Ms. Gosmiller (from Psi High)

“Secret” icon By Greg Beck (Noun Project)

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Ms. Gosmiller (24)

Project: YA Novel (Psi High)

Known as: Ms. Gosmiller

Real name: Abigail Gosmiller

Group affiliation: School staff

Physical description: Gosmiller is the opposite of Dr. Grinker – she’s in her early 60ies but could pass for being in her 50ies. Faded red hair is cut short in a pixie, she is thin and active. She dresses stylishly.

Personality: Gosmiller is calm, charming, and intelligent. She is an outstanding teacher due to her ability to build rapport with her students. She stays current and is knowledgeable on what is popular with the students. Some students find this strange, but most appreciate it as it feels like real interest versus just going through the motions to stay current. A great lecturer, she’s even better one on one and she has more such appointments with students than the guidance counselor (especially surprising given they believe she is not Electi). She can be judgmental of the other members of the faculty who do not seem to take their jobs seriously enough (she’s not a fan of Dr. Grinker).

She’s basically the perfect teacher except for all the secrets and deception.

History: Gosmiller has taught at Coldwater for decades. One legal requirement is the school has a certain number of non-Electi staff and the “Electi History and Ethics” teacher must be one of them. Once the Coldwater administration found such a great “non-Electi” teacher as Ms. Gosmiller they have worked very hard to keep her.

From the beginning she had a knack for understanding and connecting with students. Where other schools have problems with “Electi History and Ethics” (EHE) due to the inherit tension between the non-Electi teacher and the students, things have been smooth at Coldwater thanks to Gosmiller. She is sympathetic to Electi and feels that her primary responsibility is being a good example of a normal human. Her class has been so successful she shares her curriculum, trains, and regularly lectures to other EHE teachers.

She is also the type of teacher Selena loves. Gosmiller focuses on exercises and applying knowledge which favors the quick-thinking Selena. Selena, as a newly-discovered Electi with no Electi family still feels like an outsider. Though Electi, Selena still sees herself as non-Electi and Gosmiller provides an adult figure she can connect to. Quickly Gosmiller becomes her favorite teacher (not unique) but also feels a connection of friendship.

If it seems like I haven’t covered Gosmiller’s early life, that is by design. Because Gosmiller is not what she seems. Secretly, she IS Electi. Not just Electi, a very powerful Prime. She has been strategically positioned to monitor and influence on behalf of the Prime Council (a group of powerful Electi who more or less rule the world). Usually this boils down to helping mold the young Electi in the direction the Council needs. However, were she to find out that one of her students is an unidentified Prime that could break the Prime Councils hold, what would she do?

Role in the narrative: Gosmiller is the mentor character for our hero. At the same time, she MIGHT also be the ultimate villain. If played well, she’ll provide a jolt where the person Selena trusted more than any other isn’t what she seems to be.

Gosmiller, for her part, truly likes Selena. When she uncovers that Selena is an unknown Prime, she will have a big crisis of conscious (in truth she has been questioning the motives of the cabal for years – let’s call them the Prime Council). Does Gosmiller stay loyal to the Prime Council for the good of the Electi? Does the Prime Council have the good of ALL the Electi as their primary goal? And will she be able to seal Selena’s fate when her affection for Selena is real?

Abilities: Gosmiller is a Prime telepath. The world believes the Electi to have useful, but ultimately limited power. The world believes telepaths are useful as counselors or truth-tellers, but that’s about it. Where they to know that people like Gosmiller existed, they would be terrified.

Gosmiller, like the handful of Prime telepaths that exist can effortlessly read the surface thoughts of those around her. With concentration she can browse their memories, beliefs and being. She can also implant memories and program actions. If she were willing to work at it, she could change a person’s personality and beliefs. This is a great deal of effort and risky. Usually when attempted the subject ends up insane as she would be essentially unweaving a blanket then using the threads to make a sweater. She has personally never gone to this level, but she has made people want to avoid certain things or take actions that are not completely out of line with their intent. She can also alter and erase memories.

She is also among the few people who can block Prime Electi. This is where a command is placed in a (usually young) Prime Electi’s mind that limits their powers to that of a standard Electi. The Prime Council does this to help keep the secret that Primes exist, while also limiting those who could challenge the Prime Council members. Still, the Council could remove the blocks if they had a sudden need for more Primes. It is easy for a telepath who can place a block to remove the block that they themselves placed – only a few (and not Gosmiller) can remove any block.

Inspirations: I’m not completely sure. I think Gosmiller’s spiritual inspiration may be Dumbledore (although I see them as quite different). One of the things that was amazing about Rowling’s creation was that while he seemed to have genuine sympathy for Harry he was also willing to place Harry in harm’s way for the greater good. I never doubted Dumbledore’s intentions, but he was very manipulative, and I wasn’t always sure that Harry should trust Dumbledore completely (thank goodness he did). I think that Gosmiller truly likes Selena but Selena is a crazy threat to the status quo (as the only non-Council member who can reliably unblock blocked Primes). I haven’t decided yet if Gosmiller will decide if the greater good is betraying or supporting Selena.