Any port in a Neural Storm

[Griet van Vliet]

Griet was perhaps knee-deep in external audits, balance sheets, income statements (of which two of the former and one of the latter were required to make a statement of cash flows) but somehow, in this hectic tax season, as is always the case, she would be auditing a casino on Nar Shaddaa. Now, she may not be herself a high roller, but it may as well be the reason why the management of the casino would rather have someone that doesn't gamble to audit their financial records. Yet, she knew it was difficult to get access to professional services of this nature when one was running a casino, even one as large as the Club Vertica. If she was to hazard a guess, the legal department would form a significant expense of the place. Then again, once she returned from a preliminary trip to the Club Vertica's administrative offices, she had to confer with the staff available at the firm that the casino could trust to get the audit completed. Once that was done, she knew there was one topic that she didn't seem to touch upon very much as far as she was concerned: Neural Storm. Maybe there would be someone interested in learning it but she knew it was a hard sell.

----------------------------

Dear [member="Beth Cadera"],

You must have realized that, as much as it was easier to picture dark-sided exotic powers than exotic powers accessible to the light side, these were a thing. Because I see no reason not to limit access to exotic powers, I am offering you the opportunity to learn Neural Storm, which is a non-lethal power for preventing people from harming others that can be used with the light side. Please let me know what works for you.

Griet

---------------------------

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth received a message – one she hadn’t quite expected but as pretty glad she received it. Griet Van Vliet – from what she could tell, the woman was an accountant. Or tax attorney or something along those things. Another thing, though, she knew how to use the Force – and she had offered to teach Beth a new skill. Beth was extremely excited over the offer from the taxy person, especially considering most of her Force practice had only been on the skills she currently knew and understood.

Beth didn’t really have anyone who was teaching her in the ways of the Force at the moment, so the best she could do was take the lessons where she could. Of course, there had been talks of her learning under Manu, someone who was teaching her dad too. Likely that would be the case, but there was a lot of stuff going on with the family for now. That was okay - with new siblings on the way, it wasn't a big deal!


---

Dear [member="Griet van Vliet"],


It’d be an honor to learn Neural Storm from you! I’m looking for Force powers just like that. How about we meet on Carida? Otherwise, send me your best coordinates.

---

Whatever worked best for the woman, Beth obliged – hopped on her ship and was off to the coordinates agreed upon. Once arrived, she’d simply wait at their location until Griet showed up.

 

[Griet van Vliet]

---

Dear Beth,

These coordinates work just fine for me.

Griet

---

Carida... the [Fourth] Republic's capital. She could always justify this trip for "client development" to the rest of the firm if she could prove that a good-faith attempt was made to get [member="Beth Cadera"] who, in turn, would probably open up more clients in Mando-land for external audits. If there was one thing she knew about opening or acquiring new accounting offices in new markets, it was that it was easier for outsiders to sell external audits than to sell tax services. From Nar Shaddaa to Carida, the trip didn't take that long, and once she arrived, she began to conjure up what Neural Storm was about. She could sense a distinct Force-signature, a little raw but still eager to learn, and she seemed to be about as pretty as other light-sided Force-using women she had the chance to work with when at the [Third] Republic's service. Better not mess up this opportunity to get this close to a Mand'alor, past or present, Griet thought, while realizing the word-of-mouth implications it would carry. Her thoughts then turned to Neural Storm when she could lay her eyes on that face:

"I'm Griet, and I will teach you about Neural Storm today. Before we begin, please don't go out thinking that I can infuse it into you. Now, it's entirely possible Cassi may have told you about Janick and her ability to infuse knowledge, and my professional relationship to her, as she may not. With that said, I shall provide a few words of caution"

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Perfect! An extra plus, as Beth had never been to Carida. Beth enjoyed the trip to Carida from Mandalore, relaxed. Perfect for her to meditate, enhance herself, and prepare to be trained in another way of the Force. Beth loved the idea of adding more abilities under her belt.

Leaned against the wall, the young woman waited for Griet to arrive. She seemed very punctual as she arrived right on time. Beth, in truth, hadn’t thought much about her connection to the Mandalorian Empire to factor into Griet’s decision to help her learn. She assumed she’d give her some credit.

She gave a smile to the woman – this must be her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you!” She’d say as she quickly listened to what Griet said. Cassi had mentioned Janick, but Cassi had increasingly stopped mentioning stuff about the Force. She hadn’t even heard her mention anything about it in months – likely because Cassi just didn’t use it much, if at all.

“What kind of caution…” She asked, a little worried.


[member="Griet van Vliet"]

 

[Griet van Vliet]

"Since using Neural Storm amounts to using the Force to induce a seizure, the mandatory caution is that, while using Neural Storm can, in fact, prevent the target(s) from harming others any further, it has the same medical consequences on the target as a seizure. Which means that, for each successful use of Neural Storm, the target will be more likely to get more seizures in the future"

Then again, what I do know about this Cassi came from Janick, who met with her before Cassi even joined a Mando clan in the first place, she thought, while realizing that whatever surface thoughts [member="Beth Cadera"] may have had about Cassiopeia's relationship to Janick and the Force implied that Cassi made less and less use of the Force. Plus Griet knew enough about epilepsy to know about what medical consequences would ensue from using Neural Storm on someone, but never had to use Neural Storm on the same person more than once. Just because she could feel Beth would use Neural Storm responsibly, didn't excuse her from any liability related to teaching stuff that had potentially hazardous consequences. Especially since she didn't pretend to know anything about torts and whether the instructor can be held liable for faults committed by the student, and to what extent, even though she knew that not knowing about that aspect of torts wouldn't fly as a legal defense. Even so, she knew that it was her responsibility to warn students of such exotic stuff about the consequences of using it.

"I don't blame you if this is enough to make you think twice about Neural Storm. If you are still willing to learn Neural Storm, know that you are stunning the person by overloading one's neural activity"

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth nodded as she carefully took in [member="Griet van Vliet"]'s warning. That could be fairly dangerous, in truth. Neural Storm seemed to be able to trigger seizures in the target - after so long, it could result in brain damage, death, or a host of other complications. That... Would not be good. Unless it was someone who kind of deserved it, honestly. Then it kinda would be okay. Either way, Beth wasn't one to try to kill her enemies. She preferred trial by jury or what have you. This seemed like the perfect diversion, especially for groups of people - take out a friend with a seizure and the group won't be focused anymore.

"So... Don't fry their brains, basically?" She could handle that. She did wonder how Cassiopeia was involved with Janick, Griet's friend. She made a mental note to ask her about such when they met up on Westralis or Mandalore again. Maybe she could pry some information from Griet, too.

Beth gave a final nod at the last warning from Griet. "I understand. I won't use it irresponsibility and will only use it on those with bad motives. I would still love to be taught how to use it by you, if you'll have me."

 

[Griet van Vliet]

"Neural activity is often a very low-voltage operation inside a person's brain so it really doesn't take much Force-energy to overload one's neural activity, since we're talking about a few dozen extra millivolts here"

I hate the Nagai methods since they assumed the user knew nothing about action potential; plus they seemed to cost much more Force-energy. Now, the only time I every heard about it was in a sickbay, when a doctor talked about that stuff to someone who suffered neurological consequences from an accident, Griet thought, while [member="Beth Cadera"] still accepted to learn Neural Storm with the disclaimer in place. She also pondered the implications of boosting one's neural activity: if one took it one step further down the power scale, it was entirely possible that it could make someone else smarter while a variant of this power was kept up. It was even possible that she is currently doing this to herself or to Beth, in which case either Beth or Griet could temporarily become as smart as Jessica or Janick. At the same time, there was someone, a gangster or two, going out and mug bystanders some distance away, so they could use the gangsters as practice targets for Beth's first attempt at using Neural Storm. Fine control of the Force was key here - the one advantage of the Nagai method was that it didn't require as much fine control.

"Just visualize the gangster's neurons dancing: as they dance, they will fire more often and more intensively. Oh and it's a very delicate balance: too little power and you're making the person hyperactive, either physically or mentally, but too much power and then the brain is fried"

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth nodded as she listened to [member="Griet van Vliet"]. It didn't take much energy to use Neural Storm, in fact it seemed to relatively easy energy wise. Beth nibbled her lip as she thought about it. That meant that she would need to be extra careful. Beth already was extremely connected to the Force. Not one for physical confrontations, especially due to her Eldorai heritage, the Force was a critical component to defend herself. With that in mind, she would have to make sure she did not hyper-charge the brains - she really didn't want to kill anyone or permanently disable them.

"I hope I don't overcharge them or anything..." Could she do it just enough to cause them to become disoriented, but not enough to fully cause a seizure? Beth wasn't quite sure. Usually, new skills in the Force were hard for her to learn - she had a few good ones, but the rest? It was much more difficult to get a hold on. But, a lot of those she was self-teaching so perhaps with someone else guiding her she would be better at it. Maybe.

Beth looked over towards the muggers - both were heading over towards what seemed like an elderly looking woman. Visualize the neurons dancing, Griet said. It was similar to her Force Healing - how she would stitch, heal, and reproduce cells through the Force. She remembered the many times she's mended bones through an enhanced, extremely accelerated rate through the Force. She could somehow see the cells, merging, stitching themselves. It was like that, in a way, Beth surmised.

Beth took a deep breath as she focused on the individual closest to the elderly woman. She pictured, in her mind, the mind hard at work - the neurons firing, the synopsis between different part of the brain reacting. She began to increase their speed as she felt the Force flow through her.

The first one she did a little too hard. He paused, looked confused for a moment, before collapsing into a small seizure. She didn't feel that he had any permanent damage, but she wouldn't really be able to get in depth evaluation of his mind until she was closer. Beth quickly pulled back but the other man seemingly confused as well - except, he kept shaking his head as if something was interfering with his mind. Perhaps minor seizures, but acceptable. He was confused, before he started going towards the woman. Beth continued to focus, training her mind to not put too much force into the remaining man but not enough to cause what happened to the first.

 

[Griet van Vliet]

"Now that you have a grip on how Neural Storm is even happening, I may be led to wonder to what extent you know about medicine"

Someone else must have called the police when that bystander saw what was even happening, and they were stupefied to see them stricken by seizures after [member="Beth Cadera"] made their first try with Neural Storm, with the first gangster getting a much more severe seizure than the second. Then again Griet could sense Beth had some medical knowledge and that's why she was able to make it work with much more limited side effects than if the student had no medical knowledge whatsoever. Not that she didn't trust Beth, just that Griet's own medical knowledge is, in fact, rather narrow in scope. Now, the implications of using something akin to a lower-powered Neural Storm came to light in her mind. I suspect that "The Telepath" knew next to nothing about neurology. Now I understand what Therapy Command's Guide to Memory-Enhancing Force-Powers really means here: using the Force to stimulate one's brain is really not that different from Neural Storm, beyond the intensity. From what I heard about the author of that book, she may have been horrible as a therapist, but she did seem to know more about the neuropsychology of memory than your average Jedi, Griet thought.

"I do realize it's even more delicate, since it's using an even smaller dose of energy, but in a somewhat similar fashion you can temporarily make someone smarter, or make someone's memory better, either yourself or someone else"

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth created a seizure in the first man. She was sure he’d be fine. The other man was finally confused enough to not realize what he was doing as he sat down on the ground. A second later, he began hitting himself in the head in some attempt to clear his mind.
Beth eased up and ended the seizures in his mind. The police were running up by now – likely to arrest, give medical attention, or something of both to the two thugs. Heh, whatever, they’d get whatever was coming for them.

“I’m actually studying medicine in Sundari. Surgery, but will likely be in combat situations.” Beth responded to [member="Griet van Vliet"]. “I’m also pretty talented in Force Heal. I don’t mean to toot my own horn or anything, but that is what everyone says I guess.” She gave a little shrug – she did not want to come off as conceited.

Beth perked a brow at the next comments Griet made. Enhance memory, or intelligence with Neural Storm. Now, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to do that. It is much easier to cause damage than to enhance, even without the Force. “Do you think it would work on someone who has medical issues with their brain or respective organ? Or do you think it would likely only work on healthy brains?”

 

[Griet van Vliet]

"Most uses I did see of Short-term Memory Enhancement were, in fact, made on people that suffered from brain diseases, to help them recover"

Why is it that nobody before that even used STME even noticed that it can be used to stun? Or perhaps Neural Storm is usually known under another name, and for some reason it seems that it's only superficially different from that other power at best, perhaps not different enough to warrant even a nominal distinction, Griet thought, feeling puzzled over all this business of making someone's memory or intelligence better through use of the Force. However, she knew [member="Beth Cadera"] didn't want to come across as conceited, which, unfortunately, she knew was an issue people at or near the top of a given skill in a given context. And yet, it was entirely possible Griet was on to something, perhaps some link that others may not have seen for whatever reason(s). With the police now holding the two thugs in custody, and, of course, offering medical assistance to these thugs once they arrived at the police station, she knew she could continue calmly with a smile. Also because Beth was interested in using the Force in a myriad of ways so long as it had a clear medical purpose.

"Overstimulation is the main problem as far as I know it, but I knew enhancing one's memory never was an energy issue"

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth nodded in eager as she listened to [member="Griet van Vliet"] explain the wonders of neural storm and how it could be applied as a short-term memory enhancement. This only led Beth to believe that maybe, if the signals were right in certain areas, perhaps with Force Healing, the brain could be rewired as such that new pathways could be made.

Maybe healing of the issue to begin with? Find a way to heal and create a new connection in the brain, then stimulate certain parts to force the new areas to connect in a way usually unintended. The brain was a mysterious organ - a child could have half her brain removed, at least in rare cases, and have almost no effect in the end.

“Would there be a way to, perhaps, re-write through a mixture of Short-term Memory Enhancement and perhaps Force Healing or another ability? A way to make it a Permanent Memory Enhancement or is that just… crazy?”

 

[Griet van Vliet]

"To make STME last longer has seldom been even explored, but you begin to sound like Janick when she talks about what happens when Memory Rub is in use. She would talk about how using Memory Rub amounts to creating, re-routing or destroying neural pathways, but I must warn you about Memory Rub. But perhaps that would have to be it: maybe you would be capable of using what amounts to Memory Rub but with the light"

Although Janick never seemed to be, per se, unhappy with having a seemingly perfect memory, at least, not to me, there really is such a thing as too good when it came to sentients' memories. Even though that perfect memory of hers didn't cause her to be moodier than usual, it did cause her to have parasitic flashbacks. But Beth is on to something here. It is people like Beth, and Janick of course, that made me wonder exactly why is it that such links remained hidden from people's view for so long, Griet thought, reflecting on what she knew about Janick's memory. Then again, [member="Beth Cadera"] may or may not have heard of Janick's relationship with Memory Rub in the first place. In fact, Griet knew Janick would make the most of any opportunity to infuse what she knew of Memory Rub, the Fundamental Inequality and whatnot in other people, even though both knew such opportunities were limited and they were difficult to create, too. That, Griet knew the apparent lack of public interest in Memory Rub puzzled Janick - and the rest of the Utai Magic Circle along with her.

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth gave a small nod as she listened to [member="Griet van Vliet"]. Had no one really though to try to make STME last longer? Beth crunched her nose as she thought about the possibilities. Beth knew one thing though - she really needed to talk to Cassiopeia more, particurarly about Janick.

Sure, it would be a challenge to get her to talk about the Force, but perhaps she could trick her into talking about her friend. That would likely make it much easier to dig into her brain - metaphorically, speaking, of course.

"Hmm, so you think I could potentially use Memory Rub with with the light? By using Force Heal alongside Neural Storm, it would essentially destroy or create new neural pathways through the brain? It might could work, but I would want to brush on my neurology before trying it. Rather be pretty studied and prepared before messing with a delicate organ like the brain."

 

[Griet van Vliet]

"By now you must have realized that fresh intellectual blood typically came to Jedi - and Sith - under the form of late entrants. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel that the few historical users of Memory Rub, or STME, lacked knowledge of neurology, and the same went for that one Neural Storm user that left a trace in history apparently. You seem to be aware of the pitfalls it can create"

And of the side effects of Memory Rub: Janick seemed to talk about the possibility of accidentally causing someone to forget what they weren't intended to, and also to have false memories infused. I may only be as smart as she is for short periods at a time, but I understand as much. In the most extreme cases, it can cause brain damage, Griet thought, while realizing she has no need to sermon [member="Beth Cadera"] about the dangers of Memory Rub, light or dark. For that, Griet could be grateful for late entry. For the Janicks, Beths of the galaxy. For what they could bring to the Force-using table that they couldn't otherwise. For those Force-users that weren't trained from an early age. For that stuff Force-orders missed out on in the past. Typically those Force-users function better in NFU society, and also have a greater depth of knowledge in their respective fields of expertise if they lie outside of the traditional Jedi mainstays of combat skills or survival skills, or even medicine to a lesser extent. And that may also explain how the scholarship on a few Force-powers has, in fact, improved leaps and bounds these days in ways so many were blind to.

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth perked a brow as she side-stepped away from another person walking down the street. That was a bit rude, and she had half a mind to try the new ability she learned herself. But alas, she turned her attention back to [member="Griet van Vliet"].

Griet knew her stuff, at least as far as Beth could tell. The woman understood, taught, and made some serious observations. Beth hoped she was as smart, or would be as smart at least. Perhaps she would once she was done with schoolin' and all that. Or perhaps, she'd continue to learn directly from the source for a bit. Either way, Beth nodded. Griet had a good point - a lot of Force Users were late entrants. It wasn't easy to always identify, know, or use the Force if one didn't have an immense, immediate connection.

Beth as a child had the Force, and was actively using it, but she had no idea she was using it. It was just a mystery until she found out, the same day her father had found her. "That's a good point... Maybe most people who do utilize just don't know neurology well enough. That could explain why it hasn't been tried - or, at least, never studied and published." She grinned as her eyes widened with excitement, "We could be the first ones! I mean, it would be cool to be the first ones. Or, I mean, at least in our era."

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Ignore, duplicate.

 

[Griet van Vliet]

"I must admit that it's where my knowledge of neurology begins to show its limitations" she grimly told Beth. "However, you're lucky to meet a Jedi that actually have some understanding of mentalism, and that doesn't overlook the mind"

All too often, people of a wide variety of species confuse smarts with knowledge, even though Griet knew that often people at even [member="Beth Cadera"]'s intellectual level tended to know a lot (at least by human standards). But even then, it was a tantalizing prospect: curing neurological diseases was perhaps the main application of what Beth was suggesting. And she could feel Beth's brain was working very hard, and her own as well. It's not that she didn't know neurology, it's just that her real expertise area lied somewhere else. It also seemed that often Force-users of any denomination only cared about the physical, but it didn't take someone as smart as Beth or Griet to understand where this was leading Force-cults, especially when compounded with training from early childhood: tunnel vision, among others. That she believed was the one thing today's Force-orders did right. And yet they both knew that late entrants often belonged in a group called false-negatives in Force-sensitivity testing. These are the people who typically get discovered as Force-users well into adulthood: the iffier cases.

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth gave a nod. She had already taken a course in neurology, and in truth really just needed to look back at her notes. Soon, she’d be taking in near-humanoid and other species class in neurology as well, which only helped the chances of [member="Griet van Vliet"] and her making a potential discovery.

“Well, at least we can put our brains together to figure something out, then! A Jedi, a soon-to-be doctor who can use the Force! I’m really glad you invited me out here to teach me, I really don’t think I’d ever have learned this otherwise.”

Beth’s mind continued working as she thought about the potential. Perhaps they could find a permanent way to assist those with brain injuries through rerouting of neural pathways. The idea could be used for more nefarious means, of course, but for the most part it would help a tremendous amount of people. At least, as far as Beth imagined it.

 

[Griet van Vliet]

"Glad you find this enriching in ways you couldn't otherwise have. The hard part seems to not create false memories: it may well happen by accident"

Curing brain injuries was how she knew [member="Beth Cadera"] would proceed with such a procedure. Yes, curing amnesia, Alzheimer and other neurological diseases were part of the deal here. At least she knows better than to just put the Force in a patient's body: I knew a few medics that once talked about a Force-healer involuntarily inducing cancers because they just put the Force into the patient's body without understanding what it does in the body, even though I don't know the specifics other than one of those patients is taking the healer to court, Griet thought. She could also see Beth's brain glowing in the Force... maybe not evenly, but perhaps it's the student's neural activity doing this. Surely Griet must have realized that one cannot apply the same logic to repairing damage to one's grey matter as one would healing lacerations. But there also comes the risk of creating "parasitic" memories because of the possibility of creating new neural pathways that didn't exist beforehand. Kind of a longer-duration déjà-vu, which she knew the short-term version could happen when Neural Storm was in use because it also temporarily destabilized neural pathways.