Extensive research of the human mind, and the various ways to influence it, finally led to the conclusion that there's more to it than meets the eye. It turned out that human beings, and some individuals more than others, have a natural ability to affect minds of others directly. While those abilities are usually not strong enough to allow for anything more than reading surface thoughts or planting suggestions inside someone's mind (which is still useful nonetheless), the governments immediately started recruiting the most potent minds - called psions - to work for them as security, spies, and propaganda agents.