damned_institute | Nightshift 33: Disciplinary Therapy Room 2 [M-U for Ken]

There was something deceptively comforting about waking to touch and music, as if he'd graced back to simpler nights--times before the Dark Hour, times when there were always two instead of one. It took every sensibility to keep the boy from rolling over and asking his mom what was wrong, the effort eventually showing in his expression.

So when Ken finally opened his eyes, his lips had already settled into a tight frown.

He blinked several times, trying to throw off the remaining sleep in his system. "Where...am I?"

The doctor said nothing, instead continuing to hum slightly as he made the last final touches to the machine. A special thing it was, able to project a memory buried deep within a person's mind - or one that was still fresh. It was very useful, and very expensive. Hopefully, this boy would make it worth it.

"Do you know your power was the ability to evolve?" The doctor finally spoke, once preparations were complete and the machine hummed to life. "Persona, you called it? I noticed yours was still weak."

If Ken was able to look up from where he was strapped down on the table, he might have seen a very nasty smile on the doctor's face.

"We're going to do you a bit of a favor and attempt to fix that, Ken."

A sinking sensation began at the base of his stomach when the child heard no vocal answer, prompting him to sit up and face the unidentifiable man in the room. That act, however, proved futile; any attempts were immediately foiled by the restraints at his side. No amount of effort budged them, forcing Ken to acknowledge he was trapped.

Unfortunately, that soon became the least of his worries.

The sensation changed into a knot at the word Persona, and Ken strained his head for a glimpse of the one who had uttered it, hoping for familiarity. After all, outside of S.E.E.S., only the Kirijo Group should know of their existence. Anyone else would only prove very problematic for him, especially if the boy was still where he thought he was.

"H-How did you know about that?" demanded Ken, though his voice remained slightly above a whisper. It was taking all his efforts not to become unnerved by the man's expression.

"I don't know too much, to be honest." It was rare for a doctor to admit his own shortcomings, but it didn't matter to him. "But that's why we have you here, isn't it?"

The best way to gain knowledge? By doing, of course. The doctor walked back to the machine as he flipped a few switched, turned a few dials, and there was a slow sound of tapping, like he was typing commands into something.

"The first time you saw a Persona, it was when you were with your mother, correct?"

The machine started to hum louder, and it forced a memory upon Ken, projected before him of that night where he lost his mother.

Ken knew better than to find relief in the admittance. "You seem to know as much as I do," he replied tersely, "if not more." For one, the boy had no idea a Persona had the capacity to change, let alone evolve, in power. Certainly, there was their so-called "special" member's ability, but he did not quite believe it was the same.

Despite the restraints and the lingering drowsiness, he craned his head further as the other occupant fell back to his work, the sounds of switches and gears echoing into the room. Ken succeeded in recognizing the clothes--standard doctor attire, if he wasn't mistaken--but anything beyond that was anyone's guess. This hardly helped dissuade that awful feeling at the pit of his stomach.

It was the doctor's question that finally broke the tension and caused the child to grimace in recollection, but to his own surprise, the memory came in the image of porcelain white, a sink. Ken darted his eyes about in an attempt to make sense of the matter, only to find he was now in a much different place. Neither doctor nor equipment could be found, just creme-colored walls and hangings for towels. A sight he hadn't touched in two years.

He felt his mind unravel from the realization. "This is my house," Ken muttered in disbelief. "I'm in my bathroom!"

"Nice bathroom," The doctor laughed in response, though he couldn't see what the machine was projecting onto the boy. He didn't have to, because he only cared about the results of this experiment. Hopefully, Ken wouldn't disappoint him.

The doctor silently continued to work, tuning the machine to that exact moment. They were almost there, but not quite. Though, the doctor really wished he could have seen what was going on: According to Ken's statement to the police, he had actually seen the Persona in question. Ah, well, maybe the boy would give him a good description among his screaming.

"And what else do you see?"

What he had briefly accepted as reality shifted into an illusion as the world around him flashed forward in a cloud of static. Oh. Ken felt a tinge of bitter disappointment, especially upon hearing the doctor's voice. His bathroom was simply a projection, nothing more.

Yet try as he might, the boy could not quite keep himself from becoming drawn in by the footage. There was a familiarity he found distracting, albeit it had little to do with the fact that it was his former house. The scene itself felt...off, as if begging Ken to focus on the timing as opposed to the setting.

This was perhaps the only reason he bothered to indulge the man's question. "I see the hallway. Now the foyer and the front door," Ken answered, impatience entering his tone. "I don't understand. What am I supposed to see--"

"Don't let it get away!"

His blood froze at the voice. It carried a harsher ring than the child was accustomed to, but the commanding tone, the perfect inflections... There was no mistake. Mitsuru-san.

The bastard was showing him that night!

The way the boy had choked up indicated to the doctor that he finally arrived on the memory he wanted to see. A sadistic grinned crossed his features, but it wasn't like anyone could see it.

"And now what do you see? What do you hear?" The doctor asked, waiting patiently for the boy to collect himself. He was doing this partly out of sadistic cruelty (who could resist when they were in total control of the situation?), but he also wanted results. To evoke the best emotional response, he had to do what it took.

This man was joking, right? Did he honestly believe Ken had the capacity to describe the memory as it occurred? His fists clenched and unclenched in rising anger and anticipation, daring himself to shut his eyes but not quite finding the willpower to do so.

"There!" Another voice joined the fray, albeit the projection had yet to move beyond the front door. "I've got this!"

Recognition came in an instant, and for the first time in the session, the boy openly struggled. His head twisted and turned in an attempt to advert his gaze before finally, he closed his eyes altogether. To his horror, the door remained, as vivid as Ken left it. No amount of control on his end alone was going to spare him this footage.

"You can't let me see this," he stammered to the doctor, his voice caught between demanding and pleading.

"Yes, I can. And I must." The doctor was actually very interested in Ken's suffering; he had to see this moment, because it could prove to be the trigger to making his special ability stronger. So, he ignored Ken's protests and instead typed in a few more keystrokes, trying to pinpoint the exact memory. Ken had to revisit the trauma of that night for this experiment to work.

"Besides, are you in any position to tell me what to do, Ken?" The doctor's voice was full of laughter now, cold laughter that echoed throughout the room.

[I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY etc. I'LL BE GOOD AT POSTING NOW]

No, he wasn't. That fact was the only reason Ken bit back a scathing remark. Further dissuasion would fall on deaf ears; someone this intent on forcing such a memory would never care what it meant to him. His mom and her killer were dead. The last two years had been a waste.

What good would Nemesis' strength be to him now?

Ken watched in silence as the door finally opened, revealing silhouettes and movement in the streets outside. Like the time before, the taller, clumsier form caught the boy's eye, but in this instance, it was not curiosity that griped him. He had rehearsed the events in his head numerous times; this shouldn't be any different.

But he had overlooked a couple of details since the initial incident. Ken had not quite remembered catching fear in the older teen's face nor the fact that his Evoker remained firmly in his hands, far from his temple. In retrospect, Ken could not recall ever seeing the device activated that night...

[ IT'S COOL, AS YOU CAN SEE, I'M NOT ANY BETTER. *sobs* ]

Hmm... this wasn't the reaction that the doctor wanted. Ken seemed almost like he was merely observing, instead of being focused on the memory that was supposed to be the most traumatic to him. One would have thought this sort of acceptance would be key to evolving Ken's Persona, but -

Well, that would be boring.

"On second thought, perhaps this isn't the best way to do it. You surprise me, Ken Amada." This child was taking things better than the doctor thought, but perhaps a sudden change in scenery...

A few more button presses, some typing, and the scenery should have changed to another familiar sight: A green-tinged street, a pale man with a gun, and a taller figure, the one Ken was looking at only moments ago.

The picture around him dissolved into static, which understandably came as a relief to the child. With his head drooping against the restraints, Ken let out a slow exhale, though he disguised it enough for the act to be unnoticeable. The doctor looked to be changing his mind, and it would be stupid to give him any reason to bring those images back.

"Maybe you should let me go," Ken started once he'd found his bearings to speak again. "I'm no use to you. I don't even think my Persona can evolve." The words were a long shot, but he sincerely believed nothing would come out of their session. Aside from squandered minutes, that is.

Ken, however, spoke too soon. The distortion in his view changed into a clearer scene, one that caused his head to snapped up and his heart to quicken, a much more violent reaction than the time before. Of course, the presence of the gun might have invited the same response from most anyone, but for Ken, it was a person.

This is...

"It's a little too late to just give up, isn't it? Where's your spirit?" The doctor chuckled, pleased that the sudden scene change had it's intended reaction. The reaction was much more favorable too - this was what he wanted.

"Isn't that the same man you saw only moments before?" Although the doctor had claimed that he couldn't see the boy's memories, his taunting comments seemed to suggest otherwise. Of course, just because he couldn't see those memories didn't mean he didn't know the contents of them. "I wonder, why aren't you more happy for this little reunion?"

There were too many things wrong with the doctor's questions, but Ken chose to force himself on one in particular. It could not be helped, not when the man in question was right in his sights.

"Because he's dead." The boy trailed off as if trying to maintain a level of composure. His tone indicated the attempt was not working.

"That's bullshit!"

Ken openly flinched at the words. "W-What's the point of this?" he continued desperately, hoping this would throw up a distraction. Anything to keep him from focusing on the memory...

"..." The doctor, of course, didn't say anything as if he was enjoying watching the boy squirm and become panicked once more. The gloves were off, and now that he actually managed to get this piece of junk to work... well, he was going to have a lot more fun with this little session now.

"He's dead, yes. Didn't you want to kill him? For this?" The doctor idly typed in a command again, and the scenery switched to something gruesome: The roof of the house Ken had seen moments ago collapsing in on itself, a horse-like figure in the sky, and the dead body of Ken's mother, crushed underneath the rubble.

"I, for one, don't blame you. It is a rather terrible thing, depriving you of your mother."

The sight caused the intended reaction: Ken jerked violently on the restraints, as though he made to backpedal away from the horrific scene. A part of him still held to the knowledge these were merely pictures, but the crumbling brick, the broken body... He felt the twisted knot in his stomach give way to something unrecognizable.

"You--" His eyes searched wildly for the man responsible, only to find city streets and a darkened sky. "You don't understand! He didn't just take my mother!" The last bit should not have been said, but by now, Ken had no reason for discretion.

[ clearly, I am no better at posting dklsjdkas plz forgive. *orz* ]

"That's right, he didn't just take your mother," The doctor cruelly parroted Ken, and with a few keystrokes, changed the scenery once again to the previous scene, only this time the broken body of his mother was replaced with the still, bleeding body of Shinji.

"He took away your chance at revenge. He took away your chance at a normal life. He took a lot of things from you, a home, a family... I'd be rather upset if I didn't even get the chance to finish him off," The doctor commented, all the while looking at the data he was collecting. Yes, if his suspicions were correct, then the trigger should happen anytime now...

Ken struggled for a proper response, but coherent thoughts refused to form in his brain. The boy could only babble. "So what am I supposed to do now?" he breathed, the question aimed more at his dead adversary than the unseen doctor. "You wouldn't even let me die!"

Shinji, of course, said nothing.

Water formed at the base of his eyes, but Ken paid no mind. He simply leaned against the restraints, his teeth grinding against each other in a show of anger and pain. All while an odd sort of pressure began to build in the back of the child's head...

This child had a lot of pent up anger, unresolved issues that looked like they were going to stay unresolved. The doctor mused over how this was perfect, all the data he was getting. But still... something was wrong. Hm, was this still not enough to trigger the change in the boy's Persona? His calculations showed that it should have started by now, but he couldn't detect a noticable change.

Well, it couldn't have been that the doctor was wrong. This child might not have been suited for such a thing, perhaps. The doctor frowned as he inputted commands in the machine again, causing the images to shift back and forth from the night Ken's mother died to the night Shinji died, showing him both of his greatest failures.

"I don't understand, it should have manifested by now..." The doctor mumbled, his usual cruel commentary absent from the scene.

Though the unpleasant emotions and the confusion persisted with each scene change, his visible reactions steadily decreased in intensity. Even the pressure in his head dissolved into numbness. Perhaps he'd caught the doctor's intentions or gone into shock; Ken neither knew nor cared.

When the accompanying statements from the doctor disappeared, however, the boy lifted up a head in surprise. Is he finished? Considering all he could see were snippets of those two nights, that probably was not the case, but something about it suddenly seemed...out of sync.

Especially when he overheard the next words. "I told you," he said blandly, "it's pointless."

Those were the wrong words to say, as the doctor slammed on the machine, effectively turning it off. Not before sending a harsh electric shock through the wires, the screams of Ken probably the only gratification the doctor was going to get that night. Great, all this funding wasted on a child. Perhaps that Yukari girl would have yielded better results... and if they could just get their hands on that other teen with the blue hair, maybe then...

"Yes, you're right. It's pointless because you are no good. You're worthless," The doctor bitterly reminded Ken, but he seemed to have calmed himself down. Regardless of the fact the experiment was a failure, they did get decent data from it, at least. He'd just have to work off that in the meantime.

"But never mind that. We're done for the night." The doctor was able to clear the room rather quickly, leaving unstrapping Ken for last. Normally, most sessions left the patient too incapacitated to strike back the moment they were released, but Ken was just a weak child. The doctor had nothing to worry about and even pulled something out of his pocket, leaving it there by Ken's side for whenever the child had recovered enough to let himself out.

"Here, even though I don't think you really deserve this. But I suppose in exchange for the data you provided. It's apple, my favorite flavor."

And the doctor left, taking an exit that was shrouded in shadow and leaving Ken there alone with nothing but his memories.

He came to regret the words almost immediately. The shift in environment was the only warning before something searing coursed through Ken's body, causing the child to yelp and twitch in pain and alarm. Electricity was not a foreign concept to him--he'd been hit by Zio before--but the unexpected factor made this particular jolt feel ten times worse.

The moment passed, fortunately, but it had done its work: Ken limped against the table in defeat, the only response to the doctor's comments was a stifled whimper. Not that he failed to hear what the man had to say--on the contrary, the child took every word to heart. Defense mechanisms, however, kept Ken from speaking out; getting shocked a second time did not sound like a good idea.

Instead, Ken closed his eyes, using whatever shred of bravery left to count the number of seconds it took for the doctor to leave. Even after the restraints were loosened, the child waited quietly, patiently. The thought of attacking his torturer never crossed his mind. Not that he had the strength to raise a fist anyway.

It was not until the man's final remark that the boy opened his eyes, in time to see a green wrapper on a white stick placed within his reach. What? Yet before he could throw a confused look at the giver, the boy found himself alone. The doctor was nowhere to be seen.

Ken should have been grateful for this stroke of luck, but that feeling never surfaced. Too much on his mind or too little, either way he was distracted. Otherwise, Ken would have brushed aside the candy rather than grasping it in his fist, and he certainly would have caught his knees buckling when the child made to pull away from the table. The boy, along with the lollipop, crumbled onto the floor in a pathetic heap; although he had every chance to get back up, he refused to budge.

He simply laid there.

[Not moving until Dayshift or some kind soul drags him out~]

Nightshift 33: Disciplinary Therapy Room 2 [M-U for Ken]

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