Long Shadows
Posted on Mon 25th May, 2020 @ 5:12am by Commander Paul Graves PsyD
419 words; about a 2 minute read
Dear Horatio,
Sometimes it's cathartic to write to old, dead friends. I'm not sure I could exactly count you as a friend; our relationship was adversarial much of the time. But we were moving toward friendship shortly before you died. I had hopes of it. Why I'm writing this letter to you and not to Zach, with whom I was on better terms, I'm not sure and don't care to analyze just yet.
Guess who has reared his hideous head again? I won't mention him by name. Actually, Chlamydia reared it, but that doesn't matter. Zach never told you that he told me, but I know. I shouldn't have asked Zach to tell me, and I suppose he shouldn't have told me, as I wasn't originally read in. But he was in such bad shape emotionally, and it was so obvious with you, Zach, Lanis, and to a lesser degree Chlamydia. But it was as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to all four of you, and none of you would talk. Lanis to this day hasn't discussed it with me, and Zach transferred off 109 before I could help him much. Chlamydia too keeps her own counsel. The reason why I felt I needed to know--so I could counsel you all if you chose--has proved pretty much moot.
Yet there was his face today, holo-displayed on Chlamydia's PADD. I told Andrus Grax--He's our current CIO--that I hoped our friend of the secret lab was not involved in the situation the Intelligence Department is investigating, but I fear he's up to his eyebrows in it. I fear he has ensnared a young woman who was so traumatized by her experience with him that her mind has compartmentalized itself into four separate personalities, just to deal with how bad it was.
I never saw the lab you discovered; I never needed to, though I visited the area once. I felt the awfulness of it from the four of you--for days. You think I didn't notice that you were drinking more? Think again.
We have to catch him this time, Horatio. We cannot let him slip through our fingers to harm more people. We have to find everyone he already has harmed--if we can. The Four know how many that is, and he's been performing these hideous experiments ever since the Dominion War, I would estimate.
His actions cast a long shadow; I don't know how much of it we can dispel.
RSS Feed
By on Sat 30th May, 2020 @ 6:59pm
What a terrific personal log! It had me as focused as any post you've written, and allowed a great view into what's going on with Graves. We tend to forget that the counselor may need counseling sometimes. This was an interesting way to provide that.
By Commander Paul Graves PsyD on Wed 17th Jun, 2020 @ 3:26am
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I wish I hadn't had to be so cryptic; people unfamiliar with the story will likely have no idea whom Paul is talking about, but I figured he would maintain secrecy as strictly as the others have.