The Flesh of the Soul
This too shall pass.
The mindspace they entered was completely dark. Astarlane and Tenever closed ranks instinctively, tracing each other by footsteps until, with a soft collision, they were back-to-back. Astarlane drew her sword, the action mirrored by Tenever's sidearm rising from its holster.
Tenever tapped a foot once, twice. On the third count his left hand ignited in a brilliant flash that illuminated without blinding, revealing their surroundings all at once.
They were standing amongst ruins of stone. Everywhere around them, shattered slabs of dull grey lay slanted diagonally, lying against each other or propped up by mounds of rubble. The orc mage was beside them, kneeling with arms calmly folded. Her projected image was not visibly armed.
"Let us proceed."
The orc led the way, following some sense or memorised route not immediately obvious to either. Astarlane fell into rear-guard, while Tenever looked ahead with his handgun. Their guide did not seem unduly concerned.
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Gulmar, their squad leader, explained the process. Ideally the unconscious team would be taken out o…
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Notes for myself: the rules for what is possible in another person's mind are complex. In general, one brings a projected image of oneself based on an internal perception of themselves. Astarlane has her sword, while Tenever has a handgun. This is mostly because they expect to, having such equipment in realspace.
Some psychointrusion specialists can manipulate their internal perceptions for an advantage in mindspace - becoming faster or stronger, for instance. But there is the other half of the problem, which is that the space does not belong to the intruder. That is to say, at the end of the day the mind makes its own rules and everything in mindspace must obey it.
By way of further explanation, Astarlane and Tenever exist in this unconscious orc's mind because this orc has seen, and subsequently believes that, they could exist. Likewise Tenever is able to cast his spell because the orc's mind believes it could be done. Minds that do not believe in magic are why they brought mundane weapons.