The Lives and Times of Razputin Vodello - Chapter 10: Razputin's Bottled Psychodyssey
Some weeks had passed after the excitement of Razputin and Lili's new relationship. The coldness of the early months of the year had made way for warmer, more pleasant weather. And on this lovely Saturday morning, the sun seemed especially bright, bathing the Vodello-Nein house with bright yellow sunlight. Right into the window of Razputin's room, illuminating the face of the sleeping 10-year old. Raz stirred as the unforgiving light hit his eyes. He opened them with a groan.
“Okay, okay, I'm up.” He muttered to the sunlight. With a yawn he threw his sheets of him, threw his legs over the edge and stretched, making – what his mother would deem 'cute' – little sounds doing it. He stood up, scratching himself in places that were nobody's business. He walked to his mirror – yes, he has a big mirror in his room – and grabbed his brush and started the practiced routine as taught by his mother.
“Darling, are you up?” Speaking of his mother. The door opened slightly and Milla's face slowly came into view, in the middle of brushing her own hair. A bright smile spread on her face when she saw Raz. “Well, good morning, mi menino.” she cooed.
Raz returned the smile. “Bom Dia, mamãe.” he greeted. “Slept well?”
Raz saw her smile falter slightly for half a second, before she cheerily responded to him. “I slept like a rose, darling.” Her eyes darted to Raz's bedside table and smiled. “Did you borrow my hair straightener again without asking?”
“Maybe?” Raz answered with a sheepish grin.
Milla shook her head with a amused sigh. “Just put it back when you're done using it, okay darling?” She said, waving her brush at Raz. “And do it quick, breakfast is ready soon. Sasha's making omelets.”
Raz cocked his head to the side in surprise. “Dad's here?” He asked. Normally, Sasha went to his lab early on the Saturday, so he could finish up whatever he was working on the day before and spend the rest of the day at home.
Milla nodded with a bright smile. “Isn't that a surprise?” She said cheerily. “Now finish up and come eat breakfast.”
“Okay!” Raz responded with a smile. His smile faltered when Milla closed the bedroom door behind her. Something was going on, he could feel it. But he dismissed it quickly, he still had his hair to worry about and those knots wouldn't unstuck themselves.
About 15 minutes later, when Raz was done with his entire 'manly beauty' routine, he joined his parents in the stylish kitchen of their home. Sasha was indeed standing by the stove, stirring into a pan. Milla was already sat at the table, coffee in one hand and the other against her mouth, trying to stifle unrelenting giggles.
Raz grinned. It didn't take a genius to guess what happened. “How are those omelets turning out, dad?” He asked, trying very hard no to sound amused.
Sasha looked over his shoulder, a hint of a smile on his lips. “Turns out they'd rather be scrambled eggs.” Milla burst out in laughter.
“Business as usual in the Vodello-Nein household, it seems.” Raz commented. He quickly took a seat at the table and floated the jug with freshly squeezed orange juice, making it fill his glass. Not a drop spilled, he was getting better with his aim. He thanked Sasha with a big smile as he placed a portion of scrambled eggs on his plate. He squirted some hot sauce and started gobbling down his food.
Milla cleared her throat. “Darling, we have a present for you.”
Raz looked up from his eggs. “Preffenft?” He asked, his mouth full of eggs.
Sasha let out a sigh. “Don't speak with you mouth full, son.”
Raz gave a egg-smeared, apologetic smile and swallowed down. He quickly wiped his mouth. “Sorry. Present?” He asked again, a grin spreading on his face.
Milla nodded with a smile and floated over a rectangle-shaped, gift-wrapped object to him. He wanted to grab it, but Milla floated it higher, out of his reach. “Now, you have to promise me you'll use this responsibly, Razputin.”
Ooh, she used his full name. “Yes, Mom.” he answered. “But I can't know how I could use this irresponsibly when I don't know what it is.” He grinned at his own clever remark.
“You can't, can you?” Milla asked teasingly, a playful grin on her lips. She giggled when Raz rolled his eyes. “Oh, hush, darling. Here you go.” He dropped the present, which was swiftly grabbed by Razputin's eager hands.
He rolled the package in his hands, trying to feel what it was. His eyes grew wide. “Is this …?” He looked up to his grinning parents. “Did you …?” He tore the paper of the object. He audibly squealed when he saw his expectations realized. In his hands laid a shiny new Psycho Portal. A dark brown frame, the door decorated in the pattern of his favorite shirt, painted in aquatic blue colors.
“You gave me my own Psycho Portal?” He asked excitedly. “But Interns don't get one of their own until their third year!”
Sasha chuckled at his son's excitement. “Hollis had a talk with us and we all think that you have been improving so much lately, that she felt you were ready for one. But, it's not a permanent thing. See it as a …– as a probationary trial. Show us and Hollis that you can be trusted with this responsibility.”
“I can! I will!” He exclaimed loudly. He jumped of his chair and ran to his parents to entrap them in a big embrace. After a few second of happy hugging, his smile fell. He released the embrace and took a few steps back. “I am not going to like why I am getting this present now, won't I?” He asked, looking at his parents neutral faces. “Somethings up.”
Milla sighed. “I told you he would see right through us.”
“I believe I was the one that said it.” Sasha replied. He sighed and knelt down, placing a hand on Razputin's shoulder. “I'm afraid something 'is up' indeed.” He said.
“We got some last-minute orders last night.” Milla said, a slight touch of guilt on her face. “Some … rumors have come up and we are ordered to investigate.” She held up her hand when Raz opened his mouth to say something. “And before you ask, we are the only duo of Agents available now. The others have their assignments or are not suited for this.”
Raz gaze fell to the ground. His eyes darted up. “Will it be dangerous?”
Sasha gave a small smile. “No need to worry, my boy.” He said reassuringly. “It's a simple 'go there and gather intel' kind of mission. We won't be in any danger.”
“And if danger should arise,” Milla said, booping Razputin's nose. “I will be sure to get the two of us out of there. No-one messes with Mama Milla.” She smiled warmly, but Raz's expression didn't change. She placed a hand under his chin and gently made him look up. “Hey, it's not the first time we do this, you know. We will be fine.”
Raz sighed. “How long will you be gone.”
A pause. “A few days, at least.” Sasha replied.
“A few days?!” Raz repeated loudly. “Where are you going, the moon?”
Milla's expression turned from sympathetic to stern. “Now Raz, your father and I still are Psychonauts and we have a job to do, no matter where we are going or how long we will be there.”
“I know, it's just …I thought we would spend the weekend together.” Raz said. “And it's a school break. All the Interns have gone home for the entire week, even Norma and Lizzie. And Lili has gone with her dad to that Psycho-Botanical Convention for the weekend. She won't be back until Sunday.” He paused.
“I know, mi ovo pouco. I know it doesn't seem fair.” Milla said sympathetically. “But you said it yourself, Lili will be back soon.”
“It's just …it will be the first time in a long time I will be on my own for a while. And ….I don't like being alone.” Raz admitted.
“You won't be alone.” Sasha said. “Hollis said she will keep an eye on you. She'll be there to make time for you whenever you need her.” He smiled. “And a resourceful boy such as yourself can come up with plenty to keep himself occupied.”
Raz gaze fell to the floor again, his hands idly playing with the Psycho Portal present. He looked up again. “Promise you will be careful?”
Milla smiled and pulled him into a hug. “Alway, my darling son.” She said warmly, squeezing him closely against her chest. “Now, no pore pouting.
Raz broke the hug, a hint of a smile on his face. “Okay.” He sighed. “So when are you leaving.”
“This afternoon.” Sasha answered.
The afternoon came too fast for Razputin. He stood on the Motherlobe's landing pad, Hollis standing next to him, gazing up at the Pelican, one of the jets the Psychonauts used for missions. He waved back to his parents, who were waving to him in the cockpit.
Hollis placed a protective hand on Razputin's shoulder as the engine of the jet started with a roar. Raz couldn't help but the cheer as the wind the rising jet produced nearly knocked him over. The jet rose higher and higher and after a last turn, took off and soon vanished into the horizon.
Raz gave a sad sigh. Hollis looked down with a sympathetic look on her face. “They'll be fine, Razputin.” She assured him. “They're not our two top agents for nothing.”
“I know.” Raz replied, a ghost of a smile on his lips.
Hollis placed a hand on his shoulder. “You know, you are more than welcome to spend a few days in my home. My husband and I have a spare bedroom you can use. And when Truman and Lili return, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to have you be a guest at his house until your parents return”
Raz smiled. “That's great, but I will be fine sleeping in the dorms for now.” He declined with a smile. “I don't want to be a bother.”
“You wouldn't be a bother at all, but if you insist….” Hollis said. “Just know that the offer stands, should you feel like it.” She smiled at Razputin. “But I will insist upon you and I going to have dinner together.”
Raz chuckled. “Okay, deal.” He said with a grin. “So, are there gonna be any classes at all this week?”
Hollis smiled. “Sorry Raz, but it's a school break. It wouldn't be fair to give you a lead on your fellow interns.”
“Aren't they having a lead of almost 4 years on me?” Raz asked with a cocky grin.
“Hmmm, that's true.” Hollis replied with a small smirk tugging on her lips. “But in any case, I have nothing prepared and other matters have priority this week. However …do you still have that little …side-effect when you use Mental Connection, where it pulls you up to the thought?”
Raz couldn't help but to blush a bit. “I do, but I don't panic as much anymore when it happens. That's good, right?”
Hollis gave Raz a smile. “That's progress, but how about you and I have a few session this week and see if we can't work on that some more?”
“Didn't you just say something about the fairness of 'having a lead on my fellow interns'?” Raz asked with a grin.
“This isn't about 'getting a lead', Intern Vodello.” Hollis said strictly. “This is about figuring out the flaw in your technique, so you will be able to use an ability your peers have already mastered.”
Raz shrunk slightly. “Gotcha.”
“Now, I do seem to recall I have given you and your friends some homework for the week, so why don't you make yourself scarce and go be productive.”
Raz groaned. “This is not how I wanted my school break to start.”
“And I believe you.” Hollis said. “Now get out of my sight.”
Raz grinned and with a final salute he levitated up and hovered away from Hollis.
“And don't forget to come by my office this evening for dinner!” She yelled after him.
“I wooooon't!” Raz yelled, his voice fading away with each second.
Hollis shook her head with a chuckle. It was good to see him act as a kid his age. He might be being on his way to become a terrific Psychonauts, but he shouldn't be growing up too fast. She gave a final look to the horizon where Milla and Sasha's jet had vanished and proceeded to make her way to her office.
It was still early in the afternoon when Raz made his way over to Quarry. Doing homework during a school break is bogus. Of that fact, Raz was certain. He had done a lot of it on his own in the hour he had spend on it, but without the other Interns there to make the common room lively, it was hard to concentrate. So he decided that homework could wait for a day, until Lili was back and they could work on it together. Not that she had the same homework, but at least they could keep each other company.
For now, Raz had decided it had been too long since he had paid Agent Otto Mentallis a visit. So here he was now, hopping from floating platforms to floating platforms that hovered over the lake that filled most of the Quarry, as he made his way to Otto's Lab.
As he entered the building, he was passed by one of the Brain Balls the Agents' brains used when their body was temporarily out of commission.
“Olá Agent Maggie.” He greeted cheerily as the ball passed him. He pressed the button in front of the giant protective doors that lead to Otto's workshop and watched as they opened in their usual, dramatic fashion. He walked inside and walked over to Otto, who was tinkering with a Brain Ball.
He smiled warmly as he noticed Razputin. “Oh, hello there Razputin.” He greeted cheerful. “Haven't seen you in a while. How are you doing, young man?”
Raz hopped up and sat down on the table with a levitation-assisted jump and gave Otto a smile. “I'm doing good.” He took the new Psycho Portal out of his pocket. “I believe I have you to thank for this?”
Oh, you like it?” Otto asked and a chuckled when Raz nodded excitedly. “It's a special one. I know you get vertigo and nausea when you travel through the Astral Void, so I have installed some features that should help smooth out the ride.”
Raz perked up. “You did? Thanks! I can't wait to try it out!”
Otto chuckled and went back to tinkering, occasionally typing something into the computer the ball was connected to.
Raz watched Otto work with interest. “So what you're working on? Doing some repairs on the Brain Ball?”
“Not just repairs,” Otto began, looking up with an excited grin. “I am trying to improve the sensory mimickizers of the BB's, so they'll be able to recreate an more realistic sensory sensation when it's occupied by a brain. They work fine as it is, but most Agents complain everything sees, feels, hears, smells and even tastes like they are wearing a latex suit all over their body. I am trying to make it so that every thing's a little less …muffled, seems like a good word for it.”
“Well, if anyone can do it, it's Senior Agent and Founder of the Psychonauts, Agent Otto Mentallis.” Raz proclaimed.
“Oh, he is bringing out the heavy flattery.” Otto said with a hearty chuckle. “Seems you need something from me. What brings you to my humble workshop?”
Busted. Raz groaned. “I am bored.” He admitted. “My homework is almost done, my friends are home for school break, Lili's gone until tomorrow and my parents are on a mission. I want something to do – preferably something that's not homework.” He looked at Otto with his best puppy eyes he could muster. “Do you got something for me to do?”
Otto wagged his finger. “Uh-uh-uh Razputin, I promised your mother not to let you participate in my experiments again, not after the last one singed off your eyebrows.”
“They grew back…eventually” Raz counter-argued. He grinned. “And aren't you her superior, being a Senior Agents and all?”
“Well, in my experience, motherhood outranks every rank.” Otto said with a grin. “And your mother can be very scary, when she's angry.”
Raz nodded in reluctant agreement. “Do you have any non-experiment related things I can do? I'd do anything at this point…” he said, almost pleadingly.
Otto rubbed his chin as he thought. A grin appeared on his face. “Hmmm, I do have an assignment in mind.” He said, making Raz perk up. “Something that requires an Intern of great talent and Psychic prowess. Something not for the faint of heart.”
Raz jumped off the table and puffed up his chest. “I can do anything.”
“In that case …” Otto vanished underneath his desk, and Raz soon heard the sound of the senior Agent rummaging through stuff. He popped up again, holding something behind his back. “Intern Vodello, your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is …”
Raz held his breath in anticipation.
Otto gave a mischievous grin. He took his arms from behind his back and revealed …a bucket and a sponge. “-give the Brainframe a good cleaning. It's been gathering a lot of dust lately”
Raz's smile fell in a heartbeat. “Are you serious?” He asked deadpan. “That's not fun.”
Otto chuckled. “Well, you said that you'd do anything.” He said. “Besides, this is a good exercise for you.”
“Cleaning duty doesn't sound like 'an exercise', it sounds like a chore and I get those at home.” Raz said, crossing his arms in defiance.
“Oh, but it is.” Otto assured. “You know how big the Brainframe is. Cleaning this will require you to use Levitation almost constantly and very precise use of Telekinesis, often at time. This will test your endurance, your precision, your foresight and Psychic limitations. But if it's too hard for you …”
Raz telekinetically yanked the bucket and sponge out of the older man's hands, trying to ignore his grinning face. “I can do that. I'm more than capable.” Raz assured. He paused to look at the items in his hands. He looked up to Otto. “And don't think I don't know what you did there, Agent Mentallis.”
“Why Razputin, I have no idea what you're talking about.” Otto denied with a chuckle, as he walked from behind his worktable. He placed a hand on Razputin's back and ushered him toward the Brainframe. “Well, let me show you your workstation.”
Every time Raz visited Otto's Lab, he always felt so impressed by the sheer size of the machine, the amounts of brains it contained, so …many…brains. He looked upon the dozens and dozens of Brain Balls that made up the machine. Each of them used to be a person that willingly donated their brain to to the Psychonauts and Otto Mentallis after their death. And now they were used by Otto in experimentations, to further unravel the mysteries of the human mind. He frowned.
“I can recognize a question forming when I see one, Razputin.” Otto said, bringing Raz out of his thoughts. “What's on your mind?”
“Well, I always wondered …” Raz began. “These brains are dead, right? You always said that.”
Otto nodded.
“But I see Agents' brains in Brain balls all the time and they are …well, alive.” Raz said. “Why don't they …you know, die, like the ones you have here.” He gestured to the Brainframe.
Otto nodded in thought and smiled. “It's good to see you're still got that inquisitive mind, so full of questions.” He chuckled when Raz blushed a bit. “The answer is both quite simple and somewhat complex. Simply put, the Agents' brains still got living, breathing bodies to 'come home' to. Their brains got ejected when their bodies were still alive, so there's still a connection.”
“How?”
“Our mind is so much more than just a brain.” Otto began. “Remember your lessons on how Mindscapes are formed, dear boy. It takes the senses, various experiences, memories, hardship, love, life, and so one, to make a Mindscape.
“Ford always said 'the mind is the final frontier' – a quote he stole from me, don't you know.” He said with a smirk, making Raz chuckle. “One could even say that a Mindscape is the reflection of our soul. And as long as we have a connection to our soul, our mind will endure.”
Raz chuckled. “That sounds poetic.”
“It does, doesn't it?” Otto commented. “I'm going to have to write that one down.” He clasped his hands together. “Well, we're wasting daylight here. You better get started.”
“I suppose so …” Raz sighed and looked up to the brainframe. This was gonna take a while, whether he possessed raw talent or not. He knew himself good enough to know this was gonna get boring after a while, unless he had something to keep himself occupied when working. He turned to Otto. “Do you at least have a radio here, so I can listen to some music in the meanwhile?”
“I'm sorry, dear boy, but I don't have one.” Otto said apologetically. “I find them very distracting, and when I do have one, I tend to take them apart for parts.”
He smiled sympathetically when at Razputin's defeated expression. He held up a finger. “But …” he began, a twinkle forming in his eye. “I do have something. Follow me. I think you're gonna like this.”
He turned around and walked towards the storage area in the back of his workshop, with Raz close on his heels. He opened one the supply closets and started levitating boxes out of it, mumbling to himself as he looked upon each box that passed him. “No. No. Not that one either. Hey, there's where I put that spanner…. AH, here we are.” He took the box and walked back to the Brainframe.
He placed the box on the ground and took out something. Raz noticed was a record player, one of those portable ones. It was painted in a many colored, almost psychedelic pattern. Otto blew some dust of it and handed it over to Raz, who carefully looked it over.
“A record player?” Raz asked. Like his mom, he had a thing for retro, but this thing looked old.
“I know, a bit 'old-school', but it should do it's job just fine.” Otto said. “+And guess who it originally belong to?” He tapped on the gold-plated letterings on the edge of the player.
It read 'Property of HF', and carved into the wood next to it, someone had added '+BZ' with what seemed to be a little heart next to that.
Raz's eyes grew wide when he realized what he was holding in his hands. “Is this -? This was -!” he uttered, barely making comprehensive sentences in his excitement. He looked up to Otto with sparkles in his eyes. “This belonged to Helmut Fullbear, didn't it?”
“And Bob Zanotto, don't forget that.” Otto said with a chuckle, tapping the additional carved letters. “And yes, this was Helmut's. One of the few meager possessions he had up in his van when he first arrived in Green Needle Gulch with Ford, oh so many years ago.”
He smiled in reminiscence. “The entire day, you could hear that player throughout the Gulch, even from my humble little lab.” He chuckled. “Oh, how I despised that thing.”
“You think it still works?” Raz asked.
“What do you mean 'think'?” Otto asked with pretend incredibility. “My dear boy, I personally made the modifications to this device, including a one-of-a-kind first generation Psitanium Battery.”
“What makes it one-of-a-kind?”
“It's the only one of my early prototypes that hasn't explodes.” Otto said with a grin. Raz really couldn't tell if Otto was joking or was being serious. With the senior Agent, it could be either.”
A question pushed the nagging suspicion, that the record player would explode in his hands while he was holding, down. “Why do you have it?” Raz asked. “Shouldn't this be with Bob Zanotto? Why is it collecting dust in your storage?”
Otto's grin fell and he sighed. A sadness lingered behind his glasses. “After dear Helmut …fell in the Deluge of Grulovia, we all …his passing was felt greatly by all of us, but none so hard and fierce as with poor Bob.”
Raz nodded solemnly. He had heard stories.
Otto continued. “We all grieved and …along the way, managed to find a place for it and move on. But Bob's grief was so great …he couldn't place it.” He sighed, taking of his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose as he gathered his thoughts. “It started small, avoiding things that reminded him of Helmut – often more than not, that included us, his friends. A few months after the Deluge, he started throwing out boxes with …bad memories, I guess, including the box that contained this record player. I'm guessing that in that time, he took to the drink as well. In the years after that, he started bury himself in work – and his face into that cursed flask he started to carry around with him. And over the years, he started getting more and more reckless, less focused and eventually a mission …went wrong.”
That was an understatement. The way Raz had heard, it was a disaster, lots of damaged property and injured Agents and bystanders.
“Luckily, despite the injuries those involved sustained, no-one died. But …well, you know what happened.”
Raz nodded. “Truman had to fire his own uncle.”
“And Bob did not take that news well.” Otto said. He uttered a humorless chuckle. “We could hear him scream and rave against Truman from the Atrium. After that, Bob secluded himself in the Gulch and I haven't seen him since.”
After a few moments of reminiscing silence, Otto gave an embarrassed chuckle. “I am sorry, my boy.” He said with a apologetic grimace. “Didn't mean to start all that.”
Raz chuckled. “It's okay, Agent Mentallis.” He said with a compassionate smile. “I guess we all need to vent from time to time.”
“I guess one does.” Otto said with a chuckle.
“I got some questions, though.” Raz said. “I can get the reason why Bob threw it out, but why do you have it? And why didn't you take it apart, like you said mostly happens with the radios that end up here?”
Otto smiled and leaned down, looking Raz straight in the eyes. “The answers to both those questions are one and the same, my boy.” He began. “Because it's a memento of a dear departed friend.”
He straightened his posture and adjusted his glasses. “Well, enough talk about the past.” He said. “I believe you have a Brainframe to clean?” With that said, he turned around and started walking back to his worktable.
Raz playfully blew a raspberry at the old man, who, in turn, swiveled around, placed his thumb against his nose, waggling his remaining fingers and blew a raspberry of his own before turning around again, laughing.
Raz chuckled and turned his attention toward the colorful record player. He took the cloth out of the bucket and gave the device a quick one-over. And since one can't use a record player, without a record, Raz took the box and started rummaging in it, until ….bingo! Raz took out a Vinyl Album.
“Cool!” Raz exclaimed, as he looked upon the art of the album.. “Helmut Fullbear's Psychodyssey, the one-of-a-kind, uncut, 2-hour long version.” He carefully took out the disc out of it's sleeve and placed it on the player. He flipped the switch of the device, turning it on and place the needle on the first grooves. Raz couldn't help but grin when the he heard those typical cracking sounds before the music started. He bobbed his head to the starting tunes of the song and adjusted the volume. Content with the entertainment it provided, he took the bucket and went to the nearest valve to fill it with water and not before long, Raz was floating all around the Brainframe, polishing the many Brain Balls, humming with the rhythm song.
During the second act of the album, he suddenly felt ….something. His mother had been teaching him how to tap into the Worldwide Psychic Network and read the 'ripples'. Raz was nowhere Milla's level when it came to that, only being able to pick up the emotions from people close by him and they'd have to be strong emotions at that. So Raz felt a bit surprised when he suddenly picked up a lot of them at once.
He felt …sadness? Recognition? Hurt? Confusion? Frustration? Remembrance? This all hit him a the same time and with such force, that he forgot to levitate for a second. He quickly regained his wit about him and landed on the ground. With a quick thought, he shut off the record player.
Raz was confused, to say the least. Maybe he picked up something from Otto? He turned to the senior Psychonaut, but the latter was still working on his Brain Ball, seemingly without any kind of distress. Then where did Raz feel that emotional turmoil from? Suddenly, realization dawned on him and he slowly turned around, towards the Brainframe.
Raz blinked a few times, utterly confused. Was he picking up emotions from …one of the brains? But Otto said they were dead, incapable of having human thought, and thus emotions. The only thing keeping them 'fresh' was the liquid they resided in. But still, Raz couldn't ignore the fact that the emotions he felt pulled him towards the jarred brains.
He had to know for sure. He went to the controls of the machine, which were simple enough to operate. He activated the machine and started to set the Brain Balls into motion, letting them pass him one by one.
Otto had of course noticed what Raz was doing and quickly ran over to the young Intern. “What are you doing, Vodello?” He asked sternly. “I asked you to clean it, not to play with it.”
“I know, I know, it's just …” Raz began, not taking his eyes of the brains as they flew past his vision. “THIS ONE! He stopped the machine. On the screen he read the name 'Heptadome Harry'.
“This one…” Raz repeated to himself. He pushed the 'eject' button and a Brain Ball made his way down the track and ended in front of Raz and Otto.
“Razputin, can you please explain what you are doing?” Otto asked again, a bit more friendly this time.
Raz ran his hand over the glass exterior of the Brain Ball. “Otto …I can sense emotions from this brain. A lot of emotions. Strong emotions.”
Otto raised an eyebrow. “That's impossible, my boy.” He said, an almost undetectable stammer in his voice. “Every single person who donated his brain was – is – biologically and legally dead. They are incapable of any kind of thought. But …” He paused, stroking his chin in thought. He leaned down to Raz. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Raz answered. He turned to the screen and read the name aloud. “Heptadome Harry? Who is he?”
Otto mulled over the name for a few seconds before he answered “I found this brain in a jar years ago, in Green Needle Gulch, inside the Heptadome. It was intact, so I took it with me for the Brainframe I was building here.”
“You weren't curious about a random brain laying around?” Raz asked.
“I wasn't. I build my original prototype in my lab in the Gulch, before it …eh, blew up.” Otto said. “I figured it was one of the brains that survived. I had no reason to question otherwise. But to think there's an active consciousness in there …”
Raz perked up when he thought of something. He reached into his jacket and took out his Psycho Portal. “We could always take a peek inside?” He said, wiggling the Portal.
Otto remained silent as he looked at the Portal. He sighed. “I guess it can't hurt to try.” Otto said. “But don't expect to much from it.”
Raz nodded, took the Brain Ball out of the receiver and opened it. He held the portal above the opening. He looked at Otto. “This thing is waterproof, right?”
Otto chuckled and nodded.
Raz dropped the portal, which attached itself to the brain. The door opened, revealing the doorway of light that led into the Mindscape. Raz pulled his goggles over his eyes and prepared for the drop in the Astral Void.
Raz closed his eyes and waiting for that usual feeling of nausea he always felt when Astral Projecting. Nothing came. No nausea, no vertigo, not even a trigger of his basophobia. He felt his feet hit 'solid ground' and opened his eyes. Although he felt like he still had them closed, since all he could see around him was darkness. No, not 'darkness' per se, but more …empty void. Devoid of content.
“Astonishing.” Otto said, who had just appeared behind Raz.
“I just think it's a lot of nothingness.” Raz commented, kinda disappointed. He had hoped to see more.
“That's where you're wrong, my dear boy.” Otto commented, excitement in his voice. “If this brain was truly dead, we wouldn't be able to project into his mind in the first place.” Otto stated to look around, searching for something. “Even if his mind has degraded to this point, there should be a …Ah, there.” He pointed to somewhere.
Raz spun around and came face to …ball of light with a …ball of light. He gave it a careful wave. “Oh, hello.” He began. The ball of light didn't answer. “My name is Raz. Who are you?”
The ball of light seemed like it wanted to make sound, but nothing but muffled gibberish came out.
Raz knelt down. “How long have you been in here? What's your name?”
Slowly, words started to come from the ball of light. “Slibbity slibbity slow, slaw, slaw – SORRY! Oh Phew.” The ball of light let out a breath, as far as a ball of light can do that. “Sorry! I just haven't talked in such a long time. Oh my gosh! Is that my voice? Is that what I sound like? What do you sound like? Oh my gosh! Who are you? Are you not me?”
“My name is Razputin Vodello.” He answered quickly, now that he was able to put a word in.
The Ball of light seemed to contemplate the thing Raz just said to him. “Words! Words! You're saying WORDS to me?” He sounded so eager.
Raz couldn't help to nod, trying very hard not to giggle at the Ball's antics.
The ball laughed. He gasped. “What was that non-word sound I just made? Am I dying?” He asked no-in particular. He flew away a bit further. “No, not dying. I feel alive. VERY ALIVE!” He laughed again.
Before Raz could ask a question, the ball of light wisped in front of his face. “Who are you? Who am I? Am I anything? Am I everything? Am I god?” He asked.
Before Raz could answer, the Ball of light wandered off, still talking. Raz quickly ran after him. “Oh, I'm not sure I feel like I l might be god, or the universe, or the ultimate cosmic oneness, or something in that jam. Am I right?”
Raz decided to answer carefully. “Well …basically, right now, you're kinda …a brain in a jar.”
“Huh?”
“But if you can remember your name, we might be able to find out what happened to your body.” Raz said with a smile.
“I can't remember …much of anything.” The ball of light said, his voice trailing off as he tried to remember.
“Well, I think I got the perfect guy for that. Isn't that right, Agent Ment-” Raz paused when he saw Otto's shocked face. Raz grew worried directly. “Otto? What is wrong?”
Otto had his hand against his mouth, his eyes were thin in shock. “It …can't be.” He said silently. “It's …not possible. But that voice….”
“Otto, you're starting to scare me.” Raz began.
“Something wrong with your friend?” The ball of light asked, flying past Raz. “Hey, got a case of stage fright, buddy?” The ball suddenly stopped and paused, like it was gazing at Otto, who was still staring at the ball.
The Ball slowly flew closer to Otto's face, like he was taking careful steps. “Why …do I recognize you?” He flew even closer.
He paused in front of Otto's face. “Otto? Otto Mentallis? Is that you?” he asked. “Dude, you got OLD!”
“It IS you.” Otto exclaimed, letting out something between a sigh and a laugh. “Oh, Fullbear, how on earth did you end up here?”
Raz heard what Otto said. Raz's ears registered what Otto had said. Raz's mind recognized what Otto said. But Raz's mouth had only one thing to say. “WHAT?!”
Otto turned to Raz, a big smile on his face. “This voice indubitably belongs to the mind of one Helmut Fullbear. This is Helmut Fullbear, Razputin! The one we thought had died in the Deluge of Grulovia.” He let out a laugh.
Raz let out an astonished laugh. He couldn't believe it. Helmut Fullbear. He was alive. There were so many questions. How? Why? When? Too many questions for now. They would have to wait. Right now, they had a lost founding member of the Psychonauts to help out. But still, this was amazing. Raz laughed again, unable to contain his excitement.
The ball of light – Helmut also let out a laugh. “Why are we laughing?”
Otto held out his hand and the Helmut ball 'landed' in it. “Oh Helmut, after all these years, I never could have dreamed… How on earth did your brain end up in my Brainframe. Scratch that, I know how that happened, but how did you end up in the Heptadome”
Helmut sphere remained silent for a few moments. “…Years?” He finally asked. “How long has it been since …since ….what happened?”
Otto's smile fell. “Helmut, what's the last thing you remember?”
Helmut groaned, as if he was trying to force himself to remember. “I don't …remember much of anything.”
Raz rubbed his chin as he thought. He turned to Otto. “You think this might be a a case of extreme sensory deprivation.” Raz asked Otto.
“I think you're right, Razputin.” Otto replied. “Years with no physical input caused his memory and identity complexes to atrophy.”
“Oh, I have not forgotten you liked big words like that, Otto.” Helmut commented on the conversation.
“Isn't the solution simple?” Raz asked. “We'll find a body without a brain – that can't be hard, can it? - and we put Helmut's brain in them. Once he gets some fresh sensory input-”
“No!” Otto said. “That's the last thing we want to do. He hasn't had a connection to his senses in almost 30 years. If we just put him in a body, there's a great chance he'll experience a Sensory Overload. And in the fragile state his mind is now, we can't risk that.”
“30 years?” Helmut asked. His voice trailed off. “It felt …longer….so much longer.”
A sadness washed over Otto's face. “Oh, Helmut, I am so sorry.” he apologized. “If I had known….”
“Otto, if we can't give him a body, how can we help him?” Raz asked.
Otto raised a finger with a smile. “We use my new Brain Ball, of course.” He said triumphantly. “That way, I can introduce each of his senses – sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste – one at a time. That way, he won't get overwhelmed from the get-go.”
Raz smiled and turned to Helmut. “Told you we had the perfect guy with us for your problem?”
Helmut chuckled. “Yeah, don't say that too loudly or he'll get full of himself again.” He paused. “But full of what?”
“Raz, if we want to do this, we better get going.” Otto said, taking
Raz chuckled and took out his own smelling salts out of his jacket pocket. “We'll be right back.”
“What?” Helmut laughed. as he swirled around the black void. “Where can you go? This is everything there is!”
“We'll be quick.” Raz said. “While we're gone, try to remember stuff.”
“Okay, put please hurry.” Helmut said. “I'll try to remember when I created the Universe. Or when I destroyed it.”
Raz popped open his capsule of smelling salts. The scent hit his nose and a moment later he felt himself flung back into his own body. In the moment it took for Raz to gain his bearings, Otto had already grabbed Helmut's Brain Jar and taken it to his work table. By the time Raz had joined Otto by his table, he had already put the brain into the upgraded Brain Ball he had been working on and was now furiously typing away on the computer.
Raz hopped on the table and watched in silence as Otto worked.
“There.” Otto exclaimed triumphantly suddenly. “That oughta do it. Okay, initializing first sense: Sight.” He pushed in a few buttons on his computer.
“You sure this is gonna work, Otto?” Raz asked.
“It's going to work, but – like I said – we're going to be careful not to overload his senses when we-”
A spark from the computer interrupted Otto's explanation. Suddenly the Brain Ball started making loud, garbled, frantic sounds, like Helmut was panicking.
“OTTO, something's wrong!” Raz yelled, jumping of the table to avoid getting hurt by sparks or possible exploding Brain Balls.
Otto frantically started pushing buttons, trying to get everything under control again. After a few moments of typing unsuccessful commands, he just wacked the computer on the side. That seemed to have worked. The Brain Ball fell silent.
Otto wiped the sweat of his brow. “That …was not supposed to happen.”
Raz ran to Helmut and carefully knocked on the glass exterior of the slightly smoking Brain Ball. “Agent Fullbear? Helmut …you okay?”
The speaker on the Brain Ball started to 'mumble', as Raz would best describe it, before he started speaking. “Light! Dark! And every flavor in between!” The Brain Ball started to buzz around the room. “But all these colors are just one band in this sensual rainbow of rainbows!”
He twisted around. “What is this room and how can I taste it all at once?” He asked. “And, who composed this symphony? One symphony is beautiful, but a hundred all at once?”
“I think something went wrong…” Raz commented quietly, taking a few steps back from the overly eager Brain Ball.
“The circuits malfunctioned and caused an sensory overload.” Otto replied. “He can't process it all, it's too much to handle.”
“I can smell the Big Bang!” Helmut-ball shouted. He whizzed to the nearest wall. “There's an ant in the wall that's grinding it's teeth!”He started to spin in the middle of the room, his voice starting to sound more and more panicked with each word he said. “Everythingness! Oneness! Nothingness! Nothingness! Nothingness!”
Otto quickly typed a few things into the computer. The Brain Ball fell silent.
“Is he …?” Raz asked cautiously.
“I disabled his movement and voice box, but the darn Sensory Circuits don't want to switch off.” Otto said angrily, more to himself than to anyone else. “He is still receiving sensory input from them.”
Raz eyed the Helmut-in-a-Brain-Ball. “What do you think is happening in there?”
“I don't know.” Otto said, looking sadly at his silent friend. He turned to the young Intern. “Raz I need you to go inside there, take a look and – if you can – help him deal with the sensory overload.
“Oh, eh …sure….” Raz stammered.
“Something wrong, my boy?”
“No, it's just …I'm just a little scared.” Raz confessed. “I don't know if I wanna go in there….”
Otto chuckled warmheartedly. “You'll be fine, Razputin.” He said. “You can handle this. You are on your way to becoming a amazing Psychonaut. Hollis has said so herself.”
Raz perked up. “She did?”
Otto chuckled. “Raz, we have some more pressing matters to attend to first.”
Raz chuckled nervously. “Oh yes, sure.” He took out his Psycho Portal again and dropped it into Brain Ball. “Here we go again.”
A moment later he found himself in the void place again, but this time it was a rapidly swirling mess of color, images and sounds.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the …” Raz exclaimed. He held his hand in front of his mouth. “Helmut, are you here!?”
The ball of light that was Helmut flew in Razputin's sight. He was frantically buzzing around, his voice panicked and fast. “I'm here, everything is here, too many things are here!”
“You are experiencing a sensory overload, Helmut.” Raz explained calmly. “Try to stay calm. Whatever you do, don't have a -”
But it was too late already. A Mental Figure formed. Raz gasped. He had seen these in the text books they were given. And while he had experienced a few of them, he had never seen one before. A panic attack. A bipedal creature with a dragon skull for a head, charcoal black skin, and neon yellow eyes which lacked pupils, which were locked onto Raz and Helmut. Several skulls adorned his back, probably for protection. Two large claws on its back feet, three claws on his left hand and toothed sickles for a right one hand. Raz would call it a nightmare, but those Mental figures looked completely different.
Raz had only one thing to say about this moment. “Merda!”
The Panic Attack threw a series of fast-flying smoking skull projectiles at Raz, who threw up his shield just in time. He could feel the impact of the projectiles bouncing off it,, but was unharmed nonetheless. Raz grinded his teeth. “Okay, let's see how you like this, ugly!”
He took aim and shot out a PSI-blast at the Panic Attack. But instead of hitting it like Raz had intended, it had hit nothing but air. The Panic Attack had teleported out of the way and was now a few steps closer to Raz.
Raz yelped and shot a few other blasts, but the Panic Attack dodged them again.
Meanwhile, Helmut was flying around in a panic, shouting out random things. “My fight or flight response is triggering.” He shouted as he passed Raz. “I say flight! FLIGHT!”
“Okay, let's try this.” Raz said and he snapped his fingers. A explosion of Pyrokinetic flames erupted from under the Panic Attack, but it teleported again, right in front of Razputin and took a swipe at him. Raz managed to dodge, but tripped and fell to the floor. His first reaction was to jump up, but …he felt himself unable to move. He was just staring at the floor, his breathing uneven.
He realized what had happened. The fall had triggered his basophobia. Oh no, not now. He thought. Not the time to experience a panic attack of your own, Vodello! He managed to look up and saw how the Panic Attack was slowly approaching him, clawed hand raised.
Raz started to whisper to himself. “C'mon, Raz! Get up. You are in control, not your phobia. You are stronger than your fears. This is my body. My body. And I say MOVE!” He managed to roll away just as the Panic Attack took another swipe with its claw. He scrambled up and ran to Helmut.
“Kid, you alright?” Helmut asked, a hint of panic still in his voice. “What happened there?”
Raz panted, trying to calm himself and get the shaking in his legs to stop. “I …I don't know how to stop it.” Raz said. “It's just too fast.” He held out his hands and held onto the ball of light. “Any ideas?”
Helmut seemed to have reached a breaking point. “Dear Universe, PLEASE SHUT UP!” he yelled. Suddenly, the entire environment had changed, and they found themselves inside another void. This time, it wasn't total darkness. It was like …being in a sea of stars. Helmut floated away from Raz's hands. “There we are.” He said, calm again. “This is good. Let's stay here.”
Raz looked around the star filled area. As far as he could tell, they were standing on a platform, hovering in void.
Helmut flew in Raz's vision. “You okay? You seemed to be struggling there.” He asked, concern in his voice.
Oh no, he had seen that? Raz crossed his arms and look to the floor, a blush staining his cheeks. “I …had a panic attack. I have basophobia and when he tripped me, it …got triggered and I couldn't move. It's …something I'm working on.”
Helmut chuckled. “Well, seemed to me you managed to get a hold of yourself pretty quickly.” He said. “You were handling it so much better than I was.” With that said, he flew off, to the far edge of the platform.
Raz saw several darkened silhouettes of people around the place. He approached one, who seemed very similar to Helmut. “I don't like the looks of these.” He commented. He shrugged. “But I guess they're a sign that he's remembering something.” He ran to Helmut, who was hovering at the end of the platform, by two silhouettes, one tall and lean, the other …well, Helmut, by the looks of it.
“Where are we?” He asked Helmut.
“Shhh. It's a quiet place.” Helmut commented, before the silence was broken by …knocking? Someone was knocking on …the sky?
Raz approached what seemed to be the source of the knocking. He pulled his goggles down to his neck. “Umh, Come in?” Seemed like the right thing to say.
A hatch in the sky opened and a giant figure peeked its head inside. Well, it was not really a head, more of a big green eyeball with dreadlocks and a military cap. Raz didn't know how to respond next.
Helmut flew up. “Hey, I know you!” He said. “You're …vision.”
“Yeah, and you're need on stage.” Vision said. Something in Raz's heart ached when he recognized Ford's voice. Did this mental figure represent Ford in some way? “C'mon, PSI King” He reached inside and grabbed Helmut, pulling him out of the hatch.
“My dark place!”
Raz quickly jumped after them and found himself halfway stuck inside a Mental Vault. That's what they were in? Raz managed the pull himself out, giving the Vault a last confused, somewhat bewildered look before he ran towards Vision and Helmut. He heard …people shouting, or cheering? He peeked behind the corner where Vision was standing. Raz gasped at the sight. He saw a crowd, made up of several colored figures, standing in front of a stage, like the one you could find at a festival. Well, it looked a lot like the pictures he had seen of festivals, since he was still too young to go to one. The crowd seemed …angry.
“Hey kid, you the opening act?” Vision asked. Before Raz could answer, Vision had pushed him towards the stage. “C'mon, git on there. The people are waiting.”
Raz approached the microphone in the center of the stage, giving it a few taps. “Uhm, how is everybody doing tonight?” He asked. The crowd started booing and throwing tomatoes at him. Raz quickly ran of stage, narrowly avoiding the vegetables thrown at him. He ran to Helmut and Vision.
Vision chuckled. “Yeah, they're always rough on the opening act. Sorry.”
“Okay, here's the situation.” Raz began. “The brain ball where we put your brain in is giving you all sorts of sensory input – Smells, tastes, visuals, sounds, tactile feedback somehow. But it's giving you too much of it. We're trying to fix it, but for now you've just got to deal with it.”
“Oh, we know how to deal with a crowd, man.” Vision said.
“Speak for yourself, I don't remember a thing.” Helmut muttered.
“Do you know what this crowd wants?” He asked Vision.
Vision nodded. “Yeah, they came for a Feast of the Senses.”
Probably a representation of the senses that Helmut was experiencing. Or hadn't experienced for a long time. Either or neither. Raz shook the thought away. His goal in this mental world's narrative was clear. He had to make sure the 'Feast of the senses' was going to happen in here, so that Helmut in the Physical World could regain control of his own senses. “So give it to them.”
Vision rubbed the side of his …head. “Oh man, it's been so long.” He said. “I don't even know where my violin is. I must've left it somewhere when …the band broke up.”
Most likely when the sensory decay set in after a few months of being a brain in a jar. Raz thought.
“I can find your violin.” Raz suggested. “Just tell me where you last used it.”
“Do I even remember what it looked like.” Vision asked, kneeling down to Raz's eye level. That's when things were starting to get …weird. The world around Vision started to slow down, while Vision's head enlarged, engulfing Razputin. “If only you could see the world the way I see it…”
Next thing Raz knew, he was falling down a kaleidoscope of colors and stars. It only took a few moments, before he felt his feet hit the ground. He waited for his basophobia to trigger, but it never came. He let out something between a laugh and a breath of relief. He looked around. This part of the mental world was still festival/band themed with a preference to the color green. Lots of microphones, band trunks and such were decorated around the place. That, and flowers that looked like eyeballs. “You know, I thought the inside of an eyeball would be …goopier?” Raz joked.
“Hah! This kinda reminds me of my old stage setup.” Helmut, who had joined Raz, said. “Coincidence?”
“Well, Vision violin must be here somewhere.” Raz said. “Let's go look.” Raz levitated himself off the ground and started to make his way throughout this mental world. Man, things would be going so much slower if he had to walk everywhere, instead of quickly levitating over obstacles. Not much was in his way, unless you counted the occasional pack of Censors trying to erase them. Raz considered it a good thing Censors were there, even thought they were trying to hurt him. It meant that he was in a sane mind, even if it was kinda …jumbled at the moment. But they posed no problem that a few Psi-punches, a few well-aimed psi-blasts and Pyrokinesis couldn't solve. Raz continued his way, until he met with something that was a problem. A big fan was blocking their path, there was no way around it and it was spinning too fast to safely levitate over it.
Raz landed on the wooden path below him. “Man, those things are fast.”
Helmut-ball chuckled. “Check this out.” He turned to the fan. There was a flash and suddenly the fan had lost all its color and was spinning in slow-motion, making it slow enough for Raz to pass.
“WHOA!” Raz exclaimed, genuinely excited. A psychic enabled slow motion field! No, too long. Slow downie cloud? Too silly? Time bubble? Perfect!
“Yeah, when you're alone as long as I was, time loses some of it's meaning, and your perception of it becomes your reality.” Raz blinked a few times, trying to comprehend the words. The fan was moving slower …because he was envisioning it slower? He would need to ask Sasha or Otto later about this.
The affect was temporary, it seemed, because the fan started spinning at it's previous speed after a few seconds. Helmut turned to Raz. “Want to give it a try?”
Raz nodded eagerly. Okay, he could do this. Learning new things quickly was his thing. He looked at the fan and concentrated. Time loses meaning. Perception becomes reality. Make it gray. He tried it a few time, to no avail. Although he thought he saw its colors dull for a moment. He tried again and …bingo. A flash, and the fan was gray and in slow-motion again. Raz didn't waste time celebrating. He quickly levitated up, flew past the fan and went on his way. He eventually reached the end of a microphone-filled hill where he was greeted by the sight of a valley, with a giant shrine, resembling Vision, at the end.
Raz figured that if the violin should be anywhere, it should be there. “I got eyes on the price.” Raz said. He got startled a bit when several flowers opened up, showing an eye looking at him. “And I got eyes on me.” He said with a giggle.
“I see the violin!” Helmut suddenly yelled. “Did you see it? Sorry if you already saw it, I just think we should be checking in with each other, you know?”
Raz nodded with a chuckle and levitated himself over the lake, toward the nearest structure. He landed and looked around. “Man, this place sure is pretty.”
“It's all so beautiful!” Helmut said. “But …” Raz noticed the tinge of panic in his voice. “-It's too much! Too many colors!”
“Don't panic.” Raz said
Helmut gasped. “You said panic!” Suddenly, eyeballs were everywhere, surrounding them. When they dissipated, they found themselves on another platform. And there was the Panic Attack again.
“Okay, ugly.” Raz said, pulling his goggles up to his eyes. “Round 2, and this time, I learned some new tricks.” He threw up his shield, as the Panic Attack threw skulls at him again, which bounced off again. This time, Raz wasn't going to give him time to do another attack. In fact … Raz waved his hand, hitting the Panic Attack with a Time Bubble. It was moving in slow motion now.
Raz grinned. “That was something I learned from Helmut Fullbear!” He shouted at the Mental Figure. “And this is a trick I learned from my sister Norma.” He held out two fingers and placed two fingers of his other hand against his temple. On the tips of his outstretched fingers, a little ball of Pyrokinetic energy formed, pulsing like it was building up something.
Raz smirked. “Pew!” A long beam of Pyrokinetic flames erupted from the little ball and pierced the Panic Attack right through the chest. It fell and erupted into smoke before it even hit the ground and vanished. Defeated.
“That was for triggering my basophobia, you jerk.” Raz shouted triumphantly. The environment slowly returned to the place they were before.
Helmut hovered next to Raz. “Phew, I don't know what came over me. I am ready to help you fight.” He looked around. “Where did he go.”
Raz shook his head in amusement. “Let's go.” He levitated up again and hovered high into the air, bypassing the rest of the way until he reached the shrine. He took in the visuals of this part of the mental world as he hovered high above it. Despite only having various shades of green, it was quite pretty.
He saw the violin, but noticed it was giant in size. Just before he could present this problem to Helmut, the instrument shrunk down and fell to the floor. Raz just managed the catch it. With a big grin, he held up the Violin.
“Yeah-heah-heah-heah!” he cheered as green electricity engulfed the instrument.
“That was epic. “Helmut commented. “But how are we going to get back?”
Raz saw something not too far from them. A bug-like creature with an elongated, droopy snout. A PSI-popper Generator, affectionately better know to Raz and the other Interns as Oatmeal. He grinned. “With the help of little friend.” He said and quickly ran to Oatmeal.
“I don't get it.” Helmut said.
One quick demonstration later, the duo found themselves back backstage. Vision wasted no time and quickly ran to the crowd and started playing his heart out. But while the green-colored versions in the crows seemed to love it, the others didn't. They quickly pelted Vision with tomatoes and at least one fish.
Vision ran off stage and ran to Raz and Helmut. “It's no use.” He said, panting. “To handle a crowd that size we need the whole band. We need Tasty, Sniffles, Dr. Touch and -”
“-and Audie…” Helmut finished, his voice full of sadness and regret.
“Yes, Audie O!” Vision replied. “You're starting to remember.”
Raz listened to the conversation with fascinated interest, as he was scrambling his brain to remember what he had learned about Mindscapes. Every Mindscape has a Core Mental Figure – a Mental Construct made up of the personality, memories and experiences of the person the Mindscape belonged to. Both a bridge between and extension of the mind and the person it belonged to. And while this Construct was in appearance basically identical to the person in the Physical World, it however was bound to the narrative to the world as well. So, if this Audie O was supposed to represent Bob Zanotto – as Raz suspected he did – it made sense there was so much sadness in Helmut's voice.
“Where can we find them?” Raz asked.
“Oh, when the audience vanished, we kinda scattered throughout the Festival.” Vision answered. “They're still here …around …somewhere. They could be anywhere. This Festival covers so many acres.”
“Hey!” Helmut exclaimed. With a pop, he suddenly changed from a floating ball of light into a floating eye ball. He either ignored the astonished pointing from Raz and Vision or he didn't notice. “Didn't we used to have a cool band van?”
Vision chuckled. “The old 'Feel Mobile'?” He asked. He pointed to the parking zone, where said van was parked. “Yup, still got it. Took care of it while we …were unable to find you.”
Raz ran up to the van. This was so cool. He wants one of these when he gets old enough to drive. Take his friends and family on adventures.
“So where can we find them?” Raz asked.
“Well, I suppose Tasty and Sniffles went to the concession stands, to take in all the smells and flavors this festival has to offer.” Vision said, rubbing his non-existent chin. “And Dr. Touch and Audie are probably at the campgrounds.”
“So what are we waiting for?” Helmut asked. “Let's go! I'll drive.”
Vision jumped into the driver's seat. “No, you won't.” He said. “You ain't got the hands for it.”
It didn't take them long to reach the campgrounds. Vision stepped out of the van. “Well, this is the campground.” He announced. “Dr. Touch and Audie liked to come up her.”
“They liked to get high up here.” Helmut said with amusement in his voice.
Raz looked up to the mountain. “So you're saying there up there?”
”Yup, the view up there is amazing.”
“Well, time's a wasting.” Raz said and he made his way to the nearest river.
“What are you doing?” Helmut asked curiously.
“A little trick of my own.” Raz said with a grin. He stepped into the water, but instead of sinking, he got lifted up. He spread his arms with a cocky grin. “Tadaa! This will make the trip up there much quicker. You wait here with Vision, I'll be right back.” He followed the river to the waterfall, where he rose up to the top. As he neared the top of the falls, he could hear two people arguing against each other.
“We always do.”
“No, we don't.”
“See, there you go.”
“Me? you started this.”
“Oh, choo-choo, here comes the blame train.”
Raz noticed to his amusement that one of the sounded a whole lot like Otto Mentallis. He chuckled. He really had to tell this to Otto when he was done here. As he rose over the edge of the waterfall, he came face to face with two Mental Figures, one with a giant hand and the other a big blue ear where their heads should be. These must be Dr. Touch and Audie O.
“Whoops, looks like the downstairs neighbors came to complain about your yelling.” Audie said, hanging with his legs from a branch.
Raz spoke up, before Dr. Touch could throw back a remark. “Didn't you guys see that huge crowd down there?” He said, gesturing to the stage in the distance. “The people are screaming for a Feast of the Senses.”
“That's what I've been telling this one,” Dr. Touch said, using the thumb of his hand-head to gesture to Audie. “-but the problem with him is that he just won't listen.”
Audie sighed sadly. “What's the use?” he asked. “Without PSI King, there is no Feast. There is nothing.”
“But PSI king is back.” Raz said with a grin.
“HE IS?” asked a startled Audie, who promptly fell of his branch into a crumbled heap.
Raz nodded. “He is waiting with Vision by the Feel Mobile.” He said. “And he need you guys to bring the crowd a spectacle.”
Audie scrambled up, dusting himself off. “But we aren't ready.” He said. “We haven't practiced.” He turned to his companion. “Dr. Touch, where are our instruments?”
“I thought you had them.”
“How about I go look for them?” Raz quickly asked, sensing a argument brewing between the two.
Dr. Touch suddenly loomed over him. “Here, let me give you a hand.” As he spoke either he seemed to grow, or Raz felt like he was shrinking. He concluded it must be the latter, since Dr. Touch gently picked him up with his head-fingers.
Raz took a few shaky breaths as Dr. Touch dangled him over Audie's giant ear-head. Don't get a panic attack. You are in control, not your phobia. You are doing this to help them.
Then came the drop. He fell in a whirlpool of colors again. Before he had time to consider panic, he felt solid ground under his feet again. He waited for the panic attack, but it never came. Raz let out a breath of relief. Otto's modified Psycho Portal really helped with his basophobia in the Mental World as well. That, or he was getting used to it. He shook off his discomfort and looked around. He was in a sort of forest area, with trees that had hands and ears on their branches. The two shrines of Dr. Touch and Audie O were just in front of him. Only an ominous looking platform between them.
“Right, I have played enough video games to notice an arena battle when I see it.” Raz said to …no-one in particular. Seemed that Helmut hadn't joined him for this one. Probably by the Feel Mobile, catching up with Audie. Raz smiled. It might've been a Mental representation of the real Bob Zanotto, but Helmut deserved to have a little alone time with him all the same. A little prelude of what was to come in the Physical World.
Raz levitated himself of the ground and went straight to the two instruments, a set of drums and an organ.
“Okay, now to get these two back to the Main Stage.” Raz said confidently.
One overly complicated, yet ingenious plan to haul the two instruments to the Feel Mobile later.
Raz was leaning against some trunks, waiting for the others while they were performing for the crowd. He got startled when he heard booing and the four musicians ran backstage, shielding themselves a hail of thrown tomatoes and a single shoe.
Raz chuckled sheepishly. “I guess they didn't like it?”
Helmut scoffed as the others seemed dejected by the rejection. “Well, THEY might not like it, but it was so great playing with you cats again. Just so … so …” As he spoke, a pair of ears and a single arm with a hand grew on him. “GREAT!”
There were a few seconds of astonished silence, before Audie spoke up. “You look great, PSI King.” He said with a wink, making Helmut put his new hand in front of his eye in an seemingly bashful manner.
“Let's face facts, Guys.” Dr. Touch said, dusting off his coat. “It is not going to work until we get the whole band back together.”
Vision nodded. “We need Tasty and Sniffles.” He said. “They are most likely still at the concession stands. If they got hungry, they'll be there.”
“Well, no time to waste.” Helmut said. “Let's go!”
The trip to the concession stands was a short one.
“Tasty and Sniffles hung around here a lot.” Vision said as he stepped out the van. “Ohh, so many scents and flavors.”
“And lines, man. So many looooong lines.” Helmut added.
“I'm going to find Tasty and Sniffles.” Raz said. He looked around. Helmut wasn't kidding about the long lines. The whole place seemed as packed as it was by the Main Stage. Nearly every stand had a 'sold out' sign on them, with the only one seemingly open leading up the tall hill. At least, he figured it was open, according to the seemingly endless sea of silhouetted people that made up the line leading up to it. Waiting for his turn would take ages.
“Right, mom always told me I should never cut in line, but since I am on a mission….” Raz said to himself. “I guess one time couldn't hurt. It's for something important.” Raz levitated himself off the ground and rose up. He looked down on the sea of people below him, who were rocking around with concessions stands and clawing at food trucks like a pack of hungry zombies. A stark contract with the colorful environments Raz found himself in. He chuckled nervously. “I think if I fell in that hungry crowd, they would eat me.” He rose higher, away from the hungry mass.
On the top of the hill, he saw a single food truck, with two people standing in front. One was a tall lady with a giant nose where a head should be. The other was short and a pair of giant lips with two beady eyes. Those must be Tasty and Sniffles. “Aha, there they are!” He said to himself in triumph.
He landed in front of them. He cleared his throat. “E-excuse me-?”
Sniffles held out a hand. “Hang on, kid.” She said, not even turning around to look at him.
Tasty licked his …lips. “We're trying to decide what to order.” He said, with a voice sounded way too much like Compton Boole. Oh, Sam would love to hear about this.
“You can eat after the show.” Raz said. “Vision and PSI King are waiting by the van and-”
He got interrupted by Sniffles. “What? PSI King is back?” she asked, a mix of happiness and confusion in her voice. Raz suddenly realized that, if the others of the Feast represented members of the Psychic 6, Sniffles must be a representation of Cassie O'Pia. He couldn't help but to grin. He always wanted to meet all the members of the illustrious group. This was as good as ever was going to be.
Tasty smiled widely. “Let's get our instruments!”
Well, they didn't need much convincing.
“We've been waiting in this line for so long, I'm not even sure where they are.”
“If you guys let me take a look, I'll bet I can find them.” Raz said. He had found the other instruments, so he could find these as well.
Sniffles let her arms hang. “Oh Tasty, I can't decide.”
Tasty looked at Raz. “Wellllllllll” Time suddenly seemed to slow around them and Raz found himself standing on something squishy. He looked down and saw that he was standing on Tasty's tongue. He tried to run off it, but he slipped. He felt himself shrunk as he was lifted up, right under Sniffles …nostrils. Raz closed his eyes. He did NOT want to see this. There was a snort sound and he felt himself sucked into …he didn't want to think about it.
He felt himself falling again, once again in the swirling pool of color and soon felt the ground under his feet again. He looked around. The whole area was comprised of lips, tongues, noses and …boogers, it seemed. Everything felt squishy. He stood in a walled off area, with a giant tongue blocking his path. Raz felt his stomach churn. “I have to admit …I'm a little afraid of this one.”
He heard someone laugh. It seemed Helmut had joined him for this one. “What, because of all the tongues and boogers.” He asked with a chuckle. “That's just the part of being a band, man.”
Not any band I've ever heard off. Raz thought. Right, no time to waste. He looked to his right and saw what seemed to be a giant bag with giant …candy balls? He approached the bag, lifted one of the balls and, after careful consideration, licked one it. He shuddered in delight. Yup, these were sour gumballs. Maybe if he ….? He threw the gumball to the tongue, who rolled up into a mouth and started smacking. Raz quickly ran out of the doorway. In the distance, he saw the two remaining shrines. He already had more than enough of this tongue-nose area.
He turned to Helmut. “I'm just going over this one quickly.” He said. “This place is making me uncomfortable.”
“Hey, no need to ask me.” Helmut said reassuringly. “We're just here for the instruments, not for sight-seeing. Go as fast as you want.”
Raz nodded appreciatively and took to the skies again. He quickly levitated himself to the shrines, bypassing every obstacle beneath them. He landed in front of the shrines.
Helmut let out a laugh and held out his hand. “Yeah! High Five!” He quickly dropped his hand. “No, wait, don't do that. I'd go flying like a racquetball.”
Raz chuckled and grabbed the two guitars. He saw the PSI Popper generator not too far from them. “Let's take a shortcut to the Main stage!” He said, running to Oatmeal.
Helmut made a sound. “Ugh, this again, with the booger bubble teleporter?” He asked. “How can you be queasy here and be fine with that?”
One quick trip later, the whole band found themselves around Helmut, who had now completed his set of bodily features with a pair of lips and a mustachioed lose.
Vision let out a laugh. “Woohoo, I gotta say, PSI King, you're almost lookin' like your old self again.” The other band member nodded in agreement.
Helmut let his eye wander over his friends. He looked down, ashamed. “I am sorry I abandoned the band, you guys.”
“It's going to make for a better Rockumentary someday.” Dr. Touch said, his voice soft and comfortingly.
Helmut turned around, looking like he was going to burst into happy tears. He flew the others. “Time for the Feast!”
The other threw their hands up. “FEAST!” they cheered. After that, they ran on stage. Helmut turned to Raz. “Wish us luck, kid!”
Raz peeked behind the curtains as he watched the Feast take up their instruments. Audie clacked his drums sticks three times. Then the music started. A slow beat, starting with the bass and organ. Helmut hovered to the front of the audience and took a breath before he brought the mic to his lips. Then the first word came out.
Lost alone,
Neither skin nor bone,
Just a thought,
Is all I've got,
Now my cover's blown.
There was a flash of light. When the light faded, Raz saw to his delight that the mote of light that Helmut had been, had transformed into his human form, color and all.
At the bottom of a lake,
Of frozen feeling,
When my friends pulled me back up,
I started,
Healing! Healing!
The music picked up speed and the crowd went nuts, cheering and dancing. Seemed like they had the Feast they wanted.
Now I can,
Feel out the galaxy,
And hear the flow of time,
Been so tense,
But now I sense,
A reason to this rhyme.
And I can smell the universe,
And I can taste the sky,
And I can see each molecule,
Through my Cosmic I.
Raz was so busy enjoying and dancing to the song, that he didn't notice the Memory Vault behind him, trembling and shaking.
Senses are the magic keys,
They fill the holes I've had,
The memory vault behind Raz suddenly collapsed and opened it's hatch. A dark, star filled blob poured out of its mouth. And it slowly took a human form before it started to hover above the performing musicians.
Unlocking all my memories,
The figure started approaching Helmut from behind.
Which are never,
It got even closer. Raz had seen it, but was too startled to do something.
Never,
It stood right behind Helmut.
Baaaaaaaaad!
“Wanna bet, Helmut?” The figure asked in, what Raz suddenly realized, a Grulovian accent. Raz gasped, his first instinct was to hide behind the corner. This was Maligula. Or, at least the bad memory of Maligula.
Helmut dropped his microphone “Oh no, not again.” Helmut said, backing away from the Shadow Maligula.
Raz shook off his fear. He couldn't be scared now. Helmut needed him. He ran to the scared musician and took a stand between him and Maligula. He turned to Helmut. “Don't worry, all your friends are here.”
Shadow Maligula laughed evilly. “Friends? Oh you mean these 'friends'?” She asked in mocking tone. She gestured to the remaining members of the Feast, who were all huddled together in a terrified group. “The ones w
“Don't listen to her!” Raz shouted. He placed his fingers to his temple and outstretched his other arm, ready to attack when necessary.
Helmut's eyes darted around in panic, going from Maligula to Raz to his friends to Raz to Maligula … He pushed his palms against his head. “Please, dear universe.” He pleaded. “SHUT UP!”
Their surroundings started to change again and suddenly Raz found himself inside the Memory Vault Safe Place again.
Helmut, who had turned again into a mote of light, sighed in relief. “There we go. That's better.” He said. “Problem solved.”
“Helmut …how are your memories?” Raz asked cautiously.
Helmut hummed. “They are …there, but still. I can't remember much of anything.”
Raz looked at the smoky silhouettes that were strewn around the place. If the Shadow Maligula had come from this place, these must be memories connected to that. He smiled. “Well, if you don't mind, I think I can help with that.”
Helmut chuckled. “Kid, you've been helping me for a while now.” He said. “If I minded, I would have told you by now.”
Raz chucked and walked toward the nearest smoky silhouette, that definitely was Helmut Fullbear. The mote of light entered the silhouette. A quick flash and there now stood the slightly see through form of Helmut Fullbear. He raised his arm to a swirling whirlwind that was in front of them. Raz could make out figures inside it. “What's going on here?”
Helmut sighed. “This was my stupid plan to defeat Maligula.” He said sadly.
“You okay?” Raz asked.
“So far.”
Raz took another look at the swirling mass in front of him. It was moving too fast to see, but ..maybe his new Time Bubble skill could help him. He waved his hand and everything slowed down to a recognizable scene. It was Maligula, Helmut, Cassie and Compton – with the latter two in their Senses Form. Helmut seemed to be ….singing to Maligula?
“You were going to act her to death?” Raz asked Helmut.
Helmut sighed. “I did a monologue about Lucy's life and what she meant to us, to try and bring her back.” Before Raz could ask what he meant about that, he continued. “I was useless that day.” He buried his face in his hands.
Suddenly, Sniffles stood next to him. “You think YOU were useless that day?” She asked. “I tried to stop her with a motivational speech.”
Tasty joined them. “Actually, Fullbear, you distracted her long enough that I was able to recruit some local animals to help.” He said. He sighed. “Which also didn't work.”
Sniffles placed her hand on Helmut's shoulder. “We all brought what we had to the battle.” She said reassuringly. “The main things was, your beautiful performance did bring out the old Lucy, just for a bit.”
“It reminded us, she was in there.”
The menacing, looming figure of Maligula suddenly changed into someone else. A woman, wearing a head scarf and round ear rings, with kind eyes looking at them. There was something very, very familiar about her. Raz knew he had seen her before. Then realization hit him like a sack of bricks.
“Lucrecia Mux!” Raz yelled out. “I've seen her carving in summer camp so many times. She was the seventh member of the Psychic 6? So Maligula used to be Lucrecia Mux? But she went bad somehow, and then you all had to go …fight your friend?
The ghostly spectre of Helmut changed back into a mote of light and sighed sadly. “I liked not remembering stuff.” He floated over to the next scene. Raz used time bubble again to slow it down. It was a scene of Helmut …drowning, with Vision and Dr. Touch walking away.
“You guys, I'm right here!” Helmut shouted at the two figures. “Where are you going? Why did you all abandon me for a thousand years?”
“30.” Raz corrected,
Helmut snapped to Raz. “Maybe in your world!” He turned back to the scene. “Did they even look for me!? Did they all forget I existed?”
“We did look for you, Fullbear.”Vision's voice said, appearing next to Helmut, Dr. Touch beside him.
The scene changed, with Vision and Dr. Touch in the front, holding a device in the latter's hands. “But my stupid Hyperhyglaciator there, which we brought to freeze Maligula, well, it …” He voiced trailed off, regret filling his tone.
Vision placed a hand on Touch's shoulder. “It worked as designed, Otto.” He said. He raised his hand to the scene again, which changed to the pair of them digging in the ice. “But you were so deep in that frozen lake, we couldn't find ya!”
Dr. Touch sighed sadly. “No matter how much and how long we dug.”
Raz was listening as this was happening. There was no way that Helmut could actually know what happened after he was lost in the ice. This was probably his Logic based parts of his brain filling in the blanks.
“I know you're just speculating here, Helmut, but I think you're probably right!” Raz said.
Helmut turned to Vision. “But, I send you my brain, Ford.” He said. “Didn't you find it.”
Vision blinked a few times. He seemed utterly confused. “I …I don't know.”
Raz stepped up. “Ford must have found your brain, because I found it in Otto's lab.” He said. “But he must have lost that memory when his mind was shattered in the battle.”
“My brain was shattered?” Vision asked in surprise.
Dr. touch chuckled and placed his hand on Vision shoulder. “C'mon, it was always a little cracked to begin with.” The pair of them turned around, walked away and vanished in a puff of smoke.”
Back in mote form, Helmut chuckled. “You know, if my body's been in Hyper Ice all this time, I'll bet I'll look amazing!” He said as they went the next scene, where Raz used Time Bubble again.
The scene showed Audie O, cowering in front of an Maligula, ready to attack with her serpents of water.
Helmut gasped. “Oh no, I can't look.” He turned away, hiding his face in his hands. “This is were that monster drowned my Bobby.” He said, grief thick in his voice. “Because I failed. Because my stupid plan couldn't save him.”
A hand gently landed on his shoulder. Audie stood behind him and Raz could swear that, even if the ear-head didn't have any other features, there was a gentle smile on him. “No, you saved me.”
Audie gestured to the scene, where it showed Helmut leaping in front of Audie, just as Maligula was attacking. “You threw yourself into the path of danger, sacrificing yourself to save me.” He chuckled. “Rather dramatically I might add.”
Helmut blushed. “Well, I mean …thank you.”
“So, I'm not dead.” Audie said. “I'm out there, waiting for you to-” the scene changed into a giant Audie, with an arm outstretched. “-come back to me.”
Helmut outstretched his own arm to the giant Audie. “I'm coming to you!” He announced. “Right now, I swear.”
Audie chuckled. “You better hurry.” He said. “You know how I get.”
Helmut turned to Razputin, head held high and chest puffed out. The Mental figures of this friends around him. “Memories, my boy.” He said confidently. “Just a show we put on inside our heads. Sometimes the first draft of the script stinks.”
He knelt down to Raz's eye level and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “Thanks for helping me with the rewrites.”
He rose up, a big grin plastered on his face. “Now let's go give the people what they want.”
He closed his eyes, and after a moment of concentration, they were back on the Main Stage, where the shadowy form of Maligula still lingered. She laughed mockingly, looming over what used to be her old friends.
Audie stepped forward, between them and Maligula. “Everybody, stand back.” He said. “Remember, this is our friend, Lucy. She's going through a though time. I think she might just need someone …to listen to her.”
Maligula shook her head. “Safe your sympathy for your shrubbery, Zanotto!” She said, menace in her voice. A serpent of water coiled up the tornado of water that Maligula had formed under her. It struck forward, ready to bite. Raz shielded himself, waiting for the impact. The impact that never came. He looked up and saw that Helmut had thrown a Time Bubble at both it and Maligula.
“Time out Lulu!” He said.” Maligula tried to escape the time bubble and just as she seemed to gain control her body, the other members of the Feast joined in with slowing her down. Helmut- turned to Raz. “Now's your chance, quick!”
Raz placed the fingers of his one hand against his temple and outstretched the other. He grinned. “One Norma Natividad Heat Beam Special, coming up.” A ball of Pyrokinetic energy formed at the tips of his outstretched fingers. He let the energy build up, much more than Norma had taught him to do. But he needed to end this in one fell swoop.
After a few seconds of letting the energy build up, he released it. A beam of Pyrokinetic flames pierced Maligula, who just …vanished into smoke. Nothing more than a bad memory that was gone now. Raz turned around and saw Helmut on the ground, his concerned friends around him.
Vision placed his hand on Helmut's shoulder. “I haven't found your body yet, Fullbear.” He said. “But don't you worry. I've got your brain and I'm gonna keep it safe back at HQ, and come back for the rest of ya. Just after I figure out what to do with Lucy.”
Helmut nodded. “Okay, I know you won't forget about me.”
Vision chuckled. “I don't think anyone's gonna forget about you, after that performance.” He said. “In fact, I think they're demanding an encore.” He gestured to the audience, who were cheering and chanting Helmut's name. Helmut scrambled up, looking over the audience. He turned to Audie, who placed a loving hand on his shoulder. Helmut gave Audie a quick hug before he joined his fellow band members in celebration.
“I think my work here is done.” Raz said quietly to himself. He made his way backstage, out of sight and took out his smelling salts. He popped the container open and winced at the scent. A moment later, he found himself back in his own body, in Otto's workshop.
It seemed that Otto had managed to fix the problems on the Brain Ball, because he and Helmut were in a conversation that seemed to have been going on for a while. Raz had questions about the things he had learned there. About Maligu- No, Lucrecia. But he decided that could wait. There were more pressing things going on right now.
“-And well, after that, Truman had no choice but to fire him.” Otto concluded his story with a sigh. “He retreated into the Gulch and we never heard of him again, no matter how many times we tried to get into contact him. I know Truman send him letters and photos about Lili, but he never answered them.”
Helmut chuckled. “I still can't believe that young pipsqueak Truman is the Head of the Psychonauts now AND he has a kid.” He noticed that Raz was back. “There he is! My hero!”
Raz waved. “How are you feeling, Helmut?” He asked.
“Much better.” He said. “I don't know what was going on in there, but you certainly took care of things. Thank you, my boy.”
Raz smiled brightly, allowing himself to feel a bit proud of himself “So what are you going to do now?”
Helmut sighed sadly. “There is only one thing I can do.” He said. “I need to talk to Bobby.”
Otto nodded. “I'll take you there.” He said. “Someone needs to explain what has happened.” He stood up and started to make his way out of his lab, Helmut rolling right behind him. By the exit they stopped and turned to Raz. “Well, are you coming or not, my boy?” Otto asked.
Raz blinked a few times in surprise. “I can come?”
“Well, you've been helping us with to so far.” Otto said. “It would be good sport of us to let you help us further. Unless you're done with this …” He finished with a smirk.
Raz grinned and ran after them. “Lead the way, Agent Mentallis.”
A while later, Raz had his mind blown. He spun around as they walked, trying to take everything in. He was in Green Needle Gulch. The birth place of the Psychonauts. Where everything started. Where Ford and Otto discovered Psitanium. Where the Psychic 6 – or it should be 'Psychic 7' shouldn't it? - were formed. But he had barely time to look at a big machine that was inside a building called the Heptadome. He had seen so many things in such a short time, but what he saw now was the weirdest of them. He looked up to a giant tower of vines.
“Bob lives up there?” Raz asked.
“Better get to climbing.” Otto joked.
“I'll rather levitate.” Raz replied.
A quick levitation trip later, Raz found himself in front of a rundown greenhouse. He carefully opened the door. He saw a single person standing there, surrounded by plants and bottles of liquor and a homemade distillery. The big-bearded man was tending to a little tree, carefully trimming it with professional precision. That must be Bob Zanotto.
Raz carefully walked inside and cleared his throat. “Agent Zanotto?” He asked. “Bob?” A bottle suddenly flew in his direction. Raz ducked in time, making it fly past him. “Hey! That just missed me.”
“Well…” Bob began with a gruff voice, pulling a flash out his beard and taking a sip of it. “His aim ain't what it used to be.” Raz noticed that a vine – who presumably had thrown the first bottle – picked up another one, seemingly ready to throw again.
“You could give someone a concussion, you know.” Raz said. Man, he sounded so much like his mother right now.
“Well, it was your choice to come in here -” He belched. “-uninvited. It's dangerous in here. Lot's of …broken things.” He took another sip of his flask.
Raz eyed the vine and gulped. “Bob, there is someone here to see you.”
“Hello, Bob.” Otto walked in. “It's been a wh-”
A bottle shattered on the floor next to Otto.
“Get out of here!” Bob said angrily. ”I don't want to see you, Mentallis.”
Raz took a cautious step forward. “But Helmut Fullbear-AGH!” Raz's sentence got interrupted by a vine that entangled him. He suddenly hung face to face, in front of an angry bob. “STOP IT, RIGHT NOW!” He shouted, his breath reeking so badly of alcohol, it made Raz's eyes water. “I don't wanna hear that name ever again, you hear me?”
He turned away. “He is …lost …dead.”
“But I'm not dead, Bob.” Helmut's voice said. “And put the kid down, before you hurt him.”
The vine dropped Raz on the ground. Bob stumbled backwards, against his table, an expression of shock and disbelief on his face.
Helmut the Brain Ball rolled inside. “Man, you got to make this place a bit more Brain Ball Friendly.” He said. He made a sniffing sound. “What's that smell? Mushroom? You know I hate mushroom. Otto, please dial the 'smell setting' down a bit, before I pretend to throw up.”
Bob stared at Helmut. “That voice …no, no, no it can't be.” He stammered.
“It's me, Bobby.” Helmut said. “It's your PSI King.”
Bob let out a breath. “H-how?” He asked. “Where is your body?”
“I was lost for a long time, until this one found me.” He said, bumping the Ball into Raz's leg. “You can thank Otto for the mobility tool.”
“But how? Why?” Bob asked.
“It's a long, long story, Bob.” Otto said.
Bob took a few steps forward, arm outstretched. Raz watched with a big grin plastered on his face. But just as Bob was going to touch Helmut, he recoiled.
Bob turned around and walked back to his table. “NO! NO! This is a trick!” He shouted. “Yes, just a trick of my mind. Showing me things that aren't there. Giving me …hope, only to take it all away.” He took his flask and started taking big gulps from it, ignoring the others gathered there.
“Oh Bobby.” Helmut muttered sadly.
Otto placed a hand on Razputin's shoulder. “I think you know what to do, my boy.”
“You want me to go in there?” Raz asked. “Shouldn't I – you know – ask permission or something.”
“As far as I see it, Bob and I are still married – whatever the 'legal paperwork' might say.” Helmut said. “And as his husband, I give you permission to give Bob a mental check-up.”
Raz nodded and turned to Otto again. “Will you come with us?” he asked.
“I'm afraid not, Razputin.” Otto said. “I think it's imperative that I go inform Forsythe of what transpired in the last couple of hours. I think she will be pretty amazed at what our youngest Intern has accomplished.” He smiled. “I know I am.”
Raz blushed and uttered a shy thank you.
Otto gave Helmut and Raz a quick salute. “Good luck, gentlemen.” With that said, he stepped out the greenhouse and vanished out of sight.
Raz took his Psycho Portal out of his pocket. Man, he only had this thing for less then 12 hours and it already had seen some action. He was about ready to throw it at Bob, when the vine grabbed it out if his hand. Raz jumped after it, afraid it might break it. But to his surprise, the vine slowly made his way over to Bob and placed it on his forehead, putting him in a trance.
“Huh, seems like Bobby's subconscious might agree he needs some help.” Helmut said amused. “Even if his mouth says otherwise.”
“Let's go.” Raz said, pulling his goggles over his eyes. A moment later, and his astral projection was flying through the Astral Void. He felt no nausea, no dizziness, no panic. Seems today had helped him quite a bit. Raz suddenly noticed they were reaching something. A-
“Is that a door?” Helmut, who was falling beside him, asked.
“Seems like it.” Raz answered. It was a giant door – like the one he had on his Psycho Portal. He floated over to it and turned the knob. He opened it and peeked inside. “Hello, Agent Zanotto?” He walked unto a wooden pier. He seemed to be on a little island, with the only things on there being the pier he was standing a campfire, three giant plant pots and Bob Zanotto, who was tending to one of the pots.
“This is terrible!” Helmut exclaimed, who had just walked through the door.
“I'm guessing it didn't used to look like this?” Raz asked sadly.
Helmut shook his head, as he spun around to take it all in. “No. His mind used to be a beautiful, lush garden that stretched past the horizon.” He said. “It was a place filled with color, smells, flowers, trees. It was a sight to behold. It was …our little place away from it all. But this …” He gestured all around him. “This is terrible.”
“Seems to represent his isolation, if I remember my lessons correctly.” Raz commented.
Helmut sighed, but nevertheless puffed out his chest. “No matter how it looks now, once we help Bob, it surely -oomph.” Helmut buckled over mid-sentence. Raz rushed over to him.
“Helmut, what's wrong?” He asked, growing more and more concerned. Helmut's astral form seemed to be …flickering.
Helmut let out a humorless chuckle, resting an arm on his knee. “Seems I'm not ready yet for making house-calls.” He said, his form flickering more and more. “I'm not strong enough yet to keep myself here. I'm being pulled back to my body. Seems it's up to you, Little Rockstar.”
Raz felt a wave of mild panic wash over him. “Me? Alone?” He asked. “But what if I-?”
“Raz, you managed to help me when I was a lost in my own mind.” Helmut said, a big, reassuring smile on his face. “I am positive you can do this.”
Raz blushed nodded with a small smile. “Thank you.”
“Go get him, tiger.” Helmut said as he faded away.
Raz took a deep breath, exhaled and walked over to the flower pot where Bob was working. He jumped on the pot and greeted Bob. “Hello? Agent Zanotto?”
Bob didn't look away from his work. “Strange.” He muttered. “I usually don't get visitors here.”
“That actually sounds pretty lonely.” Raz commented
“Huh, I have my garden.” Bob said. Raz noticed how the Mental Figure of Bob seemed to be a lot friendlier than the one he just encountered in the real world.
Raz chuckled. “Well, the Zanottos are famous for their …” He looked around at the barren flower pots. Nothing was growing. Everything dead. “…gardens. Huh, what did you plant here?”
“Plant?” Bob seemed confused.
“What kind of seeds did you use.”
“Oh right, seeds. That's right.” Bob mumbled to himself. He stood up and dusted off his hands. “No seeds. Lost 'em all.”
“Where'd they go?”
“Out there” I suppose.” Bob said, gesturing to the vast ocean behind them. “Don't really remember.”
“Well, let's go find them.” Raz suggested with a smile.
“I -uh, am not a good swimmer.” Bob confessed. “Are you?”
Raz grinned widely. “I am, but I got something even better.”
Bob chuckled. “Well, good for you, I guess.”
“How about I go find those seeds for you?” Raz asked. “Get some plants going here?”
Bob just humphed and turned around to his flower pot again. Raz sighed. “I'll take that as a 'yes'.” He turned around to the ocean surrounding the island. He tried to remember his lessons about Mindscapes again. Mindscapes were built around experiences and memories, so logically, somewhere, out there, were places that represented those memories. Maybe that's where the seeds had ended up. He walked over to the pier and gazed over the water. He could use Hydrokinesis to traverse these oceans, but …there was a more fun way. With a PSI-punch, he knocked over the door.
“There, now I have a raft.” He said with a giggle. He jumped on.
“Wait!” Bob's voice suddenly called out. He ran to the pier. “Don't go.” He sounded so sad, so lonely, so …broken.
Raz extended an hand. “Come with me.”
Bob hesitantly reached a shaky hand, but let it fall, shaking his head.
Raz smiled. “Hey, it's okay.” He said calmly. “Look, I'll just do some quick seed recon, and then I'll come right back. I promise”
Bob nodded, a sad expression on his face and watched as Raz's raft floated away from the island. Raz placed his fingers against his temple. He felt how the door-raft got lifted up a bit and, after he took a second to brace himself, he took off at incredible speed. Raz couldn't help but to cheer as the wind rushed against his face, playing with his hair, making his jacket flap in the wind. He was glad he was wearing his goggles, so they didn't water. He passed several little islands, some which had mental figures of Otto, Truman and even one with Lili. He knew that Truman had send letters with pictures of Lili over the years, so he knew what she looked like. He only wondered how she would sound like in here, since he he had never actually met her. But Raz decided it was not the time for distractions. He needed to help Bob. He could revisit this place with the Brain Tumbler any day of the week, if he wanted.
So he kept going, until he saw something …interesting. A giant bottle, resting on a small island.
“This bottle looks promising. And ominous.” He chuckled. “'Prominous', if you will.” Oh he was so clever at wordplay. With the help of telekinesis, he managed to uncork the giant cork of the opening of the bottle. He climbed inside and made his way through. To his surprise, the glass interior of the bottle seamlessly blended over into a wood-panneled hallway, with pictures on the walls. Raz noticed that one of the pictures contained an image of a woman and a child. A young Bob and his mother, Tia Zanotto.
“Huh, this must be connected to his childhood.” Raz commented to himself. He kept walking and the hallway ended up in a neat kitchen that stretched out and swirled, like it was in a funhouse. He kept walking and eventually saw an opening in a fridge, leading to the outside. The air outside smelt sweet and sugary, but also wet. He looked at the bodies of water around the place and noticed it wasn't water at all. It was fizzing and bubbling and smelled sweetly. It was soda.
It didn't take long for Raz to notice his first seed of the day. With a smile, he reached out to get it, until a voice interrupted him.
“Hey!” Raz looked around and saw a giant moth – who's wings and patterns made him look eerily like Bob. “Hold it right there.”
“Why?” Raz asked the colorful creature.
“I wouldn't want you to get hurt.” It answered.
Raz scoffed and gestured to the seed. “How can that little thing hurt me?” He asked amused.
“Oh, they always start out little, don't they?” The moth commented. “And then they grow, and grow and …cause so much pain.” He flapped his wings and took of from its perch. “Here, just let me take this somewhere safe.”
“Wait, no. I wanted that.” Raz said, but the moth had already taken off into the distance, yelling to Raz one last time before vanishing out of sight. “No, you don't!”
Raz sighed. “Okay, Vodello. Time to go earn your seeds.” He said to himself, and took off into the direction the Moth had gone too.
This was the start of Raz's adventure in Bob's mind, where it took him to many different places that represented Bob's past. He found his first seed in a greenhouse, filled with empty liquor bottles. He had heard the stories about Bob's mother – Truman's grandmother and Lili's great-grandmother – and how she had taken to the drink after her husband had died. How she hid those bottles away from her son, inside the greenhouse. How she had spend more and more time there as the years went on, until, one day …she never came out again. Raz found the seed by a wooden statue of a resting Tia.
The second giant bottle Raz found, brought his to a ship, where the second seed got, once again, snatched by the moth, who had 'good intentions' and wanted to keep it away from him. He followed the moth into the ship and ended up the Psychonauts Headquarters, the Motherlobe. But this one seemed overrun with plants and …unfinished. Maybe this was how Bob had last seen it. The Motherlobe had seen some renovations in their first few years. Raz had made his way to the representation of Truman's office, where he overheard the memory of Truman firing Bob. Some harsh words were thrown around, but in the end …all that Bob sounded was …sad and desperate. His work had been one of two things that kept him from feeling the hurt. With the one taken away, he had resorted to his final option. Alcohol. Raz found the second seed in front of the wooden statue of a very angry looking and shouting Truman Zanotto. With that in the bag, Raz made his way to his final Seed.
His third giant bottle had lead him to what seemed to be wedding reception. Like the two before, the seed way right there, in the open. As he wanted to grab it, the Moth passed him again and landed right next to it. To Raz's surprise, he didn't seem to want to take it.
Raz was about to ask the mouth about it, but held himself from asking. If the moth hadn't noticed it, this would be an easy grab. He slowly walked over to the seed. The moth still hadn't noticed it, seemingly lost in thought. After a final glance to the moth, he grabbed the seed and quickly stored it into his jacket. Luckily, these were mental constructs and they shrunk themselves, so they'd fit.
“did you just take something?” The moth asked.
“Nope.” Raz lied quickly.
“Huh, must've imagined it.” The moth said, and he flew off.
With the way he came into the place being too slippery, Raz decided to keep going forward. Using his levitation, he quickly traversed this place, encountering giant cakes and what seemed to be Bob and Helmut's wedding. After finally levitating himself to the top of a giant and – to both Raz's amusement and discomfort – half-naked wedding cake ornament that looked like Helmut, he finally found the exit. As he walked along single path, he overheard Bob's memory of his wedding. A little ceremony, by the Feel Mobile.
I, Robert Zanotto, take this man, Helmut Fullbear…
…the happiest day of my life …
I used to think I loved plants more than people, until I met this man ….
When these feelings appeared in my heart, I thought they were weeds, and I tried to pull them out. But this mighty oak has given me shade, shelter, and something to lean on when I needed it. Just when I thought I was turning to seed, you made me bloom again.
I do.
He stopped by the wooden statue of Helmut Fullbear and smiled. “I hope you two will finally be happy together, like you deserve.” He said to the statue. “I'll make sure these seeds get back to Bob.” That said, he made his way out of there.
A quick raft trip later, Raz had reached Bob's little island. He took the three seeds out of his jacket and presented them to Bob. “I got them.”
Bob gave the seeds a glance. “I don't know. They look big.”
“Let's plant them and see what happens.” Raz said. He floated each seed to their corresponding flower pot and planted them. Bob and Raz looked to the soil with anticipation. But nothing seemed to happen.
“Nothing happened.” Bob said, seemingly not too heartbroken nothing happened. “Guess it's a dud.”
“Agent Zanotto,” Raz began. “-as an expert gardener, I'm sure you know the value of patience when it comes to-” Raz got interrupted when the ground began to shake. Out of each flower pot a flower bloomed.
“Well hello.” Raz said with a chuckle. He placed his hands on his hips. “Well Bob, you did it.”
“Yup, I did it.” Bob said with a little dance. But his face turned to concern and the plants started to shake and tremble.
“Why so nervous?” Raz asked.
Bob pressed his hands against his head. “I'm just.” He began. The plants started to enlarge with every second, like someone was pumping air into them. “I'm starting to remember …why I got rid of those seeds.”
The ground started to shake violently and Raz lost his footing, falling to the ground. Shaking of a moment of panic, he scrambled up and gasped at what he saw. The plants had grown into monstrous plant-like versions of the three persons he had found those seeds with. The Truheltia Memonstria was the best way Raz could describe this trio of creatures.
The moth appeared. “I warned you and I warned you, but did you listen? NO!” He turned to Bob. “But don't worry. I'm here to protect you. AGAIN.” It flew to Bob and started to encase him in a cocoon, leaving only his face uncovered.
“I knew those seeds were bad news!” Bob yelled.
“Hey, what are you doing,” Raz yelled at the moth. “Leave him alone!”
“I am protecting him!” The Moth replied.
“Protecting him? From what?”
“You're about to find out.” He flew away, leaving Raz with the three Plant-monsters. A set of vines grew out the ground and swung at Raz, hitting him unto the door he had been using as a raft. In the meantime, the Helmut plants had thrown plant-like mines into the water, the Tia plant was shooting bottles that acted like homing missiles and the Truman plant was breathing fire.
Raz grinned. They had made a mistake. They'd thrown him into the water, his domain. He placed his fingers against his temple and stretched his hand to the water. Giant hands, made of water rose up and started to throw the mines back at the plants, grabbing the missiles out of the air and dousing the Truman-plant's fire-breathing mouth. They couldn't handle such a barrage and quickly fell down.
The Helmut plant rose up and leaned its 'face' closer to Raz. “Why don't you get lost, kid?” He asked in a booming voice.
“How can you do this to Bob?” Raz asked. “You love him!”
“LOVE!?” The plant laughed. “I don't really love him. If I did, how could I have left him all alone?”
“Helmut?” Bob asked incredulously. “No. Helmut…would never say that!” Bob struggled and managed to break himself free from the cocoon.
The moth sighed and flew to Bob, grabbing him and dragging him away, despite Bob struggling and protesting. “Come on! It's not safe here! I'll keep you safe. You won't feel this at all.”
The plant monsters had regained their consciousness and started attacking Raz again, who just smirked. “Don't don't learn, do they.”
He just did the same thing again. He used Hydrokinesis to throw all the mines and missiles back at them at the same time. And after doing that a few times, they finally had enough. Defeated, they shrunk down to their smaller, more friendlier-looking versions.
Bob stood up. The moth had changed into a small cardboard mask. After giving the mask a last glance, he threw it aside.
“Hmmm, not bad.” Bob said to Raz. “You're not so bad at gardening yourself.”
Raz grinned. “Do you think you can handle them know.”
“I am willing to give it a try.” Bob said, taking out a pair of clippers, giving them a few snips for good measure.
Raz looked to the ocean with a smile. How about those?” He asked, pointing to the hundreds of seeds strewn about the water.
“Well, I'll just take them one at a time.” Bob said, and he turned around and walked to the flower pots.
Raz nodded with a smile and took out his smelling salts. “Time for me to see if what I did helped.” He said to himself and he popped open the container. A moment later, he found himself back in his body and blushed at the sight before him.
Bob was sitting on a chair, the Helmut Brain Ball comfortably resting on his lap, giving instructions to the vines, who were cleaning up all the bottles.
“Yes, all the bottles in the blue bin. Bottle caps too!” he said, caressing the glass exterior of Helmut's Brain Ball.
“Hey, that too!” Helmut yelled to a vine, who was about to throw a plastic bottle into the regular bin. “We're recycling plastic now, can you believe it.”
“I can't believe you are really here, Helmut.” Bob said. “How are you here?”
“Well, you can think that guy over there for that.” Helmut said. “He found me and brought me back to you.”
Raz gave a shy smile. “I better get going.” He said. “Give you a chance to catch up.”
“Hang on, kid.” Bob said, placing Helmut gently on the ground. He approached Raz, nervously rubbing the back of his head. “I …I am sorry for how I acted earlier.”
Raz waved away the apology. “It's okay, Agent Zanotto. I'm not mad.” he said. “But my mom might be a bit displeased.” He added silently.
Helmut rolled closer. “Kid, we can't thank you enough for what you have done today.” He said. “We owe you a debt we can never repay.”
Raz smiled brightly. “Agents Fullbear and Zanotto, it was absolute pleasure.” Raz sighed. “I would like to stay and ask you guys, like a million questions, but I better get back to the Motherlobe.”
Bob nodded. “Well, if you're in the neighborhood, come visit.” He said. “By that time, I'll have this place cleaned up again.”
“And that beard too, I hope.” Helmut said, making Bob and Raz chuckle.
After finding his way back to the Motherlobe, his first destination was Forsythe's office. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Inside, Otto was talking to a rather impressed looking Hollis Forsythe. She smiled as she noticed Raz.
“Intern Vodello, come in.” She said. “Agent Mentallis has been telling me quite the unbelievable story. If I didn't know for a fact that Mentallis is not someone for making up such stories, I wouldn't almost believed him. Something about lost founders and the reunion of lost lovers?”
Raz chuckled. “Something like that.”
Hollis folded her hands together. “I hope you can fill in the blanks that he was unable to tell me about?
Raz grabbed a chair and took a seat. “My pleasure, Agent Forsythe.” Raz said. “And, I know we said we were going to have dinner, but maybe we should have take-out instead.”
“A grand idea, Intern Vodello.”
That night, Raz had slept like a baby. He had mentally and physically exhausted from his adventures in the Mindscapes. He would have quite the tale to tell when the other Interns returned from their vacations. The following morning, he was sitting in the Atrium, reading the latest issue from True Psychic Tales. He ignored the hushed whispers of the Agents walking around. The news of what Raz had done the day before had gone around like wildfire.
Speaking of wildfires.
“OUCH!” Raz felt a punch against his arm and turned around to come face to face with his girlfriend. He rubbed his arm. “What was that for, Lili? And welcome back, I've missed you.”
Lili blushed, despite the look on her face. “Don't give me that. Me and dad had a great day at the expo, we return to our hotel room and get a message from Hollis with the most amazing and unbelievable story.”
Raz chuckled. “Yeah, I had quite the day yesterday.”
Lili sat down next to Raz, her angry expression changed into an enthusiastic one. “So, it's true? You actually saved Helmut Fullbear and reunited him with Uncle Bob?”
Raz saw something in the corner of his eye. He pointed. “See for yourself.”
Lili turned to where Raz was pointing and gasped. She wasn't the only one gasping. Several Agents were too, as they saw Hollis Forsythe leading Bob Zanotto and the Brain Ball that contained Helmut Fullbear's brain thought the Atrium.
Raz grinned and held out his hand. “Want to meet them?”
Lili hesitated at first, but then grabbed Raz's hand and gave it a firm squeeze. “Lead the way, Raz.”
Raz jumped off his seat and leaded Lili toward Hollis, Bob and Helmut. They arrived just in time to hear Hollis finish her sentence.
“-hear if he's ready and come for you.” She smiled at Raz and Lili, turned around and walked to the entrance of the Nerve Center, vanishing behind its doors.
“Hey, there he is, the hero of the day.” Helmut said cheerily. He started to roll circles around Lili and Raz. “But who is this you have with you? Ooh, is this the infamous Lili Zanotto? Mistress of plants and fire?”
Lili didn't answer. She had her eyes locked with Bob, who seemed nervous. She took a few steps forward and cleared her throat. “Hello U-Uncle Bob, it's great to meet you.”
Bob's eyes twinkled behind his beard and glasses. “It's …uh, great to meet you too, Lili.” Bob said nervously. “It's great to finally put a voice with the images.”
Lili giggled nervously.
“Why are you here?” Raz asked.
“Well, for one thing, my body is still a handsome popsicle in Grulovia.” Helmut said. “So we'll see how fast we can arrange for a mission to their to retrieve it. I can show them where it is and hopefully we can get it out. And the other thing ….”
“I am here to talk to Truman.” Bob said. He sighed. “The last time I saw him, thing got …ugly. But I am ready now to talk.”
“And they have A LOT to talk about.” Helmut added. “Lots of baggage there.”
An agent approached them. “Mr. Bob Zanotto? The Grand Head is ready for you.”
Bob sighed. “Wish me luck, Helmut. Kids.” With that said, he followed the Agent.
“You're not going with him, Uncle Helmut?” Lili asked.
Helmut chuckled. “'Uncle Helmut', I lot that.” He said. “And no, it is best that Bob and Truman take alone first.”
Raz nodded. “Well, how about a tour of the Motherlobe?” He asked. “It wasn't here yet when you were …around, wasn't it -ouch!” Lili had punched his arm again.
Helmut chuckled. “The two of you are adorable.” he commented. “And yes, I would like a tour.”
Raz grinned. “Great, Let's start with the Bowling Alley.”
“As long as you don't use me to throw a strike, I'm all for it.” Helmut said with a chuckle. “Lead the way, Rockstar.”
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