Chapter Text
Lili Zanotto watched from the tree branch down at Coach Oleander’s Lesson about the brain. Her hand felt the grooves of the bark as she mapped words to how her hand felt as it moved. This was it: Camp Whispering Rock. The place where the plants brought her. Not back to her family, but these were still her people. Voices of plants were abuzz behind her, but below her were voices of humans. Kids. Children. People like her.
I could put you down there, if you’d like.
“No.” Lili hissed. This was a government protected facility. What if they thought she was a danger? Or a spy?
But…maybe they could also take her to her father? She could go home… and maybe in the between time, she could… learn? Learn about other psychics? Learn about other psychic powers? Learn how to stop hearing all the buzzing in her brain with all the plants around her-
Okay, down you go!
Lili felt the branch dump her into the bushes, which caught her and then set her down on the dirt.
“LAKE MONSTER!” She heard a kid cry.
The kids were suddenly let loose, running and screaming.
“Oh, you jerk !” Lili shouted at the tree. “You’re really in for it now-!”
Just then, Lili felt something trying to grab her. She yelped out of fear and then took off to the side. She couldn’t get caught. Not again. Not after- She realized that the plants had been turning her a bit, but she was fine with their touch. Soft leaves and gentle twigs were much nicer than rough, human hands.
Lili took another dive into the brush, freeing herself from the TK hand that tried to grab her.
“It’s. Resisting!”
Of course she would resist. She didn’t dare want to be caught again.
She pushed her way out of the brush, startled to find herself to the side of clearing, the Agents turning to her as the kids grouped at the opposite side. Apart from one, who had still been sitting in his original spot. She could tell by the goggles on his head.
“It’s just a little girl?” She heard the gruff voice of Coach Oleander. Kind of matched what she thought his voice might have fit from his stories in True Psychic Tales.
“She certainly looks like she came from the lake.” She heard a voice from one of the kids.
Lili felt fire beneath her skin. Burning rage enflamed her ears to the point she could barely hear the adults asking her about her name. She felt something prod into the side of her head and felt her flames snuff it out.
“ Incredible. ” Lili heard Sasha Nein manage. The German accent was faint, but clearly there. Not the voice she expected from the agent, but it was his voice, clearly.
Lili took the reins of her introduction. She didn’t need someone else finding out her secrets. She stepped onto the stage and passed between Coach Oleander and Milla Vodello.
“My name.”
“Starts with a P-”
“Is Lili Zanotto. That’s Lili with an ‘i’ at the end. Not a ‘y.’”
“Kid,” Coach Oleander began, “you came in here and got into a government protected facility! How?” He challenged her.
Who was she to deny him the truth? She stepped to the side of the stage, facing not only the Agents, but also the audience of kids. Some who were coming back and sitting back down. “I was a person who didn’t know a lot of things. I knew I had some…weird strange things going on with me. I could set things on fire. I can talk to plants . They helped me get here! I wanted to find people I could connect with, and they brought me here. To the very training grounds of the Psychonauts . If anything, you are the people who can help me the most.
“Whether it’s reuniting me with my father, or training me to see my full potential! Please.”
There was a pause, until Oleander said: “Get that soldier a bunk.”
Lili blinked a few times in surprise, and that same reaction was mirrored with Camilla Vodello and Sasha Nein for a brief moment before the two nodded.
Lili smiled. She was finally here. Among people who understood her.