Valerie glittered into the valley. It was a hot spot for the plague, but she figured it was her best bet for finding one of the people with the white eyes, the Neverseen, as Sophie told her they were called.

She stepped over a fallen log and weaved between two closely growing trees. She wasn't exactly sure how to find the Neverseen, she just knew that she had to try. They knew about Project Balefire, about her. She was tired of theorizing and fearing the worst.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light up ahead. She ducked and snuck through the trees to where a cloaked figure stood before a glowing yellow forcefield.

Valerie noticed the white eye on his shoulder right away. This was her chance. She clenched her fist and a trail of ice shot towards the stranger, freezing his legs up to his waist.

He struggled wildly as Valerie emerged from the brush and approached him.

He chuckled "I should've known you'd show up one of these times. Looking for answers are we?"

Valerie stopped in front of him and slapped him across the face. His hood fell back, revealing his piercing blue eyes and thick messy hair.

She glared at him. "Don't speak unless I ask you to."

The man opened his mouth to retort, but no noise came out.

Valerie grinned. "Better. Now, what is Project Balefire?"

The psionopath glared at her, but answered, unable to stop himself. "It was our counter attack for Project Moonlark."

"And how did you plan to counter the Moonlark?"

The elf's jaw quivered as he fought against his own tongue. "To control her."

Valerie's eyes widened. "That's why I'm a Mesmer." She took a deep breath before asking her next question. "WHO is Project Balefire?"

The elf didn't even try to resist this time, as if he wanted her to know. "You." He continued without her urging. "Although in my opinion, you weren't worth the effort, the resources, the death."

"What death?"

He smirked. "Fintan was never one to do research. He jumped right in, working off of trial and error." His grin widened. "I don't think anyone knows the actual number of attempts it took Fintan to figure it out. You're just the lucky one that survived."

Valerie fell to her knees.

The ice holding back the elf shattered, but, instead of leaping away, he grabbed Valerie by the chin and made her look at him. "You are nothing but an experiment. You're alive by accident. And your life has a foundation of corpses."

Valerie kicked his legs out from under him and stood. "You don't know me."

He shakily stood. "No, but I know enough about you to realize that you're not a threat. You're scared of your own ability."

Valerie's eyes darkened. "Not anymore." Her voice almost sounded like two overlapping shouts.

The elf started gasping for breath then his nerves went crazy, sending pain pulsing through his body. His leg jerked, snapping violently at a weird angle. He dropped to the ground and managed to snap his fingers. A forcefield formed around his crippled body, blocking Valerie's influence over him. He immediately pulled out a leaping crystal and disappeared.

Valerie snapped out of her trance and dropped to her knees, taking deep breaths. She had never given her ability that much leeway. It sort of terrified her, the things she could do.
She had gotten her answers, but she wished she hadn't. With no other choice, she pulled out her leaping crystal and left, not sure what to do next.