[Dokchara]
A vent on the ceiling blasted cool air over me as I shifted to a more comfortable position on the padded chair. Dr. Eric Shayne was typing away on his keyboard, filling the air with a pleasing background noise. Up until this point, my mind had been a jumbled knot of disjointed emotions with no clear start or end to work through.
Seeing that scene again, without the shock factor or looming threat of danger above me, was a completely different experience. Devastation was replaced with rage and panic was substituted with anticipation. I found a new point of view from which to observe this knot in my head, and a new set of tools to tug and prod the cords with.
The doctor spun around on his chair to face me and quietly clapped his hands together. The organic parts of his face curled up into a warm smile with creases in his skin indicating his age. He spoke with a unique accent, slightly rolling his ‘r’s and cutting his vowels short.
“And with that, Dokchara, you have been mentally cleared and given a guest status. The live records of your emotional responses prove that you aren’t mentally unstable, nor do you pose an immediate threat to yourself or those around you when unprovoked… How do you feel right now?”
“…Hot.”
“Mmm, that’s normal for your first time. Let me know if it lasts longer than ten minutes.”
He grabbed the terminal he was working, which was attached to the wall via a jointed mechanical arm, and pulled it over so he could both talk to me and view the screen at the same time.
“The recording of your dream just finished processing. I’m going to look through it once so I can better understand what you are feeling, and then we’ll work through the footage together piece by piece. We can stop at any time you feel like it, no questions asked.”
My knee jerk reaction was to call out and tell him to avoid that video at all costs. Its contents were an assault on one’s sanity. I didn’t want the kind doctor, who had shown nothing but a genuine willingness to help me, to suffer through the same thing I did. But I was still sluggish, and taking action was the last thing my body wanted to do before the heat passed. That moment of inactivity led me to have second thoughts.
Why should I keep it hidden? As far as I’m aware, that's the only recording of what happened in that facility. I’m already a man without a cause, is there any point in holding onto any secrets I’ve amassed over the years?
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Yeah… I should be exposing those freaks for everything they ever did. I should make them fucking pay for ruining my life… I have solid, factual proof in my hands and the possible backing of humanity, a rising star in this rotten and decrepit stage. If humans are so pretentious with their ‘war rules’ and meddling tendencies, surely they would support me to an extent…
Heh… My own little crusade…
Dr. Shayne had already started watching the video. The warmth from his face is gone, replaced by cold calculation. His eyes contracted and dilated while he studied the footage, taking on a professional demeanor so as not to show his reaction of horror.
His facade wasn’t perfect. He slightly fidgeted with his hands and twitched his eyes as the video played. I could see the gears turning inside his head. He started to understand that the scope of this situation was far beyond him, and that he would need to pass this up the chain of command. He realized that he may need to breach his contract of confidentiality if I didn’t agree with doing so myself, and that his reputation as a therapist may come under scrutiny in doing so.
No need to worry, Dr. Shayne. I’ll make this easy for you.
________________
[Captain Nathaniel Brand]
I sank back into my seat in the command room and spent a moment recollecting my thoughts. My already busy schedule had just doubled in density now that preparations for a supply line and war were on the table.
Governor Sind had taken on a massive chunk of the work for the time being with her offer of a planet-wide industry shift, but that tactic wasn’t sustainable on debt, and prolonged continuation would result in an economic crash. It was only a band aid solution.
There was also the actual issue of getting the supplies from the Nematoriam Sociality over to us. Auell had managed to squeeze through detection by Grahtonian forces thanks to the application of pressure on nearby frontlines, but a more permanent solution needed to be achieved.
Using FTL drives to bypass the space would immediately alert the Grahts and lead us to be overrun with numbers before we have a fleet of our own. I’ve had my head engineers sent to a call with Auell to see if they could come up with anything, but if they didn’t find a solution, shipments might be few and sparse.
Let’s see, what else was on the list?
“...Avalon, what’s the status of our recent arrivals?”
“The alien, Dokchara, has just had his evaluation completed. He was given a guest status.”
…
Why is he hesitating?
“And Dominique?”
“Dominique is… currently in the commercial district. At a bar. He did not attend his scheduled therapy.”