Post by sailornull on Jun 7, 2021 15:57:24 GMT -5
Tabby knocked on the door to Dr. Meyer’s office. A crash, followed by a muffled string of fluent techie, came through the door.
After a moment, the door swung open, and a dark-haired woman in a navy suit with an eggshell blouse that was doing interesting things as she breathed heavily, braced herself on the door frame. Her hair was held back in a ponytail, except a few strands that fell in front of her face, and she was sporting the beginning of a bruise on her left cheek.
“You must be Tabitha. Come in.”
Tabby shook her head. “I’m Tabby, actually, but I’m helping Tabitha set this up. Are you all right? We heard a crash through the door.”
“It’s nothing. I tripped on my way to open the door.” The woman touched her cheek and winced. “Well, almost nothing. How does it look?”
“Like you’re going to have a nasty bruise in a half hour.” Tabby gave the woman a concerned look. “We can reschedule….”
“Nonsense. It’s only a bruise. I’ve had worse. Come in.” The woman stepped away from the door, then reached up and flipped a switch above it. White – no, her headset said it was pink – noise came from the area the switch was in, just loud enough that if it were amplified by the door vibrating in response, no one would hear anything below a scream coming from the office.
Tabby stepped through the door, and the woman closed it, then led her toward the desk. The room had a comfortable seating area at one end, the desk she was being led to at the other, and a couple upholstered chairs in front of the desk. A black rice cooker Mac sat on the desk, with a flat screen monitor and iMac mouse and keyboard between it and the user’s chair. Bookshelves on either wall at the desk end of the room held not only books, but a variety of tchotchkes, from a Winslow to puzzle boxes. Thank goodness I don’t see any magic around THOSE!
“So, as you’ve guessed, I’m Dr. Meyer,” the woman said as she settled in the chair behind the desk and took out a paper file folder. “Normally we won’t be sitting at the desk, but I need to make sure my file is accurate, and you need to decide if I’m the person you want to talk with.”
“All right.” Tabby nodded as she settled into the chair farthest away from temptation to study the Mac. “Where do you want to begin?”
“That’s supposed to be my question,” Dr. Meyer said, flashing a smile. "But for this session, let’s start with the basics. The referral I was given lists Tabby and Tabitha Hodges as who I’m supposed to be meeting with. Is that some sort of typo?”
“It should also describe our… unique circumstances,” Tabby said. “Tabitha and I share a body. She’s from Paragon City, while I’m from Millennium City, Michigan.”
“Millennium City, Michigan?” Dr. Meyer flipped a couple pages in the file, then nodded. “Oh. World Gamma Omicron 23-5. Interesting. How is it that you share a body? For that matter, whose body was it originally, or did two bodies merge to make the one you live in now?”
“It was my body originally.” Tabby relaxed some. This, at least, was old territory that she’d come to terms with nearly ten years ago. “Do you remember the Dimensional Collapse of 2012? Tabitha escaped it by repurposing a medical transporter for interdimensional travel. The result was that while she was sent across dimensions, her body was not. She landed in my body, and it took a while before we could communicate with each other, much less work out equitable sharing. At first, when she took over, I was… so far under that anything she did wouldn’t even appear as dreams to me. Luckily, my mother is a part of the coven of the most powerful witch on my world, and they were able to work out not only what had happened, but how we could communicate with each other.”
“And you’ve been sharing your body with her since 2012?” Dr. Meyer looked up from the file with an expression of disbelief. “You seem remarkably calm about the situation.”
“Tabitha and I are the same person, just from different universes. I’m sure you’ve encountered Praetorian versions of some of the local heroes, yes?” Tabby chuckled softly. “We have, too, Becca’s a lot more… let’s just say that after meeting Becca, Tabitha and I came to an agreement that she should at least try to deal with some of the problems being back here in Paragon City has caused her.”
“Some of the problems?” Dr. Meyer asked, then frowned thoughtfully. “It sounds as if I should be talking with Tabitha, then.”
“You will be,” Tabby said, nodding. “She’s just… psyching herself up to do this. There are things she does not want to remember, much less deal with, and things she may have trouble remembering, because they’re part of the Robot Menace’s memories, not hers. That’s who initially made the transition from here to my world. Tabitha was… the best I could say is that she was not conscious then. Now, she not only does not want to remember Robot Menace, she is actively distressed when she does remember. Given the little that filtered through from Robot Menace before she re-integrated with Tabitha… at least, I hope she re-integrated… I don’t blame her for being distressed.”
Dr. Meyer put down her pen and looked intently at Tabby. “Are you telling me that not only is your body occupied by the mind of a dimensional alternate, but that the dimensional alternate has multiple personalities?”
“That’s right. Robot Menace is the other personality that appeared to protect Tabitha when she was… catatonic, I guess? It was Robot Menace who repurposed the mediporter to make the crossing, and it was Robot Menace who took control of my body without any way for me to communicate with her. It wasn’t until Bethie and her coven found a way to wake up Tabitha that I was able to communicate with her and work out how we could cooperate. Since then, Robot Menace has taken over occasionally, but less and less as the years have passed. The last time she took control of my body was….”
Tabby trailed off and looked into the distance, then tapped on her forearm computer. “Yes. The last time Robot Menace took control of my body was December 1, 2016, during an UNTIL mission against Zerstoiten. Our team was running into trouble with Black Talon when Robot Menace took control and turned Black Talon on itself. We’re still not sure how she managed to gain control of its computers remotely, but once it was destroyed and its pilot captured, she let Tabitha take control again.”
“Interesting. So Robot Menace is a protector of sorts? What is Zerstoiten?”
“Not what – who.” Tabby snorted. “His name is Albert Zerstoiten, but he likes to call himself Dr. Destroyer. He’s a genius at robotics and cybernetics, and a stark raving mad megalomaniac. The only villain on my world who’s more dangerous is Mechanon, and Zerstoiten has even gone one on one against it.”
“And Black Talon is… some kind of battlesuit?”
“More like a small mecha.” Tabby tapped on her computer, and a holographic image of the Black Talon armor, holding an unidentified hero in one hand, appeared between her and Dr. Meyer. “Zerstoiten has built a lot of them, and has specially trained pilots to drive them. They have enough weapons and armor to stand up to most heroes, and even some hero groups. He uses them the way militaries use tanks. The one Robot Menace destroyed had half our team down or in desperate need of healing before she managed to take control of it.”
“That’s… definitely more than a battlesuit. And you say that’s the last time she appeared?” Dr. Meyer looked from the hologram to her file, made a couple notes, then looked back at Tabby. “So why do you use that name as your registered hero ID?”
“You can blame Assistant DA Andrew Wells for that. I know we gave the Patrol Tabitha’s record when we joined, but I don’t know how much of that you have in your file.” Tabby frowned. “He’s the one who called Tabitha a Robot Menace at her trial, and when we came to this world, she insisted we use it as a red flag for Wells. On my world we’re known as the Roboticist. We work with Unity – the UNTIL super team – on global threats.”
“All right…,” Dr. Meyer rubbed her cheek, then winced and pulled her hand away. “So here, you have a criminal record, while on your world you work for … what is UNTIL, anyway?”
“United Nations Tribunal on International Law. It is my world’s UN’s answer to… well, the closest you have on this world is Vanguard. Imagine Vanguard with the bureaucracy of the FBSA, and you’ll be pretty close.”
“That sounds like a nightmare.” Dr. Meyer flipped a couple pages in the file, read the revealed page, and frowned. “Thirteen counts of first degree murder, but our legal specialists say there are red flags all over it? I believe I will have to hear the details on this from Tabitha.”
“I agree.” Tabby nodded “Just be ready in case she reacts badly. Remembering hasn’t been good for her. Or maybe it’s the specific things she’s been remembering. Let’s just say that if the memories coming up aren’t exaggerated due to trauma, it’s perfectly understandable why Robot Menace is the way she is.”
Dr. Meyer nodded and frowned as she flipped through the rest of the file. “Why don’t you see if Tabitha will be ready to talk the next time you see me? Hopefully, that will give her enough time to prepare herself. And I’ll be able to find whatever might be on file with the city.”
“That should work.” Tabby nodded, then smiled. “And give you time to get some Motrin for your cheek.”
“That too, yes.” Dr. Meyer closed the file and stood, then offered Tabby her hand. “Same time next week, then.”
“Thank you. We’ll be here.”
After a moment, the door swung open, and a dark-haired woman in a navy suit with an eggshell blouse that was doing interesting things as she breathed heavily, braced herself on the door frame. Her hair was held back in a ponytail, except a few strands that fell in front of her face, and she was sporting the beginning of a bruise on her left cheek.
“You must be Tabitha. Come in.”
Tabby shook her head. “I’m Tabby, actually, but I’m helping Tabitha set this up. Are you all right? We heard a crash through the door.”
“It’s nothing. I tripped on my way to open the door.” The woman touched her cheek and winced. “Well, almost nothing. How does it look?”
“Like you’re going to have a nasty bruise in a half hour.” Tabby gave the woman a concerned look. “We can reschedule….”
“Nonsense. It’s only a bruise. I’ve had worse. Come in.” The woman stepped away from the door, then reached up and flipped a switch above it. White – no, her headset said it was pink – noise came from the area the switch was in, just loud enough that if it were amplified by the door vibrating in response, no one would hear anything below a scream coming from the office.
Tabby stepped through the door, and the woman closed it, then led her toward the desk. The room had a comfortable seating area at one end, the desk she was being led to at the other, and a couple upholstered chairs in front of the desk. A black rice cooker Mac sat on the desk, with a flat screen monitor and iMac mouse and keyboard between it and the user’s chair. Bookshelves on either wall at the desk end of the room held not only books, but a variety of tchotchkes, from a Winslow to puzzle boxes. Thank goodness I don’t see any magic around THOSE!
“So, as you’ve guessed, I’m Dr. Meyer,” the woman said as she settled in the chair behind the desk and took out a paper file folder. “Normally we won’t be sitting at the desk, but I need to make sure my file is accurate, and you need to decide if I’m the person you want to talk with.”
“All right.” Tabby nodded as she settled into the chair farthest away from temptation to study the Mac. “Where do you want to begin?”
“That’s supposed to be my question,” Dr. Meyer said, flashing a smile. "But for this session, let’s start with the basics. The referral I was given lists Tabby and Tabitha Hodges as who I’m supposed to be meeting with. Is that some sort of typo?”
“It should also describe our… unique circumstances,” Tabby said. “Tabitha and I share a body. She’s from Paragon City, while I’m from Millennium City, Michigan.”
“Millennium City, Michigan?” Dr. Meyer flipped a couple pages in the file, then nodded. “Oh. World Gamma Omicron 23-5. Interesting. How is it that you share a body? For that matter, whose body was it originally, or did two bodies merge to make the one you live in now?”
“It was my body originally.” Tabby relaxed some. This, at least, was old territory that she’d come to terms with nearly ten years ago. “Do you remember the Dimensional Collapse of 2012? Tabitha escaped it by repurposing a medical transporter for interdimensional travel. The result was that while she was sent across dimensions, her body was not. She landed in my body, and it took a while before we could communicate with each other, much less work out equitable sharing. At first, when she took over, I was… so far under that anything she did wouldn’t even appear as dreams to me. Luckily, my mother is a part of the coven of the most powerful witch on my world, and they were able to work out not only what had happened, but how we could communicate with each other.”
“And you’ve been sharing your body with her since 2012?” Dr. Meyer looked up from the file with an expression of disbelief. “You seem remarkably calm about the situation.”
“Tabitha and I are the same person, just from different universes. I’m sure you’ve encountered Praetorian versions of some of the local heroes, yes?” Tabby chuckled softly. “We have, too, Becca’s a lot more… let’s just say that after meeting Becca, Tabitha and I came to an agreement that she should at least try to deal with some of the problems being back here in Paragon City has caused her.”
“Some of the problems?” Dr. Meyer asked, then frowned thoughtfully. “It sounds as if I should be talking with Tabitha, then.”
“You will be,” Tabby said, nodding. “She’s just… psyching herself up to do this. There are things she does not want to remember, much less deal with, and things she may have trouble remembering, because they’re part of the Robot Menace’s memories, not hers. That’s who initially made the transition from here to my world. Tabitha was… the best I could say is that she was not conscious then. Now, she not only does not want to remember Robot Menace, she is actively distressed when she does remember. Given the little that filtered through from Robot Menace before she re-integrated with Tabitha… at least, I hope she re-integrated… I don’t blame her for being distressed.”
Dr. Meyer put down her pen and looked intently at Tabby. “Are you telling me that not only is your body occupied by the mind of a dimensional alternate, but that the dimensional alternate has multiple personalities?”
“That’s right. Robot Menace is the other personality that appeared to protect Tabitha when she was… catatonic, I guess? It was Robot Menace who repurposed the mediporter to make the crossing, and it was Robot Menace who took control of my body without any way for me to communicate with her. It wasn’t until Bethie and her coven found a way to wake up Tabitha that I was able to communicate with her and work out how we could cooperate. Since then, Robot Menace has taken over occasionally, but less and less as the years have passed. The last time she took control of my body was….”
Tabby trailed off and looked into the distance, then tapped on her forearm computer. “Yes. The last time Robot Menace took control of my body was December 1, 2016, during an UNTIL mission against Zerstoiten. Our team was running into trouble with Black Talon when Robot Menace took control and turned Black Talon on itself. We’re still not sure how she managed to gain control of its computers remotely, but once it was destroyed and its pilot captured, she let Tabitha take control again.”
“Interesting. So Robot Menace is a protector of sorts? What is Zerstoiten?”
“Not what – who.” Tabby snorted. “His name is Albert Zerstoiten, but he likes to call himself Dr. Destroyer. He’s a genius at robotics and cybernetics, and a stark raving mad megalomaniac. The only villain on my world who’s more dangerous is Mechanon, and Zerstoiten has even gone one on one against it.”
“And Black Talon is… some kind of battlesuit?”
“More like a small mecha.” Tabby tapped on her computer, and a holographic image of the Black Talon armor, holding an unidentified hero in one hand, appeared between her and Dr. Meyer. “Zerstoiten has built a lot of them, and has specially trained pilots to drive them. They have enough weapons and armor to stand up to most heroes, and even some hero groups. He uses them the way militaries use tanks. The one Robot Menace destroyed had half our team down or in desperate need of healing before she managed to take control of it.”
“That’s… definitely more than a battlesuit. And you say that’s the last time she appeared?” Dr. Meyer looked from the hologram to her file, made a couple notes, then looked back at Tabby. “So why do you use that name as your registered hero ID?”
“You can blame Assistant DA Andrew Wells for that. I know we gave the Patrol Tabitha’s record when we joined, but I don’t know how much of that you have in your file.” Tabby frowned. “He’s the one who called Tabitha a Robot Menace at her trial, and when we came to this world, she insisted we use it as a red flag for Wells. On my world we’re known as the Roboticist. We work with Unity – the UNTIL super team – on global threats.”
“All right…,” Dr. Meyer rubbed her cheek, then winced and pulled her hand away. “So here, you have a criminal record, while on your world you work for … what is UNTIL, anyway?”
“United Nations Tribunal on International Law. It is my world’s UN’s answer to… well, the closest you have on this world is Vanguard. Imagine Vanguard with the bureaucracy of the FBSA, and you’ll be pretty close.”
“That sounds like a nightmare.” Dr. Meyer flipped a couple pages in the file, read the revealed page, and frowned. “Thirteen counts of first degree murder, but our legal specialists say there are red flags all over it? I believe I will have to hear the details on this from Tabitha.”
“I agree.” Tabby nodded “Just be ready in case she reacts badly. Remembering hasn’t been good for her. Or maybe it’s the specific things she’s been remembering. Let’s just say that if the memories coming up aren’t exaggerated due to trauma, it’s perfectly understandable why Robot Menace is the way she is.”
Dr. Meyer nodded and frowned as she flipped through the rest of the file. “Why don’t you see if Tabitha will be ready to talk the next time you see me? Hopefully, that will give her enough time to prepare herself. And I’ll be able to find whatever might be on file with the city.”
“That should work.” Tabby nodded, then smiled. “And give you time to get some Motrin for your cheek.”
“That too, yes.” Dr. Meyer closed the file and stood, then offered Tabby her hand. “Same time next week, then.”
“Thank you. We’ll be here.”