Psi Corps
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In the fictional universe of Babylon 5, the Psi Corps is an agency of the Earth Alliance responsible for telepathic individuals. Telepaths, once discovered, are given a choice of joining the Corps, being sent to an internment camp, or being forcibly drugged for the rest of their lives to suppress their telepathic abilities. These drugs often have a depressing effect, and Susan Ivanova's mother committed suicide because of them.
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[edit] Purpose and operation
The origin and early history of the Psi Corps is revealed in a series of books written by Gregory Keyes. Panic and persecution followed the confirmation of telepathic abilities in certain individuals. The Psi Corps was created by the Earth Alliance to protect telepaths but also to identify and control them.
The Psi Corps headquarters has hospitals, offices and a boarding school where young "teeps" and "teeks" avoid the persecution they would face among the mundane population. This school is overseen by the monitors (usually called by their nickname, "grins"), which appear in Susan Ivanova's nightmare about the corps and her mother. Family names were matriarchal, the mother's unmarried name was carried forward to the children. This is why female telepaths, such as Lyta Alexander and Talia Winters all carry their surname down the generations.
Many telepaths are mistreated by the Psi Corps. The Corps tends to be heavy-handed in its approach to dissident telepaths. Some telepaths do not want to become part of the Corps because they believe the Corps to be evil, and are sent to internment camps. Others are forced into arranged marriages, and some females are even impregnated against their will in order to produce telepathically stronger children. They sometimes run away and became rogue telepaths, which Corps members called "blips".
[edit] The Psi Cops and opposition to the Corps
"Psi Cops", a para-military body enforcing laws related to telepaths, act as judge, jury, and executioner. This is especially true when dealing with non-telepaths who have done violence against a member of the Psi Corps. In one case they implanted an image in a telepath murderer's mind which was so horrifying the person had to be restrained to prevent him from ripping out his own eyes. In another case, a man who murdered a Psi Cop was ejected from a spaceship into hyperspace. While Psi Cops professes a desire only to bring rogue telepaths back home to the family, they are likely to kill a rogue telepath upon capturing one. Psi Cop field agents are usually chosen from teeps with a rating of P-10 or higher.
Doctor Stephen Franklin of Babylon 5 participated in an underground railroad to help rogue telepaths escape from the Corps. Eventually, the telepaths who escaped provided assistance during the closing days of the Shadow War. Later on, President John Sheridan of the Interstellar Alliance allowed rogue telepaths to form a small colony on Babylon 5. The situation ended in violence when the Psi Cops attempted to take the rogue telepaths back to Earth.
After the colony on Babylon 5 was forced to leave following the death of its leader, Byron, Lyta Alexander began a crusade against the Psi Corps. Her actions led to a war in which rogue telepaths and non telepaths fought the Psi Corps. The old Psi Corps was destroyed, and a new Psionic Monitoring Commission was built to replace it.
Once the Telepath War was over, the Psionic Monitoring Commission dedicated itself to hunting down those members of the Corps who committed war crimes, such as Alfred Bester. He was eventually captured and sentenced to spending the rest of his life in prison with his abilities taken away by drugs. Many private schools were founded to educate telepaths; they met with mixed success. Telepaths were allowed a much wider range of options as far as their lives were concerned. Rather than having to join the Psi Corps, they were able to do almost anything they wanted. This included joining the Earth Alliance military and working for private organizations.
[edit] Notable quotes
- "The Corps is mother, the Corps is father."
- "The Psi Corps is your friend. Trust the Corps."
- "We Are Everywhere For Your Convenience."
[edit] Notable Psi Corps individuals
- Alfred Bester (named for science fiction author Alfred Bester) was a senior Psi Corps official, known as a "Psi Cop".
- Lyta Alexander
- Talia Winters
- Jason Ironheart
- Byron
[edit] Books about the Psi Corps
The Psi Corps Trilogy:
- Dark Genesis: The Birth of the Psi Corps
- Deadly Relations: Bester Ascendant (Babylon 5)
- Final Reckoning: The Fate of Bester
