Cognitive Deviance

21. Dottie

April 10, 2045 - 11:03 PM

The next few hours following the discovery of those girls in captivity were a typical night for Psychwatch. Shock, nausea, and a lot of tears.

The coroners eventually arrived to clean up the mess the Multi Man left behind, the dozens of mutilated Bod-Modders dangling by chains from the ceiling, deprived of their cybernetics. The deactivated bodies of the Sentients were taken back to Psychwatch in an attempt to find the individuals whose likeness they copied. Of the five girls they rescued, three were taken to the hospital to receive treatment for their injuries while the remaining two were escorted to headquarters for an interview.

Nikki nearly had a panic attack just writing down the details in a mission log. Royce had to take over, and even he went to war with his own emotions in the middle of summarizing. Halfway through the report, his hands were twitching uncontrollably and his fingers ended up tapping the wrong keys, generating gibberish that reminded him of his own disoriented thoughts. He almost made it toward the end, but Andrade took his place before he could create another typo. He and Nikki waited in the corner of the room, both of them struggling to catch their breaths and make the room stop spinning.

As soon as Carl retrieved control of his body from Vince, the first thing he did when he returned to the light was break down crying. Even after all those years, he hardly felt he had grown stronger. His cries were so full of anguish, so devoid of his trademark hope, many of the other officers assumed Catalina had taken control. She looked after anyone she cared about as if they were her own children, a beautiful trait she and Carl shared. Nonetheless, it was also their weakness.

With many of the other officers currently preoccupied with their own guilt, it was up to Margo, Andrade, Mason, and an incredibly paranoid Holden to initiate the interrogations. Margo was hooked into the PACER with one of the kids they rescued, a teenage girl with dirty, messy hair and bruises and cuts all around her face. Her eyes were closed shut as her mind found solace within the program, and it was incredibly refreshing to finally see her in a state of peace considering the fact they found her enduring great pain.

"All right, Sandoval," Mason said, quickly running her fingers along the buttons on the keyboard. "I wish you the best in there. Her mental state is stable enough to maintain a durable simulation, but evoking her traumas will quickly distort it. Try to make sure she remains composed."

Margo took a short, bothered look at the unconscious girl before the PACER helmet carefully descended over her head. "Everything will be all right," she whispered.

"Initiating PACER in three...two...one..."

Margo found herself in a bedroom.

Posters for movies and bands hovered against the walls in holographic displays. The blue early morning sky peered through the skylight on the ceiling above Margo. She sat on a sleek, beige-colored arm chair planted in the corner of the room, her hands clasped together as if in prayer. She wore a light blue sweater and jeans, as did the young frightened girl sitting on the bed in front of her. Finally free from the physical constraints of reality, the young girl looked absolutely beautiful. Streaks of wavy, sandy blonde hair trailed down her head to her shoulders and as she blinked multiple times as if waking from a nap, Margo noticed one eye was gray while the other was brown.

"Hello there," Margo greeted warmly. The girl abruptly jerked her head to the right to see the doctor-cop flashing a friendly smile at her. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Dottie," the girl whispered.

A series of words raced across the small screen of Margo's ThoughtControl piece hovering in front of her eye: