"Query. Cuil touched?"
"YES."
"Wh-"
"THE PHENOMENON WE REFER TO AS 'AWAKENING' IS NOT DISCRETE. VIOLENT, SUDDEN AWAKENINGS OFTEN AWAKEN A MIND TO ITS FULL POTENTIAL. BUT IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE TO PARTIALLY AWAKEN."
The being stood before the Glitch was large; a series of geometric, angled mirrors attached to a network of interwoven black muscle tissue. Their head was no head, just a silver orb with a single, black iris, attached to the rest of the strange being's body by a few wispy black fibers. Fibers behind the reflective plates vibrated to produce a shaky sound, like a violen's vibrato. Around them, a pitch black cave.
"Fascinated. How does one 'partially' awaken?"
"PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO PASSIVE, BACKGROUND FLOW. THE CONCENTRATION OF IT IS GREATER HERE. PERHAPS THAT IS WHY YOU EXPERIENCE THIS SO-CALLED 'PLANT SMELL'."
"Retort. Well, hold on just a second- plants just smell like that-"
"YOU HAVE NO OLFACTORY SENSE. YOUR BRAIN HAS VERY SLIGHTLY AWAKENED TO THE PRESENCE OF FLOW, AND THE PATTERNS IT FORMS IN THE PRESENCE OF CELLULOSE. THIS IS THE MOST LIKELY EXPLANATION.
The Glitch's deep purple optics flickered in a blink, as they stared up at the mysterious being before them. The Glitch buzzed out a sigh, before simply taking a seat back down on the cave's floor, gazing about at the vantablack gas around them before speaking, "Tired. Well, that doesn't help us get out of here."
"YOU ARE INCORRECT," the being rumbled back, "THERE IS VERY LITTLE CELLULOSE PRESENT IN THESE 'NYX CAVERNS' AS YOU CALL THEM. THERE IS NO LIGHT TO SUPPORT FLORA. NO ENERGY. HOWEVER. OUTSIDE IN GREATER EREBUS, THERE IS FLORA. SOMETIMES IT MAY CREEP IN, THE CLOSER THE CAVE IS TO EREBUS."
The Glitch gave a slow nod as they slowly stood, snapping their mechanical fingers, "Elated. That's right! If we can just keep walking until I can catch a whiff of some plants, we can just follow the scent. You're a genius! What did you say your name was, mister?"
"MIRRORED SIGHTS REFLECT OUR SOULS."
"Confused. I said your name, not some mysterious.. whatever that was."
"THAT IS MY NAME. WHERE I AM FROM, IT IS COMMON. DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT, SCREWHEAD?"
"...no."
"THOUGHT SO."
Cuil Touched is a state of partial psionic awakening, having a chance to develop from prolonged exposure to background ECF, seemingly entirely from chance instead of from an active awakening event. Cuil touched individuals typically manifest a single, very minor power that typically cannot be controlled- or most of the time, even noticed. Cuil touched individuals also do not produce any flux, and their presence or use of their abilities cannot typically be sensed through a psion's natural anomaly sense, as they are only capable of converting the very small amount of flux they generate from their consciousness.
A great deal of people are cuil touched without realizing they have abilities, due to their minor effects. The frequency of cuil touched people's aptitudes in a population typically goes from the top of the psionic horseshoe down towards the bottom; cuil touched espers are most common, whereas cuil touched metacreators or cuil touched with aberrant abilities such as future sight occur least frequently among people.
Examples of cuil touched abilities include molecule detection, very minor and uncontrollable telekinesis (moving pencils when you're not looking), subtle future sight prophecies in someone's dreams, molecule creation, veilsight, and many more. Most of the common abilities available have cuil touched variants. Cuil touched people are also more prone to fully awakening; when they awaken, they typically retain the abilities they had when they were cuil touched, typically in stronger form.
Psion App
Being cuil touched is an alternative to making an existing psion or awakening when you create a psion app. When you apply for a cuil touched psion, simply indicate as such in the 'awakening or existing psion' section in the application. Your character can have developed their cuil touched status in their backstory, or they can develop it in the future. You may select one common ability, or write a unique ability app; cuil touched abilities are extremely weak and typically not even noticeable. You may work with your grader if you would like your character to awaken to become a true psion.
Being cuil touched may be an attractive option if you want your character to have a unique and minor psionic trait such as being able to smell a certain compound with molecule detection, but do not want your character to be a full psion or to have psionics be a major part of their story. Since cuil touched people cannot produce or control large amounts of cuil flux, they are typically undetectable to other psions.