Dr. Strasburger sat at his desk. Across from him sat a man in a mask. Most curious, but not the strangest thing he had ever seen.

He was not the world’s foremost psychiatric therapist for nothing, after all!

“I assure you…”

“Call me Bob.”

“Yes, Mr. Bob. I can assure you, no matter what sort of patients you have, I can handle them.”

“Are you certain? These five…are quite…unique.”

Dr. Strasburger nodded.

“Unique is where I made my name, Mr. Bob.”

The man called Bob heaved a sigh.

“You are the most highly rated out there, I suppose. Let’s discuss how much this is going to cost.”

Dr. Strasburger smiled and spoke of the details.

Bob swore under his breath.

But he agreed in the end.

The two shook hands. Dr. Strasburger raised an eyebrow at the man in the mask.

“Perhaps…you’d like to have a go at it, yourself?”

Bob sighed once more.

“...we’ll see after the others.”

Dr. Strasburger waved as the man left and grinned to himself. Oh, he may have upsold a bit, but you got what you paid for. But that didn’t mean he had to work how he was paid. Just a handful of teenagers, how hard could that be?

“Ah you see, good doctor, I have the memories of all my forefathers, back to the first who struck the deal. ‘Tis most useful in glorious combat, but I admit ‘tis somewhat confusing at times.”

“I see…why don’t you tell me more about this?"

This guy was a gold mine! What a perfectly concocted fantasy, perfectly consistent, and requiring zero material evidence! Oh he could smell his next bestseller already…and this was only the first guy! Dr. Strasburger couldn’t wait to see who would come next…

“So…how are you…feeling today?”

“Response: All system nominal. Elise functioning at 98.5% efficiency at present.”

“I…see. How about…your body?”

“Requesting Clarification: Diagnostics included the status of all components.”

“I mean…your human body…”

“Diagnostic Response: Organic components reporting normal.”

Dr. Strasburger felt a pounding grow in his head.

“I mean…emotionally.”

“Response: No particular emotions reported at this time.”

“I…see. Let’s try something else then. Why don’t you tell me about your childhood…Ms. Elise?”

“Response: This unit has no records pertaining to childhood.”

“...you know, Elise, we all have memories of our childhood. It’s just…for some of us, we buried those things deep, deep inside. And that’s ok. It can be painful to look within. But it’s still a part of us, it’s where we came from. And to figure out who we are today, we need to know where we began.”

The machine girl just stared at him, completely expressionless save for the blinking light in her robotic eye. Dr. Strasburger held back a sigh.

“Do you think you could try? To look deep within?”

The girl nodded.

“Acknowledgement: Elise running deep memory scan. Attempting to recover deleted files.”

Dr. Strasburger let out a quiet sigh this time. Ah, some progress. Slow going this one. But so, so worth it. To be the first person to unlock the mind of a machine? To prove that consciousness was not limited to man and to show that he was the one who understood it? That would be…

“Report: Scan complete. Deleted file of organic fuel taste recovered. No additional memories detected.”

His hands trembled as he resisted the urge to hold his head.

“A-And…how does that make you feel…”

“Uncomfortable Report: Organic components reporting damage from toxic substance.”

He didn’t hold back his sigh this time.

“This is a waste of time.”

The boy in front of him crossed his arms and scoffed. Dr. Strasburger held back a sigh. Great. Another bratty teenage boy.

“I understand, Mr. Amano. The sooner we get through this, the sooner you can leave.”

The boy scoffed once more.

“So…why don’t we start with your childhood.”

The boy’s eyes narrowed.

And he began to talk.

Dr. Strasburger’s eyes widened. Murder. An actual murder case. He was…expecting some teenage drama. Not an actual murder.

“And so I’ve sworn that I will kill him…and anyone I need to do it.”

“I-I see…I understand that you have a lot of rage, Mr. Amano. But have you ever considered there are alternative outlets for your rage than violence?”

Dr. Strasburger blinked.

The boy had vanished.

And he felt sharp, cold metal on his neck.

“I’ll kill anyone who gets in the way of my revenge!”

Dr. Strasburger’s eyes widened.

The boy had a sword.

An actual sword.

With an actual blade.

Held against his neck.

“I-I got it…I won’t get in the way of anything…l-let’s just calm down for a moment.”

He may need to rethink his approach here.

“Ferdinand, are you ok?”

Ferdinand blinked and looked around. He was sitting in a white, sterile room, across a desk from a red-haired woman in glasses and comfortable, professional clothing. She was vaguely familiar, but something seemed…off about her.

“Hm? Where…am I?”

“You are at my facility in Seattle, Ferdinand. Don’t you remember?”

“I…”

Ferdinand held his head as it started to pound. Facility? Seattle?

“Do you remember me?”

“I…don’t…”

She gave him a soft smile.

“That’s entirely all right, Ferdinand, I know this must be difficult for you. I’m Dr. Saydaa, and I’ve been helping you work through some things here.”

Ferdinand’s head pounded once more, but he slowly nodded his head. That…made sense? Right?

“Now, let’s retrace our steps, shall we? Can you tell me how you got here?”

“How I…well…there was a man…without a face…and he…”

“A man without a face? Are you certain, Ferdinand?”

“I’m….not sure…”

“You know, sometimes, when we go through very difficult times, our minds construct something of a reassuring fantasy, Ferdinand. And that’s good. It’s a way for us to endure the unendurable. But we must return to reality eventually. Can you do that for me?”

“I…”

“Take your time.”

Ferdinand took a deep breath.

“Ok….not a…masked man then? But then…who paid me? To…help the…children?”

He paused.

Suddenly Dr. Saydaa’s face clicked in his mind.

“Wait a minute…you’re one of the children…and I’m the doctor! Saydaa, enough of this!”

Dr. Saydaa grinned at him and the world twisted and swirled.

And he was back in his office, on his side of the desk, with the young girl Saydaa in the patient’s seat.

Clutching her stomach as she laughed and pointed at him. Dr. Strasburger heaved a sigh and rubbed his temples.

Dr. Strasburger leaned on his desk, his hands clutched in front of his face.

This job was a nightmare.

And it was only the first round.

But it was almost over. Just one left and he could develop a treatment plan. Just one more.

In that moment, Dr. Strasburger found God, as he prayed that the last one would be normal.

“E-Excuse me…”

A young girl slowly entered the room, glancing about. Clearly nervous to be here. As normal for her age…or a hint of things to come?

At this point, Dr. Strasburger couldn’t tell.

“Why don’t you have a seat, Miss Ueno?”

A while later Dr. Strasburger smiled.

Normal. She was normal!

She told him of her troubled childhood, of expectations she couldn’t meet, of failing the hopes and dreams of her family and the rifts that created with her father.

He could handle that!

“And that’s when I met…my boss! He was so kind, and wonderful, and smart, and generous! He told me I was the best, gave me great gifts and wonderful training! He made me someone special, the person my family always wanted me to be! So I’m going to serve at his side forever. I would do anything to repay this debt.”

Dr. Strasburger nodded. It was good that she had found a new role model to replace her estranged father. He was a bit worried though, that she had swung too far and grown overly dependent on this man.

“That’s great, Miss Ueno. I’m so glad you were able to find healing. And there’s always more room for growth, right?”

“Yes! I will grow as much as I can!”

“Excellent. Now, what else is there in your life besides this man?”

“Huh? Why would I need anything else?”

“Miss Ueno, it is wonderful to be devoted and grateful to those that help us. But our self-worth cannot lie solely in a single person, no matter how wonderful. I believe you should look to expand…”

Dr. Strasburger blinked.

The girl had vanished.

And he felt sharp, cold metal on his neck.

Not again!

Not with the normal one!

”My boss deserves all my self-worth and more. If you are trying to reduce my loyalty to him, then you are an enemy.”

“C-Calm down, Miss Ueno. No one is saying anything about…your boss.”

“He deserves everything, understand?”

“Y-Yes, I understand. H-He deserves everything.”

She stood there for another moment before nodding and flickering back to her seat. Dr. Strasburger gasped and felt his neck, then wiped the sweat from his brow.

Dr. Strasburger slammed a check down on the table. Bob sighed, rubbing his temples.

“What do you mean…refund?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Bob, but I cannot help you. This bunch…is beyond my profession I’m afraid.”

“They said you were the best. You guaranteed results.”

“I am sorry. I was arrogant and foolish. B-But…I have a colleague who should be able to help you. Please.”

Bob heaved another sigh.

Five therapists and a lot of wasted time later…

Bob’s eyes twitched as he glanced at the card on his desk.

Seriously?!

Just how hard was it to give therapy to a couple of teens?

…

Ok yes, WMD’s fueled by hormones, trauma, and rage but seriously? There has to be at least one super-specialized therapist in the world, right?

Well…this was it. The last recommendation. The one that the other therapists seemed frightened off.

Which hopefully meant she couldn’t be frightened by the patients.

He typed in the name…Dr. Ueda…

And slammed his head on his desk.

She had just been hired by the ILS.

“Heroes are so annoying.”