Thread necro!
As with what Kristy said, the Vessel cannot be the only one with the singular talent of not dissolving into the Gestalt. He has the advantage of never having been in a true gestalt, because his teep ability was below the consideration of the collective, so he long ago established an sense of Self too strong to be overwhelmed when the mega-hivemind arises. The Collective regularly forms and breaks group Psi unities, so they're used to it, expect it, and open themselves to the prospective touch of a gestalt and - WHAM - the super meme blows into them like a January blizzard, burying them in the white noise of 'Find others, help Me'.
The thing about the Vessel is this: He was never 'good' enough, his teep abilities too weak. The Collective never accepted him, turned him away, and deep down in his subconscious he rather resents that. He has lost his willingness to be a Part of them, and built up his mental defenses to that end.
When he suddenly finds that he can suddenly Reach them, and push, he pushes with everything he's got, maintaining his Self throughout.
Yeah, so he's got this annoying little ankle biter trying to muscle in - but he's no mage, he's got nothing for the spirit to latch onto. His Psi let him pass their tests, but it was a pure false-positive. Annoyed by the pest he snags it by the scruff of the neck and boots it out the proverbial mental 'door', directly into the now ravening Gestalt…
Nasoj or whomever has never dealt with teeps, they were never a potent force in his time era and he has only attracted magic talent in the centuries since, so when the Vessel spreads his awareness into the collective Nasoj is taken along for the ride - as a bundle of snowflakes - only to suddenly find his little snowflake self consumed by the blizzard only to become so many snowdrifts. His knowledge and history is likewise scattered across this psionic arctic wonderland and it takes him considerable time and monumental effort to drag himself back.
By the time he regains his Self he's too weak to contest the current Vessel, or even be heard shouting "What the f*k are you doing!?".
[Kristy]
Okay, so what aside from being "PCs" makes Abbey and her cell unique among the Collective?[/Kristy]
Like the Vessel, they have established their individual Egos and group sense of Self. One or more of them have instinctive, unconscious shields strong enough to withstand the Suggestion, even when they open themselves to the expanding Gestalt. Those individuals, or even just one, reflexively expands their shields when they hear the roaring voices, allowing the others to leap back and immediately GTFO of there, maintaining their individuality and group Self. Or maybe even remain a part of the Gestalt but with the volume dial turned way down - they can hear what's going on, but not so powerfully it turns them into drones. That also gives them a leg up on dealing with it - intermediaries between the Teep Drone Army and everyone else.
As for Murikeer… the sudden dissolution of Nasoj will hit him like a freight train loaded with Tanks charging down hill with no brakes.
And he can do *nothing* against teeps. He assumes their abilities are magic and tries to sever them from their Mana - only to fail. He's thrown into a bit of a panic and has to rely on the mortal Heroes to tell him WTF is going on.
Sure, he can still level city blocks, but against a single Teeper poking holes in his thoughts or throwing him around with TK, he's a ragdoll. A very, very powerful ragdoll when his anger is aroused… but still, left completely out of his element.
After Nasoj's spirit has manifested in a mortal vessel and vanquished, Muri suddenly finds himself standing before the Void, knowing that Nasoj can claw his way back through their shared link.
But standing there before that rift, quite visible to everyone, are a Mink and a white skunk (the former glowering at the latter, but both beaming at him). He joins them and they step into the rift, which collapses rather violently inward behind them.
