The Scanners/Highlander Players' Guide

By Peter Flanagan

Chapter Two: The Aeon Toolbox

Sharon laughed as Eric's body flew back.

Sure, Eric Sent, groaning. Go ahead and laugh. I'll just keep getting thrown around like a piece of meat.

"If you insist," she replied, concentrating on the Reaper that had attacked. Don't you learn, shock-boy? We kicked your butt all over the place before, and that was when you had your buddies here. Now I'm going to -- Sharon's head jerked back, then she doubled over.

The Reaper, a tall lanky punk with a dark smile, walked forward and reached toward the sensory expert. "Ever run into a reflex shield, little girl? Nasty experience, being blasted by your own mind."

"You're...not...that...good," she breathed, trying to push him away with her TK. He shrugged it off and laughed.

"Ah, science," he said, touching the choker gleaming on his neck. "It's simply amazing what they're doing with electronics these days."

His hand jerked as an electric arc shot from the choker.

"Yeah..." Eric snarled, his eyes blazing, "it's just one shock after another."

The scanshield shorted out in a blue-white blaze while the punk screamed.

Sharon rose shakily, smoothing out the mindblast with a touch of biofeedback. Then she focused, taking the punk's psiforce out of synch and channeling some of it to Eric. "Thanks."

"Hey, I owed you," Eric replied. "That reminds me...gotta thank Roland for teaching me that trick. But we've got more important things to worry about right now."

"Like how trash like him got hardware like this?" she asked, taking the choker.

Eric nodded solemnly.

* * *

Scanners are, by their nature, scientifically oriented. This is to say, the physical nature of their powers, being of the Technocracy, makes them more capable of using technological advancements than normal humans. Psychotronics, psi-drugs and parapsychology are all a part of the Scanner phenomenon, as well as the "harder" sciences of paraphysics and parabiology.

This means that, in general, Scanners have access to a higher level of technology than the sleepers around them.

It should be noted that this is not always a good thing. The Technocracy uses psi-tech already, and in fact the New World Order has made great advances in the sciences of the mind. This gives interested Technocrats a serious advantage when tracking, hunting and capturing Scanners for study and/or arrest for "reality crimes."

In addition, the Scanners' powers are not static, however much the Technocracy might wish otherwise...

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