It wasn’t a prison. Not exactly. It wasn’t a school. Not exactly. It wasn’t a hospital. Not exactly. It was one of those rare examples of the government making a rational response to a situation.
Twenty odd years ago, twenty very odd years ago, super humans went public. It started with 9/11. The planes hit the world trade center. People were jumping out of the twin towers from hundreds of feet in the air, preferring a quick death to immolation or being crushed to death. As the people jumped from the tower a woman rose up from the ground to catch them and bring them safely to the ground. She was the first superhuman to go public, but not the last.
In the days that followed heroes came out of the wood work. They volunteered in rescue work and in clearing the rubble in America’s moment of crisis. It would be a few months before the villains would emerge. Super crime became more and more common until it became passe.
Collars to turn off powers were wonderful in comic books, but it took time to develop technology like that, if it was even possible to make something like that. Super criminals required a super prison. A prison made of solid granite to stop the super strong and energy blasters from escaping. Guards wearing powered armor to keep the super criminals in line.
But those were the super max prisons for violent super criminals. What about non-violent super criminals? What about super humans who weren’t criminals but were a danger to themselves and others because of their powers? That’s why the Ziggurat was created.
Most of the people kept in the Ziggurat had not intended to commit crimes. They were people whose powers were out of control and needed a safe place to trade. Some of them were convicted, non-violent criminals who needed rehabilitation but didn’t need to be ensconced in granite and kept with the worst humanity had to offer in a super max prison. It was a cross between a trade school and a minimum security prison. The campus was fenced in, and there were guards in powered armor, but prisoners were allowed to walk the grounds. They could interact with each other. And there were classes on how to control their powers.
The guards were technically there to keep the prisoners inside, but there were few escape attempts, so the guards generally were used to contain one of the super humans when they lost control. Most of the ‘prisoners’ were there to learn to control their abilities, and did not want to leave until they had mastered them. They weren’t flight risks. The convicted criminals knew this was a probation of sorts. If they escaped the Ziggurat they would not be coming back here when they were recaptured, they would be going to a super max with zero chance of parole. The threat of being dropped in a hole for the next quarter of a century was enough to keep most in line, and those who stepped out of line were dropped in that hole.
There were rumors that the government used some of the residents of the Ziggurat to run secret black op missions, but that was highly unlikely. Why would the government want super humans that couldn’t control their powers?
—--
Two men sat in a small room at a small desk facing each other. One of them was dressed in scrub bottoms, a white t-shirt and sandals. The other was dressed in an off-the-rack beige suit and had tin foil wrapped over his head like a skullcap.
“Can we be done with this already?” the man in the t-shirt asked, “The new fish are coming in today and I want to size them up.”
“No Jack. You’re here to learn to control your powers. You need to finish this exercise. Now clear your mind of all thoughts-”
“Fat chance,” Jack interrupted.
“That’s why I’m wearing the tin foil, so you can’t read my thoughts,” the suited man said. “Now clear your mind of all thoughts and then concentrate on one thing. It can be anything you like, but concentrate on it and tell me what comes to you.”
The problem wasn’t clearing his mind, Jack could do that fairly easily, the problem was clearing everyone else’s mind. Jack was a ESPer, a super human with mind powers. He was a very powerful telepath and, whether he wanted to or not, he heard the surface thoughts of everyone within roughly a 100 yard radius creating a cacophony of voices in his head that made it difficult to concentrate on the best days. The tin foil the other man was wearing didn’t silence his thoughts, but distorted them. He could still hear the man thinking, but it came out as static. When he first arrived at the Ziggurat Jack had tried to explain that but no other telepath had ever reported tin foil not blocking thoughts, so no one believed him.
Jack was already one of the more powerful telepaths when he got to the Ziggurat. He ran circles around the two telepaths on staff. But he had tested high in divination and telekinesis, so those were the skills the staff was trying to teach him. The problem was both required concentration, and for Jack, concentration was hard to muster.
“C’mon Jack you can do this,” the other man said, encouraging him.
“Easy for you to say, Dr. Newkirk,” Jack said, his eyes closed, talking between deep breaths, you don’t have a thousand voices in your head.” It was more than a thousand.
“I’ll let you concentrate.”
It took several minutes of intense concentration just to get the voices to quiet. Jack focused on his breathing, just the sound of the intake and exhale, over and over in a steady rhythm. When all he could hear in his head was the sound of his own breath Jack focused on what he wanted to know, the current sole desire of his heart. It came to him almost immediately.
Jack opened his eyes and looked Dr. Newkirk in his eyes. “One, two, three, four, seve, forty-five.”
“One, two, three, four, seven, and forty-five,” Dr. Newkirk repeated, writing the numbers down in a notebook. “What’s that?”
“The winning numbers for the next Powerball jackpot over a hundred million dollars.” Jack grinned at him. “I can’t leave this place. Buy me a ticket Doc, I’ll split it with you. 90-10.”
“I don’t think that would be ethical,” Dr. Newkirk protested.
“I thought we were testing my clairvoyance or divination or whatever you’re calling it. What better way to put it to the test than to put some money on it.”
Dr. Newkirk pondered it for a moment. Finally he sighed and said, “I don’t think so Jack.”
“Think about it Doc. That’s ten million dollars I’m offering you.”
Dr. Newkirk glared at the younger man. “That’s it for today Jack. You’re free to go.”
“I can leave the Ziggurat?” Jack asked.
“Not until your sentence is up. Now get out of here. Go walk the yard or something.”
Jack stood and left the room, whistling some tune. Dr. Newkirk made some notes in his notebook. His eyes kept glancing back to the numbers written down on the page. Psychically Jack was very powerful. Could those really be the next Powerball numbers?
—--
Jack walked up the stairs from the basement. The psychic training rooms would be better off on top of a tower far away from other people. But at least in the basement there was some distance between him and other people.
He got up to the campus in time to see the gates open in the distance and a grey prison system bus rolling through. He quickened his step. He wanted to see the new freaks that would be joining them at the Ziggurat.
Twenty odd years ago, twenty very odd years ago, super humans went public. It started with 9/11. The planes hit the world trade center. People were jumping out of the twin towers from hundreds of feet in the air, preferring a quick death to immolation or being crushed to death. As the people jumped from the tower a woman rose up from the ground to catch them and bring them safely to the ground. She was the first superhuman to go public, but not the last.
In the days that followed heroes came out of the wood work. They volunteered in rescue work and in clearing the rubble in America’s moment of crisis. It would be a few months before the villains would emerge. Super crime became more and more common until it became passe.
Collars to turn off powers were wonderful in comic books, but it took time to develop technology like that, if it was even possible to make something like that. Super criminals required a super prison. A prison made of solid granite to stop the super strong and energy blasters from escaping. Guards wearing powered armor to keep the super criminals in line.
But those were the super max prisons for violent super criminals. What about non-violent super criminals? What about super humans who weren’t criminals but were a danger to themselves and others because of their powers? That’s why the Ziggurat was created.
Most of the people kept in the Ziggurat had not intended to commit crimes. They were people whose powers were out of control and needed a safe place to trade. Some of them were convicted, non-violent criminals who needed rehabilitation but didn’t need to be ensconced in granite and kept with the worst humanity had to offer in a super max prison. It was a cross between a trade school and a minimum security prison. The campus was fenced in, and there were guards in powered armor, but prisoners were allowed to walk the grounds. They could interact with each other. And there were classes on how to control their powers.
The guards were technically there to keep the prisoners inside, but there were few escape attempts, so the guards generally were used to contain one of the super humans when they lost control. Most of the ‘prisoners’ were there to learn to control their abilities, and did not want to leave until they had mastered them. They weren’t flight risks. The convicted criminals knew this was a probation of sorts. If they escaped the Ziggurat they would not be coming back here when they were recaptured, they would be going to a super max with zero chance of parole. The threat of being dropped in a hole for the next quarter of a century was enough to keep most in line, and those who stepped out of line were dropped in that hole.
There were rumors that the government used some of the residents of the Ziggurat to run secret black op missions, but that was highly unlikely. Why would the government want super humans that couldn’t control their powers?
—--
Two men sat in a small room at a small desk facing each other. One of them was dressed in scrub bottoms, a white t-shirt and sandals. The other was dressed in an off-the-rack beige suit and had tin foil wrapped over his head like a skullcap.
“Can we be done with this already?” the man in the t-shirt asked, “The new fish are coming in today and I want to size them up.”
“No Jack. You’re here to learn to control your powers. You need to finish this exercise. Now clear your mind of all thoughts-”
“Fat chance,” Jack interrupted.
“That’s why I’m wearing the tin foil, so you can’t read my thoughts,” the suited man said. “Now clear your mind of all thoughts and then concentrate on one thing. It can be anything you like, but concentrate on it and tell me what comes to you.”
The problem wasn’t clearing his mind, Jack could do that fairly easily, the problem was clearing everyone else’s mind. Jack was a ESPer, a super human with mind powers. He was a very powerful telepath and, whether he wanted to or not, he heard the surface thoughts of everyone within roughly a 100 yard radius creating a cacophony of voices in his head that made it difficult to concentrate on the best days. The tin foil the other man was wearing didn’t silence his thoughts, but distorted them. He could still hear the man thinking, but it came out as static. When he first arrived at the Ziggurat Jack had tried to explain that but no other telepath had ever reported tin foil not blocking thoughts, so no one believed him.
Jack was already one of the more powerful telepaths when he got to the Ziggurat. He ran circles around the two telepaths on staff. But he had tested high in divination and telekinesis, so those were the skills the staff was trying to teach him. The problem was both required concentration, and for Jack, concentration was hard to muster.
“C’mon Jack you can do this,” the other man said, encouraging him.
“Easy for you to say, Dr. Newkirk,” Jack said, his eyes closed, talking between deep breaths, you don’t have a thousand voices in your head.” It was more than a thousand.
“I’ll let you concentrate.”
It took several minutes of intense concentration just to get the voices to quiet. Jack focused on his breathing, just the sound of the intake and exhale, over and over in a steady rhythm. When all he could hear in his head was the sound of his own breath Jack focused on what he wanted to know, the current sole desire of his heart. It came to him almost immediately.
Jack opened his eyes and looked Dr. Newkirk in his eyes. “One, two, three, four, seve, forty-five.”
“One, two, three, four, seven, and forty-five,” Dr. Newkirk repeated, writing the numbers down in a notebook. “What’s that?”
“The winning numbers for the next Powerball jackpot over a hundred million dollars.” Jack grinned at him. “I can’t leave this place. Buy me a ticket Doc, I’ll split it with you. 90-10.”
“I don’t think that would be ethical,” Dr. Newkirk protested.
“I thought we were testing my clairvoyance or divination or whatever you’re calling it. What better way to put it to the test than to put some money on it.”
Dr. Newkirk pondered it for a moment. Finally he sighed and said, “I don’t think so Jack.”
“Think about it Doc. That’s ten million dollars I’m offering you.”
Dr. Newkirk glared at the younger man. “That’s it for today Jack. You’re free to go.”
“I can leave the Ziggurat?” Jack asked.
“Not until your sentence is up. Now get out of here. Go walk the yard or something.”
Jack stood and left the room, whistling some tune. Dr. Newkirk made some notes in his notebook. His eyes kept glancing back to the numbers written down on the page. Psychically Jack was very powerful. Could those really be the next Powerball numbers?
—--
Jack walked up the stairs from the basement. The psychic training rooms would be better off on top of a tower far away from other people. But at least in the basement there was some distance between him and other people.
He got up to the campus in time to see the gates open in the distance and a grey prison system bus rolling through. He quickened his step. He wanted to see the new freaks that would be joining them at the Ziggurat.
