Dictation - 1 [Video]

[drabsolutelynot]

Hello. [Rosen stares down his nose at the screen which is set a bit away from his face so as not to over-impose himself on anyone who might see this. His glasses are a bit scuffed from the excitement in the colosseum a few days ago but his clear brown eyes still show through] 

I had a few question I was hoping someone among you might be able to answer but I should probably introduce myself before I ask. 

[He straightens a bit, clearly uncomfortable on screen. He had been hesitant at the prospect of showing his face and had tossed the idea back and forth for the better part of the day but in the end he concluded it was probably the best means to his desired end.]

My name is Dr. Lee Rosen. I did my neurological and psychiatric residencies at Binghamton in upstate New York and I am also licensed as a general practice physician. 

[He falters a bit, bashfully rubbing the back of his head with a bandaged hand. He hates sounding like he's tooting his own horn. He also hates volunteering information about his life, working from the general assumption that people probably didn't care to know. He doesn't bother to mention the fact that he is a new arrival. That is a given.] 

I don't know if any of that might be useful here but if it could be I am happy to offer my services. 

[He pauses again before changing course]

It might seem a strange request but does anyone know where I might find music...or...or even perhaps somewhere I could get my hands on an instrument? 

Comments

[tablewithoutpity]

Dr. Rosen. What a pleasure to know that I will have a colleague here. I myself have been trained as both a surgeon and a psychiatrist. If you're amenable, perhaps we could establish a psychiatric practice within the clinic here. In addition, should you require a psychiatrist yourself, I humbly offer my services.

[drabsolutelynot]

[Rosen hesitates before answering though not really for any reason having to do with what is being suggested or who it is being suggested by. Instead he is struck by the concept of a prospective occupation. Although he had been given an apartment, by definition a living space, the apartment still felt like something temporary. It lacked all the trappings that make domestic spaces homes. No pictures. No knick knacks. No cracks or chips to which he could ascribe any memories. Without these things he feels unanchored like a ship passing through.

But a clinic? That sounds more long term. Though perhaps he needs to start thinking in the long term. ]

Its almost serendipitous that we should arrive at the same time [He smiles shyly. He's overstating of course but its not sarcasm.] And no doubt a surgeon is useful to have on hand in a place like this.

[As are psychiatrists. Which brings him to Hannibal's second point]

A psychiatric clinic? I can't say I'm against the idea [In fact the more it weighs in his mind the more intrigued he becomes] but do you think there will be a want for one?

[Then the final point]

O-Oh...well...thank you. That is very kind of you. And the same for you, of course, should you need someone.

[tablewithoutpity]

We seem to be in a place where our emotions are vulnerable to manipulation, which has the potential to cause a great amount of psychological damage. Psychiatric assistance may be as important, if not more so, than physical medicine. And with the size of the population, I imagine either of us on our own might well be overwhelmed.

[There are a number of reasons Hannibal is proffering the idea of a clinic, of course. There was the esteem that it would generate for him, esteem that would both make it easier to influence others and give himself a degree of benefit of doubt that would protect him from closer scrutiny. But he was also deeply curious about the situation they found themselves in, and wanted to (metaphorically, at least) roll up his sleeves and dive into the chaos to find the patterns, to learn what this sort of environment did to the human psyche.

He also had developed a liking for this fellow psychiatrist, and wanted to cultivate a positive professional relationship that might then later become something more personal. Hannibal wanted to see how he ticked as well.

At Dr. Rosen's reciprocal offer Hannibal smiled warmly.]

Thank you. I imagine I will take you up on that, as I hope you will as well.

[drabsolutelynot]

You make several good points.

[His voice is a bit distracted as he is putting the pieces together in his head, shifting them about, and rearranging them again. He's trying to envision how this could come together. He's had several practices in his lifetime and usually the process of starting one began with tedium. Zoning agreements if you wanted to buy a building, safety checks and retrofitting if you wanted to rent space in a pre-existing building, contractual meetings with the state and federal government boards, appeals to medical boards, license checks, etc etc.

Rosen is unsure what, if any, of those things would be necessary here. Or is it truly the case that they can simply ply their trade without any regulation?]

Would you be willing to meet in person, Dr. .... [Its only then he realizes he's never gotten the man's full name. He flushes a bit at his own lack of manners]

I'm sorry. I just realized we've never formally completed our introductions. What is your name, Doctor?

[tablewithoutpity]

Forgive me! I must have lost my manners somewhere back with the sharks. Dr. Hannibal Lecter. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. And would likewise be a pleasure to meet with you. Do you have a preferred place in mind?

[einselective]

[Had the timing of this post been a little different, before the snow started, Marian's response might have been a little more cordial. But as it is, she looks terrible, clearly low on sleep and voice strained.

Frankly, she's also aware she looks terrible, but in these crazy circumstances they've all been placed in and the possibility of trouble in the future, there's clear benefits to mutual facial recognition.]

I can't help with your request, but it's gratifying to hear there are other normal educated professionals here.

Dr. Marian Tenebris. Physics, UC Berkeley.

[drabsolutelynot]

UC Berkley? [Rosen finds his spirits lifted just from the mention of someplace familiar and he can't stop a small smile] I know it. I've been a guest lecturer before. Excellent Physics department.

A pleasure to meet you, Dr. Tenebris. Would you mind if I asked what you mean, exactly? What would be the non-normal educated professionals?

[private]

[einselective]

You haven't been here that long. Even discounting those from other worlds or who're blathering on about 'magic' and other nonsense, Maybe you haven't seen... the other things. Robots. Aliens. D-dead things that shouldn't be walking among us. [As her list goes on she's trying not to lose it completely but struggling, clearly.] It's not safe to go out there, especially not n... now.

Re: [private]

[drabsolutelynot]

[Magic. Only a few days ago the subject had come up in a conversation with Sans. Admittedly he's still struggling with the concept. As an empiricist he is wary of treating unseen and, in his personal experience, fictional forces with such reverence. He's been witness to many seemingly miraculous things in his life, alphas who could induce altered states of mind, who could manipulate thought, but always he could uncover a physiological cause. Sometimes the cause evaded him for years, but always it was there, waiting to be comprehended.

Magic asks people to suspend their need for comprehension and to trust themselves simply to the occurrence without cause.

It is a hard ask.]

Why now especially?

[private]

[einselective]

Have you looked outside? It's not right. When was the last time it snowed in a cavern. Something's wrong.

[She shudders at the thought. It hasn't gotten worse, or at least, not as fast as the unnatural 'winter' she'd seen in her dimension. But that didn't make it any better.]

[voice]

[synthedick]

[A voice chimes in -- Nick tends to keep his mug off the network, knowing it's a little shocking to some folks.]

Good to hear we've got another doctor here, seeing how they seem to come and go. I'd suggest you try asking the gods for a musical instrument if you get desperate, but unless you know the ins and outs of all the pieces, I'm betting it wouldn't sound like much.

Re: [voice]

[drabsolutelynot]

Have there been many before?

[Though Rosen has now been thoroughly briefed on the fact that people come and go from the cave with little rhyme or reason, it is the first he's heard of other doctors preceding him.]

Thank you for your advice. However I have to admit that the idea of appealing to a god is very strange to me still. Certainly people ask things of gods where I come from, but rarely with the expectation of actually receiving exactly what they've asked for.

[He goes quiet a moment before sounding a bit amused]

It would depend on the instrument. I know some like the very air in my lungs, and others are as foreign to me as...well...asking gods for things.

[voice]

[synthedick]

We've had a few doctors come through. Some were more on the scientific end than the medical, but we'll take what we can get.

As for the gods, it's not so much the asking that's hard as it is the payment.

[Given they feed off emotions, he probably doesn't have to explain what kind of prices they make the people of Hadriel pay for their trades.]

Re: [voice]

[drabsolutelynot]

I take it you are referring to payment of the non-conventional and non-pecuniary kind?

There's a lot I'd sacrifice for music but I have a guess they'd be more interested in what I was less willing to give.

[He pauses a bit]

Forgive me, I don't believe I got your name, Sir...?

[voice]

[synthedick]

Nick Valentine. I've been around long enough to know that some of the gods like to get creative with what they ask for in return. If you're dead set on getting an instrument, you might try Hope. He's usually the one who fabricates things like this.

text.

[dedikated]

( Hello, Doctor. Look the clinic has not been having the best time with staff with any sort of advanced specalisms. )

We've a clinic near the Colosseum, if you want to continue practicing. Couple of previous residents also built a lab nearby. Something like a lab, anyway.

( In this place, "something like a" is pretty much as good as it gets. )

Re: text.

[drabsolutelynot]

I've heard about this clinic. Can you tell me more? Who works there at current? What about supplies? etc.

text.

[dedikated]

Most of the staff are on call, either trained in first aid or capable of healing with supernatural abilities. Myself and Dr. Banner are there most of the time and handle the organisation.

Not equipped for surgeries. Can show you in more detail if you come by.

Re: text.

[drabsolutelynot]

I can come there. Should I come now or would another time be more agreeable for you?

text.

[dedikated]

Now's fine. I'll be outside.

( The... tiny chick with too much pink hair. Yep. :| )

[so_dark_a_road]

I can probably build you a musical instrument. What kind are you looking for?

[drabsolutelynot]

You could? [Rosen can't really hide the small hopeful hitch in his voice, though he tries to restrain himself from sounding overly excited. This is a stranger after all and his manners dictate that it is wrong to ask favors of strangers so readily.

He thinks a moment. He is most fond of his piano, and that is the instrument with which he is the most proficient, but he knows that is more than too much to be asking.]

Well..I...something like a flute perhaps? Or a guitar.... [He hesitates a bit as he pictures his collection at home] ...Even a harp would be a great comfort to me.

But please I do not wish to impose...

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin probably could make a keyboard instrument, but it would take a while to figure out how to do it. ]

A flute, a guitar, or a harp would be fine. I've made all of them in the past, and could certainly do it again. Do you have a preference? -- which should be first?

Don't worry about imposing. I'm an artificer, and I get bored if I'm not making things. So you are doing me a favor.

[drabsolutelynot]

An artificer? Really?

Would you be at all familiar with key action mechanisms?

action

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin refrains from asking Dr. Rosen how it came about that he had lost his family. Having experienced serious losses of his own, he knows how deep and awful the feelings can be. So he lets him change the subject. ]

At war with only one of the gods, Melkor. He and the other gods apparently had a falling out, early in their history. But they time we Elves met him, he was pretty well set on destroying what the other gods had committed themselves to protecting -- namely, the earth, and the Elvish race. He ran amok and killed my grandfather, Finwë, and stole a trio of magical jewels that my father, Fëanor, had crafted. They weren't ordinary jewels; he had trapped within them some of the original Light of the universe. My father's heart was already ensnared by them, and the murder naturally made it worse. He swore a dreadful oath and made his seven sons swear as well, an oath of vengeance and of the eternal pursuit of Melkor and war with him, until we retrieved the jewels, the Silmarils. Melkor fled the land of the gods and went to Middle Earth, the other continent, and we followed him.

It all ended in disaster. But I can't say I'm sorry for all my adventures in Middle-earth.