Day 56: Tasty Burger (Noon)

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

Peter didn't know if he and Firo had left on the best terms, if only because the younger man was still so confused about what was going on in this place. The change in time period had a lot to do with it, but it had also sounded like he'd had a lot going on in his life before ending up here. Then again, who hadn't? Peter had just exploded before his arrival.

It was hard to think back to that night, to the way he'd stood in Kirby Plaza while burning up with nuclear overload, when he was in this quaint snow-covered town. This was the sort of image you'd see on the Christmas card; it wasn't supposed to exist.

Still, his walk with Firo had been rather long all things considered, and so Peter finally decided to leave the teen to his devices and go warm up somewhere. The best way to do that would be by putting some hot food in his stomach, and so he ended up backtracking to the Tasty Burger. He could have gone ahead to the Twin Pines, since the food was obviously better quality there, but the walk was longer and his face was starting to get numb.

Letting out a small sigh of relief as he stepped into the lively fast food place, Peter fished the proper coupon out of his pocket and went to stand in line, eyeing the two young girls at the counter as he waited for it to be his turn. Once he'd eaten, he could really start searching the shops for what to buy.

[Claire Bennet.]

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[doneinthree]

Once again proving his worth as a first officer, Spock jumped right into it, and astutely picked up on one of the things which had bothered him the most. "Right? That's what I thought too," Kirk exclaimed. "I mean, I can't be that much of a dick in the alternate reality, no matter how old I am." But Spock might've been on to something when he suggested a combination of factors. He remembered his teasing suggestion that Bones had been afflicted by paranoia — in hindsight, probably one of the many things which made Bones finally snap, but whatever. It might not have fit the pattern of Landel's experiments, insofar as these effects seemed to have been play long before now, but the other night showed their captors were capable of subtly manipulating their thoughts in this way.

After two weeks, Kirk had at least determined that the experiments fell into three categories: the Institute-wide games which tended to affect a large number of the patients with similar effects, like the shadow attacks; the times patients were taken at night and brainwashed into fighting their own, leading to apology posts on the bulletin board; and finally, CM-US. That was what Admiral ZEX had been taken for, and for which he still bore the scars and the absence of one eye. CM-US was the only experiment with such enduring effects. Even the worst of Kirk's twenty-four-hour brainwashing had faded by now into a vague outline of a parallel life, instead of the distracting, almost-real memories which would pop into his head at random.

But it couldn't be that. As far Kirk knew, Bones had been present for every night since he'd first appeared in the Institute, just three days after he, Spock and Chekov had arrived. There hadn't been time to cut open the doctor's head and tinker with his brain, or whatever it was they did during CM-US sessions. On the other hand... why was he so fixed on consistency? They'd already broken out of the box by spiriting Spock away last night for "observation", which apparently was exactly what it sounded like, judging from the commander's unaltered state.

So what then? Kirk had said before that there had to be some kind of pattern here they could follow, some way for them to divine what was happening here. From Spock's report, there had been other signs before now of something going on with McCoy. Guilt dug at him for it (should they have acted before now?), but Kirk couldn't blame Spock for not mentioning it before now. By themselves, these signs were almost nothing — feelings, intuition — and whatever it was that plagued him, Bones had appeared capable of performing his duties.

But that had changed. "You may be right. It doesn't make sense for this to be only the Institute's influence." They were missing something else. Maybe the reason why Bones kept being so evasive, and so unlike him — was purposeful or pathological? Kirk straightened up in his seat, seeming to come to a decision. "Well, whatever the cause, he can't pretend nothing's wrong anymore. Spock." He regarded his first officer seriously. "Do you think you could do a mind meld with McCoy?"

[dual-worlds.livejournal.com]

The captain clearly agreed that there was something more troubling triggering McCoy's behavior. The pieces were slowly beginning to fit together, indicating a larger, ongoing problem that needed to be addressed. Even before Kirk spoke, Spock recognized the way he drew his shoulders back, a sign he'd decided on a course of action.

In truth, a mind meld was the logical course of action, and so it didn't surprise him when Kirk asked if he could perform one. The doctor's physical symptoms, as well as his irrational behavior, pointed toward the possibility of mental trauma that needed correction. Even if that wasn't the case, however, Spock knew he ought to be able to at least glean more information concerning McCoy's condition if he had access to his mind.

"I should be able to do that, yes," Spock quietly answered. After participating in one himself a relatively short time ago, he was sure Kirk understood the seriousness behind the request. If it was the only way to gain a clear understanding of what was plaguing McCoy, though, Spock was willing to do it. As first officer, he shared the responsibility of his subordinates' safety and health.

"Whether Doctor McCoy would consent to it is another matter entirely, however," he added as he met Kirk's gaze. "He harbors distrust toward us, even if he himself may not entirely understand why." That was what made this whole situation all the more unpredictable.

[doneinthree]

Spock didn't waste a second in nailing the key complication in his plan. "I don't suppose you'd also be up for knocking him out first," Kirk mused. He could only imagine how his Bones would react to having a Vulcan dig around in his brain; now age him by a few curmudgeony years, and throw in some natural cross-universe apprehension plus completely irrational paranoia from god knows where, you had a recipe for ugliness. Every line of McCoy's angry tirade was still fresh on his mind.

In spite of having expected that Spock would agree to conducting a mind meld on Bones, Kirk found himself wavering for just a second over the wisdom of it. Was it callous or reckless to be dumping all of this on Spock, considering he'd just had an entire night of...? Okay, nothing, apparently, but just because Spock didn't remember anything didn't mean something hadn't been done to him. But what else could they do now aside from keep an eye on him, and continue dealing with things as captain and first officer? Even Spock would probably agree that an erratic CMO was their priority concern.

If there was the possibility that the same thing could happen to Spock, that maybe this was just the prelude to more fracturing of self-identities, that one day Kirk might find himself forced to admit that he couldn't trust Spock's judgment anymore... If that was the case, and he was getting Spock to dwelve into Bones' mind when they still weren't even sure what had been done to him last night— Quit it, Kirk ordered himself. Questioning his own decisions, entertaining vaguely worrisome what-ifs — he didn't have the luxury of losing confidence right now.

"That was a joke," he added belatedly, realizing there was a chance Spock might take him seriously. (It wasn't the worst idea, but first he should probably try options which weren't practically guaranteed to aggravate crew relations. Well, more than they already were. Sigh.) "I'll talk to him. You just make sure you prepare... whatever it takes to prepare for that, and meet me tonight. If Doctor McCoy refuses to go through with it..." He had no idea. He couldn't let Bones continue on as if nothing was wrong, but he couldn't force him — or Spock, at that — do something so invasive against his will. Kirk gestured vaguely with one hand in lieu of a more coherent statement. "We'll figure something out."