Day is Done, Part 3

Posted on Thu 13th Jun, 2019 @ 9:05pm by Lieutenant Damion Ildaran & Elizabeth Anderson M.D.

1,280 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: Elizabeth Anderson's Apartment, Riverwalk Village
Timeline: MD-2, 1920

Previously, while eating strawberries ... "We're trying to figure out if the ring's maker is the person who caused Shara's personality to splinter, or if that happened earlier. If it happened earlier, then the ringmaker would be just one more in a line of traumas. If he or she caused the inciting trauma..." Damion shook his head. "I can't imagine that Shara would want to remember that person at all--save that one of her personalities is a very take-charge sort of woman. She wants to know what happened to her, to ease the fear and disquiet of not knowing."

"So, you're saying she doesn't remember who did it, why, how ... anything? If that's true, it's not good at all," Anderson said, troubled by this idea. "What would be such a bad memory that all three of her selves would bury it too deep to bring it out?" She thought about that for a moment.

"Hypnosis is very complicated with a multiple personality, but it could be the only way to access a memory, even a fragmented one, of what happened. There's also this. What if she doesn't remember because something was done to her memory as well as her hand? I know the human brain isn't a computer, but in many ways it acts like one, and there are drugs which can erase memories permanently, and some that aren't so permanent, but take a lot to overcome. Does she have a true desire to know what happened, do you think?" Anderson was fascinated by the study Graves would have access to. She leafed back through historical multiple personality cases, hoping for a clue that might help Damion.

"All it would take is twilight anesthesia to make her forget, don't you think?" Damion said. "I had a root canal done once while being given that stuff. I don't remember a thing to this day. My oral surgeon said it would prevent me from forming new memories during the surgery. Worked like a charm. I didn't even think of that until just now. I've been very worried about her."

"Yes, and no," Elizabeth said, not helping much. "Anesthesia affects certain brain centers and can block memory formation. From what I think you are saying, however, this woman has forgotten more than the simple trauma. She's forgotten the man who did it entirely, as well as other associated facts. That takes strong drugs and a person knowledgeable in administering them properly, as well as a second person skilled in altering the brain ... who might be a hypnotist or perhaps something more sinister. I'm not sure exactly what it would require." She reflected on that for as long as it took her to set a subroutine search on the topic through all available databases.

"I don't believe, for instance, that I could do it, even given the very best of reasons and benefit accruing to the subject. Part of that is lack of experience, part lack of desire, and maybe part simply lack of knowledge on how it is done. As you can imagine, it isn't something widely available in medical updates," Anderson said drily. She finished her strawberries and pushed the bowl to one side. "Graves probably could do it, if he wished. His mental abilities would help him accomplish the task, knowing what to move or remove and where. He'd still need the right drug ... something that made the subject suggestible and lowered resistance to the changes."

Damion's eyes widened a trifle. "Scary. And he seems like such a pleasant bloke. Good point about the anesthesia not accounting for everything," Damion said. "She also doesn't remember the ring--and how do you forget wearing something like that?" He grimaced. "So you're saying it would take a Betazoid, an Aenar, a Napean, or someone like that, to mess with her mind to this extent at all, and even then, they couldn't do it unaided."

"I would say so. I'm running a search right now to see if there are any records that could help you, and so far nothing's showing, but there's still a lot to search. I would also think ..." she paused a moment because it occurred to her that if a reputable doctor were involved, there would be a case study of such a situation, but what if it were only someone disreputable?

"Didn't you mention something, back when you were going under cover to find the pirates, that there was another kind of base out here somewhere? A place where ... hmm, those who aren't entirely on the right side of the law can go for whatever they need? Would that be a place where someone could find medical help that wouldn't be above this sort of thing?" Elizabeth asked him.

Damion hesitated for an instant and then nodded. "Criminals need medical help just like anyone else. If they can find a provider who's off-book, all the better. Out here near the Triangle, which is pretty much outside of the borders, off-book doctors can operate free of surveillance. Many of them are perfectly reputable sorts; they just for one reason or another had a falling-out with their local authorities and came here. Then there are the unscrupulous ones. That lot at the IASS, for example--wouldn't trust them any farther than I can throw them. I've been told that there is a base of sorts where a lot of these people congregate as the mood strikes them, but that's all I know."

Or all he's going to tell me, the counselor thought. Occasionally, it was difficult having a relationship with someone in the intelligence business, but for the moment, she just nodded. "I'd say if you need a place to begin, finding that base is probably the right one. Even if the actual doctor or technician involved isn't there any longer, there will be a trace to follow. You're a good tracker, and I think his days are numbered. Or hers," she smiled slightly. "Bad guys can be female, too."

Changing the subject slightly, Elizabeth probed something Damion had said before. "You mentioned you have been worried about her. Is that just because you know it's difficult to have multiple personalities, or is there something else about her that causes the worry? Is she in some kind of danger, even here, even in Security's custody? Could she be compromised somehow?" Even as she asked, she thought compromised was a weak way to say 'in danger of becoming a target'. She was falling into imprecise human speech, and would have to watch that.

"I'm worried on several counts," Damion said. "First off, I know why people generally split into different personalities--none of the reasons are good. Two, yes, I'm concerned she might be a target if whoever gave her the ring finds out we have her. Three, the only way she'll ever have a hope of being safe is if we can catch this ringmaker. I'm frightened to think how many other rings he or she may have made, how many other people that person may have used or coerced into doing their bidding. I don't know how extensive this ... thing is. Is it just one nutjob person, or is it a whole network? It's the questions I can't answer that keep me awake nights. I have to force myself to not become paralyzed by them. I'm only one man; I have to accept that there's only so much I can do--but accepting that is difficult, and it's no comfort at all when things go wrong."

For that, Elizabeth had no answer, so she reached across the table, took Damion's hand in hers, and simply held it.

 

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