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Imperial Psionics Integration Administration "Protecting the Minds of the Empire"

Section I: Introduction

The Anean Star Empire, in recent years, has developed a program to embrace the ever-growing psionic population of the Empire. As of present day, it's believed that five percent of the Empire has psionic capability, which accounts for a population of 2.1 trillion psionically capable individuals. While many of these gifted are relatively low powered, a small fraction is capable of both great shows of power, and, by extension, great, almost crippling effects of using those abilities. The IPIA is meant to locate psionics, educate them on their capabilities, as well as test for capability by looking for early signs.

While no one is truly sure of where psionic capability comes from, and how it has only recently become increasingly prevalent, it has been determined that left behind technology on the Remnora Novus ring is from where the initial cases developed about two centuries ago. The spread of psionic capability from the Remnora Novus to standard Remnorans was as simple as breeding between the Novus and standard Remnorans. How it spread into humanity was much the same as how the Remnora Novus were first affected. Contemporary scientific thinking believes that ancient surviving nanomachines are enabling these abilities, and the extensive cybernetics that many Imperial citizens get allow a transfer of information. This is not confirmed, or even believed to be fact.

To classify its psionics, the IPIA has developed a standardized, international ten tier system, split into three categories for the sake of categorization; "Sensitive", "Psionic", and "Super-Psionic". Further sub-tier systems are proposed, but currently they are merely an addition, and not a standard inclusion into the system. As far as the tier system goes, the ten-tier system marks the lowest tiers that are capable of minor abilities and are especially sensitive to the existence of other psionics, and at the maximum tier are the most powerful psionics that can influence large areas or large groups of people.

Currently the IPIA employs approximately 400,000 people of all races and psionic ability across the Empire in a variety of field offices on almost every Imperial world, with several subdivisions. The largest subdivision is the Novus Bureau, which has control over Remnora Novus and the Anean Terminus worlds. Funded by the Imperial Government, the IPIA is a government agency in full. Despite operating independently, the IPIA is officially a subdivision of the Homeland Security Ministry. For this reason, the IPIA is dedicated to the goal of preserving the psionic security of the Empire, by any means necessary.

Section II: Psionic Tiers

At its most basic, separating psionics by tier is necessary in order to categorize those that could potentially pose a major threat to the Empire. As IPIA's goal is the psionic security of the Empire, any potentially rogue psionics are categorized as such. Potential rogues are not strictly limited to the highest tiers of psionics, as all psionics can be a threat if not monitored or tracked in some extreme cases.

As mentioned above, the tier system has three major categories: Sensitive, Psionic, and Super-Psionic. Each of those have Tiers associated with them. The breakdown of the system is as follows:

Tier 0: Tier 0 is an administrative listing that is not officially a part of the tier system. This, in practice, would denote anyone without psionic power. Thus, this tier would apply to 95% of the Empire.

Psionic Sensitive

Tier I: Tier I psionics are the lowest level of psionics within the Empire. These are people that either have severely underdeveloped ability, mental illness that caused deterioration of ability (more on this later), or are biologically incompatible with psionic capability for unknown reasons. Tier I psionics are used in utility positions, as they are exceptionally sensitive to other psionics. In many cases, they are the primary tier from which psionic testers are drawn.

Tier II: Tier II psionics are the most common of the psionics in the Empire, with about 30% of the Empire's psionic population carrying this tier. Tier II psionics are a generally lower power, highly sensitive to higher psionic tiers, and have at least limited abilities to compliment a slightly higher power. Such abilities are minor. Among Empaths, it would be the ability to sense emotion, but not grant knowledge of thoughts going through the person's head. With non-Empaths, usually a minor manipulation of an element is possible, but only for short bursts.

Tier III: Functionally similar to the Tier II, the Tier III is differentiated in the ability to endure psionic use over an extended period. Tier III psionics are the second most common in the Empire, and tend to work in government roles or roles which fit the abilities that they have. Generally, Tier III psionics of any type are capable of a limited, short range psionic whisper between minds. Only when sent to a psionic can it be exchanged, allowing a silent method of communication.

Psionic

Tier IV: Tier IV is where the abilities of the psionic are particularly pronounced. The start of the Psionic category was placed here due to Tier IV psionics generally showing just what they have control over, and a large increase in stamina and power.

Tier V: Obviously more powerful than the Tier IV, the Tier V is defined by the element control or empathic control that they exhibit. The control that they have is generally more refined, while not being alarmingly powerful. The Tier V is usually seen on the front lines of the Imperial Army, inspiring their soldiers, and striking fear into the enemy if they are Empaths. Other psionics from this tier and up are targeted for military recruitment.

Tier VI: The Tier VI psionic is the third most common of the psionics within the Empire and thus considered the "average" true psionic. At Tier VI, the psionic typically has mastery over their empathic ability or elemental ability, and is able to sustain all but the most intensive abilities for extended periods. In some extreme cases, the psionic will be able to make use of high power abilities effectively, however it's almost as rare as a Tier X psionic.

Tier VII: Just above Tier VI, Tier VII is defined by the psionic's ability to control their abilities and hold them. For Empaths, the definition is the development of extremely dangerous abilities such as an early development of mind control or an ability to influence people to do things that they would not do normally. Tier VII is generally where most psionics get constant, or near constant, watch due to the potential threat they pose.

Super-Psionic

Tier VIII: While there's little functional difference between the Tier VII and Tier VIII, the Tier VIII is listed as a super-psionic due to the major changes in the brain that occur across all species around Tier VIII. The brain's size grows slightly in mass, with specialized tissues that appear to act as a "conduit" for all psionic energies, allowing for a more efficient means of handling the increased power at this tier. This correlates with the psionic having a greater endurance compared to Tier VII.

Tier IX: While not the most powerful psionics, Tier IX psionics are considered to be the most feared in the Empire by those without ability, and most respected by those with. All Tier IX psionics are regularly watched, as the increased respect and fear can result in a sort of megalomania developing.

Tier X: At the very apex of their power, the Tier X psionic is exceptionally rare, with an approximated occurrence of one in ten billion. Given that the Empire's psionic population is 2.1 trillion, roughly, the current estimate is that there are a little over 200 Tier X psionics in the Empire. Of the current population, only 45 have been tested as a Tier X. All Tier X are subject to intensive monitoring, including the Tier X True Empath, Emperor Welhan.

Section III: Elementals and Empaths

In previous sections, there has been a mention of the difference between the Empathic and Elemental branches of psionics. The difference is most clearly defined between species, interestingly enough. Remnorans, both feline and canine, are known to be able to adopt primarily elemental abilities such as control over water or fire. Haromians and other human species show an ability to control what has to do with the mind, hence Empathic.

It's estimated that 70% of all psionics in the Empire are Elemental. Among those, the abilities are split among multiple major types of elements. As mentioned previously, control over water and fire are two examples, however the ability to manipulate ferrous metals and electricity has been demonstrated as well. It is unknown if any other types exist, however it's not believed to be the case. Most Elemental psionics are used in various industries to bolster production where machines could not. For those that don't specialize in an industry to suit them, their abilities rarely affect everyday life. Among Elementals, only Tier VIII and above tend to be watched.

The last 30% of the Empire's psionics fall under the umbrella of Empath. While all Empaths share roughly the same traits with each other, there's been an increase in categorization. Some examples are "Empath", which has specifically empathic abilities that help others, the "Manipulator", which tend to have far more powerful abilities while the Empathic abilities themselves fall off for a focus on manipulating a person's mind. Among the groups there is also the "True Empath", one which has the capabilities of both, and both are equally powerful. Due to the danger of a rogue Empath of any type, Tier VII and up are under constant observation by IPIA.

Section IV: Common Psionic Abilities

Despite the biological and ability differences, all psionics share a number of abilities. Some require a greater psionic capability than others, and none are particularly specialized toward elemental or empathic ability.

Psionic Communication: All psionics are capable of a limited communication. Also known as telepathy, psionics are able to communicate through a mind link over varying distances, even across the void of space. This is limited to only a few miles at most, regardless of tier, though it has shown to be useful in a military setting as well as diplomatic settings.

Psi Blast: Psi Blast is a misnomer as it's the colloquial term for the ability. It's a basic form of self-defense for the psionic. Effectively the individual stores psionic energy for a few milliseconds to several seconds and unleashes it upon their target. It doesn't cause a physical "blast", but it will usually cause the individual to recoil in pain as the psionics interfere with bodily functions to force them to back down or otherwise incapacitate for a moment.

Mind Shielding: A natural evolution regarding psionics. Mind shielding does exactly as it implies, protecting the mind of a psionic from interference, typically from another psionic. Against Empaths, it will work very well to deter their attempts at manipulation of the person's mind for some time. Against anything other than psionic abilities, the mind shielding is entirely useless.

Telekinesis: A simple ability, enabling the individual to move and manipulate items with their minds as if it were in their hands and from a distance. While it can be useful in some ways, telekinesis is less of a defensive or offensive ability and just more of a utility. It is incapable of manipulating energy rounds or bullets coming toward them, as tested several times (all experiments resulted in death of the psionic subject).

Transvection:While not technically an ability in its own right, a psionic that makes use of telekinesis properly - or improperly, depending on one's interpretation - can make themselves levitate or fly with their own mental power. It's a relatively dangerous ability, however, as if one becomes exhausted during use and far above the ground, there's a significant chance of a very painful death.

Forward Sight:Another misnomer from a colloquial term, Forward Sight is merely a sense of something coming, rather than an actual insight into what it is. This is tied into heightened psionic senses, as opposed to some control over the flow of time. When an event affecting the psionic is occurring or about to occur, there is a sense - usually a malaise - that comes with it. Modern scientists don't understand this phenomenon.

Heightened Senses: A variety of things is meant by this, but most psionics have a heightened sense of hearing and sight, though not much else in the way of senses. For the species that already have particularly sensitive hearing, the effect is even greater for them. On top of the sight and hearing, there's an additional "sixth sense", in a non-traditional interpretation. All psionics are sensitive to other psionics and thus are able to determine, even if the individual in question is unaware, any psionic ability.

Section V: Known Abilities (Empath)

The Empath is an individual particularly gifted in the abilities revolving around the sensing of, and manipulation of, an individual's mind. It was once thought that the initial classification of "Psychomanipulator" and "Empath" were two different classes, but studies have grouped both in with the Empath umbrella. Thus, the Empaths are now among the most dangerous single type of psionic, just in what they can do to people en masse. Of note is that empathic ability shows up more often in humans than other species. Empaths generally have a purple color to their skin and/or fur patterns.

Mental Resilience: Due to their already heightened mental power, Empaths are naturally resilient to inherited or environmental mental disease and illness, as well as other empaths attempting to influence them as they would others. Most psionic barriers and scramblers fail to affect the Empath, making them especially dangerous in highly sensitive and highly secure areas.

Empathy: Considering the name of the special ability, this would be expected. Empathy is simply the ability to recognize emotions. While all sapients are capable of this to a degree, the Empath is able to pinpoint the exact emotion, if not the source of it through deduction. This ability on its use has incredible utility in any diplomatic situations.

Psionic Suggestion: A low-level ability that most Empaths make use of in some way, whether they are aware they are doing it or not. Suggestion simply influences an individual, but doesn't force the target to do as they are told, only causing a chemical shift to make them reconsider what they might be planning. This is, however, a relatively unpredictable ability as it could go in the way that the psionic would want, or it could backfire significantly.

Psionic Inspiration: Best used by leaders, inspiration does exactly what it says. It inspires the people around the psionic, encouraging them to fight harder, or just work harder toward what they were doing as a group. This ability is rarely, if ever, used outside of a combat and military situation as few situations outside of that could break a group of people. Inspiration was used to an astounding effect in the early years of the Insurrection War, bolstering both rebel and Imperial soldiers alike to great deeds.

Psionic Terror: The flipside of inspiration, and more commonly used outside of combat. Terror projects an aura of fear around the individual, with the radius depending on the user's choice and tier, which is meant to strike fear into most organic beings, causing them to flee. In combat, its use is quite obvious, but outside of combat its uses vary, but it is often used by police and security officers. Like Inspiration, Terror was used extensively throughout the Insurrection War to break enemy formations that were already on the breaking point.

Psionic Influence: A mostly passive ability among higher tier psionics. Like terror, an aura is emanated from the individual where the psionic's mental control is strongest and the mere mention of something they want done can influence the individual to agree to it, even if it is against their best interests. It's not guaranteed, however. Most Empaths are unaware that they are doing this, but those that are can be extremely influential individuals. This, in comparison to suggestion, is more of a mid-level ability despite the utility it can have in all situations.

Hallucinations: The Empath is capable of manipulating a target's mind, or the minds of multiple targets, and causing vivid hallucinations. Such hallucinations are influenced by the Empath, but can range anywhere from a minor sensory alteration and change in what they see, to as much as outright nightmares brought to life seemingly. In the right, or wrong, hands this particular ability can break most minds simply from the vivid, almost real hallucinations.

Mind Control: About as simple as it gets. Simply put, this is the most second most powerful empathic ability and it requires immense concentration, incredible willpower, and the endurance to keep the hold for some time. Making use of a more directed influence, the Empath metaphorically claws their way into the person's mind, taking a hold of their conscious. In most cases, the one that uses it opts for total control and using the target like a puppet. In some cases, however, simply getting in there and implanting memories and opinions is akin to the same, but in a less invasive manner and one that the target rarely notices after the fact. The most powerful and best-trained Empaths are able to affect multiple people at once.

Psionic Purge: Usually an extreme extension upon mind control and the memory implanting, the purge requires a firm grip over the target to have any chance of success. The purge wipes the target's memories and personality, effectively making them a clean slate. As with most abilities, the most powerful psionics are capable of replacing those memories and personality with one of their choosing. This is a process that would take hours to do without killing or otherwise mentally damaging their target. This ability, however, is outlawed under galactic treaties with death being the penalty should it be found out.

Empathic Majesty: Majesty is Influence taken to its most powerful extreme. This ability is documented only among Tier IX and Tier X Empaths, and only those classed as "True Empaths". Unlike Influence, those that use Majesty are fully aware they are doing it, and could stop it at any time. Psionic Majesty is much like a mass mind control, and the ultimate tool of the demagogue. In using it, the Empath can force individuals to submit themselves to the will of the Empath, usually fully aware that they are being manipulated once it's too late to do anything about it. Like the Purge, this ability, if proven, carries the death sentence.

Section VI: Known Abilities (Elemental)

Section VI-A: Pyrokinetics

The most common of the Elementals, pyrokinetics have mastery over the elements of fire and the manipulation of such. Like all the element-based abilities, one cannot create something from nothing, and thus the pyrokinetic requires a source of flame to work with. With that flame, the pyrokinetic has access to a few highly destructive abilities. Even without, several abilities that the pyrokinetic has don't require a source of fire to work with. Pyrokinetics, especially the high tier ones, generally have red patterns in their skin and/or fur. This tends to make them stand out far more than most other Elemental psionics.

The pyrokinetic has fewer abilities as most things regarding fire could be assumed, and don't really stand out as anything special. Something like throwing fire at a target or otherwise manipulating the flames for one's own use doesn't warrant extended explanations or special sections for it. This is much the case with most of the elemental abilities.

Heat and Fire Resistance: As would be expected, the pyrokinetic is resistant to heat in the thousands of degrees with minimal interference with their bodily processes. Likewise, fire itself won't necessarily harm or burn the pyrokinetic unless it goes beyond the heat resistance threshold, and that varies by the psionic.

Cold Weakness: Also, as would be expected, the pyrokinetic being aligned so closely to the elements of fire also faces vulnerability when confronted with the cold. While they can heat the air around them to provide warmth for some time, it causes a drain on the individual that would make them more vulnerable to the cold afterward. Even the species meant for cold weather survival will find those survival traits almost futile.

Self-Heating: The pyrokinetic is capable of heating up the air around them to extremely high temperatures that most organics would be unable to survive. This is mostly a defensive measure taken by the pyrokinetic when they are unable to make use of fire itself and want to deter most threats. Likewise, they can heat themselves up should they find themselves too cold, or they can heat themselves up for other reasons with limited drain upon their endurance.

Fire Shield: Not to be taken literally, like many names for abilities, the fire shield is less of a shield and more of a method of obscuring sight through fire. A line of fire, assuming there's the source for it, can be drawn before the psionic. This is only useful in a dangerous situation and only really used to isolate attackers. Otherwise, it's a mostly useless ability since napalm is more effective.

Firestorm: Probably the most destructive, and powerful, of the pyrokinetic powers. The firestorm makes use of either a large fire as well as manipulation of the winds and temperature surrounding the psionic. On the smaller scale, a large office floor could be engulfed in a cyclone of fire and intense heat around that, possibly melting the building around it if not managed properly. At the largest, a full firestorm could be formed through the creation of a vast conflagration and then creating the self-sustaining storm that continues to fuel it. Nuclear weapons are probably more effective.

Section VI-B: Hydrokinetics

The second most common of the Elementals, Hydrokinetics - again, because the people that named these had no creativity - deals with the manipulation of water. As boring as that sounds, hydrokinetics do possess relatively powerful abilities considering what they are dealing with. Considering the natural power of water over time, the hydrokinetic is still among the more powerful psionics in terms of brute strength. The hydrokinetic patterns are blue, as would be expected.

Like the Pyrokinetic, there's not much to note regarding hydrokinetics. All in and, it's a rather bland special ability that can show up. Water is useful and already fairly easily manipulated. While the Hydrokinetic would have utility in many industrial environments, it's simply not of any use anywhere else.

Water Breathing: Where the pyrokinetics can survive the heat and fire, hydrokinetics have a sort of water breathing. The body is capable of naturally filtering the oxygen from water for use in bodily functions, but only for a few minutes before a standard atmospheric mix of gasses is required as well as the depressurization. Naturally, this isn't an issue if underwater, as most would have some sort of sealed suit, but it is a recorded ability nonetheless.

Temperature Control: Similar to what the Pyrokinetic can do, the Hydrokinetic can alter the temperature of any body of water ranging between the boiling point and only a few degrees above absolute zero. This is probably the most useful of any of the hydrokinetic abilities as it requires relatively little energy for most changes in temperatures. It's still a remarkably slow ability, and the idea of a "flash freeze" is effectively impossible.

Hydrokinetic Boil: Related to the temperature control, the Boil is simply what it says. Taking the water from within a sapient's body and raising the temperature to roughly the boiling point would rapidly blister and scald the individual's internals, leading to a likely painful and slow death if used. By the time this becomes any degree of effective, however, a bullet could have solved the problem, as it suffers from the same problem as the temperature control listed just above.

Tsunami: Where the pyrokinetic firestorm could devastate large swathes of coastal land, the hydrokinetic tsunami can devastate large areas. Like most of the extremely powerful abilities, it requires high tier and time to form the tsunami wave, as well as near the ocean or another very large body of water. An asteroid slamming into an ocean could do it better.

Section VI-C: Electrokinetics

The third most common of all Elementals, the electrokinetic is a master of electricity in nearly any form. Like the pyrokinetic, electrokinetics require a source of electricity to work with and manipulate. Unlike the pyrokinetic, this is done through the absorbing of energy and storing it within "batteries" in the body rather than just needing a source. Theoretically, the electrokinetic can store seemingly limitless amounts of energy. The electrokinetic color is yellow.

Really, there's not much to say regarding the electrokinetic. They can manipulate natural and artificially created electricity for their own means so long as they have the charge within themselves to sustain it. Manipulating of electricity can take on several different forms; from directing the energy at a target to putting nipple clamps on the electrokinetic and using them as a backup generator (Experiment 541-10-14-A proved that this is extremely dangerous for the person attempting to attach the clamps).

Living Battery: Simply named as such because the people in charge of naming the abilities are far from creative. The electrokinetic is capable of harnessing immense amounts of energy within their body, and then are able to release it through any number of means in the abilities below. This is, unlike most psionics, a natural occurrence for the electrokinetic as organs that act as the "batteries" are located in the electrokinetic in such positions as to not interfere with bodily functions.

Shock Resistance: Perhaps the most obvious of the electrokinetic abilities is the resistance to shock and high levels of energy that would be associated with it. Too large of a shock at once time, however, can incapacitate the electrokinetic due to an overload, but will not kill them.

Bioelectric Skin: Most effective in close range combat, the bioelectric skin electrifies the skin of the electrokinetic. The voltage that would be transferred on touch or proximity is chosen by the electrokinetic, ranging from the equivalent of a static shock to enough to kill instantly from complete shutdown of bodily processes, though only the highest tiers can make the shocks powerful enough to kill.

Section VI-D: Ferrokinetic

The Ferrokinetic, as the name implies, specializes in the manipulation of iron and iron alloys. Such manipulation makes the ferrokinetic useful in most industrial settings. Otherwise, they are effectively useless in most settings without being outright dangerous due to what they are capable of. Most weapons use some sort of iron alloy in construction, and thus abilities could render them useless in moments. The Ferrokinetic has a grey coloration to them, which glows in a white light, the only ability with such an appearance. Overall, the Ferrokinetic is a relatively basic ability, with nothing special to it like the abilities before it. It's a utility ability, as opposed to defensive or offensive.

Metal Manipulation: Exactly as it says, the Ferrokinetic can take iron and its alloys and manipulate them at will, forming and reforming them into items made on a whim. It cannot replicate, however, and so the psionic is restricted to whatever mass they have immediately on hand, though two different sources can be blended together.

Section VII: Medical Side Effects

Due to the extreme power of all psionics, despite bodies being built to survive the strains of the abilities, several medical effects have been detected after centuries of study across multiple generations. Varieties of these are physical, with just as many neurological or other types. Most of these are based on tiers, with lower tiers feeling all effects to lesser extents, and all higher feeling them more intensely.

Hyperkinesis: A result of psionics and additional mental power that comes with it. It is defined as a state of overactive restlessness, marked by extreme excess of motor activity such as restlessness, fidgeting, often wildly or oscillating mood swings, clumsiness, aggressive-like behavior, impulsivity, cannot sit still, cannot comply with rules, and typically has low frustration levels. This occurs in all tiers of psionics, with markedly higher effects in higher tier psionics.

Hypermetabolism: As psionics are used, particularly the most demanding ones, the metabolism of the individual rapidly increases, and is the most life-threatening result of excessive psionic use. Rapid weight loss, anemia, fatigue, irregular heart beat and/or elevated heart rate, muscle weakness, excessive sweating, shortness of breath, and dysautonomia are all very common following a long use of psionics. Effects typically reduce in higher tiers, allowing for longer sustained use, but will still appear over time.

Muscular Atrophy: In many high tier psionics, extended use of psionic power over physical activity has the effect of causing muscle mass to degrade at a significantly faster pace compared to non-psionics. In less than six months, a psionic that has limited physical activity can atrophy to the point of being unable to walk or perform any physical actions. At this point, most psionics suffering from this tend to resort to carrying themselves around via telekinesis, an action that only makes the situation worse. Early death is inevitable unless an intervention is possible.

Megalomania:Notable in the high tiers - typically Tier VII and higher, a superiority complex can form when regularly dealing with other high tier psionics and non-psionics. Typically results in a sense of superiority over lower tier psionics as well as non-psionics, seeing others as inferior, and themselves and those like them as the next step of evolution. Can typically be prevented, but usually appears given enough time. It's similar to rampancy in completely artificial AIs.

Mental Fatigue: Some are born with psionic ability, but not the ability to use them. There are no tests to determine the mentally fit from the unfit, and thus this condition goes unseen until the final stages set in, at which point it's irreversible. The simplest example of what this condition does is, over time the condition steadily wears down the brain and the neurons. Eventually the connections will snap, causing increasing mental disease, along with other, more common mental conditions. If caught early, the effects can be minimized if not canceled out entirely. This is one of the few conditions that can be largely reversed.

Cortical Liquefaction: Particularly pronounced in the very high tier Empaths, this condition shows up much like Mental Fatigue, but has far worse effects. Initial symptoms tend to be reduced frontal lobe action, which may appear as a steady decline in overall intelligence and, by extension, psionic power. If it is not caught early, the Liquefaction part comes in. The brain loses all cohesiveness over the course of about two days, at which point the psionic will undergo intense pain. By the end of the two days, the brain will be essentially destroyed and the psionic killed in the process.

Section VIII: Law Enforcement and Societal Protection

IPIA's goal is to integrate psionics into the everyday life of society in a form that won't be harmful to psionics or society as a whole. In the Empire, where psionics are an extreme minority, they face persecution in some cases and preferential treatment in others depending on their capabilities. Recognizing that this is not a sustainable situation for the Empire or its psionics, IPIA works to ensure that the psionic has a place in society in some form.

That is not to say that the organization is blind to the flaws of those it is assigned to protect. Psionics in general have a criminality rate nearly double that of the rest of the Empire, and noticeably higher than even that among those rated as Super-Psionic. The heightened abilities are believed to give most psionics a sense of invincibility, despite the very obvious fact that they are not. Thus, criminal activity is noted ranging from robbery and other low-level felonies, to as far as large scale organized crime.

Most law enforcement agencies in the Empire, from as small as local departments to the federal level agencies such as the Bureau of Investigation have instituted policies for handling psionics, and such methods have moved into regular law enforcement. Most well-funded departments have a special anti-psionic task force meant to combat especially hostile psionics, as well as defuse any situations involving psionics.

Due to the threat that psionics can pose at any range, enhanced Taser systems have been developed to take down psionics at long range, rather than the close range system that once existed. Most of these systems are provided with up to three spare battery packs, and all are rapidly rechargeable. Replacing the old wood or metal batons, stunbatons are increasingly common for use against psionics as well as normal individuals. Wood batons are used against electrokinetics.

Several high power psionics have shown the ability to create "barriers" to protect themselves against incoming blows of most forms. While it does have limited resistance to kinetic weapons, and particular resistance to energy based weapons, law enforcement personnel can, in severe emergency, be equipped with rounds specialized in breaking through the barriers and directly hitting the psionic. Naturally, these rounds are lethal by design. Current rating for military grade anti-barrier rounds is the rounds being capable of punching through a fully reinforced Tier X barrier.

Due to the threat presented by any Empaths, as well as other psionics, the Empire has developed specialized implants. Using the Tier X as a baseline for what to defend against, most of the Imperial Government has been outfit with "mind shield" implants to protect against unwanted psionic intrusion. Psionic members of the government, naturally, are exempted from requiring the implants however they are under more scrutiny. All attempts by all variety of Tier X psionics have been shown to have zero effect against the implants, no matter how much time was given. The worst effects that the implanted experienced were severe headaches.

Conclusion

As IPIA continually states, knowledge is power. To know the psionic is to know that they are dangerous to the average member of society if they use abilities wrong. Through cooperation between psionics and the average citizen, security of both groups can be guaranteed with limited infringement on liberties of the other. As it is said in the motto of the Administration, we are set to protect the minds of the Empire, by any means necessary.