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[doctorize]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, DOCTORIZE FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 *** DOCTORIZE has posted an AUDIO MESSAGE. If you wish to listen, type LISTEN01. <USER> LISTEN01 AUDIO MESSAGE PLAYING... <doctorize> This is the line for Dr. Daniel Dickens. If you'd like to leave a message, please do so here. I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible!

Comments

[peccatore]

[Aaand here we are.]

A... A lot of things went wrong. I mean... Not immediately. Things seemed okay for a few more days. You, erm... I'm not sure if you had a similar experience, I think several people did...

Did-- Did I mention my dad showed up too? Along with her?

[doctorize]

I don't recall you mentioning that he was there too, I'm afraid. However... given some of your remarks in the past, I can guess that something happened while you were reunited with him here.

cw: hallucinations

[peccatore]

... I'm not even sure how to put it.

[And, indeed, Marco stares ahead of him for what feels like a long time before he finally finds the words to use.]

Gradually, they turned into... They started... acting just like... [Marco taps his temple. There's a weight in his chest.] ... just like the "parents" I keep hearing.

I wasn't even sure if they were real at first, to tell you the truth. When they first showed up. But then it got worse and worse, and-- and sometimes it was almost like I was hearing them from two places at once. I don't know if that was real. It was hard to tell them apart.

[doctorize]

I see... so what did you do? How did things turn out, by the end?

[peccatore]

I just kept running. And... They kept coming.

[Ultimately...]

... Someone... Someone else killed my father. Someone AM was after. But my mother, she-- she didn't seem to care he was dead. She only ever talked about what I did.

[doctorize]

... Did she die too? Or did she simply disappear like some of the others among us had done?

[peccatore]

[He nods.] She vanished.

... Well, the apparition did, I guess. The... usual one is still here.

[doctorize]

I see... a shame, that the voice is still there.

[There's a pause here. He's no longer actually looking at Marco and instead at his clipboard here. He might be a little lost in thought here, considering the comment that slips out next.]

... Though, it's good that the other one only vanished. You're lucky, in that regard.

[peccatore]

[That comment... isn't something Marco should linger on, let alone pry into. Him and Danny aren't friends, after all - they might greet each other outside this room, but their relationship is a professional one, albeit of a very different nature than what their mothers likely assumed.

(If they'd found out, would it have even mattered?)

And yet, Marco is too soft, too prone to irrational guilt, to just keep talking about himself after something like that.]

... I'm sorry.

[doctorize]

[At that, Danny blinks at him, as if almost uncomprehending, before he shakes his head, seemingly focused on the topic once more.]

Ah, no, you don't have to apologize. This isn't about me: please, continue.

[peccatore]

It... It doesn't feel quite right to go on about me when you're also... You know.

[Marco doesn't KNOW what happened with Danny, exactly, but it's clear enough that he has something on his mind.]

I could come back another day.

[doctorize]

No no, you don't have to do that--if anything, working is actually much more helpful to me now than to post-pone for another day.

[Because talking to other people, whether it is actually helpful or damaging others, is better than being alone with his own thoughts, frankly.]

[peccatore]

... If you say so.

[He does kind of get it, he supposes. Before things got as bad as they ended up getting, talking and working were the usual ways he distracted himself. Even now, he does what he can to keep it up. But still...]

Uh... Sorry, where was I?

[doctorize]

You were talking about what happened when our... ah, unexpected guests paid everyone a visit here. About what had happened during your parents during the time they spent in this place.

[peccatore]

... Right.

[Not that he really forgot what he was talking about; it's more like he wanted to buy himself time to get his thoughts together. He's not sure how well it worked.]

My dad... It was someone running from AM that killed him. I-I think it was another one of those... Whatever this was. This thing that happened.

[doctorize]

AM?

[... so hey, funny story, but guess who has been here since February and still doesn't know about AM yet...]

[peccatore]

[See, Marco figured Danny had been here long enough to hear about AM - and clearly, anyone who knows AM knows what he's like. So says Marco himself, who took a good half year to realise AM was bad news.]

Uh... Tall... Big tall demon. Long hair.

[doctorize]

Oh, that tells me so much.

[Danny, don't be sarcastic and rude, not during a therapy session at least--]

[peccatore]

[WOW]

I-I-- I'm not sure how else to describe him. Black scales, uh... His hair is very long.

[doctorize]

I see. It must be pretty long if that's quite a noticeable trait. But personality wise, it sounds like he's not the type of person you would want to meet.

[... Well. For most normal people, anyway.]

[peccatore]

He's... fine if you only meet him in passing. Most likely. I've never seen him try anything out in the open or... or anything like that.

... But... I've known him since I first arrived. And I know him well enough that... I've seen how dangerous he can be.

[doctorize]

Hmm... I'm honestly kind of shocked I haven't met him before now. I suppose I'll have to keep an eye out for him.

In the meantime, shall we return to the topic at hand? Unless there's something else you want to share about this AM person here.

[peccatore]

[... He has to think about it, actually. In all the time he's known AM, a lot has happened. But is it really worth talking about? What could Danny possibly do to help? AM hates him, and that's that. If anyone can do anything about it, and Marco doubts it, it would have to be himself.

Maybe he can express one small worry, though.]

I think... he knows there's something wrong with me.

[doctorize]

In regards to your mental state here? Why would he know about something like that?

[peccatore]

[Marco COULD take more than 7 seconds to think of a proper reason, or he could just say...]

I-- Isn't it obvious?