Sept 6th - Important Phone Calls

[Ashlie Minamida]

Ashlie is pacing up and down in her apartment. The windows are too small for her taste and the layout of the room isn't too her liking, but she'd shied away from significantly altering the building in any way, so she made due with a couple of smaller rooms instead of a wide open loft that she would have preferred. The room is still very open, only a minimal amount of furniture present to avoid making the room feel cramped in any way. That's why the walls are mostly empty, simple white wallpaper giving the illusion of open space. Most people would call it boring but she likes the blank slate.

Her mind wanders as she's pacing. The air around her is filled with electronic signals of all sorts. Dozens of smartphones in the building, wifi patterns and radio signals are all around her. Data is flowing everywhere through numerous devices and she let's her thoughts follow some of them. No. I mustn't abandon the school. A silly thought, but an intrusive one. Her mind snaps back to the here and now. With a mental sigh she takes the smartphone from the pocket of her white pencil skirt. She already has the number of Rob's parents pulled up. Part of her dreads this phonecall, almost as if she doesn't want to confirm her suspicions. Rob's situation made her feel guilty for having triggered it but mostly she feel a certain affinity to him. He's useful to her plans, but now she's discovered that in a way he might be a kindred spirit. She wants to help him, or at least that's what she hopes. Maybe it's just yet another urge that she owes to her mother. Be helpful. Meaningless as a simple line of learned behavior that was hammered into her. Without genuine desire it feels like it matters little and she doesn't - can't - know whether it's her own desire to help Rob or not. She know this line of thinking is pointless. She will make the call regardless, trapped by her inability to make a choice that matters to her.

She dials the number as she places the phone back into her pocket, her mind directly connected to the outgoing call.

[Robert West]

The phone rings exactly twice before someone picks up.

"Hello, you have reached the West residence," a formal-sounding voice answers. "How may I direct your call?"

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Good evening, this is Miss Minamida. I would like to talk to Robert's parents, please. This is Xavier"s University. There has been an incident." she chooses her words carefully, assuming they are more likely to talk to her if she makes it seem like an emergency.

[Robert West]

"Please hold," the voice says.

One eternity of terrible hold music later, someone picks up the phone again.

"Miss Minamida," a feminine voice says. There's a rich quality to her voice, a velvet purr. "Trouble already?"

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Yes. Mrs. West I assume? I was wondering if you could answer some questions about Robert's psychiatric treatment." she says, her patient not really stretched by the long wait.

[Robert West]

"Please dear, call me Miranda," she says. "And while I am delighted to take time out of my busy day to talk with you, I can't imagine what I would know that you do not already have on file."

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Well, for one Robert told me that he met with her right before coming here. That wasn't in any of the files."

[Robert West]

There was a cold pause for a moment.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Miranda says. "The only appointment Rob had before he left was with his regular psychiatrist, Dr. Owen."

"Are you certain he's...well? He has suffered from delusions in the past. We had thought he was doing better but....hmm..."

The voice changes to something as cold as ice, "Perhaps it would be better if he came back home."

[Ashlie Minamida]

"He is just fine, although he has suffered from some side-effects caused by his psychiatric counseling. Why do you believe he would be better off back home?"

[Robert West]

"I will be perfectly honest Ms. Minamida," Miranda says. "I was not wild about sending Robert to your school. He is sensitive and has trouble in any setting that is not strictly controlled. However, my husband believed that Robert could....benefit from your unique facilities. And he is an adult now. He must make his own mistakes."

"However, I maintain that here, there are people who will protect him. People who understand him," Miranda continues. "I have yet to see any evidence that the same can be said for your...school."

"Now. I have a question for you," Miranda says. "What happened to my son exactly?"

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Your son, Mrs. West, lapsed into a catatonic state brought on by the treatment he received from Dr. Nicks while under your care."

[Robert West]

"Mmm, yes. This has been a problem in the past." Miranda sounds suddenly uninterested, "I wouldn't worry, dear. He usually comes out of it on his own. At most, he'll be comatose for a day or two before returning to normal."

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Mrs. West, have you met with Dr. Nicks at any point? Has she been to your house?"

[Robert West]

"...I have met her. I was not impressed. She was...weak-willed. Emotional. And she became entirely too attached to Robert," Miranda says. "But I have not seen her since her last visit. And that was....goodness...four years ago?"

[Ashlie Minamida]

"What do you mean with weak-willed? What, if anything, did she share with your about Robert's treatment?"

[Robert West]

"It was just an impression that I got. The first word to spring to mind," Miranda says. "She presented herself as a telepath of some talent, but several times was forced to back down in the face of Robert's more stubborn delusions. Can you imagine? Letting a child best you?"

"It's rather pathetic," Miranda says.

"As for his treatment, I made sure that she informed me of everything," Miranda says. "She was attempting to use her abilities to map his mind. She believed if she could identify the source of his defects, she would be able to fix them."

"Obviously, that did not happen. In fact that b...."

There was a brief pause.

"...If anything, she made things worse."

[Ashlie Minamida]

"How did she make things worse? What did she consider defects to begin with? Please, Mrs. West, Miriam, I need to know what precisely was done to your son and I failed to locate Dr. Nicks."

[Robert West]

"I am very sorry, but why is this so urgent?" Miranda asks. "Is there something you are not telling me?"

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Because I feel he has been tossed around by people thinking what would be best not for him but for those around him all his life and he deserves someone looking out for his best interest."

[Robert West]

"Do not condescend to your betters, dear," Miranda says coldly. "You may not enjoy the result."

"Perhaps this conversation would be more productive in person," Miranda says. "Why don't I pop in for a visit? I can be there by tomorrow."

"We can get to know each other, Ms. Minamida."

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Please, be my guest. I can arrange for you to be picked up 3 hours from now outside your house if you wish. You could be here within 6." she says, her voice calm and polite despite the fact that she's clenching her fist.

[Robert West]

"Oh my. Someone's impatient," Miranda says. She chuckles, "I would be delighted, Ms. Minamida."

"I will see you soon."

[Ashlie Minamida]

"Please don't be alarmed by the lack of a pilot in the plane. I assure you it is perfectly safe." she says before hanging up.