Psi Corps

From The Great Machine

The Psi Corps is the Earth Alliance organization that oversees human telepaths. The members of the internal police force of the Psi Corps are known as Psi Cops.

They have aspirations of power as was evident during the Earth Civil War and the Shadow War.

The Psi Corps was disbanded sometime between 2263 and 2266.

All human telepaths had to register with the Psi Corps. In order to identify them, every human being could be tested three times to detect even the slightest telepathic talent.

The first test is a DNA check, shortly after birth. Since the discovery of 2116, it is possible to detect seventy percent of all telepaths by the genetic marker. Telepathy, like intelligence is not triggered by a single gene, but it is actually scattered throughout the genetic material: the combination of genes determines the telepathic strength. Generally, the children of telepaths are also telepaths. Since the genetic marker is passed on through the mother, traditionally the surnames of children are taken from the mother, rather than from the father.

This still leaves the thirty percent who don't bear the marker. These have to be identified differently. Therefore the Corps was forced to run other tests.

Not all telepaths show their talent right after birth. The age of telepathic awakening varies from person to person. Usually, it occurs during puberty, but some children bloom earlier. A few people carry latent talents into adulthood, though those whose abilities awaken late in life are rare. The awakening may be gradual, or it may be a powerful and frightening, an event known as a mindquake.

To detect those as soon as possible once their ability comes forward, they are tested twice:

The first test is fixed when the children enter Kindergarten. This means sometime between the age of three and the age of five. But this still leaves the ones that are called laters. Most laters get their talent around the age of thirteen or fourteen. That's why the second test is arranged for 8th grade. Those tests were taken by Psi Cops at the Psi Corps Testing Centers who scan the children to determine whether they are telepaths or not.

See also: Psi rating, Telekinetics, Jason Ironheart, Black Omega Squadron, History of the Psi Corps