Chapter Fourteen
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.
Seth collapsed on the ground screaming, then passed out.
While Seth was unconscious, his mind did no visiting. Instead, it dreamed, and the dreams were vivid recollections of the inside of Jerome's mind, interposed with glimpses of the last moments of Jerome's life. When he woke up, he looked around and realized that he was in a hospital room. His hands were both being held, and a glance to each side showed him that it was Sarah and Betty.
"He's awake!" Betty shrieked.
"Seth, are you OK?" Sarah demanded.
"I'm not sure," Seth said weakly.
"What happened?" Sarah asked. "They told me that you were near the scene where someone committed suicide and you screamed and passed out."
"I can't really talk about it now," Seth blubbered, tears coming to his eyes. "The person who committed suicide was a friend of mine. I knew that he was suicidal, and I was trying to help him, but I couldn't. Nothing that I tried worked. I couldn't stop him."
"Oh, Seth," Sarah comforted, understanding at last what had happened. "You can't help everyone; you can't take responsibility for someone else's choices!"
"I thought I was making progress," Seth choked out. Anger took over as he said, "It was his asshole of a father. He called him and pushed him over the edge, literally. And there's nothing that anyone can do about it!"
Seth said nothing for a minute, then continued quietly, "Well, maybe someone can."
"No, Seth, don't do anything stupid," Sarah begged.
Seth sighed and released the tension he was feeling. "Nothing right now," Seth promised. "Nothing now."
Sarah stayed with her brother until he was ready to be released. His release came just as his parents arrived, having been notified of what had happened. Afterward, they talked to some school officials, and arranged for Seth to get counseling. Seth's parents also stayed near the college for a few days while Seth took some time off from classes. Slowly, over the course of a few days, he started to get back to normal, though he still had dreams of Jerome.
Seth's unsuccessful attempts to assist Jerome put an end to his visiting activities for the rest of the semester; his mind was far too troubled for that sort of thing. Remarkably, Seth still managed to pass all his classes, most with good grades. Sarah did well, as usual, and Betty got all As, for the first time ever; she did not want to take a chance on getting less than a B.
There were tearful good-byes from Betty when they separated to go home for the winter holidays.
When the twins arrived home, their parents were still quite concerned about Seth's mental and emotional state, but they could see that he was beginning to heal. The first night they were back, Sarah slipped into bed with Seth.
"How are you doing?" she inquired.
"Better," he said. "I've figured out what I'm going to do with my life."
"What?" Sarah asked.
"I'm going to be a psychologist," he replied. "Just imagine how much good I can do when I can delve deeper than even the patients can go. Think how I can push them in the right direction subconsciously. It's far better than using my skills to pick up chicks!"
"Well, that's a noble aspiration," Sarah agreed. "But I worry about how much this is affecting you. What's going to happen when you come across someone else that you can't fix?"
Seth sighed deeply. "I learned my lesson," he admitted. "I know that there will always be people I can't help. I'll still try my hardest, but I understand that some of my efforts are destined to fail. That doesn't mean that I shouldn't help those that I can."
"What about the ethical considerations?" Sarah asked.
"I know, but we're not being completely ethical now either," Seth countered.
"But we don't have a responsibility to do so now," Sarah explained. "If you're a professional, you will."
Seth smiled and hugged his sister. "What if I come to you to be my moral compass, to make sure I don't step over the line?"
"He said to the girl who had enslaved her roommate," Sarah grinned ironically.
"Yes, but you did it ethically, and with only her good in your thoughts," Seth said.
"Well, maybe not her good only," Sarah chuckled.
"I love you," Seth sighed.
"I love you, too," Sarah told her twin. They fell asleep together, and neither left the bed for a visit that night.