused him, both physically and emotionally; it was probably a small favor that sexual abuse wasn't present as well.

Seth very much wanted to help Jerome in the same way that he did Targa, but it was more challenging because Jerome didn't drink or do drugs. Even with repeated efforts, so far he'd been resistant to all attempts that Seth made to get him to get help; he just could not influence Jerome without the help of some sort of mind altering substance.

Seth was at a loss, but decided that if he were to help Jerome, he'd have to do it the old fashioned way. He arranged to bump into Jerome a couple of times and he managed to strike up a conversation. Jerome was somewhat willing to talk with Seth, and knowing Jerome's mind as he did, Seth was able to target particular areas of interest. He started hanging out with Jerome as much as he could, trying to get him to have cheerful thoughts and attempting to get Jerome to open up. Each night, Seth would visit, trying to ascertain Jerome's ongoing mental state.

Weeks later Jerome seemed to be stabilizing a little; at least he wasn't quite on the verge of suicide. Suddenly one night, Seth discovered that something had gone very wrong. When he connected to Jerome, he found Jerome's mind in a chaotic state. It was as if parts of his mind were screaming at other parts, and some parts were just shut down. Seth probed for memories of the day, and he discovered that Jerome's father had called and been extremely abusive. Seth could see that Jerome was running up a dimly lit flight of stairs, but he could not figure out where those stairs were located.

Suddenly, Jerome burst out of a door, and Seth could see the night sky above him. Seth realized that Jerome was on the roof of a building, and without even slowing down, Jerome rushed to the edge. Seth threw himself at Jerome's mind in alarm, trying to find some crack, something that would let him slow Jerome down. But, but Jerome's mind was in bedlam. He thought he saw a way and had started pushing when Jerome leaped.

"Nooooooo!" Seth screamed. He saw the ground rushing up, and he didn't know what would happen if Jerome died while he was connected, so he broke the connection. Seth immediately bolted awake, and could barely breathe. He jumped into some clothes and ran out across the campus to Jerome's dorm. He heard the sirens in the distance as he skidded up to the scene. There was already a safety officer trying to block off the area, but Seth got a glimpse of Jerome. It was a thirty-two story building, and there was no doubt that the fall was fatal.