Dayshift 47: Doctor's Office 1 (Dr. Yumeno) [second shift]

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In beginning his day in the Institute, Daedalus had stayed to his office, immersed in quiet work. There would be no wandering outside for him today; he found he rather preferred the bland, wintry days over the sunny ones. Perhaps he was just trained to.

That, and there was more to occupy him in the hospital than outside it when he was still tethered to the Institute and his state of employ. Also to his employer, who Daedalus was curious about, in that way he was curious about all things that flew higher than they should. But those thoughts, Daedalus neatly put aside. For now, he had a patient to attend to, and for all his hidden faces, there were some he wouldn’t entirely take off, even if it was his choice to. He was still a doctor.

By the time activity shifts began to change, and the female patients passing sounded through the door on their way to the greenhouse, Daedalus was prepared for his next visit. It was almost entirely silent in the room, except for the hum of the computer, and the faint tapping of his forefinger against the armrest.

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[mugenreppa.livejournal.com]

Mele had gotten more or less used to the structure and repetition of the days, so it was with some surprise that the nurse turned to lead her somewhere else. She wondered, briefly, if it was some kind of revenge on the nurse's part, and was almost disappointed when the room turned out to be some sort of office.

Oh yeah, the nurse had said something about doctors this morning. And there she went again, repeating it.

"'Yumeno', huh?" Mele said, stepping further into the room.

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When the time came to introduce himself to the new patient, Daedalus moved out from behind his desk, detracting from the impersonal distance. Presenting himself on even footing had its value.

“That’s right,” he confirmed over the sound of the door closing shut once more. He smiled. “Daedalus Yumeno. I’ll be your doctor for today.” There was more he could have said, but instead he let a beat pass so that she could response, holding his smile. What would her introduction be?

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Mele stopped about two steps in, when the door closed. Was the closed door for privacy or safety? Was the guise of an office an illusion, like so much of this place, or a real reflection of something Mele couldn't put her finger on? For some reason, she felt threatened by the room. Possibly for its guise of 'normalcy': it reminded her of the things from the other day, of how much the word 'normal' had seemed like a death sentence.

"Doctor?" Mele scoffed, crossing her arms. "Would have been nice when I'd been in that wheelchair." A beat after, Mele realized he meant a doctor of the mind. They shouldn't call them doctors, then! Well, whatever, not like she hadn't needed a doctor that time.

He looked young, though that was possibly deceptive. Mele had met her share of unexpected ass-kicking at the hands of the incompetent-looking. No guards, though she didn't doubt that he could call them easily. It was impossible that he couldn't have some form of protection, with the things running around at night—so was it confidence in his own ability or those of his underlings? She couldn't tell for sure, not by looking at him, and Mele had suffered too many failures lately for her to even think of rushing in like she would have some time ago.

Maybe this setup was even innocent, but the nurse had made it clear that this guy worked for this place, and Mele wasn't going to bet on it. Although she could leave both brainwash and manipulation open. She didn't want to assume, though; the disaster with Long hadn't even involved her assuming things. She'd just watch carefully this time.

"...I'm Mele," she said cautiously.

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Daedalus waited unwaveringly, calm under her careful appraisal. It wasn’t until she spoke in her incredulous tone that his expression took on a more sombre cast. His tone held a greater gravity. “Actually, there was a note about that in your file. I was going to ask once we were situated. I’m also a physician, so that kind of injury falls within my scope. But you’re healing well now, I hope?”

He had to agree, it would have been nice had he, or someone with better documentation, been there to treat her at the time. If Daedalus had to pick one aspect of this temporary assignment that he disliked, it was how he had been regulated to a position that anyone with half his credentials could oversee themselves. The means to attend to the physical ailments, as well as the mental, were sorely impoverished.

This did bother him, and he didn’t hold back his sigh, narrow shoulders lowering.

“We’re here now, anyway,” Daedalus continued with a faint touch of resignation, as if to say there was at least a clean slate to begin anew on. He gave another smile, this one a one-sided quirk of the lips. “I’m pleased to meet you, Mele.”

[mugenreppa.livejournal.com]

...Well her legs had been bandaged; Mele hadn't known who'd done it. Apparently it wasn't this doctor. The nurses, then? ...Which brought her back to Lydia. Hmm.

"I'm standing now, aren't I?" she responded to the question. It'd been a jab at the Institute, but if he was going to take it personally, Mele wasn't going to stop him. She was baffled at how he seemed to feel bad about it, but that fell under the type of inexplicable altruistic behavior she'd encountered in the past and Mele couldn't be bothered to worry about it.

But onto the important stuff. "File?" she repeated, beginning to pace restlessly along a horizontal patch of the floor. As in, someone had been observing her and been taking notes? That just rang of wrong to Mele, who was used to being the observer herself. "It say anything about messing with my mind? My memories?" she said acidly.

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The touch of attitude was something Daedalus would keep in mind, but as it was, he just bowed his head a little, giving her that. Touché. From merely what he was seeing, it was apparent she was healing well. She didn’t extend any expectations toward him, either, which appeared to forgive his responsibility in the matter. Daedalus didn’t precisely feel the same way, but he let the subject go.

Her reaction to the mention of her file was more immediate, by all accounts.

Daedalus stayed where he was when she began to pace, following her agitated movements with his eyes. People always want to know what others are saying about them. But it wasn’t entirely that. What she said, how she said it… “What exactly do you mean?” he asked, low and even.

[mugenreppa.livejournal.com]

Mele looked up at him, and kept her gaze as she turned to pace along her little route. After a moment, deciding that he actually wanted to know, she advanced to a chair and sat down in it. "Brainwashing. Making me believe I was someone I'm not...and then messing with my memories. Sound familiar?" Her voice took on a taunting edge at the question.

Though that was another thing if they didn't. She'd been taken for this...Special Counseling that Soma had mentioned under someone's orders. She had no doubt those orders originated from Landel, but it was Mele's staunch belief that he couldn't possibly be doing it alone...especially with the little she'd observed of Lydia's behavior. Who was coddling someone, but whether the intercom guy was Landel was something she'd yet to figure out.

Unless it was all an act.

...Why was this so hard, argh. She was a watcher of fights, not of this...mind nonsense. Impatient at it all, Mele added huffily, "And tell the truth."

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The young doctor backed up a step to let her move around at her will, coming to rest against the edge of his desk. He had to give her credit apart from the rest--she was being more direct with him than most. Nearing an emotional confrontation in her distrust.

This was all well and fine with Daedalus. But would she be able to the tell the difference if he were disingenuous?

“I expect you won’t believe me, but I have no reason to deceive you,” said Daedalus. He had the soft-spoken tone of someone who meant what he said. Conspiracies and false faces were no stranger to human communities, even in such hospitals that let it go on as this one, however what Daedalus said was the plain truth of the matter. He had no loyalty to anyone in this transitory abode, so had no motive to impede the patients. Even if prompted to. Whether he could in good conscience was not the question.

“I’ve heard a little, from those patients who spoke of it. Not with the same description you use, though.”

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What was with this coddling, this tiptoeing? Screw trust, Mele just wanted the truth. "Saying that only makes you more suspicious," she countered equivocally, internally sighing in frustration that she couldn't get a straight answer. Especially since, even with that disclaimer, he hadn't actually answered the question she'd asked.

"But suppose I believe you, hmm?" Mele swung her leg back to the ground and got up, arms crossed, intending to invade the doctor's personal space. "What have you heard?" Her voice got lower, unconsciously taking on the volume of a private conversation as she closed the distance.

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_{[I’m fine with whatever you want! XD]}

A quiet laugh left him. “Does it?” wondered Daedalus, his expression both amused and ever so slightly penitent, as if her declaration had come as something of a chastisement. What should a doctor say in her mind? In an ideal world, there would be no reason for a doctor to fall under suspicion.

Ideally, of course.

His mien didn’t flinch when she rose almost immediately after sitting and pressed closer. Without hesitation, he humoured her, shifting some of his weight onto an elbow. Supposing he was telling the truth, then… “Again, this coming from other patients, the name ‘Special Counselling’ has been passed around, an involuntary procedure that happens at night. I don't know much more of the rumors than that.” His perspective as a doctor was different, naturally, but she hadn't specified.

[mugenreppa.livejournal.com]

What was with that question? Tch. That again. Mele was sure he was being vague on purpose. And to think she used to fall for it.

"It's definitely...'involuntary'," she responded as she stepped back, voice returning to its normal volume. The way he'd said it... "You don't believe them, so you?" Mele turned away. "That it happens." It was disappointing, in a way. If he'd known what was going on, if he was privy to Landel's schemes, Mele could've learned something. Dead end again.

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_{[All righty~ Hopefully you can get more out of it next time? ♥ D:]}

Yes, apparently it was.

Daedalus’s eyes remained trained on her, something sharper and more deeply amused entering them when she turned her back. Physical confrontation was not a language he spoke, but it seemed she was giving up on him. How premature. There was no slow and steady about this woman; her focus burned hot and bright one second, and in the next, it’d moved away, like an anchorless firefly.

Very rash, he thought. It reminded him a little of a certain someone, though she had more purpose in her actions.

It was his turn to cross his arms. “I don’t believe knowledge is the same as acceptance,” Daedalus corrected in the same calm tone. “I say I don’t know much, simply because so few have spoken of it openly. I say rumors, because I haven’t been able to substantiate the facts. But I do believe you.” The barest touch of a smirk flickered across his mouth, gone soon after, and yet all throughout, his air of open-handedness and care didn’t waver. “I just can’t confess to being involved in something of that nature, if you were thinking I was.”