NationStates Jolt Archive

Monere Mental Health Clinic, Regulus, Associated Systems of Klonor

Amy Keane sat quietly in the middle of a rather large room, her body motionless while her mind was working at double the normal rate. Surrounding her were many objects of different size, shape, and density that floated serenely about her body. With a triumphant grin on Amy's face all the floating objects began to whirl more rapidly, finally almost invisible as they sped at nearly incalcuable speeds. Finally, they all stopped nearly instantly and dropped to the ground around her, forming a small halo which she stepped over to get a drink of cocoa from a table nearby.

"Well, physically, you're back in tip-top shape."

The speaker, an old man standing on the other side of a window placed in the wall furthest from Amy, pressed a button to open a door inside the room that lead to a bathroom.

"You can get freshened up now, I don't think you can improve your emitter control any more than you already have. But you're still having some severe problems in letting people close. This would go much more smoothly if you'd at least let me come into the room with you. Please, for your own good."

"No....no, not yet. When ever anybody gets close I feel....I feel......"

With a gasp she collapsed and began sobbing to the horror of the watching man.

"Ah, sh--"

He rapidly began pushing buttons on the console in front of him and began emitting forcefields within the room to move the motionless Amy to one of her beds.

"Every time this happens she takes longer to come back."

Placing her down on the bed within the chamber he checked her vital signs, her physical vitals that is, and then slowly exited; hoping that she'd wake up soon.

EDIT2: Forget the first edit

OOC: A little back story

In Klonor, mental contact (Ming-to-mind telepathy) is one of the worst possible things imaginable. It's worse than theft, worse than murder, worse than rape. Hell, it's worse than what Michael Jackson does at night. The fear that Klonorians have of mental contact stems from one of the times the Duke was killed. It was (You guessed it) a mental death and this particular death (Unlike the other times he's died) plunged all of Klonor into complete anarchy for several centuries and lead to civil wars, Nazi-like genocidal purges, and annexation by foreign powers (the first time this has ever happened in Klonor history). To inhabitants of Klonor, mental contact isn't just an invasion of privacy, it's symbolic of everything that has ever been valued and strived for being cast aside and nothing but horror coming soon afterwards.

Amy Keane was, in a meeting with a foreign dignitary ignorant of the Klonor hatred for menal contact, subjected to a brief mind meld type thing and was horribly traumatised by it. Not physically hurt she is a bit.....off, mentally. She's now being treated and rehabilitated so that she wont collapse and start whimpering at even the thought of being (physically) close to someone.

Amy sat in a large and plush chair, her face flushed and sweat running off her in near rivers. Slowly, she reached to her side and pushed a small orange button. Across the room, with a creak of gears which showed that they hadn't been used in months (or even years), the door next to the windowed observation room opened and the old man stepped through.

"Amy? Amy, how are you doing?"

Her only responce was a small whimper and the man took a step closer.

"No! No, don't come any closer.....not yet."

The man stopped with a concerned look on his face.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Yes, yes I am."

As the man retraced his steps and backed out of the room he was pursued by Amy. Taking a deep breath she crossed the threshold for the first time in months. Looking up she gave the old man an obviously forced grin and held on to a nearby desk to steady herself.

"There, no problem. I'm outside. You're here. This is fine. This is good. This....this.....this....."

She began to topple over, catching herself a second before she hit the ground.

".....is harder than I thought it'd be."

Now no more than ten feet from her, the old man slowly approached.

"You're doing wonderful. You're handling this much better than I thought you would. Good enough to take this...."

He reached at at layed his hand on top of hers.

"....in stride."

She nearly fainted at the contact and had to visibly restrain herself from shooting the old man through the heart, but she held on to herself. Slowly, she reached out and took the mans other hand in her own and oulled him into a hug.

"Thank you, thank you so much."

"Now, care to go for a walk?"

Together, the two of them approached another door and exited the building into a beautiful park on a warm, sunny day.

Amy and the old man walked through the park holding hands and enjoying the cool breeze. She was still obviously on edge and the hand grasping the older mans was twitching a bit, but the fact that she was still concious pointed in the direction that she was getting better.

"Amy? How are you doing?"

"Good....I'm doing good. I haven't wet myself yet like I did last time, either."

The man grinned, glad that she could still joke about herself.

"Well, that's always a step in the right direction. It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes it is. It's nice out. It's....."

Just then an orderly ran up the pair, his appearance casual but still an intrusion as he attempted to get the old mans attention. Amy, seeing him approaching and hearing his voice, slowly shrank to the ground and pressed her hands to her temples.

"Oh, bloody hell! You, get the hell out of here! NOW!"

Turning to the crouching girl he tried to bring her back to the world.

"Amy, Amy he's gone. He's left, he's not here anymore. He was never here, he wasn't in your mind. He was outside. Your thoughts are still your own. They are still private. Nobody touched 'you'. Amy, come back to me. Come outside. You can do it. Concentrate. Please. You control your mind, you and nobody else. Your mind is private, it only sees and hears what you want it to see and hear. You can do it."

She slowly stood up again and looked at the old man.

"Does it seem quieter to you?"

OOC: Okay, I had a good idea for this RP, but I really have no clue as to how I'm gonna do it. Seeing into the mind of a person isn't that easy when you can only type......and, well, when you really don't know that much about the interior of the human mind anyway.

Now, all you have to do is use your imagination to see the rest of this story! Yes.....imagine! Are you imagining yet? Damnit, why not? Fine, lazy bastard, I'll just tell you what I had planned. Amy slowly recuperates, learns to not spaz out whenever anybody gets close to her, and slowly resumes her role as Consul of Klonor. Yay for her!

Now, go away.

OOC: If you want to get into her thoughts, you can always RP her having nightmares (actually RPing the bad dreams out like a normal situational RP) and then have her talking to her therapist about them. Fleh. I hate to see an interesting RP concept go down the tubes due to writers block.

OOC: Well, yeah, but........uh.....well.......you know, I really can't think of a good counter-argument to that idea.

OOC: Well, just to try something new.....

IC:

Several minutes ago

Amy Keane, seeing the orderly approaching and hearing his voice, slowly shrank to the ground and pressed her hands to her temples.

He's here.....he's in my mind....I can hear him.....I don't want to hear him.....I don't want to hear anybody! Leave me alone!

Suddenly Amy found herself again in the room where it had all begun, seated in front of Ravelyn Shentavo and getting increasingly irritated at the others attempts at contacting the Duke. Then, just as it had happened before, it happened again.

"But you want more proof than my words, darling." She stood up and progressed towards Amy. She placed a slender hand on the side of her head on her temple. She heard her heart beating and felt the pulse beneath her fingertips. It was then she recalled the remnants of a memory, which she displayed to Amy through the touch.

No! I don't want this again!

Suddenly Amy was in the arms of the Duke, revealing all that had just happened. Amy quickly retold the tale of the entire meeting, ending with the un-invited mental contact. The Duke, listening with growing horror at the actions of the visitor, was almost pushed into a murderous rage at the end.

"I'll go see her. Go to your father, tell him what happened. I want him to prep the MCS in case she tries this with any other citizens. Then rest. Don't worry, with time the memory will fade."

Not again! Not again! Please, Minerva, not again!

Then she was in the arms of her father as he sent orders to the Mentalic Containment Section and swore revenge.

"Don't worry, don't worry, she will pay for what she has done. The Duke himself will personally skin her alive and boil her interior until her intestines are as soup. Then I will take pleasure in incinerating all that is left of her until not one single atom remains. She will pay! By Pluto, she will pay!"

No.....just, please......no....end my life but spare me this again...

But she was not spared, and she was now sitting in her own apartment within the Vicegral Palace in front of the Vid Screen.

For the Love of All That is Holy, NO!

On the Vid Screen was an image of the Grand Duke Solomon Klonor and the Empress Ravelyn Shentavo, mere minutes before Amys life crumbled to dust.

".......You see at my side the Empress Ravelyn Shentavo, a woman who yesterday payed me a visit at the Vicegral Palace in Deneb. While there she made a mistake. She initiated a mental contact with Amy Keane, Consul of Klonor. This contact was uninvited, but not hostile. The Empress was merely ignorant of the aversion we of Klonor have to such acts. She acted not out of hatred, but simply out of an urge to share knowledge only she had. If she had known she would never have dreamt of forcing this upon Amy.

........But I know the Empress, she did not wish to harm anybody. I am hereby ordering that all members of the Klonor Space Corps, Mentalic Containment Section, and the populaion at cease their pursuit of the Empress at once. She is not to be harmed.....

I hope one day you will come to see her as I see her, one day that you can forgive her as I have, but regardless I have forgiven her and so must you......"

no.......no.....no.....

OOC: Ah.....crap. I just realised it, I've jumped the shark. Drat!

IC:

He chose her over me......he chose her over me.........he chose her over me.........he chose her over me.........he chose her over me.........he chose her over me.........he chose her over me.........he chose her over me.........

That one line kept repeating within her mind as she shrank deeper and deeper into the pit.

I loved him from the moment I was born, I loved him before I even knew of love, and he picked her over me.....

Her own emotions, hidden so deep that even she didn't know of them, were surfacing now.

My whole life meant nothing to him. I joined the Space Corps so I could protect what he loved, I became Consul with the hope of living up to his example, I helped bring him back into this world, and he picked her over me.....

She was now alone within her mind, nothing but blackness all around.

But did he truly? Did he truly cast me aside that quickly? He might still feel that way I do.....

Suddenly she was back within her apartment, watching the Vid all over again.

"......I hope one day you will come to see her as I see her......"

He chose her over me......he chose her over me.........he chose her over me.........he chose her over me.........he chose her over me.........he chose her over me.........he chose her over me.........he chose her over me.........

OOC: Congratulate me, I've Jumped the Shark (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=407963).

Amy now sat in her fathers lap, no more than five years old and staring at a picture of the Duke that her father held as he monologued.

"Now, Amy, this is....Amy, are you listening to me? Darn it, pay attention, this is important. This is Solomon Klonor. Rmember his name, when you start school you'll hear it more than your own. This is the man who brought Klonor into space, he's the one who raised us to what we are today. He's the father of us all."

Look at him back then, he looked so old to me

"Remember, he's sleeping for now, but he'll be back with us eventually."

I couldn't stop staring at his hair, that color just seemed hilarious.

"When he gets back he'll step back into control, but until then it's the Consuls in command. Remember that Amy, the Consuls. One day, when you're grown up, you could be a Consul. Imagine that Amy, you could do it. I know you could. You could be the one to help give Klonor back to him."

I wasn't even listening to dad, that picture just called to me. I had to fight not to giggle, the Duke just looked ridiculous. Now.....now I still can't stop staring at him. Will I ever?

"One day you could be working for the Duke, working with the Duke. You could if you wanted to."

I never thought I'd be happy to see this place again. I never thought I'd see it again, period. But life sure throws you some curveballs.

Now sitting in one of her college classes when working on her Masters in history, she had to be around ten years old now, she was watching an actual recording of the legendary Merger Conference; the historic meeting where Deneb, SR-2091, and the Draconian-Rossian Alliance had finally agreed to reform Klonor and erected the Associated Systems Government over the billions of citizens.

"So, did either of you see any good menties recently?"

"Well, there was this good documentary on recently. It had to do with....well......with you. The Manifest Incident I believe it was. Sir, if I may say so, you were simply magnificent. I nearly fell out of my seat when you......."

"Excuse me, but I was there after all."

"Oh. Right. Yes, of course, sir."

I swear, I practically lept to my feet in a standing ovation after this video. Half the class actually did. It wasn't even that good of a video, it was just three people talking. But the Duke.....the Duke had presence; and of course it's a bit of a jazz to see your own father in a history lesson.

"If I might butt in, I'd like to know why the hell we're here."

"General, I was about to ask you the same thing. After all, it was you who made the first move."

"Me? Are you insane? All I got was an invitation to a conference to be hosted by you!"

"Yes, I sent that. After I got your message asking for a conference!"

Sadly, that jazz does die a bit when you see your father making an ass out of himself. Seriously, the two of them didn't even know who made the first move, how could they let a detail like that slip by? But still, there's just something about the Duke that.......it's just there.

"I do, too, but..........."

"But what?"

"But.......can this truly be happening? Did we truly do it?"

"Yes, we did it. We did it!"

"We need to mark this moment. This moment makrs the re-birth of the Klonor Empire!"

"No, not the Klonor Empire. That name never fit. We were never an Empire."

"Then what?"

"Then.........I don't know."

"I have an idea. Perhaps........perhaps The Associated Systems of Klonor."

Ah....crap. I missed the negotiations. That was the best part! Eh, maybe I'll set myself back down at the beginning of this specific loop again. There's gotta be some way to find the rewind button here.

"Then send the announcement. The Associated Systems are here."

Amy, Amy he's gone. He's left, he's not here anymore. He was never here, he wasn't in your mind. He was outside.

What? What the bloody hell is that?

Your thoughts are still your own. They are still private.

That's right! This is my head! If anybody's going to take me on a little tour through time it's gonna be me! I am taking control of this roller coaster ride, as of now.

Suddenly Amy found herself again in the room where it had all begun, seated in front of Ravelyn Shentavo and getting increasingly irritated at the others attempts at contacting the Duke. Then, just as it had happened before, it happened again.

"But you want more proof than my words, darling." She stood up and progressed towards Amy. She placed a slender hand on the side of her head on her temple. She heard her heart beating and felt the pulse beneath her fingertips. It was then she recalled the remnants of a memory, which she displayed to Amy through the touch.

Oh, sh--

Nobody touched 'you'. Amy, come back to me. Come outside. You can do it. Concentrate. Please.

The words from the Outside echoed through Amy's mind as she again lived through the horror of watching the Duke favor her violator over her.

You control your mind, you and nobody else.

Again she felt the penetration of the mind of Ravelyn Shentavo, she felt herself be driven out of its own territory.

Your mind is private, it only sees and hears what you want it to see and hear.

She again saw and heard her fathers oath of vengeance that was abandoned at the slightest wave from the Duke.

You can do it.

They never loved me. None of them ever did. The Duke loved her, my father loved him. They never loved me......they never loved me......they never loved me.....

Suddenly she was before a crowd of thousands, all screaming at the top of their lungs. Human and elves stood side by side before the Vicegral Palace and screamed themselves hoarce.

Oh, what new Hell is this? What could possibly lower me more than what I have already seen?

Slowly, the thousands of throats joined together and united until a single word could be heard echoing throughout the plaza.

"Consul! Consul! Consul! Consul! Consul! Consul!"

I know this Hell. My Induction into the Consulship. Great, am I going to find out that the people didn't even vote for me? Didn't even my time as Consul have any meaning? Couldn't I have even this one bit of happiness in my life?

"Long Live the Consuls! Long Live the Consuls! Long Live the Consuls! Long Live the Consuls!"

Yes, 'Long Live the Consuls', as long as it's not a happy life. As long as they don't make one difference, as long as they're not close to anybody in their entire life, as long as everybody they thought dear turn on them.

"With the passing of this law, the Elves and Humans are now seperate in biology only! We have long lived together in peaceful harmony, but there has always been a gap between our two great races. There have always been disputes over territory in Epsilon Pegasi, always questions over rights and equality. Well, no more! From now on we are all Citizens of Klonor!"

Big deal, that law wasn't even worth the computer space it was saved on. There hadn't been a single problem in over a century, we'd been living happily since the Association was formed. If it wasn't for the damn factoids, always obsessed with making sure that every single custom is officially supported, we wouldn't have even bothered passing that.

"I'm sorry Mr. Prime Minister, but it's just out of the question. Deneb is a Klonor system and it will always remain as such. No matter what."

Lil miss didn't even care about getting joint ownership of the system, they just wanted to appease their voters by making it look like they were fighting for 'the people'.

“My lord, it has been nearly one hundred years. Please, we must hurry to the re-animation section, you are still weak.”

“And who are you, young lady?”

“I am Amy Keane, daughter of Supreme General Yunger Keane, Consul of the Associated Systems of Klonor.”

“Daughter of Yunger Keane? So, that old bastard finally bagged someone, did he?”

“Yes, he…..bagged my mother. But we really must hurry.”

“Fine, let’s get under way.”

As if the reanimation of the Duke meant anything, or my help with it. Klonor had been getting along fine without him, the Consuls were doing it fine........I was doing fine?

The transfers were going faster and faster. A new law being signed into existence, new medicines being distributed to the public, wars being averted, lives being saved, good being done.

Fine, damnit, I admit I did good. But what did it get me? Nobody ever loved me, nobody ever had my interests at heart. What's the use?

Suddenly she finds herself back where she was mere moments ago, standing at the top of the Vicegral Palace as the thousands in attendance cheer for her.

You were loved. You were loved by millions, you were loved by billions. You did great things for a great nation, and the people loved you for it. They love you for it even now, as you cower within your own mind.

What? Who the hell is that?

Who am I? I am Amy Keane, Consul of Klonor!

No, I am Amy Keane, and the last time I checked there can't be two of one person.

Yes, and of course right now you're not trapped within your own mind and being tortured by visions of the past. Think a bit woman, schizophrenia shouldn't seem very odd right now.

Oh, shut up.

No, you shut up and listen for a moment. Your entire life you have been obsessed with the Duke. You idolised him as a child and as an adult. You sought his adoration when he came back and you thought you'd earned it. But in all your time you never noticed the adoration that you had earned. The adoration of the billions of citizens whose lives you have improved. The Duke is a great man, I'm not trying to deny that. He's smart, he's courageous, and that smile makes me go weak in the knees. But he is still only one person, and an alcoholic to boot (even by the standards of Klonor). Stop worying about what you haven't achieved and look at what you have. You have made peace, prosperity, and joy for billions. Be happy. If the Duke doesn't see what a treasure you are it's his loss. No, stop moping around and stand up. The old man's starting to get worried.

Outside her mind, in the real world, she slowly stood up again and looked at the old man.

"Does it seem quieter to you?"

Amy and the old man hugged briefly, small smiles on both their faces.

"You're sure you're ready for this?"

"Yes, I'm sure. It's settled down a bit in here."

She tapped her forhead and her grin grew a bit.

"Well, then I wish you good luck. You're going straight back to Deneb?"

"No, I've decided to use purely civilian travel and the quickest ship is going through Epsilon Pegasi first."

"Quickest ship through Epsilon Pegasi? How does that work? Regulus is two jumps to Deneb, if you're going through EP it'll take at least five."

"True, but I've decided to overlook that fact for just now. I've spent to long with my eyes on the Duke instead of the citizens of Klonor, I think it's time I spent a bit of time among them. I figure, what better way then being stuck on a ship with some of them for a few days?"

"So, when does your ship leave?"

"A little less than an hour."

"I guess this is good-bye then. Enjoy your trip, and call me the second you get back to the Vicegral Palace."

"I will, the very second I get back. Good-bye."

With that she turned and left the Clinic, heading to the spaceport and her voyage home.

OOC: And here this story ends and we get into her marriage RP

The Marriage RP: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=408149