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[heyboss]

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[heyboss]

Ah, we are already making progress.

[He smiles and sits down across from him.]

So. Let's examine what you learned.

[tarakan]

[ Hilbert reaches into his pocket to pull out a piece of paper, which he slides towards Sheehan. On that paper are very detailed notes of what he's about to summarize verbally. ]

Seed held me captive for around a week. I know what it must have been, but I do not have memory. Still, my captivity lines up with symptoms I had when I revived from supposed coma. Aside from that, there are only few moments where I cannot remember something. One where I thought I spilled peroxide on my shirt—foolish mistake, I am not that clumsy. Suspect that was when Seed made me steal medicine. Second incident was when I murdered Abel. That was witnessed, though again, I have no memory of the action.

[heyboss]

[He reads through as Hilbert speaks.]

Alright. This is good. Did you ever learn the - the way that he controlled you? The trigger? Do you remember it?

[tarakan]

I do not remember it. But Folgate managed to learn the trigger from Seed. It is a song. And...Seed wasn't lying. We activated trigger in controlled setting. It works.

[heyboss]

Okay.

[Saves him some time. He keeps the notebook for the moment.]

Tell me what happened. And - can I have your permission to ask Norton what happened from his perspective?

[tarakan]

Of course, [ Hilbert nods. ] He played trigger. I fell into fugue state. And...I believe nothing happened, as Folgate's voice was not part of implanted trigger. But I came too when song had finished.

[heyboss]

[Sheehan looks back to the notes.]

Did you feel anything after that happened? Or after these times? [He raises the list.]

[tarakan]

I did not. It was as if no time had passed.

[heyboss]

[Sheehan considers.]

How would you feel about working on some tolerance build up?

[tarakan]

I would love that, [ said with zero hesitation. ] I will break it eventually. But I will need to build up tolerance first.

[heyboss]

You will need to trust me with your trigger.

[And he's not certain Hilbert is comfortable enough with that.]

[tarakan]

Not yet, [ said with zero hesitation. Indeed, Hilbert isn't comfortable with that. ]

Surely we can work on other ways of mental fortitude first.

[heyboss]

We can, of course. But it would help to know what it is so we can build up to it.

There are other things we can do until you're ready.

[He doesn't mind being patient.]

[tarakan]

[ There's a hesitant pause before, ]

Music. It's music. A specific song.

[heyboss]

[Another nod.]

I understand.

[And another pause.]

What I'd like to do is find that song, whatever it is, and then pick it apart in pieces. Letting you listen to each piece in turn. Pairing it with another sensation, another emotion, that's stronger than what you've already endured. Nothing negative - positive pairs are stronger, anyway.

[tarakan]

Then we have something to do before we break trigger apart: help identify memories positive enough that you think would work. [ Hilbert shrugs a little before pointing out, ]

For most part, have not had a good life.

[heyboss]

[He's not eager to get ahead of himself, so he's glad that Hilbert has figured out new plans.]

Alright.

Tell me about that.

[tarakan]

People do not agree to multiple deep-space missions, millions of miles away from civilization, if they have things like 'healthy support system' or 'people who love them.' I spent decades apart from rest of humanity. Says a lot already.

[ Hilbert's also taking things slowly, partly because he's still very hesitant to talk about his past, partly because he has no idea how much Sheehan knows about things like 'space travel.' ]

[heyboss]

[It isn't about what you know or how you know it, but what that information means to the other person.

But Sheehan's read comics.]

Why do you think that is?

[tarakan]

Isolating job. Dangerous. Not the sort of work one takes unless they have to or they have something to prove.

I was former.

[heyboss]

You had to?

[He raises a brow.]

[tarakan]

It is easier to implement human trials and inject your coworkers with experimental vaccine when you are only doctor to check on their vitals.

Ethical? Certainly not. But it was option given to me that I took.

[heyboss]

[A nod.]

That has to do with what we talked about last time? [Just in case Hilbert was too hungover to remember.]

[tarakan]

[ Huh. Wait. What did they talk about last time?

(Yes. He was too hungover) ]

About Decima virus? Yes. That is what I injected Crozier with. [ which Sheehan already knows about. ]

[heyboss]

And Eiffel. That's what we talked about.

[He idly wonders if they should start recording these sessions like he used to.]