I'll never forget the first returnee I was in charge of assisting. Li Wen Xuan was her name, a 19-year-old Chinese girl whose body mysteriously disappeared after a house fire, reappearing four years later in Times Square of New York City.

She reappeared with traditional Chinese garb, waving a sword around whilst shouting a rare dialect of Chinese. As one of the earlier cases of returnees making it back to earth, citizens were unsure of how to act when confronted with said situation. Confusion and negligence were the initial responses directed towards her, until a hot dog cart owner called the police describing her as “A crazy Asian lady dressed in weird clothes” making a huge ruckus.

As evidenced through a recording taken by a citizen's phone, the returnee was heard shouting an assortment of phrases, with only three being understandable.

"你这个魔术我看穿了，这帮恶魔们!"

"你们这群魔教的武士们，都会死于我剑!"

“我要把你们全杀死!"

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Translated, these sentences mean:

"I've seen through your magic, you bunch of devils!", "The bunch of you demon cult warriors, will all die from my sword" and"I am going to kill all of you!"

And kill all of you she did, with police arriving to subdue the "crazy Asian lady", only after she had cut down dozens of people with her sword. When faced with the authorities, she initially shouted more Chinese phrases, translatable into ancient traditional greetings. However, due to her not dropping her sword, she was tased mid-introduction, rendering her Incapable of movement and as such allowing for police to immediately place her under custody. Flagged by the newly developed RRA, the Returnee Rehabilitation Agency, she was then transferred under our custody.

Though new in the field of returnee-specialised psychologists, I was one of the few individuals capable of speaking a minimal level of Chinese, causing me to be assigned to communicate, and assess just how much a threat she posed.

I was inexperienced during this time, believing that no matter what, with proper counselling and medication, anyone could rehabilitate and return to being a competent and meaningful part of society.

But this client would be the first of many to emphasise one crucial fact that I would constantly be reminded of.

Not everyone can be saved. And not everyone that can be saved should be.