Chapter 8: Counseling

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Kai laid in his bed, aimlessly scrolling on social media

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Kai laid in his bed, aimlessly scrolling on social media. Today, Kai was in a deep depressive rut, he called in sick at his new job at the local grocery, as although he wasn't experiencing any sniffles or migraines, Kai felt so mentally unwell, that Kai felt he wouldn't be in a good mental state to work. Thankfully his boss Kathryn was very understanding. And offered to cover Kai. And as Kai continued to scroll and scroll, an ad showed up on his feed promoting a crisis counseling service by the name of "Mindset Crisis Counseling" Kai gazed at the screen, it felt intriguing to have affordable counseling when needed, due to American Healthcare being a dumpster fire and a half. Kai began to second guess the app however. Would it be a simple answering machine that spat out automated messages? Kai had tried many apps like this before, ProtoCare, Safety Sergal, among others. "Why would this be any different?" Kai thought. But as Kai stared back at the ad, he felt desperate for some form of professional help. So Kai navigated to the AppMarket on his phone and searched "Mindset Crisis Counseling"  and there the app was. The Favicon was Grey with a blue heart, and the text MC counseling". Kai downloaded the app and waited. As soon as the app finished downloading, Kai was met with a UI with 3 buttons: "Emergency Counseling", "Therapy Forums", and "Profile". Kai chose the "Emergency Counseling" option from the menu, and was brought to a simple SMS system, then a message popped up. "Hello, a crisis counselor will be with you momentarily. Please state your issue. (Call 911 in the event of a real emergency). Kai thought to himself, he didn't really know how to word his emotions, so he began to type whatever came to his mind. "I am having trouble moving on in my current relationship, with what my ex boyfriend did to me." And proceeded to hit the send button. After 5 or so minutes a new message appeared. "Hello, I'm Ava. I'm here to help you. Can you explain your issue in more detail?" Kai began to type, "If you're not a robot, say banana." As Kai sent the message the typing bubble began to show and blink "Banana. There is no need to worry, I am a real person." Kai felt relieved yet nervous, now that he knew with absolute certainty that Ava was another person, he felt happy to not be talking to a glorified answering machine, like ProtoCare. But Kai had a nagging feeling that if he told Ava too much about his situation and his emotions, he would be whisked off to a shitty mental hospital, and be stripped from just about everything. Kai began to type: "I had an Ex boyfriend who saw me as nothing more than a dildo with legs, even groping me once. And I feel like my trauma from being with him is affecting my current relationship with my new boyfriend who is much more kind and caring." Kai hesitated to hit the send button however, would he just receive a hollow empathy borderline on pity? So with uncertainty, Kai pressed send. Kai lay on his side on the bed, pending a response. Come five or so minutes, Ava responded to the message. "I see, can you tell me your name, and pronouns?" Kai then typed out his name, his He/They pronouns, and sent the message. Kai began to get uncomfortable under the duvet he was under, but still stayed beneath it's cover and comfort. Ava typed, "Well Kai, it sounds like your ex boyfriend was quite an awful person. You said the trauma is somehow interfering with your new relationship?" Then Kai saw a button opposite to the close conversation button, the button was of a video camera, and out of curiosity, Kai tapped it. Suddenly a video call began, and there in front of him was Ava. Ava was a middle aged faun, with dirty blonde hair and round glasses. "So you're more comfortable with a video call?" Ava asked. Kai panned the camera over to his face, and muttered "Yeah, sure...". "OKAY, so I feel like I may have developed some trust issues due to the way my Ex boyfriend abused me." Kai let out in a long winded explanation. Ava scribbled notes onto a notepad, and then asked a new question, "Are you happy in this new relationship?". Kai paused for a second. Being with Buck made Kai feel safe and happy, but it Kai still felt like he had grown too thick of a skin to truly open up after the scars from Dolion, but then replied with a short and simple "yes...". "Ok Kai," Ava spoke, "have you reported your aforementioned sexual assault case to the authorities?" Kai glanced back and forth from the phone, nervous to speak out, but he felt as if bottling up all these emotions would eventually burst in a harmful way, so resentfully Kai spoke to Ava: "He's studying abroad in Romania, and they don't take SA cases all to seriously there when you are of high status." Ava then replied emphatically "I see..." "Look Kai," Ava spoke with reassurance "I know it can be hard to heal after something so traumatic to you. But, I feel like this new relationship may be much more healthy and supportive than the one you had with Dolion." Kai smiled, softly. Buck had always been there with Kai through just about everything since they had met. Kai then spoke again "You're right, I think that holding onto a troublesome past won't do me any good. I should acknowledge the past, but not let those who harmed me define how I am now.". "Thanks Ava" Kai spoke happily. "You're welcome. You see Kai, sometimes if you just lend a listening ear, people may come to the solution themselves." Kai spoke again "Ok, thanks for the talk, bye" and with that Kai hung up the call. After he hung up, a rating system showed up on the screen, stating: "please rate your experience with us on a scale of one to ten" Kai confidently picked 10/10 and submitted the form, and closed the app.

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