Quoted By:
>13+2 = 15
Deep breaths. In, then out. Remember to retain eye contact. Slowly, you loosen the fingers of your right hand to bring the arming trigger back to its neutral position. It was an option perhaps, but not one that you found particularly conscionable.
"I'm here. We're here for you. You're not alone," you say as closely and calmly as you can manage.
Her face pulls back slightly, eyes flashing with apparent recognition.
"...remember...voice in the sky?"
"Yes, that was me. I heard you cry for help, and we tried our best to answer. We're here to help you - and stay with you - provided that you want us to."
"I...would." She seems to think for a moment. "...very much."
Encouraged by the progress, you continue: "We heard that your name is Marie. Is that right? Can we call you that?"
She nods.
"Well, my name is Markus. And this here..." you say, as you step aside to introduce Leng. 'Is Dr. Leng. She's the one who has been...helping you get better over the past few days."
Leng tries to sound nonplussed. She isn't particularly successful, and standard greeting she gives Marie is half-octave higher than the one she gave you. Fortunately, she regains her bearings quickly.
"Can you tell us a little more about how you feel, Marie?" she asks.
As Marie tries to assemble a coherent response, you realize - with a degree of resentment - that the report you received from the manipulative headhunter was somewhat accurate. Marie wasn't non-communicative, but her deficits are certainly noticeable. Gaps in memory and knowledge lurk just beneath her surface. No specific memories of her biological parents. Few recollection of her time in the cult, or the processes that led to her transformation. Even her brief "meeting" with the acquisitions headhunter - something that happened no more than four days ago - is recalled using the vaguest of terms.
But emotions often persist even after founding memories vanish. Marie didn't remember specific events, but the emotional valence they held could still shape her actions. When she tries to recall her time in captivity, the fleshy filaments that make up her limbs thrill with rage, and becomes easy for you to see how acquisitions dragged her into a service contract. Of course, now that she a member of your team, whether to continue capitalizing on that tendency fell onto you.
