"You misunderstood."
Sylvia's tone was slightly bitter at first ring. Not angry, but just bitter.
"Issacc didn't die, Mr. Kent. He just left. Disappeared off the face of the earth. If he was dead, at least I could mourn. You can't mourn someone who's alive. A wife just knows. "
Sylvia moved close to the wheelchair bound man, bending down to his eye level.
"I'm Professor Sylvia Li. That's Clark Kent."
The women turned towards her doctor.
"Can he understand us?"
Link to sign-ups.
Prologue
"Through the Looking Glass"
"I have to say, I'm very pleased with the progress you all have made during your time here. Each and every one of you has come a long way since you first came here, and if all continues to go well, you may even be discharged as early as next week," Doctor Ellie Staple said in a pleased manner to the group that sat around her, her very own model patients.
Usually, the function of the Activity Room in Raven Hill Memorial was self-explanatory, housing various tables in the room holding all sorts of small board games, as well as a TV mounted on the wall for anyone's convenience and other harmless diversions. However, today, Staple had elected to hold a makeshift meeting with all of you, her dear patients, in the room, all of the chairs arranged in a circle for everyone to sit in with Staple at the top of the circle. It wasn't the first time the good doctor had called for this kind of meeting; she'd claimed that it would be much too formal and strict if they'd gone through the trouble of making a dedicated conference room, like they were office workers meeting up or the like, as opposed to the friendly and cordial relationship she claimed to want to foster instead, so here you all were instead.
It was difficult to gauge how long you all had even been here. Staple admitted that the medication used to tend to everyone had some degree of side effects that temporarily caused memory problems, but promised that everything would come back to them in due course. Indeed, the longer you had taken your medication, the fainter your delusions seemed to be, and the clearer your true lives became instead, until now, you could hardly remember those delusions that once defined your life before. Of course, things weren't any easier by the fact that you didn't have much in the way of outside communication. Staple insisted that it was so there wouldn't be any outside distraction, so you could focus on you and yourself alone, though one had to wonder about the efficacy of such a sentiment.
"That all said, I just wanted to meet with you all... mostly for a friendly chat, really. How are you all feeling? Any weird feelings, fake memories coming back in any way? I hope all of you are getting along with each other as well. A healthy social life contributes greatly to a healthy mind, after all."
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"Yep, yeah, everything's going smooth for me. Nothing weird going on my end," Peter Petrelli sighed, resting his hand on his face. He was no exception to Staple's statement that everyone was on their way to a full recovery, but Peter -- impatient as he was -- could hardly wait to get out of this place and get back to his life, not that anyone could blame him. After all, who wouldn't be excited to return to their mundane, humdrum, completely normal everyday lives?
"Same here. I'm ready to leave once you give the okay, doctor," Fujiko Mine also said, echoing Peter's statement, before also adding a concern of hers. "Though... Shouldn't we also get Elijah here as well? If we're all just about good to go..." She said, gesturing toward the one person in the room who wasn't huddled in the circle with everyone else.
"..."
Sitting by himself, staring at the circle from the corner almost ominously, Elijah Price was the one patient whom Staple seemed to have trouble reaching, but as he'd been a patient at the institute for longer than all of you -- however long ago that must have been -- she didn't entirely categorize him in the same vein as the rest of you for whatever reason. Elijah was an erratic patient, most of the time nigh-catatonic like he spent most of his time in a vegetative state, and sometimes suddenly snapping out of his stupor to say strange things lucidly. Coupled with the fact that he had a unique physical condition that meant his bones were as brittle as glass, Staple had always recommended you all stayed away from him for his own health, but that didn't stop him from always appearing in the most random of places throughout the institute.
Staple shook her head in response to Fujiko's words. "No, you don't have to worry about Elijah. I've told you before, he's a... special case. His condition goes beyond what you all had. But I do think your presence has helped him acclimate, being around other people must certainly have a positive effect on him," she spoke clinically, crossing her legs.
Intent on taking charge of the subject again, Staple continued. "Why don't we do a little exercise? At this stage, you should all be able to confront who you once were and reject that part of yourself. Remember who you once were, tell me that's not who you are anymore, and tell me who you really are now. It's one thing to internally affirm your true identity, but it's another to say it aloud too. Or... in Michelle's case, to sign it. Sound good?"
With an indignant breath, Peter shrugged. "Fine, fine. I'll go first," he offered, before clearing his throat. "My name is Peter Petrelli. I used to think I was a budding superhero, and that there had to be others like me all around the world too. Conveniently, I thought my superpower just so happened to be power copying, so it'd just so happen I wouldn't have any powers active when I was around normal people," he recounted, before letting out a soft chuckle, with a hint of a self-deprecating inflection to those with keener hearing.
"I guess it's not surprising I'd end up thinking something like that. I used to be a paramedic, so I was always out there trying my best to save lives, but... you can't save everyone all the time. It gets to you... it got to me, I guess," Peter breathed, pinching his nose briefly as he spoke as though remembering those he might have failed to save in his line of work. "But it's okay. I'm ready to face reality head-on now."
As Peter finished his brief little monologue, Fujiko eventually took the opportunity to go next, raising her hand to no one in particular for a moment as she began speaking. "My name is Fujiko Mine. I used to think I was a secret professional thief, fancied myself a real cat burglar, but in reality, I'm not really that exciting. I suppose it's just as well, I would have gotten myself thrown in the slammer by now if I really was that much of a klepto," she said, adjusting her red-rimmed glasses with two fingers. "But what I am is a clerk at a jewelry store. I guess the leap for me is... I thought about how good I'd have it if I'd just make off with all the merch I sell and be done with it. I always wanted to live on a yacht, you know?"
"No, I didn't know."
"Now you do."
"Right, thank you both," Staple nodded, writing down some notes on her clipboard, before looking up to the rest of you. "Now then, who's next? Don't be shy now."
Today was going to be the first day of the rest of your lives. May as well say it aloud to get comfortable with the idea. Who you used to be, and who you really are.
Cast List
@Gummi Bunnies as Chloe Winters
@Rwac96 as Clark Kent
@York as Eno Liberi
@Capri as Erin Natick
@Crunch as Flynn Blazkowicz
@Takumi as Hagusa Fujisaki
@Yun Lee as Karina Romanova
@Ottonomous Ghost as Khada Jhin
@Lucky as Liam Bishop
@Jeremi as Michelle Curry
@Minerva as Morgan Yu
@Not a Writer as Takara Matsushita
@Josh as Sylvia Li
Table of Contents to be added.
