Despair Development: The Truth Within Itself
Jun 28, 2021 13:30:10 GMT -5
Shadowlove, Johnny Bacchus, and 1 more like this
Post by CJ Phoenix on Jun 28, 2021 13:30:10 GMT -5
Five days before Evolution...
It's about 10 in the morning in Baton Rouge as a doctor arrives at the home of CJ Phoenix. Dr. Sigma Field walks up to the front door and knocks on it. Kaiyah answers the door and let's the doctor in after the two greet each other. They each take a seat in the living room.
Kaiyah: I appreciate you coming to visit today. I hope it's not an inconvenience.
Dr. Field: Not at all. I have a few days off, and you and your husband have been a big help to me and quite a few of my other patients, especially those who couldn't afford their medical expenses. It must be nice being insanely rich.
Kaiyah: I wouldn't say we're at THAT level of wealth yet, but it's not about how much money we have. It's about how much good we can do with that money. Besides, between my investment skills and my husband's sociability, we can essentially make back whatever we spend without worry.
Dr. Field: Well that's pretty generous. I'll try not to get us too far off topic. You called me here because you wanted to hear that voice message from CJ as well as an explanation for his behavior since last year, correct?
Kaiyah nods. Sigma takes out his laptop and navigates his way to the message in question.
Dr. Field: Ah, here it is. I suppose it's better that you hear it first before I explain the situation.
He plays the message.
Phoenix: Hey doc. It's CJ. It happened early. I felt something. Kaiyah has a stress headache, and I was worried when she told me that. It's likely that her stress was caused by me and this whole situation, which is unfortunate, but this is a sign of things getting...better? I'm gonna wait a few days and see whether or not that was just a random coincidence. I'll keep you updated.
CJ hangs up the phone. Kaiyah sits there in both disbelief and confusion.
Kaiyah: So all of this was about a feeling?
Dr. Field: Close. It was about a lack of feeling. When CJ had that wreck last year, something strange happened. He had a temporary case of alexithymia, or the lack of being able to express and/or feel emotions in the broadest sense. While alexithymia comes in many forms, his case was odd in that he was only able to have an emotional response to feelings of hope or despair. Nothing else got a reaction out of him. After we found this out, he asked that I kept it a secret until the effects were gone. When he asked how long he would be like this, I told him I wasn't sure, but my guess was anywhere between twelve and eighteen months unless he finds a way to speed up the recovery process.
Kaiyah: Why would he do that? Why would he keep a secret like that from me? We love each other, and we've always stuck together through the toughest of situations.
Dr. Field: That's the reason. He wanted to keep it a secret BECAUSE he loves you, but he couldn't connect to that feeling of love emotionally at the time. He didn't want you to go through the feeling of loving someone dearly that suddenly doesn't love you, or rather can't love you. So he came up with a plan to keep you distracted while pretending to be his usual self emotionally until he fully recuperated.
Kaiyah sits in silence for a few moments as she processes what she just heard.
Kaiyah: .....so everything he's been doing was a distraction?
Dr. Field: I doubt all of it was. What he was trying to do was logically replicate what he would do if he had those emotions while also trying to be around as much hope and despair as possible in an attempt to try and trigger some other emotional reactions.
Kaiyah: How did he know that would work?
Dr. Field: He didn't. Neither of us did. He just said it was worth trying. I think that some of the interactions he's had with a few of the people in Action Wrestling may have affected his recovery process in a positive way.
Kaiyah: Well that's good.
Dr. Field: Considering what goes on there, it's easy for the people watching to feel a variety of emotions on a weekly basis, but that feeling is amplified for those that are actually involved. Back then, we concluded that the best case scenario would've been for him to be there, trigger the return of the rest of his emotions, and then he's back to normal. The worst case scenario would be for him to be so caught up in the hope and/or despair there that he's no longer able to feel those other emotions for the rest of his life. If how he is on screen is any indication, he may have fallen somewhere in the middle.
Kaiyah: I could see that being the case. He said he wanted to talk to me about all of this after Evolution, but he figured you'd be better at explaining some of it first.
Dr. Field: I suppose that's fair. Is he here now?
Kaiyah: Nope. He's in Iceland.
Dr. Field: Way out there!?
Kaiyah: We love to travel, so I can't say I'm surprised.
Dr. Field: Clearly.
Kaiyah: I appreciate you stopping by and helping me gain some clarity on this situation. I think I'm gonna get something to eat and let this conversation set in. You want anything?
Dr. Field: That does sound like a good idea. I'd love to stay and eat, but I do have a couple of errands to run. Even on my off days, I somehow still don't have off days.
They both stand up and say their goodbyes before Dr. Field exits the house. The scene ends with Kaiyah walking to the bedroom and retrieving the Monokuma mask. She sits down on the bed and sighs.
Kaiyah: Why? Why didn't you tell me this sooner...
It's about 10 in the morning in Baton Rouge as a doctor arrives at the home of CJ Phoenix. Dr. Sigma Field walks up to the front door and knocks on it. Kaiyah answers the door and let's the doctor in after the two greet each other. They each take a seat in the living room.
Kaiyah: I appreciate you coming to visit today. I hope it's not an inconvenience.
Dr. Field: Not at all. I have a few days off, and you and your husband have been a big help to me and quite a few of my other patients, especially those who couldn't afford their medical expenses. It must be nice being insanely rich.
Kaiyah: I wouldn't say we're at THAT level of wealth yet, but it's not about how much money we have. It's about how much good we can do with that money. Besides, between my investment skills and my husband's sociability, we can essentially make back whatever we spend without worry.
Dr. Field: Well that's pretty generous. I'll try not to get us too far off topic. You called me here because you wanted to hear that voice message from CJ as well as an explanation for his behavior since last year, correct?
Kaiyah nods. Sigma takes out his laptop and navigates his way to the message in question.
Dr. Field: Ah, here it is. I suppose it's better that you hear it first before I explain the situation.
He plays the message.
Phoenix: Hey doc. It's CJ. It happened early. I felt something. Kaiyah has a stress headache, and I was worried when she told me that. It's likely that her stress was caused by me and this whole situation, which is unfortunate, but this is a sign of things getting...better? I'm gonna wait a few days and see whether or not that was just a random coincidence. I'll keep you updated.
CJ hangs up the phone. Kaiyah sits there in both disbelief and confusion.
Kaiyah: So all of this was about a feeling?
Dr. Field: Close. It was about a lack of feeling. When CJ had that wreck last year, something strange happened. He had a temporary case of alexithymia, or the lack of being able to express and/or feel emotions in the broadest sense. While alexithymia comes in many forms, his case was odd in that he was only able to have an emotional response to feelings of hope or despair. Nothing else got a reaction out of him. After we found this out, he asked that I kept it a secret until the effects were gone. When he asked how long he would be like this, I told him I wasn't sure, but my guess was anywhere between twelve and eighteen months unless he finds a way to speed up the recovery process.
Kaiyah: Why would he do that? Why would he keep a secret like that from me? We love each other, and we've always stuck together through the toughest of situations.
Dr. Field: That's the reason. He wanted to keep it a secret BECAUSE he loves you, but he couldn't connect to that feeling of love emotionally at the time. He didn't want you to go through the feeling of loving someone dearly that suddenly doesn't love you, or rather can't love you. So he came up with a plan to keep you distracted while pretending to be his usual self emotionally until he fully recuperated.
Kaiyah sits in silence for a few moments as she processes what she just heard.
Kaiyah: .....so everything he's been doing was a distraction?
Dr. Field: I doubt all of it was. What he was trying to do was logically replicate what he would do if he had those emotions while also trying to be around as much hope and despair as possible in an attempt to try and trigger some other emotional reactions.
Kaiyah: How did he know that would work?
Dr. Field: He didn't. Neither of us did. He just said it was worth trying. I think that some of the interactions he's had with a few of the people in Action Wrestling may have affected his recovery process in a positive way.
Kaiyah: Well that's good.
Dr. Field: Considering what goes on there, it's easy for the people watching to feel a variety of emotions on a weekly basis, but that feeling is amplified for those that are actually involved. Back then, we concluded that the best case scenario would've been for him to be there, trigger the return of the rest of his emotions, and then he's back to normal. The worst case scenario would be for him to be so caught up in the hope and/or despair there that he's no longer able to feel those other emotions for the rest of his life. If how he is on screen is any indication, he may have fallen somewhere in the middle.
Kaiyah: I could see that being the case. He said he wanted to talk to me about all of this after Evolution, but he figured you'd be better at explaining some of it first.
Dr. Field: I suppose that's fair. Is he here now?
Kaiyah: Nope. He's in Iceland.
Dr. Field: Way out there!?
Kaiyah: We love to travel, so I can't say I'm surprised.
Dr. Field: Clearly.
Kaiyah: I appreciate you stopping by and helping me gain some clarity on this situation. I think I'm gonna get something to eat and let this conversation set in. You want anything?
Dr. Field: That does sound like a good idea. I'd love to stay and eat, but I do have a couple of errands to run. Even on my off days, I somehow still don't have off days.
They both stand up and say their goodbyes before Dr. Field exits the house. The scene ends with Kaiyah walking to the bedroom and retrieving the Monokuma mask. She sits down on the bed and sighs.
Kaiyah: Why? Why didn't you tell me this sooner...